Great Nottinghamshire Bike Ride

alanmcn1

I have donwloaded the route from my Garmin onto Mapmyrun (http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-king ... 6489475041)

PS. ignore the mileage on mapmyrun, my Garmin is more accurate and was reading 130km

happyhaddock

1. Why could it not start on time? Endless blabbing from the bloke on the microphone, but no real information (like 'we have cut the route short') preceding a 10 minute delay. It's not as if they didn't know we were supposed to be going off at 8.

2. The coach carrying the marshalls getting in the way for the first half of the race. The coach passed us and then stopped to let marshalls off at least 5 or 6 times, very irritating having that revving behind you and trying to get past on some of the start country lanes, only for it to stop completely once it had got past.

3. The finish was horrendous. Roads into Nottingham were boring flat estate roads. I understand picking a route is a balance and they were trying not to inconvenience motorists as well, but i would have preferred coming through the city from the North, at least there is some hills that way.

4. At one T-junction there was a clear sign saying ’50 miles turn left’, but not one saying ‘100 miles turn right’ which caused a fair amount of confusion amongst the small group I was with.

Overall I thought that the route was a little dull and that money would be better spent on some of the club organised sportives. The BHF Belvoir Castle ride was a much better route (although only 40 miles- you can ride there and back from Nottingham), and much better organised and marshalled.

alanmcn1

I am wondering if the weather caught these guys out with changes to route. I only say this as the ride was organised by the same guys who organise the Etape Caledonia, which is one of the best in the country. They obviously have experience, so why the mistakes?

phil_ss1

Hi,

This was the first 100 on the Great Nottinghamshire Ride and I think lessons will be learnt for next year.

The company I work for was a sponsor and have asked for feedback.

I agree the marshals should have been out earlier and the signage better.

1. Why could it not start on time? Endless blabbing from the bloke on the microphone, but no real information (like 'we have cut the route short') preceding a 10 minute delay. It's not as if they didn't know we were supposed to be going off at

Do all these events always start on time?

No problem for me to be delayed slightly.

Phil
(waiting patiently for my time...)

CarKiller

I thought it was OK. We got a good 80+ miles in at a good lick. First half we probably averaged 25mph with that ripping tailwind. Got a good group together rouna about Shelford, cruised up to Tuxford quite faste and then and did some through and off to help with the headwind. I was back on my sofa for 11:30 (Having ridden to the start from Bleasby, I finished there on the way back )

giant_man

happyhaddock wrote:

1. Why could it not start on time? Endless blabbing from the bloke on the microphone, but no real information (like 'we have cut the route short') preceding a 10 minute delay. It's not as if they didn't know we were supposed to be going off at 8.

2. The coach carrying the marshalls getting in the way for the first half of the race. The coach passed us and then stopped to let marshalls off at least 5 or 6 times, very irritating having that revving behind you and trying to get past on some of the start country lanes, only for it to stop completely once it had got past.

3. The finish was horrendous. Roads into Nottingham were boring flat estate roads. I understand picking a route is a balance and they were trying not to inconvenience motorists as well, but i would have preferred coming through the city from the North, at least there is some hills that way.

4. At one T-junction there was a clear sign saying ’50 miles turn left’, but not one saying ‘100 miles turn right’ which caused a fair amount of confusion amongst the small group I was with.

Overall I thought that the route was a little dull and that money would be better spent on some of the club organised sportives. The BHF Belvoir Castle ride was a much better route (although only 40 miles- you can ride there and back from Nottingham), and much better organised and marshalled.

I think a decent structured letter, detailed like you have done here, might improve things for next year.

Ashley_R

Have to admit to being a bit annoyed with the last section through Notts, would have much more enjoyed an extra 10 miles through the north Notts area, enjoyed it even more if I hadn't crashed after about 30 miles!!

Came down at a junction with several others when someone clipped a wheel in front, don't think there was anyone seriously hurt, was more bothered about if I'd damaged me bike!!

Have to admit, did enjoy the free Boots flapjacks at the finish, managed to snaffle three!!


Anyone know when and where the times will be published?

canon dale

Ashley_R wrote:

Anyone know when and where the times will be published?

