Borders of Belgium 1000 2016

[Wycombewheeler]

Awesome tracks & routesheet Rohnny - I'm still nursing a knee injury with rest, hoping to be on the start-line as it looks great!

In terms of the routesheet, I'm slightly confused by some control close times.  It looks like all controls up to VISE have a min speed of 15Kph, but after that for Maaseik onwards it drops to 13.3kph?  is that right?

Also, as a full value rider, I notice you have the time on routesheet at exactly 75 hours, not the 75hrs 11mins or whatever 1000/13.3 works out to be.  I'm just wondering which is right so I can make sure i get the best value out of the ride

received today? I don't have them.

[Bobby]

They were put on Facebook first (not email) https://bordersofbelgium2018en.weebly.com/the-route.html

[Rohnny]

Your passage time at the controles is not that important, but let it be a guide for you. It is important to build up a good buffer on the first 400K. The next 350K will be... hilly. The last 200K could well be into a headwind. So the buffer is rather important.
If you leave the controle in Champlon (557K) before 5h on saturday morning you should be alright.
The tracks and route sheet could undergo changes if we encounter problems during our last checks this and next week. If so I will publish the updated tracks and routesheet and put the date of the update on the website.

[Wycombewheeler]

Your passage time at the controles is not that important, but let it be a guide for you. It is important to build up a good buffer on the first 400K. The next 350K will be... hilly. The last 200K could well be into a headwind. So the buffer is rather important.
If you leave the controle in Champlon (557K) before 5h on saturday morning you should be alright.
The tracks and route sheet could undergo changes if we encounter problems during our last checks this and next week. If so I will publish the updated tracks and routesheet and put the date of the update on the website.

5am is very early, considering a 280km section to the next overnight control, will there be breakfast available at that control for riders staying elsewhere? As other accommodation will not do food that early.

Also I notice there is a huge gap between the 1st and 2nd control, are there plenty of 24 hour services along the route? or do I need to plan for a desert?

[Rohnny]

Leaving the control in Champlon you start to go up and down the hills for 185K with 2500 meters to climb. So it all depends on your fitness level I guess.
According the ACP time table, the closing hour of the control in Champlon is 2:08 in the morning. The closing time in the next control (647K) is 9:07. If you leave at 5 you have got 4h to do 90K on hilly terrain. But as I said earlier: I'm not going to check the times with a loupe.
Anyway, the control in Champlon closes at 6 because we have to clear the site before 7 and we have a lot of cleaning to do. Therefore we can not offer breakfast for riders staying elsewhere, sorry.
indeed there is a huge gap between De Panne and Houyet. There are no 24h petrol stations along the route that I know of. 24h stations are rare in Belgium. There are some along the mayor highways, but unreachable by bike. So my advise is to buy what you need whenever you can. There is a petrol station in De Panne, you cross Ieper (171K) and Roubaix (207K). By morning you arrive in Cerfontaine (340K) where a patrol station and a Carrefour can be good places to buy food and drinks.
Keep in mind that the possibility for shopping in the South of Belgium is scarce. That is why I directed the route via towns like Paliseul (SPAR shop), Bertrix, Neufchateau, ...
But hey, BOB is not club Med 

[Wycombewheeler]

I had been think8ng about riding through the first night, but now thinking the f1 at roubaix might be worth looking at.

[Ivan]

I'm going to wait for the 5 day forecast before making a call on the F1 Roubaix - don't really fancy pushing through the night into cold/wet/windy weather that early on into the ride.

[D.A.L.E.]

Looking at the route... So tempting...

[Dave_C]

Looking at the route... So tempting...

Space on the ferry Dale!

[Manotea]

I rode part of the route in the summer, about 300km on from Roubaix, so not the flat bit and was impressed by (a) the total lack of shopping opportunities and (b) the number of village high streets being excavated to a depth of several feet. So you will be hungry but will have lots of new black to look forward to. Unless of course they pour concrete slabs with ridges every 10m (Bump... bump... bump... ). Or lay cobbles (Bumpitybumpitybumpitybump). Also, keep an eye-out for badgers (live-uns, not squashees like we have in the UK). And wild boar...

