Suffolk Sunrise 100

dinsdale81

Do you belong to a local cycling club? I joined S.D.C.C last year and participated on a few club run but let the fitness go over the christmas period. I would like to get out on group rides again but I'll have another couple of weekends trying to get my fitness levels up. What other groups are there that have sunday rides then?

Gav888

Nah we are just 7 guys (when everyone is out) that like to have a ride on a Sunday morning, usually at a nice steady pace.

Si, (orbeaorca) is the fastest of us lot, and he thought about joining SDCC until he met us lot, I have also thought about joining a local club in the past and there are a few about, but getting any info out of them on what club runs they do and when is a nightmare....

Gav888

The big day has arrived and the weather is looking overcast but hopefully no rain, as I dont have any waterproofs....

A serious lack of training this year so im only doing the 60m route, I actually thought it was 50m but when I got the email with the map etc it said 100k, oh well. I hope to have it completed in 4.5hrs, nice slow pace is all I can manage considering.

I should be heading out at 8am with a few guys from up north, but if you see someone with a Giant TCR on the side of the road around the 50m mark looking like he has been 10 rounds with Tyson, its me so try not to laugh too much!

Have a good day all

dinsdale81

I'll be seeing you then. Gonna meet my mate Richard at 7.15, cycle to the start and aim to register and leave at 8.

Checked the forecast, cloudy with some sunny spells but no rain thankfully.

Quite looking forward to it now, have a good ride everyone and be careful.

Rezillo

Hoping to register around 7 - will be in a cyclechat jacket if anyone's about from here.

John

gabriel959

I will be there too in Spanish National Squad colours with a friend in the end!!! I shall be starting around 8.30 I imagine.

orbeaorca

Want to be ready to register at 6.30am .. get the job done then home to watch the Grand Prix

Have fun everyone

dinsdale81

I'll be in the yellow Stowmarket CC top with autotrase porsche on the front and back. See you on the course!

orbeaorca

Well the weather forecast was spot on ................. NOT!

Managed the long route, 165k, in 6hrs 3mins, last 10k was a bit of a mission probably not helped by 420k in the Welsh mountains in the week leading up to today.

Major confusion at Tunstall as someone had either moved a sign or it had been put up incorrectly in the first place so a huge number of people never even went to Orford, we did try to tell a group of about 10 that they were heading in the wrong direction but they didn't wanna know

So how did everyone find it?

dinsdale81

Well done OrbeaOrca, good time. Was there many of you in your group? My mate and I finished in 6hrs 12mins although I'm sure we could have done sub 6hrs. My mates had knee issues all week so it was bloody good going for him to finish at all.

The weather forcast was half right, it did say sunny spells! It's just that we only saw them for the last 40 mins. Abysmal weather to start in.

I thought the course was alright although not very challenging. One thing I will say is that Action Medical certainly lay on a good spread. The egg sandwich's and tomato soup went down a treat. Saying that, I had had so much sugary crap by that point, the cows in the fields were starting to look appertising.

All in all, a pleasant ride and one which I think I'll be doing next year.

Also, a well done to all the guys & gals that did the 100miles on MTB's. Thatsk too much har work for me!

orbeaorca

Hi Dinsdale and thanks, starting off in a group of 4, first to leave i think.
We then got joined by others but the sign issue at Tunstall meant it was just me and a mate that done the rest on our own, there was a poor photographer out in Iken who had waited an hour to see someone when we passed and prob waited a hell of a long while for others as they were going the wrong way..lol
The choice of roads could be better in my opinion, being local i think they could keep to better , faster roads but maybe they prefer to keep us away from the traffic.

Rezillo

Foul weather early on I made things worse by going a mile down the road and finding I'd left my water bottles in the car, so I had to go back to the start!

100 was up at 6hrs 19 - finished in 6hrs 35. Rather better than last year's 7hrs 20.

A few hundred yards from Shottisham was a right turn towards Ramsholt which everyone in front of me (about 20 to 30 cyclists strung out over several hundred yards) either ignored or thought the sign, which was off angle, pointed straight on.

