Today didn’t go quite like I had hoped. But, there aren’t any do overs here. There are a lot of could have, should have, would have things spinning through my mind. I’m trying to dismiss them. Time will take care of that. I made a ton of mistakes. Not big ones, but a lot of little ones that add up to 6 seconds. That was the gap from me to the winner.
The race is sort of a crap shoot from before the start. The call up is so important. Every race I watched, the best Belgium guys happened to be “randomly” lined up on the front row. That was the case in my race too. I was called up in the 4th row. I squeezed my way up a 1/2 a row. No one was paying any attention to the grid. I got an okay start. I got into the sand somewhere in the top 15, passed a few guys on the beach, but got jammed up again in the next sand section coming off the beach. I chased a front group of 10 or so most of the first lap, not being able to pass anyone on the tight back section. When I got to the road section after a lap, I jumped by 5 or 6 guys, but was bummed to hear 4 laps to go. That would have been a little over 20 minutes.
So, I got up to 4th on the next lap and was chasing a group of 3, but they split up into one single Belgium guy and the other 2, the Beligium National Champion and the Dutch National Champion. I was about 20 seconds off 1st, when I caught up to the other 2 just hitting the line with one to go. The Belgium guy went past the Dutch rider and I followed him. I rode badly through the sand that lap and the Dutch guy slammed into me from behind when I crossed up. I got going and caught up to the Belgium guy pretty quickly and passed him. We were 15 seconds down and I figured that I had nothing to lose by just going hard to the line. I was less than 5 seconds back in 2nd with 1/3 a lap to go, with the Belgium National Championship sitting on and we entered that last sand pit. I sort of bobbled, then got hooked pretty good and came off my bike. It was over then. I had to run the last 20 meters and knew I wasn’t catching 2nd, let alone 1st. So, I just rode to the finish line.
I can’t say I’m pleased with the result. I was planning on winning. I wasn’t having a great day. Maybe a 7.5 on a 1 to 10. But, that form should have been good enough to win this race. When you’re only racing a 30 minute cyclo-x, you can’t afford to give up much time anywhere. I did. In little bits and pieces. Plus, I didn’t ride the race like it was 30 minutes. I rode it more like it was going to be 45 minutes. Or maybe an hour. Right now, I can’t recall a time in the race I was really winded. That is just wrong. But, like I said above, the race is over and the results are the results.
Kevin Hines, who was racing my race, had an awesome finish. He was officially listed as 6th, but I think he finished 5th. Anyway, he was lined up 3 rows behind me and only finished a minute back on the winner. I would have been hard pressed to do that. He must be great at passing guys.
The American men all had pretty good showings here, but not as good as I had thought. I didn’t realize, fully, how imperative the start was. I realized it was pretty important, but not vital for winning. Maybe for my race it wasn’t vital. But, if I would have started on the front row, I can’t imagine the results not being a lot different.
Peter Webber finished 4th and Brandon Dwight was 6th. Jonny Bolt was 3rd also, which he might not be too pleased about either. Don Myrah got a horrible call up. He passed where I was standing 1/2 a lap into the race in 50th or so. He rode up to the top 15 I think, but didn’t see the results. He had no chance from where he started.
I hope in the US next year someone comes up with a better way to line the fields up at Master’s Worlds. This wasn’t a “random” line up. If we use the Belgium method, then I hope the UCI keeps the status quo. But, for fairness, we probably should call up the top finishers from the previous year and then ride a time trial like we did at Nationals in Bend this year. I can’t think of a fairer method right now off the top of my head.
A lot of stuff went pretty wrong on this trip. And, I’m usually good at making due. That is something I pride myself in. But, I’m going to have a hard time letting this one go for a bit. I spent a ton of time concentrating on this. There are tons of positives from this trip. Too many to list. You know, this is the first time in my life I’ve raced a cyclo-x in Belgium. I never thought of it, but it isn’t bad to add to my palmares.
