Saturday morning comes early around here or maybe we were out late drinking to many beers, who knows.
Early wake up call via the alarm and we are up and getting ready to take on the best of Belgium has to throw at us. We all know that this is going to be special and not your typical ride. We have heard that there could be anywhere between 12,000 and 17,000 people out there today. This is not a typo, this ride is HUGE. They have 4 different road routes and 2 mtb routes.
We get all three bikes taken apart and put in the Golf. We head over to the Q8 since we had no food and loaded up on ham, cheese, baguttes, coffee, OJ, Coke and anything else we can get our hands on. Hop on the E17 and starting heading south to Gent and then towards Ninove. We turn off the ramp and about 2 miles down the road, they are already parking people on the road. We are still like 5-7 miles from town. We take our chances and use the ninja skills to keep moving forward. We find parking at the grocery wholesaler about a mile from the start. No reason to ride any further than we need to, right?
We are kitting up in the lot and bikes are going together and it is starting to get late. They want the 150k group on the road before 10am. As we are finishing up, the weather rolls in. It starts to drizzle and by the time we actually get on the bike, it is starting to rain. The wind is coming up and we are now living the dream. We always talk about belgiumesque weather at home, well we are now in the lions den, but with big smiles on our face. We cut across the major highway and roll down the back roads to Ninove Centrum and get out about 9:45 am for the ride of our lives.
The first 50k are just some nice rolling roads through the country before we tackle 14 of the 15 climbs of the Ronde. We get to skip the Den Ast hill. We are rolling together and there are some short hills along the way. Great scenery, green fields, small farms and life that looks very simple and fulfilling to the locals. There are huge Belgium teams that do this ride so you just find a group and hop on the back of the train and take the ride. We did this from time to time, but they seem to have another gear/speed over here.
We get to our first decision point – the road splits for the 75k and the 150k. I am determined to do the 150k and we make the left into HELL!!! We hit our first section of cobbles at about 20mph and all of sudden the speed drops to like 14 mph like I hit a brick wall. It is true what they say, you put it into the biggest gear you can turn over and just keep a slight grip on the top of bars. You can't really ride the hoods or the drops. This is not even a climb, just a residential road that is about 5km long and flat. I feel this hotspot on my palm after about 2k and have been passed by everyone on a bike: kids, grandma, fat guy smoking a cigarette. I find a gear that works and start pushing it. My eyes are still bouncing up and down once we are back on a “real” road but with a smile on my face. We roll again in a nice group with Brian, myself and bunch of guys that probably don't know we are back there for the last 10k into Oudenaarde, for the first rest stop, at like 45kph with a nice rooster tail from Brian's bike that would make an unlimited hydroplane boat proud. About 15 minutes Dash showed up. We cover the first 50k in less than 2 hours with rain showers off and on and the wind, just on.
We roll out of Oudenaarde on this bike path for about 20k. There is a huge nuclear plant on the right side and the Flemish Ardennes on the left side. We can see the bergs and lots of people but we seem to be getting farther and farther away from them. We make a quick right and hit the first climb, the Kluisberg. It is a nice warmup at 925m, but with an avg of 6.8 and a max grade of 14.5, we are now feeling the jet lag and beers from the night before. Next up is the Knokteberg. This is a new climb this year. At 1100m, 8% grade and a max of 13%, the hardest part was a the top, we are now in full climbing mode. Brian and I are both chatting up a couple of guys about the climbs and how to prepare for each one and get a couple of pointers. We regroup at the top and head for the first cobbled climb, the Oude Kwaremont. Each climb has a minimum of 3-5kms between them. Again, you make a right hander and hit the pave at the bottom and you find a gear and stay seated. This is the longest one at 2200m (2.2km or 1.3 miles). It is not very hard with an avg grade of 4% and a max at 11.6% but there are plenty of people on the roads giving everyone encouragement, drinking and getting ready for the main event on Sunday.
This climb is cool and only an appetizer for the main course.
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