Written by Stephen Hall with Brett Schnitzerling & Glenn HarrisThe early morning ride we had planned the night before was immediately shit canned when we opened the blinds at 7am. It was a miserable day outside with grey clouds and drizzling rain. We turned the alarms off and went back to sleep for awhile before waking up again around 10am. Our breakfast had a little more life this morning as we were trying to stock up before the race at 3pm. Montenaken is some 80-90km away so the plan was to leave around 12.30pm which we weren't too far off from. The drive wasn't very interesting but the Garmin certainly made life easier as once again we arrived at least an hour before race time. We were in no rush to start unpacking the car in the rain so we camped out for awhile and had some more to eat.
Eventually we shuffled out to nominate and collect our numbers. As usual the officials were very interested in our Australian licenses. Its funny to mention that here in Belgium you have to bring your own pins to races! So far we've managed to talk our way into borrowing some and pocket one or two each time. We had finally collected enough so we used our own pins and found some wire to secure the plastic numbers to the bike. Slowly we got changed and filled up our water bottles with the rain barely there but enough to irritate you. The rain must have kept a few of the Belgians in bed because while the bunch was still very solid there seemed to be a few missing for the normally quite popular race.
The 5.9km circuit would have been perfect in normal conditions as the road was undulating and featured 7-8 standard corners. However the rain made every corner difficult and every stretch of road dangerous to maneuver quickly on. The rain was on and off for most of the race but regardless the road remained saturated with water especially down the middle of the road where the 2 slabs of concrete meet (known as death valley). After a brief chat from the commisaire (in dutch) the race began. The pace was heavy from the get go, with everyone scrapping for wheels and trying to hide from the rain. Our glasses fogged and our white Vermarc kits were filthy by the time we completed the first lap. The first 35km of the race featured several solid attacks but the elastic band only stretched without snapping. Finally a lap later a break of 15-18 riders escaped the peleton and took off down the road. I recognized one of the team kits in the break to be that of Kurt van Goidsenhoven (Prorace Cycling Team) who has previously won the last 7 editions of the race. I went with the move and joined them as we immediately put time into the bunch.
A short time later back in the peleton Brett had a nasty crash with several other riders, sending him over the handlebars and into a ditch. On the way down he took a vicious blow to the stomach from the uncut steer tube and landed heavily on his shoulder. Riders were scattered across the road with one of them having to leave in an ambulance. Brett managed to ride back to the start with a very sore chest and a bruised (but not broken) shoulder. Back in the break I heard the sound of the ambulance as it took off without knowing what had happened. Glenn was apart of the main bunch as the accident happened but luckily he was at the front of the bunch and avoided the carnage. Throughout the race at least another 6-7 crashes splintered the peleton.
2 more riders from the Prorace Cycling Team managed to bridge the gap before the real damage was done. From then on the break worked well together and after several laps of consistently rolling through the race was over for the main bunch. Each corner became nearly impossible to take at speed its a miracle there were no crashes in the break. After 9-10 solid attacks within the break 3 riders managed to attack at the right time and escape up the road. Another 2 slipped away the next lap when everyones legs just couldn't respond. By now the break was down to 8 riders chasing 2 and then the 3 leading the bike race. With only a few kilometres to go the 2 groups came together and held off my group despite our best efforts. Van Goidsenhoven had to settle for 4th while his team mate took the win. 38 seconds later my group crossed the finish line. The last 500m of each lap was a short but nasty hill leading up to the line. I narrowly avoided being put in the gutter and fought my way past a few riders to claim 7th. An extra metre or two and I may have gotten up for 6th but I guess thats bike racing. A group of 2 riders finished 6 minutes and 22 seconds later while the peleton finished their tough day 7.14'' behind the first bunch. Glenn scrapped into the top 20 while Brett watched from the sidelines.
He didn't look too crash hot as I rolled up to him but luckily he didn't hit his head and he assured me nothing was broken. The medical team gave him a few ice packs as soon as he crashed but the language barrier was hard to overcome with none of the staff speaking english. After the race we sat around the car and had a chat while the officials shifted through the placings. We rolled up to registration a short time later returning our numbers and collecting prize money. The car was packed quickly and we were on the road heading home soon after.
We visited a friend of Glenn's at a video store before we drove up to 'the best frituur' fast food restaurant in Belgium. For a long time the dutch have had this thing with mixing french fries with mayonaise so we thought we'd better give it a try before we left. The wait was agonizing but we suffered through it and enjoyed our food back at home 15 minutes later. After dinner Glenn disappeared to go lay down while Brett & I stayed up watching tv and playing on the internet. Tomorrow we plan to roll out in the morning (weather permitting) for a short ride and then head back to Schriek for another kermesse in the afternoon. We might go through purgatory tomorrow but the bigger picture is the 150km Retie Classic we are competing in on Wednesday which should draw a massive field as we battle for the Province Championship.
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