Ian Porteous

Hey guys, how are we all doing?
 
I'm loving the forward planning here gents; just about enough time for me to lose 10 kilos (or gain them). Definitely getting the bug back again and would love a Paris Roubaix (apologies Billy but you're thread naming leaves a lot to be desired) MSR double to keep the focus. Still haven't beaten Charlie in a sportive so looking to set the record straight even if all these medical interventions have turned him into a fully fledged terminator by then. I've even hot-wired my garmin to prevent autopause kicking in...
 
Lets get these beautiful, FLAT  (minus the Cipressa and Poggio) monuments under the belt and why not soak up some of the ambience and/or beer while we're at it! Loved LBL when we had a massive squad over and was gutted to miss out on La Sufrida (but not the suffering, heat or mountains). Not on here very often but if you get something sorted let me know, i might even dust off the turbo...

Hey guys, how are we all doing?
 
I'm loving the forward planning here gents; just about enough time for me to lose 10 kilos (or gain them). Definitely getting the bug back again and would love a Paris Roubaix (apologies Billy but you're thread naming leaves a lot to be desired) MSR double to keep the focus. Still haven't beaten Charlie in a sportive so looking to set the record straight even if all these medical interventions have turned him into a fully fledged terminator by then. I've even hot-wired my garmin to prevent autopause kicking in...
 
Lets get these beautiful, FLAT  (minus the Cipressa and Poggio) monuments under the belt and why not soak up some of the ambience and/or beer while we're at it! Loved LBL when we had a massive squad over and was gutted to miss out on La Sufrida (but not the suffering, heat or mountains). Not on here very often but if you get something sorted let me know, i might even dust off the turbo...

Bike and I are home. Thinking this might be more likely than Boxing Day. Don't like the thought of hills in my current physique but as always happy to tough it out.
What time you heading out?

Those of you who read the comic will have come across features they do on clubs the length and breadth of the country.
 
I think ours has a story to tell so have been badgering/trolling the editor to do a feature on us.
 
He has got in touch & promised a visit to do a ride and a feature on us in the next 2-3 months.
 
I'll let you know the date once it's confirmed.

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

Oh yeah, and the very best bit was watching some guy disappear down an irrigation ditch and into a mini-river while going up the Kanaireiberg (I think), dragging the metal barrier down on top of himself as well. This was moment's after I had passed Alex shouting at him to get out of the "pussy lane" (sneaking up the inside in the drainage gutter). Saved your life!

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

Brilliant! I'd forgotten about that. Its pretty hard to cycle up a 20% climb pissing yourself laughing! Great write up too.

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

Oh yeah, and the very best bit was watching some guy disappear down an irrigation ditch and into a mini-river while going up the Kanaireiberg (I think), dragging the metal barrier down on top of himself as well. This was moment's after I had passed Alex shouting at him to get out of the "pussy lane" (sneaking up the inside in the drainage gutter). Saved your life!

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

Would anyone be interested in a totally unofficial, informal competition based on points given out on the summer chain gang on Thursday nights? Just to be clear it is not a race, there are no prizes up for grabs - however if you were to find yourself at the top of an unofficial, informal league table by the end of the season then you have the the glory of being the Thursday night world champion.

Scoring:

First. You get a point for turning up.

Second. King of the Clune.

From the bottom of the Clune to the layby at the top where we regroup

1st 3 points
2nd 2 points
3rd 1 point

(the scoring here will need to be based on the honour system considering the leaders will likely be out of sight of the rest of us)

Third. Final habble along the Georgetown Road

1st 3 points
2nd 2 points
3rd 1 points
 
In addition to this there will be special Jens Voigt bonus points to encourage attacking riding

Namely an attack of 2 or less riders along the Georgetown road that manage to stay away. Because it so rarely succeeds this will have 20 points at stake, if there are 2 riders in the breakaway then it is 10 bonus points each a solo break then 20. No extra points for finishing 1st and 2nd, bunch sprint is then for 3rd.
 
2 bonus points will also be available for trying an attack that doesnt stick. It has to be a proper attack though, at least 20 metres on the bunch and sustained for a bit!
 