[D.A.L.E.]

Looking at the route... So tempting...

Space on the ferry Dale!

I've got no money!

Or at least, it might not be the financially sensible option right now. Looking back at the photos though...

[Wycombewheeler]

I rode part of the route in the summer, about 300km on from Roubaix, so not the flat bit and was impressed by (a) the total lack of shopping opportunities and (b) the number of village high streets being excavated to a depth of several feet. So you will be hungry but will have lots of new black to look forward to. Unless of course they pour concrete slabs with ridges every 10m (Bump... bump... bump... ). Or lay cobbles (Bumpitybumpitybumpitybump). Also, keep an eye-out for badgers (live-uns, not squashees like we have in the UK). And wild boar...

Cafe's ?

[Deano]

Your passage time at the controles is not that important, but let it be a guide for you. It is important to build up a good buffer on the first 400K. The next 350K will be... hilly. The last 200K could well be into a headwind. So the buffer is rather important.
If you leave the controle in Champlon (557K) before 5h on saturday morning you should be alright.
The tracks and route sheet could undergo changes if we encounter problems during our last checks this and next week. If so I will publish the updated tracks and routesheet and put the date of the update on the website.

5am is very early, considering a 280km section to the next overnight control, will there be breakfast available at that control for riders staying elsewhere? As other accommodation will not do food that early.

Also I notice there is a huge gap between the 1st and 2nd control, are there plenty of 24 hour services along the route? or do I need to plan for a desert?

Look out for vending machines: https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=95531.msg2075788#msg2075788

And get a big takeaway in Ieper and carry the leftovers with you.

[Smeth]

[And get a big takeaway in Ieper and carry the leftovers.

You've given me good advice (MP1017) and even lent me a bike to save my ride, (MC2018) but I'm not carting luke warm animal of indeterminate nature in my saddlebag. See pic above. I mean in the paper bag. Not your oppo.

Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk

[Ivo]

Vegetarians defenitly have an advantage when carrying lukewarm food around in a saddlebag.
I occasionally do this on long brevets, go to a Chinese takeway around 20h and carry the remainder for a nightly 2nd dinner.

[Manotea]

Cold dead animals (Chorizo, Salami, whatever the equivalent is in Belgium) work for me.

[Ben T]

How prevalent are baguettes in Belgium? I was thinking maybe strap one to the top tube.

[aidan.f]

 I'm going for the full size bag with plenty of room for food n stuff.

[Deano]

[And get a big takeaway in Ieper and carry the leftovers.

You've given me good advice (MP1017) and even lent me a bike to save my ride, (MC2018) but I'm not carting luke warm animal of indeterminate nature in my saddlebag. See pic above. I mean in the paper bag. Not your oppo.

Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk

Pizza.

[Zed43]

After going through the route sheet I'm left wondering if the first control really is after 400km (Houyet)?

The "Verloren Gernoare" tavern in Adinkerke at 127km would make sense to be a control, but isn't labeled as such and doesn't show opening/closing times like the others.

Speaking of closing times, and knowing they're not strictly adhered to when it comes to homologation, how were they calculated? For Houyet for example I come to 14:00 + (400km / 15km/h) = 16:40 whereas the route sheet lists 15:40

Using the RUSA calculator I come to:

Code: [Select]

Wachtebeke
    0km   start: 09/06 14:00
          close: 09/06 15:00

Adinkerke
  127km    open: 09/06 17:44
          close: 09/06 22:28

Houyet
  400km    open: 09/07 02:08
          close: 09/07 16:40

Martelange
  497km    open: 09/07 05:22
          close: 09/07 23:08

B. de Champion
  556km    open: 09/07 07:20
          close: 09/08 03:04

Losheimergraben
  646km    open: 09/07 10:27
          close: 09/08 10:02

Vaals
  711km    open: 09/07 12:46
          close: 09/08 15:43

Vise
  742km    open: 09/07 13:52
          close: 09/08 18:26

Maaseik
  793km    open: 09/07 15:42
          close: 09/08 22:53

Lommel
  840km    open: 09/07 17:22
          close: 09/09 03:00

Meersel-Dreef
  902km    open: 09/07 19:35
          close: 09/09 08:26

Wachtebeke
 1000km    open: 09/07 23:05
          close: 09/09 17:00


[oggy]

