1 Jannick Geisler (Ger) Harburger RG
2 Wenzel Böhm-Gräber (Ger) RSC Wiesbaden
3 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) RSV Edelweiß Achkarren
4 Yannick Eckmann (Ger) SV Kirchzarten
5 Julian Lehmann (Ger) Harburger RG

Joe Dombrowski pushing through the mud. Photo Courtesy of Lyne Lamoureux

Joe Dombrowski (Haymarket Bicycles/HomeVisit) get’s interviewed on In The Crosshairs.  Joe and InTheCrosshairs discuss everything ‘cross related at EuroCrossCamp including the House, Race day food and funny events.  Maybe the best, funniest event of the Camp, according to Dombrowski was a little elbow thrown by Jerome Townsend. “At Noordzecross in Middlekerke, Jerome Townsend was rolling in fifth into the first corner. He was elbowing some Belgian dude who was yelling at him. He looked over and it was Sven Nys.”

Check out the entire interview on In The Crosshairs and enjoy the interesting insight to ECXC VII.

Zach McDonald just finished up his third trip to Belgium with EuroCrossCamp. Photo Courtesy of Matthew J. Clark/www.Str8films.com

Jamie Mack of Cyclocross Magazine had a talk with EuroCrossCamp Alum Zach McDonald at the end of ECXC VII.  Read the entire article on CXMagazine.com

Cyclocross Magazine has had the pleasure of talking to a few of the younger racers that attended EuroCrossCamp this year. As the camp winds down, I spoke with one of the camp veteran’s, Zach McDonald, almost a year after we last interviewed him after his break-out performance at the 2009 Roubaix World Cup. At 19 years of age, McDonald has been known to ‘cross fans for a couple of years now; he’s already been through the camp three times, twice as a junior and this year as a U23.

In 2008, Zach swept through the Junior races at the Mercer and Portland USGP’s and then capped the season by claiming the US Junior National Title in Kansas City. McDonald used the camp, as he had the previous year, for experience and as a strength-building warm-up on the way to the World Championships.

2009 saw similar success throughout the year. Local wins and podiums at USGP’s and other races indicated that McDonald was adapting well to the new surroundings after stepping up to U23. Unfortunately, an early mechanical would take away McDonald’s chances at the U23 national title, but a strong showing in the Collegiate race put another national championship jersey on McDonald’s back.

As he has the past two years, McDonald again made the trip across the Atlantic to the house in Izegem, Belgium that serves as the USA Cycling base in Europe. I caught up with McDonald at the tail end of his stay, just before he left for an extended training trip to Mallorca, Spain with Troy Wells, to see how the camp was treating him.

Justin Justin Lindine racing the icy thread of a line at the GP Groenendaal. © Bart Hazen

For the last race of the camp we made the foray into the Netherlands for the GP Groenendaal. Those of us still left to race were faced with snowy, icy conditions that mother nicely decided to bookend our trip with. Snow for arriving, snow for leaving, and lots of Belgian mud in between. The course was tricky to say the least. Had it been dry it would have been pretty interesting with far more swoopy turns then any of the other courses we had raced on. However, with the combination of a few inches of fresh snow and the ground being frozen solid, it turned into a race of fewer errors and who was the most aggressive passer. There were few wide-open sections and even fewer good lines. It was like racing on one ribbon of very frozen single track where the corners were all lined with ice. After a crash in the start stretch that saw me miss the bikes on the ground only to be pin-balled off someone’s shoulder and straight into the post mounted TV camera with my shoulder (still nursing a bruised shoulder) I settled into the game of figuring out how to try and move up when going even one mph faster through the turns meant about a 70% increase in the likelihood of crashing. Given the conditions it was a course that really favored those with good “snap” out of turns, because as you could carry no momentum through them the space in between turns was spent either accelerating out of one or decelerating for the next. I had a pretty solid race, finishing up in 33rd out of about 70 starters. I found it consoling that former world champion of cyclocross Lars Boom, who started in my row because of his lack of UCI points (he’s been racing on the road more now), was only able to make it into 22nd. It was really that hard of a course to move up on. If the person in front of you really wanted to guard their position with a leg out in the turns etc, it was extremely difficult to pass. And just like that the racing was over and the off-season began. I even had some cookies as a celebratory symbolism to no longer needing a post race recovery shake….umm cookies are way better then protein powder.

After the race, and a long ride back to the house due to some weather related traffic, it was the race to pack bikes, wheels and everything else in preparation for an early morning departure to Brussels airport. Some creative packing allowed me to accommodate the newly enacted one carry-on rule and still not have my bike case or 4-wheel bag be over weight. And luckily, somehow, the baggage gods decided to smile on me and grant me a reprieve for all my good karma lately and I was able to check my double bike case and said wheel bag for $50 instead of the possible $250. Sweet! Now all I could hope for is that they make it to JFK on the same plane I was on. After spending what seemed, through the magic of flying backwards in time zones, like an infinitesimal amount of time either on planes or waiting for them I made it safe and sound to my grandmothers house in Harrison where my Dad was waiting to pick me up. Oh, and amazingly, my bike and bag made it as well. Home sweet home. Damn it’s cold!

