The Robbie Report is a weekly feature on MTBracenews.com. Robbie Squire is the 2008 Junior National Champion and the newest member of the US National Team. Just two years ago Squire was racing as a Sport. In '08, his first year and only year as a Junior Expert, Robbie won the Junior National Championship. In '09 his first year in the senior ranks, the Utah resident will be racing with the U.S. National Under-23 Team. Each week Robbie will share his experiences with us. Join in as the 19 year-old Junior National Champion and first year Pro travels across the United States and Europe racing his bike and living out a once in a lifetime opportunity.

This weekend of racing in Houffalize, Belgium will definitely go down as one of the best events I’ve ever been to. The event was World Cup #3 and boasted the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen at a race. Throughout the several days I was there the streets were packed with spectators checking out the different booths and hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite riders.

The team trailers and tents occupied all of the space on the roads and were only interrupted by the course or spectators. The entire country of Belgium and most of Europe came out to watch this race, and what a race it was!

The course began with incredibly steep pavement climb that helped to thin out the field a little before the first descent. The descents were steep and rooty but provided plenty of room to pass people without having to pull sketchy maneuvers. The climbs were longer and more technical than in Offenburg and entirely lined with fans. No matter where I was on the course there were several people yelling ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ, it was awesome. Even thought the crowds didn’t come out to watch 19-year-old Robbie Squire race around the course the excitement that filled that was in the air was something special.

I like the course a lot better than last weeks Offenburg and have to say that this is my favorite course I’ve ridden thus far. I was dead last in the call up and starting the climb I got stuck in a little crash and had to unclip to back out and get going again. AS the steep opening climb began I was solidly 5 feet off the back of the field and felt a little foolish. However, once I got going I was able to make up quite a bit of ground before hitting the first descent. I was able to ride a lot more of the descents here on the first lap than in Offenburg. It could have been the course or just the experience that I had gained from last weekends race but I didn’t end running the descents here. I did however get stuck in a bunch of traffic and ended up standing around for about a minute before I could get back on my bike and continue racing. While I was waiting some guys had decided to cut the tape and go around the traffic that I was stuck in. I did what I could to hinder the efforts of these cheaters to get in front of me by yelling and hitting some guys on their shoulders. The traffic thinned out as the race progressed and only had to wait a few more times before I could start riding smoothly.

I felt a lot better this week than last week as I was climbing faster and not feeling as fatigued and sick. I was steadily moving up through the pack on the climbs and even on the descents. I’ve never though of myself as a good descender but aboard my Specialized Epic I flew down the rough sections leaving my competitors in the dust. Unfortunately, I ended up snagging something and flatted on my 3rd lap. I rode half a lap with a leaking tire at about 5 psi before I could get a tire change in the tech zone which ended up being as far away from me as possible. Once I got a wheel change I was determined to make up the positions I had lost while nursing my wheel back to the pit but ran into some more mechanical trouble. Despite these problems I was able to pass about 50 dudes and finish as the 4th American. Not the day I was looking for but a good one nonetheless. The most important thing is that I was feeling good and I got to experience the legendary race that is Houffalize. I hope I get to come back here next year.