Not one to subscribe to the slew of text speak or acronyms that permeate the modern vernacular (well, not too much, I guess YJA is one used fairly regularly), I am harbouring a severe case of FOMO right now. And the catalyst for this? The lack of a KT14. Shit, I did it again. WTF?
As Gianni wound up the excitement and anticipation for the real start of the real races, ie those on the cobbles and bergs of Belgium, my heart is heavy with emotions and my head is filled with bittersweet thoughts about the imminence of the Spring season, and the Classics in particular. This is my absolute favourite time of the racing year, and this one promises to be one of the best of recent times. Just like the past two seasons, the anticipation of a Tommeke/Faboo showdown is present, but maybe this time both will stay wreck-free and we will witness the winners of the past two Flanders/Roubaix doubles going at it at their peaks. And surely it will rain this year. It has to rain this year…
While standing around in the cold rain at the side of a shitty farm track isn’t the epitome of a good time for the general population, I place it at the top of my yearly holiday wishlist. The past two Aprils have been nirvana for me, and not being there this year leaves me with a feeling of having a part of my very being ripped out. Like my soul has been stolen away, an appendage removed, a limb hacked off. The complete experience of being there in those weeks when the whole of the cycling world is centred around Flanders and northern France, when there’s a race never more than an hour’s ride or drive from you, it’s something that embeds itself deep inside, and damned if it wants to ever leave.
This is what makes these races special, the anticipation, the unknown quantities of weather, form and luck, all factors which add up to the most unpredictable racing; anything can happen on the day, the riders know it, as do the fans. Rather than packing the wet weather gear, warm jacket and wooly hat and drinking copious amounts of Malteni at the side of the Kwaremont or Carrefour, I’ll be sitting in the dark in the middle of the night, watching online, yet still imbued with the same raw enthusiasm for these monuments among Monuments. The fact that I’ll be half a world away will no doubt sting a little still, but if it does rain, then at least I’ll get half of my yearly wish. And that is something to look forward to for sure.
VLVV!
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@PT
Is this about to be an Aussie joke? All wool for Eddy here. He was too early for lycra, I believe.
Would Eddy wear this ?
Its got the "V" on it !?
@Barracuda wiki tells me Vleeseter is carnivore, (Cannibal?) and Chimbegna is a 900m pass in Italy so maybe it would appeal, Molteni orange even, and it does carry the V. Wouldn't mind one myself.
@Gianni
When Eddy started to wear lycra, the toughest sheep started to grow polyurethane.
@Barracuda Seems an awful lot of coin for a tarted up Classic jersey. But it is dead sexy.
@Harminator/Gianni: no punchline pending...although on reflection it did sound like it was heading that way.
More to say that given he'd be wearing wool it wouldn't be too many orders of magnitude different to today. Ok, long sleeves or knee-lengths would be nice on a day like that( and certainly not uncommon in todays peloton) but I reckon Eddy wasn't feeling too much cold at this point. Heresey perhaps but even in days of yore, the pros still knew how to dress properly to ride a bike, just like they do now.
All pedantry aside, thanks for a nice piece @Brett. The photo is a cracker too. Don't mind that orange Rapha jersey even, faux-vintage and all.
@Brett Great article!...and by the way this year it will be Stybar....when is the V.S.P calendar up?
Looking at the picture of Eddy, I'm going to take a punt and say it was a relatively mild day. Look at the specators. Open necks, relatively light jackets, no hats apart form the policeman(?), no scarfs etc.
@Al__S
Yes, likely mild by Roubaix's standards (or is it Flanders? the cobbles look small), however: that's probably shit and not mud, it's wet, he's in short sleeves while they're wearing jackets, and the spectators are sauced up (save the cop, or not).
I'd squeeze my TT with my knees on that corner on a cross bike with 30 psi in the tires. The Patron is going full gas on narrow tubulars. Yikes.
I'm still feeling the buzz of seeing the PROs in Louisville last year. I still can't fathom being at one of the spring Classics. Tough one, Brett! Probably harder having been before, as opposed to never being there.