I was talking with my girlfriend last evening who told me
she had just gotten back from the grocery, where she had run
into one of her old students. They got talking and she asked
him what he was doing and he said he was racing bikes for a
team in Belgium. He said he was home (Geneva, Illinois) for
a bit, but would be heading back to Europe soon.
She said she remembered his name was Ben and wondered if I
could do some 'net research and find out more about him.
Some googling turned up the name "Ben Raby" from Geneva, but
the only cycling related references I could find were local
races. He was a Cat 4,5 in 2000. I even found my name in one
of the same summaries of race results. ;-)
The only reference to either Belgium or Belgian I could find
was "Belgian Breweries", possibly a team sponsor.
So I called her back and said I found a Ben Raby (she
recalled that was indeed his name) but couldn't find
anything that linked Ben to a Belgian team and that perhaps
he was riding for Belgian Breweries and she was confused. So
we left it there.
This morning I was headed out for a ride and passed local
racer (and former teammate) Paul Michna's house. Paul was
out front doing some home maintenance task. I pulled in and
asked if he knew Ben Raby. He said, "yes, tall skinny kid,
strong rider". I told him what Julie had related to me
about running into him and Paul said he had heard Ben was
training in Europe (he thought Spain), so perhaps Julie had
gotten it right.
Does anyone know anything about Ben and what he's up to
in Europe?
jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net
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