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Nolte

planning to go see next years spring northern classics

right, here's the deal. i'm 24. i'm in an ok job. it's time for me to go see some of the world on holidays. and what better then the cycling classics

my idea is that next year maybe go to belgium and northern france to take into ghent-wevelgem, tour of flanders, and paris-roubaix. i'm also not one for package tours. ****, i'm 24. not 50. don't need package tours

but i do want to experience the classics

to make this a holiday like. spend time going to the races and such, but also take in some hiostotrical sites and some other stuff

i know it's a year's time but i like to plan well ahead of events

also i can't drive so i'd need details on public transport (trains should be no problem for paris-roubaix Smile)

anyone willing to help with organisational

siotes to see on off days., other stuff.
Nolte

i'm actually 234 but i'll be 24 at the time
bbnaz

Nolte,

I know that you are not 50 but you might want to talk to Headwind about his experience with VeloClassic tours.  I believe that he did one of theirs and took in the spring classics (which included some serious riding).  He was nothing but over the top about his experience and it sure didn't sound like some  old fogey trip/tour company.
Nolte

i think my ruling it out of the question was a bit far

i'll send a message to headwin

cheers Smile
bbnaz

oh and don't worry about not being able to drive.  In my limited travels, I have found that most folks, regardless of where you are, do NOT know how to drive.  (Even if they are behind the steering wheel of a car)
last km

Nolte I am going to pm you soon on this, been to all the Spring classics and semi classics except Fleche. Just give me a bit of time work is manic this week
Nolte

bbnaz wrote:
oh and don't worry about not being able to drive.  In my limited travels, I have found that most folks, regardless of where you are, do NOT know how to drive.  (Even if they are behind the steering wheel of a car)


Very Happy

there was a sign at a traffic lights in b a village between here i live and dublin. ther sign at the traffic lights read "Stop when light is red"

this was probably new knowledge for the locals
Nolte

there's also toher cycling trips i'd like to make in the future

to be track and road worlds, to the Vuelta when it visits Avila, the hilly classics, lombardy, san remo  but the first trip i'd like to make is to the northern classics
headwind

Ive pinged you a PM Nolte.  

Yeah, it definitely did include "some" serious riding bb!  You can expect full entry into the RVV cyclosportif (choose the 140 km distance and get the entire set of climbs), riding most of the pave in PR with an end at the Velodrome.  We did a killer Gent-wevelgem  loop including all the climbs.  We saw Flanders, GW, and PR from a number of points.  Be sure to get a bratworst and beer on the Kemmelberg waiting for the suffering to arrive.

It was the best 10 days of riding Ive ever done in my life.

hw
CapeRoadie

One day...
bbnaz

headwind wrote:
Ive pinged you a PM Nolte.  

Yeah, it definitely did include "some" serious riding bb!  You can expect full entry into the RVV cyclosportif (choose the 140 km distance and get the entire set of climbs), riding most of the pave in PR with an end at the Velodrome.  We did a killer Gent-wevelgem  loop including all the climbs.  We saw Flanders, GW, and PR from a number of points.  Be sure to get a bratworst and beer on the Kemmelberg waiting for the suffering to arrive.

It was the best 10 days of riding Ive ever done in my life.

hw


and you thought I didn't pay attention  Wink
cardinal guzman

bikes on the continent's railways (I bet ericvv could help here)
http://www.mayq.com/Best_european_trips/Touring4_trains_and_bikes.htm

pan european railpasses
http://www.eurail.com/?gclid=CPqErNL-_pICFRlP1AodEDPZFA

sheldon brown on planning a european bicycling tour
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/euhansen.html

I want to cycle from the Hague to Istanbul one day, but I realise that's just me.
MAILLOT JAUNE

Nolte,
I would highly recommend going to see the Tour of Lombardy, apart from being a beautiful part of the country, it's a great race. I stay in Bellagio on Lake Como when I'm there and then drive up to the Madonna del Ghisallo to watch the race - the church warden rings the bell tower as the riders come over the top of the hill - it's just wonderful and manage to get back to the hotel in time to catch the finish.

Of course the Spring Classics are great too and very handy for me.

It all depends where you want to watch the race from as well - do you want to see the start, the finish or a fabled section (eg Arenburg Forest) during the race? I would have found it difficult without having my motorbike to get me to other sections within the races as I tend to stay in the start town and then make my way to watch a section of the race.
Nolte

headwind wrote:
Ive pinged you a PM Nolte.  

Yeah, it definitely did include "some" serious riding bb!  You can expect full entry into the RVV cyclosportif (choose the 140 km distance and get the entire set of climbs), riding most of the pave in PR with an end at the Velodrome.  We did a killer Gent-wevelgem  loop including all the climbs.  We saw Flanders, GW, and PR from a number of points.  Be sure to get a bratworst and beer on the Kemmelberg waiting for the suffering to arrive.

It was the best 10 days of riding Ive ever done in my life.

hw


i can't say i'm a serious cyclist. a 15-020 mile loop is the most i can get out of my legs and for 10 miles of that, my legs are dead already

though the velotours does look very interesting. cheers
MAILLOT JAUNE wrote:
Nolte,
I would highly recommend going to see the Tour of Lombardy, apart from being a beautiful part of the country, it's a great race. I stay in Bellagio on Lake Como when I'm there and then drive up to the Madonna del Ghisallo to watch the race - the church warden rings the bell tower as the riders come over the top of the hill - it's just wonderful and manage to get back to the hotel in time to catch the finish.

Of course the Spring Classics are great too and very handy for me.

