Dartmouth Cycling Wiki | Races / Actual Worlds Race Report

Ok, heres a recap of a week of craziness:

The fun started early with some airline baggage juggling. To make a long story short, I had to switch airlines and my baggage or bikes arried a day later than me.

Once my stuff arrived, we headed out to get some practice at a cross course in Zonnebeke, about a 30 min ride from where we were staying in Izegem. The course really reminded that I was in Europe- slippery mud, strange obstacles like a sandbox, and some ditches to hop. Luckily we didnt have to race on that course.

Instead my return from 6 weeks of racing took place at a world cup, not the best way to find your legs. Due to some kind of mistake, I got a front row start- crazy stuff to be lined up next to Lars Boom and niels Albert. It didnt matter though, as I attacked backwards pretty hard. It definitely like a huge shock to the system and by the time I found my legs, Lars Boom was came by in an tall orange blur to lap me.

The week in between the World Cup and Worlds was pretty boring, with lot of downtime and trips to the "wall," the biggest and most comprehensive vending machine I have ever seen. We did get to ride the course a couple times though, and it was downright scary. I had never seen anything like it- 3 super steep drops, interrupted by sets of stairs, some other nasty, rutted sections, and a sandpit that felt like it was a km long.

On race day I took my rightful position on the very last row. I knew it would be an exercise in trying to pass people all day long. Luckily the ruts were a little softer, and the sun was actually shining for a change. Not a bad day for a bike race. Coming into the first mud section, fellow USA teammate Dan Neyens crashed spectacularly, taking out Jamey and narrowly avoided taking me out. I did the best I could to work through traffic after that, riding with Dan for a while until he gapped me in the mud. When mulleted super hero Lars Boom came by, I was in 47th. Not good, but my goal before the race was top 50. The other mulleted super hero Jamey managed to finish on the lead lap, a super good ride considering the winners speed.

Thanks for reading

Toby