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Ronde Van Vlaanderen 2008 Sportive |
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Written by David Scott
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Monday, 19 May 2008 |
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Three go to the 2008 edition of The Tour of Flanders cyclosportif....
The Ronde Van Vlaanderen sportive is a series of rides based on/around the legendary one classic The Tour of Flanders. Preceding the pro race there is the ladies world cup classic over 110km. Our plan was to ride the sportive on the Saturday and then cheer ex-Welwyn Wheeler and neo-pro with the newly formed Halfords racing team, Emma Trott.
There are a choice of road rides from the full 256km route as ridden by the pros, a 140km route which takes in 15 of the 17 climbs on the pro route or a 75km route with 6 climbs. Whilst for MTB riders a choice of 25, 50 or 75km rides. We opted for the 140km route or rather Adrian said this was the ride to do as it involved a lot less pre and post ride travel and avoided riding into cross-winds for the first 115km.
Having ridden the event last year James and myself were keen for any information and tips that Adrian could give e.g. how steep are the climbs, what gears should we use, tyre choice and pressure, how best to ride the cobbles etc.
Adrian told us that “last year was great, dry with bright sunshine all day” – this didn’t strike us as typical for Belgium in April. Regular checking of the forecasts as the start date loomed confirmed that Adrian had ridden in freak conditions last year. We were being promised showers and wind, the only good news was that snow was now forecast for the Sunday and not the Saturday. James and I went for 53/39 combined with 12/25 and 25mm Continental 4 season tyres. Whilst Adrian opted for 53/39 with a 13/26 cassette and 24mm Victoria pave tyres. Tyre pressure was also subjected to several debates culminating with a quick squeeze of tyres accompanied by a “what do you think about this?” all very scientific stuff!
So, despite his best marketing skills (ok - a couple of postings on the club forum) the squad for the event consisted of team leader Adrian Trott, James Johnson and me.
The team assembled at Potters Bar station at just after 2:30 on Friday afternoon or it would have done if James had read the last email changing the meet time from 3:00 to 2:30!
It wasn’t long before we drinking tea and waiting for the train to take us through the tunnel. Everything was looking good for dinner at our hotel, just outside Gent, for 8'ish. When out of no-where appeared a couple of French school children shouting “une problem”. Even with our limited language skills we realised that there was probably some sort of a problem. After a long wait we were eventually told that there had been an “incident involving a coach bursting a tyre and rolling forward and pushing the car in-front into the doors and there were several injuries”. The upshot was that after quite a delay everyone was unloaded from the train and had to wait to be allocated a later train. The “benefit” of this impromptu delay was that it gave James time to express his ideas regards the “need for alternative economic model for the global economy”. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time for James to actually enlighten us as to how this new wonder system would work. We had to satisfy ourselves with the knowledge that although James did not have an “answer” he did know there is a “problem”.Adrian reviewing 'the' problem... 
At about 9:45pm we pulled into the hotel car-park which we were sharing with team buses for the Rabobank, AG2R and Caisse de Pagne teams. After a lengthy check-in, for some reason the hotel thought that even though Adrian had booked a triple room he only wanted one bed! We headed next door to restaurant only to find out that it had closed at 10pm – not good news if you’re planning on riding 140km the next day. Fortunately the bar was open and the barman was happy to prepare what he called spaghetti carbonara. To be fair it couldn’t have been that bad because AT and myself had two portions. After the pasta and couple of beers we retired to our room which now, thankfully, had three-beds.
Our hotel was about 30 minutes from the event HQ, so we agreed to have breakfast as soon as it opened in the hotel at 6:30 the following morning. Adrian had said that there was no formal start time i.e. we could start anytime between 7:30 and 10 but he suggested an early start because “there are thousands of riders” – little did we know how many. There was also the slight problem that only James’s registration documentation had arrived, so we also had to re-register at the start.
Well would have started breakfast at 6:30 if we’d avoided James laying-out the various combinations of kit he could wear for the day’s events.
