tonkin race report

[chrisroph]

From Erik Tonkin currently racing cross in Europe for the holidays:

Middlekerke’s North Sea Cross C2 (Dec. 29, 2006):

I added another race to my schedule, deciding to accompany Trebon to the North
Sea Cross at Middlekerke on the coast. Some of the big guys were not to be
there, and Ryan had a big contract for it, so it was a day for a result! He had
a realistic chance to win it, and I wanted to go along as moral support, to
share in the suffering and hopefully the celebrating. I also wanted to race a
new ‘cross, as the others are now events I’ve done at least 3 times a piece.
Finally, I must admit I, too, wanted a shot at a good result, which for me is
possibly top-15, at least at certain Belgian C2’s, like this one.

Neither of us had good days. Mine, in particular, started out in the rough. On
my third and last pre-ride lap, right before getting off the course, I misjudged
an off-camber drop-in to pavement and took myself out on a metal course
barricade. I mean, I hit its “foot” and went over the bars, smacked down on the pavement. Ryan saw the whole thing. I tried (as
did he) to laugh it off, but the truth was that I was pretty spooked, especially
given the other day. I had to second-guess racing, and I spoke to Proctor about
it. Ultimately, however, it was Ryan—in a bit of role-reversal—who played the
sports psychologist to my patient. He said, “No guy with the nickname ‘Cavemen’
is gonna be intimidated by this course. You’re racing.”

I owe Ryan one. I think choosing not to race would have been destructive for
me. I like to ride a lot while I’m here, and I draw strength from keeping such
a full racing and training schedule. So, I wrestled the thermal skinsuit over
my hairy and flabbier-than-usual body for the third ‘cross in a row and let ‘er
rip.

And I’m glad I did, even though it was a terribly mediocre performance--even for
me! The most interesting part of my race was the start. We blasted off down
700 meters of sidewind-swept pavement to a 180^ turn into muck. I was actually well-positioned for once, leaning on guys to keep my line just out of the
wind, and I was also able to protect my outside. (All the while, I was careful
to stay away from Hammond, who’s always so gracious to me—I didn’t want to ruin
his new life with T-Mobile!) One dude tried to come by on the wide side thru an
impossibly small gap between me my buddy the footed barricade. I swung my hip
at him as he nosed in, and what I heard behind didn’t sound good. I told Powers
about that when we got back, and he pointed out that guy’ll probably think twice
next time, and others’ll be tentative, too.

Admittedly, I was still weak in the head, my first lap ending up a comedy of
errors. I screwed up everything possible, even popping out of my pedals at
retarded moments, and lost more than all the ground I’d fought to protect at the
start. I faded to around 40th. After that, I mostly got over myself and just
played catch up, moving up to 23rd but finishing 24th at the line. The whole
day I just felt as if I didn’t belong on my bike, just fighting the bike and the course’s bumpy, sticky
combination of grass and muck. It was just hard the whole way. The only real
respite was the wind-blown, paved start stretch. Riding up and down the big,
seemingly man-made earthen mounds was fun, too, and I never complained about the
good sandbox. But those features were hard on me as well.

Ryan caved similarly on the first lap, but his middle laps were unbelievably
fast. I heard he recorded the 3 fastest of the race. But he only had those
minutes in him, finally finishing 12th. He said he just didn’t have the legs
for it. Besides, ol’ Trebon seems to go better on a bigger stage, so he’ll
definitely fight another day.

But Page had a great race, as I’m sure everybody’s seen by now. He is just
living proof that athletes need to stay positive after tough days, that there’s
always another race, and that there’s value in putting forth the best effort
each day. More important, Jon Page, I think, serves as a reminder that these “big guys” over here--Nijs, Wellens, Vervecken, etc.--are, after all,
humans. He has progressed steadily over the past few years and is now close to
the top. Hard work pays off, but it takes time.

Really, there is no sense in being too intimidated on the start line of these
Belgian ‘crosses. Almost anything can happen on any day. Hell, if I’d had a
good race--the kind of performance I’m capable of and, in fact, have had
before--I might’ve got the other Sven today, who just had a bad go of it. No, I
don’t usually line up thinking I have a chance to beat Vanthourenhout, but, hey,
any given Sunday—or Friday.

