Dry and hard. That is how Eli Iserbyt describes the Koppenberg climb in HLN, despite last week’s storm. And an extra lap for the riders. I read it in the van, the garden hose coiled at my feet, ready for Sunday.
Dry and hard, I translate. No mud in the cassette. No junk in the derailleur. The spare bike in the pit is going to be bored. The mechanic waiting with the second clean bike will watch the first one go by, still clean. I feel a bit sorry for him.
An extra lap on hard ground, though, is a tyre question. Fine. But at what pressure? On soft ground you go down, you look for grip. On dry ground you come back up a bit, otherwise you hit the rim on the roots. Nobody talks about it. I do.
Iserbyt also says Michael Vanthourenhout, who has won four of his five cross races this season, should have at least 25 seconds at the foot of the last climb. Twenty-five seconds, for me, is the time it takes to change a rear wheel when the quick release is not seized. And he brings up the fifteen-centimetre edge he used to pass Toon Aerts in 2021. Fifteen centimetres. A cross tyre fits in it. There is room left. Not much, mind you.
A fifteen-centimetre edge. I note the width. I do not note who goes over it.
Right. The hose stays in the van, just in case. I’ll still pump up the club’s by a tenth more, then. On dry ground, alright?
It’s true, we checked: HLN.
