Rodney taking the field sprint
Today we rode over to Rekkem for the amateur races. The directions we had were not great and it took us almost an hour to do a 20 minute ride. We stopped a few times for directions and eventually found our way. Paul flatted on the way so that was another delay. We finally arrived and the guys went to register.
They had a category for U23, Elite and Masters A, B &C. We had talked about the race before we left the US and decided not to due it due to the $90 UCI license cost. Steve and Hank had brought their US cycling licenses just in case. Cleve was set to race since he has a UCI license. They decided to try it and the promoter let them register without the UCI. Rodney had not brought his license so he had to bring it up on Cleve’s Blackberry so he could show proof of an active license to the officials. They let him race too. Paul was a bit tired and sore from the Sportif so he decided to sit this one out and play photographer.
They started the race with all categories together! Surprise! With about 120 racers the only way to tell if someone was in your category was to look at the numbers. The course was a 2.6 mile loop which they would do 17 times. It was basically a two hour full on kermesse (criterium/circuit race)…..full throttle out of every corner….curb, ditch, in gutter, out of gutter…ooh! There were two straights with heavy cross winds. The one hill at the start was either a spring board or a rest spot depending on the lap. If the hill was in Greenville, no one would consider it a hill but it hurt a lot of the Belgians.
The first lap was a killer and the guys just had to hold on for dear life. They had not had time to pre-ride the course so they had no idea what was coming. The Belgians know how to ride their bikes and the guys quickly became comfortable with them. Guys were getting shelled on the first lap and the field quickly whittled down. Cleve was in a break early but was pulled back. Steve attacked a number of times and was riding strong. Unfortunately he hit a bump with about 9 to go and his saddle tipped down so he had to pull out. Rodney hit it a few times and surprised a few of the Belgians. The must have thought the Americans were just pack fodder. Hank rode well too and looked comfortable. A break got off midway through the race and stuck. There were some strong riders in it and rode well together.
Each time the racers would come around, the bar patrons would come out and watch and then go back in and smoke and drink. There were a great group of spectators.
The last few laps came along and the break intensified their efforts as the stronger riders tried to split the break. The field got faster too and Rodney started moving from the back where was tail gunning to the front. The winner came across the line with ease. The field came along for the sprint and Rodney was at the front after he hit out from the last corner with 300m to go Surprise no. 2…..for the Belgians….this American can sprint. He took the field sprint with only one rider close to him. He was 16th overall and 4th in the masters. Hank had a good field finish. Cleve finished 23rd.
While waiting for payout, we ate frits that some of Cleve’s friends had bought. Rodney won €15 for his efforts. We had a casual ride back to the hotel where showered and then went to eat. The guys were all worn out from the day, but grinning about getting to play.
Rember to play nice with the locals!!!!! Sounds like you guys had a blast.