Sunday, July 29, 2007

Pics




While the other four were racing track Cody, Charlie, A.J. and i went to the beach.

another sweep

yesterday four of us; Cody, Charlie, A.J, and I did a race in the northwestern part of Belgium. The race started very hard, the first two laps there was no chance of a break. About four laps into the twelve lap race A.J. and Cody got off the front. Before the race we had planned to get everyone in the break. once they were off the front Charlie bridged solo. Then half a lap later I bridged across bringing one other guy up. From there on it was just the five of us off the front.

With one lap to go Charlie and Cody jumped in order to try and crack the the Belgian. A.J. and i sat in giving Cody and Charlie a big enough lead to hold to the finish. Once we knew that we wouldn't catch the leaders We took turns attacking, but couldn't crack the kid. I lead going into the final turn and then started the sprint with about 300m. A.J. came came around me with 50m to go and took third.

Charlie won the sprint and took first, Cody in second, A.J. in third and i took fourth.


it was a fun race.
Ian

link of the day

www.andrewjosephmeyer.blogspot.com

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

123...5

So...Ian boswell is out now, so Jacob is going to do the race report today. Ian is probably out at the sex club or something...the one the soigneurs have been telling us about that probably doesn't exist. About the race...the say the least, the moral this morning was not very high, or maybe we were just relaxed. We weren't expecting much from this race, when Erly, one of our soigneurs told geoff the day before that we going to have a tough race. The race started out with 5 laps of a 4k circuit that was pretty flat, with one hill. Then we did another circuit with a steep 1.5k that hooked back into to the circuit we did earlier 4 times. Unlike our first race, where half the team attacked at the start, we didn't have much of a presence at the front of the pack in the first few laps. On the second lap somebody attacked in what was to be the first breakaway without an American. At some point, Cody Foster from Texas bridged the gap of about a minute, then Ian and I bridged up to them. We had about 2 short laps and then 4 more long laps to go. We now outnumbered the lone Belgian 3 to 1. He didn't know what to do, so he didn't work. When we started attacking and told him to work, he said he would work if we stopped attacking. We cruised nicely until the last lap when I layed it down on the climb, he was gone, and we had a TTT for a while until we decided we weren't teamates any more. I attacked, they caught up, cody attacked, and we passed him in the sprint. I finally won a race after secondplaceidis, the boz in second and foster in third. To top off a top three sweep, Charlie Avis from California got the sprint for 5th. 4 out of the top 5. Great Success!

Monday, July 23, 2007

Westrosebeke, Belgium

Jr 15/16 Race #2 (Westroezbeke)
Another superb effort by the USA Jr 15/16 Team at the GP Van Artevelde in Westroezebeke, Belgium today. Counterattacking a second lap prime, Adam Leibovitz got away with one other guy and the two rode off the front for the first half of the nine-lap race. Between laps five and six, teammate Jacob Rathe bridged up with another Belgian to make a lead group of four. From there, the lead group became three with both Jacob and Adam riding strongly. Recognizing the importance of being in front at the last corner, Adam shot through and all the way to the finish line with Jacob a close second. Meanwhile, Ian Boswell solo'd for the last half of the race to finish fourth and another small group saw Charlie Avis taking seventh, Cody Foster ninth, AJ Meyer tenth and Ian Moir 13th. Capping off the fine USA effort, Joel Shaffer rode a strong field sprint to finish 20th. Because team tactics are essentially not allowed in these 15/16 races, aggressive racing is really the best response for an eight-man team and that's exactly how the guys have ridden. Next up is a very tough race in Orroir on Wednesday which finishes on the famous Kluisberg climb from the Tour of Flanders.
Results: 22 July 2007 GP Van Artevelde (Westroezbeke, Belgium) (57 starters)
1. Adam Leibowitz Mob Squad-U Build-It
2. Jacob Rathe Beaverton Bike Club-Giant
4. Ian Boswell Hagens-Berman
7. Charlie Avis AMD Discovery Juniors
9. Cody Foster Sun and Ski Sport/Southern Elite
10. AJ Meyer Hincapie-Bianchi-DiSani
13. Ian Moir Major Motion
20. Joel Shaffer AMD Discovery Juniors
Greetz,
Geoff Proctor
Jr 15/16 Coach

Sunday, July 22, 2007

The First Race

Bury, Belgium

Today we had our first race. It was a rolling course in the south of Belgium. We packed up the cars and hit the road. The registration for the race was in the back of a bar that was filled with smoke and all the people signing us in were drinking wine and smoking, it was very different then any race i have ever done before.
The pre race was very different also, no one uses a trainer every one rides back and fourth though the start finish area. the race promoter was very excited to have us there in our USA team kits. The other racers were also excited but nervous as well.
The race started out very fast and aggressive thanks to us. There were about 60 riders that started the race including 3 girls. In the first lap of the race almost every one of us was in a break at one point or another. The groups would get a good lead but then the other kids would stop working.
On the second lap there was a 5 euro prime for the winner of the lap. On the over pass 1k before the start/finish a kid jumped the field, I had heard a fan say that it was a prime lap so I jumped across to the the lone rider. On my wheel was Cody a very strong American rider. once we bridged to the rider he just sat up and dropped back. I kept the pace high and opened up a good gap on the field, I took the prime and then told Cody to keep going. I dropped back to the field leaving Cody to work alone, but the tactic worked good. Once the field caught me they eased up not knowing that Cody was off the front. Cody was off the front solo for the next 3 laps. various groups tried to close but were unsuccessful. With about six laps to go a three man group including Jacob Rathe Got away from the field and bridged to a suffering Cody. The rest for the team took the next few laps easy not chasing down the lead group of four with two Americans.
With two laps to go the field started to pick the pace back up. The others and I did a lot of work pulling back attackies or attacking. The field was now down to 40 riders going into the final lap. A group of six got away including Adam. The lead group of four was still off the front but as expected Cody was tired from going solo so early on. The group played cat and mouse for a while, Cody got popped off the back with about 1 k to go. Jacob Has a good sprint but got nicked at the line and took second. Cody came in fourth, and Adam's group stayed away and he finished seventh. On the final hill 2k from the finish I jumped the field trying to bridge to Adams group. I stayed in front of the field and finish eleventh. the rest of the team finished in the top 30. All in all it was a great for all the Americans and a great ride by Jake to take second.
We have another race Sunday.
Talk to you soon
Ian

Thursday, July 19, 2007





In the first full day here i ate a whole thing of nutella. Its the best!!!


riding and the shop.

this is in the town of Tielt

photos

Day 3

today we went for an awesome ride. we went to the town of tielt. its a beautiful town.

sweet pics!!!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Belgium post #1

Hallo,

Hey everyone I'm over in Belgium for the next three weeks with the 15-16 Jr national. There are 7 other riders in our group. we are staying in a house full of other american cyclists. Our first race will be this weekend and the race will be all on coble stones. the fries are not as good as they say but the Belgium sugar waffles are awesome.

Talk to you soon

Ian Boswell