So, I’m going to Brussels tomorrow to take Trudi to the airport. She has to go back to work in Spain. Right now, I’m going to meet up with the Kansas City crowd and drink a lot of Belgium Beer.
Two Belgians and me.
Standing around afterwards with Jonny Bolt and Kevin Hines doing an interview with Peter Weber.
Getting ready in the cabin before the start.
Don't see this much for dinner in the States.
The highest placed American finisher in the Master’s World Championship – and a podium place – nothing to regret – that is bike racing.
Congratulations Steve!!!
BTW, be careful in Europe you can get charged with DUI on your bike 🙂
I second what Ted said…..Congrats!
You can not only be charged with DUI on a bike here in Kansas, but you can also be convicted and serve a mandatory two days in jail for your first offense, a week for the second offense, and three months mandatory for a third offense – plus on the first offense you can get your DL suspended for a year if your BAC is over .15… Kansas has the toughest drunk driving laws in the world (except for Saudi Arabia)
Under the circumstances you should be awarded honorary Belgian citizenship…
Awesome ride Steve, wish I could have seen it!
Steve,
There are always could have/should haves. Now is time to reflect on the “Did”. Your “Did” is you placed at Worlds which is freckin awesome and always a whole lot better than crashing out or getting a ill timed mechanical. Congrats – great job and enjoy the well deserved beer.
B.Temesy
yikes ID
Great result against Belgians in Belgium. They do own the sport of cyclocross.
Another item of podium etiquette, a smile, this is bike racing after all and it is fun, even third place.
Congrats.
Doubtful that would be enforced in Kansas unless you cause an accident by riding your bike – in Europe the first question is – “how much did you have to drink?” – rather than the standard ‘license and registration’ demand here.
I agree – you should be an honorary Belgian citizen!
Sounds all to familiar. At Il Ciocca in 1991, MTB Worlds, the organizers were “unable” to have any national teams stay in lodgings close(riding distance) to the start/finish area. The US team was spread all over the place. Somehow the Italian Team had the whole 2nd floor of the 1 hotel that was at the start finish area.
This,combined with the Italian run shuttle system, that was supposed to ferry the riders at 15 min intervals up the mt road to the venue….
The shuttle bus would fill at the 1st 2-3 stops, leaving any+all others to fend for themselves in getting to the races-practice laps,etc…
Made for a lot of scrambling by us riders+the support staff…..
Steve,
Beautiful ride considering all the turmoil with travel, no bike until the last minute etc. Congratulations on a podium finish!!
Under the circumstances, it was amazing you got there; had you been delayed 12 more hours, you’d still be in the US – and then there was the bit about not getting all your luggage on time so you were under a lot of unnecessary stress. On top of which, you got “home-towned” something fierce. Congratulations, under conditions which would have crushed anyone else, you got on the podium.
Steve,
I think you bring up some legit points concerning the call ups. I haven’t had the opportunity to see the number of US masters that were over competing, but we didn’t have any front row call ups? Hines finished 2nd last year, that doesn’t warrant a front row?
I also don’t understand why the race is so short. We are talking about elite athletes. The race should be at least 45 min. so racers that are shafted in the call up still have time to move up.
Sounds like we need to give the Belgians some “home cooking” next year and let them eat some of their own stew!
BTW-You really had a tough day yesterday. I know your a big KU fan and they had a tough finish also! Be safe getting home!
Congrats, Steve. As usual, you made the best of a tough situation. Your PMA really helped you overcome the obstacles placed before you.
Yes fix the start. I fixed start is just another form of cheating. But more importantly why do masters have do such short races. I’m sure those racing masters aren’t carrying a life alert emergency bracelet while they race. Lets get real and not go below 45 min minimum. Regardless of age surely master have more than 30 min of racing in them. Sorry about bad mouthing the system but lets get real and get back to what racing is about. RACING!!! (without bias)
Steve,
I know your finish wasn’t all you had hoped for. But still… any way you cut it… you did an awesome job. Thanks for representing the USofA in such magnificent fashion.
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