The 2008 Tour of Flanders had about 30,000 participants, many of whom, like me cycled over a 140km distance that took in a fair few flat cobbled sections. It also had 16 climbs, most short, very steep and cobbled. Unfortunately, it also had at least one American based in London whose bike handling skills need to improve.
Cycling with my mates from the Trabail VC, I was enjoying the (relatively) good weather, tremendous spirit of a cycling nation at it's national event, classic route and challenging climbs and cobbles. At around 100km into the race, I tried to make a move from the road to the bike path in tight circumstances. I missed the paved connector and found myself travelling at 30+mph in the grass strip between road and path. Knowing that uneven grass was not a good surface for this sort of speed, I decided to try a 'bunny hop' up onto the path to my right.
My bunny hop failed. My bike tyres caught on the edge of the path and spilled me over onto my right side with a thump and a skid. I bounced across the path and the many cyclists just behind me managed (through exercising bike handling skills much better than my own!) to avoid crashing into me or one another. My mates and several other riders were very helpful as a sat dazed and battered for about 10 minutes before re-mounting the bike and going on to finish the race. My hip and shoulder were killing me, but there was no way I was NOT going to finish the race.
The 'road rash' scrapes are now under special bandages to help themheal cleanly; I'm getting better movement in my shoulder; the deep bruising is now releasing its eerie colour to the skin's surface, leaving my kids both grossed out and proud. I think I'll be able to get a couple gentle rides in this weekend and officially be 'back on the bike.'
Crash aside, the Ronde van Vlaanderen was a great event - very well marshalled and with two well-organised food & drinks stations. It allows you to experience a challenging cycling event in a country where cycling is THE national sport. It shows what cycling was like in earlier days, when the cobbles were actually better than any other surface option, rather than a quaint oddity to be avoided except in dedicated events like this that make you test yourself on them.
It being Belgium, we were also never far, in distance or time terms, from tasty and strong Belgian beer. Most were in the 7-10% range, meaning we needed to (but didn't) take care to avoid getting plastered. One silver lining to my crash was that it gave me an excuse not to drink myself silly Saturday night, allowing me to retire while my mates poisoned themselves, and thereby leaving me in a relatively healthy state on Monday morning, despite the discomfort of my crash injury's.
On Sunday, we went to nearby Geraardsbergen to watch the pro race. After watching for a while on the telly in a smokey pub in the main square, we walked further up the famous and demanding Kapelmuur to a spectators' area with beer tents and a giant-screen telly. From there, we watched the finely-balanced race on screen until we then saw the contestants flash before our eyes. Stijn Devolder, a Belgian and the eventual winner, attacked on the climb and went on to win the race (for the second year in a row) 12 km later. The pro peleton was spread out over the next five minutes, the 250 previous km having obviously exacted a serious price from even these top athletes.
For the atmosphere, the challenge, the unique backward step in time and for (in moderation...) the beer. I can heartily recommend that you put the Tour of Flanders on your cycling calendar for next year. Just remember to stay upright on your bike. I'll have undertaken some remedial bike handling training by then, so hopefully you won't need to detour round my body or wonder at a chalk outline on the road.
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