absolutely not idea what the fella above me is on about, but:

in north america you'd attend a bike race with other bike racers and fans, mostly. in holland/belgium, a race is more like a carnival and you'll attend with the whole village (hulst is a town of like 25 000). there will be a race, but also music, food, etc.
-dress really warm. you won't be too warm.
-bring lots of small bills for buying drinks, food, souvenirs
-consider bringing an empty backpack to fill up with random swag. again, at a NA race it'll be bike companies setting up expo tents. in europe it'll be everything - the local dairy co-op will have a stand handing out free cheese and the chamber of commerce will be handing out keychains and whatever.
-are you a superfan? maybe bring a nice jersey and a marker to get some signatures? it's often more possible at 'cross races to get up close to the stars.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

No. It's really not. Have you considered that your greatest contribution here might be in posting less?

Have you thought about how you’ll get there? This is much closer to Antwerpen than it is to any major Dutch city. You might want to rent a car in Antwerpen and drive the last leg.

Also, last year, people weren’t able to leave for two hours after Gavere ended (CX CDM event on boxing day). So be prepared not being able to leave until 6 PM.

Awesome! Thanks so much for this. I'm really excited especially since the field is going to be awesome. I'll be in the Netherlands/France for 2 weeks so thought this might be a treat. Buying clothing now.....

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Kiwami Racing Team

Thanks. I did the Challenge Almere race last Sept. and the age group winner and I became friends and met the next week again. He lives in Utrecht and we are going to stay with him for a couple of days at his house. I asked if he wanted to go to this as the train takes a while, but he said he'd drive. Should be awesome!

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Kiwami Racing Team

Good to hear :)

Driving makes the logistics a lot easier to deal with. And Utrecht is a wonderful city.

Yea, I love Utrecht. We've been a few times and he gave us a tour as he was born there and lived on a canal. Can't wait to see he and his wife again. I love my trips to NL.

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Kiwami Racing Team

In the US we tend to cheer for everyone, but in Europe, fans tend to only cheer for "their" rider, so if you are an enthusiastic cheer-er (like I am), you may get some odd looks. There will be way more people smoking than you might expect. Way more drinking, and the port-o-potties are less private than in the US. They also tend to pick a spot and stay all day instead of walking around the whole course because it gets so crowded. So choose your vantage spot wisely! Enjoy!! I am really jealous! It will be a good show!

From what I've seen on TV, and something I don't think mentioned yet... maybe start training your liver now for the pre, during & post-race partying? Even though, apparently, the Dutch & Belgians maintain a pretty gnarly rivalry between them, they seem to set the standard for party-spectating or spectating-partying depending on your perspective. Sounds like a GREAT time. Cheers!

Yea, I think it's an opportunity I don't want to miss. Having been a number of times to the Netherlands, the Dutch people do like to have fun. We visit family so know the culture a bit. New Year's Eve is crazy there!

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Kiwami Racing Team

I live and race in Europe, but have done also over 20 races in the US.

The cheering depends on the race, just as in the US. Some are near silent and others like Roth you nearly go deaf. Many people even bring bikes to move around frequently/quickly to different spots to cheer.

More smoking and drinking, yes.

Portopotties are exactly the same, and fully enclosed with no gaps. What is this about? In Europe we often also have urinal versions, if that's what you mean. But they're awesome because it hugely cuts down on lines for portopotties, which you can still choose to stand in line for.

I was talking about the urinals--quite a surprise for me to see!