Silly Commuter Sportives

shoulder_of_orion

Those pictures are scary, in one of them on Star hill I attempted a smile and it comes out more like a contorted grimace.

I came in around 225th, which I am happy with for a first sportive with only one training ride (still in the top half). I think I went out a bit too hard as my split times show I was dieing towards the end.

Next time it would be good to ride with similarly paced riders. I was a lone ranger out there...

shoulder_of_orion

londonlivvy wrote:

...if you only count the girls, then I came 6th!

Chapeau!

jonginge

Attica wrote:

Photos up too

HeHe. Big cheesy grin at the top of The Wall when I finally clock the photographer
Here's a reminder of a few of the start numbers. There are a few missing: Livvy, Christophe, SoL etc so add to the list

Nom          No           Route       Start time
Shoulder     643          110K           09:00
mathammond   25           110k           09:00
BentMikey    116          110k           09:00
markshaw77   610          110k           09:20
CJ           709          110k           09:45
JG           549          110k           09:45
Attica       829          110k           09:55
Amnezia      820          110k           09:55
gabriel959   660          110k           10.00
Phreak       787          110k           10.05
Lbaguley     835          110k           10:05
Sewinman     838          110k           10:05 

Sewinman

londonlivvy wrote:

321.. which isn't terribly exciting, but I'm reasonably happy with it for the first sportive of the year.

BUT if you only count the girls, then I came 6th!

Well done!

The pictures are hilarious - in one of mine i look like I am about to fall off my bike whilst breathing smoke!

TheStone

470th !!!!!!
Bad day. A crash and a two day hangover. Pleased to just get round and finished
stronger than I started.

Must do better. My next one is the Evans Esher on 14th Feb.

Flanders 260km just 2 months away.....

TheStone

Nom          No           Route    Start   Time   Falls
Shoulder     643          110K     09:00
mathammond   25           110k     09:00
TheStone     36           110k     09:00   6:19   1.5
BentMikey    116          110k     09:00
markshaw77   610          110k     09:20
CJ           709          110k     09:45
JG           549          110k     09:45
Attica       829          110k     09:55
Amnezia      820          110k     09:55
gabriel959   660          110k     10.00
Phreak       787          110k     10.05
Lbaguley     835          110k     10:05
Sewinman     838          110k     10:05

DonDaddyD

The posts in this thread have urged me to get my act together. "All that bike" and all that.

So! I'm down for the:

Spring Onion. 14 March.

Edit:- More to come

I now need a Rocky style montage

attica

Noooooooooooooooo

DonDaddyD

What have I done something wrong?

attica

Nah, follow the link, it's aimed at my fellow HOTA survivors

DonDaddyD

Oh my bad.

DonDaddyD

What other sportives should I do.

I've signed up to the Spring Onion.

Was thinking about

Route80Cat (Magnificat's shorter brother)..

linsen

I am not getting sucked into this sportive nonsense

BentMikey

@Matt, yeah I assume that was me taking a hedge stop.

Got to say I'm bloody happy my commute doesn't include those sorts of hills, else I'd be selling the 'bent and buying an upright road bike. I knew it was going to hurt, and I ended up winching myself slowly over uphill after uphill. I couldn't even enjoy the flat and downhill speeds of the 'bent because of the poor roads and the constant risk of ice. Good training at least, which is what I was after anyway. I think I'd have finished in about 5:45 if it hadn't been for my mechanical.

amnezia

DonDaddyD wrote:

What other sportives should I do.

I've signed up to the Spring Onion.

Was thinking about

Route80Cat (Magnificat's shorter brother)..

New Forest Spring sportive

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Wiggl ... 360047877/

bigmat

Good effort Mikey. There were parts of that ride where I was just dreaming of a few miles of flat road - it was up and down and up and down and up and down....

attica

MatHammond wrote:

Good effort Mikey. There were parts of that ride where I was just dreaming of a few miles of flat road - it was up and down and up and down and up and down....

+1

Wouldn't have minded if the downhills had allowed us to get out of single figures MPH more often

BentMikey

Yeah, the difference is even more on a 'bent - when a bit of flat or downhill changes you from an uphill lead slug into a rocket.

King Donut

amnezia wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

What other sportives should I do.

I've signed up to the Spring Onion.

Was thinking about

Route80Cat (Magnificat's shorter brother)..

New Forest Spring sportive

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Wiggl ... 360047877/

I'm already down for the SWRC Spring Onion but it's on my bday so chances are I'll be hungover/still drunk. Plus, is that the day the clocks go forward this year? My (American) calendar says it is.

I'm tempted by both Route80Cat and the Wiggle New Forest one but need to check the dates.

DonDaddyD

King Donut wrote:

amnezia wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

What other sportives should I do.

I've signed up to the Spring Onion.

Was thinking about

Route80Cat (Magnificat's shorter brother)..