We set-off for the event start/finish HQ and because we were running a little later than intended parking was a bit more difficult. We settled for a church car park covered in “no parking signs” our inspired theory being that because some other cyclists were also parked there we’d be ok and we couldn’t be bothered to drive any further away from the HQ.
We assembled the bikes and began debating equipment and clothing choices for the umpteenth time. It was at this point that the pipe-lagging to James’s handlebars was revealed in all it’s glory. The clothing discussions were should one take a race cape or not? Yes it was wet but it wasn’t actually raining. Adrian opted to take a cape James and me looked at the sky and said capes wouldn’t be needed as “the wind was blowing the dark clouds the other-way” the sad reality was as we didn’t know the route we didn’t know which the dark clouds were going!
The HQ was a series of large marquees containing check-ins, food stalls and a large beer tent. We signed on, collected our numbers and attached them to our handlebars. Before long we were off, a quick check on the route card showed that we had about 30km before the “Molenburg”, a short climb about 475metres long with an average gradient of 7% with a maximum gradient of 14% and like the other 14 climbs on the route it’s cobbled.
It wasn’t long before we were out of town and onto country lanes. Before we knew it 50 minutes had passed and we were taking a right-angled turned onto the “Molenburg”. There was a short cobbled run-in of approximately 40 metres before the climb proper, this gave just enough time to drop down to a low gear. Both James and me both thought we had double punctured, we hadn’t we were just riding through the joints between the very wet and slippery cobbles. The cobbles themselves were varied in size from a small roll to the size of a bag of sugar. Due to the number of riders, it wasn’t long before we started slipping and stalling and had to jump off our bikes and walk part of the way. I remember thinking to myself that if the following 14 climbs were going to be like this then it wasn’t going to be a fun-day. We re-mounted our bikes half-way up to complete the first climb.
Adrian subsequently claimed that he’d mentioned the stretch of cobbles between the first two climbs, what he failed to say was that this stretch was 4km long and speaking for myself they came as a complete surprise. Maybe the James pipe-lagging would show its worth? I went for the stick it in a big gear that feels ok and then use the next smaller sprocket and hold the middle of the ‘bars loosely. Holding anywhere else caused so much vibration that it was extremely uncomfortable and seemed to offer less control.
The cobbles seemed endless, still we were passing riders and no-one was passing us so we must have been doing ok. We re-grouped at the end of the cobbles. James’s pipe lagging didn’t appear, to Adrian and me, to have offered him any advantage.
It was then onto the 645metre long “Wolvenberg” with an average gradient of 7.9% and maximum gradient of 17.3%. Just the kind of figures to help work up a healthy appetite for the first feed at 50km. Oh and by this time the drizzle was making a concerted effort to turn to rain.
The feed station was housed in the warehouse of a safety-shoe company in an anonymous industrial estate. Riders formed into several queues which then snaked into the warehouse via. volunteers handing-out bottles of Isostar, slices of honey bread and biscuits. So we eat, chatted and agreed that if we became separated (polite term for dropped!) we’d re-group at the next feed.
We rolled-off out into the drizzle with a further 7 cobbled climbs and unbeknown to James and me 2 cobbled descents. Particular highlights included the Oude-Kwaremont 2200metres long average gradient of 4% and maximum gradient of 11.6% followed shortly afterwards by the Paterberg 360metres long average gradient of 12% and maximum gradient of 20.3%. Just after the Paterberg came the Koppenberg at 600metres long average gradient of 11% and maximum gradient of 22%. The real problem on the climbs wasn’t so much the steepness but more a combination of the wet cobbles and sheer number of riders. The road surface and conditions meant the climbs were best climbed sitting-down in a low gear e.g. 39*21/23/25 in order to keep traction. Getting out the saddle invariably caused the rear wheel to bounce all over the place and made an already difficult job nearly impossible. Because we’d started later than anticipated we did get caught-up in a lot of rider-traffic during the first half of the ride. Things weren’t helped by the many riders who the moment they saw a hill stuck their triple or compact chainsets in a tiny bottom gear pedalled like there was no tomorrow for about 30 seconds before they ran out of puff, wobbled then fell-off and decided the best route was to then stagger up the middle of a climb that was less than 3 metres wide making sure it was all but impossible for those behind them to continue riding. Fortunately as we got further into the ride the rider numbers thinned down considerably.
