I took two trains yesterday to Namur, in the east of Belgium.  I was going to my first live cyclocross race!  It’s cycling in the mud, with lots of hills – some so steep that the riders have to carry or walk their bikes.  It’s a big wow on TV and I was thrilled to be seeing it in person.

I sat on a bench outside the Namur train station and let a message sink in:

Nino is immortalized.  Was his carving a defacement or simply his expression?  Like so much of life, it wasn’t black-and-white for me.  I thought of the time it must have taken to create the words … and I thought of the efforts of city leaders to provide a pristine wooden bench for everybody to sit on.

***

The cyclocross race was basically a loop through the sloping meadows, with countless twists and turns.  And it was way up high above the Meuse River, at La Citadelle – an ancient fortress.

I climbed from the river … many steps, and eventually a cobblestoned road.  On the stairs, I hauled myself up by the handrail, breathing hard, resting, beginning again, while apparently everyone else in the world was bounding by.  No matter.  I was doing it.

I found a spot at the barriers on a steep uphill section and watched the Junior Men (under 19) come by five times.

Hardly anyone was strong enough to ride this slope.  On the last few laps, it was no one.  Tongues hung out, eyes were wide, and everything was touched by mud.  I was in awe.  These young men were supremely fit, heroic in their exhaustion.  It was a privilege to be in their presence.

And the same words fit for my neighbours on the hill: Yentl and Raoul … grandson and opa:

Two marvelous human beings.  We talked for two hours as the athletes climbed before our eyes.

Yentl is 16-years-old, plays football and loves motor racing.  (Maybe he said Formula One)  And what he especially loves is his opa.  Often Yentl’s hand would migrate to Raoul’s cap … and stay there.

Yentl wants to work for Raoul someday, in the insulation company he owns.  Far cooler than school.

Raoul was a professional cyclist.  Not one of the top talents but he did ride with people such as Eddy Merckx.  He smiled as he mentioned holding the one-lap record at the Gent velodrome (‘t Kuipke) for years.  Now he’s my age but nothing could keep him off the slopes of La Citadelle yesterday.

Yentl and Raoul were delightful companions.  We also watched the Women’s Elite race.  I’m enamoured with the Dutch rider Puck Pieterse, who’s such a happy and spontaneous person.  I saw her struggle up the hill six times.

I started watching virtually all of the women’s faces as they climbed – fierce determination fighting the fatigue, the cold and the wet.  All heroes.

***

My knees shouted as I stood in one spot for  a long time.  And they cried a bit as I descended all those steps.  My eyes often closed on the two-hours home by train, train and tram.

And they closed for good a second before my head reached the pillow.