Any interest? I was trying to think up some handicap scoring system to keep things balanced but this is too complicated so could add an APR element every few weeks. On this night there will be no points for 'King of the Clune' but once at the top riders will be seeded and those in group 1 will get a 90 second head start (does that sound about right?) on those in group 2. If group 1 stays away everyone in it gets 6 points. If they are caught then it becomes 3,2 and 1 points for the top 3 in the sprint.

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

After a hectic week thought I'd make a foray into the Bunch to let you all know how I got on. Some excellent reports previously, good to see that, although there was a lot of grumbling, everyone seems to have taken a bit of time to reflect and really enjoyed the whole thing. I loved it!
 
A really bad start to my Flanders experience. I was due to fly from Bristol to Brussles (the one recently in the news); however, found out on Wed night that the flight was cancelled. After handing in my resignation on our Facebook chat, the response I got meant i couldn't back out now. Within 20 mins I had been offered multiple modes of transport; however, the house I'm living in through the week in Bournemouth doesn't have internet as yet (does have a beach though) so I couldn't book anything. After a day of work on Thursday drove back home to Bristol, arriving about 9pm, unpacked everything, and booked a ferry at 10pm approx, leaving from dover the next morning at 8am! All that was left to do was re-pack all my stuff and wash my hands thoroughly - bike still hasn't been washed since before London! Got to bed at 11:30pm and set the alarm for 3:30 to avoid rush hour on the M25.
 
Woke up tired but had enough adrenaline/fear to keep me going. Made it to Dover in 2hrs 45 - taking half an hour off google's estimate, the roads were quiet to say the least!Tried to get some shut eye, but hadn't had any breakfast so got a couple of pain au chocolates on the ferry and watch the stunning white cliffs disappear out of sight before dozing off. SatNav played a blinder and got to the hotel without making a wrong turn, in plemty of time as well - I think i arrived around 1:30pm, in stark contrast to the mad rush of Liege. Bike built after lunch time stroll into Kushtyville (or whatever it was called) then drove into pick up all the start packs - again Mr organised, no problems at all. Arriving back to greet Iain and brother in law not soon after! After getting a few drinks in and optimistically booking a dinner table for 8:30 alex, richie and paul arrived. Mad rush to build bikes and get dinner - only 15 mins late in the end. After an hour and a half wait to get food I had resigned myself to the fact that I, again, was getting no sleep. Waiting for food left plenty of time for beer - always a silver lining!
 
Slept like a brick but the 4:15am alarm was an earth shatterer! After failing to stomach some cold left over pizza, went down stairs to find that the hotel owner had locked the door to where our bikes were stored - this caused much panic amongst the senior members - I saw it as a perfect excuse to do the medium route and go back to bed. Trust a couple of Scots and an Irish man to pull off some breaking and entering with consummate ease. Got some kip on the bus to Bruges!
 
Boring start - we were restricted to cycle paths - nothing of interest apart from Alex attempting to create some excitement. Just played it cool when alex, paul and Jon went up the road. Long way to go yet. 
 
At the second food stop, 87km into the event I had already completed my second longest ride of the year. Worrying, but I was feeling good. It was between food stops 2 and 3 that Richie began to loose the faith, but some gentle steering from Iain and myself got him through! Feeling great after feed stop three I decided to have a go. After Richie went up the road with Chung et al, I thought it rude not to try and stick with the big boys and tested my legs against alex and paul with surprising success. I was indeed "BACK IN THE GAME"! had to walk up the koppenberg but I thought that just added to the experience! great to have a break and take it all in. Even managed to "chase" back onto Alex and Paul! 
 
Final 30km was a bridge too far. Bonked half way up a non-de-script, unclassified hill. stopped to chin two Mars bars I had saved for such an occasion then rounded a corner to have all my prayers answered! The boys waiting for me at a red bull station surrounded by beatiful women. RESULT! I even offered to stay and let the boys ride on without me. They, however, saw through my plan. Back on the bike!
 
With just the Paterburg remaining I was joined by a crazy Belgian fan - he'd obviously seen my Strava profile. After some encouragement in gobbledygook and a nervous laugh from myself he got the picture and gave me some cliches any football manager would be proud of before pointing out to me, as if I was blind: "The steepest part is just here" before leaving me. Out the saddle and peddling squares I could just make out the blue and yellow hue of the some delighted looking and enthusiastically shouting wheelers. "DO NOT UNCLIP. DO NOT UNCLIP". made it!
 
