Let's face it, as a cyclist in the states you get no respect. Lance Armstrong won the tour the last three years and the most common phrase I here is, "Hey you know that ... unmm what's his name? Armstrong fella?" America is a society dominated my the big three (baseball, basketball and football) with the biggest spectacle of all these sporting events being the Superbowl. This weekend I went to the Superbowl ... the Superbowl of Belgium known as the Ronde Van Vlaanderen (RVV), or the Tour of Flanders.

    The RVV is the biggest one-day sporting event in Belgium. There were reviews of previous years on TV each night. People were talking about whom the winner was going to be, what teams have the best riders, and the form of the riders. Even my local baker commented about the inclusion of the infamous Koppenberg cobbled climb after it's exclusion for the past 14 years. Belgium is a cycling crazy nation and the Tour of Flanders is there Superbowl.

    The coolest part of this Belgian Superbowl, and every other bicycle race, is the fact that it's brought to the people. It passes their homes, work, and schools. There are no tickets being sold. You just show up along the course and cheer your favorite riders with them only being at sometimes inches away from your face. I decided to travel to Brugge, the start of the RVV, and experience this classic race for myself.

    I never though being on the injured list would be good but today I was able to have a little silver lining on my situation. As the whole team was going to France to race I was able to stay behind and watch the start of the RVV. Let me tell you this was something else.

    So I arrive at the city center and make my way to the Market Square. I can see team buses in the distance. The Market Square is surrounded by a tall wire fence to keep the public away from the riders as they prepare for the race. I start to walk around to the warm-up lane that connects the riders' preparation area and the city center for the official start. As I approach all I see is a wall of people. I try to go toward the start of the race, but it's a no go, there are well over 5 people deep watching the warm-up area and it's solid people along the sidewalk. I decide to go see what I can around the rider preparation area.

    I walk around the fence and take a few pictures of the team bikes and the riders getting ready. I see the Landbouwkrediet-Colnago team bus and decide to see if my friend Jeff Louder is around. He is third year pro with the team and started his Belgian racing career at the Cycling Center. Alas he is still in his bus and I don't want to bug him before such a big race so I go on around the preparation area.

    It was of some note you could tell who the favorites were by how deep people were crowed around the fence. For instance USPS, Domo, Aqua & Sapone, had at least three people deep all around. Where as the smaller teams had only a handful of people around the fence.

    I make my way to the end and start my way back. As I am near the Landbouwkrediet-Colnago bus I see a guy go through the fence. Then another guy, and another. Turns out that someone undid part of the fence to get in and people were just walking in. I think about what to do and say to my self, "When in Rome..." and start for the opening. Just my luck as I approach a security guard stops the person three in front of me and stands watch at the gate. Oh well, guess today isn't my lucky day.

    I make my way back around to the USPS bus and decide what I can see. As I approach I can see some of the riders and then all of a sudden I see the OLN cameras and reporters. I move in to see what's going on and then all of a sudden Lance Armstrong appears. There is huge eruption from the crowd with cheers. I move nearer and take a few pictures with my camera (note: if they use this interview in OLN's coverage look for my Sony digital camera above some old ladies head).

    After Lance is done with the interview I hear some cheers in very good English, it turns out to be from a couple from San Francisco. I talk to them for a little while and cheer for some of our fellow US countrymen. Because of our cheers a photographer approaches us from Cycle Sport. Turns out he is also from San Francisco. We all exchange some small talk before he has to get on with his task at hand and the couple is off to see the rest of the race as the start is fast approaching.

    I decide to go see if Jeff Louder is out of his team bus and walk to the other side of the preparation area. This is when I notice that the break in the fence is still there and no security guard. I make my move and get on the inside. Unfortunately just about every rider had left for the start and all that was left were a couple of team vehicles. So I decide to take a few pictures and head to the start.

    As I am leaving I see the USPS buss start to move and then stop. A crowd starts to head to the bus and I move in to see what is going on. The door opens and it's Lance himself. The crowd goes while, he has it bike brought to him by a mechanic and the crowd, 10+ people deep, separates and he rides off. I have had Belgians compare cyclists like Johan Museeuw to God. Well if Johan is God, I guess that would make Lance something of a Moses and I just saw the parting of the Red Sea.

    I make my way to the start, but it's to late, people are walking back to their homes, work or school. So I decide to continue toward the start area to see what it's all about. I end up getting a race program and going to my favorite Brugge coffee shop for some mourning Java. I talk to gentleman next to my about who his picks for the race are and what it's going to be like having the Koppenberg back in the race.

    The race was awesome to watch and I suggest you definitely watch it when it hit's OLN. In other news my collarbone is almost fully healed and my ribs are going to be better in week. I am hoping to be riding my bike on the road soon as the two to three hour trainer rides are starting to get boring. Everyone keep well.

    -Gregg Germer-