2015 MFP CLassics Challenge - Ride Logging Thread
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06.04.2014 Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres
The Tour of Flanders or to give it it’s correct name Ronde van Vlaanderen, is a Flanders Classics road cycling race held in Belgium every spring, a week before the Paris–Roubaix road race. It is part of the UCI World Tour and one of the so-called monuments of the European professional calendar. It is the most important cycling race in Flanders. Its nickname is Vlaanderens mooiste (Dutch for "Flanders' finest").
The Tour of Flanders was conceived in 1913 by Karel Van Wijnendaele, co-founder of the sportspaper Sportwereld. In that era it was customary for publishers of newspapers and magazines to organise cycling races as a way of promoting circulation.
Historically, the race was usually held on the same day as the Milan–San Remo competition in Italy. Prominent Italian and French racers preferred the latter which explains why there was only a single non-Belgian winner before the war. After the war the race grew in importance when it became a part of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo, a precursor of today's UCI ProTour, of which it is now a major round. The record holders are the Belgians, Achiel Buysse, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw, and Tom Boonen, and the Italian, Fiorenzo Magni, each with three victories.
The course has changed considerably. For the first 30 years it was a loop starting and ending in Ghent, although the finish moved every few years.
In 1913 the race at first went inland to St-Niklaas before turning a clockwise circle through Aalst, Kortrijk, out to the coast at Ostend and then back to Ghent with a detour to Roeselare. The course stayed the same in 1914 but without the leg to the coast.
In 1919 the direction turned to counter-clockwise, turning south at Brugge. The route extended to the coast in 1920 and stayed that way until 1938, heading out through Eeklo and Brugge to reach the North Sea between Ostend and Blankenberge. Van Wijnendaele included the coast through his sentimental vision of Flanders. The ride there was often into a strong wind that inhibited attacks but spelled the end for those left behind the shelter of the main field. Turning left at the sea meant the wind blew from the side, producing the diagonal line of riders, each sheltering the other, characteristic of the Ronde and other Belgian races.
It changed with the outbreak of war because access to the coast was restricted.
The wartime route was a circle within the heart of Flanders but the return of peace brought the race back to its pre-War route in 1946. It stayed much the same until 1952, when the ride to the coast was abandoned and the route turned off in Brugge. The stretch to and along the coast came back in 1961 only to disappear again in 1964. From 1973 the race was no longer a loop. It started in Ghent and finished in Meerbeke, still not taking in the sea. Then Ghent was abandoned in 1977 and the start was moved to the neighbouring city of Sint-Niklaas. The race now curved only around inland Flanders, going no further west than Eeklo or Roeselare. Only the move of the start to Bruges brought the race back along the North Sea, although avoiding almost all the long windy ride to get there. The move from Sint-Niklaas to Bruges brought criticism unrelated to the route change. Until then it had been a tradition that spectators could mix and meet with riders before the start.
Fer Schroeder said: "On the Grote Markt at St-Niklaas, at the foot of the magnificent town hall, the start of the Ronde was always a privileged moment. The riders came there to sign their papers for the race before happily going to meet their fans, giving autographs, posing for a souvenir photograph with a young admirer. So far as that is concerned, times and customs have changed since 1998 and the five-year agreement with the city of Bruges. Now there are railings to hold back the public from mixing with the riders. The start of the Ronde van Vlaanderen has manifestly lost, in its new configuration, everything that made it charming."
The strategic part of the race comes after it has turned back inland, running just north of the French border. The course goes into the only short, sharp hills in the otherwise flat Flanders countryside. The route twists and turns to ride as many as possible. Some of the hills are cobbled and one – the Koppenberg – has been dropped some years because of its danger and difficulty. It is hard for riders to take all the climb while still riding. A fall by one rider can bring down many others and, in turn, halt those behind. The stopped and fallen often have to continue to the top on foot. In 1984 only two riders – Phil Anderson and Jan Raas – got up without walking.
The Koppenberg returned in 2003 after its surface was improved. It was then dropped again in 2007, replaced by the Kluisberg and the Côte de Trieu, which had roadworks in previous years, and the first ascent of the Eikenmolen. The Koppenberg came back in 2008 after the city of Oudenaarde renovated it.
