Cairngorm Classic

aya604

Anybody else do this yesterday?
I did the "100" which was in fact 96 miles with 2222 meters climbing.
The weather was quite mixed, a bit chilly at the start and near the end (if slow), wee bit windy at times and a few showers but all in all not too bad.
Well organised with lots of marshalls and clear signs and four feed stops.
Mixed crowd and mixed bikes especially for the "50" Didn't see many cervelos or much assos or disco kit.
The route passed some fantastic and varied scenery and I guess was quite a test for the less well trained. I finished just under 7 1/2 hours (7 hours riding) quite knackered.
Thanks to all for a top day.
Aya

wakemalcolm

I won't be able to say if I enjoyed it or not until my sores heal up - a combination of rain and sweat must have been chafing away all day.

The organisation, as ever for hands on was excellent and the local villages did a great job - the stop at Grantown should have come with a menu.

Not sure about the start though - even though it played into the hands of my v-brakes and wider tyres I think it would have been more sensible to have the descent down to Glenmore neutralised and and still have the registration and finish at the top of the hill.

Finished just over the six hour mark which will be OK on reflection.

Anyone got any news on Dougie Vipond? No sign of him by 17:30

fenski

I did the 100 too. I enjoyed it after the initial freezing descent and before the deluge at the end.

I found the field was much more spread out than the other sportive I entered (Bealach Beag), meaning I spent alot of time riding by myself and enjoying the scenery. That suited me fine because I'm used to riding alone. Might've gone a bit quicker if I'd tried to get into a group though. That's my excuse for taking 6hrs 24minutes!

I really liked the road across the top of the loop between Grantown and Boat of Garten - I tried to look as if I was enjoying myself for the photographer!

The results are up - I'm sure Dougie wasn't trying for a good time:)

rabk

Had to ditch out of this one

My inlaws organised a 40th Wedding anniversary party on the same day. When I mentioned that it clashed with my cycle event, they didn't look best pleased :shock:

Took the easy option :oops:

My name will be down for next year - was it tougher than the Bealach na ba?

fenski

was it tougher than the Bealach na ba?

I've only done the Bealach Beag not Mor, although I've done the Mor route by myself. I didn't find yesterday's ride as hard - the Bealach na ba climb combined with the Applecross peninsula roller coaster takes a bit of beating.

rabk

fenski wrote:

was it tougher than the Bealach na ba?

I've only done the Bealach Beag not Mor, although I've done the Mor route by myself. I didn't find yesterday's ride as hard - the Bealach na ba climb combined with the Applecross peninsula roller coaster takes a bit of beating.

Glad to hear it was not too bad, hills are my weak point.

The peninsula road on the bealach just about killed me the first year I did it

wakemalcolm

fenski wrote:

The results are up - I'm sure Dougie wasn't trying for a good time:)

Hat's off to Dougie for giving it a go in the first place. I haven't seen him entered for any other sportives this year so jumping straight into the Cairngorm 100 is quite a brave (or ill-advised) move.

What I didn't realise until I saw the results was that the majority of Deacon Blue were riding. Are they reccying some green transport options for their comeback tour?

Rab, was sure I'd seen you entered early on in the year - see you in September!

rabk

Malcolm

Yeah I was entered, and had to pull out about 4-5 weeks ago, sodding typical as I quite fancied it.

Anyway Brownie points earned with the inlaws is always a good thing

Need to do some hilltraining methinks prior to September - target is to get over the Bealach in under an hour - haven't managed it yet - in two attempts :shock:

crymble

Dougie is a friend of one of the guys I was riding with and he was meant to be with us - but we were at the start and he was still in jeans and jumper when we were queueing up to start and we got too cold to wait for him.

We went slowly until about Nethy but he didn't catch us so I don't know what happened to him.

It was actually my first sportive event, and only my second time riding up the hill to cairngorm which is pretty crap really seeing as I grew up at Glenmore lodge with a view of Cairngorm filling my bedroom window!

K

crymble

Someone mentioned results somewhere - are they online?

Thanks,

K

aya604

crymble wrote:

Someone mentioned results somewhere - are they online?