The thing is, here at the camp there’s much talk about who’s on drugs and when.
But I think that’s neither here nor there. It’s wholly irrelevant to the task
at hand, which is for all of us to ride at our best levels possible, no matter
who’s in front or behind. Sure, these big guys have every advantage already:
they show up with 4 bikes and 4 extra sets of wheels; they have their own motorhomes (just like Decker!), styled-out with private commodes; and they rarely
have to travel far to race, almost never flying anywhere. To add the thought
that they have pharmaceutical assistance, too, is….Well, it’s not only
discouraging; it’s also infuriating. Nevertheless, we’re here to learn how to
race our bikes better, to see the sport with new eyes, to unlock some previously
caged bike racing animal (like “Danimal” Neyens!). We’re not here to worry
about the other guys’ secrets, **** we can’t do anything about anyhow.

But speaking of drugs and “manimals”--or perhaps “****ing pharmaceutical
freaks”, as little Wells calls them--at Middlekerke the “yellow bus” made an
appearance, so the top-10 had to not only give piss samples but blood, too. (I
may have to verify the blood sample part….) Maxime Lefevre, the retro French
rider, no-showed. This guy definitely has a history, so there are some bad
apples out there. It’s a good thing that there is so much testing over here. I
mean, the bad ones would have field days back home in the states.

(Tonight is our special team dinner, and tomorrow is an off day, or training day
as I like to call it. Then we race the Superprestige at Diegem on Sunday.)

[nobrakes]

Thanks for posting that. Nice to read how Oregonians over seas are faring.

[manet]

cool _ thanks

[shinomaster]

http://race.cx/2006/12/26/hofstade-world-cup-report/
This is a good report from Molly..the video is pretty good...They are so fast!

[atmo]

it's a great update and tonkin is a treasure atmo.
what struck me was the candid references to drugs.
normally, this kind of speculation comes from the
sidelines rather than the players themselves. it's
refreshing atmo.

[Louis]

what struck me was the candid references to drugs.
normally, this kind of speculation comes from the sidelines rather than the players themselves. it's refreshing atmo.

I agree, but it's unfortunate that there is such a degree of fatalism out there. He brings up the discussions of drugs but then goes on to say:

But I think that’s neither here nor there. It’s wholly irrelevant to the task at hand, which is for all of us to ride at our best levels possible, no matter who’s in front or behind.

I know I'm re-rehashing stuff we've discussed before , but if there were a bit more outrage in the ranks more might be done about it. As it is, it's almost as if he's apologizing for his perfectly legitimate concerns.

Louis

[atmo]

but if there were a bit more outrage in the ranks more might be done about it.
Louis
atmo the outrage has to come from the insiders that
are there all season and on the blue train taking start
money 2-3 times a week from mr bookmaker or what-
ever that belgiun guy who determines the pecking order
is called.

[coylifut]

I agree, but it's unfortunate that there is such a degree of fatalism out there. He brings up the discussions of drugs but then goes on to say:



I know I'm re-rehashing stuff we've discussed before , but if there were a bit more outrage in the ranks more might be done about it. As it is, it's almost as if he's apologizing for his perfectly legitimate concerns.

Louis

I know Eric well and I believe what he's saying is that although there's a lot of "talk" about how extraterrestrial fast some of these guys are, it's separate from his strugle to do well on the cross world's biggest stage. Eric may error on the side of too much internal locus and is a complete non complainer. He fully understands the ramifications of arriving on CX's hallowed ground and calling them a bunch of dopers while finishing in the back half of the pack.

[chrisroph]

From Erik Tonkin:



Part 1:

Real bike racers ride every day, and real writers write every day. I can't
claim that title yet, but I'm trying in my own little way. It's hard to write
when things don't go well, and that was the case the other day. Of course, it's
hard to motivate to train and race when the chips are down, too. But I wrote
that report on Wed., and then I went out to train in the cold and rain for 3
hours. What I wanted to do was go home to the states and lick my wounds and accept the fact that my form just isn't as good this year. I figured
that wasn't an option, so I got on the bike and pushed thru it. One way to get
psyched up to race is to just go out on a bike ride.

