GVA Trophee Loenhout

Stepping out of the car at Loenhout and being greeted by a breeze which really stung any exposed skin (around 1 or 2 degrees I believe), I began wondering why I got myself into this holiday, and whether I would have prefered just staying in a warm bed instead. The course was pretty much dead flat, with thick ankle deep mud covering a third of the course. The course also included a tarmac straight, and some grassy sections, including a cross over bridge and these awesome pump track style whoop de doos.

On my practice laps I had an avg HR of 160, that was how hard you had to work to churn through the mud.
I crossed paths with German Yannick Mayer, who is a really nice dude, and he gave me some pointers with riding the mud. Tyre pressure. I had about 35psi in my tubs, which I thought was low. He was running 20! So we adjusted mine, and I have to say it made a fair difference. I also forgot my road wheel for the trainer, and he generously lent me his.
PIC
Loenhout is renowned for having some of the rowdiest fans, as there is no football on the weekend of the race, so they all get wild at the CX instead.

The start was along the tarmac straight, so we had a bit of time to establish a position. I moved past a few people right before the mud section and rode into it quite well, passing Kevin Pauwels, who had a big off. (He recovered to finish 6th, from last place at that stage, impressive!)
This race was a little more competitive for me. I managed to ride with another couple of people, and we swapped positions and scrambled through the exhausting mud for 4 laps, before being pulled with 5 to go. Turns out I finished 55th, from the 61 starters, and had at least 3 finishers behind me. I cant be too dissapointed with that, all in all a good day out, considering GVA Trophee is the next highest level of CX racing after the World Cup.

My pit crew included newbies Stevo "Stevros" Marsh and Frank "Mr 100" Suys, who performed exceptionally well and provided clean, lubed bikes without any hassles. As per usual manager Rose did an excellent job taking my jacket right before the start, making sure I had my asthma puffer and caffeine at the right time, and shooting some sweet pics.

Stevo "pro bike mechanic" Marsh

Upon returning to the car we found the team who is sponsored by a XXX shop's tent had detached from its tie down point and blown into Frank's car, breaking his window. They spoke French, we spoke English and Dutch, but we finally managed to sort out insurance papers and hopefully it will be all good.

Scored some gear from Sports2 Nutrition and Qoleum through a handy sponsorship Roeland has secured. Happy days!

Wow....

That was by far the most fun I've had on a bike full stop. I may have finished right up the back, but that was so much more enjoyable than any race win I've had.
Prior to the start the Japanese crew of Keiichi Tsujiura generously let me use their tent and heated van to stay warm and get a proper warm up down before the race. Keiichi is 9 time Japanese national champion, and a very friendly guy.

Keiichi and Tom

Prior to the race, people were coming up and asking for photos and supporter cards. I'll have to get some made up, just for a laugh. There was even a family from Melbourne, who's son is a cyclist. Nice to hear some Aussie accents cheering me on out on the course!

Tom and Jooeri were my mechanics for the day, and did a stellar job fixing, cleaning and handing up the bike. Roeland had all access, and Rose had my jacket before the start, making sure I dont get sick! These guys rock. Considering none of them have done this kind of thing before, they are meticulous, and make sure I'm properly prepared and ready to roll. Seriously, this would all be impossible without them, I cannot thank them enough.

I was the last rider called up, and the atmosphere was incredible. About 10,00 fans around the course, and the start was on bitumen race car track. I floated a few meters off the back, and waited for the inevitable pile up to move up into about 45th out of ~65 starters. It didnt take long for the riders to pick me off, and I made my way round the course without too many dramas, just riding my own race.

Second lap and people started to realise I was an Aussie, especially when I had a spill on an uphill shoot, where there were fans packed leaning over the fence. As I fell there was a few ooohh's, but I got back up and revved up the crowd with a big grin on my face. They went mental. For every lap afterwards they would go ballistic when I came past. Such an awesome feeling! The same happened down a descent, and again I'd rev them up.

Up the run up they'd chant "Skippy, Skippy!" My mouth was either gaping for air, or had a grin from ear to ear the entire time. It was awesome, words cannot explain it.

