Prep for RvV

[auscyclefan94]

Just finished the P-R Challenge. Time was 4:20. It was a total blast. The course was not officially closed but it may as well have been.

The worst sector was the first few hundred meters of the Carrefour. That was hard.

wow, that's awesome. I hope you enjoyed it. I would love to one day do something like that one I got a road bike and got fit.

 

[Chuffy]

Just finished the P-R Challenge. Time was 4:20. It was a total blast. The course was not officially closed but it may as well have been.

The worst sector was the first few hundred meters of the Carrefour. That was hard.

Nice one.
Yeah, the Carrefour stretch is a beast. Did you take in the Arenberg?

 

[Granville57]

Just finished the P-R Challenge. Time was 4:20. It was a total blast. The course was not officially closed but it may as well have been.

The worst sector was the first few hundred meters of the Carrefour. That was hard.

Awesome. Thanks for the continued updates. </envious>

Re: "The course was not officially closed but it may as well have been."
Do you mean that you had it to yourselves? How crowded was the riding?

 

[Chuffy]

Awesome. Thanks for the continued updates. </envious>

Re: "The course was not officially closed but it may as well have been."
Do you mean that you had it to yourselves? How crowded was the riding?

The roads in that part of France are pretty quiet. Which is nice.

 

[Archibald]

Did P-R Challenge today too - a little more leisurely than Scott at 5:11

Carrefour is one of the toughest sections, and I'd rate it harder than Aarenberg (which was left out due to it being considered too dangerous for punters by the insurance folk).
That said, it would appear that a good portion of the race course was left out too. F*ck knows what all those undulating hills were for the first 60kms...

Loved blasting along the cobbles though!
Sore, battered and sunburnt - top day out on the pavé

 

[Anonymous]

Nice one.
Yeah, the Carrefour stretch is a beast. Did you take in the Arenberg?

Nope. Been here twice now and still have not ridden across the Forest.

 

[Anonymous]

Awesome. Thanks for the continued updates. </envious>

Re: "The course was not officially closed but it may as well have been."
Do you mean that you had it to yourselves? How crowded was the riding?

The roads are quiet but we also had escort of race organizers on motos. There were flagmen at every intersection and I never once stopped for a traffic light. It was almost like rolling enclosures which was very, very nice.

The riding was not at all crowded, at least compared to the RvV.

 

[pedaling squares]

Just finished the P-R Challenge. Time was 4:20. It was a total blast. The course was not officially closed but it may as well have been.

The worst sector was the first few hundred meters of the Carrefour. That was hard.

Respect to those of you who did the course, I walked and drove on the Carrefour cobbles today and that was bad enough.

 

[Archibald]

Nope. Been here twice now and still have not ridden across the Forest.

I probably shouldn't mention that I rode it twice on friday then

 

[GreasyMonkey]

No P-R Challenge but....

... got out this AM from Vallenciennes and rode sector's 21 - 14 then back to the hotel.

As far as Aarenberg (Sector 17) goes, I personally think it is over-rated.... it was quite easy to ride compared to sector 21 (Aulnoy-lez-Vallenciennes to Farmars), which features pretty decent rise and falls, on cobbles that are far crappier than Aarenberg, or sector 19 (Querenaing to Maing), similar to Sector 21.

I decided to not start the P-R Challenge after spending all night awake, headache and cramping gut.... not the best way to start a day on the cobbles.

Watched the pro's at Aarenberg, most of them rode on the grass on the left side of the cobbles, very few were on the cobbled section.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

RvV recap, what was the most difficult berg for you guys, and why ?
I found the Muur rather easy... I had excepted a way tougher climb...
Koppenberg still is Vlaanderens biggest b-tch

 

[Archibald]

RvV recap, what was the most difficult berg for you guys, and why ?
I found the Muur rather easy... I had excepted a way tougher climb...
Koppenberg still is Vlaanderens biggest b-tch

hard to say because of the traffic issues I had on the Koppenberg, Paterberg and Muur.
Overall, I felt they were "easier than I expected", but that's probably more due to headf*cking myself on how hard they'd be and the lack of hills I'd done in any form of training...
I rode most of the Muur with only a brief pause to walk around a crash before riding on, and I didn't find it too difficult.
I was in no trouble on either the koppenberg or paterberg before having nowhere to go - whether I was at the max % or not would have been a big factor. They were steep, but not hard.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

hard to say because of the traffic issues I had on the Koppenberg, Paterberg and Muur.
Overall, I felt they were "easier than I expected", but that's probably more due to headf*cking myself on how hard they'd be and the lack of hills I'd done in any form of training...
I rode most of the Muur with only a brief pause to walk around a crash before riding on, and I didn't find it too difficult.
I was in no trouble on either the koppenberg or paterberg before having nowhere to go - whether I was at the max % or not would have been a big factor. They were steep, but not hard.

yeah pater's not too hard, good cobbles + very short. I'm of course lucky that I can do these hills everyday of the week so I know'em I really hate that koppenberg

 

[GreasyMonkey]

RvV recap, what was the most difficult berg for you guys, and why ?
I found the Muur rather easy... I had excepted a way tougher climb...
Koppenberg still is Vlaanderens biggest b-tch

Koppenburg is the hardest, but Paterberg always catches me by surprise, usually still in the 53T chain-ring, with no chance to downshift.

Agree that the Muur is over-hyped, the two times I have made it there (2003 & 2005), I have sailed up it without a problem.

 

[Archibald]

yeah pater's not too hard, good cobbles + very short. I'm of course lucky that I can do these hills everyday of the week so I know'em I really hate that koppenberg

there's the rub...
I didn't find any cobbled section difficult at RvV - I was expecting things to be a little more like Roubaix and didn't expect such a difference between them.
Obviously the Belgians have a bit more pride in their roads than the French(?)

