Tour Ride in the South West

AlistairTR

Hi again,

I’ve just been sent the following by way of a bit more detail on the South West Pro Tour Ride. It’s a bit poetic, but some of you might be able to work out roughly where the route is going. I’ll give you all details of the full route as soon as I can, which I think will be at the end of March

The level of sign ups has been brilliant with some good sized teams building up as well. So do get any friends that are thinking of signing up to so while they still have a chance.

Minehead to Teignmouth Pro Tour Ride – 5th September

Riders will roll out of the historic seaside resort of Minehead, and set off on their 175km ride, following the exact route that will be used for The Tour of Britain stage two weeks later. Leaving the golden sands of Minehead behind them, the Tour Riders head straight into an immediate series of tough climbs, bringing them up to an elevation of 450m after just 12kms of the Pro Tour Ride route. The stage then descends back down to sea level, following the North Somerset coast before heading inland and climbing steadily across the south Somerset hills up to the 50km marker of The Tour of Britain route.

The mid section of this extremely challenging route features more rolling climbs as the route heads south to Devon, featuring stunning scenery and tough riding. A steep descent will require full attention at 110kms – riders on the Pro Tour Ride will be able to tune into The Tour of Britain broadcast on the 14th September to see how the best riders in the world tackle these winding climbs and descents, but as they hit the South Devon coast at 125km their mind will probably be firmly on finishing a punishing ride and enjoying the hot food and hospitality at the finish!

The Pro Tour Ride winds along the south Devon coast from here, with the climb of the day – a steep punishing brute - in store after 128km. After cresting this climb, the route rolls back inland across the Devon countryside, before turning back to the south and onto the seafront at 145km, with just 23kms to go. A couple more climbs lie in store in the final 20kms, and whilst riders in the Tour Ride will be pushing simply to finish a tough but fulfilling ride, at this stage two weeks later the big teams will be winding their speed up for the finish, either pulling their leadout trains in order, or perhaps chasing a breakaway group into Teignmouth for the big finish of Britain’s national cycle race.

The Tour Ride route then winds into the beautiful south Devon resort of Teignmouth finishing alongside the sea, with warm hospitality and a feeling of huge achievement for those brave enough to take on the challenge.

Han2130

"Leaving the golden sands of Minehead behind" Golden sand?

Mozza1

Don't forget us Stoke riders!

AlistairTR

Sorry about that Stoke Riders, it's because I live in Devon, I keep trying to encourage people down here for the rolling hills and our cream teas

The Stoke-on-Trent Pro Tour Ride covers exactly 100 miles, as befits an event held to celebrate the centenary of this historic city, and will give riders the chance to ride the official route of The Tour of Britain the week after the finale of the race. This 100 mile route will take Tour Riders on a tour of the Potteries, before heading south through the rolling Staffordshire terrain and then turning north towards the Peak District. The climbs will come thick and fast – as riders from 2009 will know only too well – before Tour Riders turn their bikes to the challenging Gun Hill where many thousands of cycling fans gathered in 2009 to watch The Tour of Britain peloton pass through on their way to the finish. As in 2009 there is very little flat ground on this tough route, which next heads south and west, heading back towards Stoke-on-Trent where riders will be assured of a warm welcome at the event village.

Mozza1

Gun Hill again eh? Excellent bring it on!!!

ToBi Tour

I'll be there with all my friends from The Tour of Britain!!! We can't wait!! Feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Mozza1

Give us the route maps

fastercyclist

Hi - I'm 'local' to the route (east devon) and if you've already said I apologise but I did not spot it - will times be recorded + published?

Sorry if it sounds a bit mercenary for your talk of golden beaches but I may enter if its timed.
With regards,
Faster.

ToBi Tour

Hi Mozza, the routes are ready, but we need to wait till the official launches as they are the routes for The Tour of Britain race too! Shouldn't be too much longer!

Fastercyclist - both Tour Rides are timed and this year we'll have timing splits and KOM times on the route too. Looking forward to seeing you there... it's going to be great!!

Tour Ride Steve

Following the national launch of the Tour of Britain yesterday we are delighted to be able to publish the route maps and profiles for this years ride.

Visit www.tourride.co.uk to download both the pro and challenge rides.

This years 'stage 4' is being described as the toughest one and so if you want to compare yourselves to the pro's sign up now.

Places are going quickly!

edindevon

Tour Ride Steve wrote:

This years 'stage 4' is being described as the toughest one and so if you want to compare yourselves to the pro's sign up now.