Supposed to be on the Notts County Council website and at http://www.raceahead.net, but not on either yet.

r_alex

Hi all,

and hi Ashley - Rob here. Thanks for the draft!

First sportive for me and I'm glad they cut it short as the wind near killed me Outward route was nice and I enjoyed the back roads, but the main ones were pretty horrible, and I wouldn't ride them again by choice.

3 main issues I found were the initial off road section, some vague signage and not being informed about the change of route.

Current news from the councils website is:

"Rider times are currently being downloaded from the timing chips. As soon as we have the data you will be able to access your time from our website."

which means somethings gone wrong, as the times are (should have been) recorded automatically by the system, so the data should have been almost live, or available within a few minutes.

That aside, I'm looking forward to doing some more in the future.

Pel

On behalf of the organisers Perfect Motion and Pennine Events just wanted to comment on the sportive.

Route distance:
The sportive was a new route that we introduced this year. We did have to reduce the length of the route during the final stages of planning following advice from highways and police with regards traffic management around the North Notts area. We did try to communicate this to riders, but it appears as though the message didn’t get through, either via email, or on the day. We apologise for this. We clocked the revised route at 87 miles. Sorry it was not the 100 you were expecting and that was advertised, but we still believe we made the right decision, just obviously didn’t communicate it effectively enough.

Timing chips:
There is no known issue with the sportive timing. Results were delayed due to the data from the weekend being incorporated into the files for the 18 and 50 mile rides. All should be available later today, or tomorrow.

Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated and will incorporate into our debrief with the council and sponsors before we start planning 2009!

Thanks
Chris

Stedman

Chris,

Thank you for your reply, however plans for the 100-mile ride were announced back on 3rd April and surely with that timescale your organisation must have double checked the route with the local authority (highways and police) whose event it was anyway.

I cannot understand with all the extensive planning involved, how you got caught out at the last moment. :?:

Stedman

Chris,

I notice that the press still believe that we did the 100 miles. Haven't you informed them about this?

feel

The results are in on raceahead ! I've changed my name and my son has changed his name and sex :roll: Also first place on the 50 mile went to someone who averaged 28mph :roll:

At least the numbers matched the times we clocked on our speedos.

phil_ss1

Hi,

I clocked in at around 6:17, not last! Tha'll do for me

Can't believe that someone did it in 3 hours something!!! :shock:

Did they draft the marshall's bus :?:

The results are searchable but not downloadable as yet(just click the search button to get a full list).

See you next year

Phil

alanmcn1

Thought I'd done well until I saw the 100mile 1st man in time..........................just not cricket

happyhaddock

I don't want to cast aspersions, but pretty sure that the 3:37 time is not correct. Firstly he would need to be doing 23.2mph for the whole course (which is pretty unlikely considering the winds) and secondly because the next closest finisher was over nearly 40 minutes away. I think that this may be a rider who registered for the 100 and ended up doing the 50, but that's just a guess.

There were more behind me than I expected!

r_alex

THe 50's got some good times as well (1:45!) so I think that some people may have taken "alternative routes".

However, it is a sportive, and not a race, so they're only cheating themselves!

Mine's accurate on the 100, so the system works well enough.

kirstie256

Just checked my time but the names are wrong.

Time is what I thought for my number but my name has been given to a number that did not finish. Same problem for my husband but at least his name is on a number that came in an hour before us.

feel

phil_ss1 wrote:

Can't believe that someone did it in 3 hours something!!! :shock:

Did they draft the marshall's bus :?:



Phil

maybe they were driving it

camelherder

I did the 50 and my observations were:

I knew about the farm tracks only because my sister had warned me about them.

I fully agree about checking the route prior to the ride. A volunteer on a trail motorcycle would have been ideal. This person could then have marked any potential hazards for the Marshals to clear up before the rides came through.

Some of the Marshalling was very good, some was wasted as they were at points that it was obvious we could't go and some were just very poor. The ones at the rounabout after the sugar beet factory at Newark and the 2 right at the last but one junction.

Why were we made to ride around the big roundabout at Newark when it would have been safer to put us throught the perdestrian crossing lights.

