are sometimes smooth and silky, and other times tired and tight.

Monday, April 26, 2010

A weekend of wining, dining, and training in the Ardennes (part II)

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We woke up the next morning with sore legs, and a few sore heads, but to reasonably clear skies.

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We ate breakfast, and over one last cup of coffee made our plan for the day: ride towards La Roche, and try to catch part of La Doyenne.

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Sunday morning, quiet roads.

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After 90+ minutes, we saw that we arrived on the course, about 20 minutes ahead of the race.

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We followed the arrows.

Receiving the occasional cheer from friendly spectators, and the bored glances of team cars waiting for the peloton to pass.

After a long, shallow descent from Samrée to La Roche-en-Ardenne, we entered the city center.

It was full of history.

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From Medieval.

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To reasonably recent.

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The arrows along the course took us to a small square, with a road leading to the ascent of Côte de la Roche-en-Ardenne.

We rode a few kilometers up the road, and chose a spot to watch the racers pass.

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Seeing as this was still early in the race, there were no helicopters to announce the fast approaching break.

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And there they are.

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Followed shortly by an entourage of police, officials, traffic control, and press.

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Five minutes and 20 seconds later, the chasing pleoton arrives.

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And charges past.

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After that I rode to the top.

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Then descended back down to La Roche, to meet up with my friends for a snack.

After that, we rode back the way we came, trying to get there in time to see the last few hours on TV.

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The return leg was without signs or fanfare, although - to the very observant eye - there was a special souvenir lying on the side of the road.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

brilliant.

thanks for sharing.

rick carpenter.

memphis.

rickcarpenter.com

Shaver said...

thank you, sir.