Well I did it all 245km on a early ninties Pinerrello Monvisio kitted out with period equipment apart from the saddle I need one that fits and that is not a period one.
Anyway the day was run well with the dutch police doing traffic duties and ensuring riders used the cycle lanes. The first 60 miles were easy rolling at the head of a group for a while and then scooting of but that was a mistake because the hills started and my they just kept on coming. By the time 90 miles came up the first big climbs appeared and then Koppenberg. I ground to halt when the gradient went past 20% it turns out rather predictably that 39:25 is not a good ratio for this hill given it is on cobbles. Still that is the only hill I had to dismount on. However I could barley walk up it either as I kept slipping on my cleat. I did think about crawling. When the gradient fell to a mere 10% or so a friendly flandrian gave me a push start to get going again. Also Pave at speed is horrible you can't change gear, my hands wanted to jump of the hoods and the only place I could put them was on the drops. The worst bit though were the downhill pave sections with a cobbled bend at the bottom, "braking" for that was entertaining. There are Pave sections that went on for over 2km I just wanted those to end. The final hill Paterberg looked like a vertical cobbled wall and it seemed most people were walking up it I managed to get up it but given the 20% gradient my speed was 3 mph is places!
If anyone has not done it, do it its worth the effort. Next year though I will try wider tubs on the rear wheel and lower gearing (I will get round to it this time!)
Overall time 9hrs5 mins which is not too shabby especially as I have never cycled that far before never ridden cobbles and never gone up a 20% climb either. So a lot of firsts that day.
16000 friendly riders from all over europe will always make a nice day. Also the flanders folk seem up for it with one family appearing on the devils worst climb. Is there a word for people who like to watch others suffer because that what they were doing and they enjoyed it! Also the Belgian drivers were very well behaved did not see a single aggressive driver the whole day same they are not so well behaved on the motorway.
Anyway the day was run well with the dutch police doing traffic duties and ensuring riders used the cycle lanes. The first 60 miles were easy rolling at the head of a group for a while and then scooting of but that was a mistake because the hills started and my they just kept on coming. By the time 90 miles came up the first big climbs appeared and then Koppenberg. I ground to halt when the gradient went past 20% it turns out rather predictably that 39:25 is not a good ratio for this hill given it is on cobbles. Still that is the only hill I had to dismount on. However I could barley walk up it either as I kept slipping on my cleat. I did think about crawling. When the gradient fell to a mere 10% or so a friendly flandrian gave me a push start to get going again. Also Pave at speed is horrible you can't change gear, my hands wanted to jump of the hoods and the only place I could put them was on the drops. The worst bit though were the downhill pave sections with a cobbled bend at the bottom, "braking" for that was entertaining. There are Pave sections that went on for over 2km I just wanted those to end. The final hill Paterberg looked like a vertical cobbled wall and it seemed most people were walking up it I managed to get up it but given the 20% gradient my speed was 3 mph is places!
If anyone has not done it, do it its worth the effort. Next year though I will try wider tubs on the rear wheel and lower gearing (I will get round to it this time!)
Overall time 9hrs5 mins which is not too shabby especially as I have never cycled that far before never ridden cobbles and never gone up a 20% climb either. So a lot of firsts that day.
16000 friendly riders from all over europe will always make a nice day. Also the flanders folk seem up for it with one family appearing on the devils worst climb. Is there a word for people who like to watch others suffer because that what they were doing and they enjoyed it! Also the Belgian drivers were very well behaved did not see a single aggressive driver the whole day same they are not so well behaved on the motorway.
