North Cornwall Tor Sportive for anyone?

RedGreenBaron

wastrel wrote:

i've got pair of (very tight 10) shimano shoes i'll chuck in the van.
will be getting there at 7.30 so see you in the car park if you need the stuff

Dear Wastrel - I tried to send you a PM, but I don't think it left my outbox. So here is a shortened version:
"Thank you!! - refreshed my browser at 6 and 7am and your message was not there (so I guess it didn't refresh)!! I'm sorry to have caused you bother - I hope you didn't wait around.
In the event, after we finally managed to escape from our B&B (half Italian host who could talk for either country), we only arrived at 0750, but I was very lucky that Richard the Dragon Centre manager had 10-ish shoes which were fine with 3 pairs of socks and extra insoles. My feet are a bit more bruised and blistered than normal, but it was worth it a thousand times over for such a wonderful ride!
Thanks again. It proves that the support network of the forum can work in quite extreme circumstances."

So of course therefore thanks are also due to Richard at the Dragon Centre who is heavily involved in organising this (nb he said last year he lent someone a decent tyre but never got it back - if whoever it was is reading this it's not too late!). And indeed to all the other organisers. My wife said she saw some people get lost but I found the signs clear and most things running very efficiently. I even got a massage after only a 10 minute wait.

Suggestions: Not sure if anything could be done about the cafe queue. Maybe a tea urn for participants instead of the raffle tickets? Maybe some simple sandwich packets that are quicker to sell?
Also, something savoury (small ham rolls?) at the feed stations would be brilliant.

Anyway, beautiful ride and, forewarned by this forum, not as much of a killer as I'd feared since I did take it easy on pretty much all the climbs.

Nick

wastrel

No problem RGB - I thought Rich or someone there might be able to help - glad you had a good ride after all that.

Saw Must-Tri-Harder out on the moors - going well!

Managed to trim 10 mins off last year's time but only because I was dragged round the last 50m by Charlie and Rob while i was having a bad case of 'who stole my legs and replaced them with my mum's' - cheers guys!
Hopefully I can do my proper share and repay the favour on the Dartmoor Classic

mr_tricolore

I had to leave as soon as I crossed the line because of family comittments. Were there medals / certificates handed over at the finish? If yes, I would contact the organisers to see if I could get mine posted.

I took a couple of pictures along the way. Here they are: http://www.ethosportraits.com/nct_09

Marcw

Nice pictures.

Were there any gold, silver, bronze times? I too left immediately (spouse tired of waiting: "what took you so long, why didn't you give up at Wadebridge?" - there's support for you!) so missed out on apres pain etc

I'm sure I won't have made the grade but it would be interesting to know what I should've aimed for!

So, was that harder than the Dartmoor Classic last year? I can't decide - all those little hills at the end - I think my legs had listened to my wife and given up at Wadebridge!)

Marc

mr_tricolore

The Dartmoor Classic isn't hard! It's a classic, a ride to be enjoyed... the Dartmeet hill was the BIG climb on last year's Dartmoor Classic, but let's face it, how many climbs twice as hard as that did we have to go through on Sunday'n North Cornwall Tor?

attica

I completely lost focus on the fact that it was supposed to be a "race", bumped into an old friend on course, got nattereing for half an hour at the food station and generally sat up and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings, what a stunning day, I loved every minute (OK, every minute apart from those last few hills!!!) and will be back next year to take it more seriously.

I walked the 1:3 but my friend tried to ride it, he was doing quite well untill he sat down, then his front wheel lifted and he ended up on his ar$e.

I didn't leave the dragon centre until about 10 to 7 in the evening after a massage and more socialising, as I drove away there were still riders finishing off!

I'm off out to buy more aftersun and some brake blocks!

pjlawrie

Had to agree with Attica in that I totally forgot that there were standards to aim for and ended up enjoying the weather, the scenery and those killer climbs! Didn't want to look at my polar computer to see how far was left as I knew there was no let up in the hills till the finish. Did however enjoy having a "sprint" finish with a guy from Aylesbury on a Cervelo R3 - managed to clock 34.5 mph on the final straight :P ! not bad after a killer 100! Will be back next year for more fun.

kilotogo

Well done all riders!

