Silly Commuter Sportives

risi

Storming ride Rich - the provisional results are available & they have you in 18th place on the 190km (not that it's a race etc etc). I was somewhat slower - had some issues with stomach cramps early on & seriously considered diverting onto the 130km (didn't though). Finally got in a group from the top of Cray & stuck with it until we got split by lights in Neath. Finished with a time not too far behind ITB. Tired now though, but I think that my preparation was not the best, consisting as it did of going to the New Forest for a week & drinking too much wine.

The Running Man

Staggering time Rich : serious respect.....

I had a cracking day. Met up with some club pals at the start and caught a couple more at the top of the Rhigos and stayed with them til Neath and then dropped them on the Cimla. Came up the Bwlch on my own and tore home to finish in 6.58 which I am thrilled with especially considering my taper consisted of 200 miles in the week before : DOH!

That's the first time I've ever attempted anything like that and it won't be the last.

And it was my birthday the day before so a perfect weekend!!

Well done everyone.

benno68

Top effort on the Dragon Ride folks, maybe I'll try it next year as it is pretty much on my doorstep.

the other me

Rich - that is an impressive time. Good work!

First time I've done the dragon ride (only started doing sportives earlier this year) and I had a great day - really enjoyed the long hills and scenery.
I made it round in 7.09 (although I prefer my own timing of 6.53 (moving time) as it just creeps under the hour barrier!) which was pretty much what I'd aimed for.

So, all good.
Now, does this make me ready for la marmotte?! :?

Rich158

Cheers guys,that time really came out of nowhere, my main aim was 7 hours. I'd like to thank the i-ride guys I spent most the day with, they are damn fast and gave me an incentive to keep going when the legs were screaming. I think the :02 is going to haunt me, I'll have to go back next year to get rid of that

cjcp

Excellent time, Rich. 8)

ketsbaia

That's a brilliant time, Rich. I went round almost two hours slower at 7h 55m. Still, first ever sportive, so I'm reasonably pleased with that. I've got some work to do before La Marmotte, though.

il_principe

Well played Rich. Gutted to have missed the Dragon this year. That's the 3rd year in a row the weather's been lovely for it as well.

I've all but written Sportives off for this year, I've only just begun to train properly for the first time since last October, fitness and motivation have take a serious dent!

cjcp

Anyone doing Highclere this Sunday?

ketsbaia

Yep. Not looking forward to the early start, though.

Jay dubbleU

Communicat so don't start until around nine - I will be wearing the pale blueTeam Italia shorts.

Bassjunkieuk

Yep! Really looking forward to it!

stuaff

Now I finally have a road bike again, in the delectable form of n+1, likely to sign up for the Wiggle series Mega Meon Sportive on 11 July. Start and finish a mere 4 miles or so north of me, so I'm thinking the 72 mile route for a nice round 80 mile day. Should be somewhat quicker this time than I was round the New Forest (Cadenza's a decent bike & perfectly pleasant to spend the day on, but it'll be nice to have a few more mph showing on the Garmin!).

cjcp

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Yep! Really looking forward to it!

You should change your avatar to Tigger.

I may be on the commuter as the nice bike needs some work.

Jay dubbleU

So who's coming to Newbury ?

CJCP?

BJ?

Bassjunkieuk

Jay dubbleU wrote:

So who's coming to Newbury ?

CJCP?

BJ?

Checked in about an hour ago, picked up bike number and cycle jersey then sampled a load of Torq bits :-) Doesn't look like the Verenti bling was out yet :-(

All checked into nearby Travelodge and now just deciding where to head for dinner with Mrs BJUK later....

Aiming for 8am start tomorrow to hopefully meet ITB and Attica

linsen

I'd quite like to have come and met you all at the end for a drinkie but sadly still unable to travel / sit / have a life

Hope it goes really well for you all, weather is looking good.

stuaff

linsen wrote:

I'd quite like to have come and met you all at the end for a drinkie but sadly still unable to travel / sit / have a life

Hope it goes really well for you all, weather is looking good.

And I hope your recovery goes as smoothly and rapidly as it can.

+1 for best wishes to the feline eventers. Good luck guys!

itboffin

linsen wrote:

I'd quite like to have come and met you all at the end for a drinkie but sadly still unable to travel / sit / have a life

Hope it goes really well for you all, weather is looking good.

I'm most def off the drink for some time to come :? just collected Attica's registration pack so we can make a swift start in the morning, I'm hoping the entrance to the race course doesn't get to blocked with traffic.

Canny Jock

Thinking about making the Bikeradar sportive on the 10th July my first - anyone else doing it?

