Ronde van Vlaanderen 2014

Finally I find some time to write about this year's Ronde van Vlaanderen. For the first time I did the full 250 km, starting in Bruges. What a bad idea (I thought after 150 km or so) but what a great experience (never again I though right after crossing the finish line). But I'm already looking forward to the 2015 edition. And the 250 km again. It was just too good to cross this damned line after the full tour.

The first 100-120 km or so are easy and lead more or less straight from Bruges to the "flemish Ardennes". And if for once Belgian Rail SNCB could be punctual we would not have missed the start at 7:00 am at Bruges main square. But the first train to leave Brussels for Bruges in the the morning was already heavily delayed (how is that possible?! the god damned first train!!) so we started around 7:45am in Bruges. Which means that the vast majority of the 4,000 odd starters of the full tour were already way ahead. No benefiting from large groups and all the effort against the wind more or less alone. Stupid Belgian railways!

Nevertheless easy first 120 km with average quite above 30 km/h. I guess that's the new wheels. The first challenge was the Molenberg, not because of the 30 meters climbing but of the worst cobblestones in the whole tour. Speaking cobblestones, what followed the Molenberg was the worst part of the tour for me: the flat cobblestone passages of several kilometre length. I really hate them and in the end it was there where I lost most of my motivation.

Stupid "Kerkgate" cobblestones

What followed then was all the classic "hellingen", nicely lined up and with little time to recover in between. Already No. 7 was the Koppenberg, the steepest one of all with a max. of 22 % gradient - and cobblestones. In the end I managed to make it uphill - unlike most of the other riders. Slowly but steadily climbing without getting off the bike. Not easy at 22 % cobblestone hills. Most other "hellingen" are also paved with cobblestones but the slow uphill speed doesn't make it too difficult - at least that's how I feel them. I don't remember much between km 160 and km 220 or so apart from the Koppenberg and that there were enough moments I thought "why not sit on the Cafe Belga terrace with a beer on such a lovely day?".

But with Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont done (again slowly but steadily climbing up) it was practically achieved and the last 20 km of flat terrain back to Oudenaarde was a piece of cake.
Overall the limit to 16,000 participants made it much easier on the "hellingen". No "traffic jams", no annoying riders getting off their bike just in front of you and couldn't bother to move to the side. The obligation to use the bloody cycling paths that ruin the wheels is ridiculous in a road biking country like Belgium. And police should have better things to do than following cyclists not riding on those terrible "fietspad".

Needless to say that on our way back from Oudenaarde to Brussels the SNCB train was late again and we missed our connection in Ghent. But, hey, I had all the time in the world after those 9 hours of "Vlaanderens Mooiste".

Ename Classic debrief

The Ename Classic is part of the Bank van de Post Cycling Tour. I also wrote about it here. It took place 23 March this year. Start is in Zottegem and the course winds through the "Flemish Ardennes", to a great extend in the region of the Ronde, but without going up the classics like Paterberg, Kwaremont or Kopenberg.

Bernd and myself decided to ride this "short" 150k tour in preparation for the 250k of the Ronde van Vlaanderen this year. The weather was not too bad and so we left Brussels around 8h30, in order to start around 10h00 in Zottegem. As always it was excellently organised and a real bargain for 15€ as compared to the Ronde. Even tough we started a bit late, there was still a good number of people on the course. It was easy to get into a larger group and do a 33 average with a strong headwind to the first feeding zone after 40k.

excellent organisation - as always on the Bank van de Post Cycling tour

After the first feeding zone the course split into 144 and 118 km with most of the riders going the shorter distance (sissies!) which left us more or less alone against the strong headwind. At least there was some reward: a nearly empty feeding zone in a beautiful setting in one of the small Flemish villages:

 

When joining the 118 km course again, things got easier as we headed back towards Zottegem but now with a good tailwind. However, there were some difficulties like 15min hail and rain, losing the course briefly after taking a wrong turn and 20% gradients - but without cobblestones at least.

