I was going to post the following in the Retro Ronde thread, but perhaps its better to start a new thread to avoid any confusion:
The Retro Ronde Van Vlaanderen is on 13-14 June next year. I thought it would be nice to do a tribute ride to the great man. Since there are a few people from here planning to do the Retro Ronde, perhaps people from here want to join in.
Merckx was born in a little village in Vlaams Brabant, about 40km East of Brussels. The Retro Ronde is on the weekend of his birthday this year, so I thought it could be a nice addition to the weekend for those who want to clock up a few more km.
We could either do a circular route round the region or we could start in Leuven, ride over to the village then from there over to Oudenaarde, via the Muur of Geraardsbergen. The latter would be about 180km so a decent challenge.
The region is really nice for cycling, we can cross over to the French speaking part (the contrast in terrain, architecture and culture is very interesting), and there are some great climbs and cobbled sections. There are even a few breweries we could visit. There is an excellent network of paved cycle routes that is much more pleasant and scenic than the main roads.
I'd like to keep the ride quite small, just 10 or so people so it's manageable and fun. If there's enough interest let me know and I'll start thinking about how to organize it. Participation would be free, but obviously people would have to take care of their own food supplies and so on. I may be able to provide accommodation and/or camping space if the numbers and the Mrs permit...
The Retro Ronde Van Vlaanderen is on 13-14 June next year. I thought it would be nice to do a tribute ride to the great man. Since there are a few people from here planning to do the Retro Ronde, perhaps people from here want to join in.
Merckx was born in a little village in Vlaams Brabant, about 40km East of Brussels. The Retro Ronde is on the weekend of his birthday this year, so I thought it could be a nice addition to the weekend for those who want to clock up a few more km.
We could either do a circular route round the region or we could start in Leuven, ride over to the village then from there over to Oudenaarde, via the Muur of Geraardsbergen. The latter would be about 180km so a decent challenge.
The region is really nice for cycling, we can cross over to the French speaking part (the contrast in terrain, architecture and culture is very interesting), and there are some great climbs and cobbled sections. There are even a few breweries we could visit. There is an excellent network of paved cycle routes that is much more pleasant and scenic than the main roads.
I'd like to keep the ride quite small, just 10 or so people so it's manageable and fun. If there's enough interest let me know and I'll start thinking about how to organize it. Participation would be free, but obviously people would have to take care of their own food supplies and so on. I may be able to provide accommodation and/or camping space if the numbers and the Mrs permit...
