Tour of Wessex
La cucaracha
Posts: 71
Hi,
Having never before done a sportive, I've gone and put my name down for this 3 day, 300 mile event, at the opposite end of the country, right in the middle of my exam fortnight. In hindsight, it's perhaps not my wisest decision, but I'm committed to go through with it and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on what sort of training I should be focusing on (bearing in mind the nature of the event, the fact that I've spent winter so far hibernating and that the TOW is in May).
Muchos thanks!
Having never before done a sportive, I've gone and put my name down for this 3 day, 300 mile event, at the opposite end of the country, right in the middle of my exam fortnight. In hindsight, it's perhaps not my wisest decision, but I'm committed to go through with it and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on what sort of training I should be focusing on (bearing in mind the nature of the event, the fact that I've spent winter so far hibernating and that the TOW is in May).
Muchos thanks!
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Oops, also meant to ask if anyone that's done a multi-day before has any words of wisdom regarding accommodation. I'm thinking of going for the camping at £10/night option rather than splashing out on staying in a B&B, but it'd be good to hear people's experiences (good or bad) of camping during events.0
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Hi La Cucaracha - welcome to the forum!
Not ridden this one but looking at the stages you've got 3 consecutive days of 100/100/125 miles with 2,000 - 2,900m climbing if the organisers profiles are to be believed.
You are going to want plenty of endurance to get through it - long hilly rides to build up you stamina. Gradually increase (by no more than 10% per week) your ride distance and/or time on the bike from what you are comfortable with at the minute to the 100+mile rides that make up the event. Bear in mind that if you are comfortable with 100 mile hilly solo rides by early May, doing 3 days of it with others where you can share the effort should be achieveable. Get a year planner and plan out your long rides gradually increasing upto about 10-14 days before the event when you should start to ease off so that you get to the event fresh.
Also bear in mind that doing nothing but long slow rides, will just make you slow. If you want to do a good time at the event, you'll need some speed in your legs - whether that is from doing intervals, sprints or dabbling in a bit of racing is up to you.
When it comes to the event itself, you'll need to make sure you are getting plenty of carbs in both on the bike and in the evening, plus a decent breakfast before you set off for the next days punishment.0 -
au contraire La cucaracha you did exactly the right thing!0
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I did the middle day of it last year, staying with the in-laws : getting brownie-points for a visit but also getting a ride was the plan - only problem was that the middle day was the one where the heavens opened and it was very miserable and wet !
Apparently it was also wet in 2006...so beware that you might have a 3-day wet ride, or third-time lucky it might be excellent weather ! If it's wet, you'll be camping in the rain and not be able to dry your stuff...
I didn't camp, but I did see the facilities and remember a lot of complaints on cyclosport website about them - basically it was a long-grass wet field, park nearby and carry your stuff over a barbed-wire fence to your tent, a water tap in the corner, a portacabin toilet block which malfunctioned and so the men were all using the ladies, and whilst I didn't use the showers myself I seem to remember complaints about them not working or being cold or something.
- suggest you have a look on cyclosport website forum for what people thought last year
http://www.cyclosport.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4770 -
Hey,
Thanks for the advice so far. Finally got myself some overshoes and my exams are over for so there's no excuse for not training now. I was also wondering whether I should consider joining a club to get some experience of riding in a group and, if I were to do so, how good do you have to be to keep up. If I'm only averaging just over 15mph, should I keep training until I'm back up to my usual 17-ish mph? Also, what is the general opinion about women joining clubs, seeing as most are all or nearly all male?0 -
I'd say this would definitely be of benefit - unfortunately, far too many riders I see on sportives in the UK have no idea how to ride on a wheel or ride safely in a group.La cucaracha wrote:I was also wondering whether I should consider joining a club to get some experience of riding in a group
With regard to how fit you have to be to ride with a club, it does of course depend on the club and your level of fitness - why not approach the membership secretaries of a few local clubs and sound them out as to what their club runs are like in real life? Ours is a steady social ride Saturday, and from Christmas, a harder training ride on Sundays. Probably a case of trying out a few local club runs and see which club suits you best before deciding to join.
True, women on club runs are pretty rare, but I'm sure you'll be given a warm welcome. If not, try another club. If you really struggle to finding a club that suits you, you could always post a "ride buddy needed in ..........." on here and see if anyone bites. Training alone all the time is mentally very tough.0 -
Did it last year, doing it again this. Hats off because its quite a challenge. Not sure why but of the sportives I have done it seemed to have the most women riders, especially on the last day when some triathletes were using it as a training day piror to doing an iron(wo)man.
In terms of advice, its quite literally the fact that books could be written on it, since you are ticking just about every box in terms of challenge. My top bits of advice would be:
- Definitely become comfortable riding with a group, its key to completing and (just as important) enjoying a sportive. So join a club, ask at local bike shops and/or do some local Audaxes. 15mph is pretty much the average speed for a sportive (with many going a lot slower) so you wont have any difficulty finding/keeping with a group in terms of speed. But worth practicing eating/drinking.
