12 Seconds Too Slow
Who says you have to race a full ‘cross season to let it rip at the Worlds? John Gadret’s ‘cross season began in Overijse, Belgium on December 16th and not much more than a month later he was in for the kill in Treviso with a mere 9 ‘cross races in his legs.
 The announcers thought he was Mourey for a while, but that’s none other than JG at the head of affairs. |
 Given a clean line free of traffic, Gadret can ride the 26% wall. He puts that power to weight ratio to good use and is the first over the top on the 7th of 9 laps. |
 Still at the head affairs along pit row…Lars Boom appears to be suppressing a yawn, just biding his time before he makes everyone else in the race look silly. Of course Boom, too, is not immune from the silliness. When his helmet comes off after winning the Elite world title, it appears that Boom must have cut his own hair the night before with an out of control electric razor. |
 The announcers finally have to acknowledge that there’s another Frenchman besides Mourey in the race. |
 And the hammer drops…Boom just flew the coop seconds ago on the last lap and Gadret, in 2rd at the moment, is powerless to close the ever increasing gap ultimately finishing 9th, 12 seconds back. Amazingly for a world championship ‘cross race, the top 20 all finish within 30 seconds of each other. |
brewmeister wrote:
I noticed the franco mixup too. When I see JG I think of PH.
Do you know what the black and white stars and stripes flag refers to? It doesnt have a full set of stars, but it sure reflects on Ol’ Glory. How about the confederate stars and bars I’ve seen in many ‘cross videos tho’ not today.
HH
Posted on 27-Jan-08 at 8:30 pm | Permalink
bikesgonewild wrote:
…may i ???…brews, i’d assume first you are talking about the black & white flag of brittany…stripes represent dioceses within bretagne & the “stars” are actually ermine, which represent purity…ol’ glory definitely predates it as it was only designed in 1923 although it’s components are historical…
…secondly, i’m wondering if you’re referring to the basque ikurrina which has green diagonal bars on a supposedly red field, although every version i’ve seen looks orange…it also has a white cross on it & no stars, so i’m not sure if i’m talking about the one you’ve seen…rsvp…
…for an awesome flag & i saw photos of them at worlds, the welsh flag or cymru y draig goch is a standout…a fierce red dragon on a field of white on top & brilliant green on the bottom…
…hope i helped…
Posted on 27-Jan-08 at 10:54 pm | Permalink
brewmeister wrote:
Mille grazie,
prima: that clears that up (can’t do that in italiano)
i finire: I know I saw a battle flag(or so I thought) on a video of the CX worlds at Monopoli. It seems like I’ve seen it since then. But I am 55+ and we get to make up stuff! I’ll have to dig that back out and double check.
Ciao
HH
Posted on 28-Jan-08 at 5:01 pm | Permalink
pietro wrote:
Brewmeister-
Here’s a Graham Watson photo from the 2003 Monopoli, Italy world championships:
http://tinyurl.com/ypgdqq
I bet that’s what you remember…
Posted on 29-Jan-08 at 3:20 pm | Permalink
bikesgonewild wrote:
…well that clears up that mystery,(sorry, brews, i wasn’t very informed on that one) but it also begs the question::: who’s waving the stars n’ bars around in italia ???…i thought the genteel south was edging away from that kinda thing or maybe i’m not well informed about anything…
Posted on 29-Jan-08 at 10:39 pm | Permalink
Brett wrote:
Why do they have to make ‘cross courses like a military training obstacle course. I rode a few up in Santa Cruz, and they would run us through the old sawdust piles at a redwood sawmill…ever try to ride or run over a pile of sawdust the size of a Mack truck…I guess there’s a shortage of natural terrain. I’ve ridden some decent ones down here in SoCal, through parks ,etc…but enough with the SAND.
Posted on 31-Jan-08 at 9:41 am | Permalink
pietro wrote:
BGW-
I can offer no explanation about how a Confederate battle flag ended up in Monopoli, Italy for the cyclocross world championships. I’ve been riding a bike in North Carolina since 1986 and from my personal experience the crossover between the demographic with the predilection to proudly display a Confederate battle flag and the demographic to attend a cyclocross race in Italy would be zero. Truly a mystery, that Graham Watson photo.
Brett-
I think part of the reason why the worlds in Treviso were essentially a dirt criterium was due to the good weather. If it was pouring down rain that course would have been much sketchier and put more of a premium on bike handling skills as opposed to sheer road-esque fitness. Some of the courses in Belgium would probably be more to your liking based on some video I’ve seen, what I witnessed first-hand in Koksijde last November, and comments from American pros about their difficulty. Of course, if you’re averse to sand then Koksijde would be your worst nightmare.
Posted on 01-Feb-08 at 1:43 pm | Permalink
brewmeister wrote:
The whole confederacy issue in the south is more nuanced than many people realize. If you are intrigued get a copy of Confederates in the Attic by war zone journalist Tony Horwitz.
Posted on 02-Feb-08 at 7:34 am | Permalink
bikesgonewild wrote:
…pietro & brett…the treviso worlds course was considered to be quite slick early in the day, when the women raced…the night time freeze was melting & in certain areas conditions were apparently considered treacherous, but that may be due to a lot of fast sections w/ in the layout…
…by the time the men raced it was dry, traction-y & fast…
…that info came through rachel lloyd’s personal mechanic, who admittedly wasn’t there due to funding issues but he’s talked w/ rach since…
…i didn’t think to ask but i assume usacycling provided pit support…
…thanks for the direction, brews, but i’m just gonna naively hope for the best in people & their consideration of others…
…by the way, we just lost one of the most erudite & generous men in the cycling community w/ the passing of sheldon brown…never met him but i thought the world of him…RIP, good sir…
Posted on 04-Feb-08 at 11:44 pm | Permalink
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