Altogether a good warmup for the Ronde. Lesson learnt: take it easy in the beginning. The high pace in the first 50-60 km took their toll and my legs were overly acidified. But it was just a short 150k ride ;-) nothing to worry about.

Amateur cycling races in Belgium

Spring Classics

Sure, the cycling year starts with the "Tour down Under". But is anybody (apart from Cadel Evans) really interested? Ask a Belgian and they'd tell you the year starts with "the classics": Milan-San Remo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Four of the five "monuments of cycling". And apart from that there are still numerous other (semi) classics like Amstel Gold Race, Gent–Wevelgem (which Bernhard Eisel won in 2010 ;-), La Flèche Wallonne, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke, Scheldeprijs, Brabantse Pijl, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, you name it...

The good thing is, you can ride most of those the day before on the very same route that the Pros ride the following day. The main ones are part of the now called "Skoda Classic Challenge". It is super well organised and given the great success in recent years participation is now limited (to some 25,000 or so). This is ok. When I did the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 2011 (and 2008 and 2013) it was really too much on the cobble stone hills. 90% of the cyclists wouldn't make it uphill (22% gradient max) and block those who would have liked to cycle (like myself) on most hills.

The "Muur van Geraardsbergen" in the 2011 Ronde van Vlaanderen cyclo

As mentioned above I did the Ronde in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013. The 150 odd kilometer version apart from 2008 when temperatures barely came above 0 degrees and it was raining - typical for the Belgian classics, but hey, I'm not paid for it, so I only did the 75k version in 2008.

At the "Muur" in the Ronde 2011

The Ronde is really great. Well organised, great atmosphere, quite some spectators and spectacle around it. And lots of beer - after the finish line.

Bank van de Post Cycling Tour

However, apart from the main classics there is the "Bank van de Post Cycling Tour" which has lots of organised events as well. They are no real "races" as no time is taken apart from some uphill sections. This gives the whole event a certain relaxed atmosphere. About half of them follows the Flemish classics, the other one is in the Ardennes. Needless to say that the Ardenne ones are the more scenic ones. I did the Tour de Namur in 2012 and 2013 and can only recommend it. It is easy to reach by train from Brussels and the route is quite good. Nice climbs that are for once longer than a half a kilometer (not the Alps, though) and good organisation. And the final climb - after 160km - is up to the Citadel of Namur. Of course on cobble stones.

On the final climb to the Citadel of Namur in 2013

I also did the "La chouffe classic" in 2011 and this was even better. The landscape was just ideal for cylcing. Decent climbs, nice countrysides, good organisation - and a free "la chouffe" at the brewery just before finishing. Altough this was really tough with more than 3,000 m of climbing in total.

Just as tough as the Peter van Petegem Classic in Aalst which I did in 2013. 165km with all the "Ronde" climbs (Koppenberg, Paterberg, Muur, Bosberg). This was really the toughest so far. But also good since it starts in Aalst, not so far away from Brussels.

Where to go

Road biking? Definitely not within Brussels. Car drivers in the city still think they own the streets. A mixture of all the world's driving styles together with poor city planning has turned Brussels into a biking nightmare. Things only gradually change. Besides there are only a few roads suitable for road biking within the city.

So you'll have to leave Brussels. But where are the best areas? I suggest: go west. The Pajottenland in the west of Brussels is probably the best spot for road biking. Great roads, gentle hills and best of all: little traffic due to the low population density. The best area to go is around Gooik.

Also worth going is the north, ranging from Asse to Mechelen. Disadvantage: no hills, so it could become rather boring. However, the great advantage is to have lots of waterways and rivers to ride along on nicely paved cyclpath (Schelde, Brussels canal, Leuven-Mechelen canal and the Zenne to some extend).

The east towards Leuven is mixed. Main disadvantage is the poor roads (concrete slabs! why on earth would you make such roads, Belgians!) and to some extend the higher traffic volumes. However, there are some nice spots.

The south is probably the worst spot to cycle due to the heavily populated suburbs, the bad roads and the Forêt de Soignes/Zoniënwoud which is hard to cross on proper roads.

More details in the "routes" section in the menu above and "how to get out of town".