Hoogerheide World Cup

This was the final round of the World Cup, in the Netherlands. We went out on the saturday to do some practice laps. It was bloody cold and the wind was howling. The course was good fun with a few fairly sloppy mud sections and a cool run up a steep climb before popping back onto the pavement. On my 3rd practice lap I somehow managed to lose my front wheel down a very easy descent, and smash into the fence lining the course. Index (shifting/braking) finger took most of it, followed by my jaw where I landed on top of the fence, then both knees and finally my calf when I landed on the fence support. Bloody embarrassing! Felt like I'd bent my finger around and broken it, but thankfully it was fine. Certainly hurt to walk though, and I cut myself under my jaw, I think the beard hair cushioned my blow. Not a great start! Anyway, hopped on the rollers that night to loosen it all up, and thankfully I packed some tiger balm plus to mask the pain.

Come race day we rolled in and before I knew it I was lining up for my 3rd World Cup. As soon as the gun went, adrenalin kicked in and I completely forgot about the pain in my knees, calf and finger. I did what has worked for me in every other race and stayed out of trouble to move up when the front runners came down. Of course they did.

Danny Zelck

 Stayed with a few other riders for quite some time, keeping them in sight for a few laps. I passed Keiichi out on course, he wasn't having a good day unfortunately. Neither was Joachim Parbo (4x Danish Champ), who managed to flat and roll his tubular (met him after the race, really nice bloke!). Anyway I had a very solid race and the dutch/belgian fans were extremely supportive. Coincidentally, I was still racing when the front runners lapped me, this was pretty cool because not only did I get to ride directly behind them and witness first hand how incredibly talented they are, I also got plenty of TV time! Of course I made the most of this, and milked it for all it was worth. The crowd seemed to enjoy my burst of speed as I tried to stay with them, but it didn't last long. I ended up riding for 50 mins before being pulled off, at which point I was about 7-8 mins down. Not bad at all.

Danny Zelck

 The result on the stats sheet wasn't my best, 55th, but 3 laps down (7 laps ridden) is a vast improvement for me, as most of the other races have been 5 or even 6 laps down. I'm learning to ride this deep mud properly, and for once I didn't crash either! It's nothing astounding, but I'm very happy with the improvement and I hope I can continue this into next week. I'm racing the World Champs! Koksijde, lots and lots of sand. Can't wait, apparently 40,000 tickets have been pre sold. That doesn't include people who will purchase tickets on the day, it's going to be World Cup atmosphere times 4 or 5. Amazing.

Danny Zelck

Again thanks to my pit crew, Jeroen and Tom, Roeland and Rose for their superior organisation skillz, and all my fans for the cheers out on course, it's always cool hearing people scream your name! Post race dinner courtesy of Roeland's mum was pancakes, followed by poffertjes (mini dutch pancakes) for dessert. My kind of meal! (Sorry again Coach Jono)