non-fixie 

Probably my favorite C&V cycling event is the RetroRonde van Vlaanderen. Because the Tour of Flanders speaks to my imagination like few other races. Because Fiorenzo "the Tuscan of Flanders" Magni won it three times in a row. Because I always meet old friends there. Because I always make new friends there. And perhaps the most important reason: it's Belgian.

We arrived in Oudenaarde, home of De Ronde, on Friday. The atmosphere was relaxed, and the swap meet was gearing up.







On Saturday morning we registered ourselves and got our "race" numbers. Mrs non-fixie had brought her Zieleman, and I had my Union with me:



Someone had brought a very nice tandem ...



... and others had brought bikes for the whole family:



Two British teams even brought their own team cars. With plates from the '79 Tour de France and '84 Giro d'Italia. Nice touch!

non-fixie 

On Sunday morning we got to the venue early. To see the officials getting ready ...



To see the riders arrive with their steeds ..





Getting ready for the official start. Fellow member Elev12k is in there somewhere:



Traditionally, the first bit is through the center of Oudenaarde. Another fellow BF member, CMAW straddling his lovely Bertin, is about to wave hello:

non-fixie 

The ride contained everything one would expect.

Like cobblestones. Lots of cobblestones ...



Hills that beat us. This is the Oude Kwaremont.



Controls manned by clergymen:



And wonderful food stops:







And nice bikes, of course. This was easily my favorite, a lugless Jack Taylor, which belongs to a lovely Irish lady:



The day ended with another tradition: the election of the "most ravishing rider". This year the prize went to Alex Wauters, a.k.a. Flandrien Cyrille.



He is one of those enthusiasts that we keep running into at various European events. Usually he is on his Van Hauwaert bicycle (hence his nickname), but this time he brought a beautiful and very original La Française Diamant.

Mrs non-fixie pictured him is his summer jersey:



A great weekend was had by all.

juvela

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yet another outstanding non-fixie ewent wreport

sobering to look at the La Francaise Diamant cycle of Alex Wauters with its scrubber brake

expect this would mean " a whole lot of walking "

was reminded recently that there is yet another Diamant marque in addition to the DDR one and the payes bas one

it belonged to A. Gresvig of Oslo, Norway -



do not as yet know period of operation


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Wildwood 

Belgian, bikes, beers and bergs........

Wait a minute........I thought @non-fixie was Dutch? Not that a Hollander can't enjoy bikes, beers, bergs and ...... the locals.



Super report, BTW.

juvela

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yes, but he never speaks kindly of those pesky flanderlanders when it comes to footie contests...

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Sir_Name 

Lovely! Thanks for sharing, seems like paradise.

billytwosheds 

So cool. Just oozing style and class.

People who are worried that heritage rides and classic bike interest is on the way out...can't be correct. Plenty of younger energy seen here.

CMAW 

I'm reasonably familiar with the 'Flemish Ardennes' region so I'll add to non-fixie 's report that the RR guys designed a very clever route, often scenic and picturesque, combining race highlights (like Kwaremont) with less obvious corners of Flandersland. It's been a while since I last participated so the addition of a few gravel stretches was new to me — extra fun!

non-fixie 

You'd think so, wouldn't you? But in Alex' case I doubt it. Apart from being one of the nicest people I've ever met, he is also one of the strongest riders in the C&V crowd. I ran into him at Eroica Germania a couple of years ago, where he had stopped to participate, while on his way from Moorslede, Belgium, to Milan, Italy (on his 1908 bike!) to participate in a retro version of Milan-San Remo.

As close as I'm likely to get.

True. Thanks for mentioning that. And the Flemish Ardennes have a quality not seen elsewhere. One aspect is that you can often see the riders in front of you, but you know that catching up is another matter ...

Elev12k

Yes, it was awesome. Very nice weather :-) A bit hot, especially the open sections. Liked the climbs Oude Kwaremont and Rampe. I did a section of the 120km route. That had more challenging climbs. The Batuvus behaved really well. No issues with the 80s cross tubulars. They are disintegrating, but holding air.

non-fixie 

It was nice to meet again after quite of few years of Covid and other mishaps. I hope your friend Niels enjoyed himself as well, and perhaps we may welcome him as a new member?

And about that Batavus of yours, is there a thread on it somewhere? Not a bike we get to see very often ...

Elev12k

Niels liked it a lot, but I doubt whether he will be member of the vintage classic retro scene. Modern bikes, motorbikes are his thing normally. I understood the Vittorio I lend him performed well and he were able to get a good position on the bike.

My Batavus a couple years earlier in snowy conditions >>