Riding Flanders hills on the day of the sportive (but not on the sportive)

The climbs are so much better outside of the Spring Classics season as well.  Literally empty.  I met Museeuw out on the roads last time I was there which was cool.  The group I was with had no idea who he was and I was fucking appalled.

I rode Flanders last year with some friends.
A couple of guys were late deciding to join in and so hadn't bought entries and so didn't have numbers on.
They were turned away, by a pretty serious Belgian police officer, at the foot of the koppenberg and had to ride the alternative route.

Before you hit the koppenberg there are signs and crowd control barriers, you have to slow down and that makes it easy for the officials to spot riders without numbers.

The other hills weren't policed as far as I noticed.

If you were in a really big bunch, I guess you could go through maybe, but then you've got very little chance of riding up it as riders in front will invariably slow down and you'll be doing a trackstand on very steep cobbles.

Somehow we didn't have anyone in front and I was able to sail up it, majestically, like a broken down old steam engine puffing it's last

On the day, road closures are usually a moving window quite close to proposed times of riders coming through, however some of the narrow climbs will potentially have barriers and all kind of other gubbins going up as well as spectators arriving by bike, car, foot.

7am would seem plenty early enough but if you're getting nearer the afternoon by the time you hit some latter ones it'll be madness out there...

You probably can but you'll be mixing with some 15,000 other riders if past numbers are anything to go by!