Egmond Pier Egmond MTB Race

Egmond aan Zee….1992, I think was the year, when I was there last and won a B2 tennis tournament.

Some 9 years later, I am back in Egmond aan Zee to compete in the what organizers claim is the biggest MTB beach race in the Benelux with over 5000 participants, The Egmond Pier Egmond race. It is "only" 36km, but having the wind, beach, sand, tide effect makes this race very different and unpredictable every year. As example, last years edition was cancelled due to extremely cold weather. 

The preparation for the race should have started in October 2010 when I signed up for the race. I should have gotten the proper beach/sand tires then and had a few rides on the beach to experience the sand and the winds that I could encounter during the race.

But that would be too simple…wouldn’t it. So what do I do…I get the Schwalbe Big Apple tires 3 days prior to the race, and with help of Lieuweh I only mount the tires onto the rims on evening before the race. 

Did I practice riding on the sand…nope. Oh sorry…I read about it on one of the websites! The only thing I remembered from the read was that the falls on sand are spectacular and you get soft landing...very comforting!

My start number was 4307...

So off I go on Saturday morning towards Egmond aan Zee. My car GPS said I would get there in some 50 minutes, so that was not that bad. No traffic and with some luck I found the parking place very close to the hotel where I met Peter, Jos and Serkan, a few Nike friends who were cycling that day also.

After some last minute checks of our bikes, and taping some sensitive to rust bike parts off we were to the start of the race.

With some 30 minutes before the actual start it started to get a little cold with some light rain started to wet my helmet and bike.

Forecast for the whole day was not promising…rain, rain and more rain, with some very hard stormy winds. Did I mention hard south wind?

Pro’s started at 11:00, and the recreational riders some 10 minutes later….so off I go at 11:10. My target time was to complete these 36km in 2 hours. 

Parcours is pretty straight forward. Riding south towards Wijk aan Zee where the turn point is, additional 2km on the road and then back onto the beach. At about 27th kilometer you go off the beach for a short climb, to the right down the stairs, back up, and down to the beach once again...from here onwards it is straight back home to finish.

For a closer look of the course please see the image.

Start was great, with some congestion as we entered the beach. Now it was a huge unknown for me. What can I expect from riding on the sand? So far so good as the sand was pretty hard, so I tried to follow the riders before me but still keeping a little on the side in case I get in a panic mode if surrounded by many riders. Remember...this was the first time I was riding in a big group...so never had experience of being in someone wheels...if that is the expression.

First few kilometers passed quickly, but then wind picked up and troubles started. From this moment I knew this was not going to be easy.

Wind was blowing so hard from the south....and remember the first 17km's were in the south direction that the headwinds of some 80 km/h meant that I averaged some 9 km/h in the first half of the race.

When you pair strong wind with at moments very heavy showers as well as high tide this race had all ingredients of becoming a horror race.

At some 14km in, I even had to ride through some 20-30cm deep sea which was fun but it also mean that besides me being completely wet, my shoes and socks were also soaking wet.

At this point first pro riders were already riding back....

In any case, throughout the race I was praying that I would not get a flat tire or any other technical failure as I would simply not know what to do. many unfortunate riders had flat tires...many more than I expected. I guess the shells in the sand were an obstacle. many more had broken chains, etc.

Having look constantly at my Garmin 800 I was hoping for a quick reach of the 17th kilometer as I knew that from here it would be easier with the tailwind....finally after pedaling for some 01:45 I reached the half way point, had my PowerBar gel and off I went back.

What a relief it was riding back. Tailwind meant that I got speeds of some 35km/h....yes low speed for some, but remember I am not used to cycling....

Also as I was in the back, it meant no traffic so I could really enjoy the spectacular scenery, high waves as well as surfers jumping the waves.

Trip back was fast, which meant I finished in total time of 02:28. Some 30 minutes later than my projected time, but with the conditions that were out there I was simply happy that I finished. Pro's finished in 1:22.

On the heart rate side, the idea was to keep it below the 148 bpm throughout the race. First half of the race that just didn't work due to the hard wind so I averaged 152 bpm, while on the way back I was on average around 140 bpm. Average for the 2:28 hours was at 146 bpm, while max at 165 bpm.

I collected my medal and was off to meet up my Nike friends.

For those of you that want to see many more details please visit the GPS track page.

One major complaint is about the race timing. Upon return home I entered my starting number on the results page and found no score. Day prior to race I also subscribed to the SMS service to inform my wife of my split times....she received no SMS and started to get worried. It appears that the new system that was used for timing did not work properly and many racers times didn't get registered....just like mine. To date I have no official score, but do know according to my own timing how I finished. Too bad Le Champion....

Unfortunately no photos this time as my photographers had other obligations, namely ice skating lessons.

It was a great race, even though conditions were horrific I had lots of fun and I will be back in 2012....maybe I will do the combined race with Sunday's half marathon....we shall see.