January 11, 2011 – Well, it’s only been 2 weeks since the Zolder World Cup, but it feels like it’s been a lifetime. Some of us had gone to pre-ride the course the week before Christmas and it absolutely covered in snow and ice. Race day brought similar conditions, although they had removed the ice from the roads and the snow was now covered in ruts. That, in addition to the sketchy descents, was going to make for a very tough day! I was feeling good and was pretty comfortable on the course. I knew that the start was going to be chaos when we hit the snow; and it was, the ruts were throwing the leaders all over the place and everyone was piling into each other. I felt like I was able to make up spots, running by people. In the trees, it was basically single file until we hit the next snowy, rutted section where there was yet more crashes. Being in a group wasn’t going to be a big deal today, it was just going to be smooth and consistent. I focused on that as much as I could, as well as putting the power down on the sections that I could. There were parts of the course where I was having a blast and parts of the course where I was getting really frustrated; I wouldn’t be able to clip in from running and then I couldn’t get up the next climb or down the next descent. I did ride with Brian Matter for a few laps, until Lars and Neils came by me. That did make for some good TV time and I did ride a section that gave Lars some trouble, although they were a lap ahead of me. It wasn’t a great result, but it was a good day and I think I made improvements in my riding.

Diegem
I was looking forward to racing in Diegem. It was the very first race I ever did in Europe and I remembered it being a pretty good course for me. This time I got to race with the big boys, in the dark. It was a good course, with lots of pedaling (something I had missed the day before in Zolder), but it certainly wasn’t going to be easy. There was a little stress in the tent warming up as I realized that my chain was broken; I quickly jumped onto my other bike and The Famous Gregg Germer took a link out… good as new. I had a great start, navigating through the traffic, good enough to even have a few people comment about it to me.

Unfortunately that’s about as far as it went as I found myself stuck behind people going through the mud by the first pit and then following a wheel that I would help me bridge up to the group just ahead, but instead got in my way and slowed me down in the mud and snow. I never would get back up to that group. But I was feeling good on the course and felt like I could really put the power down. I crashed pretty spectacularly on one of the icy, rutted corners. I didn’t feel bad after though as there was more than one crash there that night, taking down some of the best riders in the world. I definitely didn’t make the lead lap again tonight, but I knew that I went as hard as I could. I am also feeling more and more comfortable in these crazy ruts!

Bredene
This was definitely a smaller race, more intimate for the fans. Other than the top 3 riders in the world, the field wasn’t super strong. It was also a very North American style course with little mud, lots of turns, and mostly grass. When I was riding around and warming up I was feeling the last few races in my legs, everything was a bit slow and heavy. But I liked the course and knew I had a shot at a good day. I felt really good off the start, but there were people chopping each other everywhere. I was in good position, but got held up by a crash in the sand and then had some difficulty closing gaps on the start straight and another long straight on the course. I was driving well, but I just couldn’t seem to pedal hard enough, so I just continued to focus on driving well and making up time where I could. I was lucky to have a few people to chase and did manage to catch them and ride with them for a little while. I dug pretty deep and it felt good, but I would ultimately get pulled yet again. I’m focusing on the positives and what I came here for, to learn as much I can and improve my skills.

Azencross
It’s kind of funny how I remember these courses. I remember loving Diegem, but didn’t like it so much yesterday and I remember disliking Azencross, but loved it this time! It was a lot of fun, with some nice mud, some running, some fast sections, good corners, ruts, and of course the whoops! I was feeling pretty decent today and really wanted to have a good ride. I started well again on the really long start straight, avoiding a few major crashes, and managed to get around a few guys in the first mud section. My biggest mistake of the day was trying to ride too much of the mud when I should have just picked up my bike and ran. I really felt like I was riding well, but after one lap, I just could not accelerate to stay with the group I was with. I lost them for good on the really long straight, so I began simply focusing on accelerating hard and driving well. I did that, but the best riders in the world really are amazing and they caught after only 4 laps. I definitely got something out of it and look forward to the day when I get to ride a full 60 minutes with these guys!

