Etape Caledonia 2010

cframe

Who's all signed up and what times/aims have you got in mind???

I'm wanting a sub-5h and good crack at the Schiehallion climb split (especially after this years madness!)

Definitely planning on doing the route a few times beforehand too, benefits of having family in Pitlochry so I can go and stay whenever I want

daviesee

Hi,

I have signed up and like you, I am hoping for sub 5 hours, and expect sub 5 1/2.
The training is not going to plan though :oops: :shock: :oops:

I have done the route already though and it is superb! :P

I have added a report on an earlier thread that may be of interest to novices.

It was done on a wind free sunny day though. Fingers crossed.............

Edit:- Link added http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12656473

bompington

If you take out puncture repair time I did 4:20 last year, which I was quite pleased with as I didn't feel the training had gone that well. 08's time was 4:30 so I'm heading in the right direction.
I was looking forward to doing it next year on my new bike, but after it was nicked I just hope I'll get a replacement in time...
I'm going for modest improvement and I'll say 4:15 on the old bike, 4:05 if I replace the new one, mostly on psychological grounds.

shane515

Hi all

I have signed up again, was one of those affected by this years 'wait here for 10 mins'....so hopefully next year will go without a hitch. I think I may have been on for 4.40 -4.50...so again I will look for anything under 5 hours!!

Shane

davelakers

My and 3 mates have signed up again. Desperate to do it in a good time this year after the shenanigans last year. The ability to ride on lovely scenic closed roads is just too good to turn down!!

Angus444

Signed up, and started training. Have driven round the course to see it in detail, and am now riding segments of it, chopping it up into 25/30 mile chunks.

Hope to do it 4 or 5 times before the big day.......and fancy doing it 'the wrong way round'...just for the climb from Aberfeldy to start of Schiehallion road, which I think is tougher than the climb from Rannoch up the Sch Rd........

Hoping for under 5hrs, and would be delighted with 4 and a half.

AMcD

Haven't yet signed up but plan to next payday. Will also be breaking it down into sections before the big day. Am hoping for an average of only 12-13mph so just want to finish with enough left in the tank to dismount gracefully at the end .

patchy

nah, I'm eyeing up the Cornwall Tor 100 miler. From Bodmin to north coast down to south coast and back to bodmin. Works for me as i have family in the area...

Dr U Idh

Yep - I'm in. Going for sub-5, hoping for 4 1/2. I might be with a couple of other riders, so I'm hoping we'll act like a group. Weather just like last year would be fine - a little warmer/drier first thing would be a bonus.

I'll be doing at least one familiarisation ride beforehand, probably mid-April

neil²

I'm going along with 3 others from the village - my first riding north of the border.

Also going for sub 5, but planning for an enjoyable ride.

rokkala

Do you need to raise any charity money to take part in this, or is just the £56 entry fee and thats that?

Route looks ok, but there are better climbs around that area imo. Still, descent from Schiehallion down to Aberfeldy is fun!

cframe wrote:

Who's all signed up and what times/aims have you got in mind???

I'm wanting a sub-5h and good crack at the Schiehallion climb split (especially after this years madness!)

Definitely planning on doing the route a few times beforehand too, benefits of having family in Pitlochry so I can go and stay whenever I want

If you can, try going down past Loch Tay and riding up over Ben Lawers both ways, nice 4-5miles of climbing and then a cracking descent, especially if you ride over from the Loch side.

Another climb to defo give a go is the road into Garrow from the south, very steep, and then another really good descent down into Kenmore.

Dr U Idh

Rokkala wrote:

Do you need to raise any charity money to take part in this, or is just the £56 entry fee and thats that?

Route looks ok, but there are better climbs around that area imo. Still, descent from Schiehallion down to Aberfeldy is fun!

No need to raise extra cash.

The route is pretty good considering that there will be 3,000 riders if various skill and fitness levels. It's worth it more for the joy of riding on closed roads and the overall ambience.

Angus444

QUOTE "Route looks ok, but there are better climbs around that area imo. Still, descent from Schiehallion down to Aberfeldy is fun!

If you can, try going down past Loch Tay and riding up over Ben Lawers both ways, nice 4-5miles of climbing and then a cracking descent, especially if you ride over from the Loch side.

Another climb to defo give a go is the road into Garrow from the south, very steep, and then another really good descent down into Kenmore.[/quote]





Good training run is leave from Blair Athol, take the road out to Struan, Calvine, then left at crossroads, fantastic descent, on to Tummel Bridge, then road back to Garry Bridge, turn left for Killiecrankie and BA..........

