It’s so close I can almost taste it. The mud. The dust. The heavy Spring air, turning to rain, blown across the fields of Flanders, where many a battle has been fought, in trenches and on wheels. Battles fought against other men, battles fought within each man. My own mind is in battle; am I worthy? Will I be prepared for the beating my body will take, and will my mind deal with it? Well, I’m not going to my own grave without doing this. I will survive on V.
The Keepers Tour just gets better and better. The team at Pavé Cycling Tours should be known as the Mailmen of Flanders, because they just keep on delivering. It seems almost every day there’s an email informing us of an addition to the tour, and our responses are more and more ‘screaming teenager’ than composed adult. To say we’re excited about this trip could be the understatement of the year. We’re excited.
The latest gems from Alex and William include;
Of course, this is all in addition to the already confirmed awesomeness of riding with The Lion of Flanders Johan Museeuw, touring the Eddy Merckx factory, riding on the Gent velodrome, touring the Brunehaut brewery (where our organic Malteni beer is produced) and another cycling museum visit in Beveren. There’s a heap of other activities confirmed too, so email us for the full presentation.
And the best part? All of this is included in the super low price! Everything. All meals, all accommodation, all drinks (yes, beer!) and hanging out with a cool bunch of like-minded bike nuts.
Sell your first-born if you have to, but don’t miss out on a week, or weekend of pure Classics bliss. There are still a few seats available, so book yours now.
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View Comments
@Dr C
That's rich coming from a doctor ! Anyone else falls off their bike they get a bruise, but you would have a subcutaneous haematoma
@jimmy
just out of interest: where were you living in Flanders? you mention Kemmelberg, so I suspect somewhere in West-Flanders?
@JC Belgium
Ghent, Ichtegem, then Kortrijk. Would love to go back and see all the things I missed someday. Take my kid at an age where that exposure might have a profound influence.
@jimmy
You're an asshole. But you should absolutely take your kid. My cycling trips as a youngster fundamentally formed the way I learned to love cycling.
@frank
Frank, thanks? I am curious of your upbringing given the references to your dad and his love of cycling. Others too who have successfully passed the love on to their kids. So many cyclists I know found it through escapism not as a relationship builder. My motivation back then certainly wasn't to get warm and fuzzy with the old man.
@jimmy
Ha! I was calling you an asshole for having lived in Flanders...sarcasm doesn't digitize well. Yeah - it was a great relationship builder. But not just with my dad. Most of my closest relationships were built on the bike. Suffering together brings people close.
I reckon the Keepers Tour attendees and I will all be thick as thieves...
@jimmy
Huh, cool! Thanks for the explanation. Yeah, I guess I could see those routes as less ideal for regular training, but more for the novelty of them.
@frank
Man, when I was in boy scouts we did the cycling merit badge: 5x 25 mile rides, and 1x 50 mile ride.
My dad did those with me, but he was on his Schwinn 5sp road bike (which is what got me into cycling, about three years ago now, after I inherited it after he passed away), meanwhile I was on a department store mountain bike with knobby wheels! I was also wearing normal basketball shorts and a tshirt. This was when I was in middle school.
I have very vivid memories of those rides sucking very, very hard. Sort of explains why I wasn't much into cycling for the next 10+ years. However I did get the merit badge, and won the award for "most improved rider". I think Cyclops may have given me the very some award after the Whidbey cogal.
@jimmy
"Training over them mostly just helped my wheel truing skills. If you get the chance, try the Kemmelberg. Going down that at speed...in the rain set my standard for full pucker"
Classic +1.
@frank
I went on my university elective to South Africa with an old friend (and ex-girlfriend) who was a) gorgeous and b) half-Flemish. We got a lift out to this braai (BBQ) on a beach with all these South African blokes. They were nattering away in Afrikaans about whether or not this girl and I were together or not and whether they should have a crack at her later on. She waited until we were getting out of the bus before thanking the driver at length in Flemish. These guys nearly died - apparently the two languages are extremely close and she'd understood nearly every word. None of them got near her. Neither did I...
Also, am I the only one here who thought FMBs were an article of footwear worn by promiscuous women?
@heinous
"Also, am I the only one here who thought FMBs were an article of footwear worn by promiscuous women?"
No you aren't. All kiwis think the same thing.