White Rose: How was it for you?

andywgg

That's a really good point, Howie j - if I neglected to say thanks - thanks to all. I will be speaking to mrs andy about maybe volunteering to help next year. I always try and make a point of saying thanks to marshalls etc on running races - I just think I was possibly so utterly goosed on this that I may have forgotten my manners!!

mcmikeec

Disastrous day! Went for the 180k route and managed to get to the base of the steep bit at Fleet Moss before something went in my knee and had to stop immediately! End of day for me! I limped back to Grassington nodding at concerned cyclists going in the opposite direction and managed to get a lift from one of the legendary volunteers - Ann. I would have been looking for a B&B if it hadn't been for Ann.
Anyway, apart from the problems it was an amazing occasion and the organisation was spot on. In the words of Arnie...I'll be back! (following some severe rehab!!!!)
Cheers all

kitch@mmm

As this was my first sportive let alone first ride of 82 mile, i wasn't sure what to expect.

Everything exceeded my expectations! Especially the organisation, feed stations etc. They were exceptional.

Thanks to the guys from sheffield who let me tag along for a while (while the road was flat!) and to the guys who asked if i was ok when my gears played up on the first hills!!! (I was the guy riding the cross bike.)

The route was exceptionally hard but vvvv/ enjoyable. I live locally but don't get chance to ride these routes. (Although i did now about the descent into Malham!)

I really struggled for the last 20 miles, frequently using the 34 x 25. But i only got off once. (Sod fashion - it's a triple for next year)

Only manage 6h38m and the last split was the worse. But so glad to finish. Those 5km/3km signs were SO welcome!!!

Only bad point is to fellow competitors. I managed to take home my empty energy bar/gel wrappers in my back pocket. Is it really that hard!

Thanks to everybody for a great event

Will be back next year without a doubt (and train for the long route!)

towpath hacker

Results: (needs Excel)

http://sportident.co.uk/results/2008/Wh ... -Times.xls

shockedsoshocked

Thought i'd write a bit of a better review now i've recovered a bit

Absolutely amazing ride. Started the day tired. Had no sleep the previous evening due to nerves/excitement, and had to be up at 6 for breakfast.

The climbing started almost immediately and just didn't stop. The first climb I particulary enjoyed. Lines of cyclists going up the hill looked great from down at the bottom. Made my way to the first feed station making good time and in high spirits. Met up with Richy and had a quick chat before he headed off.

I enjoyed climbing Fleets moss (although I didn't realise i'd climbed it till I met Richy on the other side!) and I thank Hambleton CC for letting me group up with them in the valley.

After Hawes however I started to suffer a bit (getting to the end of my usual training time here :evil: ) and it was a long time to the final feed station, especially on my own. Fell in with a lad from Macclesfield CC on the Coal Road however and made good time.

Reached the final feed and stuffed my face with cake and banana and sat down for a bit. Got a few laughs coming out of the toilets (spent penny :oops: ) but was too tired to care about my image at that point.

I took the final stretch easy, and started to feel alot better on the final climbs. Got down on the drops and hammered the final few miles (even sprinted past a few people!) and completed the ride with a riding time of 7.58.34, covering 120.06 miles (somehow).

I have no complaints about the ride at all, everything was excellent. Well sign posted, plenty of food and water and nice weather. Good to spot some people from this forum aswell.

Enjoyed my first ride in the dales enormously, and will be back next year for sure. I don't think i'll ever appreciate flat roads quite like I will this week

andy_wrx

towpath hacker wrote:

Results: (needs Excel)

http://sportident.co.uk/results/2008/Wh ... -Times.xls

Don't panic if you're not listed...

It's opening on the 133km route times, but the other two routes are there on different tabs/worksheets in the same .xls file

campagsarge

Aye, there are two people on the 80KM route with exactly the same time and same surname as well. I wonder if they where riding tandem!

Not Another Hill

Found my photo. Can't believe I managed a smile at that point :shock:

http://www.derekbphotography.co.uk/photo1204502.html

After wasting 30 minutes looking at the split times etc and comparing to other peoples times/splits, I reckon I should have done 5;33 for the 133km had I not taken my 13 mile detour from Airton through to Gargrave and back. Pleased with that.

campagsarge

ha, ha, yep I did the same up Langbar. I was laughing that they had put such a lethal climb in right at the end. Crickey, I was really hurting up there!

howiejmidlands

Here is my action shot!

Benny Hone

howiejmidlands wrote:

Here is my action shot!

I was talking to you in the bar at the finish. You looked like a big Scouse Bee!

howiejmidlands

That was me.

Big FAT Scouse Bee.

