Baubles, dunes and trains
5:50pm, 3rd Jan 2025 | 1 Comments
Blog by Yorkshire Mince Pie
| More by this blogger
| More bloggers
We've tried to go to Koksijde before. In 2016 it was the same weekend as gent 6 and we got velodrome tickets for Friday and Saturday, and cross tickets for Sunday. It snowed on the Friday while we were in cafe de karper (ilio keisse's dad's bar) and the wind on Sunday was strong enough for the race to be cancelled*. We got to the car park and turned round, although we did see Quinten Hermans in the services on our way to an impromptu tourist day in Bruges and then an interesting ferry crossing home.
Today we tried again. It wasn't windy, but it was bloody cold. Everything was frozen over in the car park when we left the hotel. When I booked the hotel just off the motorway it was in case we needed to drive to races, but then we started researching train options which are more relaxing and give more scope for gluhwein
the warmth of gluhwein is important
I found some baubles in the hotel reception, but was still on the lookout for something more impressive.
I found this at Gent Sint Pieters as we waited for our train.
We got a nice sunrise, a ticket inspector wondering why so many people were going to Koksijde until the penny dropped, and we arrived at koksijde station to a waiting shuttle bus to take us to the course. Perfect!
And at the roundabout where we were dropped off I spotted these.
No new duck hats today, I've got enough, although I'm gutted I didn't find the source of the Koksijde 2025 scarves. And not just because an extra layer would have been nice
These races are far less drunken than Diegem. There's still a party tent but fewer people who are just there to drink. And it's much easier to move around between different spots to watch the race too.
The shuttle back to the station got us there 10 minutes before the train (I'd been a bit worried that if we missed it it would be an hour til the next one on a cold platform) and we got a bit of sunset.
We're now in a bistro near the station before getting the bus back to the hotel, and tomorrow works on the train too
Cross watching is surprisingly tiring. Being outside, standing up, all day, trying to move enough to stay warm, walking up and down sand dunes, standing and trying to stay upright on strangely angled slopes. I think we'll be glad of a quiet day on Monday once we've done three consecutive days!
*I saw a post on social media this morning raving about the 2016 race, and I had to double check that the race they meant was 2015. Which I also remember watching, on tv, from gran canaria. I don't often remember the races I've watched on tv in so much detail, but it was the afternoon after mum's funeral and I remember just flopping on a sofa and even Dad watching it.
Today we tried again. It wasn't windy, but it was bloody cold. Everything was frozen over in the car park when we left the hotel. When I booked the hotel just off the motorway it was in case we needed to drive to races, but then we started researching train options which are more relaxing and give more scope for gluhwein
the warmth of gluhwein is important I found some baubles in the hotel reception, but was still on the lookout for something more impressive.
I found this at Gent Sint Pieters as we waited for our train.
We got a nice sunrise, a ticket inspector wondering why so many people were going to Koksijde until the penny dropped, and we arrived at koksijde station to a waiting shuttle bus to take us to the course. Perfect!
And at the roundabout where we were dropped off I spotted these.
No new duck hats today, I've got enough, although I'm gutted I didn't find the source of the Koksijde 2025 scarves. And not just because an extra layer would have been nice
These races are far less drunken than Diegem. There's still a party tent but fewer people who are just there to drink. And it's much easier to move around between different spots to watch the race too.
The shuttle back to the station got us there 10 minutes before the train (I'd been a bit worried that if we missed it it would be an hour til the next one on a cold platform) and we got a bit of sunset.
We're now in a bistro near the station before getting the bus back to the hotel, and tomorrow works on the train too
Cross watching is surprisingly tiring. Being outside, standing up, all day, trying to move enough to stay warm, walking up and down sand dunes, standing and trying to stay upright on strangely angled slopes. I think we'll be glad of a quiet day on Monday once we've done three consecutive days!
*I saw a post on social media this morning raving about the 2016 race, and I had to double check that the race they meant was 2015. Which I also remember watching, on tv, from gran canaria. I don't often remember the races I've watched on tv in so much detail, but it was the afternoon after mum's funeral and I remember just flopping on a sofa and even Dad watching it.
Got something to say?
To see the comments on this blog, or to add a comment yourself, you need to either sign in or register as a user.
Yorkshire Mince Pie
I have definitely given up marathons this time.Because I have discovered bikes...
Profile | Blog | Other Blogs
