Forest of Dean Classic
dead sheep
Posts: 109
This event is now recruiting but be warned, the 2009 event was less than spectacular.
My only positive comment about the Forest of Dean Classic is the route. Here are the negatives:
- No showers, as promised;
- Poorly stocked feedstations that ran out of food;
- No en-route first aid;
- No outriders;
- Long wait for sag wagons;
- Cycle village promised but not delivered;
- 5 portaloos for 850 cyclists;
- No electronic timing;
- All you get 'free' at the HQ was a tea and a flap jack (miserly compared with an audax!);
- Horrendous queues to get your time slip stamped;
- Horrendous queues to collect a certificate;
- Long queues to collect water at the feedstops;
- Isotonic drinks that we so watered down as to be useless;
- Dangerous junctions without safety signage;
- Incorrectly placed 'km to go' signs. (e.g. '20km To Go' within 5 miles of the finish)
My only positive comment about the Forest of Dean Classic is the route. Here are the negatives:
- No showers, as promised;
- Poorly stocked feedstations that ran out of food;
- No en-route first aid;
- No outriders;
- Long wait for sag wagons;
- Cycle village promised but not delivered;
- 5 portaloos for 850 cyclists;
- No electronic timing;
- All you get 'free' at the HQ was a tea and a flap jack (miserly compared with an audax!);
- Horrendous queues to get your time slip stamped;
- Horrendous queues to collect a certificate;
- Long queues to collect water at the feedstops;
- Isotonic drinks that we so watered down as to be useless;
- Dangerous junctions without safety signage;
- Incorrectly placed 'km to go' signs. (e.g. '20km To Go' within 5 miles of the finish)
0
Posts
If the route is great how are important are the other points?
you could always ; take your own food
have a wee on the side of the road
use your bike computer to time yourself
do you really need a certificate
treat a junction the same way as every other ride
use your computer to measure rhe distance and ignore the signs
most sportives are run on a non profit making basis and if £25 is that much then stick to your own planned routes with your mates. I do probably 4 or 5 sportives a year and enjoy all of them ,good points and bad, and take them for what they are , mass participation rides with an enjoyable social element , the fact that it costs a few quid shouldn't raise expectations
you pays your money, you expect to get what you pay for. if not, why enter? just ride the route off your own back. thats my opinion and I dont think its wrong to expect organisers to deliver what they say they will. otherwise its just lies.
As for the Forest of Dean Classic, I entered it last year but will not be doing the same in 2010, say no more. And I remember the toilets and feedstop problems rather all too clearly :roll:
To be fair, you are perfectly right in terms of this event providing a good ride. When moaning about this event to a friend the other day, we decided that yes it is a good ride but the rest is not really worth it. So we have decided to turn up on the day and merely follow the route along with the rest of the riders. Clearly we will not benefit from the feed stops (if stocked sufficiently) but we can provide our own logistical support.