Since today is a rest day I thought I would revisit yesterday's race with a pictorial of the course. You can click on the pictures for a larger view.
The start finish was on a slightly downhill gravel road starting at the red tent. The gravel was 50-60 ft long with a bend to the left and then to the right before entering the grassy area which went downhill. Where I stood for the picture is where it flattened out for about 100 ft.
At the end of the grass, you made a slight left and then down this hill. Then swung a right hand U-turn at the orange tape and then climbed back up. This area was soft ground and got a little more muddy and much more rutted for the B race.
After climbing out of the U-turn you then climbed this hill. The ground here was not muddy but very soft and slow. Midway up the hill was good sized hole (in red circle) that you were best to stay on either side of when going up.
After grinding up the hill it leveled off briefly but you couldn't get hardly any speed before reaching the double barriers in the background, then it was 40-50 ft before another barrier just beyond where I took this photo. This was still very soft ground with a big hole on one side and a bit of a dip where the wood chips are, on the bottom left. The distance between the barriers was just short enough with the soft turf and rough enough that it wasn't worth getting on the bike after the first set of barriers, so you were left jogging between the two barriers like Loran is doing here.
Leaving the barriers you came to a clearing that snaked back and forth three times. This area was not particularly difficult. There was a small amount of gravel but that was no problem until the very end of this section down by the orange cones where you made a sweeping left turn on thick gravel that led us into the actual vinyard on the left of this picture. The entrance to the first row of grapes was a two to three foot section of small rocks. This was not the regular gravel but much larger. These rocks were 3 or 4 inches wide and you had to be very careful.
Once you were in the grape vines you were riding on the side of a hill and slightly uphill going away from the start line and then slightly down. But with each row of grapes you went further up the hill. We did three out and backs among the vines. These rows were not very wide and could handle no more than 2 riders across and that was a tight squeeze. If you rode dead center of the row I doubt someone could have gotten by without having some guts.
Making the turns at each end of the grape vines was tough. Heading away from the start area you had the very sharp uphill 180's that were difficult to make without putting your foot down. Then heading back toward the start area you still had the sharp 180 but it was easier because you weren't going uphill at those ends. However, there was only a little more than a foot of grass to turn on. If you swung wide you would have to turn on the regular sized gravel. I didn't have to do that, but it would have been tough. After finally exiting the grape vines you made a slightly downhill right hand turn on some thick gravel. That was a dicey section indeed and I saw one guy go down twice there.
As I said yesterday, it was a tough course.
News Item of the Day: Belgian Sven Nys won the third round of the cyclo-cross World Cup on Sunday in Pijnakker, Netherlands.
Hometown favorite Richard Groenendaal, who crashed once, crossed second at 23 seconds back, followed by Belgian Sven Vanthourenhout at 0:49.
Nys finally broke the Czech stranglehold on this season's World Cup, following victories by Zdenek Mlynar in Wortegem-Petegem (Belgium) and Kamil Ausbuher in Tabor, Czech.
Groenendaal had a perfect start, riding ahead of a chase group that included Nys, Mlynar and Italian Enrico Franzoi. But Nys eventually leapt away from the bunch, and when Groenendaal crashed at mid-race he took the lead and never looked back.
Vanthourenhout leads the World Cup standings with 990 points, followed by Nys (971) and Mlynar (735).
The start finish was on a slightly downhill gravel road starting at the red tent. The gravel was 50-60 ft long with a bend to the left and then to the right before entering the grassy area which went downhill. Where I stood for the picture is where it flattened out for about 100 ft.
At the end of the grass, you made a slight left and then down this hill. Then swung a right hand U-turn at the orange tape and then climbed back up. This area was soft ground and got a little more muddy and much more rutted for the B race.
After climbing out of the U-turn you then climbed this hill. The ground here was not muddy but very soft and slow. Midway up the hill was good sized hole (in red circle) that you were best to stay on either side of when going up.
After grinding up the hill it leveled off briefly but you couldn't get hardly any speed before reaching the double barriers in the background, then it was 40-50 ft before another barrier just beyond where I took this photo. This was still very soft ground with a big hole on one side and a bit of a dip where the wood chips are, on the bottom left. The distance between the barriers was just short enough with the soft turf and rough enough that it wasn't worth getting on the bike after the first set of barriers, so you were left jogging between the two barriers like Loran is doing here.
Leaving the barriers you came to a clearing that snaked back and forth three times. This area was not particularly difficult. There was a small amount of gravel but that was no problem until the very end of this section down by the orange cones where you made a sweeping left turn on thick gravel that led us into the actual vinyard on the left of this picture. The entrance to the first row of grapes was a two to three foot section of small rocks. This was not the regular gravel but much larger. These rocks were 3 or 4 inches wide and you had to be very careful.
Once you were in the grape vines you were riding on the side of a hill and slightly uphill going away from the start line and then slightly down. But with each row of grapes you went further up the hill. We did three out and backs among the vines. These rows were not very wide and could handle no more than 2 riders across and that was a tight squeeze. If you rode dead center of the row I doubt someone could have gotten by without having some guts.
Making the turns at each end of the grape vines was tough. Heading away from the start area you had the very sharp uphill 180's that were difficult to make without putting your foot down. Then heading back toward the start area you still had the sharp 180 but it was easier because you weren't going uphill at those ends. However, there was only a little more than a foot of grass to turn on. If you swung wide you would have to turn on the regular sized gravel. I didn't have to do that, but it would have been tough. After finally exiting the grape vines you made a slightly downhill right hand turn on some thick gravel. That was a dicey section indeed and I saw one guy go down twice there.
As I said yesterday, it was a tough course.
News Item of the Day: Belgian Sven Nys won the third round of the cyclo-cross World Cup on Sunday in Pijnakker, Netherlands.
Hometown favorite Richard Groenendaal, who crashed once, crossed second at 23 seconds back, followed by Belgian Sven Vanthourenhout at 0:49.
Nys finally broke the Czech stranglehold on this season's World Cup, following victories by Zdenek Mlynar in Wortegem-Petegem (Belgium) and Kamil Ausbuher in Tabor, Czech.
Groenendaal had a perfect start, riding ahead of a chase group that included Nys, Mlynar and Italian Enrico Franzoi. But Nys eventually leapt away from the bunch, and when Groenendaal crashed at mid-race he took the lead and never looked back.
Vanthourenhout leads the World Cup standings with 990 points, followed by Nys (971) and Mlynar (735).
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