1000K BRM rides are over 75 hours which is 13.32kph approx

[mattc]

@Zed:
Don't forget the org has discretion over opening/closing times. In fact somewhere ACP (or LRM?? I forget ...)  recommend times with a "front-loading" i.e. riders are expected to rider faster to the earlier controls (in practice on, say 1000/1200km riders this means riders getting sod-all sleep until the last quarter of the ride, which I find stooped, but there ya go ...)

in 2014 Rohnny did front-load the times a bit. So I'm not surprised if your 500k-ish control "closes" a little before 37.5hours clicks around.

HTH! It's all a bit bonkers, but will be alright on the night ...

[chocjohn9]

Good news on the weather front - dry thank God. 14/15 during the night. 24/25 during the day. Fairly strong winds though.... and few hedges in Belgium 

http://www.meteobelgique.be/



BTW, I want to enjoy this, so I've booked the F1 in Lille. All rooms are twin, so if someone arrives there at the same time as me and wants to crash, then we can go halves on the room  €20
I'll be wearing a blue Audax UK top.

[Rohnny]

After going through the route sheet I'm left wondering if the first control really is after 400km (Houyet)?

The "Verloren Gernoare" tavern in Adinkerke at 127km would make sense to be a control, but isn't labeled as such and doesn't show opening/closing times like the others.

Speaking of closing times, and knowing they're not strictly adhered to when it comes to homologation, how were they calculated? For Houyet for example I come to 14:00 + (400km / 15km/h) = 16:40 whereas the route sheet lists 15:40

Using the RUSA calculator I come to:

Code: [Select]

Wachtebeke
    0km   start: 09/06 14:00
          close: 09/06 15:00

Adinkerke
  127km    open: 09/06 17:44
          close: 09/06 22:28

Houyet
  400km    open: 09/07 02:08
          close: 09/07 16:40

Martelange
  497km    open: 09/07 05:22
          close: 09/07 23:08

B. de Champion
  556km    open: 09/07 07:20
          close: 09/08 03:04

Losheimergraben
  646km    open: 09/07 10:27
          close: 09/08 10:02

Vaals
  711km    open: 09/07 12:46
          close: 09/08 15:43

Vise
  742km    open: 09/07 13:52
          close: 09/08 18:26

Maaseik
  793km    open: 09/07 15:42
          close: 09/08 22:53

Lommel
  840km    open: 09/07 17:22
          close: 09/09 03:00

Meersel-Dreef
  902km    open: 09/07 19:35
          close: 09/09 08:26

Wachtebeke
 1000km    open: 09/07 23:05
          close: 09/09 17:00


Update from the organisation:
Adinkerke (De Verloren Geinoare) is a control. I updated the route sheet. Sorry for that. It is marked on the brevet card as a control.

About the closing times: I used the official ACP tool.
If you do too, don't forget to set the closing time of the start at 6/9/2018 14:00 as it is a ride with a fixed start hour. If you don't change the closing time, the tool takes the opening time + 1 hour.
That explanes the 1 hour difference.

Kind regards,
Rohnny

[Wycombewheeler]

Good news on the weather front - dry thank God. 14/15 during the night. 24/25 during the day. Fairly strong winds though.... and few hedges in Belgium 

http://www.meteobelgique.be/



BTW, I want to enjoy this, so I've booked the F1 in Lille. All rooms are twin, so if someone arrives there at the same time as me and wants to crash, then we can go halves on the room  €20
I'll be wearing a blue Audax UK top.

Forecast not looking so good now. Thursday and Friday morning showing rain. And temperatures are generally 20 max and 9 min



*edit*
Actually looking at the precipitation model Friday afternoon in the southeast corner looks like the worst bit. ?