Since Koksijde World Cup, Veerle and Christine have competed in Scheldecross, Kalmthout World Cup, Zolder World Cup and Azencross-Loenhout - ALL four in a time span of twelve days. If you include their next two upcoming races, it will total 6 races in only 16 days!Two of the last three races have been unusual by Belgian standards. We've had a lot of snow lately, something that doesnt happen much here. It completely shut the whole country down with 300 mile traffic jams extending well outside the country limits. But the races continued as planned. Maybe not completely as planned as the first race in Scheldecross (18 Dec.) had a bomb scare. They found a granade just before the mens start, causing the guys to stand - or rather run back and forth - at the start line for a full 45 minutes before getting on with the show.
As for our race, Christine's was over within the first lap due to a crash that claimed her bike and some body parts. She did have modest designs going into it. Finishing it was the goal since she hadn't trained the last two of the three weeks due to the saddle sore gone awry. But on the first snowy sloppy descent, she couldnt clip into my pedals that turned to ice balls, flew down with both legs sticking out on both sides and took herself out at the bottom. It was either that or hit the racer who was running it just ahead of her. Veerle's race was much better as she finished strongly with a 13th place.
The next race, Kalmthout World Cup (20 Dec.), was even more unusual regarding nature's elements. We raced on a full track covered with ice, blanked by a thick layer of snow - in the middle of a blizzard. On a course that had only one good line throughout almost the whole course, wherever you started in the race is where you mainly ended up. The only way that most riders passed each other were when crashes happened. Even so, it was incredibly fun for us to race in that stuff! As for results, Veerle was caught far behind on the first lap due to a pileup of women. Once you are that far back it is impossible to catch up to the leaders when there is only one good line for passing in most locations. Christine was also caught in the first lap pileup but came out of it a little more forward than Veerle. She kept up her attempts for passing straight through to the last lap. What cheered Christine up most when reflecting on her frustrating race was her mini supporter club who, on every lap, did a "mexican wave" and popped a confetti bottle just before she arrived at their location on the course so she'd ride through a colorful shiny party in the air! By the end of the race, she was covered in little shiny speckles. Zolder World Cup had completely different racing conditions. Initially it was believed that the riders would have to compete on ice strips throughout the course due to the "no ice" rule that Zolder has to protect their Formula 1 track. Luckily they got permission from the Governor of Zolder to salt it up which turned the course into a wet but relatively safe track compared to what it could have been like had we raced on it only days previous.
Early in the race, both gals were caught behind fallen riders which is normal due to their fourth row callups. Once they got moving again, Veerle slid out on a turn which left her with no rear brake for half of a lap before she could get to the pits for a bike change. But once she changed bikes, she caught up to the group that contained Christine. Shortly thereafter, it was Christine's turn to damage her bike. On the one death drop she hit a rut at the wrong angle causing her front wheel to turn and flip her on her face - and chest, hip, shins, quads, shoulder and back. After she straightened the helmet and glasses, got over to the pits to get a non-broken bike, she got on with the job and rolled through the finish two spots behind teammate Veerle.
Their latest race was Azencross, famous for its roller section. It is actually as fun to ride as you'd think! With extended power mud sections, gaps were made almost immediately. Veerle finished an impressive 23rd while Christine rolled in for 34th. Christine's result is not too shappy if you take into consideration that she did it with a torn rib muscle she sustained from her crash in Zolder three days previous. She shouldnt have raced but, in true Peanut fashion, she didnt want to miss out on the festivities! Fingers crossed she can find some power and air by her race tomorrow in Petange, Luxemborg. As for Veerle, her next race is Sint Niklaas Saturday. Then both gals will join forces once more for Fidea's Tervuren race Sunday, which is sort of a home race for Christine who lives only a handful of kilometers away and often trains through the Tervuren park.HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
On this post, i included photos THANKS to Cindy Nagels (#'s 1&4), Mario Toussaint (#5), Marc Van Est (#2), and my Supporters (#3)
