Guys, Here's a video I found from my race at Masters Worlds. Shot by some French woman, shows the sharp end of the race where I was not. Gives you an idea of the course and the sand!
Enjoy, Jeff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-RW7t4ugG4&feature=player_embedded
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Masters Worlds Recap
Well I'm back in the States, still a little jet lagged but no worse for wear. Thought I would share my experience across the pond in the motherland of all things 'cross. Left KC on 20 January through Chicago then on to Brussels, BE. Did not sleep very much on the 7+ hour flight over the Atlantic. In fact, I felt like crap. My daughter had been sick the weekend of Epic CX and I'm pretty sure I had the same thing. Once we got to the 
campground and our cabins, Mark T. and I built up the bikes and went for a little pre-ride of the Worlds course. First impression was, holy #*&% Batman there's alot of sand! Start/Finish straight is about 400M long then onto a beach along a lake. The sand was deep, and for me I could only ride about half way to the waters edge. It was more solid here and you could remount, but only for about 100M, then another deep sand section with a little uphill that was difficult to ride. The next third of the course was a flowy, sandy section that was critical to be smooth through, because if you overcooked it and got off line then you were in the deep sand again. There was a line there, but you had to nail it just right. From there it was loamy singletrack in a pine forest. The ground was soft and berms were forming in the corners. In this section was a downhill to a tight left and a sharp,
rooty uphill. About 2/3 of the way around the course there was a sand bowl with 2 tight lefthand corners. I made the decision to run this as I was struggling with the deep sand. Also on the course was one run-up with tree trunk stairs and one barrier section. All told I was looking at 4-5 times off the bike per lap, minimum. We rode about 4 or 5 laps and called it good, as it was starting to rain a little. We reconned again on Friday and saw a couple off Americans, Kevin Hines (National Champ 50-54) and Jonny Bold (National Champ 40-44) pre-riding as well. They were flying! I was watching the locals totally clean the sand sections, it was cool and disheartening at the same time. I knew I was not going to aquire that skill in the next 24 hours no matter how long I worked at it. I did three laps, and still felt nasty, like I couldn't get opened up. I endo-ed on the beach on my last attempt to ride it and jammed my right shifter 6 inches under the surface of the sand. Long story short, Mark and I ended up riding about 50K to a bike shop in a neighboring town to get a new SRAM shifter, as we could not fix it or get it unclogged. Turns out it was Bart Wellens' home shop, too bad he wasn't there. So the day before the race I feel horrible, I am stressed about the shifter, and I rode about 2 hours longer than I wanted! Plus I got to walk to the ATM in downtown Kasterlee in my S&G kit with white Sidis on. I got some funny looks!
campground and our cabins, Mark T. and I built up the bikes and went for a little pre-ride of the Worlds course. First impression was, holy #*&% Batman there's alot of sand! Start/Finish straight is about 400M long then onto a beach along a lake. The sand was deep, and for me I could only ride about half way to the waters edge. It was more solid here and you could remount, but only for about 100M, then another deep sand section with a little uphill that was difficult to ride. The next third of the course was a flowy, sandy section that was critical to be smooth through, because if you overcooked it and got off line then you were in the deep sand again. There was a line there, but you had to nail it just right. From there it was loamy singletrack in a pine forest. The ground was soft and berms were forming in the corners. In this section was a downhill to a tight left and a sharp,
rooty uphill. About 2/3 of the way around the course there was a sand bowl with 2 tight lefthand corners. I made the decision to run this as I was struggling with the deep sand. Also on the course was one run-up with tree trunk stairs and one barrier section. All told I was looking at 4-5 times off the bike per lap, minimum. We rode about 4 or 5 laps and called it good, as it was starting to rain a little. We reconned again on Friday and saw a couple off Americans, Kevin Hines (National Champ 50-54) and Jonny Bold (National Champ 40-44) pre-riding as well. They were flying! I was watching the locals totally clean the sand sections, it was cool and disheartening at the same time. I knew I was not going to aquire that skill in the next 24 hours no matter how long I worked at it. I did three laps, and still felt nasty, like I couldn't get opened up. I endo-ed on the beach on my last attempt to ride it and jammed my right shifter 6 inches under the surface of the sand. Long story short, Mark and I ended up riding about 50K to a bike shop in a neighboring town to get a new SRAM shifter, as we could not fix it or get it unclogged. Turns out it was Bart Wellens' home shop, too bad he wasn't there. So the day before the race I feel horrible, I am stressed about the shifter, and I rode about 2 hours longer than I wanted! Plus I got to walk to the ATM in downtown Kasterlee in my S&G kit with white Sidis on. I got some funny looks! So race day dawns cloudy, 
a little foggy, and cold in the early morning. My race was not until 1230 so I had some time to get ready. Where we were staying is literally 50M from the course. I went with Mark, Teresa, and Donica down to register. This was a trip! People are crowding in the room at 0800 and registration isn't supposed to open up until 0830. Got the requisite forms filled out, paid my 15 Euros, and got my numbers. No waiver to sign, they barely checked my license. I went back to the cabin and got some breakfast, and then watched the women race. A gal from Vermont won the Women born before 1960 race. Another American was third.
