29.05.05 - Return to World Cup Comp at Houffalize:
During the week I went and revisited an old flame - Houffalize, the site of one of my Junior World Cup races back in the day ('97). I was 4th back then, but my feeling for this round here was more like 204th! Seeing the town exactly as I remembered it amped me up though. It gave me shivers down my spine just seeing the first tar climb they always use for the start of the race.
The weekend approached quickly. And with Houffalize typically being the biggest race on the World Cup calendar, we always knew we'd have to do a qualification race just to get into the actual World Cup XC race.
Getting In
Our team Manager (John 'Big Fella' Pyper) came back from the manager's meeting the night before our qualification race to tell us the top 100 riders from the qualifier would go through to race the big one. And our start grid positions would be according to race plate numbers. Shaun and Al would get a good start a few rows back. Dan a bit further back in mid-pack and me, being number 279, dead last row!
Knowing there were a couple of hundred riders in front of me psyched me out at first. But then I realised that it's what I expected from my debut World Cup race - to have to amp up and pass heaps of dudes in the same situation. And the atmosphere in the place was enough to get anyone amped!
From the gun I stood and stared at the front of the field ride off while I stood waiting to catch the wave. The first couple of s-bend turns were tight, so pile-ups were inevitable. A few clangs and foreign swear words later there was a huge crash and I missed it by inches. This actually helped slow down a lot of the field and move me up into the top 150 right away. My next move had to be aggressive, as the singletrack was fast approaching. So as we head up the climb through the main street I hit up a bike path on the right and flogged myself to move up into the top 100 or so.
I just kept spotting gaps and going for it, but by the time we hit the dirt for more climbing my legs were lactic, ready for another pile-up. Riders went down, bikes tangled, rocks flew, and tempers flared. I eventually got a dude's pedal out of my back wheel, ran about 30 metres, and then went on my way up the dirt. Then it was into the main descent, which was fast, flowing and fun. Overall, the course was one of the best I've seen for this type of racing.
After that there were bottlenecks on the lap like I'd never seen. It was ridiculous - piles of riders banked up at the top of drop-offs and single tracks, just waiting to be 'let' through by marshals on by one! This didn't seem like racing to me, but I just went with the flow. There were even full-on punch-ups going on!
By the time I got settled into any sort of rhythm the race was over. I'd overtaken as many riders as I physically could to move up to 63rd. So no problems qualifying for the big one.
The Big One
The actual World Cup race was very similar to the qualifier in many ways. I got to start at the back of the field again, the first climb was fast and furious, there were bottlenecks and pile-ups all over the place, and it was a case of how many riders you could pass without blowing up. Without real high-end race fitness at this point I didn't really have the legs to 'punch' those climbs and pass heaps of riders. So it was more a case of passing riders gradually (2-3 on each climb), then more on the descents (riskier but easier).
By a couple of laps in I'd gained about 50 spots. My aim was top 100, so at least I could say I'd be in the top half of the field. Some laps you feel awesome and pass heaps of riders, but other laps you feel the pain don't seem to move up at all. The crowd was insane! Around 40,000 loud, enthusiastic and encouraging people cheering the whole way around the lap really helped. They were the reason I got up those tough and steep granny climbs on the later laps. It was great to be there.
But the 35 degree heat started to take it's toll on a lot of riders (including me) in the later stages of the race. So it seemed easier to get a clear run as the field thinned out. I started to find a rhythm and get into it, knowing where to go hardest. But before I knew it I'd lost too much time and was caught out by the '20% rule'. This is where you're pulled out of the race if you're more than 20% slower than the leader's time. I was expecting to be lapped eventually, but so much happens in these races that time just flew. It was over before I knew it. It was tough with such short (sub-20 minute) laps.
I ended up 120th. Although starting at the back of a huge field was tough, it was a good experience. It could've worked out a lot worse. Racing through a pack of solid riders was good training to say the least. And being in amongst the best riders in the world was definitely a buzz. Now I know what to expect at the next one - Willingen, Germany next weekend. I haven't registered yet, so it'll be another late entry and starting at the back...