I have the BEST superfans!

Exhibit A: the Duh nuh nuh nuh video from Lisa & Curtis

Exhibit B: Dave, Erin, Parker, Breckin & Euchre video

Exhibit C: Peekay

Exhibit D: from the Nanaimo crew

Roubaix mud. photo by Mitch Clinton www.clintonphoto.com

Roubaix World Cup

Everyone was pretty excited to be racing at the legendary Roubaix velodrome. Finish of the Paris-Roubaix classic. I think we all felt the history of the place when we arrived. You could almost feel the pain. No cobbles on our cyclocross course but they managed to piece together a really fun loop in a small space in the middle of the city. No features mattered except the BIG DESCENT. It was the talk of the day: did you ride the BIG DESCENT? what do you think about the BIG DESCENT? We (when I say "we" I mean NORM IS HERE!!!!) prerode before the masses so I managed to ride the BIG DESCENT no problem. I am not going to lie, it was sketchy - super steep with big ruts at the bottom - but it was a straight shot with a run out at the bottom and I am a mountain biker so I rode it out of principle. When I left the venue I saw about 12 pro men at the top of the BIG DESCENT looking down and not a sole rode down it for the 5-10mins I watched. At the managers meeting Saturday night they announced that the BIG DESCENT would be removed for the womens and juniors races. WHAT?! Pretty cheezy move as we are trying to prove that elite women should get more respect and then they anounce its unsafe for the women but OK for the men to ride. Apparently Katie Compton was livid. In the end it rained all night and the BIG DESCENT was 10X worse on race day so prooooooobably should have been removed for everyone. Maybe after a U23 guy in the lead group busted his fork and just about killed himself? hmmmm? What about after witnessing 98% of the top pro men in the WORLD running down it? 

In Europe I have realized they do things a bit differently here and for the most part I have adapted. But one of the things I cannot get used to is the !%$#'n FALSE STARTS that they let slide. Today was no exception. Hanka Kupfernagel was probably 3 bike lengths ahead of me by the time I got off the line. I just saw a white streak to my right and unfortunately my left side of the grid was screwed as a result. So I ended up into the mud 15-20th. Nooot a great start to the day but I was not the only one to get screwed by a world champion's itchy trigger finger. Surprisingly there were a couple of front row girls back there with me. I had a good first half of the race and managed to pick people off and move into the top 10. It was slow going but I was riding pretty smooth and steady. Until the second half of the race where my legs just didnt have as much power to donate to the cause. Still smooth, still steady, just not as powerful. I did a bike change and came out of the pit behind a group of 5 girls instead of ahead. A couple small errors and they got a gap and I was struggling to try to catch back on. Which I never did so my top 10 went to a 15th. 

Covered in mud and freezing my butt off, I was called for doping control AGAIN!? I thought I could just go right away and be done before the leaders came in off the podium but I misfired with only 60mL of pee and had to drink 4 bottles of water and wait and hour before I could finish the job. Rookie maneuver.

Castles and Cathedrals and Chocolate, oh my

A day off in Antwerp with Sue B.

The Whereabouts Program

Lucky me. I have been chosen to be part of the Whereabouts program. That means I have to account for 1 hour of my day, every single day of my life , minimum, so I can be randomly tested out of competition with no notice to prove that I am a clean athlete. I am all for making sure our sport is clean and fair but this is going to be a pain in the ass. I can tell that already because of the introduction I got to the program.

The UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) apparently sent me a letter on Dec 22 which informed me that I had been chosen for the whereabouts program. I guess my one week stint as world #1 caught someones eye. This letter must have sat in the CCA inbox over Xmas holidays because I did not receive it until Jan 5th. As it was the start of a new "quarter" I am assuming I was already in violation as my whereabouts information for Jan had not been inputted into the ADAMS website (Anti-Doping Administration and Management System). I read the letter over and over but had zero guidance of what to do next. I emailed my UCI contact person on the letter. Its Jan 10th and I still have had no response from them. I emailed people at the CCA (Canadian Cycling Association) who had forwarded me the letter, but they could not answer my Qs and forwarded me to the CCES (Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport). So I finally had someone from the CCES who sent me a link to a PAPER  copy of the form I could fill out TWICE because one copy had to go the UCI and one to the CCES. Uh no thanks, I would rather use the electronic method. It is 2009 after all. All I needed was a login and password. Noone seemed to know it. Someone from the CCES eventually got back to me with a login/password. He was keen. He even used an exclamation mark when welcoming me to the whereabouts program. I knew he would be good. I sat down ready to start inputting my wherabouts into the ADAMS program but the login/password did not work because of "inactivity". They use big BOLD red lettering when you have an error. And errors seem to be common. I am assuming this "inactivity" refers to the gap between me receiving my letter Dec 22 and my first attempt at input Jan 9th. My keen CCES guy transferred my account from the UCI custodiam (not so helpful) to the CCES (helpful) and I got a login/password that worked. 

So yesterday I sat down and tried to get started. Login/Password worked! Step 1 complete. I had been warned by Tony Theriault and Helen Wyman that the ADAMS program was not very user friendly. And I had read Simon Whitfields blog about his frustrations with the program. He basically said - I would rather you inplant a GPS chip in me than have to fill out all this paperwork. Hmmm. Doesn't sound promising. Helen gave me a tutorial but even though she had been part of the Whereabouts program for a few years, the input software had changed 3X since she started so she was still figuring the latest one out. This was the least efficient of the bunch apparently. Well, it took me over an hour to enter my whereabouts for the next 1.5 weeks of my life. Then I was exhausted and needed to go to bed. With an MSc in science I like to think I could do pretty well in "Americas Most Smartest Athlete" TV show so I would hate to see how much time the not-so-smart athletes clocked for this event. I hope to hell I get faster but I really should start tallying how many times I have to type my home address into the system. I guess that is what you get for being world #1. If only for a week.....

Gary sweeping the driveway (he's from California....)

The Major Jake in full winter mode. I have to wash it after every ride because of the salt. Sounds easy but our hose is frozen so I have to shuttle buckets of hot water from the house to thaw the frozen slush off the bike. 

Geo stretches in the snow. Running seems easier and warmer than riding

HARD CANDY

I checked the weather this morning and it was -10C. With the windchill: "feels like -17C". brrrr. Everyone was gearing up for trainer rides indoors. At home I probably would have done the same. Rent a couple movies and get it done. But I had a 3hr ride on the books and new house rule 5.3.7a said no more trainer workouts in the living room in front of the TV. I dont want to name names so lets just call her "Sweaty Sweatersons," sweat too much on the living room floor and the new rule came into effect. That left crappy Belgian TV in the hall or the dark and dank basement "catacombs" so I decided to gear up and see how long I could last outside. It took me almost 20mins to dress. Top to bottom:

1 ear warmer

1 Helly Hansen toque

1 pair Rudy Project sunglasses

1 leg warmer pinned around my face & tucked under said sunglasses (couldnt find my neck warmer)

1 Helly hansen l/s sleeve base layer 

1 Helly Hansen wind jacket

1 Champion systems soft shell jacket

1 Champion systems winter jacket

1 Champion systems bib short

1 Sugoi thermal running tight

1 Champion system thermal bib tight

1 Sugoi winter ski gloves

1 Sugoi wallaroo sox

1 Shimano WM80 shoes

1 OBB neoprene booties

The scary part was I wasnt too hot in the house...hmmm this could be bad

I put cross tires on my bike and set out not knowing how long I would last. Helen said she would give me a medal if I lasted an hour. I had 20 euros in my pocket in case things went horribly wrong. I dont even know if there are taxis in Belgium but I am sure I could bribe some one to get me home.

