Last weekend, I rode a Gran Fondo in Luxemburg, called “Jean Nelissen Classic” – next year, it will be dubbed “DTC Luxemburg Classic”.
They redrew the course to be more challenging than ever and since I still remember the (hard) ride I had in 2009, I was certain it was going to hurt.
And of course, the forecast was good all week, so it rained at the start Saturday morning.
Plus, it was quite chilly – especially after the near 30 degrees Celsius we had earlier this week – so I left with three layers of clothing.
Since Paula was accompanying me along the route – not the complete ride, but we’d meet every 25-30 kilometers – I could easily get rid of the extra clothing later on.
In the end, I didn’t, because it stopped raining, but it remained chilly throughout the day.
Even worse, I managed to crash on the first descent, a dark, slippery and narrow forest road.
I fell on my left side again, adding more galls and bruises to the barely fainted ones from last month.
On top of that, my handle bar tried to pierce my right knee and that became quite annoying throughout the day.
Although the damage was not too bad, I descended like a sissy after that, being passed by people walking their dog…
The ascents followed one after the other, without any “in between” to speak of and the percentages were demanding.
Often near half of the 250 meter altimeter gain in a 4 kilometer long climb was achieved in little over 500 meters.
During one of those steep passages through a tree covered area, I saw a guy being resuscitated.
Some 10 minutes later, an ambulance made its way down the narrow road and I also saw a trauma helicopter.
I don’t know how long they were resuscitating him when I passed and I don’t know whether or not he made it – it didn’t look good.
Anyway, despite my strong desire to quit, I finished the ride just like I did the Peter van Petegem Classic.
The Jean Nelissen Classic is not labeled “toughest ride of the Benelux” and “similar to Les Trois Ballons” for nothing.
But in my personal opinion, the search for more altimeters has also made it a more dangerous ride.
Both when slippery and wet like Saturday, but probably even more so when blistering hot, which it was only 4 days before.
The views – when not covered by the dense tree population – are great, even spectacular at times and without any mishaps, it’s a great Gran Fondo.
Garmin registration here.
