The Ronde

So, for those of us that rode the Ronde van Vlanderam cycle sportif, how
was it for you?

I had an excellent time, riding the 140km course in glorious sun. Bouncing
off the cobbles took some getting used to (there were 17km of cobbles on
the route) but once I'd realised that the way to do it is to relax, let
the bike do what it wants and just keep pedaling, all was well.

I'll be writing up a proper report at some point which I'll post here. If
anyone is interested, there's a picture of me reccying the Murr du Gramont
on the Friday

http://www.clune.org/murr_close.jpg

(that bit is about 1:5 though it doesn't show on the photo).

Kit wise, the other guys I rode with took 24mm Vittoria Pave tyres. I rode
my normal 23 mm race tyres and 38/25 bottom gear and had no problems. I
the wet I might have wanted differnet tyres though. There was a fair range
of equipment being ridden round from old clunkers to superlight race bikes
to mtbs.

I had to walk up the Koppenburg, but that wasn't due to lack of gears or
fitness. Halfway up, where it gets steep five (count em!) riders just fell
off in a line in front of me, totally blocking the road. I got a foot
down and didn't fall, but becuase I'd stopped suddenly five riders behind
me fell off as well! The sheer weight of riders on the climbs was amazing.

And of course, once you've stopped on a 1:5 cobbled climb, there's no hope
of getting going again...

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
Don't get me wrong, perl is an OK operating system, but it lacks a
lightweight scripting language -- Walter Dnes

Arthur Clune wrote:

http://www.clune.org/murr_close.jpg

That's almost exactly where my chain came off when it overshot the small
chainring, on Easter Sunday last year. The Belgian roadie behind me was
/most/ put out...

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

Arthur Clune wrote:
So, for those of us that rode the Ronde van Vlanderam cycle sportif, how
was it for you?

A top weekend...

In our usual 'organised' style we piled on the Eurostar Friday
evening and all but our designated driver got ****ed on the free
wine[1] and we nicked further supplies of the stuff for the road.
As we drove off from Lille we realised we had directions to the
village we were staying, but no maps, no phone numbers or street
address for the Belgian friends we were meant to be hooking up with.
Surprisingly that all worked out pretty easily and our hosts took
us to the bar at the base of the Oude Kwaremont climb. The bar is
only open one weekend a year, for De Ronde, and is basically the
farmer's back room plus a marquee outside. Cool atmosphere, plus
they serve Oude Kwaremont ale (~ 9%) which goes down a treat. It
was pretty quiet in there on the Friday, but very busy on the Saturday
with an impromptu band. Funky artwork on billboards outside too:-

http://www.sorted.org/~pete/Flanders...s/PICT0041.JPG
http://www.sorted.org/~pete/Flanders...s/PICT0042.JPG

Another bar and another load of 9% beer later and we crawled into
bed about 1:30, which didn't feel so clever over breakfast at 6:30
the next day......

Between traffic, faffing about and some issues assembling bikes
(someone left the skewer for his front wheel back in his room)
we finally got going about 9am but got seperated pretty quickly.

That was fine though, there were so many people riding the route
that it was always easy to get in a group going at the pace you
wanted, but enough gaps in between to ride on your own when you
wanted to. I was taking the descents fairly fast but suck at
climbing so I tended to see the same people several times. Noticed
quite a few english clubs riding together, and a fair assortment
of bikes. According to friends there were a few 'bents on the
course but I didn't see them (saw one on the Koppenberg the next
day though watching the race), and a couple of tandems went screaming
past me going hell for leather up one of the climbs.

I never got the hang of the cobbles and suffered over most of those
stretches[2]... ******* things. Got somewhat envious of the guys on
full sus mountain bikes whizzing past on those sections.

Had to walk three short sections of climbs - two because of traffic,
including some bimbo on a moped, and the Koppenberg because I just
couldn't make it with a 39/23 bottom gear. Developed a bit of an
irrational dislike for people riding triples at that point. Also
got to hear an awful lot of loud insults in Dutch when I tried to
get going again and veered in front of a fast-moving chain gang
nearly bringing them all down (oops).

There were a few pros on the course either training for other things
or reccying for the race the next day. Spent a while in a group
with a number of very cute young ladies all kitted out in "Deutschland"
jerseys. Went ahead of them on a descent and the next flat section
and then they left me like I was going backwards on the next climb.

Finished in about 5:50 for an average of about 24kph which I was
pretty happy with under the circumstances. On the one hand, that
time doesn't include a lot of rest stops I got waiting at the top
of hills for one of our group when we hooked up again and rode
together for some time... He'd not been on his bike much for about
10 months so was suffering a bit. On the other hand, I was also
riding slower on the downhills and flats with him. Could maybe
have squeezed a 5:30 but suspect I'd have run out of legs on the
last climbs if I'd tried.

