The Tranny battles the Dutch

So for those of you who didn't read Chuck Ibis's "spew" "Lopes goes to Poland with a Tranny", tranny is the hardtail prototype that Brian brought to compete in the invitational "Four Cross Night Race" held in southern Poland. And with the fastest qualifying time, Lopes and the "tranny" proved to be a winning team from the get go. The beautifully-manicured and well-lit course found in the charming town of Szczawno Zdroj, was brimming with approximately 4,000 spectators saturday night. The crowd was composed of a diverse group of serious cycling fans and some locals, both looking forward to some high-speed entertainment. And that is exactly what they got! The first straight demonstrated to be the most challenging, as the two middle lanes appeared to be slightly faster featuring a set of doubles leading to a high-speed left-turned drop and a series of the switchbacks. Plus, did I mention it was a over 46 seconds long. Nonetheless, Brian and the "tranny", kept their eye on the prize and tackled a field of predominately Dutch racers. This held true in the finals as well, as Brian met up with Joost Wichman, Jurg Meijer and Joey Van Veghel. Lopes got a good start, only to bump elbows with Meijer, allowing Wichman to take advantage and grab the lead. Lopes chased Wichman down 3/4 of the course, reeling him in as they both approached the finish-line. But the Brian/Tranny team ran out of track and had to settle for 2nd place at their first showing! "Man...I could see the cross-county guy coming at me as we reached the finish line" said Joost Wichman who had driven over with a car full of fellow-Dutch over 9 hours to participate in the 4X Night Race. FINAL RESULTS 1. WICHMAN Joost NED 2. LOPES Brian USA 3. MEIJER Jurg NED 4. VAN VEGHEL Joey NED BIG thanks to Oakley, Marzocchi, Kenda, Ibis, Bell, Hayes, Easton, TLD, Shimano, MRP, ODI, Fizik and our Polish hosts Andrzej Skrzypczak, the mayor of Szczawno Zdroj, Team Lang! www.brianlopes.com