Five Fingers Feast

With such a large Waakzame delegation participating in a Palmares event, it is hardly necessary to post a report. On the other hand, last Saturday's Amstel Gold 'Race' definitely deserves a place in our Annales. So here we go:
THE LOGISTICS

This was the most 'international' Vinger excursion so far, with representatives from the US of A, the UK, CZ and NL. Quite an operation, but we pulled it through. No bikes went lost during air carriage; two consecutive Schiphol pick-ups were successful.

Not everything went flawless, however. There was way too much traffic on the roads to Limburg, so we nearly missed the Friday evening pick-up of our chips, race numbers and other crap. Finding our way in Limburg (by car, that is) wasn't easy. And the Tradition of sleeping in a budget bunker (this time we were accommodated in the Formule 1 in Kerkrade) should perhaps be re-evaluated: none of us slept well and/or long enough, given the Task that was awaiting; yours truly's back was in pieces (thanks, Il Rottie, for the massage--that saved the day).

The weather prompted some hard choices regarding clothing. It was frigging cold early in the morning (just a bit above the freezing point), which called for extra layers everywhere; the afternoon was sunny, which would make those layers excess luggage. Most of us opted for 'travelling light', hence suffered big style during the first hour or so.

The good news was that there was hardly any wind worth mentioning. For polder standards, at least.

THE PARCOURSE

Limburg, even though relatively nearby, was terra incognita for most of us. I am not such an AGR fanatic, which meant that the parcourse was one big surprise to me (as opposed to a Ronde van Vlaanderen, for example). But it was a pleasant suprise: great scenery, nice roads and good climbs. The hills are not as demanding as the Flemish 'hellingen', shorter than those in the Ardennes and certainly not as epic as the monsters dealt with during our Alpine Assault, but there were enough of them to put our legs to the test (the Full Montyⁱ listed 19 'official' climbs, but there were some elevations unaccounted for as well).

Signing and ravitaillage were excellent. Not once did we get lost (which I think could have easily happened over there) or did we run out of liquid and carbs (overdosing on Isofart remains tough, however). The turnout was massive, as expected. The AGR was fully booked; roadies everywhere, never a dull moment.

The Cauberg finish was a mess. We had to queue up and WALK across the finish mat, and then WALK some more to hand in our chips and plates. I guess this took more than half an hour. A serious bummer; certainly not the way to celebrate the end of a long day in the saddle.

THE SQUADRA

I am very pleased with our Collective Performance. The Squadra these days is a bit heterogenous in terms of Scheduling, Ambition and Experience, but there was Unity in Suffering. Helmets off!

In such hilly terrain, it is difficult to keep the Grupetto Compatto. But during many km's, I enjoyed the company of my team mates (and, okay, a couple of wheelsuckers).

The riders will hopefully later share their impressions. Here follow a couple of observations Capitano-style:

RENO

Our Dalesman had somewhat of an interrupted Preparation, and has yet to reach Peak Shape. With that in mind, he did well. The Full Monty was a bridge too far on this day (and a malfunctioning derailler does not help either), but this AGR will certainly motivate Reno in the weeks to come. 150 km of quality ODO in the bank!

(I cannot provide a finish time for Reno, because he registered individually, rather than with the Team.)

IL ROTTIE

The 'mystery guest', hitherto only 'virtually' a Vinger. The enthousiasm, knowledge of the Trade and Determination that have reached us by e-mail proved to be very, very real. He sticked with us for quite a while and even sacrificed the first ravitaillage in order to remain in the paceline. Uphill, however, he had to settle in his own, respectable, rhythm. Eventually he would settle for 200 Amstel km's. According to Il Rottie, those involved a 'good start, a crap middle and a great Finale'. Excellent!

Finish time: 15:44:59 (start of Cauberg, I am not including the bloody walking...)

LE GITAN

Le Gitan again displayed Stamina and Style, and completed the Full Monty as if he had not been on a three-weeks lay-off. For a large part he was in the Vinger train, or caught up at the feeding stations. He seemed confident and not too much impressed with the Suffering thrown at him. Impressive! Somewhere after the third stop (between the 2nd ascent of the Loorberg and the Camerig) I lost him (and Il Boiaⁱ, about whom more below), but we reunited at the Vinger Vessels not much later.

Finish time: 16:55:08

IL BOIA

I never doubted Il Boia's Shape, but on the day you still have to Deliver, which he more than did. The shiny legs took a while to get accommodated to the terrain, but once they were warm, they cut through the Mergelland seemingly effortlessly. By mistake Le Gitan and I left him at the penultimate feeding station, but he time-trialled his way back to the front and then launched himself into the Finale, leaving me speachless for a while (and a bit boxed in on a tricky downhill).
Gone in fifteen seconds...

Finish time: 16:10:45

BRUCO

It is not appropriate to self-review, but I am pretty pleased with my AGR. It was a bit of a test, since I did not specifically train for the 'long run'. Some training guru's say that you can also get endurance by doing short, but regular and intensive, riding. I would say that they are right. However, I struggled in the Finale, at plusminus the point were Il Boia left me. From there on, I was no longer looking pretty on the bike and the climbing was far from fluent (it was okay-ish during the first 170 km or so).

Finish time: 16:18:10