Angus444

bompington wrote:

If you take out puncture repair time I did 4:20 last year, which I was quite pleased with as I didn't feel the training had gone that well. 08's time was 4:30 so I'm heading in the right direction.
I was looking forward to doing it next year on my new bike, but after it was nicked I just hope I'll get a replacement in time...
I'm going for modest improvement and I'll say 4:15 on the old bike, 4:05 if I replace the new one, mostly on psychological grounds.

Andy, if you fancy heading up and doing part of the run in the New Year, give me a shout. I'm in Arbroath, but up there a fair bit. Pitlochry to Rannoch, and around the Loch is fairly straightforward, but I'm wanting to tackle the climb a few times, and the second 40 mile stretch.

bompington

The stuff about the better climbs is not news, on these forums or to anyone who's done any cycling round Scotland; wouldn't it be great to see an "Etape Mor" that included Glen Quaich (Garrow mentioned above) and/or Bridge of Balgie (Ben Lawers)? That would surely pump up the ascent to 3000+m, however much salt you need for the claimed ascent of 2000m or so for the Etape C route. That said, the route is nice like it is, if you find it too easy, well you can just try going faster! I guess the logistics (not to mention PR) of road closure are tough enough as it is without any extension.

As for training runs, if you do 50 miles or so (the distance from the start to the foot of the Schiehallion climb) and then one of those two climbs, the Schiehallion road holds no terrors. Or it's actually quite easy (as in cartographically, not as in "easy on the legs") to link them both.

When I first did the Etape C (2008) I had never done that kind of distance apart from one recce around the route - I'm very glad I did.

rokkala

bompington wrote:

The stuff about the better climbs is not news, on these forums or to anyone who's done any cycling round Scotland; wouldn't it be great to see an "Etape Mor" that included Glen Quaich (Garrow mentioned above) and/or Bridge of Balgie (Ben Lawers)? That would surely pump up the ascent to 3000+m, however much salt you need for the claimed ascent of 2000m or so for the Etape C route. That said, the route is nice like it is, if you find it too easy, well you can just try going faster! I guess the logistics (not to mention PR) of road closure are tough enough as it is without any extension.

That would be great fun!

Also, how do the organisers allocate your start times? I'm sure I read that riders with results from competitions etc to show would be seeded to start off at the earliest opportunity, but what about after that?

Is it just descending order of alledged ability, or, do those who are reckoned to be the slowest get the next slots after the seeded bunch in order to minimise the time the roads are shut for?

Joycie

You estimate, on application entry, how long you think you'll take to do the route and, if applicable you have any justification for your shorter time if you want to be in one of the quicker groups.

It makes sense that they leave first.

I've signed up to the 5hr 30min + as it's my first escapade into road cycling... I'm thinking about signing up for the charity side of things as I believe they give you support on your training schedule but not sure how good it is.

rokkala

Cool.

Also does this sportive have Gold, Silver, Bronze awards etc for certain times, or does it not operate on that kind of basis?

bompington

If I remember rightly, for seeding they just send out an email to all registered entrants with a link to a page on the website, where you just put in your expected time!
Last year start times seemed to be a little bit random but broadly correct, I started near the front and I was certainly passed by a lot of people going much faster than me for a lot of the first hour, but then I also passed a lot of people who must have started in the first wave and were going backwards quite fast.

Traffic can be a bit heavy, especially on the narrow road on the south side of Lochs Rannoch & Tummel (about mile 30-40) and the Fortingall loop (55-65) so you don't want to be stuck behind a lot of slow people there. Of course if everyone then tries to boost their seeding, the whole system falls down - that may account for some of the obvious anomalies I saw last year.

No Gold/silver/bronze, I don't know how these categories work as I've never done any other sportives, but if you consider yourself a serious competitive cyclist then you should be aiming for under 4 hours, 5 hours is a good challenge for anyone not used to this kind of thing.

But half the fun is in the "big event" atmosphere, the scenery, and the pure joy of fizzing along in a big bunch on closed roads. Even when you're trying to push a time you shouldn't miss out on these.

EDIT: just thinking about it has put the snow & ice outside into perspective... man I'm looking forward to it!

cframe

Rokkala wrote:

If you can, try going down past Loch Tay and riding up over Ben Lawers both ways, nice 4-5miles of climbing and then a cracking descent, especially if you ride over from the Loch side.

Another climb to defo give a go is the road into Garrow from the south, very steep, and then another really good descent down into Kenmore.

I've wanted to try a route with Lawers for a while but have never quite got around to it, I did Glen Quaich though last year as prep for the Bealach. If anything I'd say the drag out from Aberfeldy to there was about as tough as Quaich itsself!