Thanks,

K

http://handsonevents.co.uk/handsonevent ... ults08.htm

crymble

Thanks - I still was faster than my dad even though he did the sly thing of being way being in the queue for the start and making me wait for him after I had been scanned (and at the top of the rest of the hills as well!)

K

P.S. Though I suppose to give him credit he is 63......

DougieV

This was my first ever road event and I loved it. My left knee and right ankle are still living it! Didn't know what to expect but thought the organisation was great, especially the cake stops. Work commitments and the rest meant the longest run I'd done before Sunday was 45 miles so getting through was all I was thinking about. Thanks for the supportive posts.

aya604

crymble wrote:

Thanks - I still was faster than my dad even though he did the sly thing of being way being in the queue for the start and making me wait for him after I had been scanned (and at the top of the rest of the hills as well!)

K

P.S. Though I suppose to give him credit he is 63......

Strangely my time of 7 hours was a few minutes less than I calculated from my watch so I am quite pleased. My mate crashed spectacularly after about 35 miles so all in all probably rode 6 1/2 hours so happy with "new" time. May well try again next year but due to a severe lack of sleep (freezing) will not camp out!!

crymble

Sorry we didn't wait at the top for you - but we are all bloody freezing! We did hang about for a while down at the bottom as well but we were getting really cold and wet so just headed on.

I think my legs are more sore today than they were yesterday - and I'm not braving getting on the saddle again for another couple of days yet either!

K

Peter Main

I had an interesting if tough day, the route was scenic, challenging and interesting and I enjoyed all of it apart from the last climb, which was, for me, an epic that put me in a ‘zone’ where I have never been before and I’m not sure I want to go into again! So please see my comments in the context that this was an excellent event enjoyed by everyone I spoke to.

Cairngorm Mountain is a great place to start an event like this; lots of room to park, excellent toilets, plenty of space for registration and a nice warm café serving excellent coffee ~ all much needed in view of the morning temperature.

I was a little surprised to be in the bottom car park; all that gravel does not go well with expensive cycling shoes and even more expensive lightweight bikes. I felt that the start was in an odd place within the bottom car park; it meant that starters were coming from two directions; one lot from the café and the others from the bottom car park. It would have been much better on the tarmac on the top car park where riders could line up properly.

The worst aspect of the start was waiting to get across the line; only one scanner meant that we all queued for far longer than necessary; I waited in line for 20 minutes. After this I was very cold and still had to face the descent to Glenmore. If you must scan then you need more than one scanner. What happened to the dibbers (as were used in the Bealach na Ba)? Transponders such as those used in The Etape Caledonia would be even better. I suppose the ‘one at a time’ start did control the gaps between riders descending the hill (I am glad there were no accidents on the descent, it was pretty tricky in the cold and the rain especially having had to wait so long to get across the line). The way the start worked also disrupted our group’s plan to ride together; we had to cross the line, and stop to wait for the others; in the end we failed to get everyone together as the waiting was making us so cold we just had to go.

The signage and marshalling on the route were excellent; how did you find all those marshals willing to stand for so long in the cold and the rain just to make sure we went the right way? Even when there were no marshals the arrows were very clear. The tray-bakes at the feeding stations were amazing and I had consumed an excess of chocolate brownie and bananas by the end of the ride. The folk manning the station at Glen Livet seemed disappointed that the first 20/30 riders didn’t stop. I hope someone explained to them that this is the nature of such an event and that the faster riders will do the whole ride without stopping. Four feed stations seemed rather a lot to me, but it was great to see what appeared to be locals manning them.

After the final climb I would have preferred the finish to be on tarmac and not be directed off the tarmac and back onto the gravel. I guess that the Cairngorm Mountain people did not want their funicular business interfered with, but I would have thought that the event could have had a little higher priority. Why not have the finish on the tarmac at the bottom of the car park or even right outside the café; I bet the tourists would have loved it!

Overall, a great day out, and, all being well, I’ll be back next year. It was good to see so many less experienced cyclists having a go at the 50 miles and also the much higher ladies entry than in other events I’ve entered.