- The Wessex has some very steep (20%+ climbs). Try to find one and be sure you can ride up it. If not get more gears on your bike.
- Do a horrible ride some time in April. Any challenge is as much mental as physical and a three day event probably more so (especially if it rains). Couple of years ago I was in same situation as you and I went for a long weekend in Wales with the specific intention of doing a very long ride with lots of steep hills, preferably in the wet. Then get up next day and ride again. Reason was partly to check training was OK but mainly to have an experience to fall back on so that when things get tough I can say to myself, "at least its not as bad as my Welsh ride".
- Make sure your bike is up to the job. The Wessex will be the biggest test of your bikes life. Get it checked out before. (If the worst happens there is good help at the site but better safe than sorry).
- Set realistic goals and pace yourself to meet them.
- Dont plan to do anything Tuesday.
Good luck again. Be sure to let us know how it goesMartin S. Newbury RC0 -
Went down for a bit of a recce a couple of weeks ago to get a better idea of what to expect. It's a nice part of the country and the route takes in some varied scenery, but also a fair bit of climbing - I've got a triple and this was the first time I've had to use the granny ring. 1 in 4 really is quite a gradient! It's just a shame I hadn't really appreciated that when I stopped half way up to sort something - being on such a steep climb and in such a low gear meant that by the time I'd got the second cleat in I'd lost all forwards momentum and decked it. :oops: On the plus side I found a comfy ditch to land in and my timing wasn't bad - a few minutes later and the spectacle of the lycra-clad, neoprene overshoe-wearing roadie getting intimate with the floor would've been witnessed by a large group of MTBers.0
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I reckon this sportive could be even more of a challenge than I'd anticipated - it's now 28 miles longer, they've changed the time bands so I'll have to average just below 17mph (as opposed to the original minimum of around 15.5mph) if I even want a bronze certificate and can't begin training until early April due to a broken arm. Bugger!0
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Get a turbotrainer!0
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Yikes! what is you r current state of fitness? what does your current training regime look like? How long, how often and at what intensity are you riding at?La cucaracha wrote:Hi,
Having never before done a sportive, I've gone and put my name down for this 3 day, 300 mile event, at the opposite end of the country, right in the middle of my exam fortnight. In hindsight, it's perhaps not my wisest decision, but I'm committed to go through with it and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on what sort of training I should be focusing on (bearing in mind the nature of the event, the fact that I've spent winter so far hibernating and that the TOW is in May).
Muchos thanks!0 -
My current training regime is unfortunately non-existent - last term at uni was too busy to allow for anyhting more than a few quick spinning sessions at the gym and I broke my arm mid March. Now that I finally do have time to get some quality training done, I've got to rest until it's healed (6 weeks, I've been told). :evil:
However, I'm really not suited to this rest malarkey, especially when the days are longer, the weather's improving (it is, honest) and I've got few other committments to interfere with riding. Therefore I've decided that my arm has healed sufficiently for me to do a few shorter rides so here's what I'm thinking;
Do a few short (20-40 mile) rides this week at an easy pace (<16mph) to see where I'm at.
Then hopefully I'll find I'm not struggling and steadily increase the mileage, throwing in the occasional faster ride, intervals training and doing a few long rides on consecutive days since it's a 3-day event.0 -
I'm signed up for all 3 days and had a look at the route map last night - looks from my limited knowledge of the area as though it does indeed cover some significant hills. Does anyone have or know of an elevation map of the route, so I can work out where the hillier and flatter bits are?0
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topcattim wrote:I'm signed up for all 3 days and had a look at the route map last night - looks from my limited knowledge of the area as though it does indeed cover some significant hills. Does anyone have or know of an elevation map of the route, so I can work out where the hillier and flatter bits are?
The profiles are on the web site.
I'm only doing the first day, which has 3 major climbs - Alfred's Tower, the old road out of Wells and Burrington Combe. I know the last two and there's nothing to fear from them. I don't know the other two routes, but day 2 doesn't look too difficult. But I'd be worried about going up Dunkery Beacon on day 3.
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GeorgeShaw wrote:topcattim wrote:I'm signed up for all 3 days and had a look at the route map last night - looks from my limited knowledge of the area as though it does indeed cover some significant hills. Does anyone have or know of an elevation map of the route, so I can work out where the hillier and flatter bits are?
The profiles are on the web site.
I'm only doing the first day, which has 3 major climbs - Alfred's Tower, the old road out of Wells and Burrington Combe. I know the last two and there's nothing to fear from them. I don't know the other two routes, but day 2 doesn't look too difficult. But I'd be worried about going up Dunkery Beacon on day 3.
George, thanks for that - I should have found them myself, but had only looked at the info booklet they'd sent out.