One of our group did a 4:45 but he's a fit ******* and we don't
like him.

Saturday night: dinner and more drinking, natch

Sunday morning we rode up the Kluisenberg which hasn't been on the
Ronde the last two years because of roadworks (seriously) but as
our B&B was part way up it, we felt we ought to give it a go...
There was a steady stream of cyclists going by in both directions
as we ate breakfast. For some reason it's also popular with the
local motorbike (and trike) types too... Perhaps because of the
fast, twisty descent (no cobbles, yay!).

Then rode over to the Koppenberg to stake out a good spot and watch
the race. Hung out with some very pleasant Americans (yes, such
things do exist) and a large group of drunken Norwegians there to
cheer on Thor Hushovt - didn't do him much good though.

Certainly had a lot more respect for the riders when they went
through after having struggled on the same hill the day before......

Pete "Loin of Flanders" Bentley.

[1] Yuppie class, yah.
[2] Much numbness and pins'n'needles in tender places.

Pete Bentley wrote:

: http://www.sorted.org/~pete/Flanders...s/PICT0041.JPG
: http://www.sorted.org/~pete/Flanders...s/PICT0042.JPG

Grin. I saw these ones as well.

: I never got the hang of the cobbles and suffered over most of those
: stretches[2]... ******* things. Got somewhat envious of the guys on
: full sus mountain bikes whizzing past on those sections.

I found them fine and much less bother than I thought. The only cobbled
bits I didn't like was when I had to brake on downhill cobbled section -
you have to grip the bars and then your hands get battered.

I'd taken the tyre pressure down to 105 rear/100 front and had no
aches or pains at all at the end.

: One of our group did a 4:45 but he's a fit ******* and we don't
: like him.

I found it hard to really push on - the sheer weight of riders kept
the speed down for long periods, especially on the cyclepaths. I
did 5.10 in the end, with no stops, but didn't really cane it.

: Then rode over to the Koppenberg to stake out a good spot and watch
: the race. Hung out with some very pleasant Americans (yes, such
: things do exist) and a large group of drunken Norwegians there to
: cheer on Thor Hushovt - didn't do him much good though.

You must have been about 10 metres below where we were on Sunday
then! I was just below the TV camera.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
Don't get me wrong, perl is an OK operating system, but it lacks a
lightweight scripting language -- Walter Dnes

Arthur Clune wrote:
I'd taken the tyre pressure down to 105 rear/100 front and had no
aches or pains at all at the end.

Ah yes... Was advised to do something like that by the guy in
my LBS who'd done it before but in all the, uh, excitement I forgot.

Ended up pretty sore...One of my shoulders pretty much seized up
about 5k from the end but I managed to massage enough life back into
it to finish.

You must have been about 10 metres below where we were on Sunday
then! I was just below the TV camera.

Small world! Just by that little dogleg on the steep section seemed
like the obvious place to watch. The Norwegians and Americans had
the best section (they'd been there since dead early) so we tucked
in just downhill and dismantled the fence a little bit for a better
view.

Just got my photos of the riders developed and a couple seem to
have come out quite well - will stick 'em online when I get home.

Oh yeah, and some tea leaf swiped my water bottle after the riders
went through and we were all milling around. Wonder if he thought
it was discarded by one of them and took it home as a souvenir....

Pete.

And of course, once you've stopped on a 1:5 cobbled climb,
there's no hope of getting going again...

I think Trice owners and the like may disagree with you... :-)

--
Peter Headland

Peter Headland wrote:
And of course, once you've stopped on a 1:5 cobbled climb,
there's no hope of getting going again...

I think Trice owners and the like may disagree with you... :-)

I managed it on the Mur de Gramont /and/ the Koppenberg, though on the
latter only by reverting to three-wheel drive...

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

Arthur Clune wrote:

So, for those of us that rode the Ronde van Vlanderam cycle sportif,
how was it for you?

Excellent!

Flew from Heathrow. Thanks MartinM for the bike bag: an excellent piece of
kit. Got to Ninove at 7pm and cycled to my hotel in Dilbeek -- further than
I thought at 15km out of Ninove towards (and almost in) Brussels. Hotel was
excellent with a great restaurant. A lot of Dutch club riders were staying
there. They were still up drinking lots as I retired to bed at 10.30pm! The
hotel put on a 4.30am breakfast for riders doing the 256km course. After
gobbling up a huge number of croissants and coffee, I stuffed my jersey
pockets with bananas (along with my trusty, flattened malt loaf from home)
and pegged it down to Ninove in the dark.

Cycling round town looking for the shuttle buses, quite fortuitously I ran
into a rider I'd met on a couple of Audaxes (Richard Parotte -- who'd won
the AAA competition in 2001). We loaded our bikes and set off for Bruges. I
tried to get some sleep, but the air conditioning was so cold that I
couldn't get comfortable. Got to Bruges at about 8am, stamped our cards, and
we were off.

