Tour of Flanders 2012

Figured I should start a new thread for this year's Ronde van Vlaanderen after checking out last year's.

Anybody going this year?

We're trying to sort the logistics at the moment (on the cheap). Plan on staying in Ghent and getting train to Oudenaarde for 7am, but are now tempted to go to Bruge for the 244km. Ghent seems well placed between the two, only problem is whether we can do the 244 before checkpoints close.

Only three months training left.

Im doing the mountain bike long one , its a right laugh.......nice food stops and you do the cobbled climbs..

There's a bus/coach option that will take you from Ghent to Brugge for the start of the long one. I think it was about 15EU. Check the Ronde website.

Ah, actually the route has changed.. so maybe not.

Done the weekend with this lot before..
http://www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk/cycling/tour-of-flanders

pay your respects to the cobbles.. part of the holy grail of cycling by visiting the muur when you are there (alas not on the route for 2012)
http://www.rondevanvlaanderen.be/

Was thinking of the MTB one too, but my MTB skills are wanting.

Thanks for the link Hippy. I think we're coming well under the company price (plus we're travelling from Ireland).

Disappointed the Muur isn't on it htis year, but we're hanging around til Monday and will be having a little cycle tour of our own.

the mens elite road race route starts is brugge and finishes in oudenaarde with most of the legendary climbs around this town..
not sure what the sportive plans are. but if you base yourself in oudenaarde you might be able see the men's elite race from several locations, if the barrier / restrictions allow it on sunday.

then visit the iconic muur on monday, it is in geraardsbergen http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&cp=5&gs_id=o&xhr=t&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1272&bih=831&wrapid=tljp1325681584294012&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=geraardsbergen&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=geraardsbergen&cid=0,0,5181134591207292882&ei=tEsET633AYfU8QO1u9jUAQ&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&sqi=2&ved=0CAgQ_BI

Climbing the Muur of Geraardsbergen - Tour of Flanders - YouTube

good luck

Thanks for that video almac. Well it looks like we're blindly taking on the full route. We may have over estimated our abilities, but it feels more like we're doing the "proper" route.

http://sport.be.msn.com/cyclingtour/rondevanvlaanderen/2012/eng/inschrijven/

registration has opened for the independent minded among you..

Anyone know how much of the route (either 170 or 244) is cobbles?

http://www.crvv.be/en/tourism/slopes-and-cobblestones

don't focus on the cobbles.. just HTFU and reward yourself bier afterwards..

Confession time

During last years edition of the Ronde sportive, the big one mind. I hid behind several MTB's on the bleak flat sections. It never entered my mind to give them 'a spell' I selfishly used them as wind breaks all the while on my plastic fantastic road bike while they were knocking out 18-20 mph on full sus mud pluggers.

Respect indeed.

MTBs.. they should be ashamed.

Alas, I am not a fan of Belgian beer... for shame, I know.

Thanks for the links. Distances seem negligible (lol), my fellow adventurers only hit cobbles the first time last week and got quite a nasty shock.

I'm planning* on going. What tyres do people go for?

*no actual plan yet

23's are fine no need for the spangly pave numbers.

Ensure your computer and bottle cage mounts are secure.

Frites with a bucketload of salt and mayo are your prize at the end.

Enjoy!

That's what I was hoping! Cheers

I'm looking at 25s tbh, cos I'm a heavy SOB, then again my Vittoris 23s have a pretty high pressure tolerance, they might be ok (unsure what bearing, if any, this has on the situation).

merak is right about securing everything on the bike.. the pave ends up being littered with water bottles, spare inner tubes, broken saddlebags, pumps, and food.. so you need to concentrate when negotiating. btw my garmin was hanging on with one cable tie by the time i reached ninove last year..

anything you put in the rear pockets can also go missing, so keep valuables zipped away. you can also thread an old inner tube thro the rails of your saddle, then wrap around your saddlebag for extra security.

double wrap your handle bars, when you hit the pave, don't grip the top bar, but hold it losely maintain a good speed, stay in the saddle. let your your hands, feet and arse absorb the punishment, 80 psi in the tyres also helps.

The organisation is deciding this week whether to have a MTB event as well, flipping hope so........lets get some emails in to show them we are keen.......

Me and tomato soup are well up for some touring this year. the ronde is on our agenda. If anyone has an advice re. travel to/from and accommodation (on the cheap side but with private bathrooms) it'd be appreciated.

