AndrewJohnson said:

https://youtu.be/ZoUA-YbVq3A

Jules said:

AndrewJohnson said:

https://youtu.be/ZoUA-YbVq3A

You set up a course with tape?!? No question, that's love.

Not what we hoped for...    In the last few weeks, David and I had been training well with the goal of being ready for the World Cup in Namur on December 20th. I always loved the course in Namur, and that world cup would mark the start of a busy Kerst Period, so we wanted to be fit and ready to tackle that. For those who don't know, Kerstin dutch, means Christmas. And the Kerst Period is a tradition here in Belgium where they have multiple cyclocross races during the Holidays. Between December 20th and January 3rd, there is a possibility to race 9 times in 14 days.  Heading into this weekend, we had done a big week, and took two days easy, with the goal of finishing this training period with two big races at Antwerp and Gavere (Saturday, and Sunday). On Saturday, the race in Antwerp coincided with David's birthday, so my goal was to win some flowers for him (you earn flowers if you end up on the podium). The course was sandy and had lots of small twist and turns. You had to be punchy, but there was no long sections of pedalling. I had a good start, but as I was sprinting hard, my pedal unclipped, so I suddenly lost my balance and stopped moving forward. As I found my pedal again, a girl crashed right in front of me, and I was able to go around. In a matter of seconds, I went from being at the very front of the race, to being in the middle of the pack. My goal was to have a very fast 2 first laps, so I kept my goal in mind and started passing people. My legs felt a bit like jello that day, but I was trying to focus on the execution and keeping a good momentum. The good thing is that I was running fast, so I could pass people in the long running section in the sand. In the end, I finished 15th in a tight sprint finish, and wasn't able to win flowers for David. But no problem, there was another day of racing.  As much as running in soft sand with bike shoes and a bike doesn't sound like the best activity... I really enjoyed the running sections in Scheldecross. Photo by Billy Ceusters  On Sunday, we drove 2 hours to Gavere in the morning. I woke up really excited for that race. When I was younger and starting out in cyclocross, I was always doing better on the second day of racing. It's like I was able to put into practice all the learning from the previous day. I was excited to do that again...maybe this time I could get flowers? We did the lap recon and I absolutely LOVED the course. In fact, of all the courses I've rode in Europe (in non world cup races), this was my favorite. Good climbs, fun descents, and we were blessed with some slippery mud conditions. Thos are my all-time favorite conditions and I felt good technically and physically. I was a happy camper.  Abrupt change of plans  However, it turns out I didn't get to race that fun course. No one is to blame except for myself. When the lights turned to green, I did my typical start, but this time I didn't clip in instantly. I kept pedalling, but my foot slipped and got stuck, sideways,  in my wheel and it cracked my ankle. It was weird. It hurt really bad so I came to a stop (luckily, I didn't cause a crash, but my colleagues said I screamed loudly). I was just standing there and the race was gone. I wanted to get back on the bike, but I wasn't able as it hurt too much. So I slowly moved to the side and that was it.  After that, we witness from close how nice the cyclocross community is. Three soigneurs from others teams instantly came to help me (Fabienne who is Christine Majerus' soigneur, Xenia from Trinity Racing, and the soigneur from Trek Factory). David saw me on the screen and came running. I wasn't yet panicking too much as I didn't know what the verdict was...and there is no need to panic for no reason. We packed the car and left the venue to go do scans at the hospital. I could see on Mia's face that she was thinking : "this was a very short race". We then got another proof that community in this sport is special. A cyclocross fan who follows David and I on instagram reached out to offer her help. Turns out she lives in Sittard, NL and she is a doctor. She arranged an appointment for me at the ER and instructed us of the procedure (which is extremely helpful especially when you can't read a language).  It turns out it was not too bad!  At the hospital, it was super smooth. I piggy backed on David's back while Mia waited in the car. They did some X-rays and we learned that the ankle was not broken! YAY! I think I was lucky that my wheel broke in the incident, because if it had not, maybe my foot would have.  So now, all I need to do is to recover. So my next week will involve a lot of ice, Advils, compression legs, feet up, and hopefully some pedalling really soon. My goal is to be back for Namur as it is my favorite race, but I will also be honest with myself to make sure I come back when I'm really ready.  In the end, I didn't get flowers for David... but I'll try again soon! Thank you so much for the support, it's been incredible the amount of messages I received from my competitors and from you all. I appreciate it a lot.  And btw - My morale is good. It could have been way worst. I have no open wound, no broken bones...it's really the best case scenario. I almost feel silly that I didn't do the race because of a sprained ankle. That sounds so ridiculous...but it really did hurt. There might even be a silver lining to this episode; missing the race today really sucked, and I think it will make me appreciate my next opportunities to race even more.  As usual, David was the best support I could have hoped for.  Photo by Billy Ceusters