Etape Caledonia

Uncle B

d4evr wrote:

First of all Hello there, newbie to this site and newish to cycling and have begun to commute to work and back obviously(16miles round trip) after getting a Bianchi on the Cycle to Work Scheme.

I have always been a fan of cycling and a supporter of the Etape Caledonia and since I recently bought a bike for my commute and want to get fitter/lighter I have decided to set myself a goal, next years Etape.

So thats what I did, I entered yesterday and I am already excited about it, if a little nervous.
All I have to do now is get the miles in I suppose(gulp).

Just one word of warning though I will no doubt become a huge pain in the ar$e on here looking for all kinds of info,tips and advice on training,kit,food etc etc.

Just before I go I'd just like to say I have been reading the forum for the last day or two (mostly about the Etape) and have enjoyed it immensely.

You will hear from me soon, I promise!!

This sound familiar! I was in almost the same place this time last year, and had a wonderful time on Sunday! The atmosphere & friendliness will stick with me for ever!

This time last year I'd only ridden a maximum of 20miles, and had only been riding for about 18 months. Last years challenges was to manage 40 miles, so my wife & i did one of the BHF rides. All we had were a couple of Giant hybrids, so not the most ideal! Still we did it! And like you bought road bikes on our cycle to work schemes. Then we saw the Etape and said, "got to give it a go!" So we trained and prior to Sunday, the furthest we had ridden was about 60 miles! We are "lucky" as we live in hilly South Yorkshire on the edge of the Peak District, so we "have" to do hills!

Still we managed the Etape, first time at that sort of event & first time at that distance! So our times were "leisurely" to say the least, but we learned so much in the process! I think we learned that we can cycle quicker than we think & now we are going to be working on our techniques to try and speed up!

As a newbie too, I think the one thing that I would have found helpful was knowing a bit more about cycling etiquette! Neither my wife or myself have been in a cycling club, or cycled in a group, so we did quite a bit of chatting to others on the Saturday about what to do and when. This proved very helpful, but it might have been good for the Etape pack to contain a few bullet points for newbies. I'm sure that there were plenty there and I'm sure that the "closed road" were part of the attraction (well they were for us!), and clearly some didn't "keep over" to allow you quick ones past

Anyway, I'm sure you'll love it, and the training & if we can do it, so can you ;-)

bompington

Welcome d4evr - enjoy your bike, the country round Dundee is sheer joy for cycling in pretty much any direction.

Seeing as you're from Dundee I thought you might like to see this pic of my son & daughter :twisted: :twisted:

ravencraig@aol.com

Wallace1492 wrote:

doogee wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

ravencraig@aol.com wrote:

Here goes.....i survived a night at bompingtons cottage....great location..lets keep this our wee secret to the others who stayed Sat night.

i may have won the event on Sunday if it had not been for doogee on the bunk above me cycling in his sleep...all night....squeaky wooden bunks, pain in the ass.....or the bloke above thecrofter snoring like a walrus with a head cold..you know who you are!!!..

bompington....we are all sorry...we all get a bed and you end up on the camp bed...ooops.

the event was great..lots of opinions on the forum re. numbers and start times, road sense etc...

im more of a runner to be fair and cycle to give the knees a rest. i put a time of 4-30 on my entry form and hey ho finished in 4-30. good guess i suppose. im inexperienced as a cyclist in this type of event...hope i didnt P anyone off on the roads on Sunday. used good old common sense on the roads...it does work!!

now if i can only get some sleep prior to next years event....zzzz

Yes, I know who I am!! and apologies.... why did you think my mate was happy to sleep on the bare boards in the kitchen!!

It was YOU!!

I'm pretty sure it was the bloke below me that was restless that night. I blame nerves myself...

i know i may have a slight snore during the night.. it has been mentioned in passing before... though I would like to think of it a gentle rustling of tissue papers, a nice quiet reassuring noise of a man relaxed and asleep in the company of others. I am sure doogee was going through the motions of living up to the promise that his bike offered... practicing his sprinting, overtaking and positioning as he slept...

I was advised it was me snoring, though as you can imagine, I have never heard myself snore, so its just circumstantial ....

Guys, next year I will happily sleep in the conservatory.... that is if I get invited back!!

Dear Wallace 1492.......the gatehouse at the road end is probably far enough away.......and Doogee, u kept talking about Lance during the night...who is he!!

d4evr

bompington wrote:

Welcome d4evr - enjoy your bike, the country round Dundee is sheer joy for cycling in pretty much any direction.

Seeing as you're from Dundee I thought you might like to see this pic of my son & daughter :twisted: :twisted:

Cheers bompington, thanks for the welcome.

