The roads are dry, the air is fresh, and I’m ready to start training for the new year.
During the Christmas break I took some time off the bike, but now the break is over and the season training has begun. I went on three great rides these past three days, and starting to build up for the upcoming road season. Both Friday and Saturday I went out on the cross bike, and got in some good riding in on the dirt. Today I brought out the road bike and went for a longer ride(3 ½ hours), it was a great day. It wasn’t cold and it never rained. I’m starting to get to know all the roads and towns, so I’m able to do long loops thought the rolling hills south of Brussels.
I’m thinking of doing another few cross races before the season ends, and once March hits its all about road. I was looking at the calendar and in Belgium for the juniors there are over ten races every weekend. Its crazy how many there are. I’m looking forward to a hard road season over here, then going back to Oregon, and doing Nationals in Southern California in August.
My mom went to a Ron Paul rally yesterday. I glad that she has taken an interest in politics and hope that other also get involved.
Ian
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
Nuremberg and Bohimia
After three fantastic days in Prague we drove west to a small town in Bohemia five miles from the German boarder. We visited a wildlife preserve which also has some geothermal activity, such as hot springs. It was a nice break from the city life.
That night we got back in the car and drove north to Nuremberg. We spent the night there, and enjoyed the beauty of the historic city. The fallowing morning we awoke and went to the Nazi museum located in the Congress Hall, one of the last big monuments of the Nazi era. It was a fascinating museum and was excellent in explaining every detail in the rise and control of power the group kept during its time in control.
Nuremberg was a very beautiful city, but I wish that I had more time to explore. After the museum we packed up and headed back to Brussels. It was a fabulous trip and one that I wish to do again.
Here are some pictures of everything.
That night we got back in the car and drove north to Nuremberg. We spent the night there, and enjoyed the beauty of the historic city. The fallowing morning we awoke and went to the Nazi museum located in the Congress Hall, one of the last big monuments of the Nazi era. It was a fascinating museum and was excellent in explaining every detail in the rise and control of power the group kept during its time in control.
Nuremberg was a very beautiful city, but I wish that I had more time to explore. After the museum we packed up and headed back to Brussels. It was a fabulous trip and one that I wish to do again.
Here are some pictures of everything.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
The old and the new
Prague was home to one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe. There is a large section of the city that is primarily Jewish. Today we went to this section and did a tour of the old and the new. We visited a museum of the Jewish history in Prague which is connected an old cemetery that dates back to the 13 century of the Jewish community(pictures below). There was also a sinology which was filled with some 80,000 names of the Jewish community of Prague which was shipped to Terezin or Auschwitz, both concentration camps during the second world war, and eradicated. It was beyond belief at the number of names on the wall. It was three whole rooms with names from top to bottom, it really was poignant seeing all people names. It put it in perspective, before I just looked at the holocaust as a horrific event where millions of people lost their life, but seeing all the names just made me realize that these are all humans that had stories, family, and lives that were taken.
Learn from the past and prevent in the future.
Ian
Learn from the past and prevent in the future.
Ian
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Prague, cold beauty
Yesterday, Christmas morning we loaded up the car and went east to Prague. It was along day in the car, but saw some beautiful German countryside. It was a lot of rolling hills and forest. The temperatures were cold so the trees were all covered with frost.
Today, we went to the Royal Palace and walked around a little of the city. It is by far the most historical and architecturally spectacular city I have ever seen.
Here are just a few photos, but in order to feel the full exquisiteness you have to be here. I will keep you updated.
Ian
Today, we went to the Royal Palace and walked around a little of the city. It is by far the most historical and architecturally spectacular city I have ever seen.
Here are just a few photos, but in order to feel the full exquisiteness you have to be here. I will keep you updated.
Ian
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Muddy Battlefield!
I did my fourth cross race today, and it was by far the muddiest. The race was forty-five minutes north west of Brussels in the small town of Balegem. The past week here have been below freezing for the whole day so the ground has been rock hard. However yesterday warmed up to about fifty degrees and it rained last night, so that made for some sloppy conditions today.
I wasn’t the only American in the junior field today, I was joined by eight of some of Americas best, who are here getting European experience with Geoff Proctors “Euro Cross Camp“, which is spending the Christmas break in Belgium. I arrived a little late to the race so didn’t have time to pre-ride the whole course, but saw about half. I meet the other Americans before hand and talked a little about Belgium racing.
