On Friday, Chris, Brian, Wayne, and Ben (a buddy of Wayne's in Ramstien) all headed to belguim for the Tour De Flanders ride. Its a famous ride through the hills of belguim and more notabily along the coblestone hills! The professionals ride on Sunday - but the route is open to all registered cyclists on Saturday. From what I understand, there were 20,000 cyclists that rode on Saturday and only about 200 professionals that rode on Sunday.
Their coodination for this weekend cracks me up - After several unanswered calls to Wayne (who has been glued to his desk dealing with Lybia and we were sure if the Airforce would let him leave) the boys took off to ramstien in hopes of linking up with Waynes friend (who no one has his email address, phone #, or a place to meet him - but hey, lets try right??) A few hours into the drive in a house not far from here, Farrah receives a slew of phone calls..... #1, Wayne, looking for the cell #s to Brian and Chris, - - #2, Tom (another friend, but not a biker, just the link to Ben-Waynes friend) looking for Brian and Chris's #s to help Ben link up with them. Somehow the boys managed to find eachother in Ramstien and than link up with Wayne in Belguim. They snuck in under the 7PM registration deadline (thankfully it took the race volunteers a few extra minutes to clean up and they helped the boys at 7:15!! - imagine the disappointment if this part went bad) They all made it to the hotel and grabbed a yummy dinner before their 5:30 race time wake up!
Saturday morning was truly a BEAUTIFUL day for them and a pefect day for an 89 mile ride. In this photo below you and see all those helmets crammed in together heading up the hill.
Oh, cobblestone =) I hear there were bike parts everywhere. Chris lost his pump, but others lost water bottles, water bottle cages etc... They are lucky they all still have their fingers as the vibration from the cobblestone really tends to numb them!
Riders Ben, Wayne and Brian
I must admit - Chris has a thing with hills!! Back when we started riding together and I was considered the more experienced one, we could stick together on hills. but my training has lacked while Chris has excellerated. He rides up those hills making it look so simple!! Matter of fact, he was at the top each time taking photos of his buddies. Great legs Chris!!
Looks like we are walking this hill.....
pedal pedal pedal!
They enjoyed beguim waffles, redbull and several other treats along the way. Once the ride was finished they laid down in a field of grass and wild flowers chatting about their amazing experience. Brian said the ride took 6 1/2 hours and he was smiling for about 6 hours of it. Chris believe it one of the top 5 things he has experienced in Europe.
They hit the town that night for some yummy beguim food and most importantly some beer =) Sunday morning they loaded back in the car heading home full of stories and experiences - what a great weekend!!
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