That's a legitimate Pain Face right there.
Everybody knows there are two kinds of cobbles. Big cobbles, little cobbles, grippy cobbles, and slippy cobbles. And when it comes to mastering the stones, no one is better than the undisputed King of the Cobbles, Kenny Van Vlaminck. And speaking of cobble legends, there is a great piece on our friend Johan Museeuw over on Rouleur today.
According to the weather reports, there is going to be wind and rain on Sunday. And if you watched the live coverage of Gent Wevelgem last week, the storm that blew in after the race was wicked intense. And, since I’ve decided not to visit Belgium this year, you can be pretty sure that the weather will finally be rubbish. You’re welcome.
We rode the RVV route (the classic route, not the crap new one) in the wind, rain, and hail a few years back, and it was striking how slippy the cobbles on the Paterberg and Koppenberg are in the wet. These climbs are borderline doable in the dry, and if you need to get out of the saddle for some extra juice, it is going to take some good bike handling to keep from spinning out.
And don’t forget we’ve got wicked prizes on offer; Don Walker is giving a free custom steel frame to the winner of the VSP overall, and Café Roubaix is awarding a set of their CR Wheelworks Arenberg wheelsets to the runner-up. Third place gets a free V-Kit. Boom. So get prognosticating and get your picks in before the clock goes to zero. Good luck!
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@hudson
Now THAT is an awesome pic for a Monday morning!
@KogaLover
Hi K L. Thanks for the links. Just finished reading the article/review by Leon van Bon. Excellent stuff - and I couldn't help thinking that the image of the Blue Koga with the background of "Delfts blauwe tegels" was just the right balance between corny and classy. Liked that a lot. Funny that LvB doesn't seem to agree too much with the blue color scheme. To me, that color is as spot on as it gets for a Koga, as mentioned earlier.
As for alloy frames: my 9-bike is a Giant Defy 1: 7005 alloy frame; carbon fork and seatpost. Regardless of marketing jargon, Huangisms and whatever, I have to say that the bike (on the standard factory rims and 23 mm Schwalbe 'Durano Plus' tires which are usually inflated to slightly lower pressure than 'rock hard') is remarkably comfortable. I'd heard many stories about alloy frames being harsh and unforgiving, but the Defy has a nice 'steamroller' quality about it.
@hudson
That is a great photo!
@frank
Marginal gains?
@KogaLover
Thanks, Captain Science.
@dinosaurJR
Ouch, that's mega-NITRO. That's evidence of a vengeful god.
@xyxax
I know, right? And normally the Big Man and I are on pretty good terms...
@ChrisO
@Oli
So I guess I now qualified as an Awesome Dutch Nerd!
@ErikdR
It is, a further proof we don't need podium girls - those two winners don't need any garnish!