I do seem to draw strength from tough situations, but believe me it's an
internal struggle to stay positive and meet the challenge. This year in
particular, I've struggled to stay on the right side. It's hard on me to
constantly have to shift gears (so to speak), to switch back and forth between
bike racing and work, especially when the bike racing isn't going well. The
thing is, for the past few years I've tried to treat the bike racing as a job,
too. I mean, at this level--especially here but also at home--the races, the
competition, and the support command a certain level of respect. I'm not good
enough to be here vacationing and racing at the same time. So, getting into
that professional frame of mind is essential, especially for an amateur like me.
I think I owe my improvement over the past 4 years to this change in my approach to racing. I always have to find new
ways to trick myself into thinking that it's worth it, that all the time and
money and energy spent
is worth it. No, it's not that fun to make 7 plane trips for 12 races during
he domestic season and only miss 10 days of work doing it, or to fly over to
Europe over the Christmas holiday, and so on....This is "post-fun" for me now,
but I still find the challenge worth meeting.

Blah blah blah. Anyway, my thigh had loosened up a bit, so I decided to race at
Loenhout. Racers here have to quickly put behind them the bad days, keep their
confidence high, and move on to what's next. It's easier said than done. I
told Luigi to go ahead and load up the bikes.

I can happily report that it's easier to write this because, all things
considered, the race went well. Loenhout is a fun but intimidating course, one
that makes for a lot of speed and a lot of crashes. I must admit that I was
scared--I just didn't want to hit the deck hard again. But the weather cooperated--the rain and just-above-freezing temps.
made the loop an absolute mess. Really, it was the kind of cross that I hope
and pray for, and I so wish that I could have raced it at 100% of the form that
I have now. (I really wish that I could have raced it with the form I had last
year, but c'est la vie....) Nevertheless, I gave it a good go.

Loenhout is considered the world's biggest cross thanks to its level of
promotion, the size and quality of its field, and its spectator friendly but
harrowing "parcours". I heard that 80+ riders started the men's race, and it
felt like it at the start. I was near the back (of course) but managed to move
up enough to escape the obligatory first turn crash and then witness Frischy and
Treefarm bump and tangle at the head of a very long, straight, nasty grassy mud
slog. Our hero--Frischy, that is--went hard into a fence pole and didn't get
up. Ryan, on the other hand, got out of the saddle and put it down like few
others can. He is just unbelievably powerful. Still, he had this to say about the course's
toughest section: "That **** was hard. You'd get all loaded up riding into the
headwind on the long start/finish section, and then you'd have to ride that
mess." Indeed, the slog itself got harder to ride as it neared the end, and not
just because we were all toast by th
en. The grass just deteriorated into a brown hole. Some guys had to run it,
but this guy never did: I'm not blessed with a lot of natural talent, but one
thing I do have is low-end torque. Besides, I was determined to stay on the
bike, as running wouldn't've been good for my leg. It was not fast, so the
crowd had a lot of time to admire us here. After, Ryan noted that some of the
ladies were cheering for him by name, the "Long Trebon". I said they were
probably impressed by his humping action.

Just after the awful slog was the loop's first cross-over. We had just barely
enough momentum to make it up the steep, slippery wood planks. I usually rode
it in the 42x24t, too nervous to put the chain in the 27t for fear of it flirting
with my spokes. I caught and briefly passed The Powers here, plunging down the
other side shoulder to shoulder with him. Dropping these ramps is tricky--the
angle is sharp at the bottom, and the options are bleak, just multiple deep
ruts. When this course is muddy, there are no good lines. I mean, tape to
tape, lap after lap, almost nothing reliable developed. And if a line did
emerge, then it got so rutted-out that it had to be abandoned. (A rut gets so
deep that the bottom bracket shell bottoms out on it. Obviously, touching a
pedal to the ground isn't uncommon, either.) Guys were just everywhere, all
race long, even back with me. I think everybody wanted to call a "do-over"
every lap. Both of us were close behind Wicks now, hea
lthier than he'd been in days and riding like it, too. But Jeremy got to him
and the next group in the turnaround at the pit, and he never looked back.
Powers went on to have what I think was his best ever Belgian 'cross, finishing 28th, at least a minute up on me. I
hope he sticks with it for years to come. I kept Barry in sight at about 30
seconds for the rest of the day, but I never had the punch to make it to his
group, yielding maybe 45sec. by the end. He placed 34th, in the front of his
gang.