The parcours was very flat and fast on good roads -- we drafted from one
group to the next until we found one going at a good pace. As it turned out,
we needn't have bothered as the traffice lights meant that each time we
stopped, the group behind would catch us up, and the next and the next. As
we approached Kerk,I looked back down the road for Richard who I hadn't seen
for a few minutes and was amaze at how huge the group had become; about 200
riders stretched down the road. Gong through Kortijk in such a big group was
great -- no chance of problems with cars as they had no choice but to give
way (not that this is an issue in Belgium). The refreshments in Kortrijk
were pretty good: waffles, Isostar, geobar-type-things, and bananas.

After Kerk, more hacking along in big groups until another refreshment and
control stop at Waregem (92km). Still feeling prety fresh as we set off.

The first cobbles came in Wannegem, where I experienecd one effect of
cobbles downhill at speed: blurred vision. I made sure that I would ride
fast cobbled sections out of the saddle a little. The next section after
Lede I found more of a challenge. It was flat and long and nearly all the
riders I was with left me behind -- I put a spurt on to try to catch them
and found out just how difficult it is to accellerate. Then my (only) water
bottle bounced out of its cage and I ran over it with my back wheel, popping
the top off and spilling my drink all over the road. Bugger: two climbs to
come and


Bike: trusty, steel-tubed Merckx Corsa Extra -- not a single problem
Tyres: Vittoria Open Pave -- great tyres, Pete (Biggs)
Gearing: 53/39 - 12-27 -- fine, except on the Koppenberg

Simonb wrote:

snip tales of beer and cobbles

my back wheel, popping
the top off and spilling my drink all over the road. Bugger: two
climbs to
come and

is there more? or has gg2beta be taken over by BT openworld?

Oops. just put the kids to bed, didn't mean to send that.

Anyway.

.... The first cobbles came in Wannegem, where I experienecd one effect of
cobbles downhill at speed: blurred vision. I made sure that I would ride
fast cobbled sections out of the saddle a little. The next section after
Lede I found more of a challenge. It was flat and long and nearly all the
riders I was with left me behind -- I put a spurt on to try to catch them
and found out just how difficult it is to accellerate. Then my (only) water
bottle bounced out of its cage and I ran over it with my back wheel, popping
the top off and spilling my drink all over the road. Bugger: two climbs to
come and nothing to drink. I put some pressure on and caught Richard just
before another long uphill section of cobbles at Roborst where a support van
driven by some idiot came hurtling through the riders to get to its rider up
ahead. After this section, I replenished my bottle, ate some malt loaf,
recovered on some smooth road, and felt much better. The Molenberg arrived
and I fairly shot up it -- a fun descent followed and another longer section
of cobbles through Mater. The Wolvenberg came and went. Another stop at
Oudenaarde: a stamp, more food, Isostar and water.

Oude Kwaremont was the first long, cobbled climb. It wasn't that steep, but
it was pretty hard work. Then came the Paterberg and Koppenberg, which I
managed to get mixed up. I thought I'd climbed the Koppenberg, which I knew
to be the hardest climb. When it did hit me, I wasn't prepared for the
gradient and ran out of steam and pushed the bike for about 10 metres
through the steepest bit. The next few climbs were pretty straightforward --
a few of them cobbled, but not from bottom to top. We made an unofficial
stop at Elst for coffee and coke at this stage as we realised we'd been on
our bikes pushing it for nearly 220km without a real rest. After restarting,
I got a twinge of cramp on Tenbosse, but not enough to stop me and I
recovered on the bike. The final official stop was after Brakel.

We started off again with two climbs to go: the infamous Muur and the
Bosberg (where many breaks have been made to stick in recent years,
including this year). I felt great going up the Muur and even managed quite
a burst of speed at the top. Nice to see spectators there too, and at many
other point along the way. A mad dash down the Muur followed, and on to the
Bosberg, where my cramp twinges came back. Easing off a bit, more drink and
malt loaf meant quick recovery and we were off on the last stretch to
Ninove. Again flat out betweeen groups to find a faster one, which we did
(some Belgian club riders). This was fun after all the hard work beforehand.
We crossed the official finish line (which I'd done twice the previous
evening looking for my hotel!) in just over 10 1/2 hours. Not bad.

I got an early night and a mid-morning train to Geraardsbergen to watch the
race from the top of the Muur and doze in the sun, soak up the atmosphere
and drink a few beers. The pros came through at about 4pm -- not even out of
breath at the top of the Muur (I was almost under the banner marking the top
of the climb). I think Boonen had launched his first attack there, so the
crowd were _very_ excited. A TV cameraman swung his camera round so
spectators nearby could watch the closing kilometres on his monitor.

Altogether, highly recommended.

Photos to follow.

:-)