I know it will be no big deal for experienced Sportive riders, but Peak Hill after 129km is pretty tough by my standards. For all the fact that it's only a short climb, it's much more challenging than the hills they've tackled down this way on the Tour over the last two years.

Edindevon

shakey88

This looks awesome,i've been looking forward to it since i signed up.Hope to have the legs for it by september.
Anyone got any info on the climbs,how steep,length etc.
Also does anyone know of a website where you can check out the many wonderful hills of the uk?
cheers,Rich

edindevon

shakey88 wrote:

Anyone got any info on the climbs,how steep,length etc.

As you can download the route map and this shows the KOM sections, you can then use bikehike or whatever to get all the stats like this. As I said, Peak Hill is quite short, but according to bikehike, on the tough part you climb 138m in 1km:

Total Ascent: 138 m
Total Descent: 0 m
Start Elevation: 26 m
End Elevation: 165 m
Min Elevation: 26 m
Max Elevation: 165 m

Distance: 1 km

Edindevon

markp2

I work in Sidmouth looking out at Peak Hill. I find it doable on fresh legs, but after 130km it will be a bastard.
Lots of people walking near the top, I predict!
Cheers,
Mark

Tour Ride Steve

I’m going to be down there next week riding some of it so ill take some photos and put them up on the unite bycycling facebook page. Peak Hill is definitely going to be tough after 130km but the view from the top is amazing - then its pretty much downhill from there - ish.

Its the first 50km that I’m dreading - that’s a lot of climbing early on.

ThreeLionsBrian

How many participants is there a limit? wish they would make their mind up on the distance header says 175KM signup 150 KM ? dunno which is worse warming up on Porlock or Peak that far in :twisted:

Tour Ride Steve

well spotted - sorry about that- its changed now, pro distance is175km.

We are limited by the councils to 3000 riders. Places are selling quickly at the moment. All the registration fee (and any sponsorship if riders want to raise some) goes directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity so the more people that register the better.

www.tourride.co.uk

Tour Ride Steve

GPX files are now up on the website

www.tourride.co.uk

Also spent last week recording a preview of the route with Graham Jones and John Herety - just putting the finishing touches to that now so keep your eye on the website for more details

Stephen

Spatulala

As I live in Woodbury. East Devon, I'd rather not have to get bussed back to Minehead afterwards. is it possible to get me and my bike on a train from Exeter to Minehead on the morning of the event?

RossW

What Is the maximum allowed time for this event?
I'm working my way though my training plan and this pro ride is my target 100mile stone!

I think I need to find myself a club to ride with, As it would make those 108miles seem far more enjoyable!

Ross,

Han2130

You wont get to Minehead before 11:30 by train on the Sunday morning. You could cycle to Minehead from Taunton but it will add bout 16miles to your ride.
I was also wondering about the maximum allowed time if anyone knows?

Tour Ride Steve

The first riders will be setting off at 7am from Minehead and we would ideally like everyone to have completed the ride in 12 hours - so by 7pm.

Support will finish around this time however we wont force anyone off the route - there will be a sweeper van if you need it which will arrive in Teignmouth around 6.30pm.

Ross - British Cycling has a list of hundred of clubs you could join alternatively just put a message on the training section of the forum - am sure there are lots of people in the same situation. There is also our facebook page - search unitebycycling where there are over 1000 members - Im sure you could find a group of local riders to train with there.

Steve

ThreeLionsBrian

Han2130 wrote:

You wont get to Minehead before 11:30 by train on the Sunday morning. You could cycle to Minehead from Taunton but it will add bout 16miles to your ride.
I was also wondering about the maximum allowed time if anyone knows?

I thought the train to Mineheadwas a BUS LINK no bikes other than folders?

Han2130

The bus runs from Taunton to Bishops Lydeard ( only 3 miles) Then you can use the West Somerset Railway to get to Minehead. It is quicker to cycle though because the road takes a short cut and the WSR has a 25mph speed limit.

Tour Ride Steve

had our first match report in this week - only a month away now - still places availlable visit www.tourride.co.uk to register - all money goes directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

thanks Loiuse for this

Match report

Unfortunately no Garmin, but some vital stats from my little computer:
Total time for ride (including stops): 10 hours 12 mins
Fastest speed 57.1km /hr
Average speed: 21.7km/hr
Calories burned: 5,386 (enough for a sandwich at the end!)

The Saturday ride:

We started at 6.40am - conditions were almost perfect - it was overcast but not too cold (apart from Honiton) & we had a few spots of rain but nothing bad. Let's hope for no rain on the 5th as some of the downhills are very steep.

