Anyone ridden this?
Not sure if I could tolerate thousands of other cyclists, especially crap ones falling off all over the place. Or God forbid messing up the wonderful sights with those water buts on their backs.
rode the short one last year, doing the middle one this time
yes, there's some dodgy riding, especially when you're forced to ride barriered off pavements and it all gets a bit tight, and some of the cobbled sections get messy with people all over the place, going faster and shouting 'hop hop' in a foreign accent gets people out the way
wouldn't do it though if i wasn't going with a bunch of friends, there wasn't proper racing to watch the next day, and the odd nice beer
wouldn't do it though if i wasn't going with a bunch of friends, there wasn't proper racing to watch the next day, and the odd nice beer
Exact same reason here.
With no home, wife or kids to get back for I quite fancy the 259km
Do the long one. I've done it upteen years now and have rarely been held up on any of the climbs. A lot of the shorter distance riders are out of the way by the time you get there. I usually leave Bruges around 7:30 to 8am (depending on the queues to get your number), any later and you might miss getting into some of the large groups and the opportunity to bomb along for the 1st hundred miles at 25mph!
p.s it's only 244km this year, so no excuses :0)
most of the dodgy riding is down to the riders from the u.k. the Belgians all know how to ride in a group and hold their line.
most of the dodgy riding is down to the riders from the u.k. the Belgians all know how to ride in a group and hold their line.
I know. And the Belgians don't go in for polite little hand signals, it's look after yourself, which is a lesson I've kept.
That's not a sweeping generalisation I'd make. British riders on the long route are very few and far between so the odds are it's the continentals, if anyone. I've never had an incident of any kind except maybe one when a local old dear cycled towards my group on the same cycle path. No one crashed though. It only ever gets a bit frustrating when on the climbs, the unfit who have to walk them insist on meandering all over the cobbles.
Do the long one, ride hard to get in the front group well out of the way of the tourists, die keeping in that front group until about 100k's then back off and enjoy the remaining 100odd k's in a small, but select group. Worked the last 3 times I've done it anyhoo's.
I've ridden the full distance a few times and by the time you get to the bergs they aren't packed and riding is fine. It's the downhill cobbles that are the trickiest part.
I'm doing the long one - first time too.
Watched some mates do it last year and it looked brilliant.