Petange
I decided to make the trek to Petange, Luxembourg this year as that is what everyone else was doing and the other option, the GP Sven Nys in Baal, is an incredibly hard course. My legs were definitely not 100% and all the climbing on the course was going to be tough. Right from the gun I was suffering a lot, but I was feeling good in the mud and on the long descents and would catch guys there. I was hurting really bad after just one lap and wanted to pull the plug and go right to sleep, but I knew that I couldn’t do that, I told myself when I first got that I wasn’t going to DNF any races. So I kept pushing and was riding with some of the guys I had been riding with in some of the B races and focused on my driving in the muddy descents.

Tervuren
When we got home from Luxembourg, some of us were planning on doing the B race in Waregem on Sunday, but we saw Pete Webber’s preride photos and video and it looked like a horrid course with far too much running in muddy fields! Luckily, we’re in Belgium and there was another great race, although again with the best riders in the world, but it would be another experience on a great course. And the course was really good. Really hard, but really good. It was going to give me lots of practice riding the mud, in ruts, up and down, and just fun. I was tired! I came through the first corner and along the super muddy false flat stretch near the back, but ran by a few people in the congestion. In the tv coverage they even said “The Canadian, Shaun Adamson” as I ran by another guy. I was working hard, trying my best to find good lines and nail all the technical sections. The other thing I really needed to do better today was focus on fighting for every second rather than just waiting to get lapped. I’ll get there. And until then, I’m really looking forward to a week off!

December 24, 2010 – The house had actually been fairly quiet with only Craig, Gregg, and Holly around. Craig was putting in a solid training block and taking some time off from racing. I did some really nice days of some really hard intervals. It was my last real chance to build some more fitness before heading into the Christmas period of craziness. I was definitely feeling the effects going into a weekend of racing, but they were B races and I knew I would need the fitness if I wanted to perform well at the World Cups.

Varsenare
I headed out to Varsenare for another solo adventure. I had some fun getting there as the address on the website was wrong and took me on a bunch of small roads leading to a dead end in a residential area. Luckily the races can be relatively easy enough to find by just going to the church in the town center and going from there. The course was practically dry by Belgian standards and had a lot of nice flow to it. I handed out lots of my fan cards and actually got Bart and Geert Wellens’ dad to take my bike to the pit. What a guy!

The field was pretty strong and I was a little tired from the week of training. I didn’t spring off the line as I normally would and went into the first corner in about 20th place. I was just off the back of the chase group and stayed in about that place for most of the race. I ended up battling with one other guy for the last few laps and told myself I didn’t care what place I got overall, I just wanted to beat this one guy. I thought I had it as I came around him and put him under pressure on the last lap, but I had nothing left in the finishing straight and he came around me. I did suffer though and I had absolutely nothing left.

Report and Photos here.

Uitbergen
Craig and I drove out to a small B race in Uitbergen. The course was bumpy and fast for half and muddy and boggy for the other half. We both commented on how this course would be described as super muddy in North America, but how it was pretty much dry by Belgian standards. It was a tiny field today, with only 24 starters. It seemed as though there was a lot less pressure for some reason. I had a good start and felt like I was riding well. I was losing time on the boggy sections and my back was really hurting. I did manage to hold it together and finish 16th.

Report and Photos here and here.

Scheldecross
I took the week leading up to Scheldecross pretty easy, it was taking me a while to feel recovered from the previous week’s training and the weekend of racing. I knew that I could and wanted to use the Scheldecross for a bit of prep for the World Cup. I have raced here twice before and remember really liking the course. It uses the sand on the beach of the Schelde river and the grass field nearby with a few little hills. This year’s race was snowy and icy. It felt like riding at home in Edmonton’s winter. I really liked the course and felt comfortable on it.

The field was pretty big, with over 60 riders taking to the line. I was late registering for the race and forgot to the bug the guys at registration about my UCI points, so I got stuck right near the back. I didn’t make up too many spots too fast, but was able to stay on my bike and ride some of the tight corners when other people were jumping off to run. I was trying to really hard to get to a group just in front of me, but couldn’t quite make it. Once I was on my own, I started daydreaming and making mistakes, missing the ruts and sliding in corners. In the last stretch of the race, I got my head on straight and started driving really hard. The leaders hadn’t widened their gap noticeably in the last couple laps and I thought I might be able to make the lead lap. I was pretty disappointed when the commissaires stepped out in front of me before the final lap; I hadn’t completely exhausted myself yet! In hindsight, maybe that was my issue. I did leave feeling good and excited to suffer and ride as hard as I possibly could in the World Cup the next day.

