Etape Caledonia 2009
Art Vandelay
Posts: 1,982
A few of us from work are thinking about signing up for next year's Etape Caledonia. Does anyone know when entries need to be posted and how quick you have to be to get accommodation?
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Loads of info but I was wondering how quickly the allocation is taken.
Who's all signing up for 2009?0 -
Art Vandelay wrote:Loads of info but I was wondering how quickly the allocation is taken.
Who's all signing up for 2009?
Probably best contacting the organisers to get an idea.
There seems to have been really positive feedback from those who have ridden this event - there are a few people in the spin class I go to signed up for it. They bought bikes a few weeks ago as none of them had one, so looks like it's helping get people on bikes as well. They are getting a fair few miles in as well..0 -
Art Vandelay wrote:Loads of info but I was wondering how quickly the allocation is taken.
Who's all signing up for 2009?
They were still accepting entries on the day (actually the sign-on day, so the day before) this year.0 -
Thoroughly recommend it as an event. I've done both so far and I'm signed up for next year.
Although they were taking entries on sign-on day in 2008, the number (and standard) of riders was much higher than in 2007. Also, the weather conditions this year were near perfect and that will help with spreading enthusiasm by word of mouth.
If its popularity continues to increase and the local politics about road closures forces them to be tight about getting everyone round the course quickly, I suspect they may be forced to declare a maximum number of entries (which they haven't done until now.)
I'd book in as soon as you are sure that you can all make it.0 -
IIRC there is a limit of 5000 for the event but they haven't yet come close to reaching that. Regarding the accommodation, we got the last rooms in our B&B when we entered a couple of months ago. I think there'll be more beds than entries in the area - you could even spend your money in Aberfeldy and see if it lifts them out of their funk.================================
Cake is just weakness entering the body0 -
I entered quite late for the 2008 event and got accommodation in Aberfeldy as I could find nothing in Pitlochry. As a result, I am entered already and have my B&B already booked. A truly excellent event. The freedom and enjoyment of riding on closed roads made this my favourite event so far - well worth doing.
As an aside, and in my opinion, there is much more atmosphere in Pitlochry than Aberfeldy. I will probably upset some locals from Aberfeldy, but they seemed a little in-bred, strange and not very welcoming. Our bikes remained in the car, so I was not marked as one of those 'cyclist people'.0 -
gavintc wrote:I entered quite late for the 2008 event and got accommodation in Aberfeldy as I could find nothing in Pitlochry. As a result, I am entered already and have my B&B already booked. A truly excellent event. The freedom and enjoyment of riding on closed roads made this my favourite event so far - well worth doing.
As an aside, and in my opinion, there is much more atmosphere in Pitlochry than Aberfeldy. I will probably upset some locals from Aberfeldy, but they seemed a little in-bred, strange and not very welcoming. Our bikes remained in the car, so I was not marked as one of those 'cyclist people'.
Not wishing to fuel this parochialism, but I cannot resist observing that it might be no coincidence that the local beauty spot in those parts is called "The birks of Aberfeldy."
Oh dear, I fear I'm in trouble now!0 -
Great info chaps. As a Scot myself I know lycra raises the heckles in certain Scottish 'by waters'. I'll try and rally our nascent team and get a cosy place in Pitlochry booked. Good tablet in Pitlochry as well.0
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Found this:
Event news on pkc website
"Ideas currently being discussed for the 2009 event include:
• A cycling festival based in Aberfeldy
• A new endurance hill climb for cyclists up Glen Quaich (the longest sustained hill climb in the UK)
• Further development of the event village at the start/finish location
• A community event in Kinloch Rannoch."
An endurance hill climb up Glen Quaich sounds interesting - but there's a bit of poetic licence going on there calling it "the longest sustained hill climb in the UK"... Living locally, I'm not even sure if it's the longest hill climb in Perthshire!0 -
fenski wrote:Found this:
Event news on pkc website
"Ideas currently being discussed for the 2009 event include:
• A cycling festival based in Aberfeldy
• A new endurance hill climb for cyclists up Glen Quaich (the longest sustained hill climb in the UK)
• Further development of the event village at the start/finish location
• A community event in Kinloch Rannoch."
An endurance hill climb up Glen Quaich sounds interesting - but there's a bit of poetic licence going on there calling it "the longest sustained hill climb in the UK"... Living locally, I'm not even sure if it's the longest hill climb in Perthshire!
An indidual TT up Glen Quaich would be great. It is a horrible climb. I'll be there! . . . . . as a spectator!0 -
Just had a look at the Site. Says £54 entry fee, then 'IMG entry £27' Have I missed something? What's IMG? :roll:0
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IMG are International Management Group and they own the company who runs the Etape C.
They're the biggest sports/entertainment/media company in the world and handle aspects of the commercial rights (varying from case to case) of Wimbledon, The Open Golf, Olympic Games, RWC, PGA European Tour, The Ryder Cup, the Tour de Suisse etc etc.0 -
Looking at the entries today (via a link I kept from last year) there seems to be 691 entries already for 2009.
