English
Tour of Flanders Weekend Away
We were booked on the 12.30 pm Euro Tunnel to Calais where we would start our journey to our Belgium destination.
We travelled with Richard Land and his wife Ruth on Good Friday in typically very wet weather on Friday. The crossing itself was very quick indeed and once in Calais and then travelling onto Belgium the weather did not improve much for the better.
We stayed in a wonderful hotel in Deinze called D’hulaege with lovely décor, very nice rooms, great breakfasts, and a restaurant with food to die for. The unexpected added bonus was that Lotto professional cycling team were also staying in the hotel that Friday night and they just so happened to be either side of our room and down the same corridor. Seeing them in the flesh makes you realise just how lean they all are, not to mention extremely tall. Nikki is only 5′ 1” so she felt like she was in the land of the giants!
The Flanders Ride
After waking up at the crack of dawn, had a healthy breakfast and packed both bikes into the car, we then drove from Deinze to Ninove to met up with Richard Carter for the Tour of Flanders randonee (we found out later that 19,000 people took part in this ride). We started off on wet roads, but thankfully no rain, but the sky was very dark and we all knew that at some point the rain would fall. As the event is basically a mass randonee everyone can start when they want to, but everyone must start before the cut off time of 10.00 am.
Richard Land has ridden this event many times before, but it was a first for Richard Carter and myself. The course itself is quite demanding and some of the climbs are steep and cobbled. The course is also comprised of flat cobbled stretches as well as downhill sections which were tricky, especially in the wet. The first half an hour was on concrete/tarmac roads, travelling through some lovely villages, but it wasn’t long before we came across the first set of cobbles, which was a bit of a shock to Richard Carter and I as we have never ridden on them before. From what we saw the trick when ridding over cobbles is to ride fast/steady without slowing up. However, this is not always possible due to the amount of riders around you.
Once over the cobbles it was back onto the concrete roads and into the countryside, but soon enough we came across the second section of cobbles. This part was longer than the first and according to Richard Land was a new section for this year’s course. By this time it started to rain which made the cobbles very slippery. As we were riding over the cobbles we noticed that there were many bottles and bike components scattered over the cobbles, shaken off by the constant vibration as you cycled over them. I even saw a bottle cage with the bottle still in it and I even heard from a friend of ours that someone had snapped their bars. I would have to say that this part of the cobbles was very rough and quite tough on the shoulders, arms and hands due to the length of this section. It seemed to go on and on, but eventually we came to tarmac roads and once around the corner we stopped.
Once over this particular section we stopped with lots of other cyclists to check our bikes over. I noticed that this was also the split for either the 75k or 150k rides. I was planning on riding the 150k ride, but with a recent knee injury thought better of it as I didn’t want to make it any worse. Being out on the 150km ride and with knee pain was not an option as the ride back to the finish would have been very painful and with the cobbles to contend with a daunting thought. Richard Carter was quite happy to do the 75k route with Richard Land going with the flow.
We carried on in the rain, cycling over more cobbled sections and tackling some very steep climbs. Richard Land mentioned that this route would take us to the legendary cobbled climb known as the Murr (where Cancellara attacked and rode away from Tom Boonan to eventually win this year’s Tour of Flanders), to be followed shortly after by the last cobbled climb known as the Bosberg.
The climb up the Murr was incredible as there were 100′s of people cheering everyone on. The cobbled climb is just as steep as it looked on the TV and as you turn the final corner you can see the chapel at the top of the hill. This is where a lot of riders stopped to recover and take in the views. The climb up the Murr caused our group to split so at the top I waited for the others. Richard Carter soon followed so I decided to go down to the last corner and wait for Richard Land so that I could take a photograph. Once all together we decided to have a quick rest, have something to eat before starting the descent and the run up to the Bosberg.
As you approach the Bosberg, which is not steep, but being cobbled, and the last climb on the ride, it can take its toll as many riders were tired, cold, and very wet. Again many people were at the top cheering us on which was nice and better still from this point on it was almost all downhill to Ninove where we had started the ride.
Like any ride it is nice knowing that the finish is not too far away so you tend to ride faster just to get it over and done with. On our approach we did have a tail wind so the pace in our large group had picked up. Occasionally the Police had to help us cross the busier roads in groups rather than the odd one’s and two’s so that it was safer for all the riders.
After just over 3 hours the 3 of us crossed the finish line and made our way to the tented area where we collected our goodies. We were able to wash down the bikes with hoses which we all did as our bikes were absolutely filthy. After about half an hour we made our way out of the tented area and rode back to our cars, got changed, and decided to visit the cycling museum in the town of Oodenaarde.
The museum is very interesting and displays a wealth of information about the history of the Tour of Flanders, the routes, the winners and riders of this legendary race. The museum also has an area dedicated to the history of the Lotto cycling team and again its riders from days gone by. You can also sit and watch a short 15 minute film showing footage of races past and present which are fascinating. If you ever visit this part of Belgium I would highly recommend you visit this museum as it is extremely interesting. Having spent some time looking around the museum we went back to our respective hotels.
Whilst we were riding the Tour of Flanders randonee, Nikki and Ruth spend a leisurely morning at the hotel and then travelled to Ghent in the afternoon to have a look around and visit the Cathedral and castle. Apparently no chocolates were consumed during their visit, but they did visit numerous bars
Like many who travelled to Belgium to ride the Tour of Flanders randonee, Sunday was spent watching the race either in a local bar or by the road side. I’m not too sure where we were when watching the race, but it was great fun. The speed the rider’s travelled over the cobbles is amazing and an impressive sight to see. Once the race went through the village it was the case of watching the remainder of the race on the screen somewhere, which we did.
Return journey on Monday.
The return journey very relaxed. No heavy rain to contend with and also no traffic hold-ups. Travelling with Euro-Tunnel is so easy. You just turn up to the check-in desk, insert your card then drive onto the train and in a short space of 30 minutes or so you are back on UK soil.
We all had a great weekend in Belgium enjoying the atmosphere and Belgium hospitality throughout.
Cleaning the bike Monday afternoon was not so fun though but had to be done as the bike was covered in grime/slime and other horrible deposits.
Verenti Rhigos 03 – This was my second outing on this machine (first was at the Killo To Go, Cheshire Cat sportive event – 100km ride) and it went very well. The bike took plenty of punishment and stood its ground admirably. The ride was very comfortable even though some of the ground cycled over were some pretty hard and slippery cobbles. The bike I found to be quick and responsive when the pace was high and it cornered well at speed. The slightly curved downtube made the bike stand out from the crowd and with some Verenti logo’s strategically placed around the frame made the bike special in its own way. The SRAM Rival groupset performed as it should, shifting well when required, sometimes under heavy load.
The bike comes equipped with Vittoria Diamantle Pro tyres and got me through the 75km without any problems. I had no sliding or loss of grip issues as we cycled through some pretty muddy lanes which was good news as it was raining heavily and cold. For me there is nothing worse than fixing a puncture at the side of the road in rain and when your hands are cold.
Even though the head tube is much taller than my racing bike (Focus Cayo) I found I could get into a nice racing position and with my dodgy back problem this is most probably a good thing (to be higher up).