Jay dubbleU

Made it - around 4hrs 30 for the 51 miles - I've come to the conclusion that there are two types of people who do sportives - those who want to see how fast they can ride it and those who want to see if they can ride it - I definitely belong to the latter. Still great day out excellent weather good organisation etc

itboffin

The 127 miles were nothing compare with the 45 min sport massage afterwards, that's gonna leave some bruising for sure, they're not shy when it comes to the rub down :shock:

Itboffin has been well and truly itb'd

There may have been some gentle whimpering :oops: okay screaming like a bird :roll:

ketsbaia

That was hard. Way harder than last week's Dragon Ride. Lovely countryside, but the undulating territory and 'hard roads', as Sean Kelly would call them, really took their toll. Made it around in 8h 55m, which was probably a bit slower than I could have managed if I'd really pushed it, but not by that much. Problems with the crappy Shimano gears meant I couldn't get out of the big chain ring for one or two of the climbs, which didn't help.

Cyclists' tan got a good topping up, though.

jonginge

That was good fun and my longest ride ever. As ketsbaia said, it was up and down all day and the road surface wasn't always the best: so much gravel about, which made some of the sharp corners interesting.

Until just before the first feed stop our starting group stayed together but it splintered completely on the hill just before the stop. Thereafter, CJ and I were in a group of 10-15 for the rest of the way. Not many workers but plenty taking a free ride. In the last third most of the work was done by CJ, myself and RedGT (good to meet you Will). When we weren't on the front the group speed fell by about 3mph. Was a bit annoying but there you go.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36762175

TheStone

Anyone doing Morzine Vallee D'Aulps next Sunday?
Looks like it's the route ending with Joux Plane, which I hope is slightly easier than last year!!

stuaff

Great going there Jon (we all know you're fast, but 18.6 average...ouch!). Know some of the course- did a loop to Petersfield and back a few months ago (last ride on the Viner before it was incapacitated!), included that bit from the southernmost point up to the A272. Nice roads on that bit, unlike some of the stuff further south (Hambledon to Clanfield is somewhat juddery even on 40mm tyres!).

cjcp

JonGinge wrote:

That was good fun and my longest ride ever. As ketsbaia said, it was up and down all day and the road surface wasn't always the best: so much gravel about, which made some of the sharp corners interesting.

+1. Ran out of steam with five miles to go, but that was 40 miles further on than when I did it in 2008. Cracking event.

Yep, nice to meet you, RedGT. Reckon the chap on the Storck will ever learn?

Jay dubbleU

Well that's pleasing - 4:25:39 for the 51 miles - no idea how fast that is but at least its over the magic 10mph

rolf_f

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Well that's pleasing - 4:25:39 for the 51 miles - no idea how fast that is but at least its under the magic 10mph

I think most people can get below the magic 10mph if they really try

Bassjunkieuk

JonGinge wrote:

That was good fun and my longest ride ever. As ketsbaia said, it was up and down all day and the road surface wasn't always the best: so much gravel about, which made some of the sharp corners interesting.

Ditto!

We (me, ITB and Attica) spotted JG initially as we waited at the start line and "moved up" so we could have a chat :-) After we set off the group was absolutely flying and we wanted to survive the 120+ miles ahead we decided the pace was a little to hot and wound it back to something a bit more sensible that mortals can deal with! As we did this we picked up a few people from the fast group who got spat out the back.

After the first 3 climbs after the 10-15 mile-ish mark we settled into a decent sized group that was pretty well and shifting along nicely until my chain decided it didn't want to play nicely on the chainrings and threw itself off :-( It was on one of the rolling sections so I coasted down the hill and as far up the otherside as I could. I'd already told Attica and ITB to carry on, thinking that a 30-45 second gap could be "fun" to make up! Just after I managed to fix the bike and get going a very fast group of Torq riders went past - I couldn't quite latch onto them but managed to find another group and use them. Meet up with ITB and Attica at the top of the little hill and we then set about catching up with the initial group and getting to the feed station.

About 10 miles after that feed stop I got separated from ITB and Attica (accidently!) and spent the rest of the ride hoping between various 3-4 man groups and other solo riders.
I think my pre-ride preparation for this came in useful from this point on as I had got used to riding for 60-80 miles solo so just got on with it. Spotting other riders ahead of me on the road provided incentives to keep the pace up and once I caught up with some people there was some tit-for-tat overtaking - a chap on a red/silver Giant TCR 1.0 in long blue socks kept catching me on the climbs and I'd promptly pass him on the descent/flatter sections :-D

The final section was spent pretty much comp watching, in between the lovely views, gravel and pot holes! First off it was the passing of the magical 100 mile mark! A first for me and I have to admit to letting out a rather loud "YES!" as I was heading down through the town that fell at that point (a more residential area) Next was the 110 mile mark which was my final feed/water station and then after that it was chipping away at the 127 miles that would bring Newbury Racecourse closer!

Finished with a 8:01 official time which included all the stops and 7:20 moving time on my bike comp which I'm very happy with :-) As my previous best for a day would have got me to the final control at 81 miles I honestly had no idea how I'd get on after that! As it happened all I needed to do after that point was eat a bit more and use the bottom gear on some of the sharper climbs - something I'd managed to avoid up until that point, only needing to drop down to 42x25 - yes I have a triple!!

Had a fantastic day and despite the saddle sore and achey legs I'd happily do it again next year!