The course was insane! It started out on a step paved hill before turning right onto a slick single-track section. Here it snaked about and went down three very step, fast, and slick docents(very dangerous). Due to the weather of the previous day, the ground was a gaping mud pit. The mud is so thick that it sticks to everything. After riding 100 meters in it your tires are clogged and you have no traction. This would hurt me later only having one bike. The race then went though some grass fields before tuning onto a gravel then paved road, which hooked back into the starting hill.
The call-up for starting position was “random”, but some how all the Americans started in the back. Never the less the raced started and started fast. The opening lap was a nut house, there were tons of riders jammed onto a tight single track, and we at the back often found ourselves standing not even moving waiting for the bottle neck to sort out. The decents were treacherous, every lap multiple people crashed and a few were escorted away by ambulance. I was slowly moving up and by the time we had finished one lap I was 7th out of the 9 Americans.
On the second lap things were no different it was still a slip and slide. The two American that I passed both crashed on the second lap and pulled out of the race. I had some close calls and managed to keep the bike up right. I kept moving up and started feeling comfortable on the sketchy course. I can feel that my cross skills are getting better, but still have along ladder to climb.
With two laps to go I passed another American and was riding well. My bike on the other hand was another story. Going into the final lap I passed two more Americans, but one had been in the leading group and crashed hard. About half a lap to go my bike had seen enough, somehow the chain got stuck in between the cassette and wheel. I stopped and started yanking on the chain to try and get it un-jammed, but it was in there pretty good. I struggled with it for a minute or two, then a man watching came out and helped. He also struggled and after fettling with it for another minute he got it working, but while we were yanking on the chain the two Americans that I had passed over took me. I mounted the bike, but my problems were not over yet. Because I only have one cross bike the mud/grass/leaf combo had clogged my brakes to the point where my wheels wouldn’t spin, so I stopped and quickly tried to clear out all the sludge from the brakes and critical areas. It helped, but the wheels were still slugging along. I made it to the finish with my bike five pounds heavier and wheels hardly spinning, but everyone else with one bike was experiencing the same.
I finished 39th and finished 6th out of the Americans and had a good time. Each race I do I like it even more. I better stop racing so I don’t go cross crazy and my dad will have to buy me another bike. Just joking dad, but another bike would help.
I’m going to Prague, Czech on the 25th for five days with my host family I will take lots of pictures and keep you posted.
Belgium Cyclocross: cold, mud, pain, beer, fries.
Ian
I wasn’t the only American in the junior field today, I was joined by eight of some of Americas best, who are here getting European experience with Geoff Proctors “Euro Cross Camp“, which is spending the Christmas break in Belgium. I arrived a little late to the race so didn’t have time to pre-ride the whole course, but saw about half. I meet the other Americans before hand and talked a little about Belgium racing.
The course was insane! It started out on a step paved hill before turning right onto a slick single-track section. Here it snaked about and went down three very step, fast, and slick docents(very dangerous). Due to the weather of the previous day, the ground was a gaping mud pit. The mud is so thick that it sticks to everything. After riding 100 meters in it your tires are clogged and you have no traction. This would hurt me later only having one bike. The race then went though some grass fields before tuning onto a gravel then paved road, which hooked back into the starting hill.
The call-up for starting position was “random”, but some how all the Americans started in the back. Never the less the raced started and started fast. The opening lap was a nut house, there were tons of riders jammed onto a tight single track, and we at the back often found ourselves standing not even moving waiting for the bottle neck to sort out. The decents were treacherous, every lap multiple people crashed and a few were escorted away by ambulance. I was slowly moving up and by the time we had finished one lap I was 7th out of the 9 Americans.
On the second lap things were no different it was still a slip and slide. The two American that I passed both crashed on the second lap and pulled out of the race. I had some close calls and managed to keep the bike up right. I kept moving up and started feeling comfortable on the sketchy course. I can feel that my cross skills are getting better, but still have along ladder to climb.
With two laps to go I passed another American and was riding well. My bike on the other hand was another story. Going into the final lap I passed two more Americans, but one had been in the leading group and crashed hard. About half a lap to go my bike had seen enough, somehow the chain got stuck in between the cassette and wheel. I stopped and started yanking on the chain to try and get it un-jammed, but it was in there pretty good. I struggled with it for a minute or two, then a man watching came out and helped. He also struggled and after fettling with it for another minute he got it working, but while we were yanking on the chain the two Americans that I had passed over took me. I mounted the bike, but my problems were not over yet. Because I only have one cross bike the mud/grass/leaf combo had clogged my brakes to the point where my wheels wouldn’t spin, so I stopped and quickly tried to clear out all the sludge from the brakes and critical areas. It helped, but the wheels were still slugging along. I made it to the finish with my bike five pounds heavier and wheels hardly spinning, but everyone else with one bike was experiencing the same.
