[CR]Verslag Retro-Ronde

(Example: Framebuilders:Alberto Masi)

From: "Toni Theilmeier" <toni.theilmeier@t-online.de>
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 16:03:43 +0200
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
cc: Joeri Wannijn <joeri.wannijn@crvv.be>
Subject: [CR]Verslag Retro-Ronde

Another quick personal look at yesterday´s marvellous Retro-Ronde which I don´t hesitate to call the best and most fun old bike event I have

attended. Organizers Joeri Wannijn, Bo Decramer, Anne Demulder (sp?) and others, many others, made a wonderful job of this meeting for people riding racing bikes that are at least 20 years old.

Based at the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen (CRVV) in Oudenaarde, Belgium, a museum dedicated to the history of the Tour of Flanders, the

Retro-Ronde was part of a bigger event, with a century the day before as well as on the day, live music, many sightseers and the full resources of the museum at participants´ disposal. Museum entrance on

the day was free, there was a souvenir Tee-shirt, ample "ravitaillering" (food and drink on the way, _and_ after the ride), and

of course a really great atmosphere, and all that for a fee of 10 Euros, 13 US-Dollars.

When I went onto the podium where registration took place near the end

of the registration period, 87 people had entered their names on the list, among them Didi, the Tour de France Devil. Most, I guess around 80, were on bikes that met the requirements. The oldest bike was from the mid-1890s, then it went on through the decades with splendid Automotos, Groene Leeuws, Flandrias, Masis, Team Raleighs, and so on. One could have looked and talked for days. Restauration quality was mixed with many riders obviously chosing parts that were ridable for the event over more original items. Also my son Johannes (12) was one of the two participants to use a fixed wheel AFAIK, with most other single speeds having had freewheels fitted.

The idea that made this event so special was to recreate a historic race in all its details. Whereas other events often are based on buying

and selling or looking, this one was clearly centred round riding, which was great. Blessed with the "holy grounds" of the RVV to begin with, the organizers expanded on this by actually getting a 1976 Volvo

244 in Molteni colours on the road to clear the way for the peloton with loudspeakers at full blast, for cameramen and photographers on old

BMW motorcycles zooming back and forth, a voiture balai in the guise of

a Volkswagen Type 2 Samba, a Citroen 11CV from around 1954 to accompany

the cyclists, policemen in historic uniforms, and so on. Of course there was a distinctive Disney flavour to the whole affair, but always

with a tongue firmly in cheek, and the whole thing became hugely enjoyable.

The ride started with a lap round the historic city centre of Oudenaarde, with the peloton being headed by ´t Brabants Fietsharmonisch Orkest (www.fietsorkest.nl). This is best described as

indescribable, with a band of six in Sgt. Pepper-style uniforms playing

good quality New Orleans style Jazz and other related music, while seated on a sextuplet which they ride through the crowds at walking pace which is no mean feat by itself.

After this lap, the pace got quicker and the general racing atmosphere

motivated many to really let fly. Many bikes performed flawlessly, among them Johannes´ ca. 1940 Sun Manxman and my ca. 1939 FW Evans with Super Champignon three speed, and so we rode behind the Volvo pacing car, being overtaken by the "Press" motorcycles and having the road to

ourselves to play just like the big kids. However, some bikes did not perform well, and being in possession of a 8mm spanner I was asked to tighten the shift lever band nut of a Peugeot which had obviously been

prepared in a hurry. After having packed my stuff again, the other riders were gone, as was my son, and so I rode my Evans alone over cobbles and the infamous Belgian concrete slab roads which give you a jolt every ten meters or so where the slabs meet.

My son then proceeded to miss a Retro Ronde signpost and got lost in the middle of nowhere, while I was racing ahead of him hoping to catch

up. At the control post, a farm where there was free ice cream, milk, and baby rabbits (to stroke, let me add), my son was already being missed because staff at the entrance checked numbers, and my son´s # 45 had not turned up yet. Some minutes later Johannes arrived, safe and sound, and the wiser for a special experience. Having ridden this year

alone 23 centuries he just turned round when noticing all of a sudden there were no more signposts and picked up the correct road after a detour of about 5 km, like he had practised several times on centuries

when we got lost together much nearer to home, in a country where people speak our native language and where our cell phones work. So we

got going again, with a firm belief that we were the last riders, and only noticed at the finish that the Dutch group I had intended to ride

along with had been about 30 seconds behind us.

The weather gave us a break, too, with this "summer´s" constant rain

giving way to brilliant sunshine for exactly the duration of the event.

Before leaving I had packed the car in torrential rain so that I had to

get changed, and the first drops fell again while we stowed the last bags in Oudenaarde for the trip home. Johannes and I had, for various reasons, chosen not to ride the second part of the figure eight course,

and while we enjoyed our food at the museum, our clubmate Frank who had

come along in our car became the fastest rider of the whole event, racing his ca. 1979 Zeus over the cobbles and following the pace car over some of the steepest hills of the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

With black clouds gathering fast, the knowledge that we had little short of 450 km of motoring ahead of us and with a rock group playing that loudly on the museum forecourt that hardly any conversation was possible anyway, we left Oudenaarde hoping that this year´s event, which was called the First Retro Ronde on museum documents, will be followed by issue # 2 soon, neckxt year at the latest.

Toni Theilmeier, Belm, Germany.