Tour of Holland
Day 3: 124km, 5 sprints
September 7, 1999

Still no rain, still fast, still moderate (wind though stronger today than the past two), still crazy aggressive riding.

Day 2: 110km, 2 sprints
September 7, 1999

The distinctive aspects of this racing in Holland are that it is flat as a pancake, the racing is super fast, the riders are aggressive and pushy, and consequently, there are crashes. Usually, you can add to that, rain and incredible winds, which, so far, we've been fortunate enough not to experience.

After taking part in some activity, the pace slowed down a bit and I started eating a banana, which I don't usually carry as race food. It turned out to be more difficult than I expected particularly with all the corners, the continuing high speed, and the breaking and yelling out. I drifted to the back of the pack and had a hard time working my way back up. Bananas are probably not good Holland race food.

The aggressors were the orange-jerseyed Dutch National team, and the Greenery team. The Dutchies do this thing of double attacking. The second person will either go with the first or drop off her, breaking to impede the chasing pack. It works quite well.

Our plan was to attack in the final four 10 km loops. We did so with just as much success as the earlier attacks had had. Oddly, for the finish, the pace slowed down, the pack bunched up more than it should have over the cobbles, and the inevitable crash occurred taking down Kerry Hellmuth (our rider whose name I didn't know). She is ok, just bummed since she had been close to the front. Most of the pack was caught behind it. Dede and I ended up on opposite curbs avoiding the mess, then rolled in across the line.

After the race we showered, and got back in the car for the long drive. We got back to base camp at 9pm waiting for the dinner of spinach, potatoes (mashed or whole), and very tough meat.