Radar Ride

Brian B

Anyone here do this yesterday? I did it last year as well and found it tougher than it looked on paper. I have done technically much more difficult sportives but again yesterday found it pretty hard.

I felt worse on this route than when I did the Fred Whitton this year. The wind and rain made it much tougher than last year and that section of road from St Meggets to Moffat was a long slog against the weather conditions and the road surface was heavy.

Still it was a good day out and met a few people that I know and was glad everybody and just not me were feeling the miles. Its hard not to go too fast to start with but even though I held back compared to last year I still averaged 20mph to the first feed station.

My time was 6hrs35min - not bad for me considering the wind(and the extra 1km at the top).

ellieb

I did it & found it very tough. It is the first time I've ridden +100 miles in a day & at about the 90 mile mark I wondered if I would have the legs to get up Lowther. Fortunately I got a second wind and managed to struggle up. As you say, the section to Moffat was a real struggle in the wind & rain, all the more so because I didn't think the profile looked difficult. Having the finish at Green Lowther was a killer psychologically because I'd assumed that was it for the climbing when we reached the golfball. Pleased with 6:18 all things considerd.

scapaslow

It was all pretty easy until Talla when the rain came on. Combined with the wind and the long uphill finish from Moffat i'd say the last 40 miles were as hard as any i've ever done.

I really struggled on the climb up to Wanlockhead but found something extra for the climb to the radar station and then.... the mobile phone masts. At least i got a signal up there :!:

The worst bit was looking up at the radar station on the approach to Wanlockhead and thinking "you must be joking" or words to that effect.

The best bit was after the Dalveen pass summit with the wind behind and doing 25-30mph on the flat with ease.

I couldn't find the times posted on the radar ride site yet. I'm not sure what my time was as i forgot to press the button on my computer at the end and it continued recording on the descent. So it was my longest ever run.

How many miles did you record? Mine says 112m inc the descent and back to the car park.

nickwill

It was good to meet you again Brian. I found it to be a very hard ride. I went off too fast and died a bit going into the headwinds and the rain from St Mary's loch onwards. I was happy to finish in 6 hours 34 minutes and will admit to being more tired after this one than on any event over the last two years or so. I think the weather was a major factor this year, as I didn't find it as tough last time. Still, I was slightly slower last year.
It's a deceptive route. The nature of the course means that it's very tempting to really go for it over the easier first section. The second half is really hard with heavy roads and most of the climbing. I'm wondering if the St Mary's Loch headwind is a permanent feature as it was there last year as well.
The difficulty of this event should not be underestimated!

arranandy

I did the Radar Ride as well. Probably the hardest day I've ever had on the bike. First part - Dalveen etc was pretty easy as was the Greenhillstairs and the Beeftub. Talla climb was very steep but thankfully short. My worse bit though was into the wind down into Moffat especially because I was in a smallish group where only 2 or 3 of us were taking turns at the front :x despite some cajoling from myself. Having done the climb up to the radar station 3/4 times before I thought I knew what to expect but hitting aclimb like that with 100+ hard miles in my legs nearly killed me. I was nearly off the bike a couple of times but managed to get to the top. Will I do it next year? Probably :shock:

ellieb

A small group going into Moffat. You were lucky. I was dreaming of a small group with 2 or 3 people taking turns. I was solo at that point Young people today don't know what hard is mutter muttermutter

I made the event distance at bang on 106 miles (110 down to the car park.)

Captain Fagor

Rode last year, and was entered into this year's. Wasn't really in the mood, mainly due to needing another tough 100+ miler in poor weather like I needed another hole in my head. [Spud Riley aftermath].

The registration area (30+ minutes standing in a queue in cold, damp weather in a t-shirt at 8:30am) was enough to dampen my spirits further. Missed my start time by half an hour, and once started got completely pissed off by people seemingly wanting towed round the course. Rode round to Elvanfoot (at fairly high speed). Knew I wouldn't enjoy the stretch from St Mary's loch back to the start, so chucked it and turned left to head for home. Arrived back in a deserted Wanlockhead, but was glad to see a guy riding a Specialized with Lightweight Carbonsports wheels arriving a while later. Cheers mate - you made me feel a whole lot better!!

Note to self: don't sacrifice a good day of cycling weather the day before a sportive if the weather forecast for the next day is bad.

Well done to those who finished.

Coyote

Agree - tough ride.

Hat, gillet, arm warmers, knee warmers, waterproof jacket - that'll be Scotland in July then!

Signed on around 8am and there wasn't a queue but I missed my start cos i didn't want to get out of the car again!

First half was good fun although my bottle bounced out on that sh1tty back road after the down hill start so had to borrow one from a mate - thank you Dougie 0.5!

Worked well with a few small groups, did my turns, but could have been accused of sitting on a couple of times myself but I just didn't have the strength to come through on all the sections. Just gritted my teeth and got stuck in on the road to Moffat...and paid the price in the last 5 or so miles. I'm sure I could have walked to the radar station quicker but didn't get off. Think I was done around the 6.20 mark but not sure.

Feed station on the way out was spot on but it was a long way back to it again. Talla was worse than usual with my back tyre slipping in the wet sheep sh1t...well that's my excuse!

Now that 24 hours have passed I've almost convinced myself I enjoyed it!

Check out the Ken Laidlaw challenge at the end of August - looks another toughie!

bilbo.baggins

I've just about dried out now.

Great route, shame about the weather. After being dry and sunny for what seemed like weeks, the rain and the wind were a bit of a shock to the system.

Had my rain jacket on for the initial descent from Wanlockhead but quickly realised as the group I started with were cycling off into the distance that I couldn't handle 100+ miles with a mini parachute on, so wet it was going to be.

This year was fortunate enough to meet with similar speed cyclists and had a hellishly tough but successful 5 member chain-gang into the headwind towards Moffat. This meant average speed on the route as far as Moffat was an unsustainable 31.5 kmh. After Moffat speed crashed through the floor, energy deficit became apparent, and sense took hold.

The climb up Lowther was as bad as ever, but I 'enjoyed' the additional section and the crazy rollercoaster descents near the top on the way to the finish line.

Happy with my unofficial time which meant I shaved almost half an hour off last years efforts. Thanks due to my fellow riders who shared the pain

nickwill

Rich Page has blogged this years Radar Ride.
http://www.sportivecentral.com/index.ph ... 357&page=1

ellieb

Results are up. One or two of the frontrunners look a little questionable :?