A Sunday Ride in Flanders

During my stint in Europe this past summer I was able to visit my friends Franky and Chantal in Meulebeke, Belgium. Meulebeke is located in the heart of West Flanders approximately 30km from Oudenaarde, home of the Tour of Flanders Museum. I had the good fortune of meeting Franky and Chantal in 2012 when they graciously opened up their home to Logan and I for the World Cup in Koksijde. On this trip a lot of time was dedicated to sight seeing with trips to Ghent, Brugge and The Flanders Fields Museum in Iper. Sunday morning however was dedicated entirely to the Innergetic Pijl, a 100 km ride on the roads of West Flanders with Iljo Keisse, Stijn Vandenbergh, Thomas De Gendt and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck from The Omega Pharma Quick Step World Tour Team (and hundreds of other Belgian cycling enthusiasts). Tom Boonen had made an appearance the year before. The ride started and finished from the Latexco Handling factory in Tielt which was only 4 km from Franky and Chantal’s house.

I rolled over to the start with quite a few members of the Coxy Cycling Club. Coxy Cycling is based out of Koksijde and is the club that Franky belongs to. Logan and I had the pleasure of riding with them on their Sunday club ride following his World Cup race back in 2012 so there were some familiar faces. The 8:30 a.m. roll out time from Franky’s place was a little rough for me as we had enjoyed a few Belgian beers the night before at my favorite restaurant in Koksijde, Siska.

We rode over to the start, got registered, took a few pictures and then rolled out about 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time for the OPQS boys. Good thing for me as I needed the sedate pace to slowly wake up and get functioning. We picked up a few riders along the way and our group more or less stayed together for the first 15-20km but once the hills of Flanders started to come the group was quickly whittled down. A little over 40km in Franky warned me about the 26% Karel Martelstraat 86 climb that was coming and gave me the green light to roll if I wanted to. As the Belgian Beer fog had finally cleared I rolled over the top with just one other companion and we would stay together until a snack stop located half way. The two of us had made a wrong turn which took us about 4 km out of our way so we ended up rolling in behind Franky as well as the OPQS train. I had just enough time to top off my water before the OPQS train left the station. Suffice it to say I was glad for the 50km warm up that I had because this train proved to be one of the express variety.

Picture this, 4 Belgian riders from THE Belgian World Tour Team (yeah I know that Lotto is Belgian too but we are talking about the team of Tom Boonen here) steaming along the roads of West Flanders with numerous Belgian recreational riders trying to tag along. Then add a full motorcycle escort. Yes, there were 2 to 3 motos running interference for us which meant we were able to steamroll just about every intersection. That reason alone was enough motivation to stay a passenger on OPQS train. It was fantastic. The OPQS guys weren’t riding tranquilo either. It was conversational….for them. As for me, I definitely had to pay attention especially negotiating the narrow roads that I am pretty sure everyone else on board knew fairly well. We never really dipped below 40 km/hr for the last 45 minutes of the ride. The group that stayed intact until the finish back in Tielt ended up being the 4 OPQS guys, 2 super fans wearing full on OPQS kit (I spent much of the time trying to figure who they might be as they definitely knew their way around on a bike), my nemesis who seemed a bit too aggressive holding the wheels of the OPQS guys on a fun ride, 2 other random guys in club kit and a guest appearance for a few kilometers from a Belkin rider (yes, a real rider from Belkin, not a super fan dressed in kit). I never did figure out who the Belkin guy was though. On a side note, one really humorous interaction happened when one of the OPQS super fans asked me if I was Jonathan Page (I was wearing National Team kit)…..hahahaha…..

One take away from this ride is World Tour riders are different. They just are. You can tell. The way they sit on their bikes, the way they pedal, the way they handle themselves. These are guys who are at the very top rung of their profession and it shows.

The finish back at the Latexco factory had transformed itself from the morning depart. There was a full stage, sound system, beer tents and plenty of chairs for all. I hung around a bit and talked with a couple of riders who were milling about and then took off back to Franky and Chantal’s place. That afternoon all the members of the Coxy Cycling Club went out for lunch together to a restaurant owned by a friend of Franky’s. The camaraderie of the Coxy Cycling Club was great to be a part of even if it was only for a day and is something that has been lost in much of the current U.S. Cycling scene. This particular Sunday in Flanders was definitely a highlight of my trip.