Peter Main – Cairngorm Cycling Club 8)

daowned

DougieV wrote:

This was my first ever road event and I loved it. My left knee and right ankle are still living it! Didn't know what to expect but thought the organisation was great, especially the cake stops. Work commitments and the rest meant the longest run I'd done before Sunday was 45 miles so getting through was all I was thinking about. Thanks for the supportive posts.

Dougie are you doing the Bealach this year? Though I would have seen you last year as promised. I am sure the event organiser can see it alright to get you a entry for all the good PR you have done for them

Great result and effort tho it was some day lol, must have been a bit of a shock to find out you were doing the 100 one!

The organisation and marshals were first class, sometimes at these type events you don’t see arrows or marshals at import turns but the folk at handson did a great job.

bilbo.baggins

Hi - great event, and thanks to all the organisers, feed station helpers, & marshals for making it so enjoyable.

'Peter Main' did a very good job summarizing the day and I'd agree with all his comments, overwhelming very positive.

Re' the 20mins standing at the start. If it was a nicer day it wouldn't have been a problem (but .... it's Scotland on a mountain ....). Logistically it appears the bottleneck arose because everyone arrived nice and early for registration then hung around to the official start time of 9:30 - most people had the same idea, leave as close to 9:30 as possible as they'd already been there for an hour or more. I'd suggest next time open the start earlier (or open registration later) to overlap with the registration process and there'd be a more continuous flow through registration and the start.

Thanks for a great day.

laingster

My first sportive - bought my first road bike in April. It was also my first experience of "death wobble" - on the descent - freaked me out - had to stop and took off the reflectors fitted to the wheels and it stopped - but I was more than a bit spooked - not much fun wobbling at 35mph+ in a crowd!
I live in the midlands so my first chance to go that fast!
Quite a day out.
Glad to say I made it throughthe 100.
Can't wait for the next one.

crymble

Here's some pics taken by my Mum and Sister on Sunday - bit of a family day out all round.


Just after lochindorb - about 70 miles in. First tailwind!


Struggling up the hill at the end!


Still struggling!


Dad at the same point.


Digger and myself finishing - and if I'm not mistaken that's Pete Main from a couple of posts ago doing a loop of the carpark to take him over the century!


Talking to Dad just after he made it up the hill. Notice the matching arms, legs and unfortunately bellys......

K

Tomfl

i too was at the Cairngorm classic and would echo Peter Main`s comments about the last hill being in a zone i would rather forget as i got the dreaded bonk at Glenmore and climbed Cairngorm in an awful state-the reason being lack of food and the fact that before the final climb it was the easiest sportive i have done which is hence why i skipped food stops only to pay later .
Crymble my 10 year old son was wondering if you would have gone a bit faster if you have had a 24inch 10 speed white childrens peugoet racer -he reckons it flies up the hill road !

crymble

I would have gone a bit faster if I hadn't have done 90'something miles before trying the hill!
;-)

K

Peter Main

I must sort out my avatar, it makes me look fat.......

A couple of points:

The Handsonevents people sent me a nice certificate, not sure I really want one with my time but never mind. Also sent a letter apologising for their 'home-grown' results system not keeping up" and saying they will be using Sportident on the Bealach na Ba and will have it all sorted by Ullapool. Good job.

Bob Kinnaird (CI Cairngorm Mountain) posted, "As much as we enjoy helping to organise the events, we have a business to run and these events really do help to put Cairn Gorm on the map as well as increasing sales. On Saturday the Cas Bar was as busy as a winter week end with bacon rolls and cappuccinos top of the popularity stakes on the menu!". There is a strong case for a closer integration between the Cairngorm Classic and the day to day funicular business. I'm sure some of the grannies going up the funicular would have been delighted to watch for a while if the start and finish had been a bit more carefully placed and there had been some explanation (like 'le speaker' announcing the finishers). Something to work on for next year.

Now for the Southern Uplands Sportive, the ski road may be the highest public road in Britain (or is the Bealach na Ba) but the road to the radar dome goes higher and is tarmac and looks dreadfully steep. Will be a challenge, hope the weather is better than June 15th. See you on Cairngorm next year? 8)

Peter Main

Avatar sorted, that was the only race I EVER won, back in 1961. Look a little different nowadays!! 8)