There is a thin person inside me fighting to get out............probably because i ate him hehehe

Benny Hone

Can I just recommend the Pendle Pedal (which if the organisers had their wits about them they'd re-name The Red Rose Classic) which is being held on August 3rd. This event is a Lancashire equivalent to the White Rose in scenery, toughness and general all-round likeability. There are again three options and one will appeal to those who fancy a bit of rough stuff equivalent to a Flanders Classic which traverses rough, barren tracks rideable by road bikes. The other two options are a 100 mile and a 100 kilometre through exceptional scenery starting and finishing in Barnoldswick.

I'd urge anyone who enjoyed the White Rose or who didn't enjoy it through mechanical (or physical!) failure to have a go at this as it's a true cracker.

samoff

After crashing out on the Medium ride last year, I had some unfinished business. So I was pleased to complete the BigUn in one piece. I started at 7:15 and didn't finish until 5:40 so I expect most people on this thread overtook me at some point. Not to worry, though, I had an excellent day and would thoroughly endorse all the positive comments above.

Having ridden the Forest of Dean classic in May, I'd say the WRC attracts a much higher proportion of your 'proper cyclists': teams of head-down-no-nonsense club-colours. That's fine, but it didn't leave me anyone to ride with (big shout-out to Terry from Harrogate, though, who pealed off for the 133). I think next time I'll come on here beforehand to seek like-minded ridemates.

Matthew Payne

Well the clear up from this years White Rose Clasic is nearly done & whilst we clean endless white plastic stakes, sort the assorted rubbish into composting, re-cycling etc our thoughts are turning to next year already so keep the comments good & bad coming!!!

I am glad so many people had a good day, I am sure you & the volunteers will be telling stories about the sunshine, smiles, scenery & steep hills for a while

I think one of the events strengths is that right from the start the event has been a team effort with no one individual behind what makes the event work, indeed the diverse areas of experience, views & ideas has been critical to the constant drive to put on the best event possible. Yes some of us are in the fortunate position of being able to put in more time than others but as the wesite say says "Thanks to everyone involved in the promotion without any one of you this event could not happen"

Check out the website www.whiteroseclassic.co.uk for the full details of the team who made the event happen as well as links to just some of the work that BC yorkshire does to promote cycle sport in the region, from the White Rose Youth league to the National Road Race Champs to the Ryedale Rumble.

As Bob has already said we do need volunteers on the day if we are to continue to move forward with the White Rose Classic & all our events, so get in touch just like the fantastic volunteers at Grassington feed station did usual contact details mattpbcyorks@hotmail.co.uk or 07789 883167

Matt

The forum member formerly known as MattP..

andy_wrx

andy_wrx wrote:

The only thing that was disappointing was watching some ape, riding with a big group from Hambledon RC, but in black&red 'The House Designer' kit, take a bottle of water out of his back pocket, ride no-hands and empty it into his bike bottle, then fling the empty plastic bottle over the hedge.
I was too far behind to say anything at the time, but saw him later at a feedstop and he's number 750
Whoever you are - you're a complete pillock ! :evil: :evil: :evil:

And now the results are out - you are Paul Roberts of Hambleton RC
http://www.derekbphotography.co.uk/photo1209784.html

Pillock.

Anonymous

andy_wrx wrote:

andy_wrx wrote:

The only thing that was disappointing was watching some ape, riding with a big group from Hambledon RC, but in black&red 'The House Designer' kit, take a bottle of water out of his back pocket, ride no-hands and empty it into his bike bottle, then fling the empty plastic bottle over the hedge.
I was too far behind to say anything at the time, but saw him later at a feedstop and he's number 750
Whoever you are - you're a complete pillock ! :evil: :evil: :evil:

And now the results are out - you are Paul Roberts of Hambleton RC
http://www.derekbphotography.co.uk/photo1209784.html

Pillock.

Thats brilliant....I cannot stand people who show such disregard for there country...Pillock Indeed.

I just hope no one says ther was this big oaf all in black with a spidersweb on his elbow at the top of Fleetmoss doing a pee....

campagsarge

Blimey, named and shamed. I was a bit surprised that there where no notices anywhere at the start or the feeds to kindly remind riders to take home all gel wrappers, rubbish etc. Or if there where, I missed them.

ColinJ

campagsarge wrote:

Blimey, named and shamed. I was a bit surprised that there where no notices anywhere at the start or the feeds to kindly remind riders to take home all gel wrappers, rubbish etc. Or if there where, I missed them.

Maybe, but I reckon that the people who drop litter are the kind of people who would ignore such notices, and the rest of us don't need them!

I've even seen people chucking punctured tubes at the side of the road.

