Beyond the Service Course: Belgium Day 3: Ronde Van Vlaanderen Cyclo

Today was the big day. The day that I had been planning on; I was unsure until this morning of whether or not to ride it. Unconvincing weather reports, a non-functioning front derailleur, and a very bad decision (train station burger--enough said) the day before left me unsure if I would participate. Finally realized I'd never stop regretting it if I didn't try, I caught the train to Oudenaarde this morning. The start village was packed, BMC Racing even set up a tent selling merch. I changed, got the packet, and headed out. The opening miles were innocuous enough, pan flat roads with little wind--tucked into a group it provided the perfect warm up. That all ended withing 9 miles. I looked up to see the imposing Koppenberg--they don't call them Hellingen without reason. Peaking at 20%, it makes the legs scream. The problem with having such a savage climb so early is that there was no natural selection. All the weaker riders had been sucked along until that point and they struggled. I was keeping an ok, if a bit low, cadence but when multiple people stopped dead in front of me and got off their bikes, I didn't have low enough gearing to zip by and was forced to do the same, unfortunately. The stretches of cobbles were agonizing, the vibrations were pouring through my aluminum frame straight into my body. After every climb at least it was possible to latch onto groups to make the in between sections slightly easier until the wind picked up. Miles ticked by, I double flatted my front wheel (I think one tube had a pre-existing hole) using both of my tubes. I made the feedzone, gloriously full of waffles (seriously, they had both Euro-style Honey Stingers as well as traditional Flemish Wafels). Half a kilometer before the penultimate climb of the day, the Oude Kwaremont, I flatted yet again. I decided I had no choice but to press on and press my luck. The climb itself was easy--I'm surprised its been called the decider, I found it to be much too shallow to do much damage, but after 230k, I'm sure its a very different story. Anyways, my wheel chattered over the cobbles, literally rim on stone, i lost some paint, gained a few dents, and we'll see tomorrow how well it works. I was lucky enough to have someone give me a tube at the top, and after a quick inflate I was on my way again, albeit with less pressure than I would have liked in my rear tire. I made it over the Paterberg (again being forced to dismount because of slow riders getting off in the middle of the road, although only for 2nd time, I made it over all the other climbs--but if pros can get off and walk their bikes up, then I guess I don't lose too much dignity in doing so). Finally over the last hill, I began to power home, churning away, beginning to forget the burning in my legs, working with a very small group to drag ourselves to the line. That's when I began to feel the bouncing of a deflating tire. At first I thought it was my rear, from just being under-inflated. But to my surprise--and somewhat to my relief--it was my front again. By the time I had decided that I couldn't stop--no one would really give me a tube, nor would I step in the broom wagon that late--I was under the 5k to go banner. The wind wipped up and I was caught driving straight into it--my legs were screaming, my body was destroyed, and it really was all I could do to not step off. Handling with no front tire is tricky, especially when you're trying to save your rim. I somehow managed to not crash on that stretch and crossed the finish line only to realize I had to ride another 3k to get back to the start and my bag. Long day in the saddle, but I'm certainly happy I did it. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of sportives, I loved this one. It wasn't a sportive, the way I felt it: it was a battle, the parcours is so difficult that it demands your best, much like a race. I want to go back next year already, with more spare tubes, a working bike and really show the course what I'm made of. Sorry the pics are of the author, they're what I bought (for obvious reasons).