flat tyre

Nys wins Superprestige in Geiten

1. Sven Nys
2. Gerben De Knegt
3. Klaas Vantornout


I'm really starting to like this Gerben De Knegt. he is a classy rider that has been riding like a world champion. last year he won the dutch national jersey and stole it away from old man groenendaal. they both ride for rabo so i'm sure the sponsor is happy.

Vanthourenhout was 3rd yesterday and got 5th today. he rules. i'm anxious to see how he does at the worlds this year. maybe i'll even be able to watch it first hand! i sure hope so.

on to more of a local realistic race that happened here in michigan. could we have asked for better weather? i mean it seems like last week we were freezing our asses off at the iceman and today it was like spring. it was a great showing too. the blue wave was out in full including the 2005 state champ, jer walker. tuck, saari and the normal crew. the course was just totally kick ass. i'm glad we didn't have the normal zig zag on the grass. 3 sets of hurdles and some good technical and plenty of pavement. very nice job on course desgin. i got some really good warm up laps in and was feeling comfortable. this morning i wasn't sure what i was feeling like. as i drove up i didn't have that same huge racing spark i had felt earlier. i knew once i got there i would be back to normal. some of the guys have told me they are getting tired and are ready for the hibernation of the winter. i told saari after the race the only thing keeping me riding decent is the excitment of the sport. i know i'm ready to shut down too but i have 2 more races. i'm sure i'll find some cool video to watch to keep me on the bike and ready to line up on race day. thanks jeff!

the B race was totally awesome today. right away Brake was off the front. hard. he did a good job setting the tempo but it looked a little much after the 2nd or 3rd lap. then the small groups started to form and sure enough the 3 guys i knew would be there were. joel, andy B and andy K. i thought maybe brake would be there too but i think he was still in the red zone trying to recover. from what i could see these guys finally got there shit straightend out and rode away. it was cool because we all had different ideas on who was going to take it. andy K because he road rides with the wheelmen? joel because he packs a sprint? or the MTB downerhiller turned cyclo-cross stud. well andy brown rode smart and won a great sprint. andy K in for second and joel rounded out the top 3. damn that was awesome.

so i'm on the line sitting near the front and robert blows the whistle. we started fast and i felt pretty good finding a nice little gap to settle into. tucker was on the front setting his signature move and the blue wave was right there keeping everything in check. the "sink" sat in on a good wheel and then me. so i knew barely into the first corner that it was either saari or maybe a sunrise guy on my wheel. i don't remember. i was starting to settle into my grove behind the wave, tucker and wiz. as the gap opened i thought saari was right behind me but apparantly he wasn't. so just like normal i'm alone with nothing to focus on. tucker started to come through and i thought we were going to ride together for a bit. i think his check engine light came on because i never saw him again. that is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. if you race your bike in any category i guarantee it will happen sooner or later. finally saari gets me. just up a bit i can see jer falling off the freight train. a ways into the lap when saari caught me we flew by jeff. ok thats not right. he was holding his side so i think he had a cramp. so if he isn't up there and jer is losing contact can we catch them and stay in it for 4th and 5th? i'm feeling really good with tim and we begain to establish a working order. so just when i think we are closing in good on jer saari and i head into a little off camber section behind the velodrome. there are some rocks and things in there. we were going pretty fast but unfortunately as we accelerated going up the dirt trail i felt my rear end slide out. damn! i knew right away i had a flat. i limped around to the pavement but knew i couldn't complete the entire section back to the pit. i rode over to where a group was standing. the very generous and thoughtful rachel didn't even hesitate to try and get me back in the race. she pulled off her superlight weight carbon wheel and tried to get it into my bike. well that didn't work so well and it didn't matter because if it had i would be DQ ed anyways for not getting the wheel from the pit. damn! i watched the race go by and saw that jer and jeff had made contact with each other. saari was in front but once the two were reunited they made huge ground and passed tim back for the final 2 podium spots. great racings guys. i'm not going to lie and say i'm ok with the day but i have to accept it and move on to states. its just part of the gig. i felt pretty good and the weather was just awesome. DC rode really well and layed down a nice patch in the parking lot with his man mobile. that car is bad ass!

so i feel like i still have plenty in the tank. i wish there was a race tomorrow. just like last weekend. i know if there was racing tomorrow i would feel good. i'll just have to save it up for next weekend and try to time myself for a good day. i could still feel the inervite cheer pack trying to work after i stopped racing. i didn't get to burn off all the racing fuel. i hope i can sleep tonight. no pics yet.

1. John Card

2. Rob Foshag

3. Rev Wiz the "sink"