Doug Kybo- war of the worlds

War of the Worlds!

Wow my cyclocross season has come to a finish. I did the time, I put in the effort and I raced the race of all races. I am happy with my performance at Worlds but not satisfied. The best way to describe it is when you see a nice croissant and your taste buds go wild but then you bite in to it expecting a burst of flavor, but rather you get the flavor of a piece of cardboard.

The start was hectic, right off the gun the guy beside me crashed taking out another guy causing the whole back of the field to slow. I dashed left and then dashed right trying to find my way through the riders. The whole first lap all I could taste was blood. I was going so hard I was getting dizzy. It is World Championships I was thinking, now or never, feel the pain now live the rest of your life a champion, die or do something, go balls deep! Pretty much flashbacks of every movie quote came in to my head. I put my head down and hammered. I was in a group with 2 Americans and 1 Canadian. One lap passed and I found myself falling off the wheel of the group. I just couldn’t hold the pace. The next 2 laps were hell; I swear I was riding backwards. Lucky for me the last 2 laps made up for my disappointing middle of the race. I hammered hard to the finish passing 3 guys and closing the gap to the forth guy. The last 2 laps I had speed and rhythm. I ended the day crossing the line in 50^th. Happy with my performance but not satisfied! The rest of the Under 23 Canadians were all happy about the day!

After a long hard day of racing I dived in to the local cuisine and enjoyed 2 pizzas, beer and wine… wow did it all taste yummy.

The next day was the Pro Women’s and Pro Men’s race, It was cheering time! The rest of the Canadian Athletes spent the day cheering on Wendy, Kelly, Mike, Aaron and Osmond. They all had great rides!

Monday I toured Venice and checked out everything in the sinking city. Pretty cool place! Got to spend the day with Mom, Dad, Bill and Sonja… what an adventure!

Now I am home for a bit, time to rest, work and get ready for mountain bike season!

Cheers

KD

Out of touch

Hey Everyone,

I just finished up being a tourist... I am about to head home... once I get some good internet I will put up my race report and some photos!

cheers

 thanks for all the supppppoorrtttt!!!!!!

Die or do Something

The day, the afternoon and the night before the big event!

 The wait, the preparation, the anxiousness and the pain all have been worth it. Tomorrow is World Championships! In September I sat down with my coach and we laid out the months ahead everything leading to this event. Every weekend traveling to a new town, racing against all sorts of people. It all has paid off! The people and the companies that got me here I really owe, if it wasn’t for there belief in me I wouldn’t be in Italy about to race the World Championships. The immense support from family and friends has kept the cranks turning. It is time to funnel every ounce of fight in to the race tomorrow. Game Face.

Every act, every thought, and every decision you decide to make or not to make is creating your tomorrows, carving your character and creating your destiny!

The course… is fun, hard, challenging, etc… tomorrow I am going to go out and bleed from my eyes, while I am bleeding from my eyes I am going to have fun. Who would of thought bleeding and fun would be in the same sentence. In the wisdom of DZ… its just another hard training ride except there will be 20,000 people yelling at you to go harder and faster!

 

To switch courses for second I just want to let everyone know John Rambo is back in Rambo 4… In theatres January 25^th 2008, TODAY!

Training on course

CHEERS

KD

Ian Man-dawg Manning- The other brother who does not play Football

Ian Manning Interview

Ian has arrived in Italy and I thought it would be appropriate to give him the KD 10 question special. Little background on Ian: he likes long walks on the beach and candle light dinners… sometimes the sounds of the ocean. He rides for 3 Rox Racing for the cross season and is currently an employee for Starbucks and Milestone’s.

 

1)    Who is the man behind the sunglasses? Define yourself.

 I am a 21-year-old titan who enjoys a goodtime, and am going into my 3^rd year of treating cycling professionally.

 

2)    Ian you arrived in Italy yesterday… is it what you dreamed it to be?

