Recent content by Monty Dog

That would be quite an asphalt job given that it's about 30km distance between them and the Muur is closed to traffic - the final Kapelmuur section was only added in 1981 to take you up past the Chapel at the summit.

Are you sure it's not the Koppenberg? Paterberg was only built in the 1980s.

I rode DeRonde, L-B-L and P-Rx within a few months of each other in 2004. DeRonde was the old course from Bruges all the way out to DePanne - I was in one of the front groups that somehow took the wrong turn near the coast and by the time I finished, it was a 300km day in 10 hours - I was...

The money goes to BC to pay for things like insurance, affiliations, commissaires, expenses, petrol etc. £63k will barely pay for 1 full-time official. You'd need 10x this amount of programme to pay for a decent development programme.

In a word - funding. Because CX isn't an Olympic sport, it receives no / limited funding for the elite programme. Likewise, because of the low world ranking it's unlikely to change any time soon.

Are folks really dumb enough to believe that with such a free press, competitors of News Corp and foreign media have not been determindly looking for a single -shred of evidence to show there was any form of doping going on at BC/Sky? This single -minded approach also means plenty of promising...

FWIW FRM are an Italian boutique brand of bike parts, but suspect their frames are generic rebranded items. There is a healthy market for used bikes and parts as well as a host of sellers with unrealistic expectations in terms of price. Set your price at 50% of what you paid and you'll probably...

The likes of the Veloclub Roubaix and the local municipalities regularly undertaken maintenance on the secteurs - many have designated protected status. Arenberg itself received extensive maintenance about 6 years ago - I was worried that it would end-up like the Muur after 2004 and lost much of...

Agree about Ninove and Meerbeke being a dull suburb and Oudenaard being a far better location for the finish. I love the Oude Kwaremont as you need to ramp-up the power as you hit the stones, it epitomises the style of the Flemish hardman.

Brings to mind a one race last year - lined-out at 50 kph on some of Surrey's finest, there's a 'trench' across the road with an inch-high edge - rider alongside on his Zipps hits the edge and double-punctures - I'm riding tubs, hit the edge and carry-on regardless. Next lap, same point on the...

DeRonde is a 'harder' race to win because the course isn't as selective - after Tenbosse, there's plenty of recovery before the Muur and then it's mainly downhill to the Bosberg. Team tactics often close-down the chase. Comparing Koppenberg with Arenberg? What makes the Koppenberg tough is the...

Flanders is tough, P-Rx is brutal IME - I've ridden them both hard a few times. Whilst I could quite happily ride for hours the day after Flanders, it took three days to recover from P-Rx because the muscle-pain was so deep. You have to be a lot 'sharper' on the pave too - choosing and fighting...

At least 2-3 models in the current line-up are generic Xpace Industrial products which you can buy for $500 on ebay.

The quality cycling from London is generally to the south and west - there's some great riding down to the southwest into the Surrey Hills (2012 Olympic roadrace route) - some of the west London clubs such as Twickenham, Hounslow, Kingston Wheelers, Hillingdon all regularly ride down this way...

Get yourself down to the Surrey Hills - take the train to Dorking if too far to ride - there are plenty of routes where you can link a series of hills to replicate the efforts - the earlier advice about remaining seated and grinding it out is important, otherwise out-of saddle efforts on the...