# De Ronde van Vlaanderen 2007



## philippec (Jun 16, 2002)

Spring.

Green tendrils pushing through the warming soil. Buds greening the winter-grey trees. Flowers blooming on the branches heavy with singing birds, Cows enjoying a reprieve from their barns as they roam through loamy fields munching lush grass....


.... and cobbles. Lot's and lots of rough, dis-jointed, shite-strewn cobbles.


That's what spring is like in Flanders.

A. and I decided a while back that we were going to head up to Flanders this year not only to watch the race (which I had done w/ RBR's MarkS last year) but also ride the "cyclo-touriste" event over the same course as the pro's the day before. Given that nmost of our winter training had been on shorter distances, we opted out from the whole Bruuge-Ninove distance (250kms) and went for the intermediate Ninove-Ninove course (140kms) which included all of the cobbled climbs and none of the boring flat roads of western Flanders. Plus... this wasn't a race or even a timed cyclosportive ... it was just a fun ride over the backroads of flanders w/ oh, another 18 000 riders!

After running into another RBR'r at the check-in in what was likely the most cosmic of all fortuitous coincidences (Hi there Rollo!), we set off and rode. 

All in all we had a great day -- no flats, great weather, and some good-n'-fast riding companions. I fully expressed my inner rouleur on the flats and A. let go his inner climber on the cobbled climbs. We spent most of the day passing other riders and finished in good time considering the stops. The steeper cobbled climbs were the highlights of the ride and the forced riding on the bike paths the real downers of the day (being French, I felt it was my responsibility to break the rules and ride on the parallel roads on certain bike path segments -- something that oh so many other riders seemed to be ready to do as well given the nudge). The crowds were pretty heavy along the course and especially so on the climbs. The Flanders country side is really beautiful when it is not raining and although A. may disagree, I find the omnipresent odor of pig and cow manure to be a refreshing reminder of rural Brittany where my family roots can be found!

After the ride, we had the obligatory Braatwurst and Frites/mayonaise --- the latter loaded with enough calories to supply the city of Ghent's electricity needs for several months!

We held off on the beers 'till we got back into Brussels where we completed our post-ride carbo-loading with Moules-frites + some draft Duvel and Chimay.

Below are A. and myself on the Kappelmur showing off our moves in a display that undoubtedly inspired Ballan to do the same the next day... at least that's our story and we are sticking to it. Note: A. may be a better climber than me but I rode the Mur twice just to get that picture!

Also, Frites and Belgium -- one cannot exist without the other....


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## philippec (Jun 16, 2002)

*RVV ride report 2*

After a nights rest, we took the train to Zotegem to catch the Pro's on the Molenburg. We arrived about 45 minutes before the race and took in the sights. Lot's of happy Belgians at this point and Flanders flags waving everywhere. There is no doubt in the crowd that a local boy is going to win today -- and his name is Tommy B.

Note to Americans going to Flanders: Don't be that guy who decides he is going to fit in w/ the locals by wearing traditional wooden clogs (same goes for beret-wearing in France).

The mustacho-ed photographer is somewhat of a celebrity on the European racing circuit -- he got an admiring round of applause from the crowd... I wonder what his wife thinks about the handlebars though.....

Also, I threw in a close-up of the cobbles so you could get a feel for their condition. 

Finally, the race came blasting through in a whirlwind of dust, horns cheers and chains shifting across cogsets as the road reared up. After the break-away, Bettini was first in line up the climb. In the next picture, you can spot the winner of the day, at that time still nice and warm in the confines of the peleton.


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## philippec (Jun 16, 2002)

*RVV ride report 3*

After the broom wagon headed past, we got back on the bikes and 5-6 kms later, set up camp on the cobbled start of the Leberg. The race was set to come by about 1 hr later so we picked a nice spot in the sun and not too far from a camper w a TV set showing the race (the Palmans Collstrop camper on the left in the 1st photo).

All was well in Flanders as we alternated between sunning ourselves, catching the race on TV and cheering the locals who were riding ahead to get to a good viewing spot.

And then the peleton came screaming down the cobbled descent that lead to the climb. The speeds the pro's hit on these cobbles is something to be seen! Stuey was pushing the pace at the front as Freire and PvP followed and Boogard was showing off a fine set of Dutch choppers in his own inimitable style. Close behind the Dutch Nat. Champ were Baden Cookie-boy and "Goldilocks" Pozatto. After the lead groups, we stayed and cheered all of the stragglers that were soldiering on ... props to the nameless Euskatel rider who had been off since before the Molenberg but was still chasing!

After that, we motored towards Ninove to catch the finish. However, after A). a 4 km detour thanks to my superlative navigation skills, B). getting yelled at by the Belgian Highway patrol motorcycle cops for not riding on the bike paths and C). a high-speed flat followed by a medium speed tire change by A., we resigned ourselves to missing the live finish and ducked into a jam-packed Tavern to watch the collective heart of Flander's being crushed by an-up-and-coming Ballan. Quite the contrast from last year when Marks and I watchet Boonen win in a beer-tent atop the Kopenberg!

After another flat tire and a high speed 2-man TT back to the station, we returned to Brussels and then to Paris.

A nice time was had by all!


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Now this is a ride report.

Riding, racing, women and food.

