Pijnacker World Cup was last sunday. Mudfest indeed. We warmed up in ice cold stormy weather as the rain pellets pummeled us from every direction. The womens start was the most nervous i've experienced in a while. After missing my start in Italy World Cup and losing all the valuable points that was up for grabs, i was relegated from front row callup (thanks to my 12th UCI world ranking) to fourth row where those ranked 22nd are placed! No more than one second after the gun sounded, an italian gal elbowed me as she tried to get her wheel in front of mine. Since i didn't budge thanks to my massive weight, she bounced off of me and crashed into the wall. I guess i just moved up a spot in the final results! Within a minute or so, i weaved my way into top 10. All was well until the first manmade wooden "flyover". Part way up, i was mowed down by another Italian gal who was sliding back down the ramp, pinning me and my bike. By the time i peeled her off me, almost all the racers had passed. I played catch-up all day on the slippy, slidy muddy course and crossed the line in 18th. Hanka won while Marianne Vos finished over THREE minutes behind her.
This sunday is a superprestige in Belgium and next week is another in Netherlands. I will take my revenge at those events!!! hahahaha!! Grrr!!!
The mens race was just as bad as ours. Guys were zig-zagging through the mud, barely holding onto the handlebars so the bike can choose its own line. THe crowd was devastated when bart wellens took a fall so hard he couldn't function for a bit. Nys, on the other hand, was in his element and schooled the rest!
On a side note, some of you may be aware that joachim parbo - danish nat'l champ - was racing in boulder for the past two weekends. He not only had bad luck at the second of the boulder usgp races (two snapped chains in the first lap of the race) but his bikes arrived late to belgium, causing him to show up late for his start at pijnacker. As the gun sounded, he was busy putting his bike together! Somehow he still managed to place 40th or so, passing a bunch of folks who were on time to the start!! Even though i know bad luck is all part of racing, it still sucks when it happens!
THanks for reading.
Tot straks,
Christine
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