The second and final feed at about 100km was even busier than the first because it also acted as the feed for those doing the 75km ride. By this time things were pretty damp, it wasn’t so much rain but more a continuous drizzle. I’m sure James did comment during the ride that without the rain it wouldn’t have been the “real Flanders experience”. Anyway, it was more Isostar, honey bread and biscuits all-round again. I think we all would have enjoyed a cup of something hot as fingers and toes became rather chilled.
As we rolled away from the feed I think the thing occupying our minds was the thought of the infamous “Muur-Kappelmuur” which the route sheet indicated as being 475metres long averaging 9.3% and reaching to a maximum of 19.8%. What we didn’t realise was how the close the next climb was after the feed. I must confess dear reader it was at the top of this climb that I entered a “wobbly” phase; the following climb saw me having to stop for a pee after which I spent the next few kilometres eating honey biscuits and muttering to Adrian that I was “going through a rough patch”. Adrian being a true gent and clubmate decided this was the ideal opportunity to, as he later explained it, “have some fun” by keeping his bike in the big-ring for as long as possible whilst I slipped down the sprockets from 39/21 to 23 to 25 and grovelled up the next couple of climbs. I think he was determined to finally crack me on the “Muur-Kappelmuur” – he even played that old nasty trick of saying “only 3 more climbs to go” and then waiting 10 seconds or so to correct himself and announce “sorry, there are actually 5 climbs to go”. But I wasn’t going to allow myself to conned by such cheap and low tricks!
I knew that there would still be a battle on the “Muur”. I tried to psyche him out with the offer of a honey biscuit Adrian responded by looking confident and comfortable as we head towards the “Muur”. I soon found-out why he was looking so confident, the route guide makes no mention of the run-in to this 475meter monster, it cheerfully ignores the 1000+metres or so which start of as block paviors before changing to cobbles all of which are on an incline not dissimilar to Digswell Hill – which isn’t particularly steep unless you’ve already done 100km plus and you know there’s a 19.8% monster lurking round the corner.
Adrian, on the big ring of course, led the pair of us through the town of Geraardsbergen and up towards the Muur. I stayed 3 or 4 of bike lengths back spinning a lowish gear and avoiding eye contact with Adrian as he kept looking over his shoulder to check where and how I was. It wasn’t long after hitting the first real cobbles of the climb that Adrian abandoned the big ring and was pedalling at a similar cadence to me. Before we knew it we were onto the “Muur” proper. Although not the steepest climb of the day a combination of the earlier climbs and the steep grass banks up either side mean that it’s a pretty intimidating climb. As you start all you can see the is a sharp and steep turn heading left. The high and steep grass banks combined with the trees give the effect of riding through a tunnel. As you take the first turn you suddenly become aware of a church which although not far away is actually quite high up from where you’re riding. By this time I was feeling slightly better and was sitting about a bike length back. I was determined to give Adrian a run for his money in the race for the top. To maintain traction on the cobbles I went from the 21 to 23 my plan being that as we couldn’t have reached the steepest part yet I’d be able to use the 25 for the final push up and past Adrian to the top. Well it would have been a good plan if it had worked! I made my effort a bit too early which gave Adrian time to respond by nipping off up between a couple of slower moving riders and a gain a couple of lengths which he then held until the top.
As we descended the other side I cheered myself-up by saying to Adrian “job done” Just a shame I’d forgotten about the final climb!
We arrived at the bottom of the “Bosberg”. This for me was one of the worst climbs of the day, it’s not particularly steep at an average of 5.8% and peaking at 11%. It was more to do with it being a dead straight cobbled line that stretched-out in front. I said to Adrian that “I’d meet him at the top”.
