Paris Roubaix Sportive?

Cobbled hills, get the best of both worlds
Gent Wevelgem 2007 - YouTube

The 130 miles of big ring was definitely nice though.

Business as usual...

The hills in Flanders are short, sharp little buggers, but they are over in a couple of minutes or so. The cobbles are nowhere near as rough as the ones over the border in France.

Anyone thinking about it should do it, it's a great day out.

Anyone thinking about it should do it, it's a great day out.

Take note Hillbilly.

Just be glad I haven't tried to con you into LBL yet.

The LBL one is a great event too, but the hills are significantly harder than Flanders.

How long is flanders?

265km from memory. I did it last year. We also cycled back to the campsite from the finish which was a stupid idea, so ended up doing over 300km including some riding the wrong way on the hard shoulder of the motorway in the dark. With no lights.

Did P-R this year, it was my write up on the Dulwich forum 6pt would have read.

Did some of the Flanders cobbled hills this year... no problem in the dry, even for a fat fuck like me, but pretty sketchy in the wet.

Wiki:

The 'Monuments'

The Five Monuments of Cycling are generally considered to be the oldest and most-prestigious one-day races on the calendar.[1][2][3]

Milan – San Remo (Italy) – the first true Classic of the year, its Italian name is La Primavera (the spring), this race is held in late March. First run in 1907.
Tour of Flanders (Belgium) – also known as the "Ronde van Vlaanderen", the first of the 'Spring Classics', is raced in early April. First held in 1913.
Paris–Roubaix (France) – the "Queen of the Classics" or l'Enfer du Nord ("Hell of the North") is traditionally one week after the Ronde van Vlaanderen, and was first raced in 1896.
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (Belgium) – late April. La Doyenne, the oldest Classic, was first held in 1892 as an amateur event; a professional edition following in 1894.
Giro di Lombardia (Italy) – also known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves", is held in October. Initially called the Milano–Milano in 1905, it became the Giro di Lombardia in 1907.

In the same order:
MSR: 298k & 1,908 meters
Flanders: 261k & 1,740 meters
PR: 210k & 993 metres
LBL: 257K & 3,317 meters
Il Lombardia: 241k & The climbers classic

I can't find the actual total ascent for Il Lombardia anywhere. Let's just call it lots.

The course changes almost every year, so it's hard to say accurately, but it's normally around the 3500-4000 vertical metres mark.

Cheers andy.

I did the sportive version a few years ago, and would definitely recommend it. The pro race was on the Saturday so we rode out and caught that a couple of times, including the top of the Ghisallo after we rode up it ahead of the race (being cheered on by thousands of tifosi as we did so).

Then on the Sunday we rode the fondo version, less crowds but amazing roads.

I've really enjoyed having a specific aim in mind this year, it's kept me going on days when I'd have happily stayed in bed and hid from the inclement weather.

I think my vague plan is to aim at two of the remaining four monuments next year. Flanders seems a sensible option and I'd really like to tick Il Lombardia. I can imagine me leaving MSR until last as it's not my kind of ride.

I should stress this is pre-planning as I haven't really thought it through but Lombardy would replace the intended summer Italy trip.

I've really enjoyed having a specific aim in mind this year, it's kept me going on days when I'd have happily stayed in bed and hid from the inclement weather.

This in spades- having a goal does make you go out in the rain, or climb onto the turbo when all you want to do is relax.

I'd be up for ticking off more classics Em, let me know what the plan is.

The five monuments appeal to me - done Flanders and Roubaix (although not the full distance). Problem with Italian monuments is cost. LBL tempting, but would need to be fitter. Just found out about Paris Cambrai in September, which sounds interesting.

Flanders is enjoyable, although it can come a little too soon if, like me, you are relatively time poor for training with commitments such as childcare. I'm also deluded to the extreme in my attempts to get up 20% gradients in fat bastard unfriendly gearing. This year I missed registering on the day (the previous year it was a 90 minute queue for those who preregistered and a 5 minute queue to sign-up on the day). I thought I wouldn't bother preregistering, missed the sign on point, and so was denied all access to food/water stops, despite explaining that I was willing to hand over the cash. Piss Poor Planning and all that.

Anyway, I give you a picture of my post-Roubaix thigh!

1 Attachment

Is anyone over there for the sportive/event this year?

Yes, did it last year, back for more (more pave and more teeth chattering) this year. But will be happy if avoiding result as a DNF, but that's down to luck a bit.... And a healthy dose of HTFU.