In just under 48 hours from now I will be on a plane headed for Dusseldorf, Germany to begin 10 days in Europe. It's a work trip, where I'll end up in Leipzig, Germany for a Leadership Conference that I'll be mixing sound for but the the first three days will be cyclocross heaven as I will be in attendance at the Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands.
The World Championships have always sort of lined up with this trip that I go on every 4 years but this is the first time that the timing was perfect and so I'm jumping at the chance. I basically have 2 1/2 days in cycling heaven so I'm going to make the most of it. Here's the plan.
I arrive Friday morning in Dusseldorf, Germany where I will pick up a rental car and drive to Oudenaard, Belgium. Since my final destination is Leipzing, Germany, it is cost prohibitive to rent a car in one country and return it in another so that is why I'm flying to Dusseldorf.
In Oudenaard I'll be staying at a place called The Chainstay. http://www.thechainstay.com/ I originally found this place doing web searches about Oudenaard and found it to be a great source of information. The more I read the more I wanted to stay there so I asked and they said yes. See their site for more info but it's basically a place to stay for an extended amount of time and race in Belgium. The idea once I arrive is to drive around a bit and see the Koppenburg and other climbs, then go to the Tour of Flanders Centre in Oudenaard. http://www.crvv.be/en/295-home
Saturday will be the 1 1/2 hr drive up to Hoogerheide to watch the jr's and the Women's races and hopefully see Katie F'n Compton win Gold for the U.S. Sunday will be a return trip to Hoogerheide to see the U23 and the Elite Men. Then as soon as the race is over I'll hightail it out of there and begin the 6 1/2hr drive to Leipzig, Germany.
I will try to post pics and stories every day. Gonna be quite an adventure. I'm bringing a P5 jacket to wear so be on the lookout for that on the webstream.
Finally a bit of irony. Last year with Worlds in Louisville, I was planning to go but instead I had the privilege of taking a trip to S. Africa. I found myself in a Johannesburg hotel room trying to watch the Worlds on the UCI YouTube channel. Now I'll actually be in Europe watching it in person. Too cool.
Screen capture of my Tripit map.
Can't believe only 3 days left.
