Liege-Bastogne-Liege

freebs

My mind has been wandering to post ride refreshment (should really be concentrating on getting round!). Any recommendations of decent Belgian Beer bars in Liege once we've finished?!

wheeledwidewebb

They will have to be open bloody late if I am going to get in one of them.

daveski12

Did a ride on Saturday that was roughly half distance and half the climbing.

Its going to be one long day in the saddle!

Ankles50

Thanks to the weather and AudaxUK i've gone over 220km couple times this year, with another planned this saturday, before the taper down

My only fear is how waffles will measure up against home baked fruit cakes

freebs

Well, did 130 miles in the peaks yesterday. Not sure where I'll get the other 40 miles from! Will be an interesting day. Can't wait!

On_What

Save as much as you can in the first 80, don't get caught up in racing, pace yourself and try to stay fresh.

It destroyed me

daveski12

That's what I've read too. I'll be leaving asap in the morning and trying to stay with a group then dropping down to slower groups as I get tired.

This was an interesting read - http://www.thebikelist.co.uk/news/2013/ ... -sportive/

Ankles50

Weather forecast is warm, 17c, & dry with 11mph wind, so don't forget to pack sunscreen

Big_Ring_Rider

Almost perfect cycling conditions, if such a thing exists on Belgium. Only a matter of days now, I've got some miles in this winter, but only a couple of "big rides" so a little bit apprehensive about the final 70km. Wouldn't be Liege if I'm not suffering though, right?

cjcp

Signed up for the full route, but haven't been able to do any sort of mileage, so down to the medium route.

Longest ride this year has been 72 miles odd. After that, it's 53 miles. On a turbo.

Definitely no risk of being injured from over-training.

These waffles had better be laced with EPO.

freebs

I've done plenty of training but have been laid up in bed off work for the last two days with a streaming cold! I'll be gutted if it ruins Saturday!!

jamesbarlow300

I'm doing the full route, setting off in Pink at 06:30hrs, 2 mates both in Pink doing medium. Gentle spin to Bastogne, no pushing, use the gears. Tailwind out of Bastaogne.

I'm putting my 50/34 chainset on instead of 53/39. riding 11-25 on the rear.

pan280

I like to have a route sheet for such long rides, so i prepared this:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13553739/lbl2014.xlsx

I thought i'd share in case anyone else finds it useful.
You can see the avg/max gradient of the climbs and the length (all metric, sorry :roll: )
Also the last column tells you how much climbing you've done up to that point, so you know how much more is left!
Interesting that by the time we get to Bastogne we would have done one climb but 1500m elevation.
So clearly there are a lots of climbs in there that are not categorised.

Back to tapering now!

mikenetic

Did it last year, will be going again this year. Medium distance for me. Over 101 miles I recorded 9,500ft of climbing last time.

The long/medium routes have a split point, I think there's a feed stop early on that's supposed to be for the short route, I remember that being a bit confusing last time.

Food and drink were simple and plentiful, and the start/end village is good, with decent beer. If you're staying down in town the climb to the start is one of the steepest of the day! It wasn't as manic as I expected, the route is lovely, and the standard of group riding is good too, or at least it was with the groups I rode along with.

I know some (very fit) people who did the full route last year, and they were pretty blasted by the end of it. Take it easy on the first part, as the steeper climbs come towards the end.

Done quite a lot of prep, but I'm hoping this slightly niggling virus subsides after a couple of more nights of sleep.

Also the Liege meatballs are a local speciality - they're the size of cricket balls. Plenty of bars and cafes in the centre of town for a post-ride pint or three. The start is in the town square, loads of space to look at the team coaches and the sign on if you're hanging around on Sunday.

I'll be out and about on a British Racing Green Rourke. Enjoy it, whatever distance you do!

freebs

Right, I'm off! See you all in liege!! Riding a blue and white fuji wearing black castelli if anyone sees me/cares!! V excited. Good luck all!

itboffin

were all heading off in about 2 hours, have fun fellow fools :roll:

Cheshire Cat

A great days riding, weather was a little on the cool side, but great for cycling, completed the long route in 10hrs 12min.

shipley

mikenetic wrote:

I'll be out and about on a British Racing Green Rourke. Enjoy it, whatever distance you do!

You passed me on the first major climb of the day yesterday. Lovely bike !

