Most interesting to me...was that the only Aussie to win it was Phil Anderson in 1983 ... What a legend !
There were 6 different distances to choose from... I chose the 150, as it had all the cool climbs and seemed like enough k's to me. So... After changing my flight, car, travel insurance, bike insurance and booking my hotel... I thought it was time to register (at the tour of Flanders lots of people registered on the day at the start). Ooops... It's booked out ...all distances are booked out ...all 12,000 places were gone in the first 2 hours it went online... 2 hours ...that's crazy ! These Dutch sure are mad keen about cycling !!!! Anyway... Never detered by such trivialities.. I checked the course and drove about 10k from my hotel to meet the route at about the 10k mark. Long story short... I rode the 150 without an issue.
It was actually a pretty tough day... It was cold a lot of the time... And some of the climbs were actually pretty tough (I was wondering when i say a lot of compact cranks and also a lot of triple). Though I have to say i felt like a climbing god compared to the locals !
The countryside was amazing... Really beautiful... We spend some time in Belgium ...and also found the spot where Germany , Belgium and the netherlands meet .... Cool !
If Belgium was cycle friendly... Then the Netherlands is where cycling rules. Check out this road.. I know where the bikes go...but what about the cars .. What happens when a car comes the other way !! We soon found out... Basically they pull of the centrelane and sit behind the bikes til they pass...then back n the centre. Incredible !!
More incredible scenery... Just amazing..a real pleasure to ride through it
Of course there is the pro race tomorrow... We saw AG2R and Katusha out training... Then along came the Leopard team car... So i stopped to take a pick... Its very cool to see the pros out training while you're riding !
These rides are amazing...every bar along the way is full of cyclists having a break... Very different to the "race" mentality. I thought I'd join in and stop for a wee snack !!!
The route was a maze... Especially with the different distances. At some stages we went back on ourselves so you had bikes in both directions... What a nightmare for the cars !!
Eventually I made it to the finish (seems like the k's between 60 and 90 take forever ... Or maybe that was just the waffles talking) ... And what a finish... The Cauberg ..1200m of about 6% ... But i think it's about 10% in the middle.. One of the moat interesting finishes in cycling !
Gosh it all looks sooooooooo beautiful, BB, it makes me want to jump on Debbie and just go for it (but only if waffles are included!)!!
ReplyDeleteMwahhhhhhhhh.