Cross love from the soggy northwest
Richard Groenendaal zet punt achter carrière from Productiehuis.eu on Vimeo.
He gives a charming interview but on the parcours, he has a large chip on his shoulder.
To all of the lapped riders and Belgian fans he’s roughed up over the years he says:
“In your face! I rule!”
I like the part where he “hangs” his bike up for good.
Couldn’t not post this. Everything about this video is wonderful.
do
dont
Anyone who has ever competed in a mountain bike race at any level can relate to this clip. Whether you are a first timer, expert, or pro, MTB racing is just plain grueling. I’ll always hold a special place in my heart for World Cup mountain biking and the athletes who choose to compete at this level.
Julien’s bio from Wikipedia:
Julien Absalon (born August 16, 1980 in Remiremont) is a French mountain biker. In both 2004 and 2008 he won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He rides for the Spanish mountain bike team Orbea. Absalon has 17 World Cup wins.
Absalon won four consecutive Mountain Bike World Championships (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007).
Hero.
Remember when Richard Groenendael shoved our own Steven Hunter? It reminded me heavily of this clip I saw of Richard punching a spectator in the face at a Gazet van Antwerpen race in 2001.
Well, I finally stumbled across the clip today while being sick and eating healthy portion of garbanzos con espinacas, and watching old cross videos. I can’t really speak to his situation or what the fans may have been yelling, but damn:
Since most all of the spectators at cross races here in Oregon are also racers themselves, I don’t think we see much of this. There isn’t a ton of abusive spectating and mean spirited heckling. Mostly shit talkin’ and encouragement amongst a community of friends. I’ve been trying to imagine what it could have been that the spectator shouted that caused Groenendael to stop racing, run over, and punch the guy square in the face. I’ve got some ideas, but maybe you could help me out in the comments.
UnviersalSports.com will be providing same-day coverage of this year’s cyclocross world championships in Hoogerheide. Click the banner below on Sunday to watch.
It’s almost certain that the video coverage will be more exciting than huddling around a laptop with your pals, hitting reload every minute for the cyclingnews.com live text feed. Also, it is free and Universal Sports has some other nice cycling coverage on their cycling channel. For example, they’ll be showing Cross Vegas 2008 this Friday, January 30th.
We still haven’t found the perfect speculoos but we’re traveling the land and testing as many out as we can find. We believe this to be a well hidden secret of the top Belgian pros. When dipped in silty coffee, the sweet bread produces mythical powers. Also available in a paste.
Ontbijt Voor Kampioenen
(breakfast of champions)
Search for the perfect Speculoos
World Cup racing takes a lot of talent, endless hours of training, and sacrifice like most of us will never understand. Being a world cup mechanic sometimes just takes being in the right place with the right people right before the big day. That was the case for me this weekend before the “Coup du Monde” in Nommay France. I signed on to help Molly for the day and Parbo as much as I could. I was in for a treat when Parbo pulled out this big daddy wheel bag:
It holds four spares and will make your mechanic’s day. At one point I had this on my back while carrying a wash bucket, spare bike, and helping a neutral support haul his pressure washer down a rain soaked hill. Magical. My quads hurt more today than after any on-bike event this year. Racers, give your mechanic a hug.
Highlight of the day: Pitting for Georgia Gould during the women’s race. She hadn’t expected any help and was probably a little nervous when she realized everyone else would be pitting every half lap. Well, we more or less gave her clean exchanges every half lap and she ended up on the podium!
Driving to Antwerp today to compete in my first European cross race was a mixed bag. I would swing from elation at just being here, confused from wild driving over cobbled streets-over curbs-through alleyways-wrong way-onto traintracks, all the way to full nausea from fear. It wasn’t a big race though; Lars Boom and Klaas Vantornout were there but Sven Nys and Bart Wellens decided to stay home. No problem right? The worst part was, I hadn’t pooped yet and the race was drawing near. Anybody that races frequently understands how paramount this one simple act can be to having a decent ride. The coffee in Belgium doesn’t have the same kick that I’m used to from Stumptown but it finally did its trick just in time. Perhaps that’s the secret to the Belgian’s success in cyclocross? Time release coffee that gets your buzz on 15 minutes before the start rather than 3hrs prior. There’s a lot to learn here, for sure.
My trainer tells me that a cyclists arms are just for keeping his face from hitting the stem. I thought about telling this advice to Richard Gronendaal when he was riding the most difficult sand section of the course at twice my pace and managed to reach out and shove me into a post/course marker. Not sure he’d like to hear from me. Lesson two: less riding and more pushups/arm curls.
Lastly, Erwin Verveken is super nice. He had a bad race but took the time to talk to some American kid and put on his best awkward smile for a picture.
Went into the woods today, and it was just like this but without the people:
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