Thing is, they don't quite match the route. I believe the longer version of Stage 1 is 153k, but the profile is only 148k. The profile for day 2 seems to match up, but for stage 3 they still have a 171k route, which isn't even the correct distance for the previous day 3 distance of 109m (210k). All of those make me a bit wary of reading anything at all into those profiles.0 -
Yeah, it looks to me like they've not updated the profiles since making the recent alterations to the routes. If it bothers you, it might be worth firing off a quick e-mail to them. Personally, I'm taking the view that "ignorance is bliss" re the elevation profiles - at this rate I'm going to be suffering majorly and the differences will only slightly vary the extent of my pain.0
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La cucaracha
Looks like you're having the same sort of concerns as I am. I've ridden sportives before but am not finding the training going very well at the moment (I hate the wind!). I'm hoping that the thrill of the occasion will see me through, and I'll have to keep telling myself to hold back on the first couple of days.0 -
Yup, the profiles on the web site are not very reliable, especially as I guess the routes have now changed again as the start/finish has changed.
What I did to double-check was to take their GPX files into Google Maps, and re-enter the route in bikeroutetoaster, which will add full profile data. You can print a visual from the Summary page, and you can also export it. Then you can use the export in the usual tools like GPSVisualiser at a later time.0 -
Wow George, that all sounds hopelessly out of my techie range!
I've emailed the organisers and will keep you posted if I get a reply.0 -
Someone mentioned a ride pack being posted out.
Should I be worried not having received mine? What's in it?
I've got 39/23T road gearing. After reading about these 20% climbs I'm thinking of moving to a 25 or more at the back. I can climb 20% with my current gearing but if there's more than one like this and combined with 3 days of long distance.. well.. I'm thinking.. ouch! Maybe it would pay to be more sensible than gung ho?
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There's not going to be a ride pack sent out in advance, but you can download advance information from their website. When you register on the day, it looks as though you get timing chip, ride number map, ride guide etc,
but you might want to check that you are genuinely registered with them - I got an email from the organisers a couple of days ago just giving a general update and of course letting us know that the premier race isn't going ahead any more.0 -
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I'd recommend 39x25, and even then you'll be grinding it on the steeper climbs unless you are a seriously fast climber. As you say, it's not just a matter of getting up one climb - there are lots, especially if you do the three days.firsthippy wrote:I've got 39/23T road gearing. After reading about these 20% climbs I'm thinking of moving to a 25 or more at the back. I can climb 20% with my current gearing but if there's more than one like this and combined with 3 days of long distance.. well.. I'm thinking.. ouch! Maybe it would pay to be more sensible than gung ho?Jeff Jones
Product manager, Sports0 -
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topcattim wrote:I've emailed the organisers and will keep you posted if I get a reply.
Well, I emailed them 8 days ago, and I haven't had a reply.
I'm not impressed so far with the organisation of this ride - I emailed them with a question in December and it took them ages to reply then as well - blaming problems with anti-virus software. I've also been very worried by what I've read from last year's riders about the "campsite" from last year.
Let's hope the ride is better than their indications suggest so far.0 -
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Yep, the same. I remember you brought beer, and you were both very welcomefirsthippy wrote:Jeff Jones from cyclingnews?? Lives/Lived in Belgium?
It's hippy from Oz. I visited you in.. err.. Ghent?
Fast climber? hahaha
Jeff Jones
Product manager, Sports0 -
Yeah.. hippy+beer=common sight!
So are you still reporting for cyclingnews? I'm on too many forums to keep up these days..
I'm going to take the Spesh for its first service and I'll probably get them to fit a 25T (not sure what the limit is for DA rear derr?). Then I can swap it with the 23T when I need to.
Also thinking about getting a straight through cassette for the few TTs I'll probably get roped into this year.. but that's a whole other kettle of..0 -
Jeff Jones wrote:I'd recommend 39x25, and even then you'll be grinding it on the steeper climbs unless you are a seriously fast climber. As you say, it's not just a matter of getting up one climb - there are lots, especially if you do the three days.
I did the 50 mile route last year, it contained the climb up to King Alfreds tower, which they've put back in for this year. I have a 39 x 25 and I had to walk and I wasnt the only one... I'm fitter and stronger this year, but I'm still concerned about it.
I'm getting a 12 x 27 rear cassette and I'm toying with the idea of going compact or fitting a 38 tooth front chain ring just so I have a bailout gear.
Dont under estimate the cilmbs, especially if you are doing the 3 days, Porlock Hill is very steep....0 -
With regard to the gear ratio's for the climbs I would advise minimum of 12-27 unless your particularly light/fit. I live near King Alfred's Tower and cannot do it even on a 39/27! Indeed last year a lot of people walked up the last leg of the climb! However a friend of mine can do it on a 53/21 on a 22LB Claud Butler! He's only 10st though and incredibly fit! I've ordered a compact crank to fit before the tour this year so should hopefully be okay with the 34/27! If not I'll just give up! The other climbs on day one should be okay on the 39/25, I can do them with ease on my 39/27 and you sound fitter than me if you can do 20% gradients on a 39/23!0