I finished 39th and finished 6th out of the Americans and had a good time. Each race I do I like it even more. I better stop racing so I don’t go cross crazy and my dad will have to buy me another bike. Just joking dad, but another bike would help.
I’m going to Prague, Czech on the 25th for five days with my host family I will take lots of pictures and keep you posted.
Belgium Cyclocross: cold, mud, pain, beer, fries.
Ian
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Belgium Cross Round 3
The day started early, I awoke at six this morning to get ready to go the cross race in Overijse. I swiftly cooked up some eggs and got dressed. I also had a chance to talk to my mom on the webcam and she wished me luck. As I go ready I checked the temperature and saw -3C (like -15F), So I put on every bit of cycling clothes I had.
The plan was I would meet up with Romain and his father half way in between our two houses, for me that’s 45minutes south towards Waterloo. I took my bike and went down stairs, but as I set the bike down I noticed that the rear tire was flat. A little problem, but I left a little extra time so if something like this would happen I would okay. I quickly changed tubes and was off. It was a dark cold ride, but it was worth it to do the race.
We arrived at the race with time on our side, so we sat in the warm car for a good hour. Then Romain and I went to register and find a toilet, we accomplished both tasks, but returned cold. It was even colder in Overijse because its in a small valley. Romain had the luxury of warming up on a trainer while I went out and got colder. Not really, but I had two pairs of gloves and my hands were still freezing. After a short ride I returned and we both dressed down for the race. I saw some crazy things the riders were doing to help stay warm. Matt, Romain’s friend put Vaseline all over him face as a protective barrier(????), and I along with Romain put warming oil on our hands to try and keep them warm.
Everyone waited frigidly to be called to the line, and at the last minute the Czech national junior team rolled up with five or six riders. One by one the riders were called to the line, I think it was based on UCI standing because the Czech rider who has been getting top three in all the world cups and is the European cross champion was called up first. Some more Czech riders got called up fallowed by the Belgium champion and some other riders on their national team. Romain and Matt were both called up at the end with me fallowing. There was only about 35-40 riders that started, but Romain, Matt, and I were in the very back.
The raced started off fast, and about 200 meters into it there is a steep some what long paved climb. We hit that and it was already strung out, I moved up a few places, but was still in the back. As we turned onto the upper grass section the leaders already had a gap. There was a steep grass decent with a sharp “U” turn at the bottom before you rode back up the hill, that was very slippery.
For the next few lap I started to pick off people one by one, I gained a lot of time on the hills and fast sections, but fell back on the descents at technical sections. I passed Matt on the third lap which gave me a boost and kept my spirits high. I slowly was catching Romain and on the fifth of six laps passed him, and said “come on Romain up, up!!”, but I spoke to soon. I got a ten second gap on him, but then when I got to the stair case I made my mistake. There is a small path on the right side that is possible to ride up and I was doing in the day before, when we were pre riding it. I made it to the top step and then lost my traction, I unclipped but it was to late, I started going backwards and because of the icy ground I didn’t get my footing and slid back down to the bottom, as I watched Romain and another rider which I passed earlier go pass. I got back on the bike and took some risks to catch up, I was gaining, but as the ground thawed the course got slippery and on the sharp turn I mentioned earlier, I slid out and fell. I ran up the hill and jumped back on in pursuit of the two riders. I went hard, but never caught either of them. I came very close though, finished three second behind the one rider and seven behind Romain. I took 18th place which I was very happy with considering the strong field.
After the race I talked with a few other racers and looked at their bikes, while doing so I noticed that they were only running like 25-30 PSI in their tires, as were I had like 50+. I think that was why I felt a little sketchy on the descents. But you live you learn, this was only my third ever cross race so I’m still learning the ropes.
As Romain and I went to return our numbers we came across Erwin Vervecken, the current world cyclocross champion, in the stair case. And it just made me think, that there are thousands of people at the race with his name on; hats, jackets, and everything else, and here he is just a regular guy. People tend to put athletes on such a high pedestal, almost worshiping these figures and yet, they are just as you and I, they are no super heroes they are just regular people that are good at sports.