 

[Michielveedeebee]

there's the rub...
I didn't find any cobbled section difficult at RvV - I was expecting things to be a little more like Roubaix and didn't expect such a difference between them.Obviously the Belgians have a bit more pride in their roads than the French(?)

between Roubaix and Flanders? or between the cobbled sections in Flanders?
The koppenberg and oude kwaremontcobbles are worse than the muur/paterbergcobbles imo

 

[Archibald]

between Roubaix and Flanders? or between the cobbled sections in Flanders?
The koppenberg and oude kwaremontcobbles are worse than the muur/paterbergcobbles imo

Flanders and Roubaix

 

[Granville57]

Watched the pro's at Arenberg, most of them rode on the grass on the left side of the cobbles, very few were on the cobbled section.

Which raises another question I had for you intrepid souls:
For those that rode the cobbles, were you "gutter" or "crown" men?

During the Versus broadcast, Paul Sherwen mentioned that speeds on the Arenberg section can reach 55kph and that part of the reason for that is that it starts slightly downhill. I hadn't heard that before. So what type of "gradient" are we talking about?

And what felt like a "comfortable" speed for those the Arenberg, or other cobbled sections?

 

[Chuffy]

Which raises another question I had for you intrepid souls:
For those that rode the cobbles, were you "gutter" or "crown" men?

Heh, if there was a smooth gutter to ride down, I made a beeline for it. Otherwise I was on the top. I suppose that if you ride the camber there is more chance of slipping a tyre sideways. Also, the sides are where the damaged bits tend to be.

During the Versus broadcast, Paul Sherwen mentioned that speeds on the Arenberg section can reach 55kph and that part of the reason for that is that it starts slightly downhill. I hadn't heard that before. So what type of "gradient" are we talking about?

Does it? I've stood at the entrance and looked up the Trench and along the approach road. I'd guess the gradient to be 'barely perceptible', but even a false flat would be just enough to build up a good head of steam.

And what felt like a "comfortable" speed for those the Arenberg, or other cobbled sections?

Comfortable? COMFORTABLE????? Oh my aching sides! I did try the 'high gear and hammer it' approach, but I couldn't maintain any speed. The cobbles just rob you of any momentum or rhythm. That said, there is a definite knack, which I didn't pick up in one weekend.

 

[Race Radio]

During the Versus broadcast, Paul Sherwen mentioned that speeds on the Arenberg section can reach 55kph and that part of the reason for that is that it starts slightly downhill. I hadn't heard that before. So what type of "gradient" are we talking about?

I was under the impression that they changed the direction of the Arenburg after the Museeuw crash and now it runs up hill?

 

[Chuffy]

I was under the impression that they changed the direction of the Arenburg after the Museeuw crash and now it runs up hill?

If it enters from the Stablinski monument then my perception was that it was more of a faint uphill gradient if anything. The bridge thing (railway?) looked to be on a slight rise, but it was hard to say without riding it.

 

[Archibald]

Which raises another question I had for you intrepid souls:
For those that rode the cobbles, were you "gutter" or "crown" men?

During the Versus broadcast, Paul Sherwen mentioned that speeds on the Arenberg section can reach 55kph and that part of the reason for that is that it starts slightly downhill. I hadn't heard that before. So what type of "gradient" are we talking about?

And what felt like a "comfortable" speed for those the Arenberg, or other cobbled sections?

I'm not travelling all that way to ride cobblestones and then not, so I stayed in the middle on the crown as much as possible.

dunno about Sherwen's 55kmph, but I've heard several times that the pros will be coming onto Arenberg (or any other section) at around the 40kmph mark.
I perceive no gradient when on Arenberg, it seems quite flat (as cobblestones can be)

"comfortable"? well, I found things got easier once I got over 25kmph, but it was such an effort to get there and stay there it wasn't funny.
my hrm file looks quite funny - you can tell when i hit each section by my heart rate soaring and my speed dropping from around 32-35kmph...

 

[Granville57]

During the Versus broadcast, Paul Sherwen mentioned that speeds on the Arenberg section can reach 55kph and that part of the reason for that is that it starts slightly downhill. I hadn't heard that before. So what type of "gradient" are we talking about?

I just watched Chasing Legends last night, and Sherwen uses that exact same 55kph bit to describe the speeds of the peloton as they hit the Champs-Élysées. He also attributes it to the downhill (which is a helluva lot more obvious in Paris!).

So maybe that's just another one of his "catch phrases" that he applies across-the-board. No way the speeds on the Champs can be the same as the Arenberg!

 

[Anonymous]

I just watched Chasing Legends last night, and Sherwen uses that exact same 55kph bit to describe the speeds of the peloton as they hit the Champs-Élysées. He also attributes it to the downhill (which is a helluva lot more obvious in Paris!).

So maybe that's just another one of his "catch phrases" that he applies across-the-board. No way the speeds on the Champs can be the same as the Arenberg!

It may be 55kph when they enter Arenberg. It's usually a bit of a field sprint for position. But they don't ride that sector at an average of 55kph. No way.

 

[Ingenerius]

I was under the impression that they changed the direction of the Arenburg after the Museeuw crash and now it runs up hill?

I watched the race at Arenberg this year and rode over it a few days before(or some of it, spent large parts on the walking path).

I too had heard that they changed the direction into the forest because of the high speed and this led me to believe that they would go the other way than they actually did. The ride-in on the Stablinski monument side is definitely the fastest one with a long stretch of straight and slightly downhill road.

When the cobbles starts it is sligthly downhill to about halfway before it turns slightly uphill to the end.

There was a few stretches with relatively few spectators and nazi police where some riders rode in the gutter, but the spectators did their best to force them up on the cobbles.