Dunsfold Sportive 11th Oct

hitthewall

Anyone here doing this or done it before?

I've registered for the full route. At 76 miles it's shorter than the usual Southern Sportive full routes but it does look a bit hilly. If I read the route right, looks like there is a double chevron near Westcott.

Monty Dog

Knowing the roads in the area pretty intimately, I think you'll find more than one double-chevron in the Surrey Hills - the one near Westcott is a side-road on the way up Leith Hill.

hitthewall

Yes, I see some more but not on the route.

I'll need to put my 12-27 cassette on. Not that good on the hills so this one will be a challenge for me.

Any one entered?

jrduquemin

I've already entered. Looking forward to it also

formerlyknownasbonj

yep, i'm doing this.
going down on the train on the sat and staying in some B&B which i've completely forgotten the details of.

batch78

Yep I'm signed up and ready to go.

From my local knowledge the one I'm worried about is as you head north from the A25 just after crossinf the railway line, thats a bitch!

Was surprised to see they've not managed to include Barhatch Lane

hitthewall

Yes, not looking forward to that one either. No Barhatch Lane but they've included plenty of others.

I can see me diverting to the mid route. I'm not so good on the hills.

hopper1

hitthewall wrote:

Yes, not looking forward to that one either. No Barhatch Lane but they've included plenty of others.

I can see me diverting to the mid route. I'm not so good on the hills.

I've never seen a hill... I live in Norfolk!
I'm doing the long route, and I'll be on my new bike which is a 53/39 double, with 25/12! :shock: I think I've bitten of a bit too much...

Never mind, it'll be a babtism of fire, first sportive.
I'm staying in a B&B on Barhatch Road.

hopper1

I just got back in the country and I don't live local to this sportive... What is the weather forecast for Sunday?... :?

hitthewall

Was looking OK but light rain now in the morning. Mild though.

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/day ... ford&day=2

formerlyknownasbonj

hopper1 wrote:

hitthewall wrote:

Yes, not looking forward to that one either. No Barhatch Lane but they've included plenty of others.

I can see me diverting to the mid route. I'm not so good on the hills.

I've never seen a hill... I live in Norfolk!
I'm doing the long route, and I'll be on my new bike which is a 53/39 double, with 25/12! :shock: I think I've bitten of a bit too much...

Never mind, it'll be a babtism of fire, first sportive.
I'm staying in a B&B on Barhatch Road.

is it Barcroft? that's the one i'm going to
if so see you there!

VerwoodAsh

Rode it last year - but not doing it on Sunday although some friends are.

Like most of Surrey Hills - Short and Sharp climbs and dificult to get a chance to recover. Some of the roads are narrow and slippery too - so do be careful. I really enjoyed last year's ride, just regret losing all my fitness this year and not being on a bike for 4 weeks which meant tackling it would have been an issue.

Last year was so foggy that you couldn't see the beauty of the place for a long time too.

Also Cranleigh is a great place - I should know I grew up there and my parents still live there. Actually back tomorrow too so I guess I will see more cyclists on the way.

Have fun

hopper1

formerlyknownasbonj wrote:

hopper1 wrote:

hitthewall wrote:

Yes, not looking forward to that one either. No Barhatch Lane but they've included plenty of others.

I can see me diverting to the mid route. I'm not so good on the hills.

I've never seen a hill... I live in Norfolk!
I'm doing the long route, and I'll be on my new bike which is a 53/39 double, with 25/12! :shock: I think I've bitten of a bit too much...

Never mind, it'll be a babtism of fire, first sportive.
I'm staying in a B&B on Barhatch Road.

is it Barcroft? that's the one i'm going to
if so see you there!

It is indeed...
Be there around 8pm.

hitthewall

Weather looking a bit better now. Probably cloudy but less chance of rain

haggisinlondon

Looking forward to this, meant to be riding with my brother who has had to pull out so setting off on my own, just incase you see me on your wheel.

hitthewall

I wont be going fast enough for anyone to be on my wheel....

hopper1

Just back... and I'm fcuked!
Whoever named the geographical areas of the North & South Downs must have hada wicked sense of humour... North & South Ups, would have been closer :shock:
The climbs seemed to go on forever, but the downhill surfaces were very broken up, my eyeballs were rattling around my head so much I could hardly see!
But, now that I'm home and bathed and relaxed, I can say that I did enjoy it.
Well organised, challenging route.

haggisinlondon

Must say a lot of people got lost, myself included. I was doing the 95km middle route and ended up doing 120km on the day due to missing the signs. A few people had the same problem when I saw them at the end.

