Calling anyone that has done the Tour of Flanders Sportiv

[Wayne77]

Has anyone here done this event? I'll be heading out this year with some other good friends on my team to do it. Its taking the place of our Spring training camp this year. Flying to Brussels a few days earlier, I'll probably work in some shorter training rides on Thursday and Friday, then do the event on Saturday (the full 145 mile route). Then we'll stay and try to find somewhere to catch the pro racing action for the actual event on Sunday. After that I have another day and would like to work in at least one more ride within an hour or two driving distance...maybe Arenburg? So, on to my question:

- I've heard about the massive numbers that sign up for this event...seeing pictures of crowds of people walking their bikes up the famous cobbled climbs. ughh...would rather avoid that and actually ride the route. Is this an issue for the folks starting 60K away for the long route? Will the crowds be cleared out by the time the long route people get there? Or perhaps it makes sense to either start way early to get to those climbs before the crowds? Or maybe do a late start, giving things a chance to clear out even more so?

- Also, any recommendations for the best place to watch the race go by? We'll have bikes, so maybe it would be better to ride to some nice vantage point to avoid parking issues... thoughts?

[gavingould]

i didn't do the sportive but did go to the race in 2014. did a Flanders Classics VIP tent thing on the Oude Kwaremont and they went by 3 times. i believe the route is marked with signage pretty well year round, but with the course changes this year i don't know.

good chance someone will have a better answer!

[FlashUNC]

From.some friends who did it:

The climbs are what create the bottlenecks and there's no getting around that. Their advice for avoiding the crowds? Don't ride the sportive.

One also broke two bikes on the route. The first has a derailleur snap off and then he cracked the second frame. This was on one sportive.

Good luck.

[GonaSovereign]

You're there a couple days early. Go ride your favourite climbs in advance.
I rode all the climbs from the last 60km on the Thursday and Friday, and I saw a handful of other people total (including guys from Lotto and Astana).

Saturday on the Koppenberg is a sh*t show, with you and 500 other people walking up in cleats. Compare and contrast - this is me cresting the top exactly one day earlier. Not a soul around:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/425/31845215013_7b73c0f45d_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Qw43Xg)koppenberg (https://flic.kr/p/Qw43Xg) by Geoffrey Morgan (https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffrideshisbike/), on Flickr

[Wayne77]

From.some friends who did it:

The climbs are what create the bottlenecks and there's no getting around that. Their advice for avoiding the crowds? Don't ride the sportive.

One also broke two bikes on the route. The first has a derailleur snap off and then he cracked the second frame. This was on one sportive.

Good luck.

Thanks for the information. Do you know if your friends did the full route or one of the shorter routes?

[Wayne77]

You're there a couple days early. Go ride your favourite climbs in advance.
I rode all the climbs from the last 60km on the Thursday and Friday, and I saw a handful of other people total (including guys from Lotto and Astana).

Saturday on the Koppenberg is a sh*t show, with you and 500 other people walking up in cleats...<snipped>

Thanks...very helpful. We were talking about doing just that, but someone else told me that now they close down much of the route a day or two in advance so that isn't an option... (not sure how the organizers would do that though)

What year did you pre-ride all those climbs? I really like that option. I'm not flying all that way just to walk up the Koppenburg!

[GonaSovereign]

What year did you pre-ride all those climbs? I really like that option. I'm not flying all that way just to walk up the Koppenburg!

It was 2011 or 2012.
The Thursday did a ride that took in the Koppenberg, Patersberg, Taienberg and a few other bits. The Friday we rode the Kapelmuur (Geraardsbergen) adn the Bosberg on our ride, so we'd see the last 25-30 kms.

My pic above was the Koppenberg on the Thursday afternoon. This was it Saturday morning. Total cluster:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/592/32626925036_5194761c6a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RH8w7h)Koppenberg Bottom 2 (https://flic.kr/p/RH8w7h) by Geoffrey Morgan (https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffrideshisbike/), on Flickr

The same thing happened on the Paterberg, but the rest were rideable, although you did need to weave around the slow and the walking.

Here are two from our recon. Note the lack of people on the Kapelmuur:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/334/32626921666_d9f070f73a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RH8v7b)Kapelmuur 1 (https://flic.kr/p/RH8v7b) by Geoffrey Morgan (https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffrideshisbike/), on Flickr

And basically no one on the Bosberg:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/686/32626928426_84d35e4c99_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RH8x7J)Ronde van Vlaanderen JP hits the Bosberg in practice (https://flic.kr/p/RH8x7J) by Geoffrey Morgan (https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffrideshisbike/), on Flickr

There's really no way to shut the roads down in advance because people use them to commute, as you can see in the pic of the Bosberg.

[Wayne77]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing. At least the ones without 500 people walking up the cobbles. I'm definitely going to ask around to see if the course is still open a day or two before the event these days. I'm sold on doing that.

It was 2011 or 2012.
The Thursday did a ride that took in the Koppenberg, Patersberg, Taienberg and a few other bits. The Friday we rode the Kapelmuur (Geraardsbergen) adn the Bosberg on our ride, so we'd see the last 25-30 kms.

My pic above was the Koppenberg on the Thursday afternoon. This was it Saturday morning. Total cluster:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/592/32626925036_5194761c6a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RH8w7h)Koppenberg Bottom 2 (https://flic.kr/p/RH8w7h) by Geoffrey Morgan (https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffrideshisbike/), on Flickr

The same thing happened on the Paterberg, but the rest were rideable, although you did need to weave around the slow and the walking.