I got 4 laps in before they pulled me, about 35 mins in. I finished in 57th, with one finisher behind me and 4 DNF's. I wasnt excpecting much better than that, I simply want to improve with every race. The result doesnt matter anyway, the fact is I had a ball, and ticked off one more thing from my bucket list.

No rest for the wicked, tomorrow is the GVA Trophee in Loenhout! Hopefully I can last a little longer. As close to 40 mins as possible would be ideal.

PLEASE NOTE: I generally try to avoid putting up pics without the photographers consent, but this is a special occaision. The photographers signatures are in the pics. If you dont want your pic up here, let me know and I'll take it down.
My new title photo is from a guy who sent it to me on facebook. He's got a great set of CX pics on flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/krisclaeye/sets/72157627970015052/ 
The pics without signatures were taken by Rose. Thanks Rose!

The morning of the race!

Ive been awake since 6am, so I figured I might as well throw a quick post up with a run down of what I'm getting myself into.

We went out to the course yesterday and rode a few practice laps. I quickly learnt that carbon tubulars are sh*thouse in the wet, and Im sticking to the alloy tubs/clincher setup. The course is fast and untechnical by World Cup standards, but it does have two fairly steep rutted descents which are a little sketchy. There is also the most ridiculously steep run up Ive ever seen in my life, which should be fairly interesting to see it sorts out the field. We ride through a pretty forest, and cover everything from mud, grass, tarmac and sand. Its fair weather here for a Belgian winter, some drizzle and about 9 degrees, not bad at all.

Run up

Team Caravan

After cutting some laps, we had the team managers meeting and rider rego. Team Australia's official managers Roeland and Rose made sure we had a choice pit box, #15. We're sharing with Norway and most boxes accomodate ~8 riders so we'll have plenty of space between 2.

At the meeting we had a chat to the manager's from Great Britain, USA and Belgium, all of whom were very friendly and helpful and were pleased to see someone representing from Australia. Little Peppa was a perfect ice-breaker...

I'd like to thank everyone for being so supportive, all your well wishes are much appreciated. I'll channel my inner Steven Bradbury, and we'll see what I can do.

Safe Arrival!

I managed to squeeze everything into two bike boxes and one massively overweight carry on bag. 7kg limit for carry on, and I had 14! Anyway, the lady at the counter was friendly enough and I didnt have to pay any excess. So far so good.

It was a fairly long flight from Melbourne-Doha-Brussels. I got about 6 hrs sleep all up, thanks to some screaming babies that travelled with me on both flights. Qatar airlines is awesome though, and I'd reccomend them for anyone flying long distances. Good food, good service and no broken bikes at the airport.

At Brussels airport, I was greeted by my generous hosts, Roeland, Rose and little monster Peppa, as well as Roeland's Dad, Frank. Frank is a racer from way back and has over 100 wins to his name! Here's a link to his story. http://www.bloggen.be/mister100/


Roeland and Rose's joint is awesome, in quiet town with cobbles and awesome bike paths.

We went for a short ride just to roll the legs over, the path next to the river will be ideal for training.

(Mad action photo skillz)
By late afternoon I was struggling big time. We put the bikes together and ate typical flemish food. Everything is double fried! See that bright orange rectangle? Its stir-fried noodles in batter! Tasty though.

Thats a balanced meal right? I guess it has a bit of everything, carbs, protein, fat...

I've managed to secure some more race starts, thanks to Roeland for getting in touch with ex World Champ Erwin Vervecken. I'm even getting some cash to help with transport costs! How crazy is that? Imagine if they paid you to race Dirty Deeds? (I would happily pay more than $10 to race DD though!)

The World Cup is on monday and we're checking out the course on Sunday! Pumped! This is all happening! I got my team Aus skinsuit in the mail as well, and gave it a run around before I left.

 

 Massive post, as you might be able to imagine I am struggling to believe that this dream of mine is becoming a reality. Next post will be a massive thank you to all those who made or are making this possible!

World Cup Berth!

I am absolutely stoked to announce that I will be starting the Heusden-Zolder Cyclocross World Cup on the 26/12! This has been qhat I once thought to be an impossible dream for a couple of years now. Initially I wanted to do a MTB world cup, but CX seems to suit me a fair bit more. It's a big step up in competition to what I'm used to, but this will purely be a learning experience. If I can beat a couple of guys I'll be ecstatic with the result. I arrive in Brussels on the 23rd, so it will be quite a transition from here, (30 degrees) to there (0 degrees). Fingers crossed it isn't like last year....

