Author Archives: Kathryn
La Vuelta a España stage 14
When I originally sat down to decide which Vuelta stages I'd see, I was really torn between going to today's sign on in Bagá or finding a way up the Collada de la Gallina, a first category climb and summit finish. Bagá was an easy place to get to and I absolutely love getting to … Continue reading
La Vuelta a España stage 13
Part of the reason I get to a stage sign on so early is that I'm usually too excited to sleep in and today was no exception. I woke up half an hour before my alarm and forced myself to stay in bed. Torture! And I was still early enough that the sign on podium … Continue reading
La Vuelta a España stage 12
It's been weeks since I last saw the peloton which is far too long, so naturally I rearranged things so that I could catch the final of the year's Grand Tours, the Vuelta a España. Today's stage took the riders over just one category 3 climb in its 164 kilometers and featured a flat … Continue reading
Alexandria, Egypt
The drive from Cairo to Alexandria is long but easy, especially if you've got a private driver which is ridiculously affordable. After driving through the desert, our first stop was to see the catacombs at Kom el-Shoqafa. They were pretty serious about not letting cameras in, which is too bad because I loved exploring the … Continue reading
The Koppenberg & Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen
Another famous Belgian cobblestone climb is the Koppenberg. The name comes from kinderkoppen, or children's heads, as cobblestones are known in Flemish. That's a nice piece of imagery. The iconic hill has been used in Ronde van Vlaanderen over 20 times since the mid 1970s, though it was excluded for 15 years after the … Continue reading
Eneco Tour stage 7
It felt strange to be absent from the sign on this morning but that was the plan all along. We were headed to the Muur, a famous cobblestone hill with an average gradient of 9.3% and a maximum gradient of 19.8%. In other words, it’s steep! The Muur is a fabled climb in the world … Continue reading
Eneco Tour stage 6 La Redoute
After that first lap in Riemst, we jumped in the car and drove to Aywaille so we could see the riders climb La Redoute 3 times. To put it mildly, this is Philippe Gilbert territory. He’s originally from here, his fan club is based here and the climb itself which was recently repaved, thereby covering … Continue reading
Eneco Tour stage 6 sign on & departure
What a tremendous day of cycling! Stage 6 began back in Belgium which meant Fien and I got up early to leave the Netherlands via train and bus before we walked down a residential street that was the official border of Belgium and the Netherlands. All the cars parked in driveways on the right had … Continue reading
Eneco Tour stage 5
I love watching a time trial because it’s several hours of exciting racing on top of watching the riders warm up. Philippe Gilbert rode the course twice in the morning, each time smiling and waving to Fien and I who were of course the only ones there and cheering for him. We yelled … Continue reading
Eneco Tour stage 4
Today’s crowd put yesterday’s to shame in terms of size but definitely not with enthusiasm. It seemed like all of Essen showed up since it was a holiday and yesterday’s stage winner, Zdenek Stybar, lives in town with his girlfriend. Despite the numbers, the crowd only showed signs of life for Stybar, chanting, “Go, Styby, … Continue reading