23 April Diary
Flanders & Drenthe World Cups
images courtesy of Bert Geerts and womenscycling.net ©
The second World Cup of the season was the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) in Belgium and was held just before the men’s race. It is such a classic bike race with a very impressive history and is held in very high esteem among all cyclists, and obviously, especially Belgians. It is so special because of the many years it has been running for the men (this year was the 4th edition for the women) and because it captures the very essence of cycling with the torturous cobbled narrow, steep, twisty roads, those of which we just don’t see in Australia. They are roads paved of rocks and certainly makes for an interesting and challenging race. Actually, with 20k to go, one of the climbs, called ‘The Muur’ (translated as ‘The Wall’) is so narrow, steep and cobbled that cars are unable to drive over the top so the team cars following the race take another road around the climb.
I do love racing on the cobbles; however, there is certainly an art to riding on them. Choosing to ride in the saddle in a slightly bigger gear helps to keep the bike from not bouncing, reducing the chance of a puncture and is also easier to get into a rhythm to maintain the power on the pedals. There are only sections of these cobbled roads, so the fight to get into position at the front of the bunch beforehand is huge! This year the race was 122km and the first cobbled section (2.4k long) was at the 40k mark.
There was a massive crash 30k into the race, which saw a pile up of half the peleton sprawled across the road. Unfortunately, I was right in the middle of it and had nowhere to go but down. It took some time to untangle my bike from the mess but with the brake cable broken, I required the team spare bike. Our team car was number 25 in the race convoy so it took a while for the mechanic to get to me, but once he arrived, I was back on the road and chasing the front group. I was nearing the end of the first cobbled section when the rear wheel punctured! This happened at the worst time possible because with a very slow wheel change, the front group gained minutes up the road and my race was over. I caught up with a few other riders who were stragglers from the crash and we rode together to the finish. I was so disappointed.
The following race was the next World Cup, Drenthe, (pronounced Drenta) in the northern part of Holland. We were blessed with unseasonably warm weather – 28degrees! This is very unusual for April in northern Holland! In fact it is the highest temperature recorded since 1908 for this time of year. Usually, all weather conditions are predicted bar sun!
It was a 140k race that involved more cobbles and numerous ascents up the infamous ‘Vamberg’, which is the only hill in the area and is man made…of rubbish! It is like our huge underground tips in Australia except above ground and grassed with a steep narrow road over the top. It really is quite a funny concept to be racing over a rubbish heap but apart from where we could see more waste added to the hill, it was just like any other climb with marquees, a huge crowd, beer and a live band at the top. The road was only wide enough to fit 3 bike riders across so it was very important to be near the front to avoid getting ‘stuck’ behind a ‘dud’ wheel and not being able to power around.
I definitely was feeling back to my old self again in being comfortable in the bunch and was sitting pretty in the first 20 riders over the first cobbled section. That is, until my rear wheel punctured. I couldn’t believe it! I stopped on the side of road with my rear wheel in the air, and waited for my team car for what seemed like an eternity. The race had split to pieces and was spread out for kilometres so it took some time before the team cars came by. Normally, it is possible to ride a flat tyre on bitumen at the rear of the peleton and wait until the team car is behind before stopping for a wheel change. This way, not much time is lost and it is possible to quickly rejoin the race. However, it is impossible to ride a punctured wheel on cobbles.
After my wheel change, I began chasing to rejoin the race. Two of my teammates were instructed to wait to help me get back on, and after 50k of time-trialling, we made it with 30k to go until the finish. However, I had spent all my ‘bickies’ in rejoining the race and had nothing left to contend the finish. I have had three punctures now, so this is my quota for the season.
It’s back to Belgium for the next few races, with a kermis, the Fleche Wallone
World Cup and a UCI Cat 2 road race.
I hope all is well in beautiful Oz, will be in touch again soon,
Sara :)