VeloBeats bro and former #BikeDC local, John Braynard, recently attended himself a cyclocross race. He managed to attend this cyclocross race in Belgium. This Belgian cyclocross race he attended was in a place called Koksijde (Kok-sigh-deh).
As a traditional roadie, JB doesn’t see much cyclocross, so he managed to pick a goed one. Here are some of his observations and photographs. It should be noted he’s directly trolling his British friends in one of the observations. 😉
More: Earlier this year I featured him and his Salzberg 500 ride.
OBSERVATIONS & IMAGES OF THE KOKSIJDE WORLD CUP BY JOHN BRAYNARD
I went to one cross race my entire life, Capital Cross in Reston. It was nice. I stood at the bottom of a hill yelling “no brakes mother f*cker!” to every rider that came by. A good time – but, there were no frites, beer, or Nys.
This year I happened to find myself in Gent Belgium on the weekend of the Koksijde World Cup.
After a drunk late night at the Gent 6 Day, my bae and I headed over to the cross race. Koksijde is a town right on the Atlantic and the race takes place on an old Air Force base. The race’s nickname is “The Race In The Dunes” and believe it or not, those drunk Belgian rednecks are right; There are dunes…and there is a race.
So we roll up, hang out, watch race, drink beer, and have a blast. I could write about the race, but SPOILER ALERT: Sven Nys won and it was awesome. Instead, I’ll just write some mental notes I took during the race. Enjoy.
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Jesus christ, it rains a lot in Belgium.
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After intense geological research and some Google Maps reviewing, I can’t figure out how the hell these damn dunes ended up in the middle of a runway 2 kilometers from the ocean.
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There were more than 10 cars in the parking lot completely decked out in Sven Nys stickers and other vehicular decorations.
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A lot of British wankers showed up to watch the race. Apparently, there is a channel pass that let’s the Chavs easily leave their trash island.
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A van full of Van Der Paul fans parked next to us. They sat in their bangbus blasting hardstyle for some pre-race pump of some sort.
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Half of the course goes through a trailer park. They don’t show that on TV do they! #whitetrashcross
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During the Pro Men’s warmup hour a drunk overweight Belgian guy yelled “Sven” at every. single. rider. that passed.
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Telenet has by far the largest amount of campers, trucks, team support – but didn’t podium finish.
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A Telenet casquete was 3 euros – a Vastgoedservice/Golden Palace casquete was 9 euros. I bought a Telenet one.
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Frites with mayo > ketchup
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The Canadian Hot Sauce Cycling dude had by far the best looking “outfit”. My girlfriend reminded him of this every lap.
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These guys and girls are no joke fuckin’ fast. Unbelievable. Parts of the course I wouldn’t even touch on a full suspension mountain bike.
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Mathieu van der Poel’s World Champion rainbow camo bike was so got’damn EuroTrash. I love it.
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Hell yeah, American woman put it down in cyclocross. It was super cool to see Katie Compton laying it out.
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I met many many cycling fans who don’t actually ride bikes themselves. Yeah, weird!
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There were no costumes. None by riders, none by fans. Odd.
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Sven Nys has a slogan, it was on almost all the merchandise being worn/sold at the event. “No words, just act”. lulz….
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There were numerous stands for American “food”…at a Belgian cross race.
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Before the men’s race started a hurricane hit the course. Everyone crowded in the beer tent and got plastered. I am nearly certain many of these people didn’t leave the tent when the rain stopped and the race started.
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Apparently Sven’s nickname of Kannibaal is a reference to the town he lives in – Baal. Get it? The Kannibaal from Baal.
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The place went absolutely ballistic when Sven won, like grown men were crying
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After the race the Sven fans made a ceremonial pilgrimage to his camper. They stood outside in the pouring rain holding signs and waiting for a glimpse of their God. I am pretty sure many of them would give up frites for life for the chance to sniff his sandy sweat filled used chamois.
Great photos!