Didn't quite have the bottle for the Kenmore descent, that road is just too narrow to really commit to it :oops:

rokkala

bompington wrote:

If I remember rightly, for seeding they just send out an email to all registered entrants with a link to a page on the website, where you just put in your expected time!
Last year start times seemed to be a little bit random but broadly correct, I started near the front and I was certainly passed by a lot of people going much faster than me for a lot of the first hour, but then I also passed a lot of people who must have started in the first wave and were going backwards quite fast.

Traffic can be a bit heavy, especially on the narrow road on the south side of Lochs Rannoch & Tummel (about mile 30-40) and the Fortingall loop (55-65) so you don't want to be stuck behind a lot of slow people there. Of course if everyone then tries to boost their seeding, the whole system falls down - that may account for some of the obvious anomalies I saw last year.

No Gold/silver/bronze, I don't know how these categories work as I've never done any other sportives, but if you consider yourself a serious competitive cyclist then you should be aiming for under 4 hours, 5 hours is a good challenge for anyone not used to this kind of thing.

But half the fun is in the "big event" atmosphere, the scenery, and the pure joy of fizzing along in a big bunch on closed roads. Even when you're trying to push a time you shouldn't miss out on these.

EDIT: just thinking about it has put the snow & ice outside into perspective... man I'm looking forward to it!

Cheers for that! Can't wait for it either Fingers crossed for a sunny day!

cframe wrote:

Rokkala wrote:

If you can, try going down past Loch Tay and riding up over Ben Lawers both ways, nice 4-5miles of climbing and then a cracking descent, especially if you ride over from the Loch side.

Another climb to defo give a go is the road into Garrow from the south, very steep, and then another really good descent down into Kenmore.

I've wanted to try a route with Lawers for a while but have never quite got around to it, I did Glen Quaich though last year as prep for the Bealach. If anything I'd say the drag out from Aberfeldy to there was about as tough as Quaich itsself!

Didn't quite have the bottle for the Kenmore descent, that road is just too narrow to really commit to it :oops:

Should definitely do a route with Ben Lawers next time your up then, climb is harder from the loch side, and the descent down into Bridge of Balgie is also better than the descent back down to the loch. You can always see a good few hundred metres at least infront of you, so can absolutely cane it.

Whereas like you say, with the descent down into Kenmore, towards the end there are too many blind corners to fully commit.

Had forgotten about the hill out of Aberfeldy, is indeed quite a long drag, and you don't get much of a reward for doing it either! Never been down that hill into Aberfeldy, imagine it would be rather good as the road is wide and nicely flowing?

How do you find doing the Bealach? Was thinking about giving it a crack too(although i read everyone needs to wear a high-vis this year :?)

cframe

I came up with this route months and months ago but have never given it a shot, loads of climbing in it though! http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/248400

Rokkala wrote:

How do you find doing the Bealach? Was thinking about giving it a crack too(although i read everyone needs to wear a high-vis this year )

The Bealach was alright (this was the 40miler in May, I might add), apart from the snow! I'd been off the bike for 3 weeks beforehand (marathon training has a lot to answer for) so didn't have the best legs but just stuck in a pack and spun up.

Conditions were pretty awful, wind, rain, hail and snow all in the course of the climb. Of course once we were down the other side the sun came out! I nearly thought I was gonna have to abandon after the descent because I was absolutely frozen to the core and hadn't drunk nearly enough on the climb because it was so cold.

Managed to drag myself round the rest of it (which is also very lumpy!) but was going backwards for a big part of it.

Best advice I can think of; don't forget to eat/drink on the way up!

Philip S

Looks like all the £56 entries are taken. All that seems to be left are the Macmillan Cancer Support entries - they're £56 and you pledge to raise £150 for Macmillan...

Don't think I'll be doing it on that basis - I wouldn't want to ask people for sponsorship for something I'd be doing for fun anyway, and £200 for a 81 mile ride is a little steep...

kfinlay

Well thats me in (albeit a bit late), Shouldn't have a prob with sponsorship and always happy to help Macmillan (as well as others). Plan on doing a recce run sometime in April too Reckon I can do it in under 5hrs inc stops but would love to break 4h30m :shock: .
Hope to see some of you guys there but for now would just like to get rid of all the snow and ice and get on my bike!

robmurr2000

Know the feeling kev, i'm going back down to work tomorrow hoping that it's not as bad in kent as it is in The Kingdom so i can get some training in for may.

kfinlay

Hey Rob, the last forecast I saw didn't look good for Kent or the south in general. I've got an eliptical cross trainer that I only work my legs on and tuck down to a more bike position but god is it boring - better than nothing though! Good luck with the weather and training

robmurr2000

Cheers kev,but looks like i'll be stuck in the turbo dungeon for a few weeks!! Good calender by the way.