The Monday after Flanders, Chuck, Jeff, and I awoke with plans to drive south to Ieper, Belgium (aka Ypres in French and English) before heading north to Amsterdam. Upon leaving the our hotel in Brugge, we saw a big Radioshack team bus parked in the hotel across the street. Of course, we were obligated to stop in and invite ourselves (ie, pay 15 EUR) to the small buffet breakfast in order to be a fly on the wall, as a few members of the team ate and chatted about yesterday's race in a small private room next to us. What did we learn/hear? Well, the consensus was that having a relative no-name win the Flanders was good for the fans and the race. As well, being a profi at that level means that you get a small specially prepared sack fully filled with a clean team kit, water bottles, various gels, and sundry items for your morning training ride. After breakfast, we spent the remaining morning and early afternoon in Ieper (city center shown above). A remarkable little town that is infamously known for the multiple gas attacks and being in the crosshairs of some long and intense trench warfare during WWI. It was literally destroyed except for a few buildings. However, it was rebuilt to look much like it had prior to the war. During the afternoon, we drove a couple hours north into the Netherlands to spend a quick night in Amsterdam.
This picture was taken in Ieper. I assume this is a promo for a local Kermisse that recently had taken place. Everywhere in Belgium, signs (literally and figuratively) of cycling are omnipresent.
A typical subway station in Amsterdam. You have never seen cycling-centric cities until you have been to the Netherlands. Based on my unscientific observation in Amsterdam, bicycles appeared to outnumber cars by a high multiple.
On Tuesday, we decided to stop at Waterloo on our drive back to Köln. We took an interesting guided tour of the battlefield. While hindsight is 20-20, Napoleon's attack did not seem to make a lot of sense based on his very unfavorable battlefield position relative to Wellington's. Nonetheless, there were valid reasons from his perspective to engage, despite his troop's disadavantage position (such as starting at the bottom a big open hill and trying to charge up this hill against well established opposing troops). Well, the bad weather (heavy rains and soft ground) and the unanticipated flanking enemy Prussian troops being led by Blücher resulted in one of the greatest defeats in European history.
Today this famous battlefield is literally just a field, as it grows crops and is actively farmed by the locals.
Mid-week was spent back in Köln. Here you see Chuck "Zu gewinnen in Winnen", with Jeff also successfully ascending a somewhat steep climb into this little village. When I wasn't showing them some of my favorite local riding routes, we spent our time hanging out in the city, taking in the sites, and sampling Kölsch whenever possible.
On Friday, we headed to Paris for a couple of days of touring prior to Sunday's big race.Bis später
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