Belgium Adventure 2014-15: Final Days

Just as there are many types of snow, there are many types of mud. As a general rule, I love racing in wet or icy conditions. I am a relatively skilled bike handler, so I'm happy when it's slippery. However, when the mud is thick and sticky, I am no longer in my happy place! For the second half of the trip, I encountered deep, sticky, peanut buttery, Belgian mud.

There was an interesting change in the competition for my final two UCI races. Field sizes were much larger for the UCI races prior to New Year's Day. A couple of Americans left after Loenhoet, as did riders from the U.K. and Ireland. It seems to be popular for those from Britain to make the relatively short trip to Belgium for the holidays in order to prepare for their national championships. After Loenhoet, it felt as if the "CX tourism season" was over, and the field became less international. The back end of the field went home, and experienced Euros who know mud remained.

BPost Bank Trofee - GP Sven Nys

On New Year's Day, I raced BPost Bank Trofee-GP Sven Nys in Baal, Belgium. Baal is a small community north east of Brussels, and home to Sven Nys, who is not only a multiple-time World Cup overall winner, but no less than a national hero in Belgium. His presence brings the fans to the races. Nys has actually purchased the land that the Baal race is on with plans to create a permanent cyclocross course there after his career ends. This land is essentially a ridge with very poor drainage.

Baal is always muddy, and it lived up to its reputation this year. The course zigs and zags up and down the ridge endlessly. The elevation changes are minimal, maybe 200 feet, but the heavy mud makes even the gentle grade punishing.

Baal was my best race in Belgium last year, but it was my worse this year. I was quickly gapped from a group on lap one and spent the rest of the race riding alone. The next competitor was always a turn up the track, but those behind me were way behind and would get pulled. There are few things worse than a "cyclocross time trial" and I was floundering in the mud. I was the last one to finish on the lead lap. Katerina Nash rode away with the race, and made driving her bike in the conditions look effortless.  (Photo: Frank Wolfs)

Actualiteiten Internationale Centrumcross

My final race was in Surhuisterveen, Netherlands--a three and one half hour drive from where we were staying in Oudenaarde. My Belgian friends indicated that in their country a one and one half hour drive is considered a long drive for a race. We shared with them that our two nearest UCI races are five hour drives from home. I spend much of my racing season flying to race. It puts into perspective the size of America, and the travel challenges that result.

As was the case last year, Surhuisterveen was my favorite race. Surhuisterveen is a very small town some distance from anywhere. Despite the UCI C2 designation and rather large crowds, it has the feel of a small town race. The annually designated community teenage princess presides over the event. An older, very well dressed woman makes a cameo at the start with a starter's pistol; she appears to be the last person you'd expect with a firearm of any sort! She made small talk with Marianne Vos and then had her picture taken with Vos and the gun.

World Champion and Dutch hero Marianne Vos and several members of her Rabobank-Liv team raced. Due to a lack of CX starts and thus UCI points, some of Vos' road teammates had start positions further back. In fact, I believe it was one of her teammates who pushed into me as we started. I had to put my foot down to keep from falling over, so I had a poor start. All was not lost, however, as one of her teammates came by me on the very long start, and I was able to grab her wheel as she navigated us up some positions.

Unlike Baal, Surhuisterveen had no vertical whatsoever, and like the rest of Holland, it has a major drainage problem. The city elevation is 0 degrees above sea level, which explains the wetness!  (Photo: Tom Prenen)

The course was a mix of pavement, saturated, sticky grass, and ten inch deep, post-holed mud. There was also an enormous pile of sand dumped on the city street and built into rollers. As well, there were two undressed curbs, which required popping one's front wheel over, something I've never seen in the states.

Surhuisterveen was a better race for me. I was very strong and could bridge and attack on the pavement. When riding the mud, I copied the Dutch women around me on lines, cadance, and when to get off. However, every time we ran, I lost time--too much time! This was not a surprise, as I did more running in Belgium than I've done in the last 6 months combined! While more running training would help me in Belgium, one has to do cost/benefit analysis. Given the challenge of scheduling training volume around my full-time job, it does not make sense to focus too much on something we do so infrequently in the U.S. I finished 15th and was satisfied by the opportunity to work on my mud skills.

Post-Europe

I have one final race before this season ends: National Championships in Austin, Texas on January 11. I'm expecting that race to be dry and warm (not at all like Belgium) even though preliminary forecasts call for rain. Whatever the weather, I'll be there to race my bike, and complete a long and rewarding season.   (Photo: Tom Prenen)

A huge thanks and shout out to my sponsors and supporters: The Fix Studio; Service Course MPLS; Focus Bikes; Lazer helmets and glasses; Clement tires, Mad Alchemy embrocation and skin care; SRAM drivetrain; Time pedals; Belgian mechanics and crew: Gregory Lambert, Denis Dhondt, and Jo Vande Velde, and my number one pit man: my husband Michael.

About the author... Corey Coogan Cisek has been competing in one sport or another for all her life, first alpine skiing, then Nordic, and now bike racing. She balances full-time work as a Project Manager with traveling the country on weekends to race USA Cycling Pro Cyclocross calendar events. Cisek is coached by The Fix Studio in Minneapolis and rides for PowerFix Elite CX Team.