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Published: March 26th 2013
Spoiler alert - Peter Sagan won the stage today. It was a photo finish after 187 KMs. Dave has made a habit of picking Sagan, and has been annoyingly right most of the time. This was Sagan's seventh victory this spring already.
Here's how we got there. We started off today in Middelkerke - a beach resort town on the North Sea. It reminded us of Myrtle Beach ... There is a beach there, but it is not tropical. But the good news today was that it was considerably warmer - we started the day at 5 degrees and got as high as 8 degrees -- and it was sunny! Now if we could just do something about the wind.
It was a great place to start the race. The riders cycled in to sign in, and then had to loop around to line up / get back to their team areas ... So you could see them. The Tom Boonen fan club was out in force today even though he had a hard fall the other day. We watched the race start, and then hot footed it down to a spot where we could watch the peloton come
buzzing by. The sound of the bikes, chains, and tires as they whiz by is really something.
Then we were off to Oudenaarde. The race today was coming through there, and starts there tomorrow - but we really wanted to scope it out because it is ground zero for the Tour of Flanders on Sunday. Also, my cousin Diane George had recommended that we go to the Museum Ronde van Vlaanderen, (Tour of Flanders) there and mentioned that they had a cobblestone simulator there you could ride.
On the way to Oudenaarde, we encountered some of the coastal defenses - it looked like from WWII. I did the best I could with the picture - just interesting the impact that the Great War and WWII had on this area.
The museum was a great experience. We learned some interesting Tour of Flanders facts. It is one of the cobbled classics and this is its 100th year ... In 1913 there were only 27 riders. The Tour of Flanders was not raced during WWI, but was raced in WWII. The museum was empty except for us and a group of school children. It looked like the museum curator,
Freddy Maertens, was leading the school group. Although they were talking in Dutch, it was fascinating to watch him tell the story - the kids were spellbound. We did get to the cobblestone simulators, and the cobblestones are even more bumpy than they look. The bikes they have set up on them are in an easy gear so those are fun to ride. Later in the museum, you get to a simulator where you can ride up a hill ... A hill that starts out on pavement and then changes to cobblestones ... And you can measure your progress against a professional cycler. I went first. I was never even close to the professional cycler, and then the hill kicked in, I kept my head down and kept pedaling, then the cobblestones hit ... I decided then that Dave should give it a go. I reset the simulator, and told him to keep up. He did better than I did, but the combination of the hill and cobblestone even smoked him. But how fun! We had a blast fooling around in the museum and taking pictures. Like all good museums, it ends in a gift shop ... And we have
more souvenirs to bring home.
Next stop was the ending city for today's stage, Zottegem. A very nice, rural drive there, and the parking gods smiled on us. We got an awesome close parking spot - right on the race route. We walked by one of the places where the support staff hands out water bottles and picks up jackets that the riders want to take off. All of the different teams support staff are lined up, and they are waiting for the peloton to come through. When the riders get close, the support guys stick their arms out with the water bottles and the riders that want them, grab them as they zoom by. We watched a couple of groups come through and it was fascinating. One rider dropped the water bottle he picked up, and no sooner had it hit the ground, than three bikes ran over it, the top exploded off, and it sounded like a mini explosion. The support staff never even flinched, they kept their arms and water bottles out. This is not a job for nervous people.
We weaved our way through town to the finish and set up right at the
Coastal Defenses
There were about 6 bunkers we drove by, all with these guns. presentation stand. They had the big screen set up, so you could watch the race coming toward you. We got there a little before the main crowd, so we could watch them filter in as well. Again, a pretty good crowd .. And very knowledgeable on who the racers are and what teams they are on. Everyone pulling for their favorite. Peter Sagan though is on fire this spring, it will be interesting to see how the rest of this race plays out and then the Tour of Flanders.
We stopped by a little bakery on our way back to the B&B and picked up a desert torte for later. Can't wait! Tomorrow is another race day and we will probably do a little more exploring of Oudenaard.
Hopefully, the weather will be at least as good as it was today.
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Matt
non-member comment
TV
I saw in some of the pictures TV cameras. Is that for the jumbo tron at the race viewing areas, or are they for broadcast TV? Just wondering if they are for broadcast for networks to buy their feed and do commentary over it. I think that was what they were doing last time I watched a race with Pop. Also any sighting of your salted fish skins? We're loving the blog.