Six of the Peddlers set off early on Friday morning to cycle the Ronde van Vlaanderen amateur sportive on Saturday and to watch the professionals ride the famous race on Sunday. Also, Richard and his mate Gary drove from Bristol to join us at the hotel in Kortrijk (IBIS Centrum) and ride with us. Pete once again made a sterling job of the ‘team bus’ adding the RvV logos making it look like an official vehicle!
A little bit of bad timing for me, I had a mystery chest infection/virus for several weeks before (also in Australia), eventually leading to a trip to the hospital A&E two weeks before the ride fighting for breath (my airways had got inflamed and severely restricted – made much worse by me on the turbo trainer!). So I recovered enough and went along with the others and just did the 74km sportive at my own pace instead of the 139km which the Peddlers did (and I did 3 years ago). I still had the major cobbled climbs to do, starting with the Koppenberg – so not easy anyway 🙂
Friday 6th April was all about getting across to Belgium, checking in at the hotel and getting to and from Oudenaarde to register for the ride and get our rider packs etc.. We’d pre-booked the ‘Ribs n’ Beer’ restaurant in Kortrijk just to avoid roaming around trying to find a table at short notice for 8 people.
Saturday 7th April was of course all about the sportive ride, 16000 riders in total trying out the same famous cobbled climbs that the professional will do on Sunday (and they make it look so easy!). My ride is detailed on Strava and here …
| Elapsed Time | Moving Time | Distance | Average Speed | Max Speed | Elevation Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
03:33:04
hours
|
03:20:48
hours
|
45.17
mi.
|
13.50
mph
|
36.69
mph
|
2,910.10
ft.
|
Saturday night we booked a brasserie in the main square of Kortrijk, lots of beers consumed!
Sunday 8th April was about getting to Oudenaarde and back (by train) from Kortrijk to watch the professionals ride the same stretches of road that we’d just experienced. From arriving at the station, we walk past all of the female racers team buses and they’re all getting ready for an 11am start from Oudenaarde, the men start in Antwerp and finish in Oudenaarde. A great atmosphere in the town, we watch the ladies start, then relax with a coffee and peruse the shop/museum and then wait for them to ride through the town again about 12.40 before we witness the men ride through the town about 1pm. Then we wandered off to the fan zone next to the finish line, about half a mile from town – fantastic weather too!
