Race History 2003: Royal Antwerp Cycling Club, Belgium

2003:  Royal Antwerp Cycling Club, Belgium
Date	Place	Category	Race	Location	Distance	Notes
1/1/2003		Elite	Royal Antwerp Cycling Club	Antwerp, Belgium
2/22-23/2003		USCF, 1, 2, 3	North End Classic	Yuma, AZ
2/22/2003	25th	USCF, 1, 2, 3	Road Race	Yuma, AZ	99 miles
2/23/2003	25th	USCF, 1, 2, 3	Downtown Criterium	Yuma, AZ	1 hour
3/16/2003	4th	B Race	Bike Line Spring Training Series Criterium	Fogelsville, PA	25 km
3/16/2003	10th	A Race	Bike Line Spring Training Series  Criterium	Fogelsville, PA	35 km
3/23/2003	10th	B Race	Bike Line Spring Training Series  Criterium	Fogelsville, PA	30 km
3/23/2003	8th	A Race	Bike Line Spring Training Series  Criterium	Fogelsville, PA	40 km
3/29/2003	5th	USCF, 1, 2, 3	University of Virginia (UVA) Uphill Individual Time Trial	Afton, VA	7 Miles	Had a fever and felt very bad
4/12-13/2003		USCF, 1, 2, 3	Seaford Bicycle Race Weekend	Seaford, Delaware
4/12/2003	44th	USCF, 1, 2, 3	Circuit Race	Seaford, Delaware	50 miles
4/13/2003	11th	USCF, 1, 2, 3	Road Race	Seaford, Delaware	100 miles	Drove break from start but problems with my cassette kept me from riding as well as I would have liked
4/21/2003	24th	UCI 1.12	Waarschoot Kermis Circuit Race	Waarschoot, Belgium	110 km
4/23/2003	45th	UCI 1.12	Herzele Kermis Circuit Race	Herzele, Belgium	121 km
4/27/2003	50th	UCI 1.12	Aspelare Hekelgem Kermis  Invitation only Road Race	Aspelare Hekelgem, Belgium	150 km
5/1/2003	31st	UCI 1.5	Grand Prix Hoboken Road Race	Antwerp, Belgium	170 km
5/3/2003	36th	UCI 1.12(19 – 25) age group	Zwijnaarde Kermis Circuit Race	Zwijnaarde, Belgium	115 km
5/4/2003	DNF	UCI 1.12	Drongen Kermis Circuit Race	Drongen, Belgium	117 km
5/5/2003	DNF	UCI 1.12	Denderhoutem Kermis Circuit Race	Denderhoutem, Belgium	118 km
5/8/2003	50th	UCI 1.12	Wondelgem Kermis Circuit Race	Wondelgem, Belgium	115 km
5/11/2003	4th	Derny	Derny Race, Grand Prix Rotterdam Circuit Race	Rotterdam, Holland
5/12/2003	36th	UCI 1.12	Puivelde Kermis Circuit Race	Puivelde, Belgium	117 km
5/14/2003	36th	Elite Z.G.	Puivelde Kermis Professional Circuit Race	Puivelde, Belgium	170 km	Niko Eeckhout won this race
5/17/2003	27th	UCI 1.12(19 – 25) age group	Moerbeke – Geraardsbergen Kermis Circuit Race	Moerbeke – Geraardsbergen, Belgium	120 km
5/18/2003	38th	UCI 1.12	Evergem – Belzele Kermis Circuit Race	Evergem – Belzele, Belgium	120 km
5/23-25/2003		UCI 2.6	35th Triptyque Ardennais Stage Race	Liege Region, Belgium
5/23/2003	69th	UCI 2.6	Stage 1: Aywaille – Harze Road Race	Aywaille – Harze, Belgium	159 km
5/24/2003	79th	UCI 2.6	Stage 2 Micheroux – Micheroux Road Race	Micheroux, Belgium	102 km
5/24/2003	80th	UCI 2.6	Stage 3 Thimister Individual Time Trial	Thimister, Belgium	13.2 km
5/25/2003	73rd	UCI 2.6	Stage 4 Libramont – St. Hubert Road Race	Libramont – St. Hubert, Belgium	172 km
5/23-25/2003	70th	UCI 2.6	Over all Classification	Liege Region, Belgium
5/29/2003	DNF	UCI 1.5	Grand Prix Hasselt - Spa – Hasselt Road Race	Hasselt - Spa, Belgium	166 km	(Broke collar bone in feed zone crash.)
7/6/2003	50th	UCI 1.12	Merelbeke Kermis Circuit Race	Merelbeke, Belgium	117 km
7/10/2003	DNF	Elite S.G	Melle Kermis Professional Circuit Race	Melle, Belgium	160 km	Tom Steels, Peter Van Petegem, and Frank Vandenbroucke Started this  race
7/12-17 /2003			Flemish Cycling School Summer Training Camp	Luxemburg, Luxemburg		Trained in Luxemburg and rode with CSC team on day three.
7/18-21/2003		UCI 2.6	42ème Tour de la Province de Liege Stage Race	Liege Region, Belgium
7/18/2003	110th	UCI 2.6	Stage 1 Verviers – Verviers Road Race	Verviers, Belgium	147 km
7/19/2003	160th	UCI 2.6	Stage 2 Hollogne S/Geer – Hollogne S/Geer Road Race	Hollogne S/Geer, Belgium	151 km
7/20/2003	DNF	UCI 2.6	Stage 3 Ans – Ans Road Race	Ans, Belgium	140 km
7/21/2003	DNS	UCI 2.6	Stage 4 Seraing – Seraing Road Race	Seraing, Belgium	160 km
7/31/2003	85th	UCI 1.12	Deerlijk Kermis Circuit Race	Deerlijk, Belgium	118 km
8/02/2003	50th	UCI 1.12	Knesselare Kermis Circuit Race	Knesselare, Belgium	117 km
8/03/2003	50th	UCI 1.12	Knesselare Kermis Circuit Race	Knesselare, Belgium	117 km
8/07/2003	45th	UCI 1.12	Oosteeklo Kermis Circuit Race	Oosteeklo, Belgium	121 km
8/10/2003	40th	UCI 1.12	Bottelare Kermis Circuit Race	Bottelare, Belgium	118 km
8/12/2003	60th	Elite S.G.	Heusden Kermis Professional Circuit Race	Heusden, Belgium	180 km
8/14/2003	55th	UCI 1.12	Evergem – Belzele Kermis Circuit Race	Evergem – Belzele, Belgium	115 km
8/15/2003	Crash	UCI 1.12	Grand Prix Antwerpen Tielen Road Race	Antwerp – Tielen, Belgium	157 km
8/19/2003	85th	UCI 1.6	Grand Prix Wervik Omloop Van de Grensstreek Road Race	Wervik, Belgium	173 km
8/21/2003	8th	UCI 1.12	Wondelgem Kermis Circuit Race	Wondelgem, Belgium	115 km
8/24/2003	100th	UCI 1.6	Grand Prix Vlaamse Havenpijl Road Race	Zeebrugge – Antwerp, Belgium	186 km
8/27/2003	95th	Elite S.G.	Professional Kermis 86th Stadsprijs Circuit Race	Geraardsbergen, Belgium	155 km	Peter Van Petegem blew past me on lap one
8/28/2003	31st	UCI 1.12	Wondelgem Kermis Circuit Race	Wondelgem, Belgium	117 km
8/31-9/1/2003		UCI 2.6	Ronde van Zuid Oost-Vlaanderen Stage Race	Erwetegem, Belgium
8/31/2003	122nd	UCI 2.6	Stage 1 Erwetegem – Erwetgem Road Race	Erwetegem, Belgium	117 km
8/31/2003	109	UCI 2.6	Stage 2: Erwetegem Individual Time Trial	Erwetegem , Belgium	16 km
9/1/2003	DNF	UCI 2.6	Stage 3 Erwetegem – Erwetegem Road Race	Erwetegem, Belgium	154 km
9/07/2003	26th	UCI 1.12	Dikkelvenne Kermis Circuit Race	Dikkelvenne, Belgium	112 km
9/08/2003	44th	Elite S.G.	Wetteren Kermis Professional Circuit Race	Wetteren, Belgium	162 km
9/13/2003	55th	UCI 1.12	Berlare Kermis Circuit Race	Berlare, Belgium	116 km
9/14/2003	17th	UCI 1.12	Sint Jan In Eremo Kermis Circuit Race	Sint Jan In Eremo, Belgium	120 km
9/15/2003	24th	UCI 1.12	Merelbeke Kermis Circuit Race	Merelbeke, Belgium	106 km
9/20/2003	35th	UCI 1.12	Zwijnaarde Kermis Circuit Race	Zwijnaarde, Belgium	115 km
9/22/2003	28th	UCI 1.12	Stekene Kermis Circuit Race	Stekene, Belgium	114 km
9/25/2003	70th	Elite S.G.	Stekene Kermis Professional Circuit Race	Stekene, Belgium	164 km
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New Goals, back in America

