Silly Commuter Sportives

linsen

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

linsen wrote:

Why not go the night before, treat yourself to a night in a B and B and roll up refreshed and raring to go? That's what I'd do in your position. I hate arriving late to things

That's what I'm doing for Magnificat - me and the missus are having a weekend away :-) Only 5 miles from the start on a pretty straightforward route (which I shall at least drive the day before.....)

Now I just need to find a nice Italian restaurant in Newbury :-D

You have a weekend away with your missus, from all the nippers, and she is letting you do a sportive?
She's definitely a keeper!

Bassjunkieuk

linsen wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

linsen wrote:

Why not go the night before, treat yourself to a night in a B and B and roll up refreshed and raring to go? That's what I'd do in your position. I hate arriving late to things

That's what I'm doing for Magnificat - me and the missus are having a weekend away :-) Only 5 miles from the start on a pretty straightforward route (which I shall at least drive the day before.....)

Now I just need to find a nice Italian restaurant in Newbury :-D

You have a weekend away with your missus, from all the nippers, and she is letting you do a sportive?
She's definitely a keeper!

I know :-D

stuaff

linsen wrote:

StuAff wrote:

itboffin wrote:

StuAff wrote:

lastant wrote:

Like the look of the Wiggle New Forest one but it's impossible to get there from London in the morning on public transport which is an ars*.

It's bad enough from Portsmouth, first train that gets into Brockenhurst does so at 8.56- so not that much time to sign up and get going, hopeless for anyone who wants to do the Epic route.

Erm you have a bike, so..... Portsmouth to NF - duh!

think of the stats

Yup, riding from Southampton, train gets in 8 or so. 37 miles warmup is a touch too much though.....!

I have ridden out to Brockenhurst - it's very simple but the route from Southampton to the Forest is a bit mucky - suggest you stick to the service roads rather than attempting any of the flyovers, even though they are tempting - lots of lane-crossing by cars could leave you squashed. I know - it has nearly happened to me.

Allow 50 mins to Brockenhurst from the station I would guess.

Thanks for the info- have checked it out on Google Maps etc, but local knowledge always helps! So it is possible to get to the causeway without the flyovers (as it appears on the aerial shots)? That'll definitely be better! Have just rechecked train times, though 8.56 is the earliest one for Brockenhurst (8.07 into Southampton), there's a slower one into Southampton that gets in at 7.40 (admittedly leaving from Pompey just before 7...but both stop at my nearest station, only a mile). Might well go for that one, gives me more time for the ride.

pigeon42

linsen wrote:
Bassjunkieuk wrote:
linsen wrote:

Why not go the night before, treat yourself to a night in a B and B and roll up refreshed and raring to go? That's what I'd do in your position. I hate arriving late to things


That's what I'm doing for Magnificat - me and the missus are having a weekend away Smile Only 5 miles from the start on a pretty straightforward route (which I shall at least drive the day before.....)

Now I just need to find a nice Italian restaurant in Newbury Very Happy


You have a weekend away with your missus, from all the nippers, and she is letting you do a sportive?
She's definitely a keeper!


I know Very Happy

I dunno about a nice Italian, but if you're dining out in Newbury definitely Le Petit Square (on the Market Place) is a lovely place for a treat - me & Dan B are frequent visitors

Bassjunkieuk

pigeon42 wrote:

I dunno about a nice Italian, but if you're dining out in Newbury definitely Le Petit Square (on the Market Place) is a lovely place for a treat - me & Dan B are frequent visitors

Cheers! Imagine we'll be out in the afternoon to explore and as long as I can find somewhere to carb load I should be OK :-D

Eau Rouge

I'm doing the New Forest standard route, I'd be up for meeting people and going around with them and definitely meeting up afterwards.

Fireblade96

linsen wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

linsen wrote:

Why not go the night before, treat yourself to a night in a B and B and roll up refreshed and raring to go? That's what I'd do in your position. I hate arriving late to things

That's what I'm doing for Magnificat - me and the missus are having a weekend away :-) Only 5 miles from the start on a pretty straightforward route (which I shall at least drive the day before.....)

