The youth takes over - Bart Verdeyen - Steenokkerzeel wins national Barcelona Belgium

Many search for causes … but maybe there's a simple explanation  … This edition was just too warm, too "hot, too " tropical " … for our pigeons. When cardiologists advise against exerting ourselves in temperatures of 30° and higher, many people search for a refreshing spot (in the shade?) during the ‘tropical weather’ of last Friday… then one has to ask oneself if it is responsible to impose such arduous efforts on our pigeons in such conditions, precisely in the toughest marathon race of the year… ‘Barcelona’, with somewhere distances between 1.000 to 1.300 Km for the whole participating field !

Who feels the need to carry put 12 to 13 hours of hard work in temperatures which in the ‘full sun’ reach between the 35° and 40°… nobody surely! Well, this was demanded of our pigeons last Friday… and proved to be just that little bit too much of a good thing ! And then it's all too easy to shoot the 'pianist ' afterwards … the organizers in this case. These people couldn’t change the fact that it was a ‘tropical week’ in which the pigeons had to loiter in the basket… they pigeons were surrounded by the best possible care, were given enough to eat and drink… but the necessary cooling in the transport is a different matter… you can hardly let the transport ride in the ‘shade’ when for the whole week and over the whole route the sun is shining down mercilessly? Maybe it would have been better to wait until Saturday or Sunday to liberate the pigeons, seeing the ideal conditions on ‘Sunday’… but was it then possible in Barcelona self? In any case the pigeons wouldn’t have had to defy heavy thunderstorms on ‘Friday late’ and Saturday, which were predicted by the way! Because we have to dare say… Saturday was absolutely rubbish… and real ‘catastrophe’ threatened… Luckily on ‘Sunday’ it was very favourable pigeon weather along the entire racing line… the prizes were achieved virtually everywhere, although we have to realise that on Sunday evening 2/3 of the pigeons had not reached their loft! Something which will likely have tough consequenties for some international races further in the season (especially for Perpignan), and definitely for the following edition of Barcelona in 2011!

The ‘youth’ in power!
Whichever way you look at it… the racing conditions were in any case ‘heavy’… and yet it was a piece of a millimetre spurt for the first 3 pigeons at international level. The international victory went to Germany and Heller Burkhard (with 954,96 m/min), just in front of the first Belgian pigeon and also ‘national winner’ of our country… the 24 year old Bart Verdeyen from Steenokkerzeel, who clocked his pigeon at 10h39’31” from a distance of 1076,498 Km with a velocity of 953,90 m/min, a game of seconds with the pigeon from Patrick Delrue-Vanbruaene with 953,04 m/min (2° National & 3° intnat and winner ‘Gouden Vleugel’). The Belgian podium will be completed by Etienne Meirlaen from Deurle (with 939,66 m).
With Bart Verdeyen, the ‘youth’ was then in ‘power’ from Barcelona. It couldn’t be nicer for our sport and its future! Bart is son of the well-known Francis Verdeyen… with whom he previously raced in tandem as father-son-combination, mainly in the middle distance… although that is now slowly  changing and they seem to be choosing the tougher work more and more! Bart was busy in the lofts when he was just 11 or 12 years old… and over the years the call towards the long distance and ‘extreme long distance’ bubble up more and more. Bart… who Works by Flight Care in Zaventem as a representative for the deliveries and the paperwork for the transport of ‘live animals’ (also often including ‘pigeons’)… has raced for the last 6 seasons under his own name, with the aim… the international ‘extreme long distance races’ ! Bart initially started with a few middle distance pigeons from father Francis… but set off in search of suitable reinforcements to strengthen his long distance ambitions.
Pigeons were thus obtained from Marcel Aelbrecht, from Heinz Seegmuller, in the Van Damme-Boddaert auction the ‘Raket’ (1° National Souillac 7.358 p.) was bought, from Robert Van Eycken, and a daughter 1° Nat Brive from Noël Peiren… whilst in his own area he obtained pigeons from a.o. Jimmy Brands and Koen De Backer. By the way, the brand new winner 1° Nat Barcelona was born in the lofts of his ‘youthful’ sport friend Koen De Backer… very nice! Bart bought 4 late youngsters 2007 from him and in the Spring of 2008 he bought another 6 youngsters from the 1° round. From these, 3 remain… which were all entered for Barcelona. Maybe add  that the breeding pigeons reside in the lofts of father Francis, the youngsters are then divided between the two.
The ‘1° Nat Barcelona-winner’ ring B08-6169265… a black white pen cock… originating from Koen de Backer, stems from a mix of  ‘extreme middle distance’ and ‘middle distance pigeons’! On father’s side he comes from the ‘Grandson Daxter’ NL05-1473683… a crossing Eijerkamp x van Wanroy, with a ‘Son Daxter 014/03’ (so out the ‘Daxter 876/97’,szelf 6° Nat Mont de Marsan, 20° Nat Dax, 362° Nat Bergerac… x ‘Daughter Bonfire’ 695/02’… ‘Bonfire’ flew 1° Nat Brive 6.228 p.) x ‘Inbreed Black Giant 582/03’ (out a son 1° Nat Bergerac: ‘Son Black Giant 289/99’ x ‘Granddaughter Black Giant 132/01’). Mother of the Barcelona winner is the ‘Blue Van de Wouwer’ B05-6069350… full sister of the 1° Ace pigeon KFC, and coming self out ‘Son Charly 616/99’ from Jimmy Brands (out the ‘Charly 773/93’ x ‘Wondermeeuwke 402/97’, sister of the ‘Tamme’: 4° Prov Cahors) x ‘Chequered Huygen 859/00’ from Karel Huygen and mother of the ‘Lichte As KFC 2004’ (out the ‘Blue Bijsterveld 407/97’ x ‘Hagens hen 339/98’). A pity that both parents of the ‘National Barcelona winner’ aren’t alive anymore… that was definitely a couple with ‘music for the future’!
This Barcelona winner was basketted as 2° nominated from the 3 participating pigeons… last year he won the following prizes:

Chateauroux  351 p. 27
Bourges      502 p. 78

Bart clocked his 1° nominated on Sunday morning at 10h20… which was the 62° reported from 400 participating pigeons in his club!
Bart Verdeyen only has a small number of pigeons in the races. His total loft consists of 70 pigeons… with 18 widowers (15 yearlings included, who go to Limoges this week) is his entire racing team, in addition to 5 hens in widowhood amongst the 45 youngsters and are raced from there. Before the start of the season the racing pigeons for the ‘grand distance’ are not allowed to breed, nor brood… they are only allowed to be with their hen for a few days, without a nest. As yearlings they were raced in total ‘celibacy’! After a few preparation races in the sprint and small middle distance the Barcelona pigeons were this year given firstly a Bourges and Chateauroux. In the week before basketting they were trained 3 times from  25-35-50 Km respectively. A preparation which is very much the same as in most places… except the manner of ‘motivating’ will definitely have been different. Bart had kept his Barcelona winner in the empty loft for youngsters for 2 years… and he got to see his hen there in the afternoon. Was this the ‘ultimate motivation’ that ensured this ‘Barcelona stunt’?... it’s possible, but no-one can say for sure… due to the ‘mystery’ that is pigeon… impossible to understand! In any case, he gave Bart Verdeyen  the best victory of his career! Something that he can now enjoy to the ‘fullest’…
Just a great pity that I did not see him arriving … because you may only experience something like this once in a lifetime. I was namely at my PC looking at PiPa for the first arrivals from Barcelona in the shorter distances… when the alarm from my electronic registering system went off. Damn… I can assure you that I felt my heart beating in my mouth… because what if it was true… now, here… a Barcelona pigeon? Says a clearly still emotional Bart Verdeyen! And how true it was… the control ring was clocked with trembling hands … the pigeon was registered… the hours that followed were ‘tense’! Until finally the official notice of ‘national victory’ arrived… and the ‘champagne corks’ could fly… you already know the rest of the story! His neighbour, who also had pigeons from, had seen the pigeon from Bart arrive home… according to him he came from the Leuvense like an arrow from a bow… he was then allowed to watch ‘live’ how the 1° Nat Barcelona came tearing home… it’s a shame for him that it wasn’t his own pigeon, but one from his neighbour Bart Verdeyen! Although I think that he was probably allowed to enjoy the Barcelona party!

A magnificent victory in the most ‘high-profile classic’ of the international pigeon sport: Barcelona! For Bart Verdeyen it is a ‘boy’s dream’ which has already become reality… for which we would like to congratulate him, father Francis and the entire Verdeyen family!