The Interclub Zwevezele was a very difficult race. There were 135 riders spread around 25 teams averaging 6 riders each. Interlub races are about the eqivalent of nationals in the US, without a stars ans stripes jersey on the line. The course started on a straightaway with a headwind then took a sharp Formula 1-like turn then continued on a downhill with a headwind that was fast. The race took a hard 90 degree right turn over some small cobblestones. The road then was downhill with gusty winds seeming to be everywhere but behind me. The race went up a slighty steep rise, uncommon in Belgium and turned left. There was then a crosswind on the flat straightaway until you hit another left turn which sent you flying in the tailwind. The race turned again onto the last stretch which was a nasty headwind for close to 3 kilometers that rose slightly to the finishing straight. The race was 74 kilometers which was 10 rounds of about 7,4 kilometers. It was extremely windy out but eh, da is België (this is Belgium). I started in one of the back rows because the other riders got to nieuwlingen (15-16) gear rollout first. Racing when you don’t understand the local language can be difficult and confusing. The race started out super fast even though there was a neutral zone for the first kilometer or so. There were a ton of crashes the first 3 laps, I mean ridiculous amounts. There was a rider who hit a plateau in the road, a gentler European style speed bump, and washed his bike out. There were crashes pretty much anywhere that the wind changed during because riders got pinched, guttered and the pack shifted causing wrecks from bumping. I didn’t go down in any wreck and I think it was a miracle, especially during one crash on the third lap. Riders bumped each other and crashed on both sides of the peloton during the gnarly head wind section from who knows what. But, luckily I was in the middle of the group which allowed me to dodge the wrecks, which weren’t far from me at all. I was having some trouble in the beginning of the race because in a kermesse the pace is 100% and then some for the first laps. I finally moved my way up to the front about halfway through and tried to attack the field. I was never successful in breaking away but after the front split went with about 15 riders late in the race I was with only a few riders trying to bridge. The rest of my group kept growing, mostly due to the Belgian kids who didn’t want to pull and wanted to make me, the American, work. One of my team mates, Marcus Smith bridged the group with 3 rounds left, in an effort he couldn’t imagine. The group started to splinter until the end where we sprinted and I came in 25th with Marcus in 21st. We both won BS prijzen (prizes) of 5€ each. Although top 25 isn’t the best I am still proud of how I did because I never gave up on such a hard day of racing.
The Ronde van West Vlaanderen is a stage race, in English means Tour of West Flanders. It was 5 stages over the course of 4 days, with the first day being a team time trial prologue, then a kermesse in the afternoon on the same course. This is a really cool race because it is a stage race just for nieuwlingens (15-16) riders. There were several teams from Belgium along with 4 dutch teams, 1 American, 1 British and 1 Israeli team who also had a few Americans on it. There were 25 teams who competed.
The prologue went very well. It was in the town of Wielsbeke, about 10
kilometers from the house, just across the canal. The course had about 19 turns in it, including dog leg turns. We decided to race on aluminum Specialized Transition TT bikes, which normal helmets and mavic ksyrium wheels. The course was super windy and twisty making the TT a little more difficult than normal. I started the group by taking the first pull, then was: Erik Volotzky, Jonathan Schilling (the Bigga Figga), Marcus Smith, Michael Dessua and Colin Joyce the national TT champion. We rode very smooth through the whole course which was too diffcult besides a few Formula 1 style turns. We rode the 7,4km course in 10:08 which put us in 7th in the team competition, 16 seconds down from the Lotto team. I was then in 27th overall.
Stage two was also windy, 8 rounds on the TTT course. I felt a little toasted from the effort earlier in the day but I still raced hard. The first laps were as always very fast until a group of 20 riders went off the front. Attempting to bridge late I went off the front a few times but failed to make it. Coming into 2 rounds to go myself along with some other riders pulled the group back. Then on the last lap, Sam Neuwy from England went off the front coming into the first corner and won the stage taking the green jersey. I knew the race would be won this way because it is the same way David Kessler won the stage last year. I finished in the pack at around 45th which was okay because I kept my spot in the General Classification.
