Thursday 4 March 2010

Ronde van Oost Lancashire April 3rd 2010

I thought I would put my money where my mouth is, rather than just taunting our London based brethren for their honest efforts at a Hell of the North. Except this is a Ronde van Vlaanderen homage, rather than the Queen of the Classics......



Either way, it has the feel and cobbles of a Spring Classic, with some beautiful North West countryside thrown in for good measure.

Come and join us on April 3rd - all are welcome. It is fair to point out that both routes are challenging and require a reasonable degree of fitness, though the Achtervolgers group will miss out some miles and a fair amount of extra climbing from the full route without foregoing the Flandrian feel. We are running it as a 'Gentleman's and Ladies' ride and will ride together and look after each other in time honoured fashion, though I suspect there may be some action on the climbs....

Further info here:

Cue sheet

Route desciption

Disclaimer: This is a social ride, not a competitive event. All riders participate entirely at their own risk and liability.

7 comments:

Tom Ferguson said...

What a corking idea. On the day itself, I shan't be able to join you, as I will be doing the full edition RvV with a few clubmates (Mcr Whls), but the detailed route looks ace, so will ride up and give it a crack at a later date.

We've done something similar in North Cheshire. There must be a taste for this sort of thing in the North West..!

Mark L said...

Wish I could make it Alan , it will be mega. Next year, next year. Good luck with everything ! ML

crossjunkie said...

Thanks for your comments guys - let us know Tom how RvV goes and of course where your North Cheshire ride goes. Always up for new cobbles.....

Alan

John Sutton said...

This looks like a brilliant day out. I hope to be able to join you. Would be interested in seeing a rout of Tom's North Cheshire Cobbles: I regularly ride Swiss Hill, bu don't know of much else in the area.

Nick Waggett said...

What a great poster. Love it.

Rich and the "Laughing Boys" are in Fontainebleau but I'm not going so I'll see if I can get over.

Nick

Touriste-Routier said...

Looks like fun! Unfortunately the pond is getting in the way of joining you. Instead that day I shall be riding a similar tribute in New Jersey: http://hellofhunterdon.com in preparation for http://foolsclassic.com

Tom Ferguson said...

So, the RvV was tough as hell. We had a tough head/cross wind for the first 130km, and my legs went horrendously at 160km, leaving me with a mere 100km and the remaining 14 bergs to tackle. CLeared all but the steepest sections of the Paterberg and the Koppenberg. Tough, tough, tough.

I can't take responsibility for the Manchester Wheelers Cheshire Ronde, as it was another lad who put the ride together. I'll see if I can get a route of him and will post it up somewhere. IT's cobbled and off-road in the best trashing-your-summer-bike tradition..!