This weekend we drove up to the Netherlands for the Ronde van Gelderland. In the Netherlands, people talk funny (Dutch is a weird language), chocolate is a perfectly acceptable breakfast food (either as a spread or in sprinkle form), and everyone rides a bike!! A perfect place for a bike race!
The race was the biggest I've ever done, with over 200 people on the start line! And it was a UCI race so these 200 racers were strong.
(Here is a picture of the start... people don't actually all line up behind the start line... i think you can see my helmet in this picture)
The first 7km of the race was a "neutral start" -- this may conjure up an easy group ride to the starting line, but the neutral start was no such thing. With 200 people in the race, the neutral start becomes a fight to get a good position in the pack and is probably one of the most difficult parts of the race. People will ride off road, onto sidewalks, up on burms, on the other side of split roads, etc... it was crazy! I was able to hold position in the first half of the pack, but still have some skills to work on to make my way to the front.
Once the race began, it was still a fight for position. I held ground around 50-80th position... then we hit the crosswinds (these are common in the Netherlands). The pack was strung out and people at the back were starting to fall off. I could see the front of the pack, but it was a long way off. I started trying to move up one by one in the cross winds. I was slowly making progress and then CRASH!!!! (link here) A girl went down in front of me and I grabbed my brakes. I thought I was going to be able to come to a stop and then BAM - I get hit from the side and thrown off balance... I go down in slow motion and then see people starting to fly over me (yikes!!). I'm able to get up and though a little dazed, I feel fine. Then I grab my bike and see that one of the hoods is bent out of place. A little "whack" and the bike looks good to go -- I hop on.... and then notice that my derailleur is hanging a little low :( Unfortunately the race is over...
My team car rolled up and after helping another teammate get back on the road I jumped in the car. Now, I thought the peloton of 200 riders was crazy, but I soon found out that the caravan is even crazier....
100km/hr --- to 0 km/hr --- to 100km/hr
BRAKE!!! Accelerate!!!!
Are we on the road??? It doesn't look like we are on the road...
(Seatbelt on? -- check!!!)
Roundabout -- we aren't going around -- BUMP -- over the roundabout
BRAKE!!!! Sharp Turn!!! ACCELERATE!!!!!
(Seatbelt on?? -- check!!)
Car Ahead!! We are not on the road -- definitely not on the road
...pass the car...
RIDER!! Watch out for the rider!!! HONK HONK HONK!!!
...we are by the rider...
(Seatbelt on??? -- check!)
CAR!! The road is one lane wide -- we can't pass this car
...we are past this car...
HONK VROOooooM HONK!!!!
AHHHHH!!!!
I'm actually a little surprised that I survived riding in the caravan. There were some moments that I was prepared for us to roll into a ditch or spin out on the side of the road. But our director Chris has some mad driving skills. When we finally reached the front of the peloton, things slowed down and I was able to watch the race in progress... it was hard to sit there with a broken bike on top of the car...
(broken bike on top of car)
I wanted to be out racing!! I wanted really badly to jump out of the car and hop on a bike. We hadn't even hit the fun hills yet... But, I learned a lot riding in the pack of 200... and managed to get by with only a couple elbow bruises and some minor scrapes. It was a good learning experience. And there are more races to come!!
(and my BH bike is OK! Thanks Kristen for the derailleur hangers)
~devon
sounds so exciting. We miss you in chicago Devon.
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