 Besides only sleeping for the last hour of traveling and not seeing much of the airport I was shocked on how warm it was when I stepped outside. It is a nice 10-15degrees difference then back home right now. Seeing the old downtown section of where we are staying in Treviso was incredible, its beautiful and just makes me eager to see more of Italy!

 

3)    This is your first time in Europe and first time racing outside North America is this one of your bucket list items? How so?

 Racing all over North America has been nice, but to finally step across the pond was always a dream of mine and now I am able to “check” that off and still plan to race over here much more.

 

4)    Racing for The National Team… pretty cool… I noticed when you put your new Canada race kit you starred at yourself for a while in the mirror. What was going though your head?

 Dang I make this look good…haha! But yeah I was always so glad the sizes were right.

 

5)    How did you get here? What do you think was the main reason you are going to take on the World in few days?

  Well after a season full of bad bounces in road I decided cyclo-cross was going to be different. Therefore making criteria from certain races and still pulling off a result at nationals after crashing with couple laps to go has allowed me the chance to be over here….and some good training with you buddy!

 

6) How will Worlds change you as a racer and person? Or will it?

I have been fortunate enough to race many highly categorized races all over North America competing against many world class cyclists But Worlds is in a class of its own, it brings the best out in you where you fight as hard as you can for that one day of the year.

 

7) What is your plan for World Championships?

 To bleed through my eyes from the pain of going past my capabilities that I know I can do.

 

8) What is the future plan for Ian Manning?    

Worlds is the last race of the season for me, I will go home and start to get ready for the upcoming season where I have to ride to what I am capable of good results.

 

9) What is the best advice someone has ever given you?

My mentor who owns a bike shop who I have worked for 9 years has raced all over Europe and has more knowledge then you can shake a stick at. He has constantly given advice to help steer me in the right direction. But what sticks out in the mind the most would be…”when you think you are going hard enough, go harder!”

 

10) Work hard now live the rest of your life as a champion… what is your opinion of that quote?

To me that means that you can not just slack and half ass everything, take everything     in stride and always give a memorable effort because you need to work hard to be a champion you do not just walk in the starlight.     

ITALY!!!!!

I arrived safe and sound in Italy today... hooked up with the National Team. My roommate for the remainder of the trip is Ian Manning... going to be a good time!!! look for the inside Ian Manning interview...

cheers

KD

Interview

Check out www.cyclocrossontario.com for an interview I did!!!

Racing in Europe

Picture by Norm 

update

The last stretch of the trip!

 Well before I give you the race report I want to update you with the last few days. I have been staying in Mol, Belgium at a Belgium cottage resort called Sunparks. The place was a really nice facility. I was staying with Rob “Robocop” Orange, “Hot Rod” Olliver (he likes to party) and sickie mic sickie Stephen Proulx… The whole point of moving from Leuven to Mol was because Master World Championships was on Saturday in Mol. I was pitting for Robbie Orange on Saturday and did he have a great race!!! In fact all the Ontario riders had great rides. Congrats to Steve, Marc and Vicki. Also props to the westerners Norm and Brad!

Over the last 3 days the life of KD hasn’t really been all that different. Riding, Eating and sleeping… The main that has been stripped from me was the Internet… and wow three days of not checking out the World Wide Web has really hurt!

Race Day: World Cup Nederland’s

Lets just say pre riding a course is sometimes a good idea… and warming up is also an even better idea. It was one of those days… My head wasn’t really in it. I had my first DNF in Europe. Now that’s something I really don’t like doing because quitting is something that I don’t do. I had a pretty pathetic crash in to a fence and bummed up my side. It happened on the first lap and just took the wind right of my sails. After completing 3 horrible laps I pulled out and called it quits for the day. There is a first and last for everything and that is DNFing in Europe.

