Things have really started heating up since I last checked in with you guys. Jackie and I only had one six day invitation, the Gent Six Days, and a few one day races at the Blaarmeersen and Kuipke velodromes in Gent. Jackie and I were both excited about these events, but we came to Europe to race six days. And that is now what we will be doing.

Jackie’s Dad, who was a prolific racer during his heyday, arrived in Amsterdam at the beginning of this week. His arrival coincided with the commencement of the winter track season. In a matter of a week in a half, the Alkmaar velodrome in Amsterdam played host to the European Track Championships, the first UIV meeting of the winter, and the Amsterdam Six Days – the opening six day event of the winter. Jack had come primarily for the UIV meeting but his trip overlapped with the European Championships as well as the opening night of the six day. The UIV, which stands for International Velodrome Union, is the overarching body that decides the six day schedule, which tracks participate, and the riders that are extended an invitation to compete. The pro schedule is the primary concern and this involves the top riders like Erik Zabel, Bruno Risi, and Iljo Keisse. At the same time, though, this committee also determines the U25 UIV Cup, which is run in conjunction with the pro six days, and the teams that are invited. The UIV Cup is a winter long series, similar to say the CRCA competition, where madison teams rather than individual riders accumulate points based upon their final placing at the end of each six day. The teams that finish the series in first and second place are guarantee a six day contract the following winter while individual riders and other teams may be extended invitations based upon the promoters’ discretion. While it is not quite the big time, like the pro events, the racing is no joke. All riders under twenty five years old are allowed to compete. This means Pro Tour riders, Continental Professionals, and whoever else wants to race and receives an invitation.

Now after that long winded explanation I can finally get to the heart of the matter. There is a ton of competition, patriotism, and behind-the-scenes dealings that go into just getting these invitations. Each track promoter wants to have a number of his countrymen in the races and the remaining positions are quickly filled by national teams and other teams that are “in the loop.” This is the reason that Jack flew over to Amsterdam. He is a member of the UIV, a former six day racer and, consequently, friends with a number of the promoters. This helped us receive our invitation to Gent. Jack is friends with Patrick Sercu, the most successful six day rider of all-time and winner of the Tour’s green jersey, who is the promoter for the Gent six day event. So without boring everyone to death with all the politics and gesticulation that surrounds cycling, our Gent start position more or less got the ball rolling for us.

We spoke with Jack last Sunday and had planned to take the train up to Amsterdam to meet up with him, have lunch, pick up some additional equipment he had brought over, and find out what the scoop was with our six day schedule. Both Jackie and I were anticipatory and excited about what news was awaiting us in Amsterdam. Jack met us at the train station and we were met with fantastic news. Along with our start in Gent, we now had invitations to Dortmund, Munich, Rotterdam, Stuttgart, and Berlin. Out of the nine possible events we had received invitations to six of the competitions! Two of the events that we are missing are over the holidays when we will back in the States so that fits well into our schedule anyway. Regardless, we now truly have the opportunity to make a serious impact in the UIV Cup and, hopefully, gain some attention from the UIV members and race promoters. Our first race, still a one day race here in Gent, is this October 28th but will be an excellent indication of where we stand before heading to Dortmund next Thursday. In addition, Sercu will be at the event so we need to impress! Hopefully everything is going well back home and I’ll make sure to check in before heading off to Germany next week. Talk to you all soon!

David Wiswell

www.echappeonline.com

Photos:

I have finally gotten my camera issues sorted and here are a handful of new photos. The first ones are from our day trip to Amsterdam. We are all standing around Theo Bos’ new frame. He had just arrived in Amsterdam and was going to be competing in the sprint events that ran in conjunction with the six day.

The other photographs are of “The Farm” where Jackie and I are living.

1) As you can see that is the sink, followed by the stove and the shower. Unfortunately, we couldn’t fit the toilet, which is just to the right of the shower, in the photo as well.

2) This is the living room where we spend countless hours watching old reruns of American television, cheesy music videos, and the odd soccer match or cyclocross race.

3) Outside there are tons of chickens. Staf, the owner of the property, comes over and clobbers a few of them every once in a while for dinner. The best part is how everyone in the neighborhood gives their stale bread and other scraps to the chickens. The guy in the background – he just dumped a load of old bread for the chickens.

4) This is the “front yard.” I don’t know about the car that looks like it was on fire. We came back from a ride one day and it was sitting there in the driveway. One week later and it is still sitting there.

5) This is the entrance to our place.