The short, sharp hills are a defining feature of the Ronde. The race has offered prizes to the first on many of them for more than half a century. There were 500 francs offered in 1940 for the first rider up the Kwaremont, Edelare and Kruisberg. A combined prize for performances on all the hills came in 1950, when Maurits Blomme won bedroom furniture as the best climber. The prize at the top of the Kruisberg in 1953 was a washing machine. The first up the Wall of Geraardsbergen won 18,000 francs. In 1950 Fiorenzo Magni won 30,000 francs in primes during a long breakaway, enough to buy a house.
This years parcours takes in the following hills – hellingen in Dutch
Oude-Kwaremont @ km108.6, Kortekeeer @km118.6, Eikenberg @ km126.4,
Wolvenburg @ km129.4, Molenberg @ km142.2, Leberg @ km162.6,
Valkenberg @ km170.6, Kaperij @ km 181.2, Kanarieberg @ km 188.6
Oude-Kwaremeont (pass 2) @ km204.5, Paterberg @ km209.7, Koppenberg @ km214.5,
Steenbeekdries @ km219.9,Taaienberg @ km223.3, Kruisberg/Hotond @ km232.6,
Oude-Kwaremeont (pass 3) @ km242.4, Paterberg (pass 2) @ km245.4
There are also 6 sectors of pave –
Ruiterrstraat @ km129.5, Kerkgate @ km132.8, Holloweg @ km135.4, Paddestraat @ km147.1,
Haaghoek @ km159.7, Mariaborestraat @ km218.6 There’s a route sheet available from the RVV’s Website (http://www.rondevanvlaanderen.be/en)
http://rvv.pro.p.assets.flandersclassics.be/files/2271/original/rvv2014-elite-men-map-profile.pdf?1387197435
My personal Favourite memory of the Ronde would have to be 2010, with Fabian Cancellara just riding away from Tom Boonen on the cobbles…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn-oHTCgR84
And, once again, there’s a sportif version for anyone inspired/mad enough to want to ride the parcours… this version is particularly impressive, as it’s actually run the day before the race, so theoretically, you should get as near as possible the same experience as the pro’s…
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Thread will open, as per usual around noon Saturday (4th April 2015 BST)
Bonus Points as Follows:
In Ride Bonus - 1 point for 500m of ascent, 2 points for 1000m, 3 Points for 1500m or above.
Snack Bonus - 1 point for Waffles OR Belgian Chocolate (eat both if you want, but there's only 1 point for it...)
Post Ride Recovery Drink - 1 point for any GENUINE Belgian beer... so, Hoegaarden, Leffe, Duvel or any fancy trappist stuff you can find... I reserve the right to withold points if someone posts "wifebeater", or award extra if someone gets a really exotic one (think 2 for "dubbels" and 3 for "trippels")!
Nothing for Pavé this week - I'm saving that one for Next Week.
And once again I'm rolling out the "Billy No Mates" bonus - 1 point extra for anyone who's riding solo... extra kudos to the poor benighted souls out in the freezing conditions for 4-5 hours with only their Garmin and that irritating creak from the rear mudguard for company
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06.04.2014 Tour des Flandres - https://www.strava.com/activities/279472617 - 161.6km - 1535m
Just scraped the 3 pts for ascent, more luck then planning
No snack bonus, I have a Darth Vader Easter chocolate face but dont think that counts as Belgium .... (see pic below)
No Belgium beer, maybe after tomorrows century trilogy climax but today my body is a temple ... made out of chocolate.
And finally I'll grab the 1 point billy no mates bonus, I woke up at 1am full of energy and went out for the ride at 3am and funnily enough no one else fancied a ride at 3am ... go figure.
5 mins after this picture was taken the Empire was destroyed .... mmmm chocolate.
Happy Easter.
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Finally off the mark...
https://www.strava.com/activities/279558953 - 21.4km, billy bonus, 188m of elevation so that was NBG, and I wasn't out long enough to need either a cafe break, or beer, waffles or chocolate to recover. Just grateful to be finally getting off the starting line.
Oh - and will everyone PLEASE stop posting fcuking mahooosive pictures... resize the flaming things to 800px max horizontal please!
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06/04/2105 - Ronde Van Vlaanderen - https://www.strava.com/activities/279949623
Weather belayed my plans for an epic mountain ride so I made do with a windy century. 161.3 km 1,600m climbing. Damn Jason, if I'd have seen your post I'd have gone round the block once to add the extra 0.3km Well done mate!