I am not going to lie. It was pretty damn cold. I had zero skin showing when I first set out but my fingers started to get cold almost immediately so I did a few efforts to warm up. That helped. Then the sun started to warm up and I found some great side roads with hard pack snow and some trails that had a foot of snow to keep me working hard enough to stay warm. It was pretty fun. 1hr clicked by. participation medal guaranteed. I got a bit lost and then headed for home and another hr clicked by. Hell, I wasnt going to get this far and do my actual workout on the trainer. I found a bakery and got a chocolate croissant to get me through the intervals. Damn right I deserved it! Plus my bottle had frozen so I needed some hot water to thaw it out. Found a good spot for my workout got it done just as my toes and fingers were starting to go numb. 3.5 hours. As my nephew Noah would say: yeah me.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself until on my way home I saw this young Belgian boy riding his bike to the store with no hat, no gloves, and his jacket open at the neck like he was overheating. Freak.

Teveuren

Another mechanical that took me out of podium contention. I don't want to talk about it. It makes me ANGRY.

Azencross Womens CX race - lap#1

I borrowed a mini video camera from Rick (Gabby's man) and attached it to my Major Jake for the Azencross GvA race. Its a pretty big file so I had to chop it down. Here is the first lap.

Quick race report to go with it:

I had an OK start but got swarmed by bodies into the first few corners so Marianne Vos (red and blue butt), Katie Compton (butt with stars), Daphny van den Brand (blue DESTIL butt) and Hanka Kupfernagel (white butt) got a bit of a gap. I sifted through most of the bodies and tried to chase down the leaders. They were SO close. But I didn't want to tow everyone around all race so I pulled aside to get some help. Rachel Lloyd (Giant Strawberry butt) took up the chase on lap 2 and closed down the gap to the leaders. We were together for most of the race although I am not going to lie, I dangled a bit. The pace slowed down a bit on the second last lap so Myriam Melchers van Poppel (red white and blue butt) caught back on. We were 7 on the last lap and I had caught my breath. Things were looking good. Although I can't guarantee how I would fare against 3 world champions, I  have a decent kick on occaision. But.... with half a lap to go my PINS of STEEL stomped on the pedals and snapped my chain. crap. I had just passed the pit so I turned around and ran back into the pit and got my other bike. Unfortunately I had lost a few spots as a result. I tagged back onto the end of Georgia Gould's group but had a hard time moving forward as everyone was trying to do the same thing. I ended up 13th. Bummer. 

I will try to figure out how to post the entire race but this should entertain you until then. Enjoy.

A Belgie Christmas

With the Zolder World Cup race on Boxing day we didnt really celebrate much of Christmas on the day. Stefan and Helen, sporting her "I HEART CHRISTMAS" pin, woke up early to open presents but the rest of us rolled out of bed much later and all that was left was ripped paper and a few things under the tree. I got some yummy Belgian chocolate and a heart shaped frying pan for my eggs! (I had cracked last trip and bought the house a couple of new frying pans so my eggs wouldnt taste like burnt bacon). A preride on the course and race prep was about as festive as we got after that. Ok maybe I had some of my Xmas chocolate...

The Zolder course was super fun. A lot of the girls were surprised at what they had put together but I thought it was a great course. Twisting in and around a formula 1 race track, it used the sandy banks and woods to make a short fast loop that on the day, was pretty frozen as it hovered around zero.

As I looked around on the start line I realized that I was one of the few gals that did not have legs or knees on. Hmm. Usually I use Georgia Gould as my litmus paper as she is always wearing fewer clothes than me. Not today. No time to reconsider. The light turned green and we were off down the loooong paved straightaway. Unfortunately the stretch pinched at the finish banner and as a result I got pushed back further than normal. And then things got chaotic. Every second corner we turned had bodies on the ground or piled up in the corner. I am not sure what the hell happened but I do know someone tried to ride OVER me as I have tire burn marks up my calf. I stayed pretty calm and passed girls here and there. I made my way up to the chase group and could see the lead group but as things got more technical it was harder to make up time. Frozen descents. Brick wall run ups. Sandy corners. When Maryline Salvetat came by me with a few gals on the start of the second lap  I knew it was now or never for the bridge. Apparently I had the 2nd fastest lap but never quite made the jump to the lead group. Salvetat did.

