Chiltern 100
Tin man
Posts: 5
Anyone else doing this?
I am down for the Gran Fondo distance (171k) - just hoping the weather is better than it was this Sunday...
I am down for the Gran Fondo distance (171k) - just hoping the weather is better than it was this Sunday...
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About 10 from CC Luton will be there (unless the weather is like it was yesterday).0
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I'll be there with a couple of mates. Based on their reports from last year this is a very, very hard sportive. We've done a lot between us over 4 years now, so....that's worrying! It's the number of climbs that does it, they just keep coming and coming and coming and coming. As one mate put it "I had a thousand yard stare towards the end".
Good luck!0 -
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I'll be there too, though I have to confess I've bottled it a bit and will ride the medium route.
:oops:
The course looks daunting and my weekend rides have only been up to 50 (albeit hilly) miles so I thought I'd take it easy and aim for something 100 miles plus towards the middle/end of summer.
ps at least the weather forecast is good for Sunday!0 -
i live in bucks where does the chiltern 100 start and can you pay at the startcheesy quaver0
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thank you mate
cheesy quaver0 -
Me and a couple of mates doing 100k ride, seemed a good at Christmas over a few beers, now begining to feel a bit worried!
Dont think we/I have put in enough miles, or rather the right type of miles, ie uphill!
Oh well will give it a good go, what does everybody think a fast time would be for 101k route?
Good luck all, lets hope the rain stays away.0 -
web address very usefull gonna ride the gran fondo route on me tod saturday an try out me new bike but ill start from wycombe cheers tin mancheesy quaver0
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i did it an im knackered 6hrs 35 gonna sign up for it next year whiteleafs a real leg burner :shock: cheesy quaver0 -
4 hours 33 for Medio, well happy, great day, highly recomended!0
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No thousand yard stares this year but due to various factors a slower time. I have to say it really is a very hard route (the long one) - the terrain doesn't suit me, it's a mind bender to keep on climbing and it seems to go on forever. We did it properly though, waiting for each other, not getting into any groups and having a puncture. Never again. Unless I'm doing a big event later in the year in which case the hellishness of the route is excellent leg and brain training. Nnnnrrrnrrrrnnnghghg.0
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Anyone else see the guy crashed in the trees on the descent into Chinnor - guy was up and on his feet and he told me he was ok, but he was covered in mud - at least he looked like he got a soft landing.
He was lucky he crossed the road and didn't hit an oncoming car. I was lucky a car coming up the hill flashed his lights at me and another waved us to slow down otherwise I'd have come round the blind bend into a queue of cars at 40mph.
Long day out for me (7 hours?) nursing* round a club mate with a bad back - not the sort of terrain you want to ride with sore anything I think.
* - well, when I say nursing, this actually involved waiting for him at the top of every climb and then drilling it on the flat so he could just about hang on - tough love!
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I did the Medio so I could leave early.
Rode solo for the whole distance and only passed about 10-15 people.
Missed Gold by less than 4 minutes (101k in 3:53). Damn!
My Powertap is dead so I had no speedo, no idea of distance or speed so I can't be too harsh on my brain-only pacing.
The bunches (if any) must have started before me and kept ahead the whole time.
Cheating drafting b_stards! 0 -
This was my first sportive and I was glad I went for the Medio option. Three (!) punctures meant I took a leisurely break at the feed point and didnt even bother to check my time. I did the whole thing alone too as just as I'd latch on to a group ( albeit only 2 or 3 riders) at a pace I could handle I'd puncture.
Do I take it from the above comments that being in a bunch is a bit of a cheat? I must admit after that killer climb where the photographer was waiting (whiteleaf?) I was ready for any help I could get!
ps the photos are up and are quite impressive, albeit some strange trick of the light has given me a distinct paunch in each photo.0 -
Not at all - riding inches off the rear wheel of a complete stranger is all part of the fun* of doing sportives - make new friends, even if only fleetingly, and share the work.TheHatter wrote:Do I take it from the above comments that being in a bunch is a bit of a cheat?
* - see also http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=125700960 -
TheHatter wrote:Do I take it from the above comments that being in a bunch is a bit of a cheat? I must admit after that killer climb where the photographer was waiting (whiteleaf?) I was ready for any help I could get!
haha no mate.. riding in a bunch makes for a faster and friendlier ride, especially over longer distances. I've just done a few solo rides recently not being able to find a suitable bunch so I was a bit annoyed knowing I could have easily made it into Gold with a bit of drafting 0 -
Bronzie,
I see you've adopted that old excuse of "I was helping a mate get round" for what was a woeful performance that is in keeping with your nickname!
Clearly you need to be spending less time on these forums and more time training.
Love from your wheelsucking team mate (to use your words) Andy who need I remind you finished the Granfondo in 17th place with a time of 6hrs 6mins and 02 seconds and a Gold in the bag!! 8) This included an enforced stop to mend a puncture as you know! :roll:
He he he!!!
Taffy Tart (Andrea Taffy)0 -
Was enjoying the Gran Fondo route and feeling strong (average speed 18 mph), but somewhere after the 55 mile mark I must have taken a wrong turning because I suddenly realised I was riding back into Great Missenden - so the day ended with only 60 miles on the clock and my first DNF in 6 years of competition. :shock:
A mate sent me a blog entry by another rider who said he was in a buch of 20 that nearly turned back to the start with about 45 miles to go as a result of a dodgy red arrow and I wonder whether that was where I went wrong - I was on my own when I took the wrong turn and being a stranger to the area, I had no idea I was up $h*t Creek until it was too late.
That said, I guess I only have myself to blame as I don't think anyone else got it as wrong as I did :roll:
I will just have to come back next year and get it right!0 -
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Wondered when you'd finally get round to reading that little dig...........as it's your first post I suppose I should welcome you - so welcome Andrea from Luton / Brackley.Taffy Tart wrote:Love from your wheelsucking team mate (to use your words)
Now, no wheelsucking at the Dragon this year and then getting your mate to knock me off 'cos of the fierce pace I was setting (yeah, right). 0 -
Nice work Hippy - come back and do the big loop next year and see all the bits of Oxfordshire you missed on the shorter ride.firsthippy wrote:I came 2nd in the Medio version.. woo!
Never ceases to amaze me how many red kites there are in the area these days - I had plenty of time for bird spotting this year :roll:0 -
I'm a member of Willesden CC and we ride out there most Sundays so it's possible I've seen them already. I would've done the long version this year (was booked for it) but my Mum was arriving that afternoon (from Oz) so I thought it best to be the good son and actually be home when she arrived!
It's a nice bit of riding out there. I thought to myself "I've seen this hill before", thinking it was an easier one from an earlier Reliability Ride but it was that bugger Whiteleaf that I did twice in the ArcherGP! Doh!0 -
I thought the signage was not the best this year (or last year for that matter).
A few extra signs would npot have gone amiss and a few could have been better placed.Rich0 -
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Bronzie,
I live in Chinnor and see huge amounts of Red Kites on my regular rides. And no, I am not fit enough (yet) to do the smaller Chilterns Sportive as I am hugely overweight and my cardiovascular fitness is poor. Maybe, if I am pushed, next year.0