Totals so far after 4 events 649.5km 9,343m climbing
As for bonus pics, well I really pushed the boat out
The County I live in is dry, by which I mean that no alcoholic beverages are allowed to be sold. Bizarre really as everyone just pops over the bridge to the next county where you can booze up all you like!! However across the bridge my choices for Belgian brews are shall we say, limited. Road trip!! I'm immodestly proud to have found 3 beers I've never heard of before. The first is Westmalle Dubbel 7% and very nice too!! Then I found a Flemish Sour Ale which might be interesting. Finally if I'm not already out for the count I have Chimay Trippel cask conditioned Ale. And of course the obligatory waffle pic 
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Oh and I was a solo Billy too 0
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05/04/2015: DNS.
Even if I counted the previoous night's ride (it was after midnight in many places!) I'd get a whopping 0 points. No waffle/chocolate, no Belgian beer, not enough elevation, I even rode with a friend!0 -
That would be me too though I rode on the 4th; no alcohol, no chocolate, no munchies of any sort, pretty short and the barest elevation amount. Anyone who was out and riding this weekend did well though.Spatialized wrote: »05/04/2015: DNS.
Even if I counted the previoous night's ride (it was after midnight in many places!) I'd get a whopping 0 points. No waffle/chocolate, no Belgian beer, not enough elevation, I even rode with a friend!
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Okay RVV Summary time...
Rider Distance Climb Snack Beer Billy ---------------------------------------------------------------- Jakess1971 161.6 1535m (3) x x 1 TheBigYin 21.4 188m (0) x x 1 BigG59 9.1 0m (0) x x x Veloman21 161.3 1600m (3) 1 3 1 Cowbells 56.9 401m (0) x x x andCoffee Spatialized DNS
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updated spreadsheet here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1is7rqtpb9GLIN5wOxLA2CVufrERxC03DyIUUoGTjwAI/edit?usp=sharing
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12.04.2015 Paris – Roubaix
Paris–Roubaix is one of the oldest races of professional road cycling. It was first run in 1896 and has
stopped only for two world wars. The race was created by two Roubaix textile manufacturers, Théodore
Vienne (born 28 July 1864) and Maurice Perez. They had been behind the building of a velodrome
on 46,000 square metres at the corner of the rue Verte and the route d'Hempempont, which opened
on 9 June 1895.
Vienne and Perez held several meetings on the track, one including the first appearance in France
by the American sprinter Major Taylor, and then looked for further ideas. In February 1896 they hit
upon the idea of holding a race from Paris to their track. This presented two problems. The first was
that the biggest races started or ended in Paris and that Roubaix might be seen as too provincial
a destination. The second was that they could organize the start or the finish but not both.
They spoke to Louis Minart, the editor of Le Vélo, the only French daily sports paper. Minart was
enthusiastic but said the decision of whether the paper would organise the start and provide publicity
belonged to the director, Paul Rousseau. Minart may also have suggested an indirect approach
because the mill owners recommended their race not on its own merits, but as preparation for
another. They wrote:
Dear M. Rousseau, Bordeaux–Paris is approaching and this great annual event which has done
so much to promote cycling has given us an idea. What would you think of a training race
which preceded Bordeaux–Paris by four weeks? The distance between Paris and Roubaix
is roughly 280km, so it would be child's play for the future participants of Bordeaux–Paris.
The finish would take place at the Roubaix vélodrome after several laps of the track.
Everyone would be assured of an enthusiastic welcome as most of our citizens have
never had the privilege of seeing the spectacle of a major road race and we count on
enough friends to believe that Roubaix is truly a hospitable town. As prizes we already
have subscribed to a first prize of 1,000 francs in the name of the Roubaix velodrome
and we will be busy establishing a generous prize list which will be to the satisfaction
of all. But for the moment, can we count on the patronage of Le Vélo and on your support
for organising the start?
The proposed first prize represented seven months' wages for a miner at the time.
Rousseau was enthusiastic and sent his cycling editor, Victor Breyer, to find a route. Breyer
travelled to Amiens in a Panhard driven by his colleague, Paul Meyan. The following morning
Breyer - later deputy organiser of the Tour de France and a leading official of the Union
Cycliste Internationale - continued by bike. The wind blew, the rain fell and the temperature
dropped. Breyer reached Roubaix filthy and exhausted after a day of riding on cobbles (setts).
