I stopped around Antwerpen at a Mcdonalds and grabbed a bite and continued on. I arrived in Oudenaard, at The Chainstay, around 1:30pm. I met Gregg and got stuff moved into my room. I talked with Gregg a bit and asked what was the best way to get to the Koppenberg and with a map in hand, headed out the door.
I drove over to the base of the Koppenberg and the immediate impression was wow, it don't look that steep on tv. As I drove slowly to the top while taking pictures, i saw that there was a car ahead, with people also taking pictures out the window. Once at the top we both pulled over and got out. Hearing that they spoke english I asked where they were from. "Chicago," they said. They were 2 guys that flew in the same morning and were going to the Cx championships and drove down from The Netherlands to see the Koppenberg. I didn't know them but do know the team they race for in Chicago. Small world.
I spent some time on the Koppenberg. I walked all the way down to the bottom and then back up, taking pictures the whole time. I spent a little time trying to figure out exactly where the course for the Koppenbergcross turns off the road and into the field and also where it crosses again further up.
After the walk up I got back in my car and drove a little loop to the road that's just a bit southwest that the Koppenbergcross course also goes on and drove down that back to the bottom of the Koppenburg and took a few more pics.
My next destination was the Patterburg and Oude Kwaremont. I headed in the general direction and started to notice that there were signs posted at every intersection of routes for different rides or races. There were signs for the Ronde van Vlaanderen course, which i assume was last years route. There were signs also for a Eddy Mercx route. I found the Patterburg and Oude Kwaremont and drove up those and took pictures at the top of the Patterburg. The Kwaremont is by far the worst cobbles of all 3 climbs with big ridges and dips in the road as well as the cobbles being much more diverse and rough than the other 2 climbs.
After exploring those 2 climbs it was time to head back to Oudenaard to check out the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen museum in town. I decided i'd try to follow the Ronde signs back to town to do the route. That actually proved to be quite fun. The road is in most places nothing more than the width of a bike path and the ditches you see on tv along the side of the road are DEEP. Racing on those would be insane and I will have much more an appreciation for what it would be like to be clawing for a position before the base of those climbs. I shot a video of me driving those roads to the base and up to the top of the Koppenberg.
Back in town i went to the Ronde museum which was pretty cool. It isn't huge but they have quite a nice collection of bikes, jerseys, and other equipment from the history of the race. They also have a little room that recaps the previous race. In it they had a video playing as well as posters of significant moments of last years race. Apparently Sagan's butt pinching incident was something they thought worth preserving because it is one of the posters that they put up. They also had Fabian's jersey there with the numbers still attached. The thing looks like it's about the right size for my 9 year old.
After the museum I walked to the main square, took a couple of pics, found a frites shop and got a sandwich and headed back to the Chainstay. That night they were doing a pizza night for all who were staying there. They made pizzas that looked and smelled amazing and also looked pretty healthy. I was too full to eat but enjoyed hanging out with everyone at the table.
The Chainstay is a house run by Gregg Germer and his wife Holly. He was a pro racer in Belguim from 2004 - 2008 who stayed in Belgium when he retired. They have 4 rooms on the second floor where you can stay and have a common kitchen and dining room / family room area. There is also a bike garage area setup with trainers and a workbench for all your bike needs. There were 3 people staying while I was there. There was a guy from New Jersey who had just arrived about a week before. He had signed on with a Belguim team and they had their team presentation the week before so he had to be there for that. He's staying the whole season.
The second guy was Luke Gray, a cyclocross racer from Great Britian who had wrapped up his season and would be leaving soon. Also staying was a woman named Michelle Geoghegan from Ireland who is preparing for the 2014 road season.
Since this was a very full day I decided to go to bed at 8pm. That was a mistake because I was up at 10pm and couldn't fall back asleep for a few hours. It didn't help that it was raining constantly the whole night and while that would make for a great race conditions at Hoogerheide, I didn't bring the right clothing for standing in the pouring rain for hours. Finally I fell back asleep and that was the end of day 1.
Fun seeing signs for cities I've heard of but never been to.
Selfie on the Koppenberg!
Chapel that's at the top of Oude Kwaremont
Top of the Patterburg
Route signs all over the area
Painting along the Flanders route.
Film center in the Flanders museum. Cool use of jerseys for the benches.
Tom Boonen's jersey.
The famous podium shot.
Fabian's jersey from last year.
