Ride Reports

Feltup

cjcp wrote:

Roastiecp wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

Ouch. Hope all are ok. Cat4=crash lottery methinks

But you've gotta start somewhere. Good way to decrease your odds is to stay near the front, methinks...

+1. Was involved in a nasty crash there last year, on the penultimate corner on the final lap. I stayed upright, but some chaps behind me were not so lucky. Kind of put me off riding a carbon machine there.

That looks like a costly side of the sport. Gutting to see that Pinarello in pieces. I hope the lass recovers well and that you are not too stiff from all the road rash. Interesting to watch from a cyclists perspective as there seemed to be a couple of riders who were prime for causing an accident!

Oh yes and chapeau to CX rider at the start :roll:

Christophe3967

Feltup wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Roastiecp wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

Ouch. Hope all are ok. Cat4=crash lottery methinks

But you've gotta start somewhere. Good way to decrease your odds is to stay near the front, methinks...

+1. Was involved in a nasty crash there last year, on the penultimate corner on the final lap. I stayed upright, but some chaps behind me were not so lucky. Kind of put me off riding a carbon machine there.

That looks like a costly side of the sport. Gutting to see that Pinarello in pieces. I hope the lass recovers well and that you are not too stiff from all the road rash. Interesting to watch from a cyclists perspective as there seemed to be a couple of riders who were prime for causing an accident!

Oh yes and chapeau to CX rider at the start :roll:

Not sure what the tactics were from 101. :? Wasn't sure whether to stay at the back or the front really. There seems to have been a spate of accidents there in recent weeks, but now I 've paid my £10 to register it seems a shame not to have another crack. hopefully not literally.

I did manage to land mainly on the grass fortunately, but still opened up all the wounds from Sunday's spill. Bike was lucky - thought I ought to take it out into the Surrey Hills today - purely to check that its working OK. So a cheeky 75 miler plus 1200 metres of climbing and it seems to be fine Knee is v stiff though.

Roastie

Christophe3967 wrote:

Went for a pootle round Hillingdon yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzVnifQs ... annel_page

(Finally saw this - Youtube blocked at work)

Nasty stuff - sorry about that! Odd place for a crash at Hillingdon - but then again I've never really seen any reasonable trend to crashes at Hillingdon apart from on the run to the finish. It is all pretty random.

Roastie

cjcp wrote:

Roastiecp wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

Ouch. Hope all are ok. Cat4=crash lottery methinks

But you've gotta start somewhere. Good way to decrease your odds is to stay near the front, methinks...

+1. Was involved in a nasty crash there last year, on the penultimate corner on the final lap. I stayed upright, but some chaps behind me were not so lucky. Kind of put me off riding a carbon machine there.

*Caressing the table* I've got into a few nasty incidents there too, but luckily it has always just meant a trip into the scenery rather than coming down.

Earlier in the year a friend of mine, whose wheel I was on for a lead out to the line managed to get his front wheel stuck in the gap between the concrete strip and the grass (he was 6th wheel at the time, so potential for disaster was huge), it was heart stopping. I had nowhere to go but left around him. Fortunately there was a little room so I only gently nudged the rider next to me who sent the poor dude next to him into the scenery (but otherwise unharmed). My friend somehow managed to right himself and come in 12th. Insane.

Roastie

Btw, for those interested, I blog my race experiences/reports here, so have a look if you'd like .

cjcp

Roastiecp wrote:

Btw, for those interested, I blog my race experiences/reports here, so have a look if you'd like .

Heh heh. Good read.

Christophe3967

Roastiecp wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Roastiecp wrote:

JonGinge wrote:

Ouch. Hope all are ok. Cat4=crash lottery methinks

But you've gotta start somewhere. Good way to decrease your odds is to stay near the front, methinks...

+1. Was involved in a nasty crash there last year, on the penultimate corner on the final lap. I stayed upright, but some chaps behind me were not so lucky. Kind of put me off riding a carbon machine there.

*Caressing the table* I've got into a few nasty incidents there too, but luckily it has always just meant a trip into the scenery rather than coming down.

