Raced today. Got a new Bushnell EBB and replaced the bearings in the front wheel. Bike no longer creaks and the front wheel doesn’t wobble. Rode good.
The course was bumpy as hell on the flat grass. There were some twisty singletrack sections that were super dry. The dust was getting bad after only the second race and some corners were getting sketchy.
I race 4s in the morning and single speed with the rest of the team.in the afternoon. I waited for a while after my race and no one from the team showed up. It was hot so I called it quits and went home. It’s the first time in maybe ever I’ve gone to a race with no friends at all. Wasn’t very fun.
Season opener for us. Course went up pretty easily. It’s always fun having new people inevitably miss stakes and needing to go back and show them. I got there before 1 and my only other board member that was able/willing to help (that’s a whole different story for a different rant) showed up 3 hours late. Luckily, other people had offered and were able to lend a hand. We were done around 630, with 100% of the course done, but infield stuffs like the reg and timing tents, inflatable arch, PA, etc. to be done in the morning. We had one offical assigned, but another one showed up, so the two of them did timing and it was a huge relief. Reg went smooth, but we’re working off hotspots on our phones and looking at mobile hotspots.
Feedback on the course was great, which I take pride in. I made some parts a little different than in years past, mostly to not kill beginners, but still hard enough for elites at speed. We had a large men’s 3/4 field…but no women’s 3/4. A good number of new 5s, which is always great to see. 7 out of towners.
October is always a tough month out here, with lots of events, but we ended up getting a decent turnout and were in the black.
Bummed I couldn’t race. The elite and ss race looked like fun.
Shit.
Didn’t realize Nate was the last person to post in this thread. Thinking of him now as I’m watching Lars Vanderhaar race in Tabor.
Raced my first double of the season. 4s at 9:45 (on the ss bike) and single speed at 1:45. Still can’t crack the top half of the 4s, but I’m getting closer. 34 out of 60 and 4 min behind the leaders. My goal in single speed is to not be in the bottom 10. Success today being 60th out of 73.
The course was very flat and very peddly. Some technical turns. The elevation was a long run up with barriers in the middle and an equal climb on a gravel road that came 30s later. It was a tough combo.
The course was in town and about a 10 mile ride on the flat mup from home so I rode. Cornelia rode with me and we got two of our friends to come out and race (one for the first time, one for the second) so it was a good time. Also most of my team was there so there was a good party at the team tent for the second half of the day.
Finished fourth today not to far back from the dudes on the podium, feels good man especially considering those three guys have typically lapped me in the past. Extra HY spent the first half of the race with my two favorite rivals, took notes, and successfully dropped them with 3 to go. Additional HY Marley was the race commentator.
Rode really fucking hard for 5thish place yesterday. Spent most of the race in a group of three, one of us was getting a podium spot but it wern’t me. Feeling pretty darn fit doe.
Last year I’d have said no more snow cross, but this year was pretty great. Surface was much more rideable. Made for great racing. Did they do something different? I feel like last year they made some snow for the course, but I’m not sure.
Big change-up on the Zonhoven course today. Three dips into the pit and a long off camber sand section made for interesting moments in the men’s race. Haven’t watched the women yet.
Women’s is what I watched first. A bit more chaos up front in first few laps. Pretty wild and fun stuff. Seeing confidence of people who can ride the whole thing vs those who had trouble early was great.
Hmm.
Fem van Empel is Wout
Puck Pieterse is MVDP
Shirin van Anrooij is Lars, but when he was younger before Wout and MVDP stole the show.
Except they are all Dutch because Belgian women aren’t allowed to be good at things, I guess.
And I mostly did those comparisons because they are on the same teams as the guys, and Puck also does cross and mtb. Damn, actually Fem was u23 euro champ in mtb last year, too. Shirin is u23 euro tt and road champ.
Oh, and all three of them are 20 years old, but mostly will be competing for elite since they all have won multiple world cups this year. It really does feel like when Wout and MVDP stormed into the scene and all the names you cheered for the year prior were just dusted in the first lap.
Subscribe to Puck Pieterse’s YouTube. Mostly it’s just pre-ride videos, but they’re awesome because you get to see how amazing and fast they are when they’re just messing around on bikes. Feels different than watching them rip up the cross course.
