This was how long it took for the hail storm that chased me and my bike the whole way home to smack against the ground after I stepped inside the house. Running from dark clouds is an even more unneverving experience when having to be done at a piano (recovery) pace. OK, let's see just how fast i can ride the bike while keeping the heartrate under 90bpm? This time i won the game. Tomorrow may play out differently. It is supposed to rain straight through to sunday. Monday's promised 20 deg C sunny day cant come soon enough.
(Here is a photo of the sky just after the hail storm passed.)
Guess who is considering to ride the 2012 mountain bike Olympics in London? Bart friggin Wellens! He and Fidea teammate Stybar want to qualify for it if it works in with their cyclo-cross plans. Since Sven Nys has already declared his intentions in competing, that leaves theoretically one spot available for Wellens given that Philippe Meirhaeghe has announced his retirement.
Last year, Nys competed in a bunch of mtb events to get extra points for Belgium so they may send three guys (instead of 2. the third spot was taken from USA when nobody from USA showed up to the last qualifying event to ensure their extra spot.) This means that Raul Paulissen, Nys and Wellens all have to chase UCI MTB points leading up to the Olympics to earn Belgium three spots again. AND what this means to cross fans is that we now get to see our favorite rockstars playing in the dirt during the summer as well!
Speaking of Sven Nys, my interview of him is set to be published shortly in Cyclocross Magazine (as well as my regular column that includes a few surprises.) Click HERE to subscribe.
They are also putting a lot of content regularly on their site. They update it more often than i do my site - which at times is not too hard to do. It seems everyone is finally linking up to them so they are getting cyclo-cross feeds from everywhere. It is about time cross fans have a site to call their own. Anyway, check it out HERE.
And don't forget to add them as your facebook friend to gain access to yet another source of cyclo-cross happenings.
Yeah, I have an ulterior motive for increasing traffic and subscriptions for Cyclocross Magazine. If they grow quickly enough, they can pay me a trillion dollars to write for them so i can sponsor myself for cross season.
11 comments:
yeah, I saw the lightning flash over Leuven .. glad I was not out there.
Wellens will have to be better than the other Belgian mountaibikers. Something I doubt. He is NOT Sven Nys and will never be.
While wellens is no sven, wellens could be a sveneke. haha As long as that mini-sven is stronger than the few other mtb racers also vying for that one spot.
Just think, Team Vardaros! Has a nice ring to it.
rickie
Awesome picture!
So it's not just me who counts the Mississippi's (or sometimes elephants!), I saw the storm too, Sue is a huge weather fan and has radar software on the PC. Good work on getting in just before the hail hit. Ouch that stings!
It'll be great to see 'cross stars such as Nys and Wellens duking it out with the who's who of the MTB world. Might even inspire to me to get an MTB for the summer months too.
You don't have to sell CX magazine to me, I already subscribe, and I am loving the print, pouring over each issue and looking forward to the next popping through the letter box. Number 1 read in the next issue??? Your interview with Sven Nys!!! CAN'T WAIT!
Not sure about the online community just yet...
Woo hoo so I just added you to my fantasy CX team!
You, Georgia, and Hanka what a team!
http://cxmagazine.com/fantasy-cyclocross-2008
thanks for choosing me for your team! i feel guilty to say that i hadn't actually registered a team yet - until i read your comment! Now I am on MY team too! I better get some results now.
Is it really supposed to be sunny and 20° on Monday - halleluia!!
Well, it is Saturday, cool, and has been raining since early this morning. Perhaps just a touch of Belgium to keep the spirits up. Seven more days, three and half days of walking all day on concrete and working on dirty loud machines and robots, and then the rest of the week and the ride. I met a complete stranger at the book store looking at bike books. Evidently this young woman had just gotten into riding and was planning a long distance ride with her dad in the near future. She owned a relic old bike that the derailer had come off and she said it didn't work right and it was so old, no one would work on it. Well, I gave her my number and I volunteered to fix it next week. I assume the spring in the derailer had popped out when it came unscrewed. She had such a desire to ride with her dad and wanted a bike so bad, I just had to help. I love bikes. I fixed another friend's bike that she bought from a pawn shop. I had to put one of my used chains on it to work, and the front derailer was trash, but I got it to work. Someone had had the crank arms at 90 degree angles. I feel the need to rescue old bikes. It is like the island of misfit toys!
http://rickierainwater.blogspot.com/
amy
the weather forecast changed...again. It will be 18 wednesday. not bad.
rickie
It is great that there are people like you who act on their love and respect for the bicycle in such a way. dont ever change.
Post a Comment