It’s the first Sunday of March. Traditionally, on that day, the priest of the parish of Klein-Sinaai in Flanders, Belgium is blessing cyclists and their trusted steeds. We at Wildhood had the idea of organising ou first adventure of 2020 that Sunday. A gravel/adventure season opener, giving the adventurers amongst us the opportunity to get dirty and blessed.

The day starts out early. Getting up at 5:30 am, wiping the sleep from my eyes, I first checked the weather report. We had a lot of rain these last weeks and the track will most likely be quite muddy and slippery. It promises to be a windy but quite sunny day. Shower, putting on bibs, base layer, jersey, jacket. Layers, layers, layers….Should I take a rain coat? Let’s. This Belgian weather can be somewhat unpredictable. All dressed up and ready to go, I take the road.

Arriving at Sint-Niklaas, boasting the biggest marketplace of Europe, is where I find Manuvèl, the reg finest cycling cafe in the area. It’s 7:15 am, and it started raining. Damn. Cyclists are trickling in at Manuvèl and are being treated with a coffee and acroissant, looking outside and wishing the rain would go away. We know each other or at least we know most of the faces. In these three/two years since the gravel craze arrived at our shores, a small community of likeminded souls has formed. Everyone’s is quite excited the season is starting again, although it must be said, we gravelists never really stop but still most events are situated in spring/summer. Most of us will ride the 90k loop though, it promises to be quite slippery and muddy. Only a couple of brave riders are choosing the 130k loop.

8:00 am, let’s put on that raincoat and face the road like a Flandrien! We’re a bunch of about 8 adventurers. Slowly we’re leaving urban Sint-Niklaas behind us and getting into the Waasland. “Waas” refers to the soggy soil of the area or is connected to the Celtic word “wasu”. Even though drained since a long time, the soggy soil is never far away. The track flows through the muddy fields and forests where it seems the rain has been washing away each last bit of gravel, leaving behind only the wet soil. Slippery tracks are the name of the game. But once you get the feel of it and become one with the mud - and you do - you know that the only way forward is to keep on pedalling through the puddles and mud. My feet get wet almost immediately as I’m getting stuck in the mud and have no other option than wade through a puddle of muddy water. After about an hour of cycling, the rain stops and the sun is slowly burns through, warming us and putting a smile on our faces.

At about halfway the track, we arrive at the Grotto of our Lady of the Cyclists where the priest will bless our bikes. The priest is passionate about cycling and, proudly, he is showing us some pieces of this collection of cycling jerseys, autographed by classic cyclists as Merckx but also by the young ones, like Van der Poel and Van Aert. He clearly loves what he does and sharing it with anyone who wants to have a listen. After his speech, we get blessed. No harm should befall us for the rest of the gravel season! Inside the church, a small museum has been installed with even more cycling jerseys. I should come back another day, when I have some more time to look at all this history hanging in here. As we’re already halfway, we deserve a little treat. Facing the church, is the village cafe. A hot chocolate and some apple pie will do the trick and give us the energy for the remainder of our adventure.

The second part of the loop is no less muddy or slippery. The apple pie might have given me some energy, but still the pedalling through the mud drains a lot of your energy. But luckily, the sun is out, friends are cursing the mud, we’re getting dirty. We’re having fun. The track is quite varied as well which makes the ride all that better. Wetlands are giving away to forests who are giving away to fields who are giving away in turn to villages who are giving away to wetland yet again. We pedal forward, stopping now and then along the road for a sip of our water bottle and a snack, supplying us with all the energy to make it back to Manuvèl! At last the fields are giving away to the suburbs of Sint-Niklaas. The city is a friendly sight after ploughing through the mud for about 90 km.

Getting back to Manuvèl, we are welcomed by the friendly patron and in exchange for our remaining tickets we get a bowl of tomato soup with grated cheese and a beer! Delicious! Seated in the cafe, we, of course, complain about the mud and how slippery it was, but looking around me, all I can see are happy faces, ready to face another day in the saddle. Dirty Blessings was a perfect season opener.

Words: The Bearded Mamil

Photos: Philippe Michiels