all the aussies at offenburg
hendo and I at offenburg
me in the race
me riding the "wolfsdrop" at Offenburg
macca looking super fast 
some of the vineyards around offenburg
Offenburg town centre
our little house in the black forrest ("swartzwald")
the view
The super fast Renault Kangoo
Coach and i at the lake in luganoRuss Baker has heaps of photos up on:
I was a bit unsure going into the Offenburg World Cup. I spent the entire week prior confined to the couch, watching MTV and eating Echinacea and vitamin C tablets. The day before the race it still felt my lungs were the size of a tennis ball, I was definitely on the mend but it was a battle against the clock to get better in time. After having done next to nothing all week though; I was pretty sure that I would be the freshest rider on the line.
Clarkey told me to start a bit conservative and try to ride into the race, but that was a bit hard with a field of 250. The start was so fast and the Europeans certainly have a unique style of racing. I got taken down twice on the first lap by dickheads trying on non-existent passing moves. In a third incident when a guy tried to chop me I managed to stay upright and was pretty happy to be able to ride over his wheel, hopefully causing some race ending damage. I have to say that I didn’t feel super comfortable during the first 3 laps, I was losing places on most of the climbs, and wasting energy to try and defend my position the whole time. On the 4th and 5th laps I started to feel a bit more comfortable, in part because the field had thinned out and I could ride more efficiently. I was starting to slowly pull back a few places but I was probably somewhere in the 140's at that stage (yeah i know, OTB). When I came through to finish the 5th lap, I got pulled (131st place). It is a pretty bad feeling to realise all of a sudden that your race is over and you are to finish 2 laps down. So I was a bit disappointed but I had plently of company; Hass, Cal, Charton and Hendo all had bad days too. Hass got taken out on the first lap and was back to second last at one stage. Hendo was probably the only guy behind him after flatting in the first minute and having to run about 3 kilometres to the tech zone, he only managed one lap before the approaching sound of the lead motorbike meant the end of his race. Blood, Macca and Lach all had really solid rides with Chris leading the Aussie charge in 13th place, probably the best ride by an Australian in the past few years.
I am now in Houfalize (Beligium) licking the wounds and trying to workout how I can get faster in a week. The track has 300m of climbing per lap, which is so much, more than double the average track back home. I have also lost my good starting position, so i'll be off about 100 on the grid. We'll have to wait and see, but i really hope to put together a good ride.
Clarkey told me to start a bit conservative and try to ride into the race, but that was a bit hard with a field of 250. The start was so fast and the Europeans certainly have a unique style of racing. I got taken down twice on the first lap by dickheads trying on non-existent passing moves. In a third incident when a guy tried to chop me I managed to stay upright and was pretty happy to be able to ride over his wheel, hopefully causing some race ending damage. I have to say that I didn’t feel super comfortable during the first 3 laps, I was losing places on most of the climbs, and wasting energy to try and defend my position the whole time. On the 4th and 5th laps I started to feel a bit more comfortable, in part because the field had thinned out and I could ride more efficiently. I was starting to slowly pull back a few places but I was probably somewhere in the 140's at that stage (yeah i know, OTB). When I came through to finish the 5th lap, I got pulled (131st place). It is a pretty bad feeling to realise all of a sudden that your race is over and you are to finish 2 laps down. So I was a bit disappointed but I had plently of company; Hass, Cal, Charton and Hendo all had bad days too. Hass got taken out on the first lap and was back to second last at one stage. Hendo was probably the only guy behind him after flatting in the first minute and having to run about 3 kilometres to the tech zone, he only managed one lap before the approaching sound of the lead motorbike meant the end of his race. Blood, Macca and Lach all had really solid rides with Chris leading the Aussie charge in 13th place, probably the best ride by an Australian in the past few years.
I am now in Houfalize (Beligium) licking the wounds and trying to workout how I can get faster in a week. The track has 300m of climbing per lap, which is so much, more than double the average track back home. I have also lost my good starting position, so i'll be off about 100 on the grid. We'll have to wait and see, but i really hope to put together a good ride.
1 comment:
ride it like an aussie battler andy.. never give up, by the sounds of it you may need a mud tyre on the front to get more grip of the backs of some riders.. cant wait for the next round :)
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