New Forest Spring sportive

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Wiggl ... 360047877/

I'm already down for the SWRC Spring Onion but it's on my bday so chances are I'll be hungover/still drunk. Plus, is that the day the clocks go forward this year? My (American) calendar says it is.

I'm tempted by both Route80Cat and the Wiggle New Forest one but need to check the dates.

Yeah basically I'm keen on

Route80 and New Forest

And then (not Sportives)
London to Brighton
Capital2Coast
Tour Ride

stuaff

linsen wrote:

I am not getting sucked into this sportive nonsense

Team car?

stuaff

DonDaddyD wrote:

King Donut wrote:

amnezia wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

What other sportives should I do.

I've signed up to the Spring Onion.

Was thinking about

Route80Cat (Magnificat's shorter brother)..

New Forest Spring sportive

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Wiggl ... 360047877/

I'm already down for the SWRC Spring Onion but it's on my bday so chances are I'll be hungover/still drunk. Plus, is that the day the clocks go forward this year? My (American) calendar says it is.

I'm tempted by both Route80Cat and the Wiggle New Forest one but need to check the dates.

Yeah basically I'm keen on

Route80 and New Forest

And then (not Sportives)
London to Brighton
Capital2Coast
Tour Ride

As already noted, fancy the Wiggle New Forest one. Standard route rather than Epic- this would be my first sportive, I'd prefer to enjoy it rather than kill myself trying to do 83 miles in seven and a half hours (distance for the Epic wouldn't be a problem but I'd rather finish before they shut up shop!). As long as I keep knocking out 60-80 mile rides regularly I'll be properly prepared for Pedal to Paris. Pearson 150's tempting as well, mind....
On the not-sportive front, IOW Randonnee anyone?

Eau Rouge

StuAff wrote:

As already noted, fancy the Wiggle New Forest one. Standard route rather than Epic- this would be my first sportive, I'd prefer to enjoy it rather than kill myself trying to do 83 miles in seven and a half hours (distance for the Epic wouldn't be a problem but I'd rather finish before they shut up shop!). As long as I keep knocking out 60-80 mile rides regularly I'll be properly prepared for Pedal to Paris. Pearson 150's tempting as well, mind....
On the not-sportive front, IOW Randonnee anyone?

The Randonnee and the New Forest one are very tempting indeed. Both rides are on my doorstep. The only catch would be whether I was free that weekend or not. I suppose I could always make myself free...

Jay dubbleU

Definately tempted by the New Forest and the ex-Highclere although probably the 50 mile routes rather than the full thing - when is the IOW ?

stuaff

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Definately tempted by the New Forest and the ex-Highclere although probably the 50 mile routes rather than the full thing - when is the IOW ?

May 2 (May Day holiday weekend). http://cycleisland.co.uk/

linsen

StuAff wrote:

linsen wrote:

I am not getting sucked into this sportive nonsense

Team car?

under no circumstances

BentMikey

I don't rate the complaints on food very highly - I thought the catering was fine, and the marshalling really excellent.

I'm also not impressed at the idea of moving it to March. At least half the attraction for me is doing it in January for early mileage and the extra feel virtuous factor of riding something tough at that time of year.

markshaw77

The organisers have put up an explanation on the website as to why the icy route wasn't used - I guess it amounts to a sort-of apology

I accept that there is significant work involved in switching to an alternative route (signage, marshalling, etc), but I still think that the team marking the route on the Saturday got it wrong and forced the organisers into a corner on Sunday morning at which point they had no option (irrespective of the communication issues) but to run the planned original route

It had been freezing the previous 2-3 nights and the forecast all week had been for more of the same or worse for Saturday night - even if the forecast did not state "widespread icy conditions", anything below freezing was always going to cause issues in the lanes, so IMO they just got the call wrong on the Saturday.

Still, I had a good day (riding at my own risk ), didn't fall and will consider going back next year, as the rest of the organisation was good. I feel sorry for the guys who did have falls and think they have a rightto feel more aggrieved than most about the route choice.

PS There are some more photos kicking around on Steve Airey's (fixedwheelnut) flickr site for those that are interested - def. includes Jon and Christophe, but not sure about others - the link is on the HOTA facebook page

Bassjunkieuk

DonDaddyD wrote:

Route80 and New Forest

And then (not Sportives)
London to Brighton
Capital2Coast
Tour Ride

Route80 looked tempting but I really want to knock out a century ride this year so Magnificat it is :-)

L2B and C2C would could in theory be done at any point, no necessarily on the ride day (especially the L2B) but I'd recommend just turning up and following the route, something that could be doable with the start point for C2C, Esher isn't a million miles from Wimbledon - you can even get the train from there :-D I also could be tempted to join you as it's been a nice ride the last 2 years I'm just buggered if I'm paying to do it again!

roger_merriman

there is also and since this is the commuting part seems fitting. http://www.thelondonclassic.org/

quite tempted have to say.