Belgium 2005, entry 9

Well, cycling sure is full of ups and downs. Just after a nice stretch of good racing I find myself sprawled out on my bed, typing with one hand because my other is in a cast. I fractured a bone in my left wrist and put a two inch gash in my shin yesterday in a pretty nasty crash. The race was a UCI 1.12 in Wervik, Belgium. I made it a personal goal to race aggressive and take part in a few attacks. I was under the direction to race hard for as long as I could, and risk not finishing, instead of just sitting in for the four hours. I did just that.

Now on to what you all want to hear about: the crash. After a hard effort near the front, I sunk back to about 45^th position. The peleton bunched up as we glided over some rolling hills about 10km before the feed zone. On one of the slight downhills, I could feel the pack starting to swell and the motorcycle to my left made me quite nervous. I would guess that we were going about 50km/ hour when I heard a bunch of popping and crunching. Everyone ahead of me immediately locked up their brakes and I did the same. The closer I got to the moaning riders on the ground, the harder I squeezed the brake levers. I continued to skid my tires, like a balancing act on ice. About 2 seconds before I went down I knew I wasn't going to be able to stop in time. I hit someone or something and flew head-first over the bars. What I remember next is feeling the exhaust of the motorcycle on my face and then thinking that my shin hurt pretty bad. I sat up and got very scared when I saw my shin bone peaking out of the 5mm-wide gash. I pinched it shut and tried to look away as I awaited medical attention. Every other part of my body felt fine. A nurse came and asked if I wanted to keep riding. Hmmm... I thought. No, I think I'll go to the hospital instead (then she saw my shin). I saw Bernard briefly and he said that the ambulance would take me to the hospital and that he would see me later. I wasn't scraped at all and besides the shin, no one could have told that I had been in a crash. The more time that went by, the more my wrist began to hurt. After stitches and X-rays, I remember a terrible sinking feeling when they told me that I would need a cast on my wrist. I can't begin to describe the disappointment I felt as they plastered my arm.

Hope.

There is a chance I will be able to race before my scheduled departure from Belgium. I'll get more X-rays in a week and then see if a removable brace will work. I may be able to race with some sort of splint or brace, but probably not over cobblestones! I guess this is part of the sport and another experience to live through and learn from. Every up has it's down, and hopefully every down has it's up. Well, I'm down, but definitely not out. Thanks for reading (my one hand is getting pretty tired). Till next time, VR

Belgium 2005, entry 8

Belgian Crack

No , not that crack. And no, not that crack either. I'm talking about the pit that can be found in the middle of most main roads in Belgium. All UCI races and most kermis' contain at least a few main roads made with large concrete slabs. These slabs are about a car width wide and are about twice as long. For some reason or another these slabs are not put right next to each other, which leaves large, intimidating cracks every few meters and one right down the center of the road: The Belgian Crack.

Races in Belgium are run on a full rolling enclosure, so the riders have the full road (and yes the sidewalk, grass, and gravel are fair game too). There is no yellow line in the middle, so they couldn't even have a 'yellow line rule.' If they did it would have to be called the 'Belgian Crack Rule.' So during races it is sometimes a challenge to get past the Belgian Crack. Obviously the cracks that are perpendicular to your wheel are less of a challenge, but they do give a nice jolt to the bars and hands, especially if there is a slight rise from one to the next. The crack down the center of the road is the scariest. I've seen this crack as large as 3 cm, no joke. And if you do the math... 23mm tire... 30mm crack... Yes, I've seen guys crash because of Belgian Crack.

Getting over the crack is always fun. There are usually two scenarios: getting over the crack while riding in a pack or getting over while going single file. Single file is always the easiest because all you have to do is follow the leader. One guy will swing right over it and everyone else follows, going from one side of the road to the other in one clean swoop. Trying to cross the crack in a large pack is a different story. You can try and bunny hop it and look like an idiot or you can try to ride over it very quickly and lift your front tire a little for some extra insurance. Whatever you choose, watch where you're going because knocking into a Belgian spells trouble.

Belgian Crack is just another great element of racing in Belgium! Thanks for reading. Until next time, VR