So that left me "drafting" off a wee Czech girl. I was trying to race smart but I the 5ft-er was doing nothing for me and a few girls were closing in so I decided to push on. The wee one drafting off me the whole time. Once she realized where I was making time on her, she starting to CHOP me.  I got pissed off and started to chop back. two can play at that game. Unfortunately we started to focus too much on each other instead of the overall picture and lost a couple spots out of stupid passes. On the last lap, after my battle with the wee one was over and I was spent, I saw Luna colours charging hard. What the hell? I just assumed Georgia was ahead of me. She passed me and then proceeded to fly head first over her bars and eat shit on the last sandy corner. I had to scramble around here and run scared up the finish chute to stay ahead for 9th place. 

We celebrated Christmas last night (27th) with a big feast. Stefan spent all day in the kitchen roasting chickens, veggies, making custard and nutroast. It was so yummy it did not last long. But we will need the fuel as we have hit a cold snap here in Belgium and its hard to stay warm. Next race Azencross Dec 30th. 

Shaky take off

So I am back in Belgium and it hardly seems like I left. Back in the Tielt-Winge house with the Brits but this time with a few extra canucks in the mix (Natasha Elliott, Derrick St John, Aaron Schooler and Andre Sutton). More of us seem to be coming over for the Xmas racing scene and the Brits seem to take pity on us. Cheerio. Tut tut. 

It was a long haul from Nanaimo as there have been snow storms since the weekend before I left. Norm says there is now about 40cm of snow in Nanaimo! He has apparently been doing a LOT of trainer rides....poor Norm.

With the snow, every flight out of Nanaimo was cancelled the day before I was supposed to leave for Belgium. We started to think of a plan B. It involved ferries, buses and a lot of extra grunt work as I was traveling with a double bike case, a regular bike bag full of wheels, a carry on suitcase and a regular bag that was packed FULL. Not very mobile and no porters....semi pro. I checked the first flight the next morning and it was cancelled. Uh oh. I kept getting ready and checked the flight before mine and it was scheduled to go ahead so we made the decision to go for the flight and hope for the best. Except...Nanaimo drivers aren't known for their snow driving skills so it took a  loooong time to get to the airport and I was a late check in. With all the cancellations and Xmas in the horizon the plane was full and my bikes & bags did not make the flight. They even tagged my file LATE CHECK IN. Bugger (as the Brits would say). Oh well. At least I got first class seats all the way to europe. Ahhhhhh. And at least I packed some underpants and Ts so I didn't have to wallow in my own filth for 2 days waiting for my bags to arrive. I have done that before and its not pretty....

Scheldecross

The Antwerp race was supposed to be a blow-out race so I didnt stress when my legs felt like C-R-A-P. And I mean poo. We got there a bit late and only squeezed in one lap on the course. I would have liked more because there was a lot of sand that was a make-or-break feature of the course. In the end I was in the "break" department. I got dropped by the leaders in the sand and I got dropped by the chase group in the sand. I thought I knew how to ride sand but apparently not like the euros. But I didn't expect too much and my legs actually raced better than they felt so an Ok start to the campaign. We drove back ate, got a massage, unpacked, repacked and went to bed. 

Nommay

We had an early start Sat morning as Nommay was almost 6 hrs away. My legs felt worse and a 6 hr drive was probably not going to help so I pulled on my new SKINZ that Norm got me for Xmas. They definitely helped. The Canucks had rented the Listers sprinter van so we looked legit. It was no Swift pink RV camper van of style but the next best thing.

Race day. We got an early call as the Brits and Canuck were all on random doping control. As were the Belgians and Czechs. Convenient that we were all in the same hotel hmmmm. Blood for hematocrit. At least they wore gloves this time...The Nommay race was a new one for me and it was actually pretty cool. Super muddy course with some fun twists and turns and ups and downs. I had a perfect start and went into the sharp corner into the stairs top 5 without killing myself (it was a crazy start) but managed to hit a stake with my shifter less than a minute later. dammit. Then the masses started to come. 

