Forest of dean classic

andrew@snowrace
andrew@snowrace Posts: 129
edited December 2009 in Sportives/audaxes/training rides
Am I too early or too late to enter 2010 or have I got the wrong web addess Cheers Andy www.madaboutthemountains.co.uk
Training for the Cycle to Spain and the Quebrantahuesos
www.seeyouinspain.co.uk

Comments

  • TheStone
    TheStone Posts: 2,291
    Too early I think.

    It's listed as 2nd May on the club site, but the specific site and entry is not updated yet.
    http://www.wheelsinwheelscc.com/
    exercise.png
  • de_sisti
    de_sisti Posts: 1,283
    There's usually a hilly (cheaper) audax ride the day before. :wink:
  • dead sheep
    dead sheep Posts: 109
    I rode this event last year and I thought that it was appalling value for money.

    Just start on a positive, the route was great and the signage was fine

    And the 'but'......

    The feed stops ran out of food leaving riders without refreshments - this was the third successive year of that happening. The advertised showers did not materialise. There were insufficent toilets. The 'cycle village' contained little of interest. The post event free food consisted of one free flap jack and a single cup of tea. There were queues at the finish line with riders having to wait and hand over the timing cards. All this for £25.

    My advice.....

    Turn up on the day, and simply follow the other riders on the route without paying an entry fee. At least you will enjoy the ride and company of other cyclists without being ripped off. Forget the fee or bothering with the cycle tent, unstocked feed tents. You can buy your own tea and flap-jack at a fraction of £25.

    Or simply save your pounds and find another sportive elseswhere. Otherwise you could simply enter the Audax the day before and pay £4 ( http://www.aukweb.net/cal/calsolo.php?Ride=10-516 )
  • ledburyloafer
    ledburyloafer Posts: 126
    dead sheep wrote:
    I rode this event last year and I thought that it was appalling value for money.

    Just start on a positive, the route was great and the signage was fine

    And the 'but'......

    The feed stops ran out of food leaving riders without refreshments - this was the third successive year of that happening. The advertised showers did not materialise. There were insufficent toilets. The 'cycle village' contained little of interest. The post event free food consisted of one free flap jack and a single cup of tea. There were queues at the finish line with riders having to wait and hand over the timing cards. All this for £25.

    My advice.....

    Turn up on the day, and simply follow the other riders on the route without paying an entry fee. At least you will enjoy the ride and company of other cyclists without being ripped off. Forget the fee or bothering with the cycle tent, unstocked feed tents. You can buy your own tea and flap-jack at a fraction of £25.

    Or simply save your pounds and find another sportive elseswhere. Otherwise you could simply enter the Audax the day before and pay £4 ( http://www.aukweb.net/cal/calsolo.php?Ride=10-516 )

    Watch the balck rain fall for saying that
    i'll ride anything, but I prefer carbon.......... she screamed!!

    www.sportivecentral.com
  • Philip Whiteman
    Philip Whiteman Posts: 470
    edited December 2009
    dead sheep wrote:
    The post event free food consisted of one free flap jack and a single cup of tea.

    I trust that it was a very very very nice flap jack for the price of £25? :wink:

    I rode this event too and needless to say I will not be riding it again for the same reasons.

    As for the Lumpy Scrumpy Audax, it looks too short for my liking. However I have ridden a great 200km 'permanent audax' called the Cambrian Series 2B: Monmouth-Chepstow-Abergavenny-Brecon-Builth-Hay-Monmouth. You can start from any point. Nice on a long hot summer's day though you will miss the camaraderie unless you ride with a friend.
  • cakewalk
    cakewalk Posts: 220
    A real rip off this one. Food was cr8p.
    "I thought of it while riding my bicycle."
  • bobhitch
    bobhitch Posts: 87
    it all depends what you want from the sportive, the origin of the thread (andrew@snowrace) is after a training ride before his main event in the summer,its also always on the bank holiday weekend so you can take it easy on the Monday. I've done the FOTD several times and the main thing it is a great route for a training ride and close to where andy lives ,perhaps £25 is a bit steep but in the grander scheme of things not that much and you can always carry some supplies .
    I don't do sportives expecting great food , if it happens its a bonus, the organisers put a lot of effort in to make sure it all runs smoothly, and anyone who joins in on the day is freeloading ,not to mention insurance implications if involved in an accident.
    The route maps to nearly all the sportives are accessible online so if someone doesn't want to pay by all means do the route ,just do it on another day
  • jhop
    jhop Posts: 369
    I too have ridden this 3 times and am not sure food was any worse than many other sportives. The Dragon Ride in 2007 and 2008 certainly was worse for food but is another ride I will do again in 2010. I usually have enough in my pockets to keep me going and find it hard to put food high on my criteria of what makes a good sportive.
    The main weakness for me on the Forest of Dean ride was the traffic congestion on the Symonds Yat climb.

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