Earlier in the year a friend of mine, whose wheel I was on for a lead out to the line managed to get his front wheel stuck in the gap between the concrete strip and the grass (he was 6th wheel at the time, so potential for disaster was huge), it was heart stopping. I had nowhere to go but left around him. Fortunately there was a little room so I only gently nudged the rider next to me who sent the poor dude next to him into the scenery (but otherwise unharmed). My friend somehow managed to right himself and come in 12th. Insane.

I'm beginning to think insane might be the best description Good blog btw - its a shame I live so close to Hillingdon, can't justify the time it takes to get to the Palace.

Roastie

Christophe3967 wrote:

I'm beginning to think insane might be the best description Good blog btw - its a shame I live so close to Hillingdon, can't justify the time it takes to get to the Palace.

Ta

Not a bad thing staying close to Hillingdon, IMHO the circuit is conducive to great racing.

itboffin

I'm back from the Highclere Communicat sportive and very nice it was the clouds parted just as I arrived and the sun came out for the whole event, my choice of weapon the CX was spot on as were the conti gators it was a puncture fest and not me for once

I learnt a valuable lesson today if you want to set a good time get a good starting position, we'll never mind I still made the "gold" standard and as soon as they post the times I'll let you all know, shame I missed the 2.30 hr mark but there you go that's life, I managed to pick up a riding partner pretty much from the start and we blasted away from the pack early on quickly catching a passing the earlier starters and them some of the riders from the longer events, 15 miles in we formed a trio with one and upped the pace a notch

It was a total scalp fest I must have about 100 in the boot of the car the first of this single hill race was Walbury the highest in the SE this one really sorted the men from the boys, it was like a scene from a weird lycra/rambler horror movie :shock: still I powered on and took every person in sight, oh yeh! I know it's not a race but people FFS i'm wearing lycra you know???

That hill dispatched and lungs, heart & liver back inside my body I attacked the descent cleaning up dozens of riders on the way, damn I helps to know the route

The organisers claimed there was only one climb I knew better and as expect the second one was a long slow grind with some added drama as my back wheel slipped on a drain cover :? more rapid downhills and little spikes followed one after the other until riders started falling back by the dozen, those undulations are really energy sapping anyway this is were the event hits my daily commute so I felt it would be only right to up the pace a tad :twisted:

We picked up another rider at this point and the four of us shared the work building to a stupidly fast pace, which was nice

I felt it was only right that I warned the pack about the nasty hill in Whitchurch, leading the way I span up with ease as you'd expect for someone who does that hill every morning its at that point the road surface becomes frankly f**king awful and it wasn't long before was all dropped off the pace considerable added to this the next 10-15 km is slow uphill poor roads all the way to Watership down, at this point my companion Rob picked up a puncture and we parted way, we'd already said goodbye to one rider as the course split and the other dropped off a few miles back.

I powered on taking the descent into Kingsclere at speeds approaching light speed or there abouts after that came the wiggly lanes back to the Castle this was the real killer 2 miles of ever slow slightly uphill which was just enough to hurt and everyone was hurting me included but quickly forgotten as I hit the last big descent up again and another magnificence view, sweep left into the worlds narrowest lane covered in loose stones and twigs, I spot in the distance a lone cyclist, on approach I spot the Army jersey and pull along side for a chat with the pleasant young Army burd we both up the pace until the next hill by now it 3 miles to go so I put in a sprint BIG TIME blasting almost past the last turning

Into the extensive grounds the road seems to go on forever and ever then right at the end I get stuck behind an ambulance NP straight onto the grass and around I go, good old CX bike.

When I rolled onto the finish mat matey me laddie did say I was one of the first :shock: we'll just have to see when the times are posted.

Well that's how I remember it anyway :roll:

46 miles def. more than one hill 2hr 39 mins

itboffin

oh just me then

lost_in_thought

Nice one ITB! It seems everyone else was put off by the weather...

itboffin

The results are in I was 3rd in my age group and 6th overall

It was very close at the top damn that ambulance blocking the finish.