I was riding technically pretty well but didnt seem to be pumping out as much power as the other girls so they would catch me on the muddy straightaways. It was a great battle from about 8th-18th. Lots of back and forth with pits, errors, strengths and weaknesses. back and forth. back and forth. A ding dong battle as Norm would say. Helen was away up front but myself, Natasha and Gabby were in the ding dong battle together so our pit crew was run ragged with bike changes for all of us at least every lap. I got my mudders back on the second last lap and decided to keep them, as they were riding the mud much better than my B bike tires. I made a move (undetectable to the human eye I am sure) on the last lap and caught and dropped a group of 4 girls with Natasha but then a couple (including Natasha) came back from the dead and caught me guess where - the last mud straightaway. I went into the finishing stretch worked over and looked back to make sure I was in the clear. I saw someone in my periphery but too far back to get me. wrong. Gabby Day nipped me on the line for 14th. serves me right.....

Then as a final smack I was a random for doping controls after the race. again. crap. 

So although I was world number one at the start of the season I seem to keep slipping. slipping. slipping. time to get back on track...

USGP Portland - Pair of 5's

Portland. The heart of CX racing in North America. Maybe I am a little biased because I am from the West Coast but from what I have seen, it really is THE hot spot of CX culture this side of the Atlantic. Rabid fans that come out in the worst possible conditions to wag their cowbells at you, inventors of "the windmill of death" and the only place you will see a full drum corps belting it out while hurricane winds threaten to blow them away. So when the weather called for sun and balmy temps it was hard to believe the usual mudfest might not happen. Huh?

Since I missed the first USGP weekend in Kentucky I wasn't really in the running for overall series standing. In fact with all the issues my belly was throwing out at me Portland was more of a tester to see if I would be leaving for europe as planned. I was starting to feel better but my training had taken a bit of a hit. Its pretty hard to throw down hard efforts when you are surviving on rice, applesauce, yogurt and bananas. I don't know how vegetarians race...I was craving red meat and feeling oozy for lack of...No meat makes Wendy a useless feeb.

Me leading out eventual winner and overall USGP series winner Katerina Nash (LUNA).photo by Russell Anderson

Sunny skies on Saturday or rain and mud on Sunday, the outcome was the same. I had great starts and managed to ride with the leaders for a couple laps but just could not hold it. Once the pressure was applied I slipped. A bit depressing yes, but deep down I knew it was a good sign that I at least had something in there to play with. It didn't last as long as my 40min race but it was there and I didn't want to puke after the effort. Euro was a go. I had taken a hit but I could only get stronger - right? Nothing like the world stage to get your ass in gear quickly.

Me, in the Portland mud pre-fade. photo by Russell Anderson

While I was squeeking out 5th place finishes, Norm was the one piloting his Major Jake like a pro as he finished 3rd on Saturday and an easy FIRST on Sunday! Impressive, most impressive. The best part was that every lap he passed the Kona tent he looked over and had a HUGE grin on his muddy face! He wanted to make SURE that I saw his dominating performance.

Norm Thibault and his muddy 2-pack after his big WIN at the USGP in Portland. photo by Joe Sales

We decided to skip the after party and head North. When we crossed the border the guard asked us where we had been and as usual, we replied with the generic "bike race". But then he asked us if we had been at a road race or a CYCLOCROSS race! Norm laughed and asked him how he knew about cyclocross and he replied "it's my job to know everything". You know the sport is growing fast when the border guards know what it is.

So while the US crew are racing for the stars and stripes jersey this weekend I am packing up for a long haul in europe. The doctors called back and finally figured out what was making me feel like crap for so long - apparently somewhere along my travels I had some undercooked sausage and one of the bad guy bacteria started the party. Stupid pork.

Me, before compression sox were hot.

I am good at the bull, no?! (bonus points if you can name this quote). Me proving I am worthy at my stag.

Me in my BMX days (on the left, the not-so-cute one) with my sister Sharon

The Simms family muscle. L-R Sister Heather, Sister Sharon, Sister-in-Law Wendy & me

Hanging out at the Sneddon household means guns for everyone! No animals were harmed in the taking of this photo. Actually if you must know the truth most of us (OK the one girl) had to be told how to hold a gun.

Proof that my "suffer face" makes me look like I am smiling. photo by Joe Sales.

The underpants-on-head war. Norm lost.

My sister Sharon. On the right, duh.

