Worlds Cross Y3 Report #5

Wednesday Morning.

Sitting in the bungalow waiting for Wendy, Barb and Greg to get up so I can make more noise. The past two days have been the calm before things ramp up towards the weekend and the races. Nothing official to take care of other than keeping track of who else needs credentials for the Canadian Team so we can have everything dialed in for the weekend. The accreditation center opens today to I will start to do more official duties this afternoon.

The Weather
It just started to snow for the first time since we have been here. It has been REALLY cold in the morning at -2/-3C with a wind and damp but the snow will add even more skill into the course as people try to stay upright. If the snow goes away it will make the course slippery. If it stays it will make the course slippery......it will be slippery! But thinking of every option if the snow goes away and then the course freezes the course will be super rutted, hard and fast. Tire selection is always one of the most important elements of cross races and I am in constant discussions with Pim to get ideas and learn about what to do.

Pim
Pim our Dutch mechanic came by on Monday to have a first look over the bikes. He fixed Ryan's rear brake and we looked over Wendy's bikes and wheels. He explained to the members that were here that he is there to help. We wash the bikes. He fixes the bikes. Don't touch his tools without asking and everything will be fine. We both went to the course on Monday afternoon as he had not seen it in a while and he wanted to know more about how everything will be set up and how the specific sections look. Pim is volunteering his time and even dragging along another friend to help. As he says, 'I like the stay with you guys!!! Ill hope to be a plus for the team and help to improve the results. That would be the best feeling for me. See you the next Thursday. Pim." He also said his head hurt from 2 hours of speaking so much English so we will have to go easy on the conversation.

Bowling
The past two night we have had Team Canada Bowls night at the main center of our accommodations. The first night is was Stu (the US mechanic from Cyclocross World that is here to help Lyne), Ryan, Mike and myself. Barb joined us for the second game. It became pretty clear that we were all pretty bad bowlers! The family that was in the lane next to us was just laughing at us the whole time. Last night we went again and this time Lyne and Wendy also joined us. It became a girls vs. the boys competition. Apparently Wendy can bowl and in the first game she had 4 strikes in a row. She said the last time she bowled was after she handed in her thesis and her and Erin got the boot from Mayfair lanes as they were "enjoying themselves" too much. Well she led the girls to double victory (in average score) by over 20 points in the first two games.

We still had some time left in our hour so we had a third game. Fearing that the racers arms would eventually fall off we changed it to a game of "granny bowl" between the legs and/or backwards. We had some other experimental techniques as well including the slide-push, the double ball, machine gun and others but granny seemed to work the best. Again the girls crushed us with Wendy leading the way with 3 strikes and a score over 150! She wondered if she could make more $ as a pro bowler than as a cyclist and i think Lyne snorted.

Sickies
The biggest worry right now is anyone getting sick for the race. The days are short between now and the competition so there is no time to recover. Lots of rest. Lots of hand washing and....Bleek used on everything around the house. "Bleek" you ask? Well Wendy sent me to the store for some Bleach to clean our bottles and the kitchen etc. Bleach here I determined was called Bleek. They had two kinds.....regular "Bleek" and "Dik Bleek" (I can hear Corey snickering right now). The "Dik Bleek" worried me a lot so I opted for the regular "Bleek". I know you can call us germ a phobics but we prefer "Germ Aware"!

There is a good dusting of snow now. Will keep you updated with at least one more report before the race.

Normon