I was amazed to see so many people without helmets, especially children, as this was a strong recommendation in the brochure. Personally I cannot see the problem with wearing one it just sits on your head

And where is my timing? I was too cream crackered at the end to remember to look in the tent.

Having said all that I will be doing it again next year as I met some great people on the ride and even given the wind I enjoyed the day. Lets just hope him upstairs turns the fan off for next year.

camelherder

What was the total number of riders that took part in the 50

apidya

Camelherder:
Why were we made to ride around the big roundabout at Newark when it would have been safer to put us thought the pedestrian crossing lights.

Interesting observation. Do you mean the big roundabout leaving Newark just before the Sugar Beet factory?

I was on the 100, and when we went through that roundabout (sometime earlier than the 50s), I was strongly encouraged to use the pedestrian crossing (in fact I think there were signs to this effect). I nearly ignored them though and used the road, but that's just my politics (bikes belong on roads not pavements).

I also agree wrt to people not wearing helmets. Especially on a ride that busy and on roads that quiet. From what I saw most if not all the 100 mile riders were wearing lids but then as was stated, they were probably the more serious cyclists.

canon dale

Well results are up and according to them I've changed name (now German or Austrian sounding guy or gal (is Andreas male or female :? )), even if the time is about right.

If you do an advanced search, I'm not even listed (and my surname is fairly unique).

Grrr :roll:

Twee

I took part in the 50 on Sunday. I thoroughly enjoyed myself but the winds certainly added an extra challenge, particularly as we had cycled 10 miles to the start and I knew the 10 miles home would be windy too.

I agree that the marshalling was a little hit and miss . Most of it was great but on a couple of occasions the marshalls were either facing the wrong way and therefore not watching people approching or busy chatting like the couple just after we left the main stop at Newark to start the return leg, the 2 marshalls were sitting on a bench chatting and at the last minute shouted that we need to cross the road and get on the path .

Also not happy with timing chip details. According to the data, if I search for myself and my boyfriend by name we cannot be found. When I enter our race numbers I am shown 2 different names - I have changed sex it states that my boyfriends number did not finish. Of 2 friends that competed the 50, if we search by their number - their details cannot be found, however search by one of their names, 1 still cannot be found and the 2nd is linked to an entirely different number that finished 90 minutes before she crossed the line!

feel

camelherder wrote:

What was the total number of riders that took part in the 50

they have results for 1296 , but then they don't have me or other people from reading other posts .

Eastwoodgas

I did the "100 miler" on the tandem. I was in front and my lad was the stoker behind. He was dead chuffed because he came ahead of me in the placings.

I hope the course can be extended next year to make the hundred.

Thanks to the organisers, marshals and particularly the women from Wellow who had made some briliant snap. What's more, it was free of charge and much needed after pushing the headwind into Ollerton.

jammieeeee

They must have messed up with the data chips. Apparently i won the 50 mile Ride!

Miss Take

First time I had ever done anything like this. My time and name were accurate on the listings so no complaints from me on that score. Was miffed to learn that I hadn't done 100 miles and think that it would have been nice if we had been told, if not at the start, certainly at the finish.
The main reason I'm on here is to say a very big thank you to the ladies at Wellow who did a fantastic job of looking after us all with drinks and food. The best flapjack I ever tasted!
Thanks also to all the nice people I chatted to along the way. (I was number 140 on a red bike and pink top).What a lovely, friendly bunch of people. Was surprised to see so few ladies taking part though.

r_alex

jammieeeee wrote:

They must have messed up with the data chips. Apparently i won the 50 mile Ride!

Out of interest, what was your real time? Or did you change your route?

Rob.

gb10

I rode the 100 mile route and thought it was pants, over priced , crap marshals when they were there , poor route choice ( why was this not done by somebody local ? ) . the route back into nottingham was just ridiculous and the fluff up with the milage was disapointing.

I did however meet some good people and thought the volunteers at the food stations were excellent .

Why do people feel the need to speak out about not wearing helmets , its a personal choice and should be left up to the individual to make the decision. Cycling is about freedom and the last thing we need is more rules and regulations. Do your own thing and let others do theres.