So big race day today. Scheldecross. A great venue. A classic course. Perfect racing weather – short sleeve skinsuit and thin cycling socks – can’t beat that on Dec. 19!

We set off around 9 a.m since Marc and Ed were racing at noon. Made it there with no issues. Got registered and got the all important elite parking pass. This elite parking pass is crucial – it got us into the compound with all the big teams and riders. We got a good spot and were quickly surrounded by the Fidea trucks and cars.

Things didn’t go so well for Ed – he forgot his shoes. Tim did the best to get them to him in time but it didn’t work out. Marc had a super start. He was riding in 5th place. Then a crash on a descent onto the pavement set him back. This crash caused his SRM cable to come loose and get tangled in his wheel… And he didn’t want to pit because of a bent derailleur hanger. In the end Marc fought back super hard and his never say die racing style earned him a 16th place. As I told both Marc and Ed – tomorrow is another day and surely will be better.

As for me. Well I had a pretty good day on the bike. Today I finished 23rd. This might not seem super-fantastic but today I was racing with the strongest field I’ve ever faced. All the greats were there. I held my own and put together a good ride. There are areas I can improve on. Areas that I rode super well. So I’m content. I’ve written a race report here.

After my race I hopped on the trainer to get in a solid cool down. Marc set the trainer up so I could watch the men’s race and watch the people watching me. A very bizarre experience. Don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the starring. The fans check you out. They check the bike out. The stare at you for a bit. And then keep walking. Kind of cool. Now I know how giraffes and monkeys in the zoo must feel. One guy stopped to ask me all sorts of questions about my heart rate.

I met David Quist today. He is an American/Norwegian who has come over to get some European cyclo-cross experience. Nice to meet him. We’ll see him tomorrow in Lichtervelde. Got to catch up with Daniel and his sons – super friendly and encouraging.

The elite men’s race was pretty exciting. I wandered around taking pictures and cheering for my favorite – Vervecken. Unfortunately he abandoned – but he is still one of the greats.

So here are my pics from the day. Some are a bit blurry… Sorry about that. I’ll have more photos tomorrow from Jos and Ed.

Truly felt the cycling vibe today. Rolling along in the group ride. Who is a few rows ahead of me? None other than the man himself – Sven Nys. Doesn’t get much cooler than that. As Tim said “All the greats were out today.”

Hopped into the group ride close to the house and then dropped off with Marc and Ed in Zichem. Marc took us on a fun route that involved one of the largest and steepest hills I’ve seen in Belgium. I kind of thought Marc was joking when he said the hill was steep. So of course, I attacked… Mistake – big one. That hill was steep. Looking forward to riding it again next week.

Did a nice solo ride after that. No music. Just me, the bike and awesome little Belgium farm roads. Hooked up onto some of my favorite routes. Nice steady pace. A few openers for tomorrow. Not often that I ride without music. Had my iPod but just really wanted to get all the sense firing today.

Pretty chilled day today. Made a quick trip to the bike shop. Picked up some gear and Marc bought some swank gloves – some super warm Sealskin gloves and some slick BBB racing gloves. I might get some BBB gloves for myself – at 9 euros – can’t really go wrong.

Just us Canadians here at the house right now. Tim and Jos are over at Blauberg getting the British Cycling Federation riders settled in. We’re all flaked out getting caught up on the action of the day. Have a good one. Send me some fast vibes tomorrow. I’m racing at 1:30 (7:30 a.m. EST). Marc and Ed race at noon (6 a.m. EST).

Oh, it was kind of wet on the ride today. Not raining. Just greasy. See for yourself.

Muddy and happy

The smooth folks at Cyclocross Magazine got a sneak peak at the U.S. UCI cyclo-cross schedule for 2009.

It is going to be a busy season. Looks like I might have to move down to New England for a little bit. Has to be more effective than driving back and forth to Ottawa every Friday and Sunday.

