The UCI Road World Championships came to Limburg in the Netherlands in September 2012. A number of Not Possibles signed up for the Toertocht or Cyclosportive.
Thomas and some of his riding buddies came all the way from Aberdeen to join Christine, David, Richard, Rogier and I, along with some 7,000 other enthusiasts, at the start in Landgraaf. We were all looking forward to riding over the Worlds course . .
and tackling some of the vaunted climbs like the Bemeleberg and the Cauberg.
We rolled over the start line at about 8.20am. We wouldn’t see Thomas and his friends again until the end of the ride. As for myself, this shot is misleading.
By the time I was 10km into the ride I was not looking so happy. I was struggling to keep up with the others. So much so that I began to worry that at the rate I was going, I would not make the time cutoff for the 170km route that we were attempting. Fortunately whatever it was that was making me feel unwell passed, and I caught up to Christine and the rest of the group at the first rest stop. No doubt the waffles there helped!
About halfway into the ride David and I spotted a group of riders sporting the Dutch colours. We picked up the pace and caught up with them. We started chatting a learned that they were members of the Dutch junior team.
We were feeling quite pleased with ourselves for keeping pace with riders from the Dutch national junior squad. That is until they decided it was time to stop dawdling and shot off down the road.
We all made it over the 1,500 meters of climbing, including the iconic Cauberg, which would be the final climb before the finish of the mens’ and womens’ elite races. Fortunately we didn’t have to ride up the Cauberg ten times like the elite racers would have to in their races. When we crossed the finish line I was able to strike the pose I had at the start.
Rogier and I at the finish with our finisher’s certificates and medals.
Lastly here’s the video of this ride in which some of my Not Possibles friends appear.
Old Roots, New Routes 