On a positive note the rest of the Canadians were riding strong. Shaun Adamson was riding strong in the Under 23 race. What I know of the junior race Dave Larson completed his first European race… Tag yeah! Wendy Simms and Kelly Jones were ripping up the elite women’s race. Wendy grabbed another 5^th… BAM! The Elite men’s race was exciting. I have to say Aaron Scholar is hilarious to cheer for all smiles from that guy. Osmond and Mike G were ripping up the course!!! Now one Canadian I really don’t know but was funny in the race was a Quebec guy named Pascal. He almost ate it hard on the decent I crashed on but he saved it. After saving it he waved to the crowd. Lets just say if you wave to a cyclocross crowd they don’t forget you. Every time Pascal would drop in on the decent the crowd would go nuts. Nice work buddy!!!

 

Well today is travel mode, Hot Rod and I are grabbing a Hotel at the airport and getting ready for our flights tomorrow. Italy is tomorrow and World Championships is 5 days away. Each night is slotted for movie watching… can you guess? Rocky!!!

Robyn, Cris, Bill and Sonja arrive in Italy tomorrow!

Ian “The Champ” Manning arrives tomorrow as well!!!

 

Cheers

Living the Dream

KD

Picture of crash

so0000000 here is the pic of me crashing last week!!!  hahahah ouch!!!!!!!!

GONE

so yeah... No internet... I will update people in 3 days... 

CHEERS

In or Out?

Kyle more then meets the eye!

Today is moving day! I am parting ways with the Leuven Apartment and parting ways with Molly my roommate. Molly is heading back home to Portland but before arriving home he is attending the last UCI race on the American calendar in California. Rod and I on the other hand are moving north. We will be living just outside a town called Mol with Rob and Steve, 2 other Canadians. I have 13 days left of my trip and 10 days till World Championships…

For once I woke up early and got started on the day. Made the morning coffee slipped in to my scandalously fly bike kit… a.k.a spandex and ventured out on the roads of Belgium. I had one major thing to do on my ride and that was finding the Scott factory. I was meeting up with Eddie Dewit from Scott to chat about plans of returning for next year and to check out the building. I made it to the factory under 45mins and met up with Eddie. After I left Scott, I decided that I would rather not take the same route home. With a quick decision I hung a right on the first road I came across. I journeyed along the coble-stoned road until the road stopped at a “T”… Hmmmmm decisions??? Left or right??? I knew that home was in some direction left of where I was….so I went left.. This road slowly turned in to a dirt road and led me in to a forest. I knew it would go somewhere like all roads… they do lead you somewhere!!! As I was cruising along, I began to daydream and take in the elements around me. In my case trees and small steep banks is what was entertaining me. Something caught my eye though. I stopped and tried to make it out from the trail but just couldn’t make it out. EXPLORING time! I ditched the bike and started to climb the small bank. I found a small concrete opening imbedded in to the side of the bank. I tried looking in but couldn’t really see anything so I climbed to the top. At the top I found a concrete staircase leading down in to what looked like a chamber. Now this is when I couldn’t decide do I proceed and explore this bunker like thing or do I play it safe and walk away. Knowing my luck if I went down or tried to look around I would have gotten hurt… that would have been a beauty phone call home… Anyways I took off. Grabbed my bike and carried on my way. I got home safe and ended the ride with a wondering mind… all I can think about what was in the concrete bunker…????

I may never know…

Cheers

Participants described three main ways in which they drew sense and meaning from life: through interconnections with others (belonging), taking part in activities (doing), and seeking to understand their own nature and the world around them (understanding)."

allez allez

Viva La France………. 

