Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Pearls of wisdom...

During the men's race, we were sandwiched in with some very cool Belgian folks. The Erwin Fans Club surrounded us, which was awesome. They asked us all about veldrijden in the US, told us about how Erwin loves to travel and race in the states and told us how they want to come visit. Ironic, isn't it?

One of our cheering-mates was Tom De Kort. He races for the AVB-USSPA Cycling Team, which is the feeder team for Fidea. Super nice guy. He was happy to offer some advice, and I think taking it from him was a no-brainer.

"I focus 110% on my handling techniques. That is my strong point. If I can make 1 second up in 5 corners per lap of a 10 lap race, that's 50 seconds."

Talking with him further brought out that if you are faster in the corners, you must lead through them. It will either a) force your opponent to burn energy to close the gap or b) force your opponent to make a mistake. The feeling I got from him was not to rest by following into the corners because your opponent can then dictate a comfortable pace for himself. Your advantage has effectively been neutralized.

Oh, and he loved the New Belgium flag. So much so that I gave him my sweatshirt.

1 comment:

van den kombs said...

HEY, I WANT A SWEATSHIRT !!
reprint !