The Day Before and The Day Of Masters Worlds.
Words can only do so much justice when one tries to share a truly foreign event. Todd took some truly amazing photos over the past weekend, more of which can be seen HERE and he captured some images from my race that do it more justice than I think I can with the written word.
So prepare for a BLOG post filled with photos…
Friday, the day before Worlds, I realized I had forgotten my essential tools to build my bike. When I went downtown, it was 1:00pm and the bike shops were all closed for lunch, indefinitely. Funny enough, there were more bike shops in the modest downtown area of Kasterlee than there were restaurants (more on this later).
We decided to head to the course where I assumed it would be easy enough to borrow a set of allen keys to build my bike.
Luckily we did.
Jake Sisson acts as my mobile work stand.
Just as I was about to take to the course with hand-tightened pedals, we ran into John Mosher, a fellow Massachusetts Masters racer and he loaned me the 8mm wrench I needed.
So I took to the course to find out just how much sand there really was…
sandWHAT?
There was a lot of sand. I was stubbornly telling myself that there wouldn’t be as much as I had been told, especially when the Frenchman directed me to the parking lot near “La Piscine.” Translation? The Beach.
La piscine…you mean, literally?
On the upside of things, the sand was relatively light. It wasn’t like Cape Cod sand, it was more like Florida sand; smaller grains, almost silky.
Sand!
Some more riding around the course uncovered some more sand. This time, it was in a playground, with a children’s slide leading into the portion we would ride.
Sand.
Sand.
Two laps and I was fried. I needed a break. And I needed water. And I needed dinner.
No dinner in Kasterlee. Not after 8 pm, that is. Nope, after 8 pm you get frites, a coca-cola, and a weird, deep-fried, triangular pocket filled with what was described as Mexican, but tasted like Indian.
It was actually pretty tasty.
But I felt like shit.
But I had work to do, so I ignored the general malaise and uploaded some content for all the stupid people supporting this idiotic project. I love you.
Keep working, Todd, I’m going to check Twitter.
We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to get to the races in hopes of connecting with our fellow American racers.
We found them, but unlike me, these guys actually stood a chance of doing well, so we gave them some space and tried to keep the interviews short.
Yes, Kurt, you do look fat. I am sorry. Go purge.
I tried to ignore the intrusive Brake Through Media camera crew who wouldn’t stop following me.
At least they respected the sponsors.
Then we wandered the course to get some video and photos.
The main crossing at the sandiest part of the course.
John Mosher made the sand his little biatch.
Kevin Hines makes a rooster tail of the fluffy stuff.
“Yes, I do weigh 180 pounds.” - Jonny Bold. FATSO.
I stood around and mad fun of some jack-asses who couldn’t even ride the sand…pffft.
I watched a few of the other categories start to try and make a plan for mine.
Doesn’t seem too tough.
I knew I should be off my feet as much as possible.
So I stood around a lot.
Can you tell me the current roster of Manchester United again, Jake?
Finally, I decided to get ready for my race.
Openers.
Rather than warm up in the 38 degree rain, I chose to roll up to staging as late and as under-dressed as possible.
I met Dan Seaton, another American in my race, on the start line. He fell victim to an early crash.
And I raced…pretty much alone for the whole thing after I watched everyone ride away from me halfway through the first lap.
But then this German dude caught me.
NOTE: He and I just connected on Twitter today. Ha, you crazy Twitter.
But then I got away from him in the sand, of all places…and I rode some more alone.
What’s that noise? Oh, sand in my drive train. Ok.
Then the UCI dipped their dirty hands in my race and decided that I would not be entertaining my delusions of grandeur any longer.
You understand 80%, no?
Yes. Yes I do.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
I took a picture with some Ukranians and the German. And I told them about my BLOG.
They are probably reading this blog right now.
And then I went for coffee.
THE END