Saying that though, its my longest ride to date and I am pleased I got through it. Hopper1 your right those hills were endless, battling to walk this morning.

hopper1

haggisinlondon wrote:

Must say a lot of people got lost, myself included. I was doing the 95km middle route and ended up doing 120km on the day due to missing the signs. A few people had the same problem when I saw them at the end.

Saying that though, its my longest ride to date and I am pleased I got through it. Hopper1 your right those hills were endless, battling to walk this morning.

Ha! I just jumped out of bed... I reckon the people at the bottom of my road heard me! :shock: :shock: :shock:
I felt so good, laying in bed, too!..

I certainly wont choose a 124km sportive to break in a new saddle again...

formerlyknownasbonj

I got in with a fairly fast group at the start, and led them up and over the first hill, then hung on to the back of them for a while, before getting dropped by them after a bit.
Still, think i didn't do too bad to get as near as damnit to 5 hours despite getting a puncture just at one of the points where the shorter route rejoins, so effectively 4:45.

Really enjoyed the countryside, it's interesting to cycle in Surrey where the countryside is very different to what it is up north.
What i found weird was how you get a lot of what i would call "hill forests" - you'll be going up a hill and you've constantly got ferns and trees on either side, even at (what seemed to be ) quite high places. That was quite a novelty, and very picturesque and attractive i thought!
Is there anywhere else that's like that?
Contrast that to up north in, say, the peaks, where you've got either rocks or trees lower down, but then moorland higher up, or wales, where it's like rolling mountainous grassland. Really nice, good to see the countryside of a different part of the country.

hopper1

Hi formerlyknownasbonj, glad you had a good ride.
I was in the first group out of the gate, passed quite a few of thegroup on the first climb and downhill , but really paid for it on the second! :shock: just not enough time between them to recover, but I just hung in there until I felt better.
I'll have to wait until the results are posted, to get my time, my computer played up after the first few miles, I think that was the bone shaking downhill that dislodged it (!), and my Nokia battery ran out, so SportsTracker didn't finish...

Oh and Ultegra brake blocks are crap in the wet

hitthewall

It was tough. Not easy to make up on the down bits what was lost on the up bits.

Provisional times up this morning. I went off in the first lot and did the long route in 5.04. Cut-off for a silver was 5.03....

Tried to make up time on the flatish run back into Dunsfold but ran out of puff.

Good organisation as usual. Long route signage was OK.

JonEdwards

I have to say - Pretty. Damn. Disgusted. with some of you lot.

Riding flat out, 4 abreast, round a blind corner on a tight, damp, gullied country lane is not conducive for YOUR survival. Neither is pulling an overtaking manouvre on the wrong side of the road, when there's a car clearly coming towards you, who has nowhere else he can go. Then giving the driver a death stare, even though he's stopped dead with his wheels in the gutter only reinforces the view that there are as many cretins on bikes as there are in cars. This was repeated multiple times yesterday morning.

Some of you, I feel, need reminding that you are NOT racing on a dedicated track, or a closed road. You ARE taking part in a non-competitive event on a public highway, open to all usual traffic, and that you need to ride with consideration for other users, both for your safety and theirs.

...and a note for the organisers...
It would be a good idea to stick warning signs up about the place, that there is a bike event on. The first I knew about it was when the first group of riders came teararseing round a blind corner on the wrong side of the road... Fortunately on a 1 in 5, a loaded 2 ton VW comes to a pretty sharp halt.

Anyway - rant over - I hope you all had a good day, with no accidents. I did! 8)

jrduquemin

The ride was good on Sunday, well marked though I had downloaded the full route on the Garmin, very handy to see upcoming corners when steaming down some of the hills encountered on the ride.

Saw a girl lying in the road on one of the sharper corners being assisted by a couple of people after she came off on a corner.

My mate and I saw a girl walking back up to the first feed station after coming off on the descent. She was wearing a Cervelo jersey and looked to be in a bit of distress. We offered to help but she said she would walk back up to the feed station. Does anyone know who she is and if she managed to get some help?

All in, a very well organised day out on the bike :-) I even managed to get up all the climbs without any mishaps...

Seanos

Despite being poorly and having to stop for a quick chuck-up half way round I enjoyed it, although it got a bit cyclocross in places. Damp leaves, pot holes, generally poor road surfaces, gravel, mud, blind corners, gloom from the overhanging branches and my natural cowardice meant it was difficult to get any speed up on the descents (my max was 32 mph :shock: ) and my wheels are a different shape to when I started.

hitthewall

Yes, I dont think I've ever seen so many conkers and conker shells on the road before.

hopper1

I had my good wheels on, with Conti GP4000S's... Was very impressed at not getting a puncture , or a buckle