I knew from looking at the map last night that it was a right turn but failed to convince those behind me. I went that way on my own, comforted by finding more arrow signs further along it. The road eventually rejoined the first one - the only effect for those who stayed on it was that their ride was slightly shorter than mine.

John

orbeaorca

Rezillo wrote:

A few hundred yards from Shottisham was a right turn towards Ramsholt which everyone in front of me (about 20 to 30 cyclists strung out over several hundred yards) either ignored or thought the sign, which was off angle, pointed straight on.



John

Missed that one to so had to do a u-turn , no excuse really as i had the route on amy garmin !

Its the power of Orbea that made you faster this year..lol

Rezillo

orbeaorca wrote:

Its the power of Orbea that made you faster this year..lol

The power of Orbea was a big factor!

I'm also fitter than I was last year plus I got rather dehydrated towards the end then, so I drank much more this year.

As a 'former fatso' in his fifties, I was pretty happy with my time.

No problems with the Orford turn when I went past. No idea what time this was but I started about 7.45.

John

orbeaorca

Rezillo wrote:

orbeaorca wrote:

Its the power of Orbea that made you faster this year..lol

The power of Orbea was a big factor!

I'm also fitter than I was last year plus I got rather dehydrated towards the end then, so I drank much more this year.

As a 'former fatso' in his fifties, I was pretty happy with my time.

No problems with the Orford turn when I went past. No idea what time this was but I started about 7.45.

John

It was the turning prior to the right hand turn that leads into Orford, people were heading down the B1078 which takes you to Tunstall,

dinsdale81

I'm of the opinion that just completing a 100 mile sportive is a result, regardless of the time. It's always nice to beat your previous time though. I had a time of 6hrs 23mins from last years Norwich 100 (if you think today was bad weather you should have seen the monsoon conditions on that day) so i always had a target in mind and i managed to beat it.

The whole issue of the course today was that you constantly felt like you was going back on yourself. i'm sure that half the time, even if you did miss the turn, you'd still come out on the same road again.

Plus with the weather as it was and the condition of the roads, i 'm suprised there wasn't more people at the side of the roads fixing punctures. That £40 i spent on Vittoria Rubino Pro tyres was money well spent.

What was everyone's feed stratgey today. i was testing mine for Le Trois Ballon and made a point of eating & drinking every 30 mins and this seemed to keep the energy levels going. Could have done with a new pair of legs for the last 10 miles though!

dinsdale81

Also, before i forgot, where has everyone manners gone. I have no problem getting a chain going and doing a stint on the front for a while but it annoyed me today when we had three blokes who just sat on our ar$e for about 30 miles and made no effort to help. We slowed down to 15mph in the hope that they might take the hint and do a turn but they stll stayed behind us. Annoying to say the least.

Sorry, rant over!

Rezillo

orbeaorca wrote:

It was the turning prior to the right hand turn that leads into Orford, people were heading down the B1078 which takes you to Tunstall,

!!! I wonder how they got back on route? I must admit I didn't check the sign there because I knew where I was going.

The map in the event pdf is a bit crude. I plotted the route gpx on Memory Map but an A4 printoout from that is just not big enough, plus the ink runs if you stick it in your shirt pocket.

The Suffolk Coast ride that starts from Glemham Hall issues specially printed folding OS maps with the route on, plus they have volunteers standing at any junctions where there can be confusion. I know this eats into the money raised but they clearly think it is worth it.

John

markos1963

Had a great ride, passed the 100mile mark at 5h50m and finished with 102miles for 5h59m. The weather was pretty grim at the start but was ok at the end. Supprised how few people came passed us as me and my two mates aren't racing snakes at all. Great moment when we all passed over the finish 3 abreast. How many punctures did I see on the route? loads and especially amongst the MTB brigade, couldn't figure that out.