Here are two from our recon. Note the lack of people on the Kapelmuur:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/334/32626921666_d9f070f73a_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RH8v7b)Kapelmuur 1 (https://flic.kr/p/RH8v7b) by Geoffrey Morgan (https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffrideshisbike/), on Flickr

And basically no one on the Bosberg:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/686/32626928426_84d35e4c99_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/RH8x7J)Ronde van Vlaanderen JP hits the Bosberg in practice (https://flic.kr/p/RH8x7J) by Geoffrey Morgan (https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffrideshisbike/), on Flickr

There's really no way to shut the roads down in advance because people use them to commute, as you can see in the pic of the Bosberg.

[everbeek]

- I've heard about the massive numbers that sign up for this event...seeing pictures of crowds of people walking their bikes up the famous cobbled climbs. ughh...would rather avoid that and actually ride the route. Is this an issue for the folks starting 60K away for the long route? Will the crowds be cleared out by the time the long route people get there? Or perhaps it makes sense to either start way early to get to those climbs before the crowds? Or maybe do a late start, giving things a chance to clear out even more so?

- Also, any recommendations for the best place to watch the race go by? We'll have bikes, so maybe it would be better to ride to some nice vantage point to avoid parking issues... thoughts?

2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015. All the climbs are rideable by the time the full distance riders get there. However, it just takes one or two tired or overgeared riders to swerve and screw up your line and make you put your foot down. There will not be thick crowds by the time you get there.

Absolutely go out and ride the climbs between Oudenaarde and Brakel a day or two before. Everything is close by. Take your time and enjoy it. The roads are completely open but you may find some trucks loading/unloading equipment on the climbs in preparation for race day. You may not get another chance, so no riding in the gutters in Flanders or side of the cobbles in France.

The Paterberg is without question the best spot to watch but you will have to get there very early and be prepared to wait around all day. Oude Kwaremont is so long that the crowd has a chance to spread out and you won't need to be there from early on to get a front row vantage. Be at the Paterberg by 10:00 am or the Oude Kwaremont by 11:00 am. Even though I my group was very experienced with back ways into those climbs for parking, everything is closed off on race day now that they are finishing on circuits and you need to take a free shuttle or it will be at least an hour walk into those two.

It's an easy 90 minute drive to into France for a day on the PR cobbles. Follow the course from Haveluy to Gruson and you get a good taste of everything. We do it by parking in Orchies and doing a figure eight loop. This gets you back to the car so that we can have lunch in Orchies before starting out on the afternoon run. About a 140 km day. Shorter if someone is willing to drive down to Haveluy to drop you off and pick you up in Gruson.
Enjoy.
-Mike

[bheight1]

2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015. All the climbs are rideable by the time the full distance riders get there. However, it just takes one or two tired or overgeared riders to swerve and screw up your line and make you put your foot down. There will not be thick crowds by the time you get there.

Absolutely go out and ride the climbs between Oudenaarde and Brakel a day or two before. Everything is close by. Take your time and enjoy it. The roads are completely open but you may find some trucks loading/unloading equipment on the climbs in preparation for race day. You may not get another chance, so no riding in the gutters in Flanders or side of the cobbles in France.

The Paterberg is without question the best spot to watch but you will have to get there very early and be prepared to wait around all day. Oude Kwaremont is so long that the crowd has a chance to spread out and you won't need to be there from early on to get a front row vantage. Be at the Paterberg by 10:00 am or the Oude Kwaremont by 11:00 am. Even though I my group was very experienced with back ways into those climbs for parking, everything is closed off on race day now that they are finishing on circuits and you need to take a free shuttle or it will be at least an hour walk into those two.

It's an easy 90 minute drive to into France for a day on the PR cobbles. Follow the course from Haveluy to Gruson and you get a good taste of everything. We do it by parking in Orchies and doing a figure eight loop. This gets you back to the car so that we can have lunch in Orchies before starting out on the afternoon run. About a 140 km day. Shorter if someone is willing to drive down to Haveluy to drop you off and pick you up in Gruson.
Enjoy.
-Mike

Great info Mike! What wheels/tires did you run and cassette choice--thinking of putting on 29t with seated climbs over cobbles?

[everbeek]

Great info Mike! What wheels/tires did you run and cassette choice--thinking of putting on 29t with seated climbs over cobbles?
I am fat (105 kg) and use a 34x29 which is necessary for me on the Koppenberg and Paterberg. I always run 27-28 mm FMB or Vittoria Special Pave tubulars (FMB 27 mm actually run 29 mm) at 70-80 psi (70 in France and 80 in Belgium). Nemesis 36 spoke or HED Belgium 32 spoke.
-Mike

[everbeek]

I am fat (105 kg) and use a 34x29 which is necessary for me on the Koppenberg and Paterberg. I always run 27-28 mm FMB or Vittoria Special Pave tubulars (FMB 27 mm actually run 29 mm) at 70-80 psi (70 in France and 80 in Belgium). Nemesis 36 spoke or HED Belgium 32 spoke.
-Mike
Addendum - My buddies have no problem with a 34x25 or 26. They are all normal weight (various sizes), former cat 3s (15 years ago) who no longer race or train but still like to ride.
-Mike

[joosttx]

From.some friends who did it:

The climbs are what create the bottlenecks and there's no getting around that. Their advice for avoiding the crowds? Don't ride the sportive.

One also broke two bikes on the route. The first has a derailleur snap off and then he cracked the second frame. This was on one sportive.

Good luck.

Dont know about the bike damage but I have yet to talk to someone who rode the flanders sportive and liked it becuase of the bottlenecking. I would recommend paris roubiax sportive which I have done .

[r_mutt]

here's an interesting link:

https://www.tobedetermined.cc/journal/2016/12/citymd-in-flanders