My STEVENS bike is FAMOUS

CYCLOCROSS Magazine just featured it in their "Pro Bike Profile" category. CLICK HERE to check it out.

Sleepy-eyed
by Willem Beerland

As for the racing, last weekend I was on the starting line yet again for the Superprestige Ruddervoorde event. It was a chilly rainy day so i was fairly excited about the conditions after last weekend's disaster in the heat.  I was also excited to race an actual technical course - the harder the better for me it seems.
But much to my disappointment, I awoke that morning with debilitating middle back pain.  It was a constant pain that jumped a few levels every time i took a deep breath - like when trying to ride a bike. Tears immediately filled my eyes. 
I didnt figure out what it was from until Jonas and i were already at the race site 1.5 hours from home. It was from a burn in my throat that happened a couple of years ago when i drank an oversized bottle of SOBE energy drink thinking it was coconut milk. Who would have thought that milk and cream would be in that bright white energy drink. Energy and milk never went together in my mind.

not a good time to
fall asleep
-by Willem Beerland

Anyway, after mini camera crews and biopsy equipment were guided down my throat, it was discovered that the milk indeed left a burn mark on my throat and stomach. unreal.  Well, they do say that milk is toxic and since i hadnt had any in over 15 years i guess my insides were not well prepared for it and i paid dearly.  The burn seems to flare up every eight months or so.
So again in my race, i had one speed which fell just under the knife stabbing pain level - and only good for a finish in the high teens. bugger.  It is amusing to see the photos of myself from the race - in half of them my eyes are closed.  I took a handful of heavy duty painkillers (all legal according to doping control) to see if that would do something - it did almost nothing for the pain but it did put me in a dreamlike state.  Again i heard so many cheers for me - all of which strangely sounded like they were yelled in slow motion. And the faces in the crowd periodically came clear but then in a flash they were gone.  This is why i never even tried pot - i really dont like the feeling of being out of control!

Sleeping on the job
by Marc van Est

Good news is that the doctor put me on some pill i take for a month. Afterwards, theoretically the burn should be completely healed so this event will not be repeated. As of now, the pain is still there but thankfully not nearly as strong.
Friday we leave for Czech Republic for the first two rounds of the World Cup series. Fingers crossed i can ROCK IT!!