Sunday, November 19, 2006

Superprestige Series #3 - Asper-Gavere, BEL (C1)


I just returned from my first superprestige event. Only recently has there been a dames (girls) category at these events - i think in fact last year was the first! I had a superb pit crew of five: Sharon and Marcel who live in my building and Serge, Christophe and Renatta who have been helping me at most events here in europe.
It was surely the muddiest course i've ever ridden. There was even a very technical descent that was covered in 1-foot-deep mud. (as a side note, i normally receive sms (text) messages after every race from my belgian friends asking how i did, but this time they sent me notes asking if it hurt to smack the pole midway down the mudslide. In belgium, cycling is so popular that even the women get TV time. Anyway, I laughed after i hit the pole and continued to laugh all the way down since there was not much else i could do. luckily it looked worse than it was.)
I got off to a slow start but after a few laps, i finally figured out the best lines through the muck and even caught AND passed the gal in 8th place in the last lap, finishing 45 seconds in front of her. First place was 1:45 in front of me, so that gives me hope that all i need to do is learn how to ride my bike better and i, too, can win one of these things! haha.
Next week i will have one more shot at glory before returning to usa.
Thanks for reading.
:Peanut
ps I found my first die-hard supporter today! He even has my website embroidered into the back of his jacket. Wow, what an honor! I took a photo of it so i can upload it onto this site soon.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

are there some good photos of your race somewhere? cyclingnews only has 4 photos from the men's race, though maybe they'll post more later. and it's a holeshot you're going for in cx, not a poleshot.

PEANUT said...

I am attaching photos from the race. You have to go to:
http://www.lottoladiescycling.be/forum/viewforum.php?f=3
and click on the race to see photos of me. Thanks for wanting to see me playing in the mud - haha!
:P