Administrators Jannza Posted April 4, 2016 Administrators Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 Well done guys. Official photos are online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Iain67 Posted April 4, 2016 Members Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 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. GrahamF, charlie p, thejanullrichdietplan and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin McPhee Posted April 5, 2016 Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 Great reports guys true grit shown ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions Renny Posted April 5, 2016 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 Sounds epic. Well done all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllanM Posted April 5, 2016 Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 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! ginty001, Alan Michael, Ian Porteous and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Life Members chung Posted April 5, 2016 Life Members Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 Despite the fact that almost everyone had a fantastic day on the bike on Saturday, we should not forget that life is so un-predicable! http://www.sport.be/rondevanvlaanderen/2016/en/nieuws/article.html?Article_ID=761684 It's tragic that a fellow human being lost his life on the day on one of the climb, it is very sad indeed. My only slight comfort in this sad incident is that he was doing what he loved & that his son was by his side! R.I.P Chung GrahamF, PaulL, Mark O and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2024 Subscriptions Darryl Gunson Posted April 5, 2016 2024 Subscriptions Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 Super reports Guys. Sounds like you all had a great time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Porteous Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 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 P McDonald, chung, Alan Michael and 7 others 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Porteous Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 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! Alan Michael and alexb 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexb Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 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! Brilliant! I'd forgotten about that. Its pretty hard to cycle up a 20% climb pissing yourself laughing! Great write up too. Ian Porteous 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2024 Subscriptions Darryl Gunson Posted April 9, 2016 2024 Subscriptions Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 The write-ups keep getting longer and longer. Brilliant stuff. Haven't laughed so much in ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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