Stage Three was held in Rekkem, which is less than a kilometer from Frankrijk (France). The race actually passed through France each lap. It was 70 kilometers, making it the longest stage. It was also very hot out side, about 30 degrees Celsius. We did 11 rounds of the course. The race started on a “neutral zone” which was all but that. I started out well. My legs were a little bit heavy from the day before but not too much. The course finished at the top of a 1 kilometer climb, that turned left at the top of the hill which in turn went downhill. Then there was a right turn after that really fast section that went uphill for another 500 meters. Then the course took a good right turn onto a wide city road that started to decline. The course went downhill until a hard left turn where the road narrows and flattens which was carnage most laps. Soon after was a fast left turn onto the bridge over the the freeway. The course then went into France until the road turned right onto another narrow farm road. There was a long straightaway until the last kilometer uphill on Rekkem’s main street. I wanted to be aggressive the whole race because I knew I had to be. I attacked the field hard with a few other riders on both hills on the 2nd lap. I got about 10 seconds on the peloton until I was caught on the downhill. This attack hurt me for the rest of the race because I wasted a lot of matches. I started to drift back because I was having trouble matching the leg speed of the other riders. Average cadence on the flats is 110rpm+ along with constant surging. Not to mention spinning like an animal down the hills. I was able to make it up to front of the group for the end of the race and took a surprising 59th place. I dropped to 38th overall even though I didn’t lose any time. My team mate Jonathan Schilling, was dropped from the group and was trying to bridge up through the chaos of the race caravan. He was riding behind a car when it stopped suddendly and he flipped over the car. I believe he flipped because he is the Bigga Figga, since he is 15 years old and 6’4″. He is okay, just some road rash.
Stage Four was held in the town of Deerlijk, which unlike Rekkem, is flat like pfaanekoeken. The course was very criterium like and had a lot of turns. We started in the middle of town and rode straight out until we hit a sweeping right turn. Then the race did a right turn again, except this time there was a traffic island in the middle of the turn. Then there was a sudden left turn followed by a fast straightaway. The course went right again and then left and then right, within about 1 kilometer. Then it went left again. The next turn was a sweeping right hander that you could ride fast. The way the Belgians corner isn’t like Americans. Americans fly through corners and use their momentum. Belgians brake hard into corners and then sprint out of them which can hurt after awhile. The course after that went until it turned right back onto the finishing straight. We did 9 rounds in this race and it was something like 69 kilometers. I started to move up around my team mates with about 4 to go, once the pace slowed down from a million kilometers an hour at the start. I got into a good position on the last lap and Marcus went off the front coming into the last turn which was around 350-400 meters to the finish. He popped and caused a split from the riders going around him. I was able to leap frog around the whole group. The front group split at the end but we given the same time as the peloton. I almost won the bunch sprint of my group, but I was beat by the British National Road Champion.
Stage Four in Meulebeke was a hard day. The winds were howling everywhere. The race started by rolling downhill and then hitting a sharp left hand corner that changed to uphill then downhill for awhile. The race really strung out here because it was a wide road with a major crosswind coming off the corn fields. The race then turned left into a one lane farm road that was very fast, like 120rpm cadence. The race then turned left uphill and was false flat until it turned left to the major uphill that was the last 3 kilometers before the finish. This section was a massive head wind and it hurt. No breakaways got away this stage. I started pretty far back and was very tired from the other stages. I hung on though even when my legs were having to spin impossibly fast, especially downhill. I was able to move very far up but on sharp turn at the start of the last lap there was a crash right in front of me on the right side so I had to slam on my brakes and jump up on the side walk in the turn so I didn’t crash. This wasted a lot of energy just to keep my spot. I moved up a lot of spots on the uphill on the last lap but I was pinched in a pack shift and I dropped back some spots. In the final 500 meters, which was over the crest of the hill, there was a big crash to the right of me in the peloton which I hardly avoided. A spoke was ripped out of a wheel and actually hit me I was that close. I moved over to the right from the left to shoot gaps which had now just opened up. I wasn’t thinking though and by the time I slotted into the right side the holes had closed and the eventual top finishers passed me on the left side. I came in 33rd which was my best result the whole race. My team Erik Volotzky, Nieuwlingen Criterium National Champion, came in 4th and barely missed 3rd. He had a great ride. He came in 29th in GC and I was 30th.
I am pleased with my result but I think I could have worked harder.
My whole trip to Belgium was amazing. The races were the hardest I’ve ever done and the culture was so cool and different. I don’t want to leave I want to live and race there some more. I’ve already been thinking about my next possible trip back to Izegem through Geoff Proctor’s Euro Cross Camp in December and January. We will see… But for now I will miss the Frituurs, the double-muscle cows and mini-horses along with the speculoos and bakkerijs. Bye Belgium.