It might just be that I spend too much time thinking about bikes and racing, but I am always finding the allegorical ways that racing provides lessons for real life. The ups and downs of a season, the reaching of certain goals only to have others fall short is something I try and carry with me in dealing with other aspects of my life. As my European campaign is over and I’m writing this while sitting on my cozy futon in my cozy house looking out the window at a world blanketed in a cold white shroud, it’s easy to cast a reflective eye back over a season with a little more perspective then you are sometimes granted in the heat of the moment. There are ways in which I could look at my trip to Belgium and be disappointed at not having the best of luck, or perhaps even my best of form. On the other hand, and I think this is the important part, is that I got to experience something I’ve always dreamed about. When you’re lined up on the start line it’s hard to take a moment and realize what’s going on and where you are. But now, as I think about it, I realize that I was lined up at races with the highest level of competition in the world. Until cyclocross makes it as an Olympic sport the World Cup and Super Prestige series will constitute the highest level of obtainable competition.

It seems like a long time ago sometimes, but when I was fifteen and first racing mountain bikes for the first time, this moment couldn’t be conceived of in my over imaginative brain. That I would some day reach a level where I could line up with some of the best athletes in the world in any sport was unfathomable to me. So am I disappointed that I got lapped in some races where I think if I’d had that extra three percent I had in November I could have finished higher up? Am I disappointed that some jerk stepping on my wheel and a missed bike change derailed my best race? Yes. I never go into a race without wanting to give it my best and do well. On the other hand, I did give it everything I had, I got a few solid results, and I know I have a lot more work still to do. But the experience has been an instrumental learning curve, like deep immersion in a language. I have thrown more shoulders in a week then I have in the past three seasons. I think I’ll be less intimidated by starts, and certainly more cautious of guarding my position in races. I need to run more, and practice massive power outputs like those necessary to blast through hundreds of yards of six-inch deep mud. And despite all of these shortcomings and things I need to improve, I am less disheartened then looking forward to how to improve.

A few days ago I would have told you I couldn’t wait till the off-season. Now, after not riding for a whole two days I am already itching to go out and train super super hard for the upcoming road season. (I know, I know, I can hear you all telling me that I need more then a two day break…I’m trying) This trip has been motivational and inspirational. It is the simultaneous achievement of a dream and a stepping-stone to what I hope will be further success. It was an honor and a pleasure, and I hope I get to go back again next year with even more learned, and newfound motivation. Thank you all again for helping to make this possible for me. It was amazing.

-Justin

Josh Lehmann races in the Vermont Verge Cross race.

Josh also talks about pushing through the hard days and learning through each race, “How to find success in a less than stellar performance is invaluable. A couple of the races did not go according to the plan. Either I had trouble warming up, had no legs or had mechanical issues. While they were not ideal, each one had a lesson to take away to improve the next race. Whether learning how to play full contact ‘cross (politely) or figuring out how to get the best results without the normal power in the engine. There was definitely a lesson in each race.”

And by coming to Camp, Josh got a chance to meet some of EuroCrossCamp’s Alum and learn from their experiences, “Enjoying the experience is a tremendous reward. I am not sure which I enjoyed more, being able to chat with Jamie Driscoll and Jeremy Powers or racing at a World Cup in the Team USA skinsuit. Being able to just shoot the breeze with the Cannondale/Cylocrossworld.com boys was pretty cool. Then again, toeing the line in the USA skinsuit was AWESOME. I am almost certain that the skinsuit added at least 50 watts to my start.”

Josh Lehman rides for Sunapee/S&W/Continental Paving and is from Weare, New Hampshire. This is the first ECXC for Josh. Check out his entire Diary entry on CyclingNews.com and catch up on the previous entries.

As usual, I’m wasted.

This year, maybe moreso. Seems like we had more adversity than other years. Weather, mechanicals, crashes, logistical challenges etc.

To get us through, as always, I called on a few reliable sources of inspiration to rally the troops: books and heroes.

During one tough moment at a team meeting after our race in Baal, I found myself quoting Bill Simmons in his fresh and fascinating first chapter from The Book of Basketball.  With a nod to the source, Isiah Thomas, Simmons encapsulates The Secret.

That the secret to basketball is that it’s not about basketball.

Having spent each and every day of the Camp emphasizing a trait of character, I seemed to put my own spin on the Simmons/Thomas nugget.

It felt like an epiphany at the time–theory conjoining with reality.