Provisional times are right here in case you haven't found them yet http://www.kilotogo.com/index.php?optio ... event_id=4

I am not a girl

Anybody know if there are any photos posted anywhere yet ?
Enjoyed a perfect day out in fantastic scenery with some seriously challenging hills . Only small criticism would be that the signage could have been better on the route , some arrows were missing completely at junctions (notably the steep ascent just after Tintagel) and some were positioned so that you only saw them if you looked down the road you needed to turn.
Anyone done this and the Fred Whitton , which is harder in your opinion ?

kilotogo

I am not a girl wrote:

Anybody know if there are any photos posted anywhere yet ?
Enjoyed a perfect day out in fantastic scenery with some seriously challenging hills . Only small criticism would be that the signage could have been better on the route , some arrows were missing completely at junctions (notably the steep ascent just after Tintagel) and some were positioned so that you only saw them if you looked down the road you needed to turn.
Anyone done this and the Fred Whitton , which is harder in your opinion ?

Hi IANAG - We know where you mean. Straght ahead at the crossroads.Absolutely nowhere to fix an arrow or post in the ground but it was still on the tree when we collected it after the event. Just a little above the normal eyeline. Hope it didn't ruin your ride.

Official photographer link is on the websites(s) but in case you missed it the link is here http://www.sportivephoto.com/ We've just been flicking through - there are some real crackers!

attica

The photography is rather good, I now have the difficult decision of which to buy, many thanks.

I missed the sign to turn off the main road down to Port Isaac, mainly due to having to focus on some twunt in a car I think. Got back on course fairly quiickly though after a helpful motorist told me which way to go.

There were quite a few who missed the left turn sign up by the airfield at Davidstow (first after the feed station I think) complaining that it was up too high, didn't have a problem with that one myself, in general the signage was excellent though, having one colour for the signs really helps - on the Hell of the Ashdown they had three different types of signs and many many people went off piste that day.
Great organisation K2G, thanks.

Any plans to expand your portfolio?

RedGreenBaron

mr_tricolore wrote:

Were there medals / certificates handed over at the finish?

I took a couple of pictures along the way. Here they are: http://www.ethosportraits.com/nct_09

Since I don't think your question was answered - There seemed to be no medal or certificate.
Thanks for posting the pictures. Presumably most of them were bishop's wood? Photographs never do justice to the gradient.

RedGreenBaron

Marcw wrote:

Were there any gold, silver, bronze times?

Not that I'm aware of.
According to the website there will be a better listing of times at some point, presumably with splits and perhaps adjusting for some of those that changed distance (which could be sussed from the splits in some cases).
I guess people could be asked to indicate their distance when they hand in their timing chip? (I appreciate the times are not particularly important, but I wouldn't mind knowing whether I was 30, 60 or 90 minutes slower than the quickest.)

Marcw

Agreed - I'm still showing as 7 hours to do the 43 mile course whereas I'd changed (in advance) to do the 70 mile course - no really, I did....
I know 7 hours is long enough for the 70 mile course but it would be a bit embarrasing over 43 miles!
Marc

richmog08

Got to say that me and my mate did this on Sunday, and having done some riding in the Alps, this was without question the hardest and most enjoyable ride i have ever done. I have to agree that the last 20 miles or so from the Wadebridge feedstation were soul destroying, but you can guarantee i'll be there next year. Well done to the organisers.

RedGreenBaron

Fuller times are now available, including checks at Bude and Wadebridge. Looks like the timing mat at Tintagel didn't work.
I reckon the quickest time was 5hrs 58mins for Marcus Mumford with 13 under 6hrs 30 mins. No large fast groups coming in together (a couple of pairs just above 6 hours).

Now I feel I can lay that one to rest (until next year.....)