US Grand Prix-New Jersey day 1

Man oh man. That was hard. That really hurt. Usually my cross races unfold in similar patterns. Poor start, chase hard, have fun, usually try to flash the Ben Stiller Blue Steel once or twice, stick my tongue out at Natasha and ride through people or go group to group behind people I'm pretty sure I could/should beat. So today, the special on the menu was different from the usual. Great start, suffer, suffer actually loose a few positions, then I rode with the former Champion of Denmark, then I rode with Chris Horner who I believe finished 20th at the Tour de France this year. Did I say that was hard. Come to think about it I feel like I just smoked a pack, no a carton of Marlboro's. That guy was punching it so incredibly hard out of corners it was insane, I made one little bobble and lost his wheel and that was that.



I suffered, a lot. I actually wanted to cry. I think I finished about 23rd, which is pretty good, since I'm usually about 20th in the Verge series and that is about 40% easier. Last year at the GP I was 51st. So definitely best cross ride for 2008 so far. Not to mention at one point a large branch or tree limb flew up and lodge itself in the wheel. The wheel was not very happy, I rode around on it for 30 minutes with it being stuck on the break pad. Good thing I didn't get the spare bike cause the seat collar was busted.



Natasha had a great ride she finished 15th. She biffed it in the sand but managed to get back on. She started off a little slow, and pulled her way back. There are alot of rally good girls here, so it's really good for Tasha. Hopefully her interventions of trying to recover better will pay off tomorrow. I think she can squeeze a top ten if she really puts her mind to it.

The atmosphere here is awesome, there are so many people cheering, screaming, it's really cool. It's always good to hear people telling you to go hard. Mercer Parc is great, great venue for a cross race. Course is wicked, there is a fly over, it looks like a skate board ramp, you run up one side, jump on your bike, fly down it meanwhile other people are going under it to get to a different part of the course. I really like the way they do the courses here, it's really well thought out. The leaves are still on the trees, and not to be a chick or anything, but it's pretty scenic. The Hotel room is great, just built one month ago...makes it hard to go home. They do a pretty good breakfast, which we finagled some free coupons by trying to get a deal last night. I know Maurice (Natasha's dad) takes great pride in me when I get discounts or get stuff for free. My dad would be proud to know that I made an egg sandwich at breakfast then wrapped it in napkins and had it for lunch.

Although I'm not really sure if anyone cooks in NJ. Because we tried to go out tonight for some din' and all the restaurants had a 45 min wait...so we had salad, baked potato and chicken at Wendy's. It was alright, kind healthy, which is weired. Cheap too, probably like 12$ Canadian, eh.

So tomorrow we'll do it over again and roll the dice. Tomorrow's secret goal for me is to beat Natasha and maybe I can use that as an excuse not to drive through NJ,which is also really crazy...no left turns everywhere, you have to do these huge right turns and hit the street from the different side...oh well, better get used to different driving laws, Belgium is only a month away. Oh yah, other weired thing about New Jersey, you are prohibited by law to pump your own gas. I just don't get it.

Later
DSJ