Connectivity
Was reading Gail Collins’s column in the International Herald Tribune today. She spoke of her sister-in-law who just got back from the Lollapalooza Concert in Chicago. Her sister-in-law related that “at any point you could look around and 50 percent of the people were texting or reading a text.” Certainly the bike racing scene is no different. When is news actually news anymore? World connectivity renders the very concept of “news” seemingly obsolete.
Say you’re at a junior 15, 16 bike race in the tiny hamlet of Ooike, West Flanders as I was yesterday. And say you’ve got a wonderful network of USA support crew spread across Europe at the ready. Well, presto, in the space of an hour, not only are our strong results pinned about (national junior 15, 16 champ David Kessler finishing 3rd), but streaming in is “news” that USA House alum Tyler Farrar has just won in Hamburg, that USA U-23 Danny Holloway is 2nd in the final stage of Zamora Tour in Spain, and junior Nathan Brown is 3rd in a one-day outside of Antwerp. Takes a bit of suspense out of the dinner talk once we’re back at the House. Thank goodness for time zones. They’re about the only thing keeping things fresh anymore. We can’t know that another alum John Murphy takes the US Pro Crit until it happens. Which, if you’re in Europe, is after dinner.
CX-related, I took the guys to look-see the Waregem City Challenge urban mountain bike race on the way home from Ooike. Erwin V had extended the invitation the night before on the phone, if we had time. Well, we had a half hour and it was on the way home, so we checked it. You got to hand it to the Belgies. 1.2 km circuit smack in the middle of the square. Pavement, sections through wood chips, gravel, a tank of water, a whupped fly-over, the inside of a trailer truck, and around the church. Leffes and Jupiler flowing freely. Very sizable crowd. We weren’t able to stay for the finale, but Erwin took the 20 minute race over teammate Ben Berden. Good legs, he told me. Erwin heads to Germany for training camp on Wednesday. Fidea are currently at altitude in Saint Moritz. Sven is at the Tour of Limousin and Niels has been tearing it up all summer. I recently asked Christian Heule how much road racing he’d done this summer. His answer: 35 races with 4 stage races. The homework is being done.
Both Christian and Erwin will be state-side in September. And the game will be on. Which it pretty much is year-round here in Flanders. Check these numbers out. For the weekend that just ended, Belgium saw separate venues for 17 U-23/Elite races; 8 junior races; 16 nieuwelingen (15-16 yr old) races, 5 aspirant races (10-14). Oh and they had their national time trial championships on Saturday as well. Junior ‘cross stud Sean De Bie was 3rd in the junior national time trial Saturday and won a kermesse on Sunday. Last Sunday, he was 6th at the World Junior RR in Moscow. Rumor has it he’s done with ‘cross. Too much at stake on the road now. No matter. Rumor also has it that his younger brother, Mike, is better. We shall see.
The Eneco Tour comes practically to our doorstep on Tuesday and Wednesday, just north in Ardooie. We’re hoping to say hey to Tyler Farrar and the Garmin crew. More than a few of those guys have been through the USA U-23 program.
Connectivity.