It all depends where you want to watch the race from as well - do you want to see the start, the finish or a fabled section (eg Arenburg Forest) during the race? I would have found it difficult without having my motorbike to get me to other sections within the races as I tend to stay in the start town and then make my way to watch a section of the race.


i would love to see lombardy and where else is there inh lombardy to see the race other then Madonna del Ghisallo. it's probably a religous experience (Smile). however, lombardy is also a very diffcult race for me to get to. i envy the british in regards to this because as an accountant, october and start of november are our busiest time of the year. you know the way, evbery client brings the information in the last month and expects it done in the next day or two. british cycling accountants are lucky. there tax filing date is end of january Very Happy

cardinal guzman wrote:
bikes on the continent's railways (I bet ericvv could help here)
http://www.mayq.com/Best_european_trips/Touring4_trains_and_bikes.htm

pan european railpasses
http://www.eurail.com/?gclid=CPqErNL-_pICFRlP1AodEDPZFA

sheldon brown on planning a european bicycling tour
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/euhansen.html

I want to cycle from the Hague to Istanbul one day, but I realise that's just me.


cheers for the links Smile
last km

Nolte,

You probably have sussed what you are doing by now. My visits were all by car (with bike as well ) . You will need your bike as some of the famous places in the race can be in the middle of no where.

Favourite places to see Het Volk, Flanders etc is the Oude Kwaaremont, its not far from Oudenaarde. The start of Flanders in Brugge is just too busy you cant get anywher near the riders.Het Volk is better at the start as its earlier in the season, more relaxed, when I went you could mingle with the riders.

Gent Wevelgem has to be the Kemmelberg.

Roubaix try and suss out somewhere for one of the big pave sections (Aranberg forest or Le arbre)

Amstel is especially good as you can (especially with a bike) see the riders several times, Valkenburg would be a good base and you may see the finish there as well

Liege is good as you can see the riders at least twice. Stavelot is where I stayed ( Cote de Stockeau) spelling ?

Have you not considered seeing Milan Sanremo ? I got a cheap flight to Nice, stayed there went to see the race by train.
The finish of Paris Nice is good too, you can mingle with the riders freely, I had a good chat with Kelly and Duffield.

You need to do as much research as possible for the locations, plan well it pays off, getting to see the race is fun, then dash back to the hotel or local bar to see the rest on TV, the atmosphere is tremendous.

When I went I pinched a lot of ideas from sportingtours (see link) but I did it for about half there charges !

Good luck and enjoy

http://www.sportingtours.co.uk/
Nolte

cheers lkm

hat's some good advice. thanks
Biosphere

Nolte

I've been to Flanders a few times. Tend to stay in Ghent, ride most of the climbs on the Saturday and spectate on the Sunday. There are marshalled routes of different lengths on the Saturday and the shortest is relatively gentle. It might still not be your cup of tea and too much hassle to bring a bike, so then I'd suggest you think about hiring a mountain bike and getting the train to Oudenarde and having a route around the Paterberg, Koppenberg and Kerkgate etc. on maybe the Friday and seeing what it's really like. Be a shame to get so close and not get the Koppenberg under your belt. I had such a potter around last year and ended up wheelsucking T-Mobile (for 3 seconds Laughing ) on their training ride. On the Sunday I get the train to Oudenarde, watch the start of the ladies and then walk out to the course. It snakes around quite a bit there so you can see it go by a few times and there are plenty of cafes with TVs for watching the rest of it.

I'm sure others will have equally good/better suggestions for the Flanders weekend, but if you want more specific information once next years route is announced then I'm happy to help you (or anybody else).

The Tour of Flanders museum is in Oudenarde and Ghent is a very nice place to stay. Brussels isn't far by train so it's not a bad corner of the world to spend a few days in til GW comes round on the Wed. If you like your artisan beers then there are plenty of brewery tours to check out. This one is a step back in time

http://www.cantillon.be/br/Cantillon.php?lang=3&page=1

Next time I go, I'll probably try to search out a WW1 museum - there must be something interesting in the region.
bbnaz

Bio, that sounds so amazing.......sometimes I am sure that I live on the wrong side of the planet.......then I am out when the sun is rising in the desert and I fall in love with my home all over again.

Still I WILL live in Europe before I die.
mr shifter

last km wrote:
Nolte,

You probably have sussed what you are doing by now. My visits were all by car (with bike as well ) . You will need your bike as some of the famous places in the race can be in the middle of no where.

Favourite places to see Het Volk, Flanders etc is the Oude Kwaaremont, its not far from Oudenaarde. The start of Flanders in Brugge is just too busy you cant get anywher near the riders.Het Volk is better at the start as its earlier in the season, more relaxed, when I went you could mingle with the riders.

Gent Wevelgem has to be the Kemmelberg.

Roubaix try and suss out somewhere for one of the big pave sections (Aranberg forest or Le arbre)


       


For your first visit I would sugest that you stay in France on the outskirts of Lille in a place called Tourconing.

Ferry from Dover to Calais and Train to Lille then a tram outside (takes bikes, well it did last time I tried) to Roubaix and get off at Tourcoing.

Here we have the chain motels, Premier and Formule1 and what you want is within 25 miles.
The Belgians pop over to work and the French pop over to shop and the motorway nearby is where willy voet got stopped.

After Het Volk (saturday) I stay here for the Kuurne- Brussel race and like "last km" I used to have the bike in the boot and I've been to all of them.

There, thats got a few of them looking at their maps but you did say "public transport"

Be Lucky
Biosphere

So how's the planning coming along Nolte?

BBNaz, I don't know if replying to a post 8 months later is a record, but the desert sounds pretty cool too.
last km

Are you always so fucking stupid......did you major in drivel

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