Are You Living It?

Just a quick update before I jump on the airplane. My race was awesome. I didn’t crash, didn’t lose my fire, and never stopped trying. I can’t even explain the feeling and emotions of my first World Championships. I don’t think that that anyone can ever get used to that atmosphere or tire of it. The fans and the race were all such an amazing experience.
I was really happy with my race. I didn’t mention to many people that I was a little sick. Honestly, it didn’t matter much. I suffered the same either way, but you can see it in the photos with the dust collecting in the drippy nose. The start was so hard and there were some crashes that I expected. My race was great, I suffered, just missed the group I needed o be in, but tried as hard as I could. I left it all out there. I am happy as can be. My 14 month racing season ended with a World Championships. I couldn’t be happier. It was great to be here to represent the USA. Also, I am very proud of the other Americans for their good showing and efforts. What an experience.
I will give a play by play later when I have time. Now it is back to the homeland! Thanks to everyone for the emails, and the support along the way.

Belgian P-Mag

My Belgian mechanic has informed me that there is a quote in the Begian magazine, ” P-Mag” from my website and Cycling News article from last month. P-magazine is a version of the Maxim Magazine. I thought that it was pretty funny that I have made the Belgian Soft porn P-Magazine. That is big time eh?

  

Training with Luke Keough, former Jr. National Champ, future World Champ.

While most Americans are gearing up for Super Bowl Sunday in a week, some of us where racing Cyclocross in Assenede, Belgium. Assenede, is a small industrial town near the border of the Netherlands. There were just a few of us racing yesterday as our final tune up and chance to really race the Cross Bike before the World Championships this coming Sunday. After the previous day of slogging through the soul sucking mud and running a solid 20 minutes of the race we were all a bit sore and tired, at least I was.

I made my return to Euro Cross racing yesterday in Zonebeke, Belgium. The start was more than a kilometer long on pavement. That was totally different and it was like a leadout in a road race for the final sprint. Absolutely mocking.
The mud sucked the life out of me. I have never ridden in mud so sticky. It was like a sticky glue, just sapping every amount of strength. I was just pushing the pedals harder and going nowhere.
For a while I was in the mix with the other Americans in the race but faded pretty quickly. I feel pretty strong on the bike, but my cross skills are not there after not racing for 3 weeks.
I am doing one more race today. I am hoping that it is muddy again as bad as that sounds. The practice will be good as I am expecting worlds to be the same way, mud that sucks your life away. It was so hard yesterday. Hard and frustrating.
We will give it a go today in Assende, loosen up the legs a bit more and giver all I have. That’s all I can do.
I will try to get up some pics and a better write up, the internet is spotty here. I guess you only get so much bandwidth per month. The juniors have been over here downloading porno all month sucking up the bandwith. Haha! Kids.
Off to the races. More later…..

What perfect timing. The weather has moved into San Diego at the end of my last bit of training. I am done training hard and it is off to Belgium tomorrow. This couldn’t have been timed more perfectly. I am feeling really strong again on the bike and hope the last two races this weekend will be the final cap on the form before the World Championships on February 1st.

I got the bill from USA Cycling today for the Cross Worlds trip and it is a hefty one. My trusty good old Visa came through again, but you can help me out with some coffee sales or donation to the Cross Worlds fund. I would be very greatful for any help. You can still purchase coffee here on my site.  Thanks to everyone for the emails and the phone calls.  I am psyched!

It is now official everyone. The longest season ever just got longer and I am so pumped! I am heading back over to Europe to race the Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide, Netherlands. I am beyond excited to go! Full write up later today, but I have to get out and train first. Check out Velo News if you haven’t seen already.
Thanks to everyone for the emails, the phone calls, and shout outs. Finally it is for real! Stay tuned!