Anyway I had a great day, and am getting better with every race I do. Next weekend I hope to do another race, some juniors from the US will be here racing with the euro cross camp, so maybe I will try and meet up with them.
Merry Christmas
Ian
The plan was I would meet up with Romain and his father half way in between our two houses, for me that’s 45minutes south towards Waterloo. I took my bike and went down stairs, but as I set the bike down I noticed that the rear tire was flat. A little problem, but I left a little extra time so if something like this would happen I would okay. I quickly changed tubes and was off. It was a dark cold ride, but it was worth it to do the race.
We arrived at the race with time on our side, so we sat in the warm car for a good hour. Then Romain and I went to register and find a toilet, we accomplished both tasks, but returned cold. It was even colder in Overijse because its in a small valley. Romain had the luxury of warming up on a trainer while I went out and got colder. Not really, but I had two pairs of gloves and my hands were still freezing. After a short ride I returned and we both dressed down for the race. I saw some crazy things the riders were doing to help stay warm. Matt, Romain’s friend put Vaseline all over him face as a protective barrier(????), and I along with Romain put warming oil on our hands to try and keep them warm.
Everyone waited frigidly to be called to the line, and at the last minute the Czech national junior team rolled up with five or six riders. One by one the riders were called to the line, I think it was based on UCI standing because the Czech rider who has been getting top three in all the world cups and is the European cross champion was called up first. Some more Czech riders got called up fallowed by the Belgium champion and some other riders on their national team. Romain and Matt were both called up at the end with me fallowing. There was only about 35-40 riders that started, but Romain, Matt, and I were in the very back.
The raced started off fast, and about 200 meters into it there is a steep some what long paved climb. We hit that and it was already strung out, I moved up a few places, but was still in the back. As we turned onto the upper grass section the leaders already had a gap. There was a steep grass decent with a sharp “U” turn at the bottom before you rode back up the hill, that was very slippery.
For the next few lap I started to pick off people one by one, I gained a lot of time on the hills and fast sections, but fell back on the descents at technical sections. I passed Matt on the third lap which gave me a boost and kept my spirits high. I slowly was catching Romain and on the fifth of six laps passed him, and said “come on Romain up, up!!”, but I spoke to soon. I got a ten second gap on him, but then when I got to the stair case I made my mistake. There is a small path on the right side that is possible to ride up and I was doing in the day before, when we were pre riding it. I made it to the top step and then lost my traction, I unclipped but it was to late, I started going backwards and because of the icy ground I didn’t get my footing and slid back down to the bottom, as I watched Romain and another rider which I passed earlier go pass. I got back on the bike and took some risks to catch up, I was gaining, but as the ground thawed the course got slippery and on the sharp turn I mentioned earlier, I slid out and fell. I ran up the hill and jumped back on in pursuit of the two riders. I went hard, but never caught either of them. I came very close though, finished three second behind the one rider and seven behind Romain. I took 18th place which I was very happy with considering the strong field.
After the race I talked with a few other racers and looked at their bikes, while doing so I noticed that they were only running like 25-30 PSI in their tires, as were I had like 50+. I think that was why I felt a little sketchy on the descents. But you live you learn, this was only my third ever cross race so I’m still learning the ropes.
As Romain and I went to return our numbers we came across Erwin Vervecken, the current world cyclocross champion, in the stair case. And it just made me think, that there are thousands of people at the race with his name on; hats, jackets, and everything else, and here he is just a regular guy. People tend to put athletes on such a high pedestal, almost worshiping these figures and yet, they are just as you and I, they are no super heroes they are just regular people that are good at sports.
Anyway I had a great day, and am getting better with every race I do. Next weekend I hope to do another race, some juniors from the US will be here racing with the euro cross camp, so maybe I will try and meet up with them.
Merry Christmas
Ian
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Recognizance
Today I went with Romain, Matt, and Romain’s dad, to do some recognizance before the cross race tomorrow. The is race in Overijse, only 45 km from my Belgium house. Svens Nys said that is one of the hardest races in Belgium. And after today I agree, the loop is full of hard climbs; pavement, cobblestone, and grass, and because what goes up must come down, there are some very tight fast descents. It is so hilly and there is so much braking that I went to the bike shop to buy some new brake pads for tomorrow (Swiss-Stop were all they had, 30 euro, $$$), but atleast I can stop now. For the pro race all the big guys will be there, so I imagine that the junior field will also be strong.
I’ll post again after the race tomorrow,
Here are some pictures from today.
I’ll post again after the race tomorrow,
Here are some pictures from today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)