Last year your starting group was effectively governed by how early you entered (those entering early started earlier) with some allowance made for (i) previous years' riders with good times and (ii) an option to email in good results on other races/sportives to get a seeding. I'm not sure how well option 'ii' worked as I can imagine it could be a logistical nightmare.Why the name? Like the Hobbit I don't shave my legs0 -
>>>>>>>Last year your starting group was effectively governed by how early you entered (those entering early started earlier) with some allowance made for (i) previous years' riders with good times and (ii) an option to email in good results on other races/sportives to get a seeding. <<<<<<<<<<<<<
Yes, they put me on at number 207 (presumably based on the previous year's efforts). Result was, with the increase in entries from good riders, I was first out of the pen in group 2 and then spent the entire day being overtaken by speeding chaingangs that I couldn't hook onto. In fact, assuming I was the 151st starter, almost 1000 riders must have overtaken me. Not good for morale!
Anyone who fancies aiming at 4hrs 45 and riding in a group of similar ability, let me know.0 -
The seeding last year hacked off some of the quicker riders.
I know it isn't a race but the winner and 2nd place were sent off in group 2, ran a 2 man TT to catch the 1st group sat in the pack for 79 miles and then sprinted each other for the win.
Some of the boys that had had good times in 2007 and hence were in group 1 were well pi$$ed off.0 -
Five more years have been approved by the local authority. I wonder if my times will get any better?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tay ... 596284.stm0 -
Hi all
Just booked onto the 2009 event, 1624 people entered so far, b&b took about 6 calls to different places before I found space!!
Shane0 -
You can stretch the radius for accommodation pretty wide. Perth would be fine - no more than 40 mins from the start at that time on a Sunday morning.0
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Am I missing something - why would they be narked? Surely they were beaten fair and square by quicker riders- even more so if the eventual winners were set off in pen 2?BigG67 wrote:The seeding last year hacked off some of the quicker riders.
I know it isn't a race but the winner and 2nd place were sent off in group 2, ran a 2 man TT to catch the 1st group sat in the pack for 79 miles and then sprinted each other for the win.
Some of the boys that had had good times in 2007 and hence were in group 1 were well pi$$ed off.0 -
I can understand why - the faster riders in the first group would have had to have worked harder and carried a few who should have been in the second group.
Fair effort by the two eventual winners though.
The long grazed legged one0 -
The gist of the complaint was that by the time they realised that they'd been joined they were effectively 2 mins behind two guys in their group. Any lone efforts to break away were being covered by the two who had bridged across and by the rest of the pack.
If they'd all started on an even footing then the race would have been mano-e-mano....0 -
If they'd all started on an even footing then the race would have been mano-e-mano
but of course it wasn't a race was it?0 -
BigG67 wrote:The gist of the complaint was that by the time they realised that they'd been joined they were effectively 2 mins behind two guys in their group. Any lone efforts to break away were being covered by the two who had bridged across and by the rest of the pack.
If they'd all started on an even footing then the race would have been mano-e-mano....
Ah yes, didn't realise they weren't racing against the clock but for line honours, as ellieb also mentioned, I didn't think it was a race.
The long grazed legged one0 -
It certainly wasn't for me 0
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Thanks for the clarification - I can kind of see the logic in that. Essentially they were all against the clock, and first across the line made no difference as it wasnt a mass start, and the two riders who made it up to the first group then got carried knowing that they could finish up to 2 minutes behind anyone from the front group and still post a faster time. Hmmm have I got that right?
So essentially you have to hammer it to drop as many riders from your start pen as possible, but keep enough of a group so as to keep the work rate down and the average speed up. So you would need to work out who were the stronger riders, organise a break and then go for it asap.0 -
felgen, race tactics sorted then
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Yeah my plan is thisArt Vandelay wrote:felgen, race tactics sorted then
1) Train my a** off
2) Start in pen 2 with you Al
3) TT with you from group 2 to group 1
4) Sit in
5) Sprint for the win.....
Oh no wait, thats been done before :roll:0 -
felgen wrote:
Yeah my plan is thisArt Vandelay wrote:felgen, race tactics sorted then
1) Train my a** off
2) Start in pen 2 with you Al
3) TT with you from group 2 to group 1
4) Sit in
5) Sprint for the win.....
Oh no wait, thats been done before :roll:
Hey don't forget the long legged one.... :roll:.....I'll be cherry ripe by the time I come back from Australia
In all seriousness, are you making an appearance Felgen? I noticed that since Al and I registered a while back they've got a whole heap of sponsors, snazzed up their website and is growing in popularity.
The long grazed legged one0 -
Above edited:
Yeah my plan is this
1) Train my a** off
2) Start in pen 25with Al, Wilf (fresh from hard-a** training program where Wilf smokes us up Box Hill)
3) 3-manTT with from group 25 to group 1
4) Sit in
5) Sprint for the win.....
6) Draw straws to see who gets to cross the line firstThe Emu wrote:Hey don't forget the long legged one.... :roll:.....I'll be cherry ripe by the time I come back from Australia
In all seriousness, are you making an appearance Felgen? I noticed that since Al and I registered a while back they've got a whole heap of sponsors, snazzed up their website and is growing in popularity.
I dont know if I can make it. I desperately want to do this ride and several others but this year is really really tight money wise to the point where I will be hoping that nothing needs replacing on the bike as I wont even have the money to sort it out if anything goes wrong. Joking aside, we are considering selling the BMW, which isnt worth a lot but has heaps of sentimental value (wife's engagement present). I may just have to wait until next year. Ho hum.0
