The Giants of Flanders - De Reuzen van Vlaanderen

Last Saturday (5/9) both Sofie and I started the 75 kilometers of the cycling tour called the Giants of Flanders. This was a first serious test for Sofie's knee... and she did pretty well, especially considering the fact that she had been living on a farm for three days - an excursion trip with her school - and did not sleep a lot. On the market of Ronse we felt like two outcasts... neither of us wearing the proper cycling shirts nor having the sophisticated bicycles. Nevertheless we set out on the route... and almost missed our first turn. The first hill, Fiertelmeers, was already a tough one. "Is this how the ride in America will be" was Sofie's unspoken question. The Schapenberg came next... Those 2 hills made us already sweat - time to take off the pants. The next hills were not as bad: Kraaiberg, Le Horlitin and Kluisberg. On the downhill we could see Avelgem - we've been there to play volleyball. The route gave us a bit of a chance to catch our breath before attacking De Oude Kwaremont. Along the road one can still find some evidence of the Tour of Flanders. Next killer was the Paterberg: the cobblestones are not my thing and about halfway I jumped of Sweet Machine and pushed my way up (yes, push because even that is work). The easiest hill is the Waaienberg - it was a breeze to reach the top. Last hill before the foodstand was the Koppenberg... yes... too steep for many cyclists... also for me and Sweet Machine. The cookies, water and fruit were very appreciated. It's now definite: Sofie doesn't like bananas and I love bananas. Keeping Sofie's knee in mind we decided to make our own route now - back to St. Martens Latem (visit my relatives there). Using the maps I had brought along, we managed to follow the numbers of the network. Flanders still has some big cobblestones lying around! We followed the Schelde (river) for a while. There we made a pit stop break at Mac Pudding: what a name for a tea room! The ice cream was a great idea! Overall we cycled about 80 kilometers, setting a new distance record for Sofie!