France it went by so fast… fewf. My French campaign was shortly lived. I was discussing with the roommates… (By the way I have one new roommate Rod Oliver from Cyclocross Ontario)… how in cycling you really cant blame other people for your result in a race. While in most team sports you can pass the blame off to another player, coach or in the Leafs case the GM for a bad performance. With that being said a Dutch rider may have taken me out early in the race and it cost me a few spots but really the 37^th finishing spot was what I could do! You always want better, you always will want to be faster and you will always want to be the winner and it can all happen! I am a true believer in the defeats I face now will make the journey to being victorious that so much better. That’s the beautiful life of an Athlete, always wanting more! The road you may take may turn or get bumpy but… fight it so that when you get to the end you can be a champion. Proof… Wendy Simms best World Cup finish to date I think was 14^th… today 5^th!!! Congrats Wendy. Also props to the rest of the Canadians… the high fives, the smiles, the cheering...and the fun… is what makes it all worth it!

Anyways my race may have had some ups and some downs but overall I went to France raced the best in the world and placed 37^th. Now I prepare for another World Cup where I set the bar higher, digging deeper and knocking a few places off the number 37!

For those who have Facebook I will be putting up some videos from the race. Also I will be putting a photo album up as well. I have a photo of me eating the Dutch rider after he ate the fence… but Rod forgot his cable to transfer the photo. Once we get it I will post it on the Blog, it is really funny I had a good laugh!

 

Cheers

Happy living!

Gotta be KD

Oh France...............

….F%$#… I give the smoke to the baby!

 Today I woke up after a super crappy sleep and thought wow I am tired wish I wasn’t going to France. All night I kept getting up, if I was lucky I may have gotten 5hrs of sleep. It was like I was in prison trying to sleep and my cellmates name was Bubba and Bubba had an expression on his face that spelled out trouble!

Anyways enough prison talk! We packed the car and headed to France! For once on this trip Molly and I arrived early and had time to check out the course, have a coffee, brush up on our French speaking and relax with our belgie friends! (I wrote this right after the race… before the bitter bus came)

 

5hrs later…..

 

I thought the race went well… I placed 33^rd… not bad… but deep down the race just seemed blahhhhhhhhhhhh… the course matched my style… well half the course and the other half was all flat soccer field stretches! I would get some rhythm and then loose it. I would catch a guy then loose a guy… for every positive there was a negative. I had bike problems, then my bike worked like a charm. I am just going to say it, bad day at the office. Molly was super pumped for my ride he thought I was killing it… I just wasn’t feeling it.

 

I just really don’t feel like writing up a report on this race.

 

Notes:

-       Tomorrow World Cup- (I am watching Rocky tonight)

-       France’s roads SUCK!

-       Molly and I got lost a lot today- 2hrs of wasted time.

-       Rode my bike… like a champ in the tech spots

-       Stressed

-       TIRED

-       TIRED

-       TIRED

 

Conclusion: the number of times I have sworn today, 567,098,478

 

The End

Better days Approach! 

5hrs 38mins later...

found a positive...

I raced today in Roubaix... a very famous area... and I did 3/4 a lap of the track per lap of the race that the famous road race Paris-Roubaix finishes on!!!! SO COOL!

How fast is to Fast?

My last race was on January 2^nd 2008, 10 days I have been without a race, I will tell you why. I have been doing 2 things… secret training… so shhhhhh don’t tell anyone and I have been collaborating with a local Aerodynamic Speed Specialist Team (A.S.S) to design me a bike to race at World Championships. I know 10 days doesn’t seem like a long time but we have been working around the clock. The work that goes in to designing a bike custom to fit your needs takes a massive effort. It really has tired me out. I want to thank the following people for there efforts!

Igor- Aerodynamics Specialist

Alford- Master Machinist

Kasha- Marketing- Sales

Hans - Graphic Designer

Bob- Agent

 

Now I am not to sure if I will be able to getting it running for this weekend only because it needs a few tweaks but Molly my roommate took it for a ride around the block.....

...............................

..............

....

..

Molly says, “Its quick… shake and bake”

Anyways... I am off to France in the morning... look for race updates by Monday... not sure if I will have access to Internet!!!

cheers

KD

hot off the press

New Quote..

