Milan-San Remo Granfondo

sejackans

I'm doing the Milan-San Remo next month and I'm wondering if anyone has completed it and what I can expect. I have done 4 100 mile training runs the furthest being a 125mile ride. I have time to do 1 or 2 big training rides left and need to know how far i should go on these. Plus is there any invaluable tips about the event anyone can divulge
Cheers

KentPuncheur

Can't help regarding training advice as I've never ridden it, but I'm hoping to next year so if you can post your experiences after I'd appreciate it! Thanks

FransJacques

Oh my god it was awesome: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90804733 Yes that's 34 km/h over 300 kms but you have to understand it's ridden as a race, not a sportive. It's not for the faint of heart.

It was pi$$ing it down and we were doing 50km/h for the fist 1.5 hours out of Milan with police outrider motorbikes galore pacing the groups. (you can see from the graph my max HR was at the start of the ride when we were pegging it) It was manic but I only saw 2 crashes on wet roundabouts.

I managed to stay with the front group (mob?) of 150 to the top of the Turcino. I was for a while the last guy yo-yoing off the back and was grabbing cars galore to stay in contact. It was really fun. Team cars were dropping back to pick up their riders and 1 guy helped me for the last 250 meters, not that the Turcino is steep, only 4-5% but we were in the big ring. I didn't mind getting a tow b/c once you hit the coast you still have ~140 kms to ride.

All the Italians (+ some French & Belgos) had 'team' cars with friend /family handing out bottles to not lose the group they were in. No one was using the feed stops and I didn't until later in the ride when we were well down the coast. For the first time in my life I rode 200 kms without so much as unclipping, let alone slowing for a light. The police outriders cleared the way for us.

I finished approx 175 of 1100 finishers, think many riders bailed due to the rain which was insane at a couple points. Not a lot to say about the Cipressa & Poggio b/c I was very tired at the end and took them steady. They're pretty shallow so as a racer you'd be big-ringing both and attacking on them for sure but I was in sportive mode by then. The descents were a pity b/c there was sheet water on the road so I couldn't dig into them - in the dry they's be exciting as hell.

Enjoy it and bring lots of gels. Road surfaces are mainly good but naturally over 300kms you'll experience every paving method known to modern man. Even some cobbles at the beginning which were a surprise. The italians are awesome. If they're calling you a "catso" that's not good :-)

Monty Dog

A clubmate has done it and his experiences reflects those of Frans above - it's the unofficial, no-holds barred Italian club championships. My clubmate - an ex-pro - said it was pretty mental. I keep trying to talk my ride buddies into doing it, but when they read stuff like above, they somehow get reluctant.

mrushton

Someone I know did this some years back. He bought a bottle of fake tan as he wasn't going to appear like a bottle of milk on the start line. He had a great time.

Le Commentateur

From what I've heard it's harder than the pro race, in that the pros only race once they get past halfway whereas the cicloamatori are going full out from Milan.

sejackans

Oh bugger
I knew it was going to be quick for the best part of it, didn't realise how quick. Averaging 21mph is pretty impressive over such a distance, I can't do that over 20 miles. I'm averaging just over 17.5 for solo hundred milers with a few 20%+ hills thrown in, but have no real idea how much quicker that would be in a peloton. I did read about someone who stopped for a wee break thinking he could catch up the peloton but never saw it again.

Le Commentateur

You can't equte average speed with how you manage for a solo ride; it's likely to be 10kph faster if you're safely positioned in the bunch. Your main problem might actually be how to carry enough water, since others will be handed bottles by their supporters on mopeds and in cars.

hatone

FransJacques wrote:

Oh my god it was awesome: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90804733 Yes that's 34 km/h over 300 kms but you have to understand it's ridden as a race, not a sportive. It's not for the faint of heart.

FransJacques - amazing to see how you got your HR rate up so much, 189bpm?! No wonder you burnt over 12k calories.

Can I ask, as I very much plan to do it next year, how you sorted your accommodation? Particularly at Milan & when you arrived at San Remo?

Thanks

term1te

This is definitely on my list of rides before I die. Although in this case the two could be linked. I've driven close to the route, and the coastal road is stunning, the motorway from Milan to the coast isn't. I've ridden 180km without unclipping at speed around lake Geneva, it’s a great feeling when the police outriders stop the traffic at every set of lights and roundabout. The only advice I could offer is to make sure you keep hydrated, I only take 1.6l on the Cyclotour du Léman and suffer for it in the last hour. It’s the dilemma of stopping for water and losing the fast group, or sticking with them and slowing down and suffering with the rest of them. Good luck, and I look forward to the race report.

FransJacques

hatone wrote:

FransJacques wrote:

Oh my god it was awesome: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90804733 Yes that's 34 km/h over 300 kms but you have to understand it's ridden as a race, not a sportive. It's not for the faint of heart.

FransJacques - amazing to see how you got your HR rate up so much, 189bpm?! No wonder you burnt over 12k calories.

Can I ask, as I very much plan to do it next year, how you sorted your accommodation? Particularly at Milan & when you arrived at San Remo?

Thanks

The organizers provide the hotels and I just added them to my basket when I was buying the entry on line. Luckily the little lady is Roman so she worked some of her italian charm to make sure we didn't get a flea-bag motel. The other lucky thing is 3 of us from the club rode it and she drove the car from M to S for us, without her it wouldn've been more of a ball ache. BUT, that said, like the etape the organizers transport your bags for you. You get a coat-check number and chuck them in the luggage compartment of the sag wagon busses. It worked really well. Some peeps had bike boxes and all sorts in there so they were doing the ride without a car. The car makes it easier tho and life is short.