Now I just need to find a nice Italian restaurant in Newbury :-D

You have a weekend away with your missus, from all the nippers, and she is letting you do a sportive?
She's definitely a keeper!

You have a weekend away with your missus, away from the nippers, she's letting you do a sportive....and you're taking her to Newbury !!!!???

You're a brave man....

;-)

King Donut

Some great pics from Sunday everyone! Looks like we all had fun and a little bit of pain!

@ DDD, that pic of you from behind is class!! Jealous.

@ Anyone thinking of entering a sportive I'd say go for it. There really are all sorts there, e.g. I had one person ask me how to use a pump before we'd even set off! Everyone does their own thing but with the staggered starts it felt like we were doing it together (if that makes sense!).

londonlivvy wrote:

Ooh and results are up at
http://www.cyclosport.org/resources/res ... 140310.pdf

I'm just glad they credited my time - I didn't see the guy checking at the feed stop so I got back with an empty card.

Also a bit gutted though as my riding companion for much of the second half clocked in at 4:06. I only picked him up after my 2nd puntcure, so the fairy/my poor repair technique definitely cost me a sub 4 hour time which was a random personal target. Still, something to aim for next time...

DonDaddyD

I've caught the bug, I'm proper up for New Forest now and am already thinking of the next one. The hills killed, but I loved the pain in that wierd way people don't disuss...

Donut, I lost my card well before the feed stop. But I'm not claiming nothing. Next year Spring Onion I'm going to spend less time stopping to read the map only to find out I'm not lost. And I won't stop to take a few photos of that lovely forest I was in.... It was lovely though (about 10 - 15miles into the ride).

Also did you/anyone else notice the disused church (it looked like something out of Lord of the Rings and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves) in the middle of that forest with the 15% hill that went on for eternity? What was the name of those forests?

Next year target sub 4hr30mins.

King Donut

You managed to check out the sights while climbing?! That hill was Bedham Hill. It had a few nasty kicks to it hey. It's close to Petworth I think but not sure of the name of the woods.

I did find it hard to convince myself to keep going until I was told otherwise - a few confirmation (straight on) arrows would have been nice - but I guess it's just practise. Saw two separate groups go off in the wrong direction and neither heard my shouts.

I'm definitely up for a few more too, and getting out on some local club runs. It even helps with motivation for those monotonous laps of Richmond Park.

Bassjunkieuk

King Donut wrote:

I did find it hard to convince myself to keep going until I was told otherwise - a few confirmation (straight on) arrows would have been nice - but I guess it's just practise. Saw two separate groups go off in the wrong direction and neither heard my shouts.

Had a moment like that when I did the Capital to Coast, rather un-nerving riding for so long (down a gentle hill) and not having seen any signs or other riders :shock:
Didn't beat the year before where we had a left turn off a hill, with no apparent warning! Thank god I had reasonably good brakes :-)

DonDaddyD

King Donut wrote:

You managed to check out the sights while climbing?!

5hrs48mins. First time out that way on a bike I was more bloody tourist than cyclist. Even slowed to look at some cows, sheep, a farm and some trees.

That hill was Bedham Hill. It had a few nasty kicks to it hey. It's close to Petworth I think but not sure of the name of the woods.

What was the worst hill for you? I think it was the 15% one, purely because after doing the 1in7 and the 18% I thought "Meh 15% is fine" and it would have been if it didn't go on for what felt like a mile.

I did find it hard to convince myself to keep going until I was told otherwise - a few confirmation (straight on) arrows would have been nice - but I guess it's just practise.

Yeah I caught on to the logic of "Keep going straight until we tell you otherwise, yes, even at junctions" far too late... Live and learn.

I'm definitely up for a few more too, and getting out on some local club runs. It even helps with motivation for those monotonous laps of Richmond Park.

I think at Richmond Park I'm just going to go up then down the two hills, turn around and take them in the opposite direction. Do that for one week, then do a long ride the following week.

il_principe

DonDaddyD wrote:

I think at Richmond Park I'm just going to go up then down the two hills, turn around and take them in the opposite direction. Do that for one week, then do a long ride the following week.