Its been a couple weeks and people are harassing me for a new entry so I better blog, else I get beaten with a wrench (at konaworld.com). Master got me workin'....

New Jersey USGP

Updates: So since I have returned from Europe I raced the USGP in New Jersey, quite possibly the muddiest cross race I have ever seen. Normally I would be ecstatic with so much running (we counted 8x off the bike/lap) but I still had my belly issues so I was in survival mode. I almost quit half way through the race Sat but since it was only THREE laps, by the time I was contemplating curling up in the fetal position and crying for my mommy I only had 1.5 laps to go. I went into damage control and rolled in 5th. My body was wasted with the effort and I couldn't even go out for dinner Sat night. Sunday's race seemed a bit better as I accepted that I just wouldn't be able to go off the front with the Luna gals so I didn't demo myself off the line. With a little extra energy I could at least respond to attacks, most importantly the one Mo threw at me with half a lap to go so I rolled in 4th. I am never happy with 4th but this one didn't seem so bad.

Cross on the Rock

At least now I was going home. I could see my doctor, eat my own food, sleep in my own bed, ride my own trails and Norm would be there to nurse me back to health. Well, sort of. We had the last Cross on the Rocks race of the season in Nanaimo a few days after I got back from NJ. We had a house full of volunteers and I was out in the pouring rain sledge hammering wooden posts into the ubdergrowth for 2 days. BUT it was sunny and warm for the last race of the season and we had the biggest whirly whirl I have ever seen so somehow it was worth it.

So 5 weeks later I am still keenly aware of the nearest toilet and doctors can't tell me what is causing havoc in my belly. I even broke down and went to a naturopath so I am sitting here drinking stinging nettle leaves after spending $200 on pixie dust. Hippie. So forgive me if I haven't updated my blog recently. Maybe when the pixie dust kicks in and I have my energy back I will have some good news to write about and be eager to share. So until then I have decided to share some entertaining photos. Enjoy

I miss skinsuit Fridays.....Nothing like eating breakfast in your chammy.

HOW's THE DIARRHEA?

ugh. Im not doing so good here. There is a party going on in my stomach and after a week and a half its turned into a bit of a rager. Fireworks. Beach Volleyball. Food fights. Water slides. Think - girls gone wild - but in this case its "Bacteria gone wild." I think it started out pretty tame. Some foreigners moved in next door. Maybe Czech, maybe Belgian but definitely not Canadian. My good guys were just being polite and invited them over for dinner but the foreigners started to get a bit rowdy.  Hanging from the chandelier, doing cannonballs in the pool and sneaking in their buddies. Eventually they took off their fake mustaches and exposed themselves for who they really were: the Bad guys.  My good guys tried to kick them out. They were holding strong for almost a week, patrolling the perimeters, identifying the bad guys and battling them liek Spartans. But.....then I made the mistake of having a glass of wine with dinner one night. The good guys weren't used to alcohol and got a bit drunk and fell asleep at their stations so the bad guys had a mass orgy and snuck in some buddies and thats when the party got a bit crazy. As the world cup race approached I brought in the reserves to help me get through the race. I called in Immodium to block the back door.  It was either that or poop my pants during the race. Not cool. I thought it might put a damper on the party but it just pissed them off and they went OFF in there and now I am paying the consequences. The place is getting trashed and the good guys are in rough shape. But I have called off Immodium and the new strategy is to block the front door. No more deliveries to this party. I am going to starve them out. See how fun a party with no food is, boys. My apologies to the good guys left in there but I need to start from scratch.

Oh yeah the race. I guess you want to hear about the Pijnacker world cup. I had a phenomenal start. One of my best. Second into the mud. Perfect position as there was going to be chaos behind me in the thick mud. Unfortunately I did not have the energy to back up my start. I just did not have the power to push through the mud. So I got passed. I could not even capitalize on crashes around me. I had to change my strategy after the first lap and put in my small ring hoping to maybe spin through the mud but it was only marginally better. Even 3 bike changes did not help me, I was losing time there too. Everytime I rode a section and passed a few girls, they would pass me back on the power sections. I was getting schooled. Rolled into 14th exhausted, not sure whether I was going to puke or soil my skinsuit. At least I wasn't called for doping control, that might have been a bit awkward.......