My group ultimately included Troy Wells, who's a great guy to race and ride
with. It's so much fun to watch him thrash around out there. I realized that
we weren't a threat to get "doubled", so that was encouraging. The loop was
obviously slower than the past 2 years, but I think it was also longer. In
2004, Wicks and I and others, including Mlynar, were in a group racing so hard
for, like, 29th, all the while with one eye over our shoulder as Nijs was just
15 seconds from getting us. God, that was fun. Anyway, this year's race, too,
was incredible for its deep field and the intense racing. Even in my group, we
were all just throwing ourselves at the course, everybody taking risks and pushing the edges. One time I came over the top of a sharp earthen mound and just
plowed into a pile of guys on the other side, what was left of the group I'd
been chasing. I, too, was now on the pile, all the work I'd done to regain
ground after pitting down the muddy drain.

Taking bike changes was absolutely necessary. I'm not sure why, but here the
mud is so slippery and sticky at the same time: forward progess and staying
upright are quite difficult. The only domestic 'cross I've seen that compares
was actually the race at Sauvie's Island in Portland this year, the corn-maze
section the common thread in particular. Back home, wet conditions usually
cause one problem or the other: on the rare days when heavy mud requires pitting
back home, traction is never an issue; when the course is slick and tricky,
pitting is unnecessary as the bikes aren't burdened with mud.

Pitting was a problem for me. I know better, but I can't help screwing with my
bikes. I'm constantly changing my seat position, my stem and handlebar set-up, etc. It's like a nervous twitch for me, just like how
I'm always picking at my ears. The more serious issue was tires. I only had
one set of Dugast Rhinos, and they were the call of the day. My "B" bike had
the reliable Michelin clinchers, but they sucked by comparison. Wicks would
have this to say: "Don't ever ride clinchers, dumbass!" Anyway, the
consequence is that I always favor one bike over another, and Loenhout was no
exception. Whenever I was on the day's "B" bike, I definitely struggled. The
pits were so busy that we couldn't always get a bike back within a lap, so I
tried to ride my "A" machine as much as possible. I think I pitted 3 times,
riding "A" for 6 laps to "B"'s 4.

There were constant lead changes in our group, all the way to the end. Thrash
figured that we all must have shuffled positions close to 20 times over the last
3 laps. I dumped it by myself pretty late and so got gapped off. It took a
lap, but with less than 1 to go I rejoined the group, but turning on to the long, paved finish straight I had no legs for a jump, and
rode in behind the others. By then my thigh had seized up sumpin' awful, so I
was pretty happy to've survived the ordeal. I ended up 42nd. Wells was just 2
spots back.

After the race, it was a celebation, as Jeremy Powers impersonating Dave
Chappelle's Rick James would say. I nerded it up and gave Wicks his combined
(and much belated) birthday and holiday present: I brought over the fixings to
make gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, so we baked and consumed those, "dirty"
as they were. I actually contained myself to a degree, having eaten a 400g jar
of choco-duo by myself the day before. I know, that's real pro.

[iml]

If there's one thing this S & M local can't stand, it's seeing Erik misspelled. Rock on, Tonkin.

[shinomaster]

good results for the homeboys
http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=cross/2007/jan07/gpsintniklaas07

[nobrakes]

Really good, chrisroth. Tonkin's personnal reporting is far superior than any other report, short of being there to see it myself! Love his tire selection deliberations (don't ever ride clinchers, dumbass!) Great post.