Don't do this for a whole week mate, try once or twice a week or you will be bored and in pain. I did hill reps on that regularly back in 08 when I was Etape training... it's no fun even on RP's dinky hills!

DonDaddyD

Il Principe wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

I think at Richmond Park I'm just going to go up then down the two hills, turn around and take them in the opposite direction. Do that for one week, then do a long ride the following week.

Don't do this for a whole week mate, try once or twice a week or you will be bored and in pain. I did hill reps on that regularly back in 08 when I was Etape training... it's no fun even on RP's dinky hills!

I read it and thought that sentence is grammatically poor but couldn't be bothered to change it. I apologise.

I meant once a week go to Richmond Park do hill reps. Then the following week go for a long ride. Obviously with the exception of the week that any Sportives or Charity rides are on. Those I will simply commute and have a Saturday rest day. Tuesday and Thursday of each week will be spent working on my core. Though after New Forest I'm not down for anything else...

You were right by the way. If you want to climb better you have to climb hills. And I wasn't best prepared for the hills in Surrey. I want more though, fooking loved it.

Oh yeah and going for long rides does make you ride faster.

The Garmin cometh.

bigmat

Il Principe wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

I think at Richmond Park I'm just going to go up then down the two hills, turn around and take them in the opposite direction. Do that for one week, then do a long ride the following week.

Don't do this for a whole week mate, try once or twice a week or you will be bored and in pain. I did hill reps on that regularly back in 08 when I was Etape training... it's no fun even on RP's dinky hills!

I did hill reps up Box Hill for the etape, managed 3 efforts before I got bored and headed off to Ranmore. Its probably a more worthwhile exercise for UK sportives than for the big mountains where what you really need to practice is riding at threshold for an hour plus. 3 laps of Richmond Park is perfect for that, the "easy" bits are only easy if you're not trying hard enough!

King Donut

Il Principe wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

I think at Richmond Park I'm just going to go up then down the two hills, turn around and take them in the opposite direction. Do that for one week, then do a long ride the following week.

Don't do this for a whole week mate, try once or twice a week or you will be bored and in pain. I did hill reps on that regularly back in 08 when I was Etape training... it's no fun even on RP's dinky hills!

Love the way we have to put that in in case there's any northerners reading. I did that a few times over winter to extend the commute and I'll happily admit it killed me!

Bassjunkieuk

MatHammond wrote:

I did hill reps up Box Hill for the etape, managed 3 efforts before I got bored and headed off to Ranmore. Its probably a more worthwhile exercise for UK sportives than for the big mountains where what you really need to practice is riding at threshold for an hour plus. 3 laps of Richmond Park is perfect for that, the "easy" bits are only easy if you're not trying hard enough!

That certainly sounds like a better workout then the "dinky" hills at RP which in all honesty don't really take that long to get up. I have yet to try climbing Box Hill but that could take about 10 minutes (based on the times I've seen on the challenge thread) to climb.

Might earmark that for my Sunday ride next month :-)

rolf_f

DonDaddyD wrote:

Also did you/anyone else notice the disused church (it looked like something out of Lord of the Rings and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves) in the middle of that forest with the 15% hill that went on for eternity? What was the name of those forests?

This piece of spookiness? Isn't Google street view great?!

See a couple of posts down!

risi

Are you calling Attica spooky? Think you got the wrong link pasted in there...

On topic:

My cycling year has started badly (not enough of it).
But I am signed up for the Black Rat (which starts at my old school and goes around the Mendips a bit), the Dragon & the Dartmoor Classic. Plus a ride down to the New Forest at the end of May for a spot of camping. Best get on my bike & get some miles in...

rolf_f

risi wrote:

Are you calling Attica spooky? Think you got the wrong link pasted in there...
...

I'll rephrase that - isn't Google street view crap. I'll try again......

