Koppenberg/Muur cycling

Road Cycling: Koppenberg, Muur van Geraardsbergen/Kapelmuur, Denderstreek
Distance: 40k
After another night sleeping in the car, it was quite easy to get up early and negotiate the road closures around Oudenaarde as the atmosphere and anticipation built in advance of today's professional race. My target was more modest: to head to Melden and do the unique Koppenberg climb in its entirety after fallers had prevented me doing so yesterday. I did a little warm-up through the village, then was straight onto the climb - gentle at first, then brutal steep cobbles through the trees. I stayed in the saddle, churning it over and getting to the top. Great to do it before the race came through - all the barricades already set up and the atmosphere building. There was one more thing to do before watching the race: ride the even more legendary Muur in Geraardsbergen. This was the climax of the Ronde for many years, but was controversially removed (essentially for commercial reasons) two years ago. It's a fair trek over, but I had one of the indigenous Mattentart pies for breakfast, then headed through the town towards the bridge over the Dender. Then the climb starts - unique and intriguing, it is basically an amalgam of various old cobbled roads and alleys. Past the church, then left up smooth cobbles, then narrowing and twisting right to a very narrow and very steep section (moss between the stones). It then eases before kicking up again for the final section. The word iconic is overused, but this cobbled bend with the Church at the top is one of the most famous images in cycling. I loved this climb, and enjoyed the views from the top (very light drizzle) before heading back to town for a steady warm-down along superb cycle paths by the banks of the Dender river. These took me out into quintessential Flandrian countryside: tranquil and ultra-relaxing. Later, I watched the race over lunch in a Brakel bar before heading up to watch it live on the Valkenberg.