La Redoute...French for "the fear"

We hit the climb up the legendary Redoute about half-way into our 52-mile ride today in the blazing Belgian sun.

It starts out pretty mild...a few twists and turns, on what amounts to little more than a bike path along side the freeway. About a third of the way up the 2.3km hill, there's a granite monument memorializing something that I didn't understand.

After that, the climb gets tougher...and tougher...and tougher. Leg-breaking sections that, I swear, must have hit at least 20%. And I'm going up this beast on a rent-a-Ridley bike. I'm accustomed to grinding up the hills on a 52-42-30 triple, but this machine is equiped with a 50-34 compact crank. It's OK, but with my knees, it's a real struggle.

The good news...I didn't have to get off and walk, like a lot of the other mortals who were on the same attack. But...merde...it was tough. Not as tough as yesterday's climb up the Cote de Stockeu, but a real bitch all the same.

"The Fear"...yeah, they named this thing correctly.

For the record...three days, 178 miles, at least a bazillion feet of climbing, and temps in the 80s the entire time.

Damn, I love Belgium!