Tim ReinhartDiary of a U23 Rider
in Europe
4/21/02 Timmy
Zellik-Galmaarden is one of the toughest and most respected races in Belgium
that we had to race. Noel was very nervous before the start and wanted us
all to do very well because it would be a good warm up for Tour of Flanders,
and Liege. This race featured many tough cobbled climbs including the Muur,
the Congoberg, and the Bosberg. We started in Zellik, which is very close to
Brussels, and from there we road about 30 kilometers until we arrived at a
circuit that we would be doing for numerous kilometers. The starting field
was huge with about 250 riders, and everybody wanted to be at the front right
away, so it made for a fast pace from the gun. The natural rider number
started to drop right away also because of all the crashes that occured.
With all the stopping and going, and riders not paying attention, and
slamming on their brakes but still running into the person in front of them
makes for some pretty nasty spills. After we did our first lap on the
circuit we made our way down a small descent, and thats when about 20 riders
all crashed. I would have to say that about 50 riders all got caught up in
it, and got stuck behind. I nearly missed it, and had to go riding in the
field to avoid it, but which actually saved me because I was able to stay
with the front group of about 30 while the others were chasing behind, and
plus it gave us a little cushion for the Bosberg, which we would be climbing
5 times that day. OUCH. At this moment in the race Jon Retseck found
himself in a break of about 8 other riders, and we were sitting pretty. The
rest of the peleton caught us and we started to set up for the acent of the
Muur. I have only seen this in the cycling videos so I was pretty stoked to
be racing on such a hard and famous climb. But then you know my luck kicked
in and I got a flat 1 Kilometer before the finish. The fields were still
separted alittle, and there was no wheel car for a while so I found myself
out of the front group, and then chasing hard for the next 50 Kilometers, but
never catching more then the riders being dropped from all the climbs.
Bumer. But the team was continuing to race really well, with Jon still in
the break, and Mike Creed, Patrick McCarty, Walker Ferguson, and Mark
Fitzgerald and still in good position. The last lap seemed to play a bit bad
for us as the break was caught, but three riders from it managed to finish
just 15 seconds ahead of the storming field. Jon Retseck was the highest
finisher in 15th, and the rest were in the field. We race again on Wedesday
in Cote Picarde in France, and its a 1.7.1 which is an U23 world cup race, so
it should be fun.
copyright © 2002 by Everette Carr. All rights reserved.
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