Thanks

benjam, i stayed here last year, on the outskirts of oudenaarde,

http://www.outsider.be/Events/Locaties/detail.asp?iImsNid=31546
this place off donkstraat, turn off at the bend in the road, the outsider complex faces the lake

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&cp=5&gs_id=e&xhr=t&q=oudenaarde&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1151&bih=831&wrapid=tljp132673292017608&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

apparently the elite mens race finishes about 200m from this place.. email them and ask about the 85 euro weekend package for the ronde, includes supper and maybe the mighty meat sticks that hang from the ceiling, the food is A1 for a campsite/hostel with stunning lake and surrounding woods .. you can then decide whether to go out to bruges (start town) for the long tour or stick local for the hills on saturday (which i did and finished in ninove) and be close to all the action on sunday.. good luck the outsider may be sold out in which case i recommend staying close the the finish town..

thanks for the tip almac!

benjam email Gerald at info@outsider.be

if you have no joy, email Annette or Pieter see if they have rooms available
logies@degroeneweg.be

check out their place it is stunning, heading there 20/22 april
B&B De Groene Weg
www.degroeneweg.be

good luck
Al

Right, the time is almost upon us. Anyone going yet? Am thinking of doing my viewing on Kwaremont or Bosberg. Cycling to Oudenaarde for the sportif from Ghent in the morning and then back, maybe. Looks like a cloudy day with possible rain, but not too cold. Proper Spring Classic weather. Hoping to get onto a velodrome in Ghent, and pick up some decent souveniers.

It’s 9.47 and Jens Keukeleire stands at the barriers in the Markt. He looks relaxed and at one point invites someone to take a bite from the Powerbar he’s eating. A second year professional, Jens was recruited for days like this. His manager believes “that Belgians are born with these races in their DNA”, but it’s hard to imagine that Jens will see the end of the race.

The directions are so clear that I feel that I have no need to consult the map that the hotel owner had carefully prepared the night before. Two Spanish cyclists join me as we had toward the city walls, a nod of acknowledgment serving as confirmation of our joint enterprise. A red traffic light, a brief stop and an animated pensioner gestures towards the start. I mumble thank you and we proceed. The road has widened considerably and in parking bays either side of it car doors are open, frames and wheels scattering the pavement. We’re now a group and the pace has risen, a northerly wind pushes at our backs and a sign denotes that we have now left the city limits. It’s too late to return now, the registration form and 45 Euros sit in my back pocket, an uneasy memento that I’ll carry with me for the remainder of the day.

“Is it pretty?”It’s a hard question to answer. I’d like to say yes, as if this were to prove some justification for riding it. There are parts of course, but this is a working landscape, embedded within a cultural identity that I don’t necessarily understand and which I have reduced to beer and frites. Memories of the landscape are fragmentary; a farm vehicle spreading shit across a field, shuttered roadside houses that appear to be advertising themselves as sex clubs, long sections of canal. The hills and cobbles are almost melded into one, it’s only later watching TV that some return to me - a downhill cobbled section, across a railway track and a sharp left hand turn. Of course you can’t forget the Koppenberg, but only because of the casual nature in which it lays bare its brutality. No pretences here, no attempt to disguise what’s on offer, a simple path between two fields and the indignity of a walk to the top. “Is it pretty” – no not really.

A flick of the right hand denotes that we should keep going; my initial reaction is to stop, remove the A4 sheet and plead with him. There is little point, he’s older than the others and I suspect that he won’t speak English. My second reaction is to quietly mutter that he’s a ‘fucking jobsworth’, but to be honest it’s my own fault and what would it achieve in any event? My computer has registered approximately 100 miles, I have no water in my bottles and I want a rest. The 45 Euros and registration form weigh more heavily than it did at the start.

The 5km sign appears on a nondescript piece of road. I’m beyond caring now and my legs are tired. A small grandstand sits empty in a field, the obligatory beer tent behind it, and the smell of cow shit wafts across the road. 14mph is the most I can manage now, the road is flat but the wind is blowing toward me and I’m cycling alone. I look for the 4km banner which doesn’t appear and I’m left wondering if my legs have totally gone. An HGV turns onto the course and I sit behind it glad of the temporary respite from the wind. The last few metres are smooth tarmac, industrial units being constructed, a church in the distance and the finishing line. My girlfriend wants me to be photographed at the finish, no I reply, I just want to get to the car.

An elderly English couple stand in the Markt, “Whatever it is, it’s either being taken down or being put up” states the man with some authority. The race has gone, the crowds dispersed and replaced by tourists seeking cheap tobacco and chocolate. Jens Keukeleire will come 31st.