The one choice that cannot be taken away from us, is how we choose to live. In knowing this then why do we not act on this choice. Instead we fret over things that will only provide fleeting happiness. Let what you want the world to be, become the way you choose to live.



Written by Renee

Good Morning

Gather around its story TIME

Upperrdaterrrr

Today is January 9^th 2008- T-minus 17days till World Championships!

The last few days have flown by. It felt like I was packing my bags up to leave to come here, January 26^th is fast approaching on me.

I Decided to put the cross tires back on my bike to do some training in the forest. As you may recall I found myself there a few days ago on my cross bike, but with slick tires. I had to go back and ride the mountain bike trails I found. I was loosing sleep over the fact that I found them, took the safe route out and found the nearest road, which is a sin in my books! I ventured back there yesterday, found the trails and rode them. I stopped at a “T” where there was a bench and a map of the forest! On the bench sat a man, a man that had striking resemblance to no other then Ron Hancock. If you’re reading this Hancock family… I found Ron’s long lost twin. I had to take a second and look. In fact I was tempted to even say… Ronbob?... The gentlemen I guess noticed my abnormal curiosity toward him and started talking some gibberish to me… which I think, was Flemish… What I got out of it was… Hello…srtdfyugihojerfvubdwoeqivffygchbjkjdfbdivc… I pulled out the Ik spreek non Nederlands en non Francais… Lucky for me Ron’s twin could speak some English! Yeah well not only did he look like Ron, he could tell a story like Ron… I enjoyed my 10min break talking to EuroRon and went on my way….

I am tell you this story because today… I was riding back in to Leuven and I saw EuroRon again. He was crossing the street near my house… he waved, I waved… we both had a moment! The best part was the forest I saw him in was 20km away from town… EuroRon gets around!!!

Well other then that I am just relaxing in the Apartment! I found a new addiction…washing dishes…. Just kidding Mom…

Cheers

Gotta be KD

Values

Values???

I am sent an email every morning from Alvin Brown. It usually contains some sort of advice that helps drive through each day… Yesterday He posed the question, what are your values? Some people don’t take the time to even think about what there true values are. Some of the time you probably are acting out your values in life and don’t even realize it! Maybe take time out of your day and write them down. Take a second and read Alvin’s email!

 

At the end of last Year and beginning of 2008, I began to look at my goals and desires for the rest of this year. This is something that I feel is essential to everyone's growth and development, not just for the material reality but also for the soul.  

 

As we have all heard before, if you don't have a plan for your life, someone else will and you may not like what they have planned for you. If you have not made your 2008 plans, let's get to it. The time for getting ready to plan is NOW!

 

Here is the question that was asked by Franklyn Covey, "What are your values?" I found this to be a great question to pose to you all. I have been doing my yearly goals in detail for some time now and this is the question I always come back to because ultimately, your values must be an integral part of your ideal end goal.

 

Here are some examples to start with:

 

         Truth

         Change

         Benevolence

         Persistence

         Consistency

         Love

         Charity

         Achievement

Fill in your own, but let's get it together because when the chips are down your values will drive you through.

 

Give this some thought and begin to implement this in your life. Bring back the PASSION, life's too short!

 

To find out more about Alvin Brown and Vital- Dynamics check out his webpage… www.vital-dynamics.com

GPS- making it to easy

Back at it

 After a nice day of resting I was back at the preparation for the next coming weeks, with the ultimate goal of performing at the end of the month.

