Big Bad Log

Friday April 18th

Unlike other years I decide to leave during the mid-afternoon to arrive in Houffalize around 4.30pm. First I went to the Press Centre but - unlike other years - the organisation had not foreseen anything for the Press until the next day. So I checked in at my hotel - the Ol'Fosse d'Outh - and got my bike ready for a ride before supper. Since I didn't fancy a tough ride I decided to ride the road to La Roche and back again. But don't underestimate this ride.. the wind was out in full force and with a 2K and 3.5K climb it was quite spicy. Furthermore I left my drinking bottles at home so I had to make do without water along the ride. And in La Roche I couldn't even find a beverage machine so all I had was a Power Bar and the dry air. made it home allright and after enjoying supper I settled in for the night

Ride Stats : 55.5K and 560 heightmeters in 2h29mins

2463/19690

Saturday April 19th

Damn, it more or less rained the whole day. Not good for biking and with the cloudy skies the light was bad for taking pictures. First I went to the Press Centre to get my Press pass. Met up with some acquaintances of mountainbike.be and I also met Fons who has a great website with lots of pictures and movies . After chatting up with him I decided to check out some of the races and practice my photographic skills a bit , concentrating on the Ol' Fosse d'Outh downhill. Today the amateur races were taking place and there were a lot of accidents - fortunately mostly without much harm. One of the girls came screaming down the hill, no doubt that was her way of conquering her fear . And by god, she made it, brave girl ! The day passed by and the drizzle subsided. I waited for it to clear out but it never did. So my bike stayed inside - no ride for me. Bugger.

Sunday April 20th

World Cup Day ! Got up around 8am , had a good breakfast and headed out to the towns' centre to check the entry lists. After that I browsed through the exposition area where some of the girls were already warming up on the rollers. Later I strolled to the starting area to snap some close-ups. When the girls were shot on their way I made my way to various points around the race, trying to capture the essence of mountainbiking - the suffering, the pain but also the joy and elation after the race. The Womens' podium might very well be the one at the upcoming Olympics. Chengyuan Ren took first place again - she also won last year - followed by World Champion and 2007 World Cup winner Irina Kalentieva of Russia. Third place went to Canadians' Marie-Helene Premont.
After the Womens' victory ceremony I was joined by a dear friend . We kept each other company during the Elite Mens' race, taking some pictures and generally enjoying the awesome super sunny weather and a nice race. It was nice to see Julien Absalon take his first ever win at Houffalize

My picture gallery of the Womens' Race: LINK
Fons Moors' impressions of the World Cup at Houffalize: LINK