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Published: March 24th 2013
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You know we had chosen a parking ramp as the place we were parking our rental car. Well imagine our surprise when this morning, bright and early, we walked to the ramp to get our car - so we could drive up to the race - and guess what? Yup - the ramp was closed. I don't mean just not open where there is no attendant or you can't park. I mean CLOSED like in garage doors lowered - no one gets in or out. Hmmmm ... This is potentially a schedule altering problem.
We went back to the hotel to regroup, and try and figure out if the ramp will be open at all today. We start by looking up the name of the casino that the garage is attached to ... In the "you can't make this up category". The web site says "operating hours vary by season".
Wow ... Very cool outside today. Was that a snow flake? Dave checked the race schedule, and they are making a weather call on the race. The riders will still sign in at the original start point, but then will be bussed to a new start point
because of the snow ... And more changes are possible.
We decide that if the ramp is not open and our car is a hostage for the day, we will stay on Roubaix, do some bike riding, and catch the race on the Internet. If our car is set free we will still go to the race. We go to the front desk with our google translated conversation written down. The clerk speaks English .... the ramp will open at 1030, but only one entrance.
Woo-hoo, we have a car again - please note how clean it looks. We check out of the hotel and we are off to the race finish town. As we are standing, watching one of the local races that is going on, we meet an Australian university student who also writes for an Aussie paper on cycling. She knows the riders, and has good information on what is going on this week .. Who is racing what race, who is hurt ... She confirms that Belgians are nuts for racing.
About that time, a small marching band comes down the street to usher the top 3 finishers of the criterion race to
the stage on the back of a car that had an aahhhooga horn. During the break in the action, we decide we should find a pub, get a beer and watch the race on TV. Guess what ... The marching band ... They marched in to the pub, and played and sang songs with the crowd. It was wild and very fun. Dave said it was like Wisconsin, but with a Belgian twist.
Back outside to watch the race finish. Second sighting of the fish skins, first sighting of someone eating them ... These will be like boiled peanuts to me. A curiosity, but never something I will try. Peter Sagan - Cannondale - won the race today. The defending champion, Tom Boonen, crashed and withdrew, and Fabian Cancellara also did not finish. Dave got a picture of Peter Sagan crossing the line, but missed the celebration wheelie that followed. The BBC got a good picture of it though at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/21919397.
The next four nights we are staying at a little bed and breakfast in Brugge. Nice inn keeper, nice room, nice area, and fresh tulips in the room. It is going to be great.
We had
dinner tonight in one of the village pubs , Tried some new beer, ate too much. Tomorrow, the plan is to visit Brugge and do a semi-serious bike ride along the canals. Brugge is billed as the Venice of the north and is a UNESCO world heritage site, so we are looking forward to exploring it.
Hopefully you can follow the pictures ... Sometimes the website lets me put captions in, sometimes it doesn't. We looked at the weather at home today ... Doesn't look much better there than here. Stay warm and think spring!
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