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Jon Baker's Euro' Adventure: Czeched baggage

By Jon Baker
Published: Nov. 13, 2007

To get to Tabor, in the Czech Republic, from Belgium you can either fly (a two-hour flight) or drive. My father, my mechanic for the World Cup, and I decided to fly. This was a big mistake.

The reason I shied away from driving was due to my limited web research that noted “difficulties” driving in Czech. But after the stress of our car, plane, bus, metro, train and walking journey, any difficulties driving would be welcomed.

As my father said, about halfway into our trip, when we had to purchase an additional bus ticket, since the first one was not for the ‘Airport Express,’ “You pay to learn.” This is most certainly the case when traveling in a foreign country. Here is a total of out additional learning fees:

Bus tickets: 40 Czech Kroner for two extra ‘Airport Express’ tickets.Plane tickets: Our plane tickets, originally 200 Euros, became 520 Euros when Czech Airlines mysteriously “disappeared” our original reservation and then informed us of this fact only when we tried to check in 1 hour prior departure. The total difference for the two tickets: 640 Euros.Luggage fees: We were exempt from an extra baggage charge on our flight to Prague by a friendly check-in clerk who commiserated with our ticketing bait-and-switch. I expected trouble on our return flight from Prague to Brussels; but assumed I would at worse be hit with a 50EU oversize fee. Turns out, baggage allowances are in total kilos, not bags. We wound up 9 kilos over out 46-kilo allotment, and were hit with a 2800 Kroner fee (roughly $150). Ouch!

Okay, okay, enough grumbling. I’m not really that upset with all the travel snafus, as I wound up improving in the Tabor World Cup.

My takeaway from my Tabor experience is simple: I need more experience!

All this stuff is old hat to the native racers, which obviously doesn’t hurt their performances at the actual race. While I was schlepping a bike case up and down flights of stairs trying to catch a train, they were probably chilling in the back of their camper van while the team mechanic dialed in their bikes.

The reality is that you can get away with a do-it-yourself approach for only so long before the additional stress catches up to you. Your body has a limited set of resources to be used for recovery; spending too much of that on getting over the stress of travel will leave less for recovery from racing and training.

The highlight of the weekend came after the race was over. On the way to pick up my 300 Euros in “start money,” I was approached by a small gaggle of enthusiastic Czech children wanting me to sign their souvenir flags; I happily obliged with a half-dozen “Jon Baker USA” with a pink marker.

As some of you may already know, Ihave moved with my family from our home in Boulder, Colorado, to Brugge, Belgium, for the winter cyclocross season. Along for the trip are my parents, who are providing invaluable home and race-day assistance during this adventure.

The more time I spend in Europe, the more pleased I am with my choice of locale. Brugge is a beautiful, ancient yet revived, city in the heart of West Flanders. All the shopping one could need are just a short walk away. The city center “Markt” is 300 meters from our house and it hosts a weekly open-air farmers market with all sorts of wonderful foodstuffs.

Even closer is an excellent bakery. Going out for fresh bread twice daily is a luxury I could get used to!

The family couldn’t be better. My daughter Leah is enrolled in a free catholic school just around the corner from our house. Little Axel is enjoying the new flavors of waffles and Frites with Mayo, and my wife Cyndi fits right in with the fashionable Belgians; she always had a flair for dressing, but had to tone things down considerably when back in über-casual Boulder.

As I said, my dad came with me for the Tabor trip. He has proved an enthusiastic workhorse, making up for a lack of experience at World Cup mechanic/soigneur protocol with a strong work ethic.

My mom is a one-woman “Supporter Jon Baker” cheering section and baby-minder.

Well, I have to say that I’m settling in quite nicely. I’ve taken a while to find my “sea legs,” which for me means the extra power output required for sea-level competition. Living and training almost entirely at altitude for the past four years seems to de-train my muscles such that they are not used to producing the extra 10 percent in power that is required when racing at sea-level.

I have had “good sensations” in the past week or so, and am optimistic going in the next few rounds of the World Cup. Next Stop is Pijnacker, in the Netherlands. This one is a short two- hour drive from my house, so no problems!