Last Sunday Gent-Wevelgem was a sufferfest of the highest order; wind, rain, crashes and hard riding whittled the peloton down to meager 39 finishers. Lee Rodgers gives us his lowdown on the chaos that turned out to be a great race, the sort of race that inspires you to ride your bike… even in the rain? Whenever I look out the window and see the rain coming down in sheets and the wind blowing poodles along the thoroughfare, I do my best to fight my natural inclination to get back under the covers, and instead I ask myself:What would a Belgian do?Heck, theyd man the heck up, get on their short sleeve jerseys and thinnest knicks and go ride for 5 hours, zippers unzipped to the navel. Fortunately I never base my decision on what those Belgians would do, but on what my mate from Brussels, Mathis, would do. Mathis, being highly intelligent and not a little soft, would get straight back in bed and put the earplugs back in. So thats what I do.Fortunately for us armchair sadists, professional bicyclers dont have the luxury of refusing to ride in inclement weather, which is just as well or wed never have had the tingling pleasure of watching them get battered black and blue on Sunday in the great Ghent-Wevelgem smashfest. Humdinger is not an overused word but it is perfect for the bleak, beautiful scenes that embraced our senses during the race. There was one particular shot with still about...
View the full article
View the full article
