It’s now August 8th and I’ve been in Belgium for 4 weeks. This has been a tremendous experience. I’ve been staying in Lendelede, in the home of Patrick and Lin Dhondt and their son, Jonas and daughter, Sophie. The Dhondt’s have been great and very helpful as I adjust to living and racing in Belgium.
The history, architecture and culture are very different, but very exciting to be part of. Over the last few weeks we’ve visited Brussels, Brugge, visited the Tour of Flanders museum, had a tour of the Quick Step house where we had the good fortune to meet the Team Director, and saw the World's Track Championship. We also saw a post-tour crit with Tom Boonen and Robbie McEwen, and even got their autographs.
The races are much different than anything I’ve experienced in the United States. It’s amazing how much support the racers get and the number of people who come out to cheer on the racers, and the number of racers. One of the hardest things for me to get used to is having a 52x16 gear as my biggest gear (in the USA, the biggest gear for juniors is 52x14). Having such small gearing really requires everyone to learn how to spin (really fast).
One race that was pretty exciting was when another guy and I broke away. We opened a big gap and with 1km to go, we hit some big cobbles and I got a flat. There were so many people on the side of the road I couldn’t get off the road and had to continue riding on the cobbles as fast as I could to try and stay away from the racers behind me. Before long I broke a spoke and the only thing I could do was pick up my bike and run in. Everyone kept cheering me on as they could see a little pack racers were coming fast. I threw myself over the line taking 5th just as the small pack caught me.
I very much liked doing the training rides and riding some of the climbs that are part of the Tour of Flanders. We’ve also been very fortunate to have someone like Erly Buetsart (staff member of the U23 team) take us on the rides, talk to us about racing and being there for us.
I found that there’s so much more for me to learn, it is an extremely valuable experience and I wish to thank everyone who helped me get here. The most unfortunate part of being here, living with the Dhondt's, meeting with Erly and the racing, is that I only have one more week here.
Ryan Zupko
This Article Published 2006-08-11 08:47:48
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