a little foggy, and cold in the early morning. My race was not until 1230 so I had some time to get ready. Where we were staying is literally 50M from the course. I went with Mark, Teresa, and Donica down to register. This was a trip! People are crowding in the room at 0800 and registration isn't supposed to open up until 0830. Got the requisite forms filled out, paid my 15 Euros, and got my numbers. No waiver to sign, they barely checked my license. I went back to the cabin and got some breakfast, and then watched the women race. A gal from Vermont won the Women born before 1960 race. Another American was third. I got pinnned and kitted up then went to warm up. I felt better than the 2 days prior, but still felt empty. I got a good warm up on the roads around the park where the course is located. They did this thing all PRO. Crowd control barriers all along the staright, banners hanging from them. A grandstand and podium as well. They have a race announcer on the PA speaking in Dutch, french and English. I go to staging and wait for the random call up. Yep, you guessed it, next to last row! Funny how all the English speakers (save National Champions) are near the back. Whistle blows and we're off. I get a decent start, didn't miss my pedal and move up about 10-12 spots. I'm still middle of the pack as we take the left to head to the beach. The smell of carbon fiber was unbelievable! There was a crash in front of me so I'm off the bike before I left the pavement. I ran the entire beach section, the waterfront and the next sand section, it was so congested. I then got to the corners right in the flowy section and moved up another couple of spots, even traded elbows with some of the locals. I was ready to open it up on the power sections. 
But as the race progressed I felt more and more drained. Technically I was riding well, cleaned the root section every time. I nailed the flowy section and used it to recover from the beach runs. But I felt myself going backwards. I would try to stay on wheels but couldn't. With 2 laps to go I have no idea where I am as it got pretty strung out. Then I hear, "Laatste ronde, laatste ronde, Mark Druyts (reigning Belgian and World Champ)!" He laps me in the flowy section and I manage not to get in his way and still stay upright. He was yelling at me 100M back. This was new experience for me as I had never been lapped in a race before. The top 4 in the race lapped me and I didn't hold anybody up. Also, on the last time through the stair/run up I was going to be lapped by this French guy. He came in to the dismount behind me way too hot and took a digger. I am remounting and hear him yell, "sacre bleu!" I was cracking up, he must have dropped his chain because he never did catch me. Small victory. I was dicing with a guy from England on the last lap and I bobbled on a remount and he got by for 49th place and me in 50th one lap down. All in all a great experience and tons of fun. Just wish I felt better and maybe could have had a little better showing for the U.S. Sorry this is so long, but thanks for reading, Jeff
But as the race progressed I felt more and more drained. Technically I was riding well, cleaned the root section every time. I nailed the flowy section and used it to recover from the beach runs. But I felt myself going backwards. I would try to stay on wheels but couldn't. With 2 laps to go I have no idea where I am as it got pretty strung out. Then I hear, "Laatste ronde, laatste ronde, Mark Druyts (reigning Belgian and World Champ)!" He laps me in the flowy section and I manage not to get in his way and still stay upright. He was yelling at me 100M back. This was new experience for me as I had never been lapped in a race before. The top 4 in the race lapped me and I didn't hold anybody up. Also, on the last time through the stair/run up I was going to be lapped by this French guy. He came in to the dismount behind me way too hot and took a digger. I am remounting and hear him yell, "sacre bleu!" I was cracking up, he must have dropped his chain because he never did catch me. Small victory. I was dicing with a guy from England on the last lap and I bobbled on a remount and he got by for 49th place and me in 50th one lap down. All in all a great experience and tons of fun. Just wish I felt better and maybe could have had a little better showing for the U.S. Sorry this is so long, but thanks for reading, Jeff
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