Welcome back to the United States of America; it is a big change to be home. Life in Europe is very different to that of life in the United States. It feels good to be home, but I miss Europe very much. My trip to Europe to race my bike was an amazing experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. The trip did not accomplish the cycling goals I was hoping for. The broken collarbone and other set backs kept me from reaching my goals and peak potential. At some points it was very difficult to be in races that normally I would love and excel at to only be struggling to hold onto the group. The trip did teach me a lot about life and the importance of patience and the ability to pick yourself up when your down. I made many new friends that hopefully I will keep in touch for life.
Let me catch you up with what I have been up to since I last updated my web page. This week I started with The Atlas Funding Company, a full service mortgage provider specializing in residential, commercial purchases, refinance, and second mortgages. I am hoping to be able to be able to train and earn money with this commission-based job to support my cycling lifestyle. The new job is an exciting opportunity and I hope it is able to work out for me.
I have been very busy since I have been home, catching up with old and new friends. I have been working a lot for Mack Employment in the hospitality temp department. I have fun working all the different catering events and they were happy when I called to tell them I was coming home. I tried to give up cycling for a bit when I arrived home so I would have time for other opportunities in my life. I am now back training for next year with a goal of qualifying to ride the Olympic trials. It is unfortunate now that professional cyclists are now able to ride the Olympics; it takes away the main focus amateur athletes like myself used to strive to obtain.

