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Fresh 'Korn: Two-wheeled gladiators

By Will Frischkorn, Team Slipstream-Chipotle
Published: Mar. 12, 2007

At a very unexpected moment at mid-stage today in West Flanders I realized that bicycle racers can occasionally resemble ancient gladiators.

When and why did this pop into my head? When: 130km into a windy, crazy-dangerous race at 500 watts bouncing over Belgian pavé. Why: I looked down at an unidentifiable rider, unconscious, his face awash in a mix of mud and blood, yet all I cared about was shoving people out of my way and getting back on my chariot and around this “obstacle.”

A minute later I was at absolute maximum sustained effort and would stay that way for a few more moments, screaming at riders in my way and smashing my bars through the stragglers tailed off a lead group of 25. At that moment my only care in the entire world was getting my front wheel into the draft of that group barely 15 seconds away.

Big picture: Would it have been worth the risks I took had I too ended up on the ground and lost a top-10 overall? No way. At that moment would I have used all the Jedi in my body to eke out a moment's break from the wind and get a second closer to the lead? Heck, yeah. Fight or flight.

Bigger picture: I guess that if you can't pull this rage from inside and have the drive to fight tooth and nail for that tiny scrap of protected road you won't make it as a bike racer. Seeing somebody who for all I knew could have been dying on the spot and yet barely taking pause makes me think about it a bit, however.

Cycling is dangerous. Very. But thinking about it too much would be detrimental to performance, to the point where one would probably bail on this crazy sport and get back to the real world. Either that or be pushed to the tail of the peloton by those with fewer fears until you would eventually have no results and no job and be forced to quit.

So, all that said, why is this in my head right now? It's because racing at the top level in Belgium is nuts and I either took my life into my own hands or placed it in those of others far too many times over the past three days. More times than in a season of racing in the U.S., for a sprinter.

Do I like that? No. Will it be out of my head in an hour and will I be back up here in three weeks for another "Ronde Van Crack in der Road" and fight tooth and nail for every spot? Sure will. That's what it takes.

‘Til next time, thanks for reading!

Slipstream-Chipotle's Will Frischkorn finished sixth overall in the Three Days of Western Flanders. — Editor