 I was using my GPS today to guide me through the twisty roads of Belgium. I started off on a four-lane road with a two-way bike path on each side; it then turned in to a two-lane road with a single lane bike path. As time passed the road changed to a two-lane road with no bike lanes. The road began to turn and go out of a little village, as it did this it turned in to a single lane paved road, then coble stone, then dirt, then finishing off as a goat path. I ended up being right in the middle of a forest, on road tires with mountain bike trails starring me right in the eyes, so tempting. One thought come to mind, DAMN road tires!!! Maybe a blessing in disguise, knowing me I would have attempted some of them and injuring myself. The next thing I thought of was only if DZ was here… it would have been one the classic Dougy and Derek moments… did you just do that? Yes, why?... Now I have to do it!!!... Thank you for not being here Derek!!! Shortly after I would find a road. I pulled out one of my skillzzzz, other then following my trail back I put my ear to the ground and listened for traffic… Just kidding the GPS pointed me to safety! I finished off a great ride and enjoyed delightful bowl of soup with hummus and rice crackers!

 Cheers from the flats of Belgium

 

Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.

Mahatma Gandhi

Day by Day

The Days of Resting

 Rest days are a blessing. Most of the time you are not resting, it usually consists of getting everything done that you have been putting off because of your training. Once again I had many things to do before I had a chance to put my feet up and enjoy the classic sit and do nothing. Since I arrived everything seemed to be rushed. A rush to build the bikes, a rush to get on the bike, a rush to eat…. The days just didn’t seem long enough in the first week I was here. Now that I have most of the items out of the way the days seem longer and I have time to chill!

 Yesterday I decided with the help of Rob Orange to go and watch him race in the Northern part of Belgium. He faired well in the race. His bike on the other hand took a royal beating. This course was ankle deep of mud. I washed his bike after and I would say it weighed in at 40lbs. While I was up that way I decided it would be sweet to ride to the North Sea. Sooo that’s what I did t kill a few hours before Rob’s race.

 After the race we also took a gander in to Brugge to grab a bite to eat. The place is still the same… coble roads, tall old churches and tones of chocolate stores!

 Lastly… I have been bored so to keep myself entertained I have been doing the good old Google search on things. I came across the Muhammad Ali web page and a few of his quotes…

Enjoy!

To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.

Muhammad Ali

 

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘‘don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.''

Muhammad Ali

 

I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.

Muhammad Ali

 

If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.

Muhammad Ali

 

If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize.

Muhammad Ali 

10 Questions with Mike Berube- Professional Photographer

I decided to change up the main focus of the Blog for just a second to interview my good friend Mike Berube. I asked him 10 questions about who he is and what he is about. Before you read the questions I just want to give you the KD of  Mike Berube. Mike and I went to High school together, we had lockers beside each other and a few classes. I have been talking to Mike almost every night because our time zones are a lot closer then the people back home in Canada. Mike is currently working in Africa and is knee deep in the political outburst in Kenya. This guy sees things that we normal turn away from and his job is to photograph it and send it around the world. Most nights I come home and I fix my bikes, work on writing up my race reports for the family and friends back home. Mike meanwhile has to go out in to a country that is polluted with violence and risk his life so that we can read about it as we drink our morning coffee!

 

10 Questions with Mike Berube…

 

 

1)    Who are you… if you and I just met in the elevator and you only had 10 seconds to tell me who Mike Berube is, what would that be?

1. Hey I'm called mike. And I am a human being.

 

2)            Where in the World are you?

2. Right now I am currently in Kenya Africa working for a series of magazines covering the conflict here. I am also using the work for a book I am publishing in the summer.

 

3)      Do you ever get tired of traveling?

3. I love traveling. I never get tired of it. I love to see the world in all of its horror, beauty and wonder. I love that I live out of a suitcase!

 

4)      Is photography a passion, art, work or just something that fell in to your lap?

4. Photography literally was something that I thought was just a hobby. I never knew it would be my life. My camera takes me everywhere. I have met many people with it and seen many things with it. It fell into my lap in high school and that is all the education I have with it. I have not looked back since.

 

 

5)      Why do you think photos have an influence on people?

5. I think images have a profound effect on people because it generates an immediate reaction to what is happening or what is being said. It is important to say something with your life and your work. To stand-alone and be one in a crowd. I think that when people see what is going on in the world they want something done about it. Because if we don't who will?