It don't get any better than this (except that we wern't there).


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## Fignon's Barber (Mar 2, 2004)

philippe, well done, thanks.


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

How cool it this ride report? Great stuff. Where else can you ride all over the world with pictures except RBR?


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## orange_julius (Jan 24, 2003)

Philippe, I am once again envious of your excellent adventures! Some good friends actually did go to ride the cyclosportif and watch the race last weekend!

Glad to see you in the thick of the action on both days.


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

I was looking for the Breton flag on the Versus coverage of the RVV but I did not see it. On both Saturday and Sunday I was thinking about my trip last year to Flanders. 

How did you like the Muur van Garaardsbergen? I know that in your Francophone mind it is the Mur de Grammont. But, in my mind it is just the absolute hardest climb I ever have done. And, I have done more than my fair share of hard, famous climbs. Of course, the fact that I stopped at the beer tent at the last rest stop on last year's cyclosportif before I attempted the Muur may have something to do with how hard it was.

I still say that the hardest part of the Tour of Flanders route is not the cobbled climbs, but the cobbled descents and 2-3 km flat stretches of cobbles where you are doing 20-25 mph, your bike is jumping all over the place and your body is jiggling as if it were made of Jello.

Thank you for the pictures. Next year in Flanders?


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## philippec (Jun 16, 2002)

I liked the Mur de Grammont so much I did it twice! The descents were pretty rough but I found that if I just big-ringed it to the max, the cobbles lasted not as long and didn't seem so harsh.

Oh, and the Mur is nothing compared to that climb I discovered on the road between Mourenx and Lasseube (cue banjos...)

Philippe


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Great as always.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Wow. . .


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## CaseLawZ28 (Jul 14, 2005)

philippec said:


> Note to Americans going to Flanders: Don't be that guy who decides he is going to fit in w/ the locals by wearing traditional wooden clogs (same goes for beret-wearing in France).


LOL, that's freakin crazy. :crazy:


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

1 ) Holy crap. How do the pros MOVE UP in that field? I mean, I am sure it is not as wadded up when they are not on the climbs, but, holy crap.

2 ) And they say that de Ronde is the "good cobbles," whereas P-R is the "bad cobbles." Those don't look very nice to me...

3 ) Belgian -- I guess Flemish -- girls are hot!


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## singlecross (Nov 1, 2006)

Very, Very NICE... That is all.

singlecross


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## johngfoster (Jan 14, 2005)

Philippe, once again you've done yourself proud. Thanks for sharing.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

Hmmmm....those fries look like a treat. What is the exact protocal for the Mayo? I'm sure you're going to say big ole' blob on top, but I see some guys go big blob in the corner for dipping. I see guys do mayo in one corner ketchup in the other. I've also seen the kids avoid the "blob" and do a criss-cross method as well, with some even as far as criss-crossing mayo & ketchup (yuk). Most of all Phillipe, was that mayo fresh, or had it been sitting out in the sun all day like they do at Le Tour? Perhaps this summer I can do a foods of the TdF road stands. Whaddya think everyone?


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

teoteoteo said:


> Perhaps this summer I can do a foods of the TdF road stands. Whaddya think everyone?


Sounds like a good idea. However, the best food at the Tour is from the spreads that the spectators bring from home. I have told more than once my tale of trading some cheese for homemade sausages on an Alpine col. Of course, you always could dress up like the Basques that we saw at the Tour in 2005 -- everyone along the way was giving them food and drink. Come to think of it, it mainly was drink. Here's a pic to refresh your memory.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

MarkS said:


> Sounds like a good idea. However, the best food at the Tour is from the spreads that the spectators bring from home. I have told more than once my tale of trading some cheese for homemade sausages on an Alpine col. Of course, you always could dress up like the Basques that we saw at the Tour in 2005 -- everyone along the way was giving them food and drink. Come to think of it, it mainly was drink. Here's a pic to refresh your memory.


Those guys were a big hit that day, they were so Basque they were even drinking orange fanta, spiked orange fanta, but at least the color was consistant. The bad part was the one in the middle was keeping his fanta bottle in his very small speedo...

Mark I'm thinking the roadside picnic article was going to be it's own stand alone article, or sub section of the art of roadside tour viewing, AND I can also do an article on the drunks/characters of Le Tour which can feature all that's wrong...

Since Phillipe is in Spain consider this thread officially hi-jacked!!!


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

teoteoteo said:


> Since Phillipe is in Spain consider this thread officially hi-jacked!!!


The Spring Classics almost are over.

Now, it's time to start thinking about the Giro and the Tour de France. I can't wait.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*This one needs to be posted in the PG forum.*

I'd think about baning you for posting it here but I am laughing too hard.........


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

MB1 said:


> I'd think about baning you for posting it here but I am laughing too hard.........


Make my day!

But, be warned. The picture originated on the the General Forum without any complaint. http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=42718 In my book, that is a precedent. If you had banned me I would have taken this all the way to the Supreme Court. Just joking. 

I'm glad that our Basque friends made you laugh. If I had any photoshop skills, I would have pasted Philippe's and Teo's heads on the guys. But, Philippe has a photo of me from last summer that makes the shirtless photo of me that you took look good by comparison. Both Philippe and you have a bigger threat than banning to keep me in line.


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