Dutch brevets in 2019

[quixoticgeek]

It would be the #12 for RRtY, so it's likely I'll be there. Forecasts are barely above freezing and rain in the afternoon, full rain gear seems advisable. And the wind will be West turning to East, meaning head wind all around, yay!

Weather forecast seems to be very changeable, and not much agreement between Buienradar and yr.no. Buienradar now says light drissel to start, westerly winds, comparative warmth, and even some sunshine. Yr.no, says warm, strong westerly winds, and it's probably worth packing a kayak...

Given that it's been subzero for much of the week, and rain is forecast between now and the weekend, what are the chances of ice on the route? Is the route all on gritted paths? Am trying to decide if I put the top contact winter's on, or keep the GP4 seasons...

J

[Ivo]

Rain will be more of a concern as ice. Given the lethal conduct of studded tyres on steel gutters and other items, I'd certainly start with normal tyres.

[quixoticgeek]

Rain will be more of a concern as ice. Given the lethal conduct of studded tyres on steel gutters and other items, I'd certainly start with normal tyres.

I'm not going to use studded tyres, they are just too slow. The conti top contact winter's are supposed to be ok on some ice (as long as  you're not trying to corner stupidly), whilst not being too draggy, they don't have studs.

Who do we think is going to be more accurate, the Dutch or the Norwegians when it comes to weather forecast?

J

[slugbait]

I'm not going to use studded tyres, they are just too slow. The conti top contact winter's are supposed to be ok on some ice (as long as  you're not trying to corner stupidly), whilst not being too draggy, they don't have studs.

Who do we think is going to be more accurate, the Dutch or the Norwegians when it comes to weather forecast?

J

yr.no is usually quite pessimistic in the amount of rain that they forecast. I usually put my faith in the "verbal" forecast of the Royal Dutch Metereological Institute, which says "Friday or Saturday large (70%) chance of transition to milder weather with rainy periods in the weekend. There is a 30% chance that it will remain (fairly) cold. Uncertain after the weekend, with a big chance of a fairly cold, changeable weather with sometimes winter precipitation."

Anyway, I'm not joining you. After a week of cycling in the sun, I can't bear 8 hours of cycling in the rain ;-)

[quixoticgeek]

yr.no is usually quite pessimistic in the amount of rain that they forecast. I usually put my faith in the "verbal" forecast of the Royal Dutch Metereological Institute, which says "Friday or Saturday large (70%) chance of transition to milder weather with rainy periods in the weekend. There is a 30% chance that it will remain (fairly) cold. Uncertain after the weekend, with a big chance of a fairly cold, changeable weather with sometimes winter precipitation."

Anyway, I'm not joining you. After a week of cycling in the sun, I can't bear 8 hours of cycling in the rain ;-)

Don't short change yourself, you don't have to limit yourself to 8 hours cycling in the cold, you could have upto a full 13.5 hours of tit freezing type 2 fun...

J

[slugbait]

Don't short change yourself, you don't have to limit yourself to 8 hours cycling in the cold, you could have upto a full 13.5 hours of tit freezing type 2 fun...

J

Somehow that doesn't improve things, but I'll be present in Zwolle no matter how awful the weather is.

[Zed43]

This turned out to be a remarkably nice ride. It had been raining a lot in the night before, removing all snow and ice from the roads. Temperature around 7 degrees, I didn't even need my winter gloves. Best of all: no rain to speak of, at least until 19:00

The turning head wind was annoying (I rode solo save for the last 20 miles), but not absurdly so.

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[quixoticgeek]

This turned out to be a remarkably nice ride. It had been raining a lot in the night before, removing all snow and ice from the roads. Temperature around 7 degrees, I didn't even need my winter gloves. Best of all: no rain to speak of, at least until 19:00

I got a sprinkling of fine rain in the first 30km or so, I stopped, put my hood up, and got about 3km before taking the hood down as it had stopped... I had a similar amount of rain as I went through Boskoop, I didn't bother with the hood this time. When I left CP2 the rain had started in earnest, and I was soaked for the rest of the ride.

The wind was an utter bitch. I was slower to CP1 than last year, 1 minute slower to CP2, yet managed to make it to the arrivé for an overall time 6 minutes faster than last year.

Somewhere in the first 40km or so I pulled a hip flexor muscle, putting my saddle up by 5mm seemed to alleviate it, but the damage was done. The main thing that this made difficult was mounting the bike.

I rode the whole thing solo apart from 1-2 km near the start. Last year I had Martin to draft behind on the leg to CP1. I was nowhere near as broken after finishing than I was last year. Which is an improvement. My distance this year is 1km longer (I did go off route for a tile...), but my moving time is actually a minute or so longer than last year - 10:44:26 vs 10:46:57, so I've improved my faff to forward ratio...

Now at 7/12 months of my RRtY.

The turning head wind was annoying (I rode solo save for the last 20 miles), but not absurdly so.

Miles? This was a Dutch Brevett :p

J

[Zed43]

I cater to the public (but draw the line at rods and stones)

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[quixoticgeek]

I cater to the public (but draw the line at rods and stones)

I thought Cycling went fully metric years ago?

J

[slugbait]

I cater to the public (but draw the line at rods and stones)

I thought Cycling went fully metric years ago?

J

Isn't "going imperial" the main reason why the UK is leaving the EU? I expect that by 2020 a SR will consist of a 200 mile-, 300 mile-, a 400 mile- and a 600 mile audax

But well done to both of you 

[quixoticgeek]

Isn't "going imperial" the main reason why the UK is leaving the EU? I expect that by 2020 a SR will consist of a 200 mile-, 300 mile-, a 400 mile- and a 600 mile audax

Troll :p

But well done to both of you 

Thanks. Seems I have a cold injury to one of my toes. I wonder if I can survive the winter with the majority of my toes intact (currently at 80%...)...