1626	Matthew Middleditch  30-39 	male 		Army 	02:33:34	gold 	02:55:00	00:21:26
1637	Simon 	 Neatham 	40-49 	male 		None 	02:36:57	gold 	03:02:00	00:25:03
1614	Graham 	Loader 	30-39 	male 		None 	02:38:08	gold 	02:55:00	00:16:52
1634	Stuart 	Morton 	18-29 	male 		Navy 	02:39:04	gold 	02:48:00	00:08:56
1681	Karl   	Stone 	40-49 	male 		None 	02:39:25	gold 	03:02:00	00:22:35
1655	Stephen   Renshaw  30-39 	male 	SCR 	None 	02:39:28	gold 	02:55:00	00:15:32

Next year it's a sub 2.30 hr for me

Sewinman

@ IT B - good effort!

pigeon42

Mr Pigeon & I also took part in the Highclere yesterday - the 77-miler for us, and as our first ever sportive we were terrified in the run up to it! Sitting in the group waiting to start, all I could think was not doing something stupid and take everyone out! Once underway, the nerves disappeared, and thankfully the weather held (despite a horrendous forecast for heavy rain all day).

ITB - you can't have been near me on the Scorpion's Sting, cos I was the one dropping everyone up those 2 hills :twisted: (and then being overtaken again on the way down - I'm such a chicken on descents!!)

Not an especially quick time for us - 6 hrs 35 - but as our first sportive for me, Mr P and a friend, the aim was to get round together in one piece. In the run-up to it, I'd decided that if we completed in 6 hours I'd be well-pleased - and we weren't too far off that considering we lost the best part of 30 mins to punctures.

We had a brilliant day - I thought the event was superbly organised, the weather was just about right - and I'm itching to sign up for our next sportive! Next year we're definitely aiming for a silver time - that seems a long way off at the moment, but there's plenty of training time between now and then

gert_lush

on saturday I completed my 1st double century
me and 2 friends had decided to recreate my grandma's south coast adventure from deal (kent) to swanage (dorset) along the coast. They did it in 1943 on a tandem and in a few days, and seen as we have better bike doing it in a day seemed more of a challenge, hence the inaugral JCC (Joan Collins challenge) was born. no support, just plenty of food/money/a gps and a few pages of road atlas....

report.........

After 3 hours sleep and a big bowl of porridge we left Deal (Kent) pier at 4am Saturday morning on our epic trip. with power bars and energy drinks taped to the bikes and minimal kit (i.e. shorts/ t-shirts and cash) its was lights on and head west. We were very fortunate to have a 10mph tailwind which was excellent and a little bit of drizzle to keep us damp, and after a few hills around Folkestone it was relatively flat to Hastings (pier 2.... we thought it would be fun to visit every pier on the way down) and then Eastbourne (Pier number 3).
We arrived at Brighton (pier number 4) about 9.45am and were already 96miles down which was good as we were almost over the hump. The next 50 miles were very built up and much busier (strangely there was not much traffic in rural Kent at 4am!) and we headed along the coast to Worthing (pier 5...and pier of the year 2006!!!!) from Worthing we headed along to Bognor Regis and then headed up past Portsmouth and up towards Southampton (no piers here!)
Ads GPS was reasonably convinced that the quickest route from deal to Swanage would include a short ferry ride to the isle of white, ride around it and then get a ferry back, as nice as this would have been we really didn't have the time so decided to stick with the more conventional route and stay on the south coast. the route to Southampton included lots of busy dual carriageways and fast traffic (the way we went) but it was still quite speedy on the bikes and by now the sun was out and were were 150 miles and only a quarter of the way left. We got slightly worried when the A27 which is a quite busy road suddenly turned into 3 lanes and we had a horrible feeling that it had turned into the M27!!! fortunately a junction popped up and we got off it so I think we were ok but it was a little scary!
Southampton was very busy but I managed to lead us at full speed weaving through the traffic in the town centre and up the A33 with minimal beeping from cars. By the time we cycled through Lyndhurst in the New forest it felt like were we on the home straight, so as we got to Boscombe and finally the sea again (and pier number 6..our longest time with no piers!) we knew we were close. Bournemouth (and pier number 7) we shot past, although we did get a bit sandy from the wind, and then the chain ferry at sandbanks was just about to leave so we snuck on with seconds to spare (they now charge 80p for bike, outrageous!) . From here it was a quick dash across some of the Jurassic coast to Swanage (Pier number 8) and our finishing point. We arrived at Swanage pier at 5.35 pm some 13.5 hours after we left and 5 counties, 8 piers, and 200 miles later, and slightly sore botties. Our actual time on the bike riding was about 11hrs 15mins (average speed 17.5mph) so we only spent just over 2 hrs faffing around eating, resting and taking photos on piers!

