ride the classics

davek said:

After seeing A Sunday In Hell last night, it has made me want to have
a go at riding the route of the Paris-Roubaix.

A quick Google turned up this:
<URL:http://www.letour.fr/stf/roubaix/2004/us/parcours.html>

and this:
<URL:http://www.sportingtours.co.uk/events/roubaix.html>

Just a couple of questions -

Has anyone done the route? Is it easy to follow? Are the roads all
accessible?

And has anyone ever done a Graham Baxter ride or similar? It seems
like a fairly pricey way to do it, but is it worth the money to have
all the organisation done for you?

cheers,

d.

I have ridden parts of the Tour of Flanders course immediately prior to the
race. There is a randonee on the day before also. IMHO following the route
of the Ronde would be very difficult without signage, they use very small
farm roads and there are a lot of them in Flanders. I believe the pave
sections of Paris Roubaix are not public roads anymore but you may be able
to cycle on them without problem. Since they are not public roads they may
not figure on ordinary maps and you may need pretty detailed ones. I think
getting on one of the randonees is the best bet.

Martin 'MSeries' Newstead said:

davek said:

After seeing A Sunday In Hell last night, it has made me want to have
a go at riding the route of the Paris-Roubaix.

A quick Google turned up this:
<URL:http://www.letour.fr/stf/roubaix/2004/us/parcours.html>

and this:
<URL:http://www.sportingtours.co.uk/events/roubaix.html>

Just a couple of questions -

Has anyone done the route? Is it easy to follow? Are the roads all
accessible?

And has anyone ever done a Graham Baxter ride or similar? It seems
like a fairly pricey way to do it, but is it worth the money to have
all the organisation done for you?

Quoted message said:

I have ridden parts of the Tour of Flanders course immediately prior to the
race. There is a randonee on the day before also. IMHO following the route
of the Ronde would be very difficult without signage, they use very small
farm roads and there are a lot of them in Flanders. I believe the pave
sections of Paris Roubaix are not public roads anymore but you may be able
to cycle on them without problem. Since they are not public roads they may
not figure on ordinary maps and you may need pretty detailed ones. I think
getting on one of the randonees is the best bet.

The route given in the itinerary on the site is pretty detailed.
http://www.letour.fr/stf/roubaix/2004/us/parcours_iti_01.html

The tiniest roads feature on Michelin maps (just like OS maps you need
the right scale) so if you put the place names into the map search at
www.viamichelin.com with a lot of preparation you should be able to
follow it. Whether you want all the hassle of route finding or want to
pay somebody else to do it is upto you to decide.

I've ridden some back road pave sections in Belgium and there is a
definite technique to be mastered. You have to ride fast enough and
lose enough to "float" over the top. Make sure your bike is tightly
screwed together!
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

"Phil Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Has anyone done the route? Is it easy to follow? Are the roads all
accessible?

If you do it in the wet check inside your tyres afterwards if you use
clinchers. Otherwise the mud that is forced in as a kind of liquid sludge
will dry out and there will be a very penetrative gritty dust in there to
puncture your tubes..
Yes we learnt the hard way after a short reconnaissance before pounding them
the nexxt (dry) day.
All the best
Dan Gregory

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Phil Cook said:

The route given in the itinerary on the site is pretty detailed.
http://www.letour.fr/stf/roubaix/2004/us/parcours_iti_01.html

The tiniest roads feature on Michelin maps (just like OS maps you need
the right scale) so if you put the place names into the map search at
www.viamichelin.com with a lot of preparation you should be able to
follow it. Whether you want all the hassle of route finding or want to
pay somebody else to do it is upto you to decide.

But then following the map is sometimes less than easy.

Quoted message said:

I've ridden some back road pave sections in Belgium and there is a
definite technique to be mastered. You have to ride fast enough and
lose enough to "float" over the top. Make sure your bike is tightly
screwed together!

This is hard up the Muur de Grammont ! I made it though :-)

Dan Gregory said:

"Phil Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>Has anyone done the route? Is it easy to follow? Are the roads all
>accessible?

If you do it in the wet check inside your tyres afterwards if you use
clinchers.

What are clinchers?

--

Velvet

Velvet said:

Dan Gregory said:

"Phil Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

>> Has anyone done the route? Is it easy to follow? Are the roads all
>> accessible?

If you do it in the wet check inside your tyres afterwards if you use
clinchers.

What are clinchers?

Tryes with separate inner tubes i.e. not tubular tyres.

Martin 'MSeries' Newstead said:

IMHO following the route
of the Ronde would be very difficult without signage, they use very small
farm roads and there are a lot of them in Flanders.

Hmm. And nary a signpost between them, I suspect.

Quoted message said:

I believe the pave
sections of Paris Roubaix are not public roads anymore but you may be able
to cycle on them without problem.

That's what I'm wondering, really - I know they aren't 'public' roads,
but to what extent are they 'private' roads? There are loads of
'private' farm roads round here that you /can/ cycle on, but I'm not
sure you are supposed to and I'm not sure what the farmer would do if he
caught you - probably shoot you and feed you to his cattle.

