Hello everyone I am writing from sunny Belgium. The weather has been unseasonable warm and sunny these past few days and it looks like much of the same for the greatly anticipated Paris Roubaix on Sunday. We’ve had a great week so far with plenty of riding with the boys and Team BMC. All of the guys have been great, and the whole team has been very accommodating to me and the rest of the Greenville Crew, despite a few flats and Matt crashing twice on day one. Yes, twice, and that is before we even hit any cobbles. More on that later.
We woke up Sunday Morning for the Tour of Flanders to a wet cold and windy day, exactly what you would expect for a Belgium Classic. We drove to Brugge and got stuck “outside the fence” until George saw us and got the uptight Police officer to let us in. George Hincapie is a Rock Star here in Belgium, so asking to let his 14 buddies in was apparently not an issue at all. Inside the gates we got to hang out and see all of the teams up-close and personal, except for Lance and Team Radio Shack, as their bus area was mobbed from higher ups like the royalty of Belgium, countless film crews and the few lucky fans that got inside the well protected gates. The riders rolled off and so started our adventure of speeding through the narrow cow paths of Belgium to see as many spots of the race as possible. We were talking about this the other day, explaining to people that are not that interested in cycling it’s difficult to explain how fun it is to find a spot on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, stand there for an hour in the cold wind with a few thousand people and then watch the race go by in 20 seconds, run back to your car, whip out the map and hit the next section. It actually doesn’t sound like much fun as I type this, but we had a blast. We did invest a lot of time getting to and staking a good spot out on The Koppenburg. It was well worth it, as we got some great photos and video. The guys had never seen a cobbled climb so it was a eye opening experience for them. George ended up having a great day, which is a great sign for Sunday’s Paris Roubaix.
While we got video on the Koppenburg, Steve Sperry captured this photo of George on the Muur.
We got to do an easy ride with the team on Monday. Since it was a rest day for the team, the whole team meets at around 10:45 for the 11am ride. Mechanics fill tires with air. Turtle hands out bottles, even to the Greenville Crew (thanks Turtle!) and we rolled out on the Canal Bike path.
Not sure what Jeremy is doing with that power drill. At least that's his own bike.
It was a leisurely stroll. After about 45 minutes, George decides it is a great time for some coffee, so we found a Café in a nearby town and all sat around drinking, talking and taking pictures. Great fun. We are always cutting up and laughing, and today, the sight of Georges Afro was a big topic of our laughing.
Apparently he is going to have a new look for the tennis tournament in November. The ride back seemed a bit more entertaining as I flatted but at the same time Matt ran into a pole and crashed. Thankfully he was OK and the BMC boys were super nice about his apparent misfortune and made sure he was Ok to keep going. We got a good laugh about it as from what Matt describes these poles in Belgium jump right out at you--who knew!
We ended the ride passing through the town square. Here in Europe, it was Easter Monday so the square was packed with people. We all meandered through the streets to make our way back to the hotel when bam! Crash number 2 for Matt in front of the whole City. Not good, but again he was OK. I don’t think he will ever live that day down. Trying to make light of the situation, we all hung out and joked with the team about the ride and Matt. Matt described his pole crash in detail and even said to Alexander Kristoff, “You almost hit the pole too!” Kristoff, in his Norwegian accent replied back, “Yes, but I didn’t.” We laughed all day.
We have gotten some great rides in this week and have even ridden up some of the big climbs, which really give you a great appreciation for just a bit of what these guys go through. It really is an amazingly difficult sport. Wind, rain, wet cobbles and narrow roads are just a few of the elements these guys go through, all in 150 or so miles. The people in Belgium truly appreciate these athletes and come out to watch by the hundreds of thousands no matter the conditions. Even if it means standing on the side of the road for hours before they come. All the more reason to drink some Belgian brew.
We can’t wait until Sunday. George is looking great. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this fit and confident. Little things about his riding or his appearance are easy for me to see that he will be at 100% for Sunday (minus the fro). Look for my twitter updates (@richhincapie) during the race.
Thanks for reading.
Rich
[Hincapie Sportswear HQ wants to know who has the pretty luggage...ha ha?]