who knows Belgium (Ghent)?
 

I'm off to Ghent in a few weeks to see Ghent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix. I've got a hotel booked in Ghent, but I'm looking for advice on riding the cobbles and slopes. Maybe a good shop to seek advice from in Ghent? Things not to miss?

I'm off there in a couple of months.

What slopes do you refer? From what I've seen of Flanders it seems pretty flat.

slopes are what they call the short 1-2 K steep (up to 20%!) chain breaker climbs around the area, like what you see in Tour of Flanders.

Hi if you can bring your bike.(With plenty of padding on the handlebars!).I rode the tour of Flanders sportive about 2 years ago. I recommend that you go to Oudenaarde as a base there are plenty of Cobbles and legendary climbs in this area.You can pick up a map from the local Tour of Flanders Museum.A lot of the Belgian Classics use similar routes. It is a very bicycle friendly country.This will give you a taste for the cobbles. It will be a shock (in more ways than one) to your system.
ENJOY

You can always rent a bike here: http://www.jowan.be/nl-2verhuur.html

I'm sorry it's in dutch. the rentalshop is on the Tour of Flanders route...

I've just done the Tour of Flanders with 21km of cobblestones.
One hell of a painful experience.
Cobblestones = painful
Descending over cobblestones = hell

Make sure you have the best gloves you can get which I didn't.
Now I'm sitting here with blisters on my hands.