The trip back across the ocean to the New World was effortless compared to the last day of racing in Belgium the day before. I have been home for just two and a half days now and I am still battling jet lag. I think it has allot to do with my reliance on a strong cup of coffee when I wake up each morning. Hitting the coffee in Belgium threw me way off. Now I wake up at 2 in the morning wanting my coffee at what would be 8 a.m in Belgium.
We raced our final race of the Euro Camp in Sint Nikclaus, Belgium around a frozen lake in front of another large crowd of fans. They got a great show as the conditions were fast and slippery. With a few off camber sections along the lake, it meant you would be taking a polar bear plunge or a “Tillford Bath” if you went down. The ground was frozen but the top layer was thawing just enough to make it like grease in every corner. I managed to stay up right the first to times by running some fat tires with super low air pressure. Actually the lowest air pressure I have ever ran at 22lbs. Later in the race though as I got tired I stacked it up 3 times on the off camber section losing spots and having to stop to fix my bike. I was to far from the pit to try to run or ride. The legs felt a little better and I was having fun, even after crashing a few times.
I did get to see on rider go out into the ice. He tried to push Danny Summerhill and instead of pushing Danny over he just propelled himself out onto the ice and through it. Somehow the rider stayed upright and rode out of the lake. I thought they were going to punch on right there in the course.
Being back in the states I have been catching up on a little bit of rest. After being completely demolished with 5 of the worlds hardest CX races in 8 days, I am worked! We are still in limbo as to who will be going to Worlds for the Elite men and won’t officially know until the 14th of January and would leave on the 21st or so. It makes it a bit tough on the old wallet booking a flight that late. Anyway, I am training as if I am going. That said it is off to San Diego for a couple of weeks. There is no riding going on here in Salt Lake right now. The snow hasn’t stopped since I got back and no one is out trianing. The best thing to do is go get some road rides in the sunshine in and some hard rides with a fast group on the weekend.
That’s just a quick update. Sorry for the delay.

This is my first time to travel to Europe for Cyclocross. When I arrived in Belgium, I knew that it would be one of the most challenging racing experiences ever and it has proven to be. The racing is so fast, grueling and difficult. It isn’t only the racing that makes you completely deteriorate, it is everything combined with the racing. It is the entire immersion into the most hardcore Cyclocross culture in the world. It’s the same routine day in day out. The same Ham and Cheese sandwich for every meal. On top of all that, it is the fans that despise you when you are competing against the Belgian greats.
The Belgian fans are completely different than the fans from the US. At each race this week there has been a minimum of 10,000 spectators and at the World Cup in Zolder there were over 20,000 fans. These fans are crazy for cross. Cyclocross is the NASCAR of Belgium. The fans wear jackets that have their beloved riders on them. I am Supporter of “Sven Nys” or “Bart Wellens” is embroidered on the back. I have yet to see a Belgian wearing a jacket that says supporter of “Troy Wells” or “Jeremy Powers”.
I have never felt so much pressure to perform even when warming up on the course. You are constantly under the microscope. Today during my warm up at the Grand Prix of Sven Nys , I kept trying to ride a stair step section and failing. It was very challenging and I practiced a few times. Each time they are watching your every move. How you approach it, what gear you are in and the speeds you take. Each fan is constantly analyzing you to see if you are going to beat their rider. Keep in mind that you are not there favorite rider, so they want you to fail. The ability to block them out and completely focus is something I have yet to learn. When we are racing it is easy to just race and stay focused. When you are warming up it is different and hard to block out the 50 yard Belgian stare.
Here in the heart of Cyclocross land, spectators pay between 10 20 Euro(Probably around $30 US) to watch you crash in the barriers. In America they cheer because you are a good sport for picking yourself up and going on. When you crash in Belgium, the fans cheer not because you picked your pile of bones up, but because you are broken and bleeding and they love it. When you are not leading the race, you are getting heckled and yelled at by the drunks.
The beer garden is flowing like the Colorado River at the crack of dawn on the course as the races start early and all of them are watched. The most important is the Elite Men’s race, but the U23 is often one of the most exciting races and the fans are on their way to top levels of intoxication. When the Elite races comes around these fans are saturated with more Belgian Beers than you will find on tap at any bar in America and screaming for you to suffer like a dog. It’s a good thing I can’t understand a word that they are saying, because surely what is coming out of their mouths, other than the rank of beer and cigarettes, isn’t supportive.
There is nothing like being completely gassed on a climb or through a run up and sucking in the cigarette smoke. While we are racing, everyone is drinking and smoking watching you in pain. We are completely flat out, gasping for oxygen, trying to keep the legs turning and inhale some nasty expired Belgian Cigarette smoke mixed with partially digested beer. You just keep going and after a few minutes of sucking in that stale air you are used to it, keep the head up, focused as you plow through the beer cups on your way through the crazy fans.