Flanders 2015

Tjgoodhew

Im in !!!

Amazed at how easy it was to secure a place - and how cheap !!! 25 euros

Went for the 133km route as logistically the full route would have been a pain.

Anyone else doing it this year ??

ugo.santalucia

Yeah, it's a massive event but they don't kick all the fuss other organisers like to do. Suggest you start very early to avoid the inevitable bottlenecks up the Koppenberg and Paterberg, which might spoil your ride. 20 K riders and a cobbled climb 2 mt wide don't go on well together

cjcp

Am in, too.

+1 to starting early. The Molenberg is bedlam otherwise.

3Pears

I'm in too. First time at this event after years of promising myself a visit. Can't wait

davep123

It's the best weekend ever!!!! Enjoy!!!

jimmythecuckoo

In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buzzing for this... its a dream I have had since a kid to ride the Pave... taken me until I am 40 to get there

ic.

How quick does this fill up? Having communications with my brother at the mo, don't know if he's signed us up or if I am supposed to be doing. Fool never answers his flippin phone

jimmythecuckoo

I think there are 10000+ spots so hopefully you have some time.

ic.

I'm in! Me and the bro doing the medium route. He's done it once before, first time for me.

A little damp with excitement, I gotta say.

jimmythecuckoo

Splendid

I have blogged about it already...
http://road.cc/content/blog/134730-you- ... e-sportive

durhamwasp

IC. wrote:

How quick does this fill up? Having communications with my brother at the mo, don't know if he's signed us up or if I am supposed to be doing. Fool never answers his flippin phone

Last year they had 18,000 spots and it didn't sell out. We bought our spots in February, and think we were around the 15,000th.

We didn't set off particularly early, think we started around 9am and didn't have any chaos or over-crowding on any climb. Koppenberg and Paterberg were the busiest two, but the crowds came and went, so after a few photos at the bottom you could go when it was relatively quiet.

Make sure you order t-shirts a couple of sizes too big! I'm a 40" chest and even a XL t-shirt was way too tight, especially after a wash.

jimmythecuckoo

Too late!!! one of the kids can have the t-shirt

NUFCrichard

Signed up for the long route, my first monument!
I am staying in Bruge on the Friday and Gent on Saturday, I hope that works out..

jimmythecuckoo

Should we develop a secret BR forumite sign so we can recognise each other ?

NUFCrichard

Well I would be interested if a bikeradar group were made. I am heading to Bruge with my girlfriend, who won't be riding, so will be looking for a decent group to tuck into for the first 100km at least!

cycleclinic

Did it this year and it was excellent. Get low gearing for Kopperberg, don't know why I though 39:25T would work out well.

Oh a wide tyres 27mm are a must.

Tjgoodhew

Im not sure on what bike to take ?

Can go with the Carbon Aeroad but i will struggle to get anything wider than 25mm on it.

Other option is to put 27mm on the Caad8 but it is a good couple of kilos heavier.

Any opinions??

JoostG

I rode Flanders a couple of years ago and I didn't take the time to prepare: I started with a very stiff and jumpy Caad 9 with 20mm tyres and 9 to 10 bar. And I survived Of course the cobblestone parts will be rough and you will end up with some blisters with that set up, but you shouldn't make it bigger than it is. Especially enjoy the entourage.

ic.

I'll be on my R3 with 25mm tyres, either GP4000s or 4Seasons, not made my mind up yet.

bigmat

I ran 25mm GP4000S this year and they were fine grip wise. I started with maybe 110PSI and never got round to letting air out when we hit the cobbles - big mistake in retrospect. It was OK, but I reckon I lost a lot of traction bouncing around. Probably wouldn't have beaten me up so much either, but then that's part of the fun! Only other modification to bike was adding a second layer of tape which is a quick and easy way of getting a bit more cushioning. I always use old school metal bottle cages and would recommend those too - you can bend them in a bit for extra tightness which is necessary when you hit the cobbles (well it is at 110PSI anyway). Most of the people I rode with were on best carbon bikes, plenty of carbon rims etc and all seemed OK. I had no punctures and almost no mechanicals (my rear brake caliper started rubbing as I think the cobbles shook it loose, but that was a 2 minute job to resolve).

I should add that 2014 was bone dry - might be a bit different in the wet!

jimmythecuckoo

I have invested in 25mm tyres... hoping that does it... maybe another roll of bar tape.

the_fuggler

I'm in for the medium route. Probably going to ride my Genesis Equilibrium with 25 or 28mm 4 seasons. Really looking forward to it.

ic.

Are there many flat cobble sections or is it just the climbs that are cobbled?

durhamwasp

Did the Meidum (135km) route last year and there were 4 or 5 flat cobbled sections, these were the toughest on the body, and obviously especially the hands. The rest were up hills so were going pretty slowly.

We all did it on 23mm tyres, the cobbles in Flanders are generally pretty good and we didn't have any problems with 23's. We also used our 'best' carbon road bikes. (We did Roubaix last year too and used 28mm on our cross bikes, which was definitely a good idea!)

Tjgoodhew

Do you need a medical certificate for Flanders ?

Im sure i have read that some events on the continent you need a letter from a doctor or some sort of proof you are fit and able ??

durhamwasp

No, we never had that mentioned at any point.

ic.

You might be thinking the Marmotte.

Regards Flanders, are the descents cobbled too?

calvjones

I've done this a couple of times. It is ace. There are no cobbled downhills. In fact not many downhills at all.

Don't worry too much about tyre choice, 25s are fine at about 80psi. Fatal mistake is pumping them up too far.

Of course if you don't fit Open Paves I can't be held responsible when the Flandrien Cycling Fashion Police eject you after 10k 8)

durhamwasp

Not really any cobbled downhills, only one bit I can think of that was downhill (maybes around 3%) - cant remember the name, possibly Paddestraat? Was happy for that cobbled section to end!

Grantmk

I'm doing this for the first time this year, unfortunately I am limited to 23mm tyres. Any recs on tyre choice/pressure?

durhamwasp

As I posted earlier, we did it in 2014, and also rode the route in 2011. Both times we just used 23mm tyres without any problems. 3 of us were using Schwalbe Blizzard's, so nothing expensive. Cobbles in Flanders aren't that bad, especially as you are generally going uphill pretty slowly when you are on them (not like in Roubaix).