What a hectic weekend...

filled with riding and talking, my two favorite activities.

Last Saturday started early with a 9am flemish language class. It was my first class so i was really nervous. The three days leading up to it, i used all my free time to study hard - for at least ten minutes a day.

When i walked into the building, I asked the secretary where the class was (of course in my best dutch.) As she got up to walk me to the classroom, she turned to a guy who was sitting in front of her and said, "this one was easy" in dutch. She deposited me in a room filled with 5 students and a teacher. I immediately introduced myself and told the instructor that i had to leave early for my first cyclo-cross race of the season (all in dutch). When he responded in dutch and continued with the class in dutch only, I realized what the woman meant when she said "this one was easy." She was referring to which class I belonged - beginner or advanced. Somehow instead of going to the beginner class which was where I planned to go, I ended up in the advanced conversational class.

It was scary at first since the majority of my conversations thus far have been with little kids and old people. But it went well. Everyone spoke real slowly so it was relatively easy to follow. I even found myself talking a lot. I owe most of what I knew to the Simpsons TV show, the same way that Belgians learn English - reading the subtitles. Every time i watch tv, i read the subtitles in hopes of learning some Dutch. I guess it worked. It did feel funny saying the words aloud that I have only read on TV subtitles.


After 1 1/2 hours of language class, Jonas picked me up and we headed directly to the race. That class gave me enough courage to speak Flemish to everyone at the race site and I swear I understood more that day than ever before. If only i could get everyone to speak as slowly as they do in class.

The course was laid out on a cow pasture. The trails were almost completely covered in bumpy ditches and cowpies. Even the one "good line" around the course was only slightly better than the rest of the course. This made it very hard to pass people. But it did give me lots of practice on that type of terrain that seems to pop up often in races.

They ran the womens race with a mens 35+ Masters, as they sometimes do. My start was a little slow because i got caught up behind a guy who refused to be passed by a girl. By the time i got around him on the second lap, I had exhausted myself both physically and emotionally. I had forgotten how exhausting frustration can be - never again. With 2nd place (Anja) only 10 seconds behind I focused all my energy on pushing myself as hard as i can to build a significant gap on the hard-charging gal.

A bit later I looked at my watch to confirm that the race is almost over, only to find that I had completed a whopping 15 minutes - 30 minutes left! Just as I was fearing that I would lose the motivation to keep up the pace for the rest of the race, I was passed by a guy who was traveling at the perfect pace - slightly faster than I. He was like a gift from the cyclo-cross gods.

As we pulled into the grassy field just before the finish line, he asked me if i wanted to sprint. At first I laughed, but then I gave it a go for fun. My sprint turned out to be exactly the same speed as our pace. We (Jan and I) finished 18th and 19th in the mens 35+ category while I got extra bonus money for 1st woman. Total prize money for the day was 10.50€ - 8€ for 1st woman and 2.50€ for 19th man. The cost of the race was 6.50€ but you get 2€ back when you return your race number. I also scored a girly Tee.


Overall, it was a blast - a great way to start the season. The organization VDN - combined with belgiancyclingselection's Ludwig Gladines efforts - put on a great race! It was lively, fun, ran smoothly, and offered De Koninck beer in their "beer garden". I am not sure if it is still called a beer garden if it is only alonside the course and doesnt have the course go through it as was the tradition in Belgian cross races up until three years ago. The UCI made this decision stating that it was unsafe for the riders due to the temperature difference inside/outside the tent and that the riders may get hit by a beer bottle. They based their info on a quote made by Richard Groenendaal that was taken out of context. Pity because they were a lot of fun.

After a shower and change of clothes, we sat at the cafe and watched the mens event. As I sat there waiting for Jonas to bring our drinks to the table, I thought about how thrilled i was to feel relatively recovered so soon after the race. But my thoughts immediately came to a crashing halt when i tried to raise the glass to my lips. My arms were so worked from all the bumps that it was an effort to lift the liquid. The pain was well worth it all.

Thanks always for reading!