That the secret to cyclocross is that it’s not about cyclocross.

That it’s much larger than that. Much broader.

Leadership, Perseverance, Making Good Choices, Discipline and so forth.

One each day.

These are the traits that, when correctly applied, make all the difference.

I told the guys that in muddy races like Baal, even the top guys are making three and four mistakes per lap.

That, in the end, it’s these character traits that enable these guys to minimize their mistakes and control their outcomes.

And, for affirmation, I had to look no further than Sven’s post-race commentary from Baal.

There’s something special about reading a top rider’s comments in the newspaper, next day. So full of color, RESONANCE, idiomatic cultuur.

Prose Poem:

TheBattle of Balenberg

“It was all about character.

Who was the freshest cadaver.

Super hard lap.

Slippery bikes, weighing thirty kilos.

And due to the repeated racing days,

This end-of-the-year period with cold, snow, mud,

Everybody at the limit.

In the race, we [Stybi and me], we could never close the tap.

[The faucet] always going full.

It was like we were in slow motion.

Lots of mistakes.

Never stable on the bike.

My spool of thread pretty much done.

Thank goodness I had a little bit of thread left.”

The line breaks and enjambment are mine. The words, of course, are boss.

From the boss of ‘cross.

The freshest cadaver.

If that doesn’t keep you motivated through the winter, then there’s no hope for you.

Sven-Baal-2010; 5th win out of 8 races in 14 days (photo by Nathan Phillips)

Thank you to all EuroCrossCamp coaches, sponsors, teams, parents, industry, and supporters, and to all the riders.

You guys were Character. Keep up the good work. Keep up the vision. Keep some thread on your spools.

Until next time,

GP

In Josh’s diary entry on CyclingNews.com, he goes on to say how this year’s Belgian campaign may be the end of this season, but it the start of a whole new adventure: “I have just finished my season and in the best way possible I am not relieved with the end but ready to prepare for the next one.” And a sentiment that seems to ring true for many of the cyclists that filter through the House in Izegem, we hear from Berry: “The Camp was anything but uneventful and I am glad I was chosen to be a part of this experience.”

Read the entire entry from Josh Berry and the other Diary Entries on CyclingNews.com

Joe Dombrowski running the barriers at GP Groenendaal. Photo Courtesy of Bart Hazen

GP Groenendaal, St Michielgestel Holland

Results

Elite/U23 Men

1 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank 1:04:35
2 Gerben de Knegt (Ned) Rabobank 0:00:34
3 Thijs Al (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 0:00:57
4 Tijmen Eising (Ned) Sunweb Revor 0:01:00
5 Mitchell Huenders (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 0:01:29
6 Eddy van IJzendoorn (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 0:01:37
7 Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) AA Drink Cycling Team 0:01:44
8 Bram Schmitz (Ned) Van Vliet – EBH Advocaten – Elshof 0:01:50
9 David Derepas (Fra) UVCA Troyes 0:01:55
10 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telent-Fidea Cycling Team 0:02:08
27 Jerome Townsend (USA) Bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage/IF 0:05:24
33 Justin Lindine (USA) Bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage/IF 0:05:52
42 Travis Livermon (USA) Champion System/Cannondale
48 Steve Fisher (USA)
65 Joe Dombrowski (USA)

Junior Men

1 Gert-Jan Bosman (Ned) 0:38:55
2 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) 0:00:04
3 Mike Teunissen (Ned)
4 Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) 0:00:07
5 Douwe Verberne (Ned) 0:00:13
6 Emiel Dolfsma (Ned) 0:00:17
7 Yannick Eckmann (GER/USA) 0:00:20
8 Joey Van Rhee (Ned) 0:00:51
9 Stan Goderie (Ned) 0:01:08
10 Jaap De Man (Ned) 0:01:12
15 David Kessler (USA) 0:02:21
34 Joshua Lehmann (USA) 0:07:53

Travis Livermon racing at Zolder 2009. Photo Courtesy of Cycling-Pics.be

Chris Wallace (KCCX/Verge) Photo Courtesy of Lyne Lamoureux

Chris managed to also squeeze in a trip to meet with one of his sponsors: “This past Wednesday, however, I had a break from all of the racing and school work and I took the train up to Antwerp to meet with the director of Navigators Insurance’s office in Antwerp, Jan Dela Ruelle. Navigators has been my main sponsor for the current cyclo-cross season. Upon my arrival, Jan took me to the Navigators office to show me around and meet some of the employees there. After about 30 minutes of talking about cyclo-cross we headed to the city center for lunch.”

Chris Wallace rides for KCCX/Verge and lives in Shawnee, KS. You can read his entire Diary Entry on CyclingNews.com. While you’re there, check out the other ECXC Diary entries from this year and have a look back at some of the older ones from previous Camps.