Zingem was the first race I’ve done this season that I also did last season, and I was kind of excited to finally race on a course that I knew. These Flemish courses are full of really nasty little technical climbs and whoop-de-doos (that’s a scientific way of referring to a class of super-steep features too small to be referred to as hills) and runups. In these races, experience counts for a lot, so I was looking forward to racing on a course where experience might give me even the tiniest bit of an edge.

Through the fields of Zingem

But, of course, the evil geniuses (genii?) who design cyclocross courses know that we’re all looking for that edge, and so they do everything they can to make sure nobody gets an edge. And the race directors in Zingem did what came naturally: they completely redesigned their course. They added a host of new features, including a nice little reverse whoop-de-doo, otherwise known as a super-steep muddy ditch, which was a forced dismount for everybody. They kept some nice little tricky embankments from last year, but ran them in reverse. In the back of the masters race, everybody tried to ride them, but I found it was much faster to run, and passed a number of people by doing just that. The race also took us around a little horse pasture a few times, adding a number of very amused equines to the other spectators lining the course.

I’ve got to say, I enjoyed the course. It was a little flat for my liking, but attractive and fun to ride. Definitely enormously better than last week’s 1-km nightmare. Unfortunately, my legs did not agree. All week in training I felt dead, and they continued to be dead right through the race. I’ve been slower, but not much, than I was in Zingem, but I definitely did not bring my A game. I just turned up the level of training last week, and hopefully the legs will respond soon, but I clearly paid for it this weekend.

Nice Scenery in Zingem

Of course, it also didn’t really help that the guys at the front of my race were like, really, really fast. Like, good enough to hold their own at a Superprestige race fast. So, in the end, I beat a few people, but got pretty much spanked. But, in Belgium, anything else would be a disappointment, right?

Now it’s back to a week of training, trying to get rides in before the sun sets (which is only going to get harder next week when Daylight Savings Time ends here). On Saturday we head for Bredene, on the coast, where I’ll race through a trailer park again, then Sunday is the famous Koppenbergcross. I’ll be there for CX Magazine, so stay tuned for more racing news.

In the meantime, photos are up on Flickr.