2014 tour of Flanders sportive

cal_stewart

I'll be in the cafe at Outside tonight in a mountain equipment jkt and 2xu cap if anyone want to say hi. Doing full route on the bus in the morning, be on black canyon with big padding on bars and wearing castelli. Lets get a BR gruppo going

cycleclinic

how did you get on? I found it hard in places but I want to do it again next year and maybe another.

rick_chasey

Bloody loved it.

All of it.

Even if my enthusiasm put me in the pain cave for the last 40km (though I did mtfu and take the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg full gas).

greasedscotsman

Rick Chasey wrote:

(though I did mtfu and take the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg full gas).

I would have thought you would have to take the Paterberg full gas? I certainly had to!

durhamwasp

Thought the whole weekend was fantastic, and can't really find anything to grumble about.

Sportive was extremely well organised, with road crossings marshalled so well that you rarely ever had to stop, and the climbs were not so busy as to cause you to have to dismount and push, which was my main worry.

The Outsider was good crack and well worth the €10 a night, even got to use the shower!

Spectating on Sunday was made easy by the free buses, and washed down with some €1 beer on the Paterberg.

We'll be back in the next couple of years!

TheStone

Really enjoyed it. Did the main one instead of the long one this time, which was much nicer.
Had to walk on the 2 steep climbs, but otherwise fine (except for the punctures).
Cracking ride back to Gent at the end too.

mm1

5th time in 9 years. Only did the short one this year (it was enough, I was feeling old!) Riding to Oudenaarde with a stonking hangover on Sunday was best cure I could think of. Definitely better with a tailwind home though. Easily the best weekend of the year (any year) for me. Didn't spot any scooters or e-bikes this year, but plenty of hoop frame town bikes plus matey on his high wheeler. Rode on my own, which was more fun than it sounds. Loads more enjoyable (and joyous) than the average uk "sportive", perhaps because our hosts have no delusions about an event for cyclo tourists being anything like "racing".

Had some fantastic meals in Gent, but that's another story...

cycleclinic

I only gave in on the Koppenberg and walked a short way but gave up walking and got back on the bike with a push start from a freindly Flandrian when the gradient fell to a mere 10%. I am glad now I did the full route and I will not complain about rough roads or hills again.

The best bit for me was after exiting one section of cobbles and saw another I called oh no not again and some Belgian lady at the side of the road replied "this is Belgium". That summed it up for me.

also did anyone see the guy doing it on a bone shaker and the other chap riding for England on a Penny Farthing?

durhamwasp

Saw a lady in her 60's fly up the Patterberg on an electric bike, to some massive cheers from the crowd. (She wasn't in the Sportive!)

option_click

I've just uploaded my video of the weekend if anyone fancies a watch

https://vimeo.com/93965865

kingstonian

Option Click wrote:

I've just uploaded my video of the weekend if anyone fancies a watch

https://vimeo.com/93965865

Nice video, thanks for sharing

Am definitely up for this next year, think the 140km route is enough for me. Will have to get fit though, don't want to be walking up any hills.

durhamwasp

140km route seemed generally the preferable one, and certainly the easiest to organise around.

Crowds weren't too bad on the climbs, except a couple where it was really hard to dodge around people walking/stopped.

Fantastic event, hope I can do it again next year

Tjgoodhew

I am going to do this in 2015 and just a couple of questions:

I am planning on staying in Gent and then cycling down to the start of the 140km route. Is this pretty straightforward ? Looking at Google maps it does seem pretty easy.

Also the OH and maybe a few friends will be coming. Any advice on where would be best for them to spend the day and get to see me a few times on the route ?

And what are the transport links like between Gent and Oudenaarde on the Sunday as we plan to go back down there for the pro race on the Sunday.

And finally - I have a friend that has recently started cycling and is only up to the level of riding 20 miles 1/2 times a week. He intends to train through the winter and wants to do the 140km route. Is this realistic ?

kingstonian

Tjgoodhew wrote:

I am going to do this in 2015 and just a couple of questions:

I am planning on staying in Gent and then cycling down to the start of the 140km route. Is this pretty straightforward ? Looking at Google maps it does seem pretty easy.

Also the OH and maybe a few friends will be coming. Any advice on where would be best for them to spend the day and get to see me a few times on the route ?

And what are the transport links like between Gent and Oudenaarde on the Sunday as we plan to go back down there for the pro race on the Sunday.

And finally - I have a friend that has recently started cycling and is only up to the level of riding 20 miles 1/2 times a week. He intends to train through the winter and wants to do the 140km route. Is this realistic ?