So all in all we had a great fun day, we were around 3-4 hours faster than we expected and a lot less broken, lots off pasta/energy drink and sugar seemed to do the trick! just for a laugh we decided to cycle back to our parents village and straight to the local pub, which was an extra 55mins and 17 miles, so after 217 miles I had my most deserved pint of ale to date

............I wonder how hard 300 would be
:shock: :shock:

lost_in_thought

blimey! Good effort!

Christophe3967

itboffin wrote:

The results are in I was 3rd in my age group and 6th overall

It was very close at the top damn that ambulance blocking the finish.

1626	Matthew Middleditch  30-39 	male 		Army 	02:33:34	gold 	02:55:00	00:21:26
1637	Simon 	 Neatham 	40-49 	male 		None 	02:36:57	gold 	03:02:00	00:25:03
1614	Graham 	Loader 	30-39 	male 		None 	02:38:08	gold 	02:55:00	00:16:52
1634	Stuart 	Morton 	18-29 	male 		Navy 	02:39:04	gold 	02:48:00	00:08:56
1681	Karl   	Stone 	40-49 	male 		None 	02:39:25	gold 	03:02:00	00:22:35
1655	Stephen   Renshaw  30-39 	male 	SCR 	None 	02:39:28	gold 	02:55:00	00:15:32

Next year it's a sub 2.30 hr for me

Excellent work ITB - nicely warmed up for the Dragon by the sounds of it

Less than 2 minutes off a podium as well. If only you hadn't wasted all that time chatting up Army burds - it could have been you

Christophe3967

gert_lush wrote:

on saturday I completed my 1st double century

That's fantastic - well done. I tried and failed to cycle from London to Swanage a few weeks ago. Starting at 4 in the morning rather that 5 in the evening is obviously the way to go.

gert_lush

cheers

its all about the lesser spotted tailwind !!

having done a 12 day jogle last year loaded up with camping gear and had 1000 miles of headwind we were due some help

itboffin

Christophe3967

I could kick myself for not getting to the front for the start and easing up at the end, if youre not first you're no where

itboffin

pigeon42

Good show what what

I did have an advantage seeing as I only live a few miles from Walbury hill and tend to include it whenever I can.

Rich158

Ok chaps, are you sitting comfortably

My weekend was spen at the Tour of Pembrokeshire, and it damn nearly broke me :shock:

We got down to Wales Saturday evening, to be greeted by pissing rain, and oon rising early Sunday morning, this had now been joined by wind, OMG, still it was time to man up, ride the mile or so to the start and joing the other hardy sould sheltering in the tents trying to stay warm for the start.

I eventually got under way at 7:45ish and promptly road through pretty much every group I came to, although the anticipation of the 8 mile climb through Pembrokeshire National Park, over the highest road in the area tempered my efforsts somewhat. Upon reaching the foot of the climb it bacame apparent that the summit was shrouded in cloud, and I was in no rush to get to the top, I had a pretty good idea what was in store for me when I got there. Going up into the cloud visibility had dropped to about 50ft with stinging cold rain and high winds, loverly :evil: :evil: riders kept appearing out of the gloom and were scalped with relative ease, and then all of a sudden we were out the other side into almost decent weather.

By this time I was riding on my own, through very picturesque valleys, alongside bubling streams, by this time completely on my own and with the threat that it was going to bucket down at any time. I consoled myself with the though that I was travelling in the direction of the water flow and therefore heading foor the mouth of the valley - no climb back out you see Oh how wrong I was when the road turned into a nasty, wet, slippery, 20% ascent out of the valley. Standing up was impossible, so a slow grind was the order of the day. This was to be the first of many :evil:

Finally we got to Fishguard, after another killer climb, and the first feed station, to find I was one of the first through, not bad seeing as I had started 20 mins late Sppurred on bby my success I decided to get a spurt on, only to be caught at the second feed station by a couplle of guys from Pembrokeshire Velo who had started 20 mins after me They dispaeared ahead of me froom the feed station and I decided that I was going to catch and stay with them for as long as I could. The order of the day was now a blast down the coast, drops into lovely bays with small villages nestled in them, and stiff climbbs back up the other side, and that tantalising view of the pink and blue Vello strip just out of reach. Ecevtually after a gargantuan effort I caught a young lad from the club who sugested we team up to catch his mate further up the road, and made good time, frequently holding 30ish on any fllat sections. Not that there were very many flat sections.