Tearin up Paris

Paris was awesome, it was super buisy and I believe I saw all the important sights. 5 in the morning as I was about to leave for the Paris train I got e-mail from my fiend Alison. It had contact info for our high school friends that were living in Paris Claire and Chris Natale’s. I sent then both a message. Then raced off for the train. I was one minute late for the train in Damport and two minutes late for the train in Saint Peters. Luckily there was another train leaving at 6:30 that would arrive at 7:00 in Brussels Midi. My TGV left at 7:10 for Paris Nord. I met Marc at the train station and the adventure began. We found a cheap but nice hotel near the Bastille and dropped off our stuff. We then checked e-mail and contacted his friends. Luckily Claire had e-mailed me back. It was especially lucky because the e-mail I had sent didn’t go to her but a work mate who forwarded it to her. Amazing and she wanted to meet us at the Pantheon at 6:45. Marc’s French girls that he had met while in New Zealand were to meet us at 8:45. We then went sight seeing and saw the Luve the Plastecondorde the Arc de Triumph and the Champsilyse. It was tiring so we went home for a nap and then went out to meet our friends.

Dam Bike

I am ready for the season to be over and to be back in the US. The weather here has been acting strange. It was 25 C yesterday and now it is windy and cooler. I am really burnt of racing and just want to relax and sight see the rest of the trip. I have decided I hate my team bike and can’t wait to give it back. Tomorrow I am going to Antwerp with Brian and Miska. My friend Marc is coming up from France to spend the night and also head to Antwerp. It should be a fun and relaxing trip. I race with the team in a PRO Kermess on Thursday and will hopefully find a good time to return my bike. Friday I will travel to Paris and hang with Marc and hopefully do so good sight seeing. It should be a buisy last couple of weeks.

Team Snow Valley enjoys Belgium racing

My guests have gone back to the United States. I believe they enjoyed their trip and accomplished most of there goals. I had an enjoyable time showing them around and helping them out. This past month has been moving incredibly fast, I only have two weeks left before I am home. I am looking forward to arriving home and seeing everyone but I know I will miss Europe. Someday I will find my way back to but at this point I am not sure when.
While my guests were here we mostly did kermesse racing. My team from Antwerp was hoping to be racing in France but they are also having a disappointing year of bad results and may not have gotten the invites.
The last kermesse I did with Scott was in Merelbeke. The race started aggressively with everyone marking Scott, after two weeks they had found out how strong he is. Unfortunately 1/3 of the way into the race Scott’s frame cracked on the down tube at the cable bosses, causing him to abandon the race. Also during this race I felt a small hint of my old form and raced aggressively but since I seem to be missing acceleration I was not able to drop the people marking me. At the finish of the race I was pleased with my performance but the back of my right arm felt like it was being stung by bees, I think it was a nerves and muscles that are rebuilding because of my broken collarbone. I still do not trust my right arm to do what I want because of the sharp pains that come out of nowhere.
The other races that my guests and I did were not so exciting for me. I would try to play an aggressive role early and when I would see the strong break go up the road I would tell Scott and he would attack with me on his wheel and I would let a gap so he was able to cross alone and then ride away with the stronger riders. Since I have been here all season riders tend to mark me because they know sometimes I ride strong. Since they didn’t know Scott yet they wouldn’t follow him so closely. Scott rode well while he was here with his worse place being an 12th and best being a 4th. I think the best and most successful way to come to race in Europe is a quick planned trip where you are in shape and focused.
Finding junior races for Adam was interesting. At first I was not sure what he would be able to do but I talked to my Antwerp teammates and found out that he could only race junior races. Luckily the first junior race I found was near Gent. At race sign in we quickly found out that there was more to a junior racing than elite. In Belgium juniors are only aloud to race twice a week; to enter you must have a calendar card that gets stamped at each race. Luckily the officials knew me from the elite races and they found away for Adam to enter since he was only staying of 10 days. Please check out my friend’s journal entries to see what Adam thought of European racing