Stunning day with long climbs and fantastic descents, the weather was spectacular, La Redoute wasn't as fearsome as I was led to believe, St Nicholas wasn't nice but I thought the hardest was the Côte de la Roche aux Faucons.

Exhilarating day....I'm still on a high

goonz

What a great day and what an atmosphere.

I was there as part of a charity event organised by my company all part of training for the Tourmalet in August. Sadly could only do the 85km ride as it was organised as such but it was brilliant all the same. Got into the top 1000 riders for the 3 climbs I did which I was happy with.

Not sure if any of you saw a bunch of riders in red kit with Win4Youth all over it?

mikenetic

It was a great day, and given the forecast in the middle of last week we were incredibly lucky with the weather.

The course felt harder this year than last. Côte de la Roche aux Faucons wasn't on last year's route, and it was a toughie. The habit of placing climbs just after feed stations meant I started at least two with a Stroopwaffel hanging out of my mouth.

I saw the dude riding the Velocipede, and also the chap on the Penny Farthing.

Hat to everyone who rode it, especially those completing the long course. I was having a drink in the town square and there were riders still coming in at 8pm or later.

freebs

Brutal. Brilliant but brutal. 12hrs 15mins for me. Loved (nearly!) every minute.

FransJacques

Well done guys (and girls). Anyone want to post their Garmin files so we can take a look at the course and at the V meterage please?

Thanks in advance.

mikenetic

FransJacques wrote:

Well done guys (and girls). Anyone want to post their Garmin files so we can take a look at the course and at the V meterage please?

Thanks in advance.

Here's my Strava track for the 168km distance. http://www.strava.com/activities/134853916

freebs

I've got the Garmin file for the 280k route. Will post it when I get a chance!

freebs

Here we go ...
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/487545389

itboffin

20 miles into the LBL my chain dropped itself into the spokes and seized solid, I tried for about 20 mins to get it free in the end it came loose but not without further bending a spoke which in turn put my wheel so out of true it wouldn't spin without hitting the brakes and worse still the frame, it was at this point it dawned on me that my ride was over

Being 20 miles in also meant 20 miles back, walking! :shock:

I had to take drastic action and bent the spoke enough to allow the wheel to turn with the brake completely open, in that state I was able to limp to the first food stop another 7 miles away, foolishly i'd assumed the Mavic services would be there and i'd be able to swap wheels ...nope! :evil:

So now i'm 27 miles in and therefore 27 miles back, which just so happens to be the short route difference or there abouts, yes I limped around the short route with no rear brake and unable to use the last sprocket on my cassette without dumping my chain.

I can tell you now the La Redoute is bloody tough and not made any easier when you have to stop at the bottom to fix your chain then try to clip back in and not fall off.

this bike has never had any issued and the limit screws were perfect, I suspect I must have bent my mech hanger during transit to Liege.

One expensive trip but very enjoyable if just for the experience of riding such a classic event.

What was the deal with the start?
We rolled up to the sports complex and got sent off without seeing a start line, is that normal?
I then spent the first 15 miles thinking blood hell this is a long way to the start, duh! :roll:

PS. I'll be back for sure, just as soon as i get my neck fixed and do some actually prep. training.

daveski12

We thought the same at the start, was a bit confusing.

I made it round the long route, not as quick as I wanted to but after struggling around 40 miles in I just wanted to make it round. My ride on Strava - http://www.strava.com/activities/135183275

Ankles50

Start was confusing, but i clocked 281km "on the ride" so must have been there or there abouts

Just over 10hrs 20mins for me
Rode within myself for first 4 hours, to keep legs in good nick for the end
Feed stations were well stocked and good chance to enjoy a few words of encouragement among fellow riders

The 2 20% short climbs, i forget the names, really did hurt

Honestly if i went back i think i'd only do the 100 and enjoy attacking the event, spent so much time riding conservatively to ensure i'd get round it took a little of the shine off the day

philbar72

I never spotted this earlier this year and its probably the hardest day i had on a bike. 274km. 4300m of climbing and lots of it steep... the Ardennes are very scenic and Liege is a dump! , and despite not going mad (i did the course in 10 hours 15 mins) i really enjoyed it. only issue was a Di2 fault which i fixed in the first 20 minutes ( i stretched a Di2 cable when putting the bike in the bikebag!).

I'm back next year. can't wait!

ugo.santalucia

philbar72 wrote:

Liege is a dump!

Like all mining towns... think Blackburn, or Wolverhampton