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 1,,0,11.29

bigmat

Talking of sportives that start at people's old schools, I've pencilled in the Big G Grimpeur des Wolds in East Yorkshire which will take place on 17 July 2010. Don't have many details at the moment but will post when I do - its a great route though with some nice hills to challenge when everybody's enthusiasm is at its highest in the post TdF sunshine!

il_principe

DonDaddyD wrote:

You were right by the way.

Yeah that happens with alarming frequency. Let me know if you ever fancy a ride into Surrey, I can introduce you to some other hills, have a good & shortish route that takes in Crocknorth and Box Hill - nice one to start with.

Clever Pun

Il Principe wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

You were right by the way.

Yeah that happens with alarming frequency. Let me know if you ever fancy a ride into Surrey, I can introduce you to some other hills, have a good & shortish route that takes in Crocknorth and Box Hill - nice one to start with.

only if you remember your garmin

lastant

Il Principe wrote:

Yeah that happens with alarming frequency. Let me know if you ever fancy a ride into Surrey, I can introduce you to some other hills, have a good & shortish route that takes in Crocknorth and Box Hill - nice one to start with.

Don't suppose you've got a .gpx file of that route (or a picture of it) somewhere that I could snaffle, do you? Looking at taking on some of the Surrey Hills in the next month or so and a 'nice start' sounds good!

DonDaddyD

Il Principe wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

You were right by the way.

Let me know if you ever fancy a ride into Surrey, I can introduce you to some other hills, have a good & shortish route that takes in Crocknorth and Box Hill - nice one to start with.

Will do! Will invite Bassjunkie as well, he is dying for hills.

il_principe

lastant wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Yeah that happens with alarming frequency. Let me know if you ever fancy a ride into Surrey, I can introduce you to some other hills, have a good & shortish route that takes in Crocknorth and Box Hill - nice one to start with.

Don't suppose you've got a .gpx file of that route (or a picture of it) somewhere that I could snaffle, do you? Looking at taking on some of the Surrey Hills in the next month or so and a 'nice start' sounds good!

I do indeed

Bassjunkieuk

DonDaddyD wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

You were right by the way.

Let me know if you ever fancy a ride into Surrey, I can introduce you to some other hills, have a good & shortish route that takes in Crocknorth and Box Hill - nice one to start with.

Will do! Will invite Bassjunkie as well, he is dying for hills.

Cheers, I can play piggy in the middle of the tortoise and the hare ;-)

il_principe

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Cheers, I can play piggy in the middle of the tortoise and the hare ;-)

rolf_f

Did an Evans Ride It today from Harewood down to Bolton Abbey and Burnsall and back.
Much the same route as last time I did it but a little longer and the first half was anticlockwise rather than clockwise.

What was different was the turnout. Last one was quiet - didn't see many folk at all en route. This time I set off in a mini peleton. Energy bar escaped after a couple of miles so, after I retrieved it, I had to chase down the peleton and keep pushing forward to get to the leading group (which I never did - but it was fun!).

After the junction where the long route splits off, it all went quiet again - I passed perhaps less than 10 riders. Finally got in with a total time of 5:46 and a ride time of 5:20 for what Evans count as 77 miles and what my commuter and Bikecraplywhywon'titsavemy route count as 80 miles. Total climb 5600 feet according to Bikely and over 7000 according to Evans.

It was a bit of a slog and finishes with a slightly harsh climb up the bank at Harewood. Fun though, great weather (aside from the bonkers headwind on the way down to Bolton Abbey - was like that last time.....) and it was fun overtaking loads of lightweight carbon machines on my scaffold pole tourer

roger_merriman

Il Principe wrote:

lastant wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Yeah that happens with alarming frequency. Let me know if you ever fancy a ride into Surrey, I can introduce you to some other hills, have a good & shortish route that takes in Crocknorth and Box Hill - nice one to start with.

Don't suppose you've got a .gpx file of that route (or a picture of it) somewhere that I could snaffle, do you? Looking at taking on some of the Surrey Hills in the next month or so and a 'nice start' sounds good!

I do indeed

Crocknorth is closed for a few weeks.