An easy saunter into town and a choreographed roll  over the line was all that was between us and the real reason for going to Belgium. Even opted for some themed beer, Kwaremont - at a measly 6.6% it wasn't a patch on the real thing! 
 
Safe journey home, added to my already impressive tan on the ferry home - it was 22 degrees!
 
Had a great time. Wouldn't change the madness of the whole thing - travel arrangements, cobbles, stupidly steep hills -  they all made it great. Hope to see a few more of you out in Roubaix next year. The Hell of the North is calling! And cheers to everyone there - great team spirit shown all round!
 
Until next year.
 
Ian

Ronde De Vlaanderen Sportive Ride 2016
 
My initial plan for this year was to do my 3rd Paris-Roubaix, but Allan's invitation back in October last year, to join him for a ride around "Flanders" was too good an opportunity to pass - so I said yes! :-)
 
With fond memories of some of the "bergs" from last year, when I visited Oudenaarde via a detour before going to Lille for Paris-Roubaix, so I had an idea of what to expect. But that was just a wee 40km loop with 3 bergs, so it was going to be slightly different with 15 of them plus 230km.
My plan was simply to get out & do as much riding over the winter month as possible & I suppose I achieved that despite sometimes the weather not being favourable for it.
 
Day 1
So, bike prepped & "training" done, off we set on Thursday morning on board of Allan's Flander wagon along with Peter & Alan Anderson (Coatbridge Clarion)heading towards Hull for the over night Zeebruggar ferry.
It's my 3rd consecutive crossing in as many years of the "Pride of York", it now feels like a home from home for me, especially when bumping into Garvin (honorary wheeler)on board :-) who apparently was "only" over to catch some racing & "pedal around" (he ended up doing 180miles over the course of 2 days)
As it happened, Garvin was staying in Brugge as well, which worked in our favour since he's "half Belgium" :-)
 
Day 2
The hotel we booked in was well placed with only a 3 minutes walk to the start square, which we paid a visit to after checking in.
Even though it was still 2 days before the pro race, construction of stages & barriers was already well under way with tourists wondering around enjoying the pre-event atmosphere. Brugge is a very beautiful city indeed, friendly people & a laid back atmosphere!
We then drove to Oudenaarde (the finishing town) for registration, some site seeing (Flander Museum) & leaving the car there so we can drive back to Brugge once we finished the ride on the day. Like Brugge, Oudenaarde was gearing up for the Ronde, but even more so with more barriers & lycra clad cyclist all around town :-)
We had hoped to meet up with some of the Wheelers (who was based in Oudenaarde) but we just could not manage it as different travels arrangements meant it wasn't possible.
After collecting our entry pack, we returned to Brugge via a very pleasant train ride. So an early night for us to prepare for a relatively early start the next morning!
 
Day 3 - The Ronde Ride
The Ibis hotel we stayed in was great as they prepared breakfast earlier than usual to accommodate all the riders staying there. A proper full breakfast before a ride is always welcome especially this one!
Our plan was to start early as it was going to be a long, long day on the saddle, with that in mind the four of us set off just after 7.35am unfortunately without the rest of the Wheelers as they were still coming in via the shuttle bus from Oudenaarde.
As the first 100km was pan flat, but through narrow cycle paths in amongst thousands of cyclist, it was fairly stressful indeed as you had to keep your wits about. But I must admit the general standard of riding was quite good with good early shouts & hand signals for the numerous street furniture about.
Sitting on endless available wheels made the initial 100km covered fairly easy with a few food stops thrown in. It was the first feed stops that we bumped into the rest of the Wheelers as we were just heading off.
At this point Allan had a slight problem with his Di2 front mech after a big(ger) American guy fell on top of him while trying to unclip. It wouldn't be much of a big deal had it not for the fact he could not shift the chain off the big ring and with the cobble & climbs coming in thick & fast, it wasn't ideal to say the least.
Luckily he was able to "manually" drop the chain onto the small ring before he came to the really steep ones. So, kudos to the Big man for riding some of the climbs in his big ring :-0
As well as the bergs, there were obviously stretches of cobbles which I rather "enjoy" riding over :-) But compare to the Roubaix Pave, these were much more manageable in my view.
Our strategy (I'm sure it was the same for all) was to get behind bunches on the flats & come the climbs just ride it at your own pace to regroup at the top and then for more wheel sucking :-)
Most of the bergs were ridden without major issues, they are steep cobble climbs but with the right gearing, technique & attitude, it was certainly very manageable. But we have heard the day before that the Koppenberg was wet & muddy which meant it was difficult to ride up it (even for Astana Pro riders)
The rumour was right - when we hit it, it was carnage with folks (myself included) un-clipping as it was too slippery for the wheels to grip. A few did get up but only just with wider tyres & helpful spectators pushing them on up the slope.
 