Quoted message said:

I think
getting on one of the randonees is the best bet.

I think you may be right.

d.

Phil Cook said:

with a lot of preparation you should be able to
follow it.

There's the rub.

Quoted message said:

Whether you want all the hassle of route finding or want to
pay somebody else to do it is upto you to decide.

Yes, but it would be nice to know if there are other people that have
attempted to do it entirely self-sufficiently, and if they have any
useful info to pass on.

Quoted message said:

I've ridden some back road pave sections in Belgium and there is a
definite technique to be mastered. You have to ride fast enough and
lose enough to "float" over the top.

Thanks for the tip - I'll try to remember that if I ever do attempt it.

d.

Dan Gregory said:

Yes we learnt the hard way after a short reconnaissance before pounding them
the nexxt (dry) day.

Crumbs. That's certainly not something that would have occurred to me as
a potential problem. Does this depend on type/size of tyre or does it
affect all tyres?

What tyres do the pros use on these types of race? Do they use fatter
tyres than normal?

d.

Velvet said:

What are clinchers?

Tyres with a U-shaped profile and a wire 'bead' that is 'clinched'
inside a hooked wheel rim. Basically, the kind of tyres that need an
inner tube to keep the air in - as opposed to tubulars (aka 'tubs', aka
'sew-ups'😉 which are glued to the wheel rim and don't need an inner tube.

<URL:http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html>

d.

for:

Quoted message said:

don't need an inner tube.

read:
don't need a /separate/ inner tube

d.

davek said:

Velvet said:

What are clinchers?

Tyres with a U-shaped profile and a wire 'bead' that is 'clinched'
inside a hooked wheel rim. Basically, the kind of tyres that need an
inner tube to keep the air in - as opposed to tubulars (aka 'tubs', aka
'sew-ups'😉 which are glued to the wheel rim and don't need an inner tube.

<URL:http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html>

d.

Righto, thanks to you both :-) I thought that's what they were, but
thought it worth asking...

So mud and stuff gets into the tyre even with the ones that run at
100psi+? I can see the how, just suprised that it actually would manage
it, but I guess over those cobbles...

--

Velvet

in message <[email hidden]>, davek ([email hidden]'😉

Quoted message said:

Dan Gregory said:

Yes we learnt the hard way after a short reconnaissance before
pounding them the nexxt (dry) day.

Crumbs. That's certainly not something that would have occurred to me
as a potential problem. Does this depend on type/size of tyre or does
it affect all tyres?

What tyres do the pros use on these types of race? Do they use fatter
tyres than normal?

As I watched the beginning of the race in the film I made the assumption
that when they hit the cobbles they'd change tyres. Mais non...

That surface was *rough*.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

[ This .sig subject to change without notice ]

davek said:

After seeing A Sunday In Hell last night, it has made me want to have a
go at riding the route of the Paris-Roubaix.
Just a couple of questions -
Has anyone done the route? Is it easy to follow? Are the roads all
accessible?
And has anyone ever done a Graham Baxter ride or similar? It seems like
a fairly pricey way to do it, but is it worth the money to have all the
organisation done for you?

I did PR this year with Graham Baxter. Worth the couple of hundred
quid to have it organised for you. Good fun to do it with a group of
fellow sufferers.

The PR is very long and the first 100km are not flat ! (unless you're
a pro). 270km total. If you start at the cobbles it's only 170km.

Entire route was marked out by yellow arrows (and odd spectators) at
every junction. Took a few km to cotton on to the markings, as we were
in a peleton of Italians hell bent on getting there as fast as the
pro's. We let them go at 35 km :-)

Riding it on your own would be time consuming in looking at the map
constantly and working out where to go. So many turns.

Some cobble sections are farm tracks. Some of them go through fields
with a gate, so they may be closed.

1 month later and I still have tendonitis in the left wrist.

+ you get pictures !
see
http://sa-cycling.com/photos/pr2004/davidcowie_parisroubaix2004.jpg

I'm still typing up a report and selecting pics, will post notice to
newsgroup when finished. Questions welcome

regards
David

________________________________
The independent cycling resource
South African Cycling
http://sa-cycling.com

David Cowie said:

I did PR this year with Graham Baxter. Worth the couple of hundred
quid to have it organised for you. Good fun to do it with a group of
fellow sufferers.

....

Quoted message said:

Riding it on your own would be time consuming in looking at the map
constantly and working out where to go. So many turns.

I think you've just made up my mind for me. Now I'll have to see if the
wife will let me have the time off.

Quoted message said:

1 month later and I still have tendonitis in the left wrist.

Nasty. It's really that bad, then...

Quoted message said:

+ you get pictures !

Nice!

Quoted message said:

I'm still typing up a report and selecting pics, will post notice to
newsgroup when finished. Questions welcome

I look forward to it - I'll save questions until I've read your report
(no pressure!)

d.