Eventually the young lad complained his legs were shot and would I mind towing him. No problem thought I, and towed him into the third feed station at 90ish miles. By this time we were 4th & 5th through, the weather was improving, and I was regretting my choice of heavy jacket that morning as I was being boiled alive, and the legs were getting increasingly tired. At this point we joined up with half a dozen or so guys from Pembrookeshire Velo, and I thought great, finally I get a tow into the finish. This was not to be :evil: Young lad seemed to find his legs and disapeared of with a demon climber froom the club, followed by me, only for yours truly to be dropped a couple of miles down the road. i was finaly picked up by three guys from the groupp I had just left and let them tow me for about 10 miles, until again I was dropped 2 or 3 miles from the finish, and crawled in alone.

The last 15 miles were the hardest I have ever ridden, the back and neck were screaming and the saddle felt like it was made from barbed wire, and my energy levels were rapidly dropping. It's the closest I have ever come to bonking on a sportive, a valuable lesson learn't regarding nutrition.

Any way 115 miles were dispatched in just over 7 hours with 10 800 ft of climbing, but just outside of a gold time :evil: . All in all a great days riding, some great countryside, and rest assured I'll be back next year for that gold time

Christophe3967

Chapeau Rich - sounds like you need a warm gillet (as do I). Hope that the weather's not as cr*p in Wales next weekend...

itboffin

I've just sent an email along with a letter from my mother to the organisers of the Dragon ride begging for a transfer to the Medio Fondo WTF was I thinking 190km in Wales :shock:

Christophe3967

itboffin wrote:

I've just sent an email along with a letter from my mother to the organisers of the Dragon ride begging for a transfer to the Medio Fondo WTF was I thinking 190km in Wales :shock:

Sounds like Rich might have been a tad ambitious in the first half. 30 mph blasts, towing youngsters - asking for trouble..

I'm going to make sure I stick to no more than 15 mph, stop for fish and chips and a pint at lunchtime, wear a woolly vest and mittens, and carry a flask of brandy.

Rich158

I think the biggest problem may have been the late night, 6 pints of Guiness and a very early wake up call thanks to my room mate :evil:

And yep I towed the bugger for about 30 miles, and was till blasting up some hills at 27/28mph before the final feed station :shock: But when the legs went they well and truly went, still lessons learn't and all that.

Would I do it all again, hell yes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

I have to say it was a truly great ride and in better weather the scenery would have been fantastic. I'd wholeheartedly recomend it to anyone, it felt just as hard as the Fred Whitton but a hell of a lot more accesible

Plus they had a massage service laid on for £5 at the end. They put my back and neck back together in no time

itboffin

That's it for this weeks cycling.... no wait! there's Sunday still oh! bugger :?

Forecast is looking good

il_principe

itboffin wrote:

That's it for this weeks cycling.... no wait! there's Sunday still oh! bugger :?

Forecast is looking good

Forecast is look great, bring on the Dragon! It'll be nice to get out on the bike, not ridden outside of commuting since May! Still, long gentle gradients for the Dragon, suits me.

Christophe3967

Il Principe wrote:

itboffin wrote:

That's it for this weeks cycling.... no wait! there's Sunday still oh! bugger :?

Forecast is looking good

Forecast is look great, bring on the Dragon! It'll be nice to get out on the bike, not ridden outside of commuting since May! Still, long gentle gradients for the Dragon, suits me.

See you there guys - taking ITB's advice and aiming to get to the start early. Have taken an extra day out on Monday to fit in a recovery ride

itboffin

I would like to start the ball rolling on the excuses, let me see now...

Crutch rot or something similar
Wrong sort of weather, too hot/cold
squeaky whatever put me off
i'm not used to riding in another country
Sunday's are never my best days
of course I would have been a lot better if I hadn't already shot my load on the Highclere
I'm not in anyway competitive i'm just doing this for "fun" :roll:

that should cover it.