Throw in Canadian Nationals and the Toronto UCI weekend and it will be a stacked schedule. Fun stuff. Lets just hope that Canadian Nationals are not scheduled for some early date in October again… I’d really like to race at Gloucester in ’09… Edmonton, Alberta is nice but it can’t compare to the crowds and vibes at Gloucester (man, I love this race).

Okay, back to reality. And damn, my reality is pretty darn fine right now – 7 a.m, quiet house, mug of earl grey tea, in Westmeerbee, Belgium. Hmm, loving my reality. l8r.

Today was really about pre-riding at Scheldecross. The Scheldecross race is this Friday. A big day of racing for all of us here in Westmeerbeek. Marc and Ed will race the Masters races and then I’ll race the Elite Women’s race. Tim and Jos will be at the race as well with the British Federation riders.

Had a leisurely morning with work, walk to the bakery, a yoga session, lunch and then it was off to Antwerp to pre-ride. So the course – sand, sand and more sand. This race is all about the sand. Currently the sand is quite soft and not very forgiving. We think that by Friday it will become more compacted. I do remember being able to ride large sections of the sand last year.

Here is a glimpse of the sand section – it is so long I couldn’t get it in one shot:

Scheldecross sand

Apart from the sand the course is fairly tame. The start features a long paved section with a quick u-turn leading into the hole shot. A bunch of twists and turns, takes racers by a massive VIP tent, underneath the fly-over, by the pits, onto a mix of sand and grass, some fast sections, more twists and turns, onto the pavement, up and over the fly-over, fast entrance onto the sand – and then back to the start.

We spent quite a bit of time riding the sand, looking at entry and exit lines, and playing around with gearing. I must say Marc was a massive help and with his advice I was able to ride a lot of the sand. I even got the thumbs up sign from Marc after riding one section! As I was the one with the camera, here are some pictures of Marc riding the sand and goofing around:

We were out on the course for close to two hours. There were lots of workers out there getting the course set-up and taped. There were a few other riders out on the course – but other than that we had the place to ourselves. A good day on the ‘cross bike most definitely.

Just about ready to hit the sack. Tomorrow I’ll jump into the group ride for a bit and then jump off and do some openers for the race on Friday. Have a good one.

I always say good things happen to good people. I realized today that this is what our trip is – a good thing. Good for the soul. Good for the brain. Good for the legs and lungs. Good for us. Not to mention that we’re pretty lucky to be here. Suffice it to say, today has been another good day.

Not much happened really. Normal stuff. Work. Riding. Chillaxing.

The ride was good. We joined the group ride from Begijnendijk. Today there were three groups of 50! Can you believe it? A huge mix of riders, abilities and experience. Pros. Semi-pros. Retired pros. Wannabes and hangers on. Nice pace that ranges between 30 – 35 km an hour. Two by two. Everyone takes a pull at the front. I dropped off in Averbode and then made my way back here (I only wanted to get 90 minutes in). Jos stayed with the group until Nieuwrode – she got 63 km in – pretty smooth. Marc and Ed did the full route – ended up being a little over 70 km and two hours in time. So next time looks like I’ll do the whole route – not much difference between two hours and 90 minutes…

Tomorrow we’re heading to Antwerp to pre-ride the Scheldecross race course. Really looking forward to racing this Friday. I get to watch Marc and Ed race. Then I race. And then we get to totally have a blast and watch the elite men race. I’ve got my favorites – Page (of course) and Vervecken (such an awesome rider). Looking forward to cheering and taking lots of pictures. Of course I’m looking forward to racing – I really like this course – lots of sand, flat, a big fly-over, and lots of crowds.

I’ll race again on Saturday. Probably just a local race around here. Looks like Zolder right now. No racing for me on Sunday. The logistics were too much so I’m not doing the World Cup in Nommay. I’ll be saving my first World Cup race for Zolder on Dec. 26.

So there you have it. Good times had by all. I’ll try to get some pictures tomorrow and post them (no guarantee though – I’m not so good in the photo department…).