GVA is the Gazet Van Antwerpen. The venue was a fairly general city park that was adjacent to a sports complex(?) There was sand, there was mud, but the course was flat except for one kind of kick-up about 3 meters high. The riders had a straight run at it, so no problem. The rest of the course was flat, but for a few bumps. I wasn't that interested in the current race. People were watching, and lined the course, but no one really cheered, so I set off for more sights.
On the drive in, I saw where the racers' parking was, so I headed there to see what would be going on. It's a cool scene, and I recommend it for any euro cross pilgrims. The teams tend to cluster together, but it's all about who shows when, so there are no guarantees.
Sven Nys had the biggest pimpin'est rig there - all intimidating in black and grey with a big signature and a logo. No Rabobank or anything else on it. Just Sven. (Maybe there was stuff on the back I didn't see.) Sven also has an exclusive line of clothing with a cool logo, most of it in khaki and black. The tent dispensing it was quite busy. Fidea also has a table selling lots of soft goods for the whole team, so each rider didn't have to be distracted by a separate vendor/manager in the entourage. All the Fidea riders had a camper there except one - Petr Dlask. He was in a minivan sort of VW. Maybe his contract didn't cover the camper. Maybe he just pocketed the money and wanted to travel lightweight. I probably should have said hello.
On the lap of the parking lot, I came across Jon Baker. I noticed the van with the Primus Mootry Stickers on it, and this chick there was speaking english to two locals. So I said hi, and it's Cyndi Baker, wife of Jon. She was super nice and we got to chatting while Jon warmed up.
Their story is pretty cool, but it's not mine to tell, so I'll just give you the breifing. Jon was a super strong amatuer that was invited to the Nationals team and then decided to leave work for 6 months or so and "do" Europe. Cyndi somehow didn't talk them out of it, so they packed up the kids and set off on a euro adventure. Cyndi works remotely, so they won't have to sell plasma, and Jon is taking a beating in the races in the small picture, but in the big picture, he's scoring awesome points right and left. He's right on the cusp of being on the lead lap, so if he has a good race, he'll get to do those last few minutes the winners never see. If he's slow, he gets lapped and gets to quit right after the winner. Maybe he'll even see the finish. I think his goal is a top 15 or so, which is a huge task. The top guys are all so fast. Maybe things will line up for him and it will happen. Another nice part is that his dad is over here running the pits for him. It must be fantastic to have that kind of family support.
So Jon finished warming up, and I headed off for the course. I caught the sign-in, and was surprised to hear the announcer speaking to someone in english. It was Zdnek Stybar, I guess he doesn't speak Vlaamse, so English is the lowest common denominator. I had to scout more of the course to make sure I was in the best spot for the first lap.
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