There was a time when that picture would have really really bothered me, after just hitting the big 40 I reckon I must have mellowed somewhat. It still bothers me dont get me wrong just not near as much.

Looks like the kids had a great time, Great Stuff!

:shock: Did I really say that?


Thanks again for the welcome!!

ravencraig@aol.com

bompington wrote:

Welcome d4evr - enjoy your bike, the country round Dundee is sheer joy for cycling in pretty much any direction.

Seeing as you're from Dundee I thought you might like to see this pic of my son & daughter :twisted: :twisted:

at least your chidren will be able to celebrate UTDs next cup win with some alcohol!!!

cheap shot i know

thecrofter

ravencraig@aol.com wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

doogee wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

ravencraig@aol.com wrote:

Here goes.....i survived a night at bompingtons cottage....great location..lets keep this our wee secret to the others who stayed Sat night.

i may have won the event on Sunday if it had not been for doogee on the bunk above me cycling in his sleep...all night....squeaky wooden bunks, pain in the ass.....or the bloke above thecrofter snoring like a walrus with a head cold..you know who you are!!!..

bompington....we are all sorry...we all get a bed and you end up on the camp bed...ooops.

the event was great..lots of opinions on the forum re. numbers and start times, road sense etc...

im more of a runner to be fair and cycle to give the knees a rest. i put a time of 4-30 on my entry form and hey ho finished in 4-30. good guess i suppose. im inexperienced as a cyclist in this type of event...hope i didnt P anyone off on the roads on Sunday. used good old common sense on the roads...it does work!!

now if i can only get some sleep prior to next years event....zzzz

Yes, I know who I am!! and apologies.... why did you think my mate was happy to sleep on the bare boards in the kitchen!!

It was YOU!!

I'm pretty sure it was the bloke below me that was restless that night. I blame nerves myself...

i know i may have a slight snore during the night.. it has been mentioned in passing before... though I would like to think of it a gentle rustling of tissue papers, a nice quiet reassuring noise of a man relaxed and asleep in the company of others. I am sure doogee was going through the motions of living up to the promise that his bike offered... practicing his sprinting, overtaking and positioning as he slept...

I was advised it was me snoring, though as you can imagine, I have never heard myself snore, so its just circumstantial ....

Guys, next year I will happily sleep in the conservatory.... that is if I get invited back!!

Dear Wallace 1492.......the gatehouse at the road end is probably far enough away.......and Doogee, u kept talking about Lance during the night...who is he!!

To be fair the snoring didn't bother me much. None of you have met my wife,have you.

daviesee

d4evr wrote:

First of all Hello there, newbie to this site and newish to cycling and have begun to commute to work and back obviously(16miles round trip) after getting a Bianchi on the Cycle to Work Scheme.

I have always been a fan of cycling and a supporter of the Etape Caledonia and since I recently bought a bike for my commute and want to get fitter/lighter I have decided to set myself a goal, next years Etape.

So thats what I did, I entered yesterday and I am already excited about it, if a little nervous.
All I have to do now is get the miles in I suppose(gulp).

Just one word of warning though I will no doubt become a huge pain in the ar$e on here looking for all kinds of info,tips and advice on training,kit,food etc etc.

Just before I go I'd just like to say I have been reading the forum for the last day or two (mostly about the Etape) and have enjoyed it immensely.

You will hear from me soon, I promise!!

Hi, and welcome.
The main advice I can give is to find a club and go out with them.
Seriously, it is very important and i don't mean that from a superior point of view.
The first time I went out with a club, riding in a group shot my nerves to pieces.
I am now comfortable with it and that is where you want to be.

doogee

ravencraig@aol.com wrote:

Dear Wallace 1492.......the gatehouse at the road end is probably far enough away.......and Doogee, u kept talking about Lance during the night...who is he!!

No idea, I don't know any Lances... :P

Apologies if I kept you awake but I was obviously just trying to visualise that winning time... :twisted: I had a bike to justify after all... :!:

BlueScot

I'm another Sportive novice who found the Etape thoroughly enjoyable - much more enjoyable than my training run on the course two weeks earlier in the rain. Not a great time, a bit over five hours, as I was going at my other half's pace (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). But a credible 910th on KoTM. Passing so many people going up the hill was a great confidence boost!
Maybe it was because I was so far back in the group, but I was amazed by the number of people walking up the big hill, even guys who looked like "proper" cyclists.
Apart from a little dangerous weaving, I didn't see too much bad behaviour, but I have one minor gripe. By the time I got to most of the "feed stations" they should have been renamed "drink stations". All you sub-5 hour cyclists are probably unaware of the food issