October 21, 2009

They were all my friends…

jimcarrollI read a good article today about Frank Vandenbrouke’s somewhat suspicious death. I have to admit that when I first heard about the Belgian rider’s death and the possibility of it being a suicide, I didn’t really care. VDB had been a great talent, and he won some pretty impressive races, but I didn’t much care for him. I rode during the same era as his uncle – a guy that wasn’t all that well liked on any of my teams. I remember when the younger VDB started racing and then hearing all the hype when the guy turned pro. But he received the Belgian curse when he was supposed to be the next Eddy Merckx.

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July 21, 2009

Just curious, how do you think the level of NorCal racing at the time compared to the amateur races in Belgium? Did it prepared you in anyway, or was it total shock to the system?

George Baptista - Niigata, Japan

"Somehow your name sounded familiar... I thought long and hard and one day it came back to me - we probably did a few races in the same junior class in NorCal. I seem to remember guys like Scott McKinley, Steve Larsen, Stefan Spielman, etc. There were a few guys from California Pedaler I also knew, and after I read your book (it was great btw), it all made sense to me. At the time I wondered what happened to you, there were rumours you flew off to Europe somewhere...

Just curious, how do you think the level of NorCal racing at the time compared to the amateur races in Belgium?  Did it prepared you in anyway, or was it total shock to the system?"

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