Who else thinks the signage is dangerous? You come flying down a hill with no warning and there is an arrow taking you off, not fun at 30mph with a car up your chuff

BMX Bear

The weatherr made it difficult today and the sign age issue at Tunstall!
Ended up riding 110 miles in 5.46, not too bad.
probably the best food stops ever!

orbeaorca

markos1963 wrote:

Who else thinks the signage is dangerous? You come flying down a hill with no warning and there is an arrow taking you off, not fun at 30mph with a car up your chuff

Signage could be improved,,had to put the anchors on many times

Was seriously quiet out there, I think me and my 3 mates where the first to leave but even so we saw very few even when the short/long route joined up on the way back, when we got to Friston feed station the woman had seen 5 people all morning!

Rezillo

A cold and damp Friston, as I was leaving:



The ford near Benhall was interesting - got warned it was slippery as I approached, went through ok then as I left, there was a loud shouted warning behind me followed by a crash and splash!

Peasenhall



It all got a bit lonely after Peasenhall - just a few people and very strung out.

John

friso

Hi l

Also did the ride today in the crappy weather and poor road conditions

Have to agree with you guys on the signage, very amature

We also went wrong turning left as signposted (wrongly) through a forest only to be told by another group that we had to turn around, there was no reason why there was a sign there at all as it was on a straight bit of road. Luckily for me but not for others i managed to stay upright just, going through the ford. There was a sign saying to go over the foot bridge but that was far to late.

I was riding with mates and we got 5 punctures between us

On the positive side the food stops where plentiful and well stocked

Ended up doing 107 miles in 5hours 35mins (inc stops and punctures)

Cheers and well done to all for atempted the ride

markos1963

Yea I laughed my t*ts off at my mate who ignored the sign for the ford and two warnings by locals and came off in a spectacular way. Not hurt though but I almost bust a rib laughing

Gav888

I did the 100k route in 4:25 which isnt bad considering ive been ill the last 4 months and done no training.

I passed loads of people fixing punctures on the route, then at 50 miles I got one myself, thanks to everyone that stopped to offer help, nice to see some nice cyclists out there.

I ended up nursing the bike home the last 10 miles with half the pressure in the tire as I run out of strength in my arms to keep pumping and I didnt want to risk getting another one lol

I think I need to swap my Pro Race 3's for something else! lol

Those roads were sh*t in places though, poor route planning but on the other hand I understand the need to keep that many people off the main roads....

On the route back nr Woodbridge I completely missed a turn as I was busy watching 2 planes doing stunts, had to turn back 1/2 a mile to get back on route lol

Overall though I did enjoy the ride despite getting soaked at the start and getting a puncture, hope to do the 100 next year in 6 hours!!! LOL yeah right

markos1963, glad you did a good time that would have been a lot slower if I tagged along, just ask orbeaorca

spadger

Myself and a friend completed the 100k in 3hr 45, not sure if that's good or bad? but have to say we both really enjoyed it. This was our first sportive and was impressed with the organization and how friendly everybody seemed.

Hoping to do a 100mile sportive by the end of this year so if everything goes to plan we will be doing the 100 mile Suffolk sunrise next year.

Well done to all those who took part and a hats off to all those who completed the 100miles.

sdg_77

My first 100k too - round in 4:28 - no problems with the signs though I was more intent on finishing than on a good time. My Conti Gatorskins were perhaps a good investment - no punctures.

Hopefully the weather will be kinder next year 8)

Gav888

sdg_77 wrote:

My first 100k too - round in 4:28 - no problems with the signs though I was more intent on finishing than on a good time. My Conti Gatorskins were perhaps a good investment - no punctures.

Hopefully the weather will be kinder next year 8)

LOL ive just bought some gatorskins because of the puncture I got yesterday

Gav888

Whilst I think of it, if no one wants there Zipvit Cervelo water bottle that came with the other goodies I will be more than happy to take it off your hands, I need 2 ideally happy to swap it for the gel, bar and powder I got :):)

markos1963

Gav888 wrote:

sdg_77 wrote:

My first 100k too - round in 4:28 - no problems with the signs though I was more intent on finishing than on a good time. My Conti Gatorskins were perhaps a good investment - no punctures.

Hopefully the weather will be kinder next year 8)

LOL ive just bought some gatorskins because of the puncture I got yesterday

No punctures for me and I was using Maxxis Xenith Hors Cartagories(similar to Pro Race 3's). Can't believe how many tractor tyred MTBs punctured.