Tour of Flanders report

Posted April 7th, 2008 by Robin Dowswell

Road Race

The Tour de Flanders on Saturday 5th April was attended by nearly 50 people from TeamMK. More photos added 10/4/08...

Robin Dowswell reports:

The majority travelled down by bus from Caldecotte business park, through the channel tunnel and on to Brugge where we dropped off the 5 hardy souls doing the full 256k course. The coach then got trapped in the narrow side streets of Brugge and managed to knock off its wing mirror outside a confectionary shop. When we finally made it out of Brugge it was nearly 6pm. However we made the registration point in Nonove before it shut and then proceeded back to the hotel to freshen up and then eat.

Overnight the weather worsened and we awoke to heavy persistent rain. An enjoyable day in the saddle was guaranteed! You could start at any time between 7 and 10am and after breakfast most of us rode the 12.5km to the start of the 140k event in Nonove.

The course was crowded with 18,000 people including 500 Brits doing the event. After a flat 30k the famous cobbled hills started and the weather worsened for those of us who had set off around 9am. I started with Boothy and about 7 others flying past most other cyclists on the flat roads. After 30k just before the first hill I lost contact. The 14.2% cobbled Molenburg was jammed up at the bottom when I reached it and many had to run all the way up although some had a free run at it. I caught Aaron and Bruce Smart at the top and proceeded with them for a bit. The uncobbled 17.3% Wolvenburg was next up and seemed to present no problems. It was probably sometime after this that I got a puncture on a descent down a wide cobbled road. 10 minutes fixing the puncture and I joined up with Marcus Whelband who kindly stopped for some friendly banter. We continued to the 20.3% Paterburg and 22% Koppenburg with Andy Sutton who we caught. My tactic of running up these seemed almost more effective than riding up them as many cyclist were falling off their bike half way up.

More rain, bone shaking cobbles and hills followed. My brake pads started wearing away with the back brake being worn down to the metal. To make things more interesting my front brake cable started slipping and I had to stop to adjust the cables. This saved me from certain brake failure, meanwhile Marcus got cold while he waited as I faffed about. Only perhaps 50k to go from this point. My skimpy nutritional supplies mean't I started to lose strength. We caught Mervin Philips 20k at one point and then rode the 19.8% Muur and finally the cobbled 11% Bosberg. It was around here that I ran out of energy. With 4k to go I stopped to finish off my bag of nuts and dried fruit and recovered some strength.

At the finish I met up with Andy and Marcus again and we refuelled in the marquee for 30 minutes and then cycled back to the hotel along with Ceri and Alan from Corley's cycles. 104 miles in all and a good day out. Typically the weather improved towards the end.

The 5 who did the 256k finished later on after an epic day in the saddle, especially the Irish guy who'd forgotten his passport and cycling shoes. He rode it in astroturf trainers apparently.

The next day we went to a bar by the race route and watched the pros race on the big screen until they came past. We then returned home, stopping in another bar on route for the last 20k. The Belgium champion won, so a good day for the locals.

Definitely a great experience of one day racing.

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Words & pics by Ian Marshall

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