PhotoGlimmer: Remembering Flanders


We huddled around the laptop in bed this morning, as we have done so many times before.

Watched Fabian ride away this morning, as he has done so many times before.

While we watched, I wondered how the women’s race was shaking out and when or if there would ever be a day when I would get to wake up extra early in the morning to see Marianne Vos and Ellen Van Dijk duke it out.

This time last year I was at Flanders with Specialized-lululemon, race-chasing with the ladies from the Specialized women’s marketing team. We had only moderate success with navigating around roadblocks and finding our way to locations but we had a lot of fun in the process. I shot the beginning, the middle and the end.

The beauty was to watch the build up of the thing: cold, empty early morning streets turning lively and colorful and chaotic. At the top of the Kwaremont the women came in a stirring rush, mouths agape or teeth gritted. Rita Jett and I had ridden it the day before, stopping every 30k to stuff our pockets and mouths with waffles.

We missed the finish of the women’s pro race by 10 minutes and when we rolled in, it was almost as if nothing had ever happened. Riders shattered and scattered had already made their way to food, warmth and the privacy of their team vans.

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3 Responses to “PhotoGlimmer: Remembering Flanders”

  1. jayne duvall says:

    just wondering what your favorite shade of red nailpolish is?

    • Heidi Swift says:

      Jayne! In truth, the only manicure that stands up to my rough-n-tumble, raised-by-wolves lifestyle is Shellac. I almost always get #25, which is a really red-red that I believe is named “Hollywood”

  2. jayne duvall says:

    Shellac em on the bike race..:-). no more garbage endurance for me….you gave me motivation to do VO2 max stuff again…i need to…thanks! cheers? have fun in Italia…