You ever regret a trip before you have even
gotten on the plane? I was regretting
the decision to go to Europe for CX Worlds the whole month leading up to the
project with dealing with the CCA….but that’s a separate story. Once we got on the plane in Victoria, there
was nothing else to do or worry about.
Take a sleeping pill that never works and watch 3 movies as you cross
the pond. It’s been a couple of years
since I’ve been to Europe, and this was my first trip for cyclocross. After watching hundreds of European
cyclocross races I was really excited to get the opportunity to be a part of
the circus.
My first Cyclocross World Cup ever in
Hooderheide, Nederland, an hour and a half north of our Canadian base in
Tielt-Winge. Pre-riding the course after
a night of snow made me super thank full that it’s been a wet season with a lot
of muddy races. Also made me really
happy that I am running Shimano Di2 with hydraulic brakes that actually work!!!
There wasn’t a lot of elevation on the
course, but there was a lot of mud and deep European ruts! What’s a European rut you ask? It’s about ½ a foot deep and scary when you
get stuck in it at speed. Watch any of
the races on the front and I can tell you first hand that it’s definitely a lot
harder then they make it look! Back row
call up, my fate after struggling most of the season to get any UCI
points. After a 100m fast start straight
there was a hard left and down into knee deep mud had everyone but Vos off and
running. I had a great start, and moved
through more than half of the field within the first lap, actually working my
way up to the top 20 when I found myself riding with Katie Compton for two
laps. The pure sustained horsepower
required to keep the bike moving through the thick mud and around hairpin
corners, and the long mud run up, quickly caught up with me. Laps 4 and 5, I struggled to keep the pedals
turning, loosing 3-4 spots a lap. The
last steep run up, steep downhill and little surgy climb to the finish straight
had me battling with a small Italian girl.
I was in the lead as we hit the pavement and with another position only
20 m away I wasn’t going to sit up to play games. At the end, she had more pop than me and I
finished my first world cup with a 29th. Always wanting to have gone faster, I was
still really happy with the day. My bike
exchanges went really smoothly, and it was a great way to blow out the legs for
Worlds after not having raced in almost 2 months.
After a week of recovery, scouting out old
footage of the Tabor course and last minute prep and I was really excited to
race World Championships. The course
was really well suited to my technical skills, a lot of really muddy and
slippery corners, with some short hard straightaways. The ruts here were ten times worse than
anything I have ever seen, half a wheel deep in most places and frozen rock
hard. Race day was overcast, even
snowing, and just around freezing.
Fourth last call up again, all my nerves kind of left as I was standing
on that start line….can only go up from here.
The start was hairy, at the end of the long straightaway, the pavement
started curving right and downhill, so everyone was cooking. I’m really happy that I didn’t panic with not
being able to take advantage of my good starts and just sat in through the
first couple corners. Not 20 m on to the
first dirt/mud section was the first carnage.
Bodies and bikes laid out all over the mud, and I found myself getting
run into the side barriers….but stayed upright. The announcer put it best as being as
slippery as butter on glass, with the thin lay of slick mud on top of froze
ground, it was so unpredictable and racers were going down on corners, hills,
straightaways, everywhere. Somehow
keeping calm and dialing the corners I kept the bike upright, smooth was fast
here, up the stair run up, remount on a muddy uphill, down the off camber
rutted corners, and found myself sitting in good company coming through the
pits for the first half lap. Out of the
pits, up the slow, awkward uphill barriers, remount again on a slippery, muddy
uphill to hammer the long straightaways with hairpin corners. Recover slightly over the top, drop down the
steep short shoot, up short technical and punchy climb (which was mild madness on the first lap),
survive the fast downhill straight away into icy off camber corner, one last
rough, rutted corner past the pits and a hairpin corner onto the pavement and
that’s a lap. My tactic was to put a lot
of energy into the uphill straightaways, and recover as much as possible on the
technical corners.
Coming through the 3rd lap,
sitting on Caroline Mani’s wheel (who I love racing against…..every time she
passes me she says “Come On Mical Dyck! Stay with me Mical Dyck! …..makes me
smile), I cautioned a glance at the leader board and saw I was sitting around
16th!! WHAT!! I had some
really good battles with a couple of girls, but I love the feeling of passing
people….not getting passed! Last lap I
had Kaitliean Antonneau in my sites, with Mani just ahead of her. I caught Kaitliean shortly after the uphill
barriers and put in a big effort up and over the top. Smooth through the last half of the course, I
came by the pits for the last time to hear my awesome pit crew yelling at me,
and a big smile on my face.
Finishing 12th! about 30 seconds
out of the top 10, was a great way to end a long hard season. I want to send out a huge thank you to
everyone that helped to get me here, I definitely could not have even gotten to
the start line without you! I had so
many financial and emotional supporters from such an amazing community, and it
feels so good to have such a great race for everyone watching and cheering back
home!
Also a huge thanks you to my many
sponsors. Stan’s NoTube Carbon Valor
wheels and Iron Cross Alloy wheels, run with Kenda Tires Kwickers at 23 psi was
amazing!! I honestly think I had better
traction then many people with uber expensive tubulars and sub 20 psi. My Shimano Di2 and hydraulic disk brakes
worked absolutely flawless the entire trip!
It’s really amazing in the mud and freezing conditions not having to
worry about the cables getting gummed up, and not have to worry about my brakes
failing…. interesting to note: I ran the same brake pads all year in a very,
very muddy season, couldn’t do that the last 2 years J Crankbrothers eggbeaters pedals were the
ticket in the thick European mud with my Horst Engineering toe spikes. Lazer Helmets Z1 helmets were so comfortable
with my faithful and favorite Oakley Canada Radar glasses with photochromatic
lenses. Mad Alchemy hot balm keeping my
legs toasty warm. And of course, my
Ridley X-Night frame and fork are easily the best bikes out there!
One final shout out to the awesome mechanical
crew we had, Scotty Kelly, Adam Trotter, Derrick Chipping and my very own Regan
Pringle for keeping my bikes feeling brand new every time I grabbed my bikes!!!
Now home to my puppy and back to work J