I have a feeling an Aussie has raced a CX world cup before, can anyone confirm this?

Big thanks to sponsors Giant, Schwalbe (new sponsor), the crew at St Kilda Cycles, VeloLab, Qoleum, Trisport.

Tour of Bright

 (Photo courtesy of Giant Bicycles)
The other week was the Tour of Bright, quite possibly my favourite race of the year, besides anything CX. Its just about the pinnacle of amateur climbing races in Australia. After moving up to A Grade a bit prematurely last year, I had been working hard with Jono to get myself ready to handle this years race. Despite having only 4.5 weeks since my break, the form was coming together. My aim was simply to finish with the main bunch on stage 1 and 3. The first stage was a monster of 130kms covering Rosewhite Gap, Falls Creek and Tawonga Gap. This was always going to be tough considering the lack of volume training under my belt. I lasted well right up to the bottom of the final climb, Tawonga, where I started seizing up in my groin muscles. Not fun! There I lost touch with the bunch, but sucked down some more liquid and magnesium spray and the cramps went away. I gradually picked off stragglers and rolled through in 26th, 5.57 off the winner and 3-4 mins off the strung out bunch. From a very strong field of 60 I was happy.

The afternoon TT was deemed a pure recovery ride by coach Jono, and I was told to do my best to come last. 59th, was close but not quite last, but I was happy to keep myself fresh for the stage up Hotham. We spent the afternoon by the Ovens river/ice bath and ate monstrous fruit loaves from the supermarket.

 (Ned)

On the start line of the Hotham stage we were informed that there was bad weather up top, and the stage was to be shortened to near the ticket box, (around 3/4 of the way up). This was actually ideal for me, seeing as the stage would now be 1.5hrs as opposed to 2. As soon as we hit the bottom of hotham the bunch blew apart. I put myself into the red trying to grab ahold of the front bunch (including Alex Morgan and Ben Dyball) but they tore away leaving a second bunch of about 6. We stayed together up the climb with just a few of us doing some work and I took off with about 500m to go to win the bunch sprint to the finish. 16th on the stage, 2.24 behind Floris Goesinnen and absolutely stoked with the result.

Despite my poor TT I snagged 35th overall, which left me pondering the possibilities for a good overall result next year. Time will tell! However I'm now very happy with my form, now its time for intervals and CX practice to sharpen up for Belgium!

The trip was shared with Ned, who dominated C Grade, and Michael, who was unlucky with a puncture before the roads went up Hotham.

Forrest Festival

Had an absolute ball at the Forrest Festival the other week. Heaps of rain, but the trails held up well. Giant put me and a few others up in a really nice old church that is converted into a guesthouse. http://www.forrestchurchretreat.com.au/
4 Stage race, the first being a 15k XC loop. I had a good start, sitting in 4th, before my front wheel washed out and I got stuck behind heeeapps of people. There was very little fireroad, so passing was a nightmare, and I had to work hard. Finished in 4th, a few minutes back from Josh Carlson, Peter Kutschera and Ben May. The second stage was a hill climb, followed by a Super D. The hill climb suited me well, I got 3rd, and clawed back some time on 3rd overall, ~20 seconds. A good sign that my fitness is on the right track.

(Damian Breach Photography)
The Super D was ok, however pre riding the course would have been a much better idea, I flicked my Fox RP3 to open, and started in the big ring, only to have a short climb just around the corner. Silly idea, and I also got a stick jammed in my back wheel. Despite this, I managed to hit the fire-road pretty well, and rolled through in the 5th fastest time. Now the final stage was on Sunday morning, and I had a few minutes to pull back Ben. 50k's of sweet Forrest singletrack. Peter and Josh put a minute or so into the second bunch in the first 10k's. My plan was to make some space on the fireroad climbs. There were 4 of us riding together, and I was feeling good, until about 1hr 50mins, when my back started seizing up and my arms were giving way. Not enough time on the MTB or the Swiss ball! The others rode off and I rolled through a couple of minutes back. Not stoked, but not too fussed at the same time as the weekend was a heap of fun. And I got a lift home in this bangin car!