 

6)      What was the hardest thing to photograph for you? And why?

6.The hardest thing to photograph... I always have a hard tome approaching a situation that involves me approaching a family and entering their house to get pictures and to make the story. It is hard because as photographers we "take" pictures... We are always taking... So it is important to ensure you give back in some way and to make sure that everyone feels good about the situation. To put your subjects at ease and show them that you are human and that you have true compassion for the situation that they are in.

 

7)      What is the Best advice someone has ever given you?

7. There are lots of great people I have met and many things I have learned and have not learned... I still make mistakes... everyday... I have probably invented some as well. But the best advice… Bob Gilka at National Geographic... "F8" (camera setting) and "Be there"

 

8)      What Kind of story will you tell your grand kids?

8. I would tell them to be aware of the world and events and to show compassion and help those in need of a voice, shoulder, friend or someone to listen too... And to speak out against wrong in the world. Protest peacefully either by painting, writing, photography... whatever it takes... and in that protest... to help and show others to protest. so that people may live safe and happy like them.

 

9)      If there were one thing you could change in this World what would it be?

9. Peace... We need it.

 

10)      What do you think about this quote… live for something or die for nothing your call?

10. Your whole life... I believe is a self-portrait. You have a canvas, photograph, pencil and paper... what will you make of it in the end? What mark will you leave? And will that live on when you are gone? Will you touch others in a way that no one will forget you? Live for everything!

 

 

I was motivated to post this because I think everyone should take a moment and relax… If you are frustrated because you missed your TV show, or you didn’t get perfect on a test… just chill…my message is… Be grateful, thankful, be happy and have fun… things could be a lot worse…

 

Life’s a Garden Dig it!!

 

To get a closer look on what Mike Berube is dealing with… here are a few links:

 

www.mikeberube.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7170493.stm

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/01/03/kenya.violence/index.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080103.wnewken0103/BNStory/International/home

Fish out of water

Race number threeeeeeeee… today is brought to you by the letter F… for Fun

Today was one of those days that I am thankful is over… super tired, traveling and racing has finally caught up with me. I have been here for 4 days and I have had hardly any major problems, just lots of racing. Molly and I had a long day of getting things done before we headed to the race. We had to drop off a rental and pick up another one. That flat tire we had ended up costing us 150 euros… don’t rent from eurocar….anyways… We got a new a car that is cheaper and a little bigger. We started the day bummed out about the tire but that was a low that would shortly end with our day of racing. We arrived at the race. I met up with some fellow Canadians, talked with the Brits and met a wonderful family that will be helping me out for the remainder of my trip. Molly had more bad luck swing his way when they denied his license, huge headache. I jumped on the course and pre road 2 laps, after that I jumped on the road… which was a mistake I frooozeeeee… The course was very interesting, off camber down hills, stairs, beach (running/riding), tight twisty corners (very similar to single track) and loopy frozen grass corners. Now on a good day that’s a perfect course for me. I was just not in the groove for the first three quarters of this race. It all started with a bad start, then I was being a little girl in the corners riding the brakes, then there’s the beach. I felt like a fish out of the water, just flopping all over the place. Something came over me on the last 2 laps, I think it was the… what would Rambo do…. Kill count 134538939458… it was one of those great moments when you grip your bar tighter, clinch your teeth, put your head down and hammer. First came the no brakes in the corners… two wheel sliding… then came the KD burst’s out of the corners… Now it was time for the sand, as I dropped in off the ramp on to the beach, I just began to float. The running on the sand felt like I was a deer galloping through a forest. I started to get back in to the groove. I ended the race on a high note… patience’s… your legs after 2 races in 3 days and traveling can pay a toll… I placed 34^th… and was very close to not being lapped…

 

Molly and I had a house race… whoever won doesn’t have to clean the apartment… Molly got 28^th… looks like vacuuming for me… I better fly over Cris for that job!!!