Report and Photos here.

Kalmthout World Cup
Following yesterday’s snowy conditions, I thought I might be able to break out my awesome white Cycle-Smart skinsuit from Verge, but the sky was grey and the course had churned up a bit of mud; I didn’t want to ruin that skinsuit just yet. I was enjoying the really fast course laid out on the ice and snow. There were a lot of ruts and it wasn’t technical per se, but you could easily lose a lot of time by making silly mistakes. I knew I had to focus and couldn’t start daydreaming today. I was feeling great in my warmup and was really amped when I was riding the trainer. I thought today was going to be a really good day.

I didn’t have a great start and couldn’t seem to turn it around from there. I was driving my bike pretty well, I thought, and was really trying to grab the baseball bats and stand up and hammer out of every corner. As the laps wore on I just kept pushing as hard as I could, focusing on driving when I had to. I didn’t make it to the lead lap, even without the extra lap we race at the World Cups I wouldn’t have made it, but when the commissaires pulled me on this day I had given absolutely everything! I was completely exhausted and knew that I had given my all. I guess that’s all that I can ask of myself, eh? As I was riding back through the crowds of fans watching the big screens, probably looking somewhat dejected, one of the Belgians offered me a half-full bottle of jenever. I declined, but had to laugh. He knew I needed something to take the edge off.

Report and Photos here.

Coming up
This week is flying by and the weather is still cold and snowy. I have gone out on the roads with my cross tires on all week and have felt like I haven’t even left Edmonton. Although I have left Edmonton, along with many of my friends and family, I have a great group of people here at The Chainstay and tomorrow we will have a Christmas dinner and a little gift exchange. I will go to midnight mass at the church in Oudenaarde, and even if I don’t understand a word, I’ll be able to follow the flow and feel like I’m a little bit at home. Christmas flies by for a cyclocross racer here in Belgium as I race the Zolder World Cup on December 26, followed by the Diegem Superprestige on the 27th, Azencross on the 29th, Bredene on the 30th, in Petange on January 1, and in Waregem on the 2nd. It will be a whirlwind, but I’m really excited!

Thanks for reading and thanks for all of your support. I certainly wouldn’t be here without all of you and your help!!

Sponsors
– Cycle-Smart
– Van Dessel
– Verge Sport
– Challenge
– Lazer
– Easton

December 10, 2010 (Belgium) – Here’s a recap of my experiences racing in Belgium at the UCI CX World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium along with smaller races in Drongen, Lotenhulle, and Averbode. I’m now preparing for the Christmas races, including the Kalmthout and Zolder World Cups.

Koksijde
Koksijde was tough!! Why do I keep picking the hardest races to do?!? Just pre-riding the course on Friday wasn’t easy. We were driving in to the course on what seemed like a beautiful, sunny day, until we got almost to the course and the clouds got darker and the snow started falling. As we rode the course, it started hailing, so I cut my inspection at 2 laps, washed my bike, got some warm clothes on, and got the heck out of there!

The conditions for the race on Saturday were actually pretty good, just cold. I got to check out the course a few more times and it was still hard. There was lots of sand, lots of running, lots of remounting in the sand, lots of steep little hills that I was about 2 pedal strokes from making, and one tough mud section. I started at the back, 1 UCI point might get you on the front row of a B race, but not at a World Cup. I almost like it though, because I was able to make up a whole bunch of spots at the beginning running around people in the bottle necks. I was having fun, feeling like I was riding pretty well. I was riding lots of the sand, but the mud section was really killing me. I just kept trying to stay on the gas, accelerating hard out of all the corners and just going as hard as I could. Unfortunately I only got to race 3 laps before I was pulled with the 80% rule.

Results and photos here.