It always amazes me that folks think places like the Dales or the Forest of Bowland are worth driving out to see and then promptly empty the contents of their cars on the nearest grass verge - fly-tipping tourism :evil:

nickwill

andy_wrx wrote:

andy_wrx wrote:

The only thing that was disappointing was watching some ape, riding with a big group from Hambledon RC, but in black&red 'The House Designer' kit, take a bottle of water out of his back pocket, ride no-hands and empty it into his bike bottle, then fling the empty plastic bottle over the hedge.
I was too far behind to say anything at the time, but saw him later at a feedstop and he's number 750
Whoever you are - you're a complete pillock ! :evil: :evil: :evil:

And now the results are out - you are Paul Roberts of Hambleton RC
http://www.derekbphotography.co.uk/photo1209784.html

Pillock.

Well done Andy. These people should be banned. It's just one more reason for the general public to start objecting to our events.

Ken Night

andy_wrx wrote:

And now the results are out - you are Paul Roberts of Hambleton RC
http://www.derekbphotography.co.uk/photo1209784.html

Pillock.

Excellent, give this man Andy a time bonus

I hope Hambleton RC are sufficiently embarrassed to agree among themselves a suitable code of conduct

I wish I'd done this-during last year's Marmotte a rider wearing black, Liphook Cycles gear, on a Ti bike (Moots or Merlin iirc) chucked gel wrappers near the top of the Galibier

Yorkman

ColinJ wrote:

campagsarge wrote:

Blimey, named and shamed. I was a bit surprised that there where no notices anywhere at the start or the feeds to kindly remind riders to take home all gel wrappers, rubbish etc. Or if there where, I missed them.

Maybe, but I reckon that the people who drop litter are the kind of people who would ignore such notices, and the rest of us don't need them!

I've even seen people chucking punctured tubes at the side of the road.

It always amazes me that folks think places like the Dales or the Forest of Bowland are worth driving out to see and then promptly empty the contents of their cars on the nearest grass verge - fly-tipping tourism :evil:

And it happened in a National Park, where there are no litter bins even at Malhma visitor centre, as everyone is encouraged to take their litter home with them.

People should not even need to be reminded, it should be automatic that you keep your rubbish until you can deposit it safely.

I don't think anything boils my p*ss as much as litter, wonder if he's registered for his local Ryedale Rumble?

bobh

National treasures may be in short supply these days but in Yorkshire we are fortunate to have two with the Dales and the North York Moors. One of the reasons we controlled the numbers for the WRC long run was that we didn't want our presence to intrude on the lifestyle and balance in these special rural communities.

Whether it's discarding bottles, wrappers, riding on the wrong side of the road or peeing in car parks these sort of actions do nothing to endear ourselves to the community. It only serves to make going back next year more difficult.

We already face a situation where farmers remove our signs, let's not make matters worse by adding weight to their arguments with thoughtless riding.

Having said that theses are the actions from a small minority of riders, so self policing by the caring majority should be achievable. I'd be happy to incorporate a "rider's code" into our event structure if a suitable simple format can be drawn up that hits the spot.

CumbrianMan

Well done Andy, quality piece of detective work !
Bet this guy never in his wildest dreams reckoned on getting caught out. That'll show him.

Probably thinks his a pro-tour rider, and can sling his rubbish where he likes !

Simple message to him - don't bring it if you can't be ar5ed taking it home.

One last thing folks - those 2 kids at the top of Langbar with water pistols. I could see them as I approached, so I soaked them both with nice sticky SIS out of my bottle. Quality moment. Even had their folks laughing their heads off

thetrotter

A hard, hot day in the saddle for me but achieved my target of a gold after blowing big time last year just before Malham Moor. Reinforced my feeling that gold is difficult without getting into a group. I rode with a club mate until Hawes but spent most of the rest of the ride solo and suffered accordingly.

Organisation was once again spot on and thank you to everyone who gave up their time to help. Having been involved in a (very) small way in helping with other Sportives I know just how much work is involved, not least in getting the signs up and keeping them there. From a PR perspective it might be worth reminding people not to drop litter (I actually didn't see that much) and to be discreet when answering "calls of nature". Yes, some of the descents are tricky but that's part of the character of the Dales and at least it was dry - just try getting round the corners after Dent Station in the rain as on the EDD two years ago.

Ken Night wrote:

One plea, to all sportive organisers-it's great to have some savoury stuff. On the "Fred" there are tuna and ham rolls. On the French sportives too (there you have "jambon sandwich" and slices of salami, and the same of cheese)

I think that we were speaking about this when waiting for food at the end. The selection of cakes at Malham was wonderful but I simply couldn't face anything else sweet by that time. The Legbreaker had cheese and onion sandwiches a couple of years ago.

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Fell in with a lad from Macclesfield CC on the Coal Road however and made good time.:

That was my club mate. He said that he had ridden with someone on the Coal Road. Were you wearing a Panasonic jersey?

shockedsoshocked

thetrotter wrote:

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Fell in with a lad from Macclesfield CC on the Coal Road however and made good time.:

That was my club mate. He said that he had ridden with someone on the Coal Road. Were you wearing a Panasonic jersey?

