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Tour of Belgium 1962... It happened like this...
We had been cycling all day through a succession of small towns and
villages in the north of Belgium. While most of the roads and cycle
paths had good surfaces the towns and villages all had pave on most of
the streets. Pave for those who don’t know are cobbles with attitude!
Not only do they rattle the fillings out of your teeth they also
rattle your teeth loose. Just make sure you don’t put your tongue out or
you will lose it. After a while the rattling also numbs the brain as
well as various other body parts.
That is my excuse and I am sticking to it.
As we cycled into one small town (Aarschot I think) we noticed that
there were more flags than usual and bunting was strung across the
street. Further along, the pavements were very busy but no vehicles were
around except for some cars with loudspeakers playing music and some
advertising floats. The place was obviously en fete.
As we continued we attracted some cheers and applause which puzzled us
somewhat but then we noticed that everyone was looking at something
behind us. Just then a couple of cyclists tore past at a great rate and
I glanced behind to see what was causing the interest. Horror! About 50
yards behind us was kerb to kerb peleton in a mass of wheels and
flailing legs. (No helmets).
As we were a couple of feet out from the kerb there was no time to do
anything other than freeze and form a kind of traffic island. This
flailing mass flashed past on both sides and by some miracle there was
no spectacular pile up. Fortunately the crowd regarded the whole thing
as a great joke and moved up to let us scuttle into safety. I think they
regarded us as part of the day’s entertainment.
After a couple more circuits by the peleton traffic resumed as normal
and people began drifting away so we assume it was safe to continue on
our way shaken but intact. OK it was only a local kermesse but exciting
all the same.
These races commonly called kermesse tho’ the term actually refers to a
fete or fair were a kind of training ground for aspiring professionals.
The term refers mostly to Belgium and northern France where the racing
is mostly on pave which makes Mull roads look like a billiard table. The
competitors did this on lightweight bikes every weekend with some mid
week races as well. Remember these were professionals who had to win to
eat. Prize money was not high and consistent wins were needed just to
exist. Success here however could lead on to major team places in big
races so the stakes were high.
BB
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