On the final question, I would guess it all depends on how much training your mate is realistically going to put in. There's 7 months between now and the event, plenty of time to get fit, but only if he ups his mileage and also gets some hill training into his legs.

ugo.santalucia

Kingstonian wrote:

On the final question, I would guess it all depends on how much training your mate is realistically going to put in. There's 7 months between now and the event, plenty of time to get fit, but only if he ups his mileage and also gets some hill training into his legs.

Ultimately it all boils down whether you can ride over winter or not.
There is a mock event in Cheshire in October, maybe worth having a go with your mate... it's organised by V-Sprint cycling club. Cheshire Hellingen are harder than the Flemmish ones, IME

http://club.v-sprint.com/cheshire-cobbled-classic/

Tjgoodhew

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

On the final question, I would guess it all depends on how much training your mate is realistically going to put in. There's 7 months between now and the event, plenty of time to get fit, but only if he ups his mileage and also gets some hill training into his legs.

Ultimately it all boils down whether you can ride over winter or not.
There is a mock event in Cheshire in October, maybe worth having a go with your mate... it's organised by V-Sprint cycling club. Cheshire Hellingen are harder than the Flemmish ones, IME

http://club.v-sprint.com/cheshire-cobbled-classic/

That looks interesting. If i can get a pass from the OH for the weekend i might have to take a trip and give that one a go

ugo.santalucia

Tjgoodhew wrote:

That looks interesting. If i can get a pass from the OH for the weekend i might have to take a trip and give that one a go

Should be a good one... I used to live in the area and know all those cobbled climbs. Swiss Hill is a gem, the Cheshire Molenberg.

The RVV these days only has one technical climb, which is the Koppenberg... the Paterberg is short, straight and wide enough and the other climbs are not too technical, maybe lung busting, but not "difficult". In the old days there was the Kapelmuur with the vicious left bend, but sadly no more

durhamwasp

Tjgoodhew wrote:

I am going to do this in 2015 and just a couple of questions:

I am planning on staying in Gent and then cycling down to the start of the 140km route. Is this pretty straightforward ? Looking at Google maps it does seem pretty easy.

Also the OH and maybe a few friends will be coming. Any advice on where would be best for them to spend the day and get to see me a few times on the route ?

And what are the transport links like between Gent and Oudenaarde on the Sunday as we plan to go back down there for the pro race on the Sunday.

And finally - I have a friend that has recently started cycling and is only up to the level of riding 20 miles 1/2 times a week. He intends to train through the winter and wants to do the 140km route. Is this realistic ?

Cycling from Gent to Oudenaarde shouldn't be any problem, infact I would imagine quite a few do it (though I haven't)

Oudenaarde and Gent are both nice towns, really if they want to see you a couple of times, I recommend looking at the route map, IIRC there are 2 points on the course where you get within 1 mile of where you have been, but I am not sure if they are keeping the route the same again in 2015?

I don't know what transport links are like on the Sunday, but I would imagine very good. There are free buses from Oudenaarde town centre that take you around the course and drop you off at different points, and I spoke to some people who had taken the train up from Paris to watch the ride. Oudenaarde has a train station and I presume trains will run as normal.

Nothing is impossible, but your friend better put some serious work in during the winter, as the 135km route is tough, with loads of climbs, quite an effort for your first 80 mile ride. I'd definitely recommend coming up with some 40 or 50 mile hilly rides in the lead up, but of course its early in the year and not as easy to pull these off. Yep, he can do it, but he needs to train.

1KmtoGo

I'd agree with durhamwasp about the training as the medium route still covers the big climbs on the route like Koppenberg and Paterberg and requires some serious preparation. I have been looking into this as well and when registration begins and have been looking at www.urbantoalps.com which has a section on riders looking into the 2015 event

freebs

Where is the best place to stay (nightlife post ride!)? Am planning on riding with 4 non cycling friends along for a weekend away. We will then watch the pro race on Sunday. Will Oudenaarde keep them entertained? I would guess it will be heaving on the weekend? Or are we best off looking elsewhere?

durhamwasp

Plenty of bars in Oudenaarde to keep you entertained that weekend! Yep, its busy!

mm1

Ghent is a fantastic place to stay. It's a university city so loads of lively and good places to eat and drink (297 bars apparently). Search the Guardian website, there was a peice about places to eat a couple of years back and look at www.use-it.be/ghent/

Riding to Oudenaarde and doing the 140k version of the Ronde is a c.120 mile day out, if the weather is cold like it was in 2013 that's a hard day out.

bigmat

I did the long ride this year and cycled back to Gent afterwards - its a lovely flat ride alongside the canal, perfect way to warm down after the main event. Its around 20 miles from recollection.

Re where to stay, Gent was actually pretty dead on the Saturday night - all of the students were away for Easter holidays (or maybe just because it was the weekend) and town was quieter than I remembered it being (maybe we were just out too early though, tends to get going after midnight). Oudenaarde might be a better option if its full of cyclists / pro tour entourage?