There are three horrific hills - (said with no melodrama) Lype Hill, Brendon Hill & Peak Hill. Fortunately two of them come early on, so our advice would be don't bolt out the stable door. This is not to say the rest of it is easy - it really is relentless & very undulating.

We had two stops: Wiveliscombe & Honiton, with a small service stop break for some water as we were riding near Exeter. We had lots of little breaks to check map directions & at the top of every hill & that helped lots.

Sidmouth is particularly picturesque with a lovely beach front where we had time to take some photos. However, we looked to the right to see what I can only describe as a straight up vertical climb (20%). This is Peak Hill, although we soon named it after some ex girlfriends & boyfriends...
If you've ridden Winterfold, it's 21% at the very top - this is 20% - all the way through. We gritted our teeth & nearly made it to the peak, but after 125km of constant hills we all had to walk a part of it to the top. I would like to see a hill that can top that one! It's the hardest hill we've ever been up. Brutal.

The rolling hills continued ferociously to the end - the home straight to Teignmouth seemed to take forever with very little road signs marking the place out. Although the profile map looks like a fairly flat home straight it really isn't! There is one big long meandering hill that gets you into Teignmouth - a really joyous ride after 170km! For those of you who did the France ride, it's very much like the ride into Boulogne...

This ride really is worth doing - stunning scenery for one. Most of you know what my bike is like - to call it weighty is probably an understatement so if I can get around the course, so can you! We all thought the distance was doable - the main issue was the constant hills. When the blurb says that there is very little flat, believe it! You can be riding along a country road having a good chat, then turn a corner & see a monster in front of you...

ToBi Tour

Seriously guys and girls - my friends at ToB just can't wait for the 5th September, not least because The South West Tour Ride will draw back the curtain on this year's Tour of Britain! Even better for you sportive riders after a challenge, stage 4 of this year's race is the hardest stage we've ever had in 7 years of The Tour, so if you want to see how the professionals do it, please sign up and ride the same stage - KOM's, feed stations, signage and all - before they get a chance to. You can then watch stage 4 on 14th September and compare your time!

This event is organised in support of The Prostate Cancer Charity and we hope we'll see you there...

www.tourride.co.uk

edindevon

Tour Ride Steve wrote:

The rolling hills continued ferociously to the end - the home straight to Teignmouth seemed to take forever with very little road signs marking the place out.

I'm signed up to the ride and looking forward to it.

I think you must have been seriously tired at the end of this ride. I've ridden what I understand to be the last section of this route and from my perspective Exeter to Teignmouth is pretty much flat. Equally, you're on the main road to Teignmouth, so signage is not an issue at all.

Edindevon

markp2

I am signed up to do the shorter ride from Honiton to the finish. Lack of riding over the summer meant that I chickened out of the full monty.

Spatulala - A friend of mine is doing the full ride and lives in Honiton. Let me know if you would like me to contact him for a possible lift to Minehead.

Cheers,
Mark

briantrumpet

Edindevon wrote:

I'm signed up to the ride and looking forward to it.
I think you must have been seriously tired at the end of this ride.

My first BR forum post....

Hmm, almost tempted to do this. I've only been doing long rides for a couple of weeks, though fit and a regular rider of moderate distances. Yesterday did 71 miles solo with 5,300ft of ascent round Devon/Somerset in 5 hours, but this tour stage is 10,000ft, so suspect I'd be at (or beyond) my limit, especially given the hills at the start. And I drive up Peak Hill often, and my car only just does it in 2nd gear, so know how hard it willl be. I think I might position myself there for the actual tour to see how much it's hurting the pros! (Out of interest, does anyone know if there will be a live update on the progress of the actual race, so I can get myself to Sidmouth at the right time? Or perhaps I should just go by the published ETAs ... I really will be mightily impressed if they can get to Sidmouth in just three hours from the start!!)

If I'd got my new bike (Cannondale CAAD9) and act together sooner this Summer, I might have done it ...

edindevon

briantrumpet wrote:

Hmm, almost tempted to do this. I've only been doing long rides for a couple of weeks, though fit and a regular rider of moderate distances. Yesterday did 71 miles solo with 5,300ft of ascent round Devon/Somerset in 5 hours, but this tour stage is 10,000ft, so suspect I'd be at (or beyond) my limit, especially given the hills at the start.

It sounds to me like you'd be fine to do the ride. Your 71 miles is a good training run by any stretch of the imagination.

Edindevon