He swore he would send a telegram to Minart urging him to drop the idea, saying it was
dangerous to send a race the way he had just ridden. But that evening a meal and drinks with
the team from Roubaix changed his mind.
The first race
News of Breyer's ride to Roubaix may have spread. Half those who entered did not turn up
at the Brassérie de l'Espérance, the race headquarters at the start. Those who dropped out
before the race began included Henri Desgrange, a prominent track rider who went on to
organise the Tour de France. The starters did include Maurice Garin, who went on to win
Desgrange's first Tour and was the local hope in Roubaix because he and two brothers
had opened a cycle shop in the boulevard de Paris the previous year.
Garin came third, 15 minutes behind Josef Fischer, the only German to have won the race
to date. Only four finished within an hour of the winner. Garin would have come second
had he not been knocked over by a crash between two tandems, one of them ridden by
his pacers. Garin "finished exhausted and Dr Butrille was obliged to attend the man who
had been run over by two machines," said Sergent. He won the following year, beating
Dutchman Mathieu Cordang in the last two kilometres of the velodrome at Roubaix.
Hell of the North
The race usually leaves riders caked in mud and grit, from the cobbled roads and rutted
tracks of northern France's former coal-mining region. However, this is not how this
race earned the name l'enfer du Nord, or Hell of the North. The term was used to describe
the route of the race after World War I. Organisers and journalists set off from Paris
in 1919 to see how much of the route had survived four years of shelling and trench
warfare. Procycling reported:
They knew little of the permanent effects of the war. Nine million had died and France lost
more than any. But, as elsewhere, news was scant. Who even knew if there was still a road
to Roubaix? If Roubaix was still there? The car of organisers and journalists made its way
along the route those first riders had gone. And at first all looked well. There was destruction
and there was poverty and there was a strange shortage of men. But France had survived.
But then, as they neared the north, the air began to reek of broken drains, raw sewage
and the stench of rotting cattle. Trees which had begun to look forward to spring became
instead blackened, ragged stumps, their twisted branches pushed to the sky like the
crippled arms of a dying man. Everywhere was mud. Nobody knows who first described
it as 'hell', but there was no better word. And that's how it appeared next day in the
papers: that little party had seen 'the hell of the north.'
The words in L'Auto were:
We enter into the centre of the battlefield. There's not a tree, everything is flattened!
Not a square metre that has not been hurled upside down. There's one shell hole after
another. The only things that stand out in this churned earth are the crosses with their
ribbons in blue, white and red. It is hell! '
History of the cobbles
Seeking the challenge of racing on cobbles is relatively recent. It began at the same time
in Paris–Roubaix and the Ronde van Vlaanderen, when widespread improvements to roads
after the second world war brought realisation that the character of both races were
changing. Until then the race had been over cobbles not because they were bad but
because that was how roads were made.
The coming of live television prompted mayors along the route to surface their cobbled
roads for fear the rest of France would see them as backward and not invest in the
region. Albert Bouvet, the organiser, said: "If things don't change, we'll soon be calling
it Paris–Valenciennes," reference to a flat race on good roads that often ends in a mass
sprint. L'Équipe said: "The riders don't deserve that." Its editor, Jacques Goddet, called
Paris–Roubaix "the last great madness of cycling." Bouvet and Jean-Claude Vallaeys formed
Les Amis de Paris Roubaix - Its president, Alain Bernard, led enthusiasts to look for
and sometimes maintain obscure cobbled paths.
It was Alain Bernard who found one of the race's most significant cobbled stretches, the
Carrefour de l'Arbre. He was out on a Sunday ride, turned off the main road to see what
was there and found the last bad cobbles before the finish. It is a bleak area with just a
bar by the crossroads.
The Course
Originally, the race was from Paris to Roubaix, but in 1966 the start moved to Chantilly, 50 km
north, then in 1977 to Compiègne, 80 km north. From Compiègne it now follows a 260 km
winding route north to Roubaix, hitting the first cobbles after 100 km. During the last 150 km
the cobbles extend more than 50 km. The race culminates with 750m on the smooth concrete
of the large outdoor velodrome in Roubaix. The route is adjusted from year to year as older
roads are resurfaced and the organisers seek more cobbles to maintain the character of the
race - in 2005, for example, the race included 54.7 km of cobbles.