 

NOTES: 

-       Next race Jan 12^th/ 13^th…UCI race and World Cup…

-       Pumped for a little recovery!

-       After the race I chilled in a RV and drank Coffee with my pitting family…nice change

-       Rob Orange landed in town… time for some chillin with other Canadians.

-       Molly is leaving for 4 days… home alone in Belgium…

 

The Rambo quote that got me past today…

 

“Live for something or die for nothing…your call”- John Rambo

http://movies.break.com/rambo/

Result

sooo on a good note, i ended up 28th today...taking that right to the bank

Kybo First Blood Part 2

Round 2… I came, I raced, and I conquered in one-way or another!

I am trying to write up this race report in record speed because of many reasons… 1- super tired 2- I race tomorrow (3 races in 4 days) and our internet has hit the s*&t fan!

Today’s race was another crazy attended race by all the top cyclocross racers in the World. The field had a lot of depth in it. Current World Champion, UCI World Ranking leader, U23 World Champion, 2^nd Place U 23 World Champion, 2 Prior World Champions… and the list goes on! Oh I forgot to mention 2006 Under 23 National Champion…hahahaha. Yeah this guy! Anyways back to the race. This course was crazy hard. My roommate warned me to maybe consider skipping this race only because of the damage it could do to your bike and body. Sign me up! I couldn’t get on the course because of the large amount of drunken Belgium spectators polluting the course with their stumbling bodies! I then quickly decided to dash out on to some side roads and get the legs warmed up. Going in to this course blind could play a major role on the outcome of the result, but seriously I am not looking for a result I am looking at it as a building block. Once again I get a sweat call up. It never gets old when you here your name called and you get to ride past all the crazy screaming fans. They really are not cheering for yours truly, they just seem to yell for the duration of the race. Usually at the start of a race you will here a gun, a whistle or the classic GO, not here they go with a red light changing to a green. (Thank you for the heads up on that one Shaun). As the group accelerated up the straight pavement section we made a quick right to climb a long gradual hill. I glanced right and then left then looked forward, I then became aware that I was sitting in sweet position. Now at this point all I knew was that we made a sweeping right to a 180 degree corner that led in to a double barrier. After that… I had no clue…it was moi against the course. The next 7mins was crazy… fighting for position, making corners on 4-6 inch deep thick mud and trying to just unleash any furry on to my pedals! I held in strong, making gains then loosing then fighting back… it was a tug a war! I was sitting in with a group of 4 guys, knowing that it wasn’t going to last I hit the gas and blew the group to pieces. As I looked back one guy made the effort as well. The 2 of us played cat and mouse until his efforts got the best of him and he fell off my wheel. Just as I thought all the effort was paying off I heard the cheers from the crowd…, which means the leader is approaching. Panic mode… pedal pedal pedal… it wasn’t good enough the UCI Overall leader came roaring up behind me to lap me with 2 laps to go. I got yanked and the days done!

I made up huge ground on my racing. Last year I was getting lapped with about 3-4 laps left in the race. By the end up this trip my goal will be to hang in for the whole race. It’s a massive goal but shoot for the stars.

 

Notes:

-       As I was getting ready some Belgium dad was just laying in to his son who was no older then 17. Molly and I couldn’t stop ourselves from listening in. Molly thought it would be appropriate to lay in to me as a joke… it went along the lines…. If you don’t beat the world champion your riding home… If I have to get your mother out here she will loose it… etc etc etc…

-       When we pulled in from the race I got out to hear the famous. Hisssssss… yeaop we got a flat tire on the car…it’s fixed now!

-       Last night for New Years I celebrated in great fashion by reading a book because our Internet crashed… then I watched fireworks. The locals did a great job! I also enjoyed a great bottle of sparkling mineral water.

-       I had to go to the grocery store New Years Eve… The check out line was 30mins… the worst 30mins I have had in Europe.

 

Cheers

Gotta be KD