Wind, Rain, and Cobbles Havenpijl 1.2

Brecht, myself, Clay, Chris, Max, Cortlan, Matt from left to right

Heading to the team’s second race here in Belgium, I did not know what to expect. Matt has been telling the team about his marred past at Havenpijl where he has crashed out on every single one of his starts with terrible injuries. This course is about 172 km long consisting of 2 large 50 km loops followed by several smaller “in-town loops”. The larger loops consisted of about 1400 meters of cobbles per lap accompanied by long crosswind sections through one of Belgium’s largest shipping yards. The smaller loops were a bit more technical for we raced through downtown Antwerpen. With 200 starters and a forecast for heavy rains for most the race, the nervousness of the peloton could be seen on everyone’s faces.

Dry at the start

At the start of the race, I expected the flames of hell to come out of the man holes covers that we rode past. Luckily, that was not the case. As the race continued forward, I kept track of where I was on the course. I knew we were going to hit the cobbles 24 and 73 km into the race and I did not really know what to expect with them. I’ve done a few training rides over the pavé with the guys on the team, but nothing in a race situation.

As we cruised away from town there were a few moments were I felt like gaps were opening not even 3 km into the race. I did my best to move up, but everyone else had the same idea and the pack was buzzing with the energy of 200 starters. I slowly but surely made my way closer to the front, but there was literally no room to advance. We were packed across the road, not an inch of space was free to navigate around the peloton. There were times the pack would thin out, but ultimately, no one was moving anywhere in the opening kilometers.

 As we approached the first cobbled section of the race, I was further back then I wanted to be and found myself closing many gaps on the pavé. I was surprised to see how gingerly many of the Belgians rode their bikes over the cobbles, I was expecting far worse. Shortly after the cobbles, I was in a long line of riders chasing to catch back onto the front group. We were guttered pretty hard to the left side of the road but nothing was too far out of control. I focused on not letting any gaps open to the wheel in front of me and I made mental notes on where everything was for the second lap.

As the weather started to turn darker and more grey I found that the narrow roads we were racing along dumped us into one of Belgium’s large shipping yards. Between the wind coming off the ocean, the large tankers, and the mazes of cranes and shipping containers, I felt rather minuscule. With the strong cross winds coming from the storm that is predicted to hit us at any moment, along with the large mega roads we were racing on, the peloton took on a different shape. Suddenly there was plenty of room to move up on the windward side of the group. More and more riders were starting to slide back down the sides of the group as the wind started to push on the edges of the peloton. I found myself able to follow wheels and get near the front to watch for any attacks or potential splits. I followed a few moves while I was near the front, mostly to stay out of the fight that was forming for shelter in the group. I found Brecht riding calmly near the front, conserving energy for the hectic final that there was going to be.

As we got close to finishing our first lap, the rain started to come down. I held onto the wheel infront of me through the technical section of the final kilometers that would conclude each lap. Going through the start/finish of the race I felt like I was shot out of a cannon. The gaps were opening as riders were being timid with the rain, and now that the roads were starting to straighten out again the peloton was back into full race mode. As we hit a few technical parts of the course-leaving town, I was able to make my way near the front. The rain was making things much easier for me to move around the pack.

Within a few moments of leaving town, the rain increased 10 fold and I could not see even just 20 feet infront of me. I was riding near Chris and Brect - the 3 of us were in great position just 5 km away from the cobbles. Flooding roads, wind, and wet cobbles all spelled for disaster. It was not going to take much to cause a race defining split or be part of a race ending crash with the way the course and the elements were coming together. As we hit the cobbles Chris and I both pushed forward and found our selves in perfect position. We were sitting comfortably in 3^rd and 4^th wheel and Brecht was sitting closely behind us. As we powered through the flooding cobbled section, I was very surprised at just how easy it was going through it the second time. Chris and I got through the end of the 1400 meter section wondering if that was it, and slightly disappointed with how unaggressive everyone was racing through there.

As the race pushed closer and closer to the shipping yard, everyone knew positioning was going to be even more crucial this time around with the rain and the wind. Luckily the rain lit up just enough to be able to see a few seconds up the road, but the wind was only getting stronger. As we pushed into the shipping yard I found Brecht and asked him what the team plan (there was a small split of riders that escaped when the rain started to hit us at the end of the first lap). By this point in the race, there were four of us left in the Astellas armada: Brecht, Chris, Cortlan, and I. The 4 of us were able to get near the front and keep our selves out of trouble as we pushed through the end of the second lap, staying safe out of the crosswinds.

As we got to the smaller laps around town I could start to feel the fatigue setting in from a very nervous and wet first 100 km. Luckily, there was a pause in the rain and a little bit of sun was shining. For the next several laps around town Chris, Cortlan and I did our best to animate and bring down the gap to the leaders. Our efforts were able to help Brecht get into a second chase group of about 25 riders. Brecht’s chase group was able to bring down the gap to the leaders to about 25 seconds, but a few unrepresented teams from my current group kept the chase hard on the front and eventually brought us back to the split that formed with our team leader. Once we were all together again the gap to the leaders started to expand back out. I put in a few hard efforts when I could, but I knew there was a clock ticking with how long I was going to last. The smaller circuits had several corners per lap and the accelerations out of the corners that were starting to take their toll on me.

Riding to the car after a chaotic and wet race

I would end up loosing connection with the main group after a bump in a turn knocked my chain off of the big ring right before the start of the 2^nd to last lap. I would chase hard for a few kilometers, but the chase was futile. As I was navigating my way around the lonely lap the rain returned with a vengeance and tried to put me to sleep with its icy cold sheets. I finished that lap and found my way back to the team van. The roads were flooded and the rain did not look like it was going to ease up.

I found out later the Brecht was our only finisher and that he literally had to swim to the finish line as inches of water started to accumulate on the road.

The only smile in the country

Now that the jet lag has passed, the racing is already improving with each start. Havenpijl would end up being my first UCI 1.2 race, as well as my first road race with cobbles to boot. This race would also be going down as the wettest race I have ever started, as well as, one of the most insane races I have participated in. Crosswinds in shipping yards, fighting for the front to be at the cobbles first, rain that lasted for hours, and flooded roads -- welcome to world of Belgian bike racing.