RACE REPORT NUMBER 1
I had been asked to keep everyone updated on progress so I will do regular updates and this is the first. As there has been no racing to report on I will fill this report with “stuff”.
Ivar and me staggered into Amsterdam airport on Saturday night after two days of flying and discovered that the bikes and gear hadn't been as diligent at making the same flights. Mind you totally by luck Ivar woke up in Heathrow and realised our flight was being called, he quickly woke me and we staggered to our gate. The legs didn't handle inactivity as well as they could.
First day in Holland and we went to watch a “mountain bike race” at a local park. Clearly as Campagnolo don't make mountain bike componentry I normally wouldn't be seen dead there but they also allow cyclocross bikes in the race as well so things weren't too bad. The course was a mix of single track through some bush and fast stuff along muddy grass and bike paths that are all better engineered than say the Auckland motorway. They handle their bikes very well considering that the paths and roads they ride around on here make some velodromes look treacherous.
Bikes and gear turned up on Monday and I didn't waste time getting out. If you enjoy a gentle breeze while out riding you are in for a treat here. Mind you I got suspicious that a wind might spring up from time to time here when I looked out my bedroom window the first morning to see nine enormous wind turbines quietly turning over. These guys are the same as in the Manawatu and in this part of Holland the place is full of them. You can own your very own wind turbine and one guy makes 75 thousand euro from his each year.
We are close to the sea here, the land was reclaimed back in the 16th century and originally all the dykes and drains were pumped out using windmills. The windmills are mostly gone as it has been found that an electric pump works better. The house is in fact 1.5mtrs below sea level and the ground is mostly sandy with a bit of earth mixed in. Obviously growing options are limited so this is tulip country with grass grown in the off season to stop your paddocks from disappearing in whatever direction the wind has been blowing.
Tuesday we visited the local velodrome for our first training session. The velodrome surrounding land has a mountain bike track and trials area as well as the clubs administration offices. You leave your track bike at the track in a lock up and use your road bike to ride there for a warm up. The velodrome is of course an indoor 250m wooden track with shorter straights and longer curves than Invercargill, it has been used to set the derny hour record, which is where some crazy fat bloke sits on a special motorbike while a crazy skinny bloke rides a special track bike designed to get as close to the motorbike as possible while withstanding the high g forces that are generated in the curves when travelling at 70kph plus. Eddy Merckx had a crash on one which stuffed his back for life and killed his derny driver. Most likely will be staying away from derny races. Anyway first day on the track I stayed upright and worked on trying to generate some leg speed.
Wednesday was the same. The local elite track sprinters were there training too. Track Sprinters have a great life. Leisurely warm ups and warm downs, the odd sprint flying down off the banking, in other words not too much training, and then sit round and talk about it. They generally have big legs and bums and don't like you saying things about their mothers. Listening to them talk I can report the Dutch word for “supercharger” is the same as ours, and they obviously were not talking about me. All good.
