jon myers

From Erik Tonkin currently racing in Belgium for holidays:

Thanks to all you readers out there. And thanks to everybody who posted my last report in various places around the intra-net. I'm not very efficient with my computering, so having these reports posted on various PDX sites as well as cyclocrossworld.com is quite helpful. In fact, I might shorten my list to ask everybody to refer to those bit hitters.... Because of time and laptop access, I'll split this report into two parts. Wow, that's kinda like a pulp novel serialized in 1930's rags--take that, Age of Technology!

Part 1:

Real bike racers ride every day, and real writers write every day. I can't claim that title yet, but I'm trying in my own little way. It's hard to write when things don't go well, and that was the case the other day. Of course, it's hard to motivate to train and race when the chips are down, too. But I wrote that report on Wed., and then I went out to train in the cold and rain for 3 hours. What I wanted to do was go home to the states and lick my wounds and accept the fact that my form just isn't as good this year. I figured that wasn't an option, so I got on the bike and pushed thru it. My thigh had loosened up a bit, so I decided to race at Loenhout.

I can happily report that it's easier to write this because, all things considered, the race went well. Loenhout is a fun but intimidating course, one that makes for a lot of speed and a lot of crashes. I must admit that I was scared--I just didn't want to hit the deck hard again. But the weather cooperated--the rain and just-above-freezing temps. made the loop an absolute mess. Really, it was the kind of cross that I hope and pray for, and I so wish that I could have raced it at 100% of the form that I have now. (I really wish that I could have raced it with the form I had last year, but c'est la vie....) Nevertheless, I gave it a good go.

Loenhout is considered the world's biggest cross thanks to its level of promotion, the size and quality of its field, and its spectator friendly but harrowing course. I heard that 80+ riders started the men's race, and it felt like it at the start. I was near the back (of course), but managed to move up enough to escape the first turn crash and witness Frischy and Treefarm bump and tangle at the head of a very long, straight, nasty grassy mud slog. Our hero--Frischy, that is--went hard into a fence pole and didn't get up. Ryan, on the other hand, got out of the saddle and put it down like few others can. He is just unbelievably powerful. It got harder to ride the closer to the end, and not just because we were all toast by then. The grass just deteriorated into a brown hole. Some guys had to run it, but this guy never did: I'm not blessed with a lot of natural talent, but one thing I do have is low-end torque. Besides, I was determined to stay on the bike, as running
wouldn't've been good for my leg. It was not fast, so the crowd had a lot of time to admire us here. After, Ryan noted that some of the ladies were cheering for him by name. I said they were probably impressed by his humping action.

I caught and briefly passed The Powers here, plunging down the other side shoulder to shoulder with him. Dropping these ramps is tricky--the angle is sharp at the bottom, and the options are bleak, just multiple deep ruts. When this course is muddy, there are no good lines. I mean, tape to tape, lap after lap, almost nothing reliable developed. And if a line did emerge, then it got so rutted-out that it had to be abandoned. Guys were just everywhere, all race long, even back with me. I think everybody wanted to call a "do-over" every lap. Both of us were close behind Wicks now, healthier than he'd been in days and riding like it, too. But Jeremy got to him and the next group in the turnaround at the pit, and he never looked back. Powers went on to have what I think was his best ever Belgian 'cross, finishing 28th, at least a minute up on me. I hope he sticks with it for years to come. I kept Barry in sight at about 30 seconds for the rest of the day, but I never ha
d the punch to make it to his group, yielding maybe 45sec. by the end. He placed 34th, in the front of his gang.

(Well, I've been rousted for a meeting to discuss the late night some young riders had last night, and then Trebon and I are headed to Middlekerke, a C2 on the North Sea and the home of the annual "Legends of Cross" race. So, I will continue this tonight.)