Simon Warren - Hellingen

A ROAD CYCLISTS GUIDE TO BELGIUMS GREATEST CYCLING CLIMBS

SIMON WARREN

Bored of being dragged around Britain while I researched the hills for my 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs books; bored of sandwiches in the car and peering through a rainsoaked windscreen the family decided they would put their collective foot down, Were going abroad next year, somewhere sunny, with a beach!

Um, I thought, good idea. A foreign country, a different culture, exotic food, guaranteed good weather, I know! BELGIUM! Youll love it, the architecture, the steak frites, the beer, and most importantly the hills in Belgium the hills are celebrities.

Just wait until you see The Koppenberg and The Paterberg, oh, and the Mur de Huy, youll gasp in awe at the gradient of the Mur de Huy!

So with the family sold, and the promise of the finest steaks and an untold selection of the finest beer, come August we packed our bags and headed to the continent.

Of course it was no accident we ended up in Belgium; Id been planning the trip in intricate detail for months. It was the logical next step after trawling through Britain for me to tackle the hills of another country. There are no mountains in Belgium, the terrain and the challenges posed by the climbs mirror those in Britain so the Hellingen project began.

Since I fell for cycling in the late 1980s watching the Tour de France on television, Id always wanted to ride the roads my heroes raced on. Its one of the great aspects of cycle sport, its accessibility. If you play football you cant just roll up to Anfield or Wembley for a kick about, but if youre a cyclist you can turn up to Mont Ventoux or the Stelvio Pass any day of the year and live the dream. Albeit in super slow motion and consumed with agony and dripping with sweat.

It was some time before the bergs and cols of Belgium came on to my radar though. Like most newcomers to the sport the Tour was everything, but then as I started to read more magazines, the Tour led to the Giro, which led to the Vuelta, and the plethora of one day races, notably the Classics. There are ten recognized Classics on the cycling calendar, of which five are awarded the status of the Monuments. Of these five, the two greatest are both held in Belgium, the Tour of Flanders and Lige-Bastogne-Lige. What makes these races great are the climbs, the infamous short, steep cobbles of Flanders and the yet steeper but thankfully tarmacked ramps that make up Lige-Bastogne-Lige. Over the past hundred years riders have come and gone, training methods and equipment have advanced, but the roads remain the same. The hills and valleys echo with the heroics of past champions and each year the best cyclists in the world line up dreaming of joining them.

So it is that I find myself documenting not the ordinary climbs of Britain but the famous climbs of Belgium. As you can see on the small graphic below, the country is split in two, horizontally, with Flemish speaking Flanders in the north and French speaking Wallonia in the south. This isnt a book on geography, history or politics so Ill go no further, just remember Flanders North, Wallonia South. Oh and Brussels, or to be exact the Brussels Capital Region, lies in Flanders and is officially bilingual.

I may have been kidding when I said the hills were celebrities but its not far from the truth. Cycling is woven into the very fabric of life in Belgium. If you were asked where the home of cycling is, you may instinctively say France, or Italy, and although they have the two greatest tours, Belgium is its true home. Kids here grow up with posters of cyclists on their walls, not footballers, and to top things off its the home of the undisputed king of cycling, Eddy Merckx. Theres nothing I can add here that hasnt already been written about the great man, he dominated the sport for over a decade and excelled in every discipline, from track racing through the one day races to the Grand Tours. What I can say, though, with almost absolute certainty is that his achievements will never be equalled, hell always be king.

With cycling holding such a place in the nations heart, and the professional riders regarded as heroes among men its no wonder Belgium produces so many champions. The whole country is a giant Petri dish breeding pros; youll always see riders out training, and not just Belgians. For years its been the number one destination for aspiring young cyclists from all corners of the globe. From Australia to Britain, those who have excelled on their domestic scenes know that to make the next step to turn professional they must make it in the melting pot of Belgian racing. Theres a race every day somewhere in this small country and each one is treated like a world championship such is the drive and ambition of those taking part. There are no easy wins, so make it here and youll soon attract attention and be one step closer to making your dream a reality.

Of course only a tiny minority ever find themselves in this position. For the rest of us we just have our dreams, but we can ride the hills. So head to Belgium, rattle up the cobbles and weave across the painted names that adorn the infamous slopes. Once ridden youll have a true understanding of the races and of the effort needed to defeat the Hellingen.

Theres a right and a wrong way to ride up cobbled climbs, so here are a few tips and tricks to ease the pain. The unique set of adversities the stones present you the lack of traction, the constant jarring and the unpredictability of what lies ahead need a special set of skills in order to be conquered.

Lets start with traction. Traction is always a factor when climbing but when the surface under your tyres is as slippery as a snakes tongue then its essential. To ensure the maximum rubber-to-stone contact, try to stay seated to distribute your weight evenly, with a touch of emphasis over the rear wheel where the power is transferred. When you hit a particularly rugged patch, slightly hover over the saddle to preserve the weight distribution but prevent any severe jolts from upsetting your rhythm. When the stones are wet however, or worse still wet and covered in mud, and the gradient hits 20%, well the only thing that will keep you travelling and upright is Lady Luck.

Next try to concentrate on comfort. Focus on your pedalling, keep it smooth and even to counteract the random jerking and keep your speed high so you can simply skim across the stones, rather than linger on them. Another tip is to relax. This seems very strange when your bike is being thrown from left to right, but if you slightly loosen your grip on the bars and relax your arms they become shock absorbers, soaking up every lump and bump. Visualize yourself floating above the surface, an oasis of calm in a storm of chaos. And its this chaos that leads me on to the next essential tip and that is to look ahead.