8/7/2003

Hello. No I am not dead, or missing. I know that it has been a while since I last updated you all on my racing. Life is rolling along at an alarmingly fast rate…I mean it is August 7th! We have been getting into the really busy month of August, with races all over the place. I raced last Sunday, again on Tuesday, and yesterday (Wednesday) also. That is pretty much why you haven’t heard from me lately…I don’t really want to overload your e-mail accounts. The racing is hard…that doesn’t change…and I have been enjoying some good form more and more. I apologize if I am brief, it is not for a lack of desire…rather a lack of details that I actually remember!

The past few days Belgium and all of Europe has been really hot. I am talking upper midwest heat. Around 35-40 degrees celcius…I guess that would be around 85-95f. last Sunday we raced in Hollain near the French border. It was a 1.12 155km’s. the race was a big loop with some smaller laps at the end. There was a nasty little cobbled hill that was typical chaos…all I remember is that there was riders everywhere…things didn’t return to normal until well after the climb. Our team had a pretty decent day, although with a little more fortune things could have been a lot better. Jed Schneider rode like a madman…did his job to make the early break and then stayed in it for two hours. That was great, but whats more impressive is that he then proceeded to cover more attacks and get into the next big split. Mark Fitzgerald was also in the move. I later bridged up to Jed’s group with Mark already gone with two others going for the win. Unfortunately, a group of seven rolled out of Jed’s group before I got there and eventually caught Mark and the other two. Mark had a good result…9th or 10th…but he knows that could have been better. It was my job to lead out Jed for 11th place…we botched it a little…well a lot and I finished 20th with Jed at 25th. The team was forth in the team classification, so that was really good for us.

After an easy day I was off to race again for the national team at an espoir race 1.7 180km’s in Willebroek. The race was super flat, but fortunately there was a long cobbled section that completely blew the field apart. The big break of the day was about 25 guys, and we had three in it. Following the cobbles I was in a group of about 30 chasers with Shawn and Saul. We didn’t really have to do much except make sure that there werent any big groups that got up the road. In the end Pat finished 12th with Stu and Tyler also in the top 20. Shawn and I were in a group of maybe 12 going for the leftovers. Shawn won that sprint to be pretty close to 20th. That was a pretty good day for the team, winning would have been better…but you can only give it your best shot.

I didn’t realize it…but I found out after the race Tuesday that I would race again on Wednesday evening. The heat was oppressive…I have been drinking a ridiculous amount of water…but I actually really like it! After Wisconsin winter’s…I don’t ever like to complain about the heat! The race was a 1.12 in Zillebeke…with a 4pm start. Pretty weird…it was also short at 130 km’s. There weren’t really any flat parts to the race…but there was only one real climb…pretty steep…but not really long. It was a pretty fast race, not easy (they never are!) and it sort of felt like a big kermesse. We got four guys in the big break (yeah another big break) of about 40 guys. From there we took turns making sure that we had guys in the next little moves that rolled off. Usually these little breaks from a bigger group happen pretty innocently…so you need to make sure that your guys in the front. A group rolled off when we must have been to far back…fortunately Nat did a heck of a job to help Saul get into that move…and they were gone. Pretty weird how bike racing works…there were a hundred little breaks just like that one…and that’s the one that works! Fortunately Saul got into it…Unfortunately, there were 8 guys. One out of eight isn’t very good, but the three of us in the pack weren’t even thinking about chasing. We just made sure to keep an eye open for attacks, and hope that Saul could stay up front. Saul finished 7th and I managed to screw up the sprint for whatever was left….but still finish in the money at 25th. We all made some Euro’s…so that was nice…now I can blow it on something…maybe a massage from Natalie!

I guess that is what I got for race recap’s. I am supposed to be home on August 27th….which is like 20days away…that is crazy. I don’t know for sure If I will be back…but either way I will keep the updates coming. I apologize for the lack of adventure and excitement in my report this time…I think racing here has turned into much more the norm…I am no longer wide eyed and amazed when I line up. Things are normal and not much happens that is too surprising. I suppose the guys who crashed right in front of me yesterday was exciting…I almost took a concrete slide…and just barely missed running over his head! Thankfully I was lucky to miss him, I guess that’s how fragile racing is sometimes…a few inches or slower reaction on my part and I could have been in the stretcher next to him after the race.

OK so on that note…(!)…I will say good-bye. Until next time, enjoy your bikes, and the rest of the summer!

bryan