Nathan Spear
OBRA,
I'm in Belgium with Katerina and we went to the race in Hofstade yesterday.
This race is always on the day after Christmas and though they change the
course a bit, it always incorporates a long stretch on the sandy beach of
the lake. This year was the best race I've seen in the 4 years I've gone.
It was great to look at the start list and see 7 Americans. I don't
remember half this number of Americans before. Erik, Barry and Ryan were
easy to pick out in there blue and orange Kona kits. Jonathan Page was
almost invisible without the Stars and Stripes jersey I'm so used to seeing
him wear. As always the start was ferocious. Ryan was towards the front
due to his good lineup spot. Erik was at the back due to being one of the
last called up. The announcer said there were 66 riders and 10,000
spectators! It wasn't easy to see big chunks of the race. The circuit took
the leaders about 6 minutes. You could decide to stay put and see the
orderly progression of the whole field 10 times (which a huge chunk of
people seem to do) or you could run around and try to get a feel for the
different sections of the race course (which we always do). But this year
it was harder. There was never a clear spot on the short retaining wall
overlooking the beach, and the crowd was 2 or 3 deep along the fences. We
did stay at a place that the riders dropped into the sand from a fast,
slightly downhill stretch, where the deep pit created in the sand was
causing all kinds of havoc. After the race Erik told me that a guy crashed
each of three laps right in front if him. He crashed into him twice and he
had to unclip and loose his momentum on the third. It was amazing to see
how fast the top guys rode the sand, and that they could for that matter!
The race was live on television. I recorded it and have created a streaming
media file to share over the internet. You can watch this with Windows
Media player. It's at a small 150 kbps bit rate but it is reasonable to
watch. I'm uploading a higher resolution file compresses to 512 kbps and
you can check it out by changing the 150 to 512 on the end of this URL for
the better quality file.
Go ahead and watch the December 26 World Cup Cyclocross race here:
http://nathanspear.com/movie/Hofstade2005_150.wmv
-Nathan
On 12/26/05, Jon Myers <jonem-@lycos.com> wrote:
Folks, Here is Erik Tonkin's view from the Cyclo-cross world cup race
in Hofstade:
Oh my god that was hard. Thankfully, even the top guys consider it one
of the toughest. The sand is long and deep and then wet and mucky, and
the course is short. We did 10 laps, the leaders doing just around
6min. per lap. I'm happy to say that I survived on the lead lap, though
just barely. I was, I think, the last guy to make it through. Wicks
was the next guy in front of me, at the start of the last lap probably
far less than a minute up. However, our last lap was goofy because the
course was choked with spectators, so I had to go pretty easy, just kind
of riding it. I don't know what that did to my final time, but I know
that I was about 6min. down at the start of the last lap. Page was in
front of Wicks before one to go, went into the pit and declared that he
was done, but was convinced to finish the race. I must have passed him
in the finish chute because he rolled in after me, so he must have been
the last official rider on the lead lap....I botched the start, letting
myself get out-muscled before the gun went off and then missing my
pedal. I was nearly last of 66 riders around the first turn, then got
stuck behind a crash and had to run up both of the course's early hills.
Pathetic. I couldn't even see Ryan and Barry and Page; Jon Baker was
20 spots ahead; and only Powers (I love Jeremy--great kid) was close.
I'm good at damage control, so I waited to move up until the most
efficient time, which was the first sand section and after. I got to
the
forties and kept plugging away at it, just slacked-jawed, cross-eyed and
both drooling and snotting. After a few laps I was surprised that I had
come to just 15sec. behind Wicks and Page, but that was as close as I
could get to them. By the midpoint, I was with the guys I would
ultimately slug it out with, and first Page and then Wicks moved just
out of
sight but still close. I could see that Ryan was maybe in the top 20 at
that point....Ryan is the real deal, with all the power necessary to
get to the top. If he sticks with it he'll probably gain the experience
and hone the skill he'll need for the future. Page is the real deal.
Barry is, too, but he still has work to do. I was essentially with
those two today, and I had lots stacked against me, so that I'm proud
of.
However, I don't think I'm the real deal. On the other hand, perhaps
if I really pursued it over here for a few more years, I could get to
another lever that would be beyond respectable. Respectable is where
I'm
at now. It's important to keep in mind that this is crunch time over
me, and that's the Belgians talking. This is when all the top guys are
riding their absolute fastest, so to at least finish a World Cup held
on one of the tougest courses, on the leader's lap, is "not bad", as we
say in MN....The racing is intense. It's hard to tell if you're
feeling good, at least it is for me. Right now, I really don't feel
like
myself. But then, I haven't been riding this hard all year. I mean,
I'm
with a group of about 5 guys late in the race, and we're just murdering
each other as if a big win is on the line. We're crashing into each
other, taking ourselves out, all the while battling to not get lapped.
I
swear, you're never just "riding it in"....I proved to have a little
more, but whether or not it was power or resolve, I'm not sure. Some of
the guys over here tend to let up if they are close to getting lapped,
either saving it for another day or, perhaps, bowing to the best. Not
me. When I could feel Nijs' presence behind me, I turned it on. I had
been dropped by my group, but I found another gear and rode the last
half lap as fast as the race leaders, going by the four guys in front of
me and then, as I've said, catching Page. I don't stop racing until
I'm forcibly removed from the course. Nuts to that....The crowd was, in
our Belgian handlers own word, "UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE". So freaking many
people. I'm so glad many know me and cheer me on. Not everybody gets
that. First, you have to be in there. They'll ignore anybody who
clearly
can't hang. Next, you have to give them a reason to support you,
whether it's being friendly and approachable at your team's van, handing
out
trading cards, looking different, etc. I think I have all those
covered. But finally, they like to have a favorite who is THEIR
favorite.
Kinda like how I'm a Green Bay fan no matter what. The first place guy
isn't everything. In my very fortunate case, some of the crowd has
really latched on to me over that past three seasons, and the same crew
comes out to watch all the races every year, and then its size grows
every year, and that's not even half of it--I'm too embarassed by it all
to
go on. Suffice it to say, the support from some of the Belgian fans
makes me think that I'm not wasting my time and money after all. Well,
until the next race, the GVA at Loenhout. Some say it's the biggest
race in Belgium. Crazy. --Erik
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