This was a three day trip to Belgium to see the Tour of Flanders and ride the cyclosportif over the course the day before the pro race. I flew from Geneva to Brussels but my bike didn't make the flight. Had to wait around the airport for 3hrs until the next flight from Geneva. Turned out to be not all bad as I was waiting in the baggage pick up as Fabian Cancellara walked in and sat beside me. I wished him luck for sunday found my bike and grabbed the train to Gent. I toured around Gent the first evening.
I signed up with a British tour company and met them at the hotel. They drove about 40 of us to the start of the cyclosportif on Saturday morning. The weather was forecasted to be grim. We all piled out of the coach, put our bikes together and headed to the sign-on. Very simple, collect your number, put it on your bars and join the other 13000 people riding. There was three distances, the full pro 250kms, 150kms and 75kms. All three routes took in all 15 of bergs that make the race famous. The rain started to fall 20 minutes into the ride and fell off and on all day. The temperature was a pretty chilly 10-12 degrees all day.
I rode the 150km course. The race is famous for the various climbs that pepper the final 75kms. The Mollenberg, Oude Kwaremont, Kapelmuur and the Bosberg but I found the 5 sections of flat cobblestones the nastiest.
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