For more info (including the bulk of the above) have a look at the fantastic Wikipedia page on this race at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris–Roubaix
I’ll leave you with one quote that sums up Paris Roubaix for me…
CBS covered Paris–Roubaix in the 1980s. Theo de Rooij, a Dutchman, had been in a promising
position to win the 1985 race but had then crashed, losing his chance of winning. Covered in
mud, he offered his thoughts on the race to CBS' John Tesh after the race:
“It's a bollocks, this race!” said de Rooij. “You're working like an animal, you don't have time to
piss, you wet your pants. You're riding in mud like this, you're slipping ... it’s a pile of ****.”
When then asked if he would start the race again, de Rooij replied:
“Sure, it's the most beautiful race in the world!”
And just time for a personal favourite picture from the Paris Roubaix...
Lemond and Kelly 1985(iirc)
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Bonuse Points
Pave
1pt for "Pseudo Pave" - dirt roads/block paving/smooth surfaced stone setts or textured concrete
2pts for "Real" Pave, but it MUST be the genuine article, as that's the whole deal with Paris-Roubaix
just post the picture, I'll decide which category it fits into
Moulin
1pt for either a modern windfarm tower or wind-pump tower
2pts for a former Windmill now converted to residence or other use (probably sans mill-blades in this case)
3pts for the real thing - a full working (or visually complete looking) traditional windmill
again, just post the picture, I'll decide which category it fits into (oh, and it's 3 points for 1
windmill or 27 of 'em - and if you shoot all 3 types, you'll get the highest point value only not 1+2+3)
Post Ride Face
and one "just for fun" - some of the most powerful images from the Paris-Roubaix have been of the
faces of the riders at the end of the ride. So, if you're feeling daring, post a "selfie" as you get home
from the ride - muddy face and bad "helmet hair" optional, but to be encouraged. 2pts if you do post
one, 3 points for the person I decide looks most authentically shattered!
Supplementary Bonuses
1 point for the Recovery Drink - pretty much any kind of french "Biere" or Vin Rouge is acceptable. One point for either.
1 point only for your choice of...
Any French Patisserie (including brioche etc.) in ride or post ride.
Croissants (presumably as a pre-ride breakfast)
Any Baguette related sandwich action - either as a cafebreak, post-ride refuel - or even old-school bikie
style cut into bitesized morsels and wrapped in aluminium foil then stuffed in your shirt-pockets :laugh:
Eat all three if you do a big enough ride, but again, you're only likely to get credit for one of 'em...
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12.04.2015 Paris – Roubaix - DNR.0
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didn't get out of the "neutralised rollout zone" I'm afraid...
https://www.strava.com/activities/283815892
(it came out at 1.1km, but frankly, as every inch of the ride was within my Strava "privacy zone", I just can't bring
myself to actually claim it, so I'm calling it a DNS !)
Came home and spent about 2h30m on the indoor trainer instead, with the Tacx VR DVD of the paris-roubaix
cobbles providing resistance, so I still burned enough to treat myself to a post ride patisserie...
#mfpclassicschallenge #parisroubaix post ride refreshments, feet up & Eurosport on Sky #homeofcycling by The Big Yin, on Flickr
Still - academic, as I didn't REALLY ride.
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07/03/2015 [Strade Bianche] - 46.9km - 263m - https://www.strava.com/activities/264208151
08/03/2015 [Roma Maxima] - 80.5km - 469m - https://www.strava.com/activities/264832041
22/03/2015 [Milan - Sanremo] - 106.9km - 997m - https://www.strava.com/activities/272279121
29/03/2015 [Gent – Wevelgem] - 4.6km - 11m - https://www.strava.com/activities/275903401
05/04/2015 [Ronde Van Vlandeeren] - DNS
12/04/2015 [Paris - Roubaix] - 12.0km - 37m - https://www.strava.com/activities/284111618
Pave
Classics Challenge Totals: 250.9km & 1744m of climbing
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Paris Roubaix 83.7km and 1059m http://www.strava.com/activities/283822067/overview
Photos are embedded in the Strava link.
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12.04.2015: Paris-Roubaix,DNS
Didn't lug my bike with me camping, especially after the thorny flat escapades of last year.0 -
You might have guessed already.... DNS from me!
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