Travel was somewhat flawless except that my bike didn’t show up on the same schedule. Luckily it has shown up and all is good. This is why 1) you always travel one day earlier then you think you need to, and 2) you always carry on your shoes, pedals, and helmet. You can always borrow a bike!
The first 24 hours and my sleeping patterns were all kinds of messed up. I followed all the rules but the body didn’t cooperate. I am writing this now, after 2 nights here, and I think I am all set. I slept 10 hours last night thanks to the help of my friend Advil PM.
Now, it’s the morning of the first day of racing. Tonight will be a show! For people who don’t know 6-day racing, I like to describe it like boxing in Las Vegas… its all about entertainment. The big names are here and the promoter expects everyone to put on a show. Don’t get me wrong, the racing will be tough. But, it will be fun too!
A couple random thoughts-
- Dutch people are incredibly nice. All of them.
- I am actually enjoying instant coffee. I brought my press but haven’t used it yet.
- My Swiss roommate and I can hardly communicate.
- Internet is not the same as in the US.
- Live cycling on TV!
- The manager of the velodrome wore a University of Colorado jacket yesterday in honor of me/them. I still can’t believe they won.
- Congrats to Lorraine Jarvis!!!! Masters World Champion in the 500m. So proud!
DAY 1 – Oct. 19, 2009
1 down and 5 to go. I was glad to get the first night under my belt. I had some extra nerves and general anxiety about racing in a situation that was unfamiliar.
We ended 4th overall on the night. We each raced individual elimination races which gain points towards the team if you place in the top 5. Eva did her job and got some points… I, on the other hand, didn’t. I got in a bad position and eliminated in the middle of the pack. There really is a different style of racing and that was a wake up call for me.
Our Madison together was FUN! We made plenty of mistakes and will clean those up and do better next time.
Here were a couple of the learning points:
- Don’t miss exchanges. We missed 2 which left me stuck in the race. A team never wants to miss exchanges and really don’t want to leave the sprinter in there in such a high paced race for that long. Eva learned from those misses and we won’t make those mistakes again.
- I needed to be more aware of the lap counter. It was different here because we raced it like a scratch race with time counting backwards and then when the time ran out we had 10 laps. Well, I wasn’t really paying attention. By the time I thought to look up there sign said 2. I thought it was 2 minutes but it was 2 laps. Oops! Our plan was to have me in there for the sprint but instead I threw Eva in thinking we had 2 minutes on the clock. She finished 4th which was great but that wasn’t the plan. I guess it would help if I spoke the language since the announcer was counting down the laps. But, of course, I didn’t understand at all.
- I was the one who started the race and Eva started on relief. We needed to start towards the front. I had no problem with this but some instructions from a race director before the race had me confused with the rules on moving up at the beginning. I ended up towards the back and that was a mistake. It was a fast race and hard to move up!
I got home last night and couldn’t sleep until 5:00am- I slept from 5-11am. I think I was on sensory overload and my mind was racing about the racing and what I was going to do differently the next race. Tonight I take an Advil PM!
BTW- reason #42 I really like Europe- even average hotels have really nice Grohe bathroom fixtures. None of this American Standard stuff.
DAYS 2 & 3 – Oct. 20-21, 2009
Madison
2nd Cari Higgins & Ava Heijmens
Overall
3rd Cari Higgins & Ava Heijmens
Racing is great. Tough. Different style from the US.
On day 2 my partner and I took a lap with 2 other teams. This put us 1 lap up on most teams but 1 lap down from the leaders. There is 1 or 2 other teams that have more points but no lap. Therefore we must keep a keen eye on those team. If they lap we move down in the overall placing. That’s a lot of lingo for you non-cyclists.
Day 3 we struggled at first because we once again started in the back. It’s total chaos back there and is great for practicing my survival skills. We were able to protect our lap and managed to finish 2nd in the bunch sprint and 3rd over all. Eva and I are getting really good at communicating. Each day we improve drastically. Yet, we still manage to miss exchanges at critical moments. Today we missed an exchange at about 10 laps to go which left me stranded out there for a while.
Today is day 4 and I look forward to a better day. Yesterday my head seemed to be in the clouds. I wasn’t nervous which isn’t always good. It seems to me that if you aren’t nervous then you aren’t really excited. Too many nerves is bad but too few is bad too. Yesterday, I had no nerves and, therefore, no adrenalin.
I finally slept a whole night last night. The last 2-3 nights, I can’t keep track, I have fallen asleep at 5am. Last night I took 2 Advil PMs and slept for about 10 hours. It should help my head today!
The other US contingent showed up today. Although I haven’t seen them, it’s nice to know they are here and I will have some more companionship the next couple days.
DAY 5 – Oct. 23, 2009
Madison
1st Cari Higgins & Eva Heinjmens 
Women's Six Day Final Standings
1 Vera Koedooder (Ned) / Kirsten Wild (Ned) 215 pts
2 Roxane Knetemann (Ned) / Amy Pieters (Ned) 128 -4 laps
3 Eva Heijmans (Ned) / Cari Higgins (USA) 81 -5
4 Emma Trott (GBr) / Katie Colclough (GBr) 59 -6
5 Nina Kessler (Ned) / Andrea Wolfer (Swi) 93 -8
6 Natasja de Vroome (Ned) / Nathaly van Wesdonk (Ned) 28
7 Samantha Van Steenis (Ned) / Pelin Cizgin (Aut) 27 -9
8 Jess Booth (GBr) / Ruby Miller (GBr) 13 -13
9 Kelly Markus (Ned) / Lotte Van Hoek (Ned) 43 -14
10 Joan Boskamp (Ned) / Kim Van Dijk (Ned) 6
11 Marleke Van Nek (Ned) / Nona Meiering (Ned) -17
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