Drongen
It was a little bit tough to get motivated to go to this B race after doing the World Cup the day before, but it was only 30 minutes away, so off we went. It was cold, but not raining. My arm hurt really bad, I had developed some tendinitis for some reason and getting dressed was incredibly painful. I think if I hadn’t already paid my money, I wouldn’t have started. But I took some ibuprofen and went on my way. It didn’t actually hurt so bad when I was actually riding.

The course was pretty simple. A nice single track section through the trees, a muddy run-up, some road, a HUGE muddy slog run (we figured at least 100m) through ankle-deep mud followed by another steep muddy run-up. Then there was lots of rutted, slippery switchbacks in a cornfield… typical Vlaamse Cyclocross Cup race. There were 86 guys on the start line today! Crazy!

I got called up to the front row again and had a good start down the really long road. I went into the first corner and muddy running section in about 15th. I was happy with that. I held my own on the run and the next road section, but slipped on the first cornfield switchback and lost a bunch of spots. From the I basically rode in the same place. I lost a few spots in the first half, but started picking guys off in the last half of the race. The best part of today was actually getting to race for 60 minutes! I really felt myself come around after 30 minutes or so, I felt like I actually got to push myself. I rolled in 32nd. Not too bad. Happy with how I rode, but still room for improvement.

Thanks again to Hans et al. for all your support! You are awesome and I couldn’t do it without you!

Report and Photos:
here and here.

Lotenhulle
It’s becoming a theme that I don’t really want to race in the mornings and I don’t like it. But when Gregg told me that nobody was holding a gun to my head, it hit me why I’m in Belgium, that I’m in Belgium, and that I’m going to race my bike in Belgium! Why else would I be spending all this money and move away from my friends and family?!? It was cold and blowing snow, but nothing that training in Edmonton winters hasn’t prepared me for!

If the course in Drongen was straight forward, then I don’t even know how to describe this one. Simply course tape switchbacking through frozen, snowy, cornfields, a couple short road sections, and only one tiny short run. The simplicity of the course certainly didn’t detract from its difficulty, however.

I didn’t have Hans there today as he was at home in the Netherlands and I really noticed that I didn’t have that person there to help me. Luckily I didn’t need to pit, and I got some nice people to at least take my bike and wheels down there for me. At the start I didn’t have anyone to give my clothes to, so I was asking some random guy and as I was doing that, the commissaire told me to give them to him. I think all those guys are getting to know me and like me… “The Canadian.”

I had a good start, sitting just on the back of the lead group for the first lap. The gaps weren’t opening super fast with the tight, icy switchbacks, but they would eventually. I settled in to a battle with a couple guys for most of the race. I was riding one section better than the guy just in front of me and on the second last lap I pushed it just a little bit harder and slipped on some ice; I lost him and the guy behind me came around. I went as hard as I could on the last lap to try and bring them both back, but couldn’t quite do it. I came in 21st, just out of the money again…

Report and Photos:
here and here

Averbode
I am definitely becoming more and more Belgian as this race was only an hour and a half away, practically a home course in North America, but I was complaining about having to drive so far to a race… There were no other options, so off I went. The rain had washed away most of the snow, but who knows what the course would look like. It was a lot of single track through the forest with a sandy base, roots and stumps sticking out, and slippery mud. I have to admit I was a little sketched out.

As I went for my second warmup lap, turning the screws just a little bit I found myself out of control and through the tape on one descent. On the next descent I had a bit too much speed again and went down, awkwardly twisting and/or hitting my right now. It took me a minute to get up and a few more to catch my breath. After riding around easy for a bit to see if I was going to be able to ride, the pain continued. I couldn’t put any pressure on the pedals and it really hurt to stand up and pedal hard, so I opted to return my number and just head home. I couldn’t even make anything of the day as it was Sunday and everything was closed. So 3 hours of driving and maybe 30 minutes of riding was all I did on that Sunday.

Report and Photos:
here

My knee is quite a bit better now and I’ve actually been able to get some good training in this week. I am doing what I can do be ready for the Christmas races, including the Kalmthout and Zolder World Cups. I’m hoping for some solid rides and to make everybody at home proud. Thanks to my sponsors, family, and friends for all the incredible support! I certainly wouldn’t be here without you!

www.shaunadamson.com