OK, with photo this time

This is not good, not only am I having to watch people have enormous fun smashing their guns on the pave….some are choosing to do it sans gloves!  I feel about 3ft tall and standing in a puddle of piss….Chapeau!

I’ll include a photo which is much less artistic, but is of my rental bike, a Pavé Cycling Classics Cyfac as you guys have been discussing.

@Rigid if we are comparing our Carrefour de l’Arbre porn stashes, here’s take memory of Boonen rockin’ the pavé… And O’Grady in pre-race recon…

And let’s not forget this guy…

It is such a good shot (by that pro photographer who followed us around all day), I’ve almost forgiven you for coming past me in the Roubaix velodrome to take line honours…

What’s the word for the uninitiated? WHatever, they will never understand the need to vacation in Belgium in the early Spring.

Here is my entry in the best cycling photo ever (at least it would have been if some c@$# hadn’t put their arm out to take a photo)

Gianni, Gianni, you are pushing all my buttons whilst pushing this drug of choice for The V community. We who sit here after the first snow trying to figure out how to stay fit and make a living that will support more that 3 bikes and a habit are barely holding it together reading your Belgium bike porn stories…

So here are the choices:

1) sign up with the credit card, do not tell Mrs. Wife, get on plane and never come back.

2) sell said wife, pay half with credit card, get on plane and hope interpole is not waiting at the Belgium border.

3) wait like a dog in front of its empty bowl for the new Keepers Tour to finish so that you can bask in the images/stories of the glory/pain/fun that you all will have…

I think the choice is clear? So jealous but happy for all who get to go!

Yeah, it’ll be hell without the wife for a bit, but we’ll survive.

So here are the choices:

1) sign up with the credit card, do not tell Mrs. Wife, get on plane and never come back.

2) sell said wife, pay half with credit card, get on plane and hope interpole is not waiting at the Belgium border.

3) wait like a dog in front of its empty bowl for the new Keepers Tour to finish so that you can bask in the images/stories of the glory/pain/fun that you all will have…

I think the choice is clear? So jealous but happy for all who get to go!

@Buck Rogers

@Dan_R

Cyfac – will be available at the Cafe Roubaix Bicycle Studio in Cochrane, AB. Coming soon! Fuck I shit you not. Come and buy two of them, even three. I need to ride the Keepers Tour, so buy a BH too.

Gianni, great props and the guys. Beer, Lions, and Classics – FUCK YEAH!

Are you stocking Cyfac bikes or do you measure and order for the custom made machines? I didn’t know if they sold stock sizes.

Cyfac does do stock sizes. Although, the steel custom frames are tres bonne. Right now it look like I will be doing BH, Cinelli, Marinoni, and Time to start. Cyfac is carreid by the Time distributor, so I will have access to them. I will see how my initial stock goesd before bringing in a demo, but I like them. A lot.

@Tobin
I will be all over the posts when I open, so stay tuned. Oh, and while you’re at it, get the word out to your riding buddies, etc! Please & thank you. (Saw you liked the FB page -thanks)

Haha, I was only kidding about you actually having a bike for me. But the VMH and I will be on your island for a few days in 2014 before joining her family on another island, and I’m serious about a ride and beer drinking. So we’ll have to chat about it when the times comes.

Cyfac – will be available at the Cafe Roubaix Bicycle Studio in Cochrane, AB. Coming soon! Fuck I shit you not. Come and buy two of them, even three. I need to ride the Keepers Tour, so buy a BH too.

Gianni, great props and the guys. Beer, Lions, and Classics – FUCK YEAH!

Are you stocking Cyfac bikes or do you measure and order for the custom made machines? I didn’t know if they sold stock sizes.

!&@^@%@* where were you when I was proof reading this? I was a little altered when I was doing that as it happened during the US election results.

@mcsqueak

I’ve got you covered, Maui-wise.

Yeah, with multiple stops and hotels, dragging bike box around becomes tedious quickly.

I second Gianni’s thoughts here. I ended up renting a Cyfac from the Pave’ boys for my ride in France in June and it was a BEAUTY! They requested all my measurements ahead of time, came to my hotel and personally fitted it to me the day before the ride and then picked it up at my hotel after the ride. UNBELIEVABLE service! And all for cheaper than it would have cost to fly with it. Top-fooook’in notch service!

Yeah as much as I would want to experience these great rides on *my* bike, the thought of traveling logistics for it would frustrate the fuck out of me.

And remember that Frank nearly lost his bike in transit?? No thank you!

When I’m lucky enough to travel for rides, I think I’ll bring my saddle and pedals, and leave the rest at home.

(Got that Gianni? Maui 2014 – you better have a sweet bike setup waiting for me, even though we’ve never met…)

That is very useful to know…

William’s mother-in-law was chef for the git.

This sentence makes it appear as if she only cooked for Frank.

She also made great meals for the rest of us as well.

Probably down to you guys in the states not getting enough French in school.  One doesn’t pronounce the last letter of a word so it’s “gitte” not “git”.   Pronounced jeet starting like Jalaber.

Hi Gianni,

What a pleasant surprise. Thank you for your kind words.