Robbie giving the Queen Ann some love

Jergen and Stefan prepping the bikes

The CZE smog 

They are rubber boots. But they look like converse! How cool is that?

Tabor, CZE World Cup #2

I have never been to Czech Republic so I was pretty excited to race in a new country. It was a long haul but traveling with the Swift crew in their sweet pink camper van makes travel a hell of a lot smoother. Our crew was Stefan Wyman (Helen’s husband and the Swift team manager), Robbie the mechanic and Jergen the soigneur. Luckily Helen and Gabby were willing to share their mens. On the way down I watched the 2006 Tabor race to get an idea of the course. Grass. Fast. Not much else to report. When we got there Sat afternoon (after everyone playing a viscious game of scrabble in the back got brutal headaches once we hit the twisty turny roads of CZE) it hadn’t changed much. Grass. Fast. And long. There were 3 big metal up and over bridges and 2 sets of stairs scattered on the hilly course.

We went to find our Hotel but the signs looked more like a strip club than the official UCI accommodation. Hmmm. The smog (pollution filled fog) was rolling in when Stefan returned from the manager meeting with news and numbers. They were doing call up by UCI ranking so my “world number one” status was getting me on the line first. I figured if there was ever going to be a time when I would be a “random” choice for doping controls it would be now. Did I mention I was world number one?

The vampires came for me the morning of the race. But they were pretty nice vampires. I was a little disturbed when they went to take blood from me and they didn’t have gloves. What is the deal? Can the UCI not afford gloves to work with the blood and piss required to test athletes. The blood was for a quick hematocrit test that they would do at the race venue. If it was “abnormal” I wouldn’t be allowed to start. 

So as world number one I was part of the front row club. I am not going to lie. It’s a lot different up there. It really IS that much better. I had a great start without burning too many matches even after sustaining a massive blow from 66kg of pure German muscle going into the first corner. I may only have 60kg to hold my ground but I was a solid kid nicknamed “The Wall” in soccer. You are going to have to do better than that. I settled in behind Hanka and Daphny. I know we had just started but it wasn’t even that fast up here. This is what the front row club is all about. I wanted a permanent membership. I was sitting 3rd wheel for most of the first two laps. Nice and comfortable. Everything was great until I slipped a pedal and tried to make up the time on a fast steep bumpy downhill. I went in so hot I blew out the corner and shot UNDER the course snow fencing. Rung my bell. Stunned I crawled back underneath, almost got gunned down by the chase group and jumped on my bike. But my chain was off so I had to get off and manually do it. More riders whizzed passed me. Possible podium to 15th. arrrrrg. Dammit! I was starting to despair at the distance to the next group when Helen bridged up and stomped on the gas up the long hill. Her “come on, Wendy!” was all I needed to focus again. I rested up behind her for a bit and then took the lead at the start/finish. No more front row club. I was back to working my ass off. All alone. It took me 2 laps of suffering but I tagged onto the end of the first chase group. But the effort had taken its toll. I was dangling dangerously. I was wiped. I rested up a bit and then Robbie and the boys were yelling at me to move up so I struggled up to 3rd wheel. It was not pretty. Then we caught Daphny. I knew I should keep moving forward but I didn’t have the juice and stayed put to end up 7th overall. Bittersweet…

My doping control chaperone had to wait a few minutes for me to be able to talk. Long enough to hear that poor Gabby Day was running the last half lap. I was a “random.” Again. I started drinking as soon as I could. When it was my turn I could only eek out 60mL so I was relegated to the wait room until I could bring the cup up to a solid 100mL. Sitting in the wait room with a sample of my own pee. Not cool for conversation. 4L of water, 3 tries and 125mL of amber urine later I was allowed to go.

So my membership to the front row club has likely expired as European champs are next week and with it, points I am not allowed to get. I am surely bumped from World Number One and likely bumped from the front row. But I got a taste and -Wendy like - so I hope to be back soon.