With the “Bosberg” out the way there was just the final run-in to the finish of about 15km. I decided this was the time to try and get my own back on Adrian for his “ungentlemanly” conduct on the last few climbs. As far as I was concerned the final run-in was going to be a big gear “do or die effort” – I’d either finish in a blaze of glory or explode and end-up in the gutter. So I put myself on the front and started to lift the pace.
It wasn’t long before up the road we caught sight of a lone North Road jersey, a check behind us revealed two North Roaders also chasing. We soon caught, exchanged pleasantries with and left the front rider. It didn’t take long to realise that we’d also gained a couple of North Road passengers. This was enough to spur me. My tactics were simple, catch the next group ride through and out the front and onto the next group. The occasional look behind was met with Adrian slowly shaking his head with a look of “this is going to end in tears”. It wasn’t too long before the two North Roaders decided that they’d probably be better-off taking a steadier ride to the finish and they let us slip off up the road.
After 20 minutes or so we were on the outskirts of the start / finish town all that remained was gentle roll around the town for a couple of kilometres before we crossed the finish line. There was a “gentleman’s” agreement that because of the number of riders and people milling around there wouldn’t be sprint for the line – this suited me perfectly!
We made our way to the event HQ to collect various goodies that are given away (including drinks bottles, energy powder, t-shirts and medals). Whilst we waited for James to arrive we took the opportunity to have the free leg wipe down and massage being offered by one of the event sponsors.
It wasn’t long before James arrived and we were swapping tales over the classic recovery food that is chips and beer!
The car was loaded and we headed back to our hotel to get cleaned-up before heading into in Ghent for dinner. We had a chat with the Rabobank mechanics, James was convinced that the riders would be using double layers of handlebar tape. It transpired that the Rabobank riders would be using their standard roadbikes, no extra tape or padding, regular spoked wheels with normal 23mm vitorria tubs. The only concession was to swap 11/23 cassettes to 11/25.
Dinner was, I thought, a remarkably civilised affair i.e. good food, beer and erudite conversation – although we were still none the wiser as to the “alternative economic model for the global economy”.
The plan for the next day was to watch the start of the ladies race then dash across the countryside taking in as much of the ladies race as possible before heading to a café to watch the mens race later that afternoon. Which is basically how things panned-out. We watched the Halfords team, including Emma Trott and Nicole Cooke, being introduced to the crowd at the start.
A few comments / observations from the days events:
Personally I didn’t realise quite how big the ladies world cup races are.
Whilst the professional men all seem massive most of the ladies are tiny.
Obviously I knew cycling is big in Belgium but I didn’t realise quite how big – they are absolutely nuts for it. Everyone we spoke to had an opinion on the race.
We watched the men’s race pass us with about 30km to go, the speed the bunch was still doing after 230km was incredible.
Don’t ever listen to anyone who says “but Belgium’s flat”
We sat and watched the race coverage in a little café. The café started off half-full but before long the place was packed with the local lads, their girlfriends, old men, families with young children all glued to the television screen – booing and jeering whenever a non-Belgium rider tried to chase down and get assistance from the motorbikes.
After the race we headed back to tunnel for the train home. We tried to get an earlier train than the one that had been booked but we were out of luck. It had started snowing and that combined with the end some school Easter holidays meant that a lot of people had the same idea about getting an earlier train as us. So we spent the best part of 2.5 hours in the terminal building eating, looking at the duty-free and complaining about the exchange-rate!
On the way back we collected Emma Trott at Maidstone services who entertained us with tales from a racers perspective of the event.
Personally I couldn’t recommend this event enough, the organisation and the route is excellent. The area where the final climbs are located is fantastic and would make an ideal base for a training weekend - it’s only about 90 minutes from the tunnel.
You’ll probably glad to hear there’s not a lot more to say apart from a big thank you to Adrian for organising and driving. |
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