I’ve just finished gluing some cross tubs on for a race this weekend. I was afraid of not looking Flemish if I didn’t turn up with tubs.

Can’t wait for next April.

Ride the crest!

William

I don’t know who you are, but stop impersonating William.  This email is far too polite, there is no swearing, and it isn’t ALL IN CAPITALS to signify how fucken LOUD his voice is for this to be truly from our William.  It also isn’t interspersed with Fook!  or Let’s boogie! or You cooonts! all the way through.  He must have turettes. 

“Ride the crest”… awesome.  I’m with @McEnroe Mark…. my hands HURT all the way through to October.  Now, I have to really concentrate to feel the pain, but it is still there, deep down in the joints of my fingers… I call it bone bruising.  But searching for it is worth it… it brings a smile to my face everytime I remember that mad week in April.  I also remember Alex V and William cycling effortlessly from the back of the bunch to the front, back again, forwards… marshalling, corralling, berating, cajoling all us pave first timers to keep going and keep the rubber side down on the cobbles

Good article Gianni… and great memories

@Dan_R

Cyfac – will be available at the Cafe Roubaix Bicycle Studio in Cochrane, AB. Coming soon! Fuck I shit you not. Come and buy two of them, even three. I need to ride the Keepers Tour, so buy a BH too.

Gianni, great props and the guys. Beer, Lions, and Classics – FUCK YEAH!

You are carrying Cyfac at your new shop? Far out. Can’t wait to see some photos of the place. You better sell some stuff and come on the Keepers Tour. Call it a bidness expense.

I second Gianni’s thoughts here.  I ended up renting a Cyfac from the Pave’ boys for my ride in France in June and it was a BEAUTY!  They requested all my measurements ahead of time, came to my hotel and personally fitted it to me the day before the ride and then picked it up at my hotel after the ride.  UNBELIEVABLE service!  And all for cheaper than it would have cost to fly with it.  Top-fooook’in notch service!

Classic!!

Ah, those two smiling faces, one laughing with us, the other laughing at us, but hiding it serenely – such a great trip, will miss it terribly second time around

Sorry Fronk, but   :o(

William’s mother-in-law was chef for the git.

This sentence makes it appear as if she only cooked for Frank.

She also made great meals for the rest of us as well.

@Bianchi Denti

Thanks for checking in lads. Yeah, words fail to communicate the awesomeness of finally being in Belgium and Northern France in early April. It was a first for me. It’s also cool William and Alex are ready to do it again too. Maniacs.

Mark, you go a lot of nice photos and a great blog. Well done.

http://www.cruisingthecobbles2012.blogspot.com

It literally took months for the pain to completely dissolve from my fingers, and this was an unusual pain.  Unusual in that I welcomed it.  Every clenching fist formed white knuckles and big, silly grin.

This is a true, genuine experience – an experience that will not be discovered or enjoyed anywhere else in Belgium.  Yes, to be there is grand – amazing, but to be there with Alex and William as your hosts is truly remarkable.  Even if you only go once, you’ll be riding high for years to come.

I cannot rave from any higher of a cobbled climb than that – you’ll wake up more impressed and inspired than the day before.  You’ll leave a changed person from the new friendships and the vivd memories, forever riding the crest, in the big ring, of course.

Viva Pavé Cycling Classics!  Thank you, Alex and William!

William and Alex are great guys who couldn’t do enough for us at Keepers Tour 2012. This trip made me truly appreicate the sport of cycling. The experience was even better for sharing it with like-minded souls. I still can’t believe what we got up to in just 8 days.

If any of you have ever considered doing the cycling trip of a lifetime, make KT 2013 that trip!

Do it! Sign up now! You WILL NOT regret it.

I should amend the post, you are not an ex-racer. I hope you are giving it to those Belgians out on the CX course.

Cyfac – will be available at the Cafe Roubaix Bicycle Studio in Cochrane, AB. Coming soon! Fuck I shit you not. Come and buy two of them, even three. I need to ride the Keepers Tour, so buy a BH too.

Gianni, great props and the guys. Beer, Lions, and Classics – FUCK YEAH!

You are carrying Cyfac at your new shop? Far out. Can’t wait to see some photos of the place. You better sell some stuff and come on the Keepers Tour. Call it a bidness expense.

What a pleasant surprise. Thank you for your kind words.

I’ve just finished gluing some cross tubs on for a race this weekend. I was afraid of not looking Flemish if I didn’t turn up with tubs.

Can’t wait for next April.

Ride the crest!

William

Gianni, great props and the guys. Beer, Lions, and Classics – FUCK YEAH!

Those dudes are the BOMB!  I cannot wait to get on a week long trip with them!  Just awesome!

Nice one, Gianni!

Just back from a mid-day 1 hour cross ride. I sincerely hope that for the rest of my life I’m able to fit in mid-day cycling, since it just makes the work day that much easier and more productive. Work, ride, work…home to the VMH.

So, I guess you guys now know the answer to how high Johan goes in shaving the Guns…

Those steel frames look gorgeous….and the article made me jealous I am not attending the 2013 Tour!

(I thought the “Open” in the name of Vittoria tyres meant they were clinchers n’est pas?)