Notes:

-The mullet is alive and well in the Czech Republic

-The fans are no where near the numbers you see at Belgium races but you can always count on the Czech fans for a real air raid siren and I was not let down

-2010 World Champs is in Tabor but it will likely be a different game played on ice and snow in Jan of that year

kmag just sent me a great quote:

Talent is nice. Guts are better

- John Munroe

Im getting HUGE-er in Finland

(YAWN) so maybe you have heard the news, I am currently ranked #1 in the WORLD at the moment. I am for SURE going to be even bigger in Finland. When I ride down the street here in Belgium, people yell out "Hey Wendy Simms, world #1!!" (OK it was Helen and Gabby). I figure Canada should really name a stat holiday named after me now. 

2009 UCI Cyclo-Cross Rankings
Women Elite

Last ranking / Women Elite : 20.10.2008
Ranking Winner
Mondial Ranking SIMMS Wendy (CAN)

The Tielt Winger crew. photo by some random Belgian in the crowd....

Back in Belgium!

After Nationals I went home for a day, unpacked everything, washed everything and then repacked everything. 40 hour complete turnaround. The Air Canada check in lady was a little frazzled with her deja vu as a few days ago when I checked in she had gotten in trouble for not charging me for the bikes. This time I was traveling with a big double bike case AND a separate bike bag full of FSA wheels (I couldn't leave them at home!) so I thought for sure she would be double dinging me for 2 bike bags. I was ready with the VISA but she must have really hated her job because she waived me through with no excess baggage charges. Apparently someone had been a tattle-tale last time and that was why she had to call me out of the boarding area to pay when I was almost through, scott free. Suzie Suck-up was not there today so free bike travel combined with my business class upgrade and things were looking good. I was traveling so smooth I didn't even mind the overly chatty guy next to me complaining about the shoddy decor and seating in Air Canada planes. Blah blah blah. Yah I get it, you have $$$. Headphones on.

I am staying at the Wymans in Tielt Winge for the month so Stefan picked me up and Helen had dinner waiting for me! More smooth. The house was full of cyclists from around the world as per usual and whose American twang do I hear when I walk in, but Garry and Betty, friends of Barb Howe's that I met last year in Belgium! Small world. There was lots of talk about racing and racers and bikes and everything else but I was fading fast. I crashed hard and slept until almost 10am. Yikes. But a few fuzzy jet lagged days and a leg flush from Jergen and I was ready to go.

We took the pink Swift "camper van" (translation: RV)  to the race. Traveling in STYLE. Checked out the course at Kalmthout and I loved it! FOUR sets of stairs (yes I said FOUR and two were almost on top of one another), a few lollipop 180degree turns and a lot of twisty, turny, swoopy tracks through the woods plus a couple of sand pits. I do love the world cup courses. They is just SO much going on. 

I had a pretty good call up from last years UCI ranking - 9th - so I was on the second row. I needed a good start as the course had some turns coming up pretty quick. Unfortunately the gun went "click" pause "click" so the start was a bit crazy as some bolted at the clicks, some rolled off the line, some laughed and I stupidly paused thinking that they would call a false start. I should know better. This happened to me last year and they never call a false start (unless you are Sven Nys). Go with it. So my start was not great and I went into the dirt in the 20s as I got squeezed out by many in the terrifying corners off the start. The race was strung out immediately so I had to pick people off whenever I could. I soon realized my long legs could do it on the stairs with ease so one by one I picked the minis off. I was moving through nicely but the lead group of 6-7 was gone. So when Maryline Salvetat from France bridged up to me I decided to play smart and get some rest on her wheel. It was a good place to be until a few girls bridged up and on the last lap sharpened their blades, I mean elbows. I had forgotten how pushy and aggressive these gals are. I got slammed into the gates twice by the same chick, squeezed out by another and T-boned (on purpose) by a third, all in about the span of 2mins. I was pissed. I had not worked this hard to get shut out by demolition derby style racing. I passed mini#1 on the stairs and then set my sights on the menace, but by then Salvetat had made a break. I squeezed some anger into my legs and bridged and then passed the menace in a sprint finish for 8th. I was wasted but happy my legs could talk back. But next time  missy, it will be elbows.