The Koppenberg was one of the feared 3 iconic climbs on Flanders, so one down & two to go. However these would not come until the very end after 200km with the Paterberg hitting over 20% maximum with an average of 13% .......... ouch!
So, I left a bit in the tank & popped a gel before these two, knowing the worse is still to come, the Oude Kwaremont was a good warm up just before the Paterberg. The Paterberg is short but the gradient is certainly not. At one point I felt my front wheel lifting & my thighs was starting to cramp because of fatigue plus the steepness, I was on the verge of un-clipping but luckily the sight to the top was enough motivation for me to keep going and crest the top for a fast decent into a headwind of the last 18km to the finish, be it with a combine effort with a few Belgiums :-)
We crossed the line after a total of 10h40m on the road (including 5 feed stops) not bad I thought!
 
Crossing the finish line was rather satisfying as you can imagine & therefore I allowed myself an annual beer for celebration on a job quite well done :-)
Well done to Allan, Peter & Alan who I believed was their longest ride to date!
 
Day 4 The Pro Race
What better way to enjoy breakfast with one of the legend of cycling sitting next to you -Sean Kelly was staying in the same hotel as us. When we asked, he obliged happily to pose with us for a wee photo, a real gent!
After breakfast, we met Garvin in the start square to soak in the pre-race carnival atmosphere & saw some wacky Sagan fans let loose in the square. As soon as we waved the riders off, we set about trying to find a good viewing point for some race action. With the knowledge of Garvin & Alan's tracking skills we eventually managed to come across a spot where the peleton just past as we pulled into a cordoned off street. We had just missed then & as they past, the fans just ran straight back to their vehicles to race to the next viewing point. We made an instant decision to follow them assuming they'll know where they're going. Speeding through narrow village streets at 100kms an hour just to keep up with them was not fun at all, but exciting nonetheless :-)
Eventually we settled on the Kruisberg (the 4th last climb in the circuit) to catch the race since our time constraints meant we could not catch it at the Kwaremont.
Sunshine, beer & hotdogs was accompanied by first the woman race coming through, then seeing the mens race with Sagan, Cancellara el tel passing was just the final gem in our weekend of Belgium cycling!
 
A big thanks to AllanM, Peter Graham, Alan Anderson & Garvin for their great company & organisation for the trip. It was a real shame that we could not met up with the rest before or after the ride, well at least we tried & got to meet briefly at the various feed stops!
 
So, here's a few photos for youse to enjoy:
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/55693145@N05/albums/72157664481621673
 
Thanks for reading, until next time!
 
Cheers
 
Chung

Well.....wow
 
Did I love it all of the time, absolutely not!
Great reports from the others that have covered most parts.
 
I was really nervous going into this as I had hoped signing up for it would spur me on to lots of miles but it didn't really.
As Alex said, we were later than planned getting to the 'hotel'...cheap and cheerful small rooms but good enough for sleeping...then we went for the longest
dinner in the world waiting for hard to make pizza and pasta!
Apparently the chef's wife left him midway through the evening hence the delay! Everyone else seemed to get served ok though!
 
So plans of being in bed for 9.30/10pm were delayed by a couple of hours and the alarm going off at 4.15am the next day wasn't that welcome.
Unlike Chung and the others, we had no breakfast to speak of at ours and had to make do with croissants and cold pizza
We found the well organised bus so got a wee nap on the drive to Bruges.
 
The pace at the start and jumping between groups didn't really suit me and I hit an awful low at around 50 odd miles. Didn't want to pedal and would've taken a lift if offered. Porto and Iain kept me going and then I jumped onto the group with Chung et al as they seemed to be sticking together and I knew Chung was a wheel sucker extraordinaire
That was definitely a great plan and as Chung said, together on the flats, own pace on the bergs and regroup after.
 
