Scheldecross...Elliott 13th

So the first race is in the books. We raced in Antwerpen today ,about 1 hour from where we were staying. Natasha came in 13th today while Belgian housemates Wendy Simms came 4th and Barb Howe finished in 9th.

It was totaly crazy to have done our first race on a friday afternoon and seen so many people out watching, a true sign of X-mas time in Belgium.

I finished 45th...which wasn't bad for a first Cross experience and the first 30 guys were totaly Cross studs so...
Housemate Nathan Chow finished a few seconds ahead and had a pretty solid ride.
We are stoked not have gotten lapped. K Hazzard flatted and was unable to continue.
Lots of sand, not a whole lot of running, about -4 deg C, frozen ground, a little hard to pass and I was on the brakes way too much and super nervous, wasted alot of energy, but that's ok.

Natasha tells me she will write a post of her race tonight or tommorow so I'll let her blab.
It was really nice to have infrastructure today. Having people take the bikes, clean the bikes, take your stuff. In North America we are so used to taking care of ourselves. Here it is, get in, do the job, get it done and get out. You can learn racing, but today what I learned was really more about ways to prepare for things like a European, or a really organized unit. Here the socializing is for the fans not the riders. This is not the "fun" atmosphere you find back home. It's serious, there is a lot of money, the job has to get done. This is a lot more professional, they run it like a buisness. As I am obviously not as good as some of these guys , I will really have to learn to stop the bad habbits that the North American atmosphere provides. Guess this type of aculturatution may take some time, but maybe we can focus on this kind of preperation and see what happens.

Tommorow, we travel to Huijbergen in Holland (Netherlands) and it's gonna be even harder than today. So baby steps, don't get lapped, get my head out of my ass in the first lap and I think this should be congruent with a better result. Not that I'm all about results, but it is a good measure to see if your comprehension of the necessary elements that must be present in this sport.

So, my belly is full of Spaghetti Bolognaise made by our host and time for a little snack.

DSJ