Loenhout Race Report

Oh man, back to one of the classics on the cyclocross calendar. Loenhout is one of those races that is always shown in videos and youtube clips and all the media. All of these races have some sort of landmark that defines the race but none as big as Loenhout. From the long stretches of leg numbing, tractor pull mud to the numerous flyovers and of course the famous washboard. This one is probably the most known race over here.

The race starts with a long, I mean long start stretch with a 90 degree left turn at the end. I got a great start, slightly anticipated the light turning green and was into my pedals quickly, then about 100 yards into the race I pulled out of my right pedal and went for a nice top-tube surf session. I got clipped back in and started charging. At that point I was towards the back, again. And really, the only place I could go from there is forward. So I picked up as many spots as possible and was moving up into top 65. It was a huge start field was easily 80 plus riders. SO I kept moving up as much as possible and we get to the washboard which is set of about 10 mid-thigh high rollers which have zero flow to them. They are straight up and straight down. I start out slow and by the end I can get some pretty good speed going. I end up passing a few more guys here and am now into the top 60. The next group had 3 euros and my American friend, Steve Fisher. I catch that group on the next lap and move past them and onto 1 lap to go. I had a clean final lap and finished in 54th. No too bad but it was a hard fought finish. I felt the best that I have felt so far this trip. So it was a good day in my book. Had fun, no crashes and a respectable result.

More to come, keep following.