Yup that was me Had a bit of a chat with him leading up to Garsdale? (I think) Seemed like a nice chap hehe. He left me on the descent on the other side however since i'm a bit of a ponce when the road starts going down steep :shock:

nolf

Hey Bilbo baggins I think I chatted with you a bit towards the end. or at least I was talking to a Glaswegian who punctured on a descent.

I found it a great day out and its moy own fault that I blew. That was my first century this year an I blew up spectacularly just before feed stop 3 and lost at least an hour in recovery and slow riding.

After the last feed I managed to regain my tempo and even sprinted for the finish line which was nice.

Highlights would have to be the fact I didn't walk or even stop when going up any of the climbs (except the last one where near the bottom I realised I was going to bonk and gobbled down a banana)
The descent towards the second feed zone. That was fantastic- super fast, nice and straight with no distractions. Hit more than 50mph on it
The scenery and weather were great. Also the relatively quiet roads were nice.

Bad things- Some of the descents were pretty hairy. Which is a shame because after all of the climbing it would have been nice to have been rewarded with easier descents.
I bonked
I have a ridiclously large t-shirt now.

Overall a fantastic event, and if I didn't say thankyou right away, thankyou all those who worked to make it happen!

Not David Millar

What a fantastic day albeit a bit too hot. Started at 7.10 and made good time to Grassington despite the 'killer climbs' to find the feed station from heaven - everything you could wish to find and unlimited water. After a ten minute break set of up the valley enjoying the passing scenery and remembering the day's when I did the Dales Way with my wife - many moons ago - and on up the climb to Fleet Moss which was hard but rideable. On the top remembered times out mountain biking in this wonderful area and then down the first most terrifying descent of the day, wishing I had one of my other steads with disc brakes, through the hamlet of Gayle and on into Hawes to the second feed. Here we had a limit of one bottle of water - on such a hot day and use of a tap which turned my isotonic drink to yuck!

Glad to get back on the road, through the town of Hawes on onwards to Garsdale - thinking of steam trains on the Settle to Carlisle railway. Up the Coal Road by which time I'm beginning to suffer from the heat - cycled most of it and then followed the second most terrifying descent past Dent Station. The road here had deteriated to a track better suited to mountain biking - plenty of potholes and loose gravel followed by some very tight and steep corners to the t-junction at the valley floor - I even had to stop because my hands were painful with braking so hard. Then along and up Dentdale enjoying the shade uptil the climb up past Denthead Viaduct and whilst looking back thought about the 'summer of 76' and then up to the road from Hawes and a great blast down to Ribblehead and onwards down to Stainforth followed by the climb over to Malham. Just before Malham we had the third terrifying descent where we had to weave between the 'visitors' who seemed oblivious to anything and then to the third feed station. Another feed station from heaven - unlimited water and that shortbread - yum yum.

Someone asked the kind people how many miles to go - 28 was the reply. Not that I wanted to know since by now I was close to succumbing totally because of the heat. The rest at Malham must have done some good since I seemed to find some reserves in my legs to push on and hard passing all these small villages heading cross country to Cracoe onwards to Burnsall and Appletreewick to join the main traffic flow at Bardon Bridge on on to Bolton Abbey. Left onto the A59 then crossed back onto the minor roads trying not to think about what was ahead. Stopped to have a banana and drink before setting off and then I succumbed - I had to walk Langbar Hill - even walking was painful - remounted at the top and managed to keep going thinking this is a long 28 miles. Once I descended the last steep hill with the very tight left turn I knew it couldn't be far now, onwards along some pleasent country roads, a sweeping descent to join the valley road and then the signs appeared and soon it would be over - the last 5kms seem to be never ending and then relief I had done it.

Then the enjoyment of knowing we are nearly there - 3 miles to the carpark mostly downhill and on arrival at the parking field time to think - I must be mad to have done that on a day in baking heat & sunshine. I set off with good intentions hoping for possibly somewhere between 8 to 9 hours then tried for sub 10 hours and failed. Time was 10hr 9mins and was I pleased to finish and reflect on my achievement.

My wife did the short route on a mountain bike and when I didn't seem to return she was thinking 'had I had an accident'.

Rehnquist

How do you inprove upon perfection?

The only thing i can suggest to improve the day is after three years of turquoise T shirts, how about a different colour oolour and smarter logo design?
Or has the job lot still to be exhausted?

bilbo.baggins

nolf wrote:

Hey Bilbo baggins I think I chatted with you a bit towards the end. or at least I was talking to a Glaswegian who punctured on a descent.

Sounds likely - if so I guess you are from Wales. Thanks for the chat it kept my spirits up towards the end having someone to talk to.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day, including the total of 1 1/4 hours of stops I had (!). Next destination, Cairngorm 100.