Who's going to Zwolle on the 9th?

J

[slugbait]

I'll be there in Zwolle. When the wind is coming from south or south-west, it is the easiest 200 in the Netherlands. Plenty of shelter in the forest in the first 120 km and then it's cruising back to Zwolle in the last 80km.

[quixoticgeek]

I'll be there in Zwolle. When the wind is coming from south or south-west, it is the easiest 200 in the Netherlands. Plenty of shelter in the forest in the first 120 km and then it's cruising back to Zwolle in the last 80km.

Conversely, if it's an Northerly or North Easterly, that's gonna be harder... But not impossible.

Just hoping for no ice.

J

[Ivo]

My shiftplan doesn't allow for Zwolle. I'll probably be back for the Maastricht 200.

[paulk]

If there is no ice/snow I will be coming to Zwolle. That will be my 7th month for the RRTY.

[slugbait]

Ivo,

Any idea what this ride is:

BRM 300 Heerlen     za    23-03-19    9:00         Verrassing !!!

My limited Dutch tells me the name translates as "Surprise!"... which makes me nervous...

J

No longer a surprise; an outline of the route is now available on randonneurs.nl, basically from Heerlen to Namur/Namen and back. The route seems surprisingly flat, even the first bit through the hills of Zuid-Limburg and the Voerstreek.

[quixoticgeek]

No longer a surprise; an outline of the route is now available on randonneurs.nl, basically from Heerlen to Namur/Namen and back. The route seems surprisingly flat, even the first bit through the hills of Zuid-Limburg and the Voerstreek.

That looks relatively sane. Tho the elevation graph on the site seems slightly broken.

I really like the look of it.

J

[Ivo]

Ivo,

Any idea what this ride is:

BRM 300 Heerlen     za    23-03-19    9:00         Verrassing !!!

My limited Dutch tells me the name translates as "Surprise!"... which makes me nervous...

J

No longer a surprise; an outline of the route is now available on randonneurs.nl, basically from Heerlen to Namur/Namen and back. The route seems surprisingly flat, even the first bit through the hills of Zuid-Limburg and the Voerstreek.

On the NTFU website it was already visible since october.

[slugbait]

On the NTFU website it was already visible since october.

A website which I rarely check since the non-audax rides on the calendar are rarely interesting...

[quixoticgeek]

I'll be there in Zwolle. When the wind is coming from south or south-west, it is the easiest 200 in the Netherlands. Plenty of shelter in the forest in the first 120 km and then it's cruising back to Zwolle in the last 80km.

Current forecast has southerly force 2 winds, with light rain for most of the day, 5°-7°C. So quite warm for the time of year, and favourable winds. How much this forecast changes in the coming week is anyones guess. Not that I'll be hitting refresh on the weather site every hour or so until Saturday morning or anything... honest...

J

[slugbait]

Current forecast has southerly force 2 winds, with light rain for most of the day, 5°-7°C. So quite warm for the time of year, and favourable winds. How much this forecast changes in the coming week is anyones guess. Not that I'll be hitting refresh on the weather site every hour or so until Saturday morning or anything... honest...

Updated forecast: more wind (force 5/6), higher temperatures (double digits perhaps), the amount of rain depends on the forecaster (ranging from dry to deluge).

The route is also seriously underdistance: according to my GPS-unit, it's only 193km (with quite some shortcuts possible if you wanted to cheat).

[quixoticgeek]

Updated forecast: more wind (force 5/6), higher temperatures (double digits perhaps), the amount of rain depends on the forecaster (ranging from dry to deluge).

Yeah, weather is looking... interesting... I'm hoping that the woods in the first 120k will provide some protection, slogging into a force 5/6 with hills is going to make time a fun one.

The route is also seriously underdistance: according to my GPS-unit, it's only 193km (with quite some shortcuts possible if you wanted to cheat).

My understanding is that all of the Zwolle start BRM's have had their starts moved from across town, this means that on Zwolle-Boekello-Zwolle you pay with an extra 11km (well over the over distance allowed), but you get it back on this one. I know that Dutch BRM's are mandatory route, but I'm hoping noone minds if I go a bit off route on the final 5km to add a few km, to a) bag some tiles, and b) make up the distance (For Eddington number purposes).

J

[slugbait]

[...]
My understanding is that all of the Zwolle start BRM's have had their starts moved from across town, this means that on Zwolle-Boekello-Zwolle you pay with an extra 11km (well over the over distance allowed), but you get it back on this one. I know that Dutch BRM's are mandatory route, but I'm hoping noone minds if I go a bit off route on the final 5km to add a few km, to a) bag some tiles, and b) make up the distance (For Eddington number purposes).

I know: 5th time I'm doing this audax and the start used to be on the east side of the town. There used to be a secret control along the route (maybe they'll bring it back this year), but since it is highly unlikely to be in the final 5km it seems safe to go off route in the last bit.

[quixoticgeek]

I know: 5th time I'm doing this audax and the start used to be on the east side of the town. There used to be a secret control along the route (maybe they'll bring it back this year), but since it is highly unlikely to be in the final 5km it seems safe to go off route in the last bit.

Aye, that was more for the benefit of those who haven't done this one before, and in the hope someone will come along and tell me if it's a bad idea to go off piste in the last 5km.

On the Maasland 300 last summer there was a secret control in the first 5km (to catch out those who hadn't updated their gpx to take into account a recent route change). Putting a secret control in after the bridge over the Ijssel river seems... foolish. My plan is to turn right just after the bridge, head down to the next big junction, left, upto the station, then back to the hotel at the start. Should be about 2km extra, coupled with the 5km round trip start/station, it should put me over the 200km for the day...

If there was a secret control, my money would be it's in the first 100km.

J