Today is unusual because we plan to visit a town for the second time, Ypres, or Leper. Depending on the language you speak. It is a wonderfully scenic town plus I am determined to find and ride the Kemmelberg cobbled climb. I found a Ride with GPS route that is labeled Kemmelberg Short, must get me to the climb? I am hoping so. We arrive in town and find a local side street that has free parking and is only 6-8 blocks from the “Centrum”. Easy walk for Vera and my GPS route looks to be close as well.
Off we both go on a cool, partly sunny, and windy day. This year, it looks days like this is the best weather we are going to get, lots of rain days so far. From the car I find the GPS route and it seems to be leading me along a similar roads we drove a few days ago. I see a variety of familiar scenic views, so this is encouraging. What isn’t encouraging is how hard the effort seems. I hear some telltale squeaks; I realize the front disc brake is dragging some. Not ideal but not bad enough to stop for a minor fix.
As I ride along I find and get a chance to stop and spend more time at a few of the WW 1 monuments. Plus, the Go Pro is back in action so I can record some of todays fun.
Soon, I come to the town of Kemmel, ride through and find a lady’s local bike squad and team car camped out for a short break in town, fun. I make a few route mis turns but get back on course and ride up a paved road we drove two days ago. The actual left turn to the berg is about 1 kilometer past where we turned last visit.
I make the left turn, still paved, and come across a elevation sign saying 17% grade now. Humm, a bit further and there is a Chalet on the left that is probably rocking when bike races come through here. 1000 meter past the Chalet and the cobbles start. Now is the time to make that brake adjustment. I stop and a local guy who was sight-seeing with friends comes over to add some assistance. He speaks English so that makes things a bit easier. Brake adjustment done with his help, and we take a few moments to talk bike racing and who’s winning and the general state of the current races, fun to share knowledge and experience. A few thousand miles from home. What I also realize is this sector is fully open to anyone, including vehicles, as I see a variety of cars driving up and down the berg, interesting.
The berg starts calling my name. I start off, easiest gear immediately, 42/42. Not an easy climb but seems doable. I get about halfway up and I hear a car behind me, so I move to the far right and allow them to pass. The cobbles are not the worst I’ve ridden but the grade is getting intense. I lost some pace when the car past and now I am zig zagging and then I unclip and start to walk. I am about 50 meters from the top and realize I didn’t start the Go Pro at the base, I turn it on now, walk to the top and then descend the longer, seems less steep but equally rough cobbles downside. My descending skills are a bit lacking on rough cobbles, how do these racers do it! Amazing.
The ride back takes longer than I expected, traversing another quaint, small town, some farm fields, more grave site monuments, I see a pair of horses we passed driving two days ago and then arrive at the arch entry though the wall that at one time surrounded the city of Ypres. (The story is the town was destroyed in WW 2 and then totally rebuilt. Of course that happened back in the 1950’s or so)
Vera and I meet up at the appointed location, Fields of Flanders Museum. I stash the bike in the car, and we are off to find some late afternoon dinner at an unassuming pizza and pasta place just off the town square. We are about the only ones in the place, cold, dreary day and we are well before the normal afternoon drinks time. One of the best pasta meals I have ever had, Fruita de Mar and a Leffe dark beer, life is good.
We decided to drive back to the Kemmelberg so Vera could see the real thing. There are some great views out over the valley and a tall monument at the top. Good place to stop and grab some pictures and video. Back down the other side, the car rattling like crazy and into Lille. It’s time to do laundry before we leave Lille tomorrow and move on to the 3rd location of the trip, Liege.
Once we find good WIFI, I hope to upload more pictures and video so stay tuned for that.
Pat- Its been fun reading about your adventures! Thanks for the photos and level of details!
Thanks Jordan, it’s fun to share the adventures, hope all is good with you.