Once my food and copious amounts of gels hit my system I started to feel better and, dare I say it, pretty good in the end.
 
The bergs and cobbles were doable once you knew what to expect.
 
I had to get off on the Koppenberg like a lot of others which was a pity.
 
The kms did tick off pretty quickly in the end once we got stuck into the interesting parts of the day. I might've missed some nice sights earlier but you didn't dare take your eyes off the wheel in front where you were on the narrow paths.
 
Eventually we hit the Paterberg and my heart did sink a bit when I say it rise in front of me. Chung went off and I thought I'd catch him on the descent but we both managed to get into small groups. My group was then caught by a larger group so I jumped onto them and it was a pretty fast, manic run into the finish.
It was a good feeling being on the same finishing straight as you see the pros and seeing the finish line in the distance.
 
After getting our medals etc it was back to our hotel for a few beers......our intial plan was to head to Ghent but we were all a bit done in .....then bed.
 
Race day gave us glorious sunshine and Oudenaarde is a nice wee town and we found a good wee pub.
It was weird being in a pub with everyone clapping and cheering the riders at the end. Not what we're used to back home.
The atmosphere in the pub and in the square was more like our footy crowds without the violence!
 
And yes, I did indeed shake the hand of Erik Zabel....he did look a tad confused
 
Chung....jealous of your Sean Kelly photo!!!
 
An easy drive to the airport in the sun then home to rain...bed by 1am and up at 6am with the wee man this morning!
 
Heading to night shift soon!!
 
All in all, a pretty easy trip to organise, a superbly ran event. We had a great group over there. Lots of laughs and encouragement.
The bergs were hard but doable at your own pace. The cobbled bergs were harder though.
The other cobbled sections were ok once you got used to what to expect!
I would do it again I think.
 
Apart from Allan's mech issue, I don't think we had a flat between us??
I saw lots of bottles on the cobbles, flats, broken chains, one broken frame, saddle bags and even bits of a rear mech on the course!
 
 
I'm pretty keen on Paris - Roubaix next year now. I've already mentioned to Mrs C and she's ok with it
 
See you soon

Well not much to add to the other posts except Tough, Tough, Tough! 
 
Need to learn to manage my ride better, as kept trying to jump from group to group for first 50 miles. Ended up in no mans land on my own grinding 16mph into the wind and burning a large box of swan vestas!
 
Same as Ritchie, hit a wall at 70 miles and would easily have taken a lift if a broom wagon had passed but after a fast descent that ate up the miles, i was back on it. Wolvemnberg was tough, followed by manic miles of cobbles until the Koppenberg. Bedlam and nerve racking and exciting all at the same time but no chance of me getting up in one, especially when someone face plants into a bush directly in front of me. 
Paterberg was going well until cramp in both thighs killed my attempt and had to do the walk of shame from half way up. To say I was gutted is an understatement. 
 
Overall if I can sum it up, physically and mentally draining but glad I did it. Will I be back for cobbles next year? Watch this space.....
 
sorry we missed chung and rest of the guys but best moment was crossing the finish together in a line of JWCC blue and yellow. Great weekend with a brilliant bunch of guys and Sunday's Sagan master class was the icing on the cake. 
 
 
 

Fantastic weekend, immaculately chronicled by Chung and others above.
 
Thank you to...
Chung, Peter, Alan (Coatbridge Clarion) and Gavin for your company over the weekend.
 
Mul for the genius suggestion to base ourselves in Bruges, beautiful city, allowing us to breakfast on Saturday at 6.15 and be at the start within 5 mins, and on the Sunday see the Grand Depart entertainment and roll out.
 
Gavin (of Roubaix and LBL fame) for spotting the 4 for the price of 2 offer on Leffe on the ferry. 
 
The large American gentleman for falling onto my bike, damaging my shifter and giving me the perfect excuse for being slow(er) on the hills!
 
Alan for navigating faster than the satnav as we chased the race on Sunday morning, managing to see the race twice (almost three times) including the Karnemelkbeekstraat cobbled climb.
 
The event....
Was excellent, The four of us rode as a group, joined by Ritchie for the second half, which is great for encouragement and momentum.  Amazingly, the whole thing was easier than I imagined it would, thanks in part to the benign weather and the cobbles being positively smooth compared with the brutal Roubaix pave.
 
Disappointing...
The Koppenberg was a pilgrimage of bike walkers when we arrived at the foot, many not even making an effort to climb it and we had no choice but to join in.  We did make it up the Paterberg which felt good.
 
That Chung doesn't carry a computer to diagnose and repair Di2 faults on the road!!
 
RIP to the Irish club rider who died (heart attack I think) doing the sportive.
 
Finally...
I believe that the five of us on the ferry agreed (4 for the price of 2 talking) that next year is a 10 day trip in camper vans, riding both Flanders and Roubaix with some midweek canal cycling and beer tasting.  Fortunately I had my fingers crossed behind my back, so it doesn't count! 

What a great day out on the bike with the Wheelers, Alex covered most of it. I not sure how Alex stay upright as he caught his hand in some plastic fencing, I saw his front wheel go sideways and I braced myself for eating some concrete. Great skills shown to stay upright and moving forward although I think his darts game may have taken a hit. Highlights for me were "Trying" to smash some of the cobble sections, burning matches by the box load in the first 150km. Hanging on the Alex's wheel jumping after groups, riding echelons in the wind and generally stomping by people saving themselves for the climbs, I did do a few turns here and there The descents were beautiful and fast, except the cobbled ones... I know the previous wheelers that went to Flanders did these cobbled descents in the wet... all I can say is Chapeau for staying upright. 
 
I nearly made it up the koppenberg, I don't think I have ever sweared or shouted/pushed so much but it was just a stramash of clip clopping cyclist trying to scramble up slipping cobbles. Ran into the back of some chap walking right up the middle with his two mates side by side, I wont repeat what I called him... But It makes me laugh everytime I think about it, I think he took it in good spirits I did manage to remount on the koppenberg #crossskills paying off and ride over the top. Fair play to Alex for making it up, a show of both physical and verbal strength. Porto made a resurgence on the later climbs motoring passed me a one point shouting something about "being back in the game!" I think he paid for it later as we had to drag him away from the Red Bull girls on top of the Karnemelkbeekstraat. Iain and his Brother John looked strong on the final climbs, Richie joined up with Chung, Alan M, Peter and another Alan(pity we never got to have that beer afterwards, Next time!). I felt I was running on empty over the last few climbs but a happy empty as I could almost taste the Belgian beer in Oudenaarde!  
 
 
Overall the first 40km are a bit of a mess, but it was so well organised(I only missed a turn twice, not the organisers fault). Great company and laughs. Lots of healthy Belgian beer and food! Would I go back again?? Yes please
 
**Richie cross did manage to stop the Legend Eric Zabel and shake his hand... Nice, which I reckon is a sign to do to Milan–San Remo... But it looks like the call of cobbles may be too strong?

Sorry - couldn't type and drink beer at the same time!
 
My view of Tour of Flanders...
 
Started out badly with the added security at the airport but finally got to the hotel with Richie and Paul around 8pm to be greeted by Ian Porteous, Iain Carvill and his brother in law John and some lovely Belgian beer.
 
Early start the next day for a very well organised coach transfer to Brugge which dropped us off around 5 miles from the start. I love the European sportive starts, No mad rush, just go whenever you feel like it. We set off in our group of six and were herded on cycle paths for the first 25 miles or so. A bit of a split but we'd agreed to regroup at every food stop (as we were all in the same van back to the hotel at the end). Cycle track pretty monotonous, although I had a close call with scaffolding when my finger caught some orange plastic scaffold covering and ripped several meters of it off (and caused Paul to see his life flash before his eyes as my front wheel twisted sideways.) Many wasted miles of cycle track later we regrouped at the food stop and bumped into Chung's group who had set of earlier.
 
With food stops every 25 miles we limited any spilt to around 5 minutes tops.
 
For the next section Paul and I broke away and jumped from group to group until we hit the first section of pave. Paul was powering up the middle of the road. I was trying to find shelter from the shocking bumps and vibration and jumped onto the smooth pavement and immediately got stuck behind a really slow group, but with no way to get back off the pavement onto the road at this point I watched Paul smash it up the road and disappear. After the cobbles I worked with three guys from University College London and we led a large group at 23-25mph to try and catch back on with Paul. Great fun on the flat and caught Paul just as we hit the next food stop.
 
After this one things started to get a bit more interesting. 2 climbs and 3 stretches of pave (total 2.4km). Pace ramped up a bit and the first of the famous climbs. Wolvenberg (700m av 7.9% max 17.3%) giving an intro of what was to come. Nothing for it on these but to keep powering on and never relaxing as the cobbles sap every bit of energy and forward momentum you have. Then Molenberg (500m 7% av 14.2% max). Every climb was well signposted letting you mentally count down the metres until the summit.
 
Another food stop. Richie was struggling a bit at this point and jumped in with Chung's group (think this was more mental struggling than anything as he survived to the end no problem and was in fine spirits at the line!)
 
Next up another 4.2kmn of cobbles. By this time my rear wheel bearings had decided to loosed off a bit so my wheel had a fair bit of play, but nothing too bad. Water bottles kept trying to escape too, so half focus on them half on road. I hate cobbles. Any relief is sought on these sections, be it grass, mud, drainage gulley, a 2m wide driveway. Anything. Just for a moments relief from the constant pounding.
 
Four more climbs in this section Leberg (800m 4.2% av 13.8% max), Berendries (890m 7.2% av 12% max), Valkenberg (1100m 8.2% av 13% max) and Eikenberg (1200m 6.2%av 10% max). Same old slog. These hills are short and sharp, so the suffering doesn't last too long.
 
Another foodstop and regroup. The next section has the famous Koppenberg on it. No idea what to expect!
 
2.3km pave then the climbing...
 
I wouldn't generally class cyclists as an inconsiderate bunch but the behaviour on the Koppenberg was disgraceful. Almost everyone was walking up the climb, and some four abreast, effectively blocking the path for anyone that really wanted to give this climb a go.
 
At 500m (felt much longer) 9.4%av and peak of 22% this is a real grind. Its amazing how a very loud guttural Scottish accent can clear a path... I only shoulder barged through one group of walking Italians and managed to carry on grinding, wheelspin, then grip. Out the saddle, more wheelspin, back down and grip. Really tough climb on the cobbles but I made it to the top. During the climb I only saw one or two others actually pedal all the way to the top (the road blocks put paid to most peoples efforts). The crowd was right behind us all the way which was great encouragement.
 
After that I thought nothing can be as tough and the rest should be in the bag. Aye right...
 
4 more climbs before the next food stop - Steenbeekdries (500m 5.3% av 6.7% max), Taaienberg (700m 6.1% av 16% max), Kaperij (1000m 5.5% av 9% max) and Kanarieberg (1100m 7.7% av 14% max). Think it was the last of these I was climbing with Porto when the muscles above both my knees started to cramp and pop. Loads of drink and salty snacks at the next stop helped to recover.
 
Some great descending around this time to with Paul, Ian and I hammering downs some really smooth tarmac at 35-40mph. Absolutely brilliant!
 
Final foodstop, we agreed to regroup at the top of Patterberg and cross the line together. So off we went again. Only four climbs to go.
 
Kruisberg (1400m 4%av 9% max), Karnemelkbeekstraat (900m 4.9% av 10% max), Oude Kwaremont (2200m 4% av 11.6% max) all in the bag. Only the Paterberg to go (400m 12.9% av 20.3% max). After 130 miles this was the final sting in the tail. I had taken it easy on the second last climb to leave a bit for this one. It starts out steep and just gets steeper. Another crowd favourite and loads of walkers on this one, but at least they stuck to the side. Over the top and parked up to get some photos of the rest of JWCC climbing the hill.
 
After this an easy 10m back to the finish. We just sat in around 15-16mph all the way and made a nice space so we could spread out for a JWCC finish together.
 
Passed Chung in a bar and meant to return, but the finish collection point was about 5 miles past the finish line so we decided to head back to the hotel for some of Belgium's finest.
 
Mentally and physically draining. Really tough day in the saddle and one I won't be doing again. Too much cycle track and I hate cobbles! Why did I agree to do Paris Roubaix next year???!!! Mountain bike for me for that one I think!
 
Overall a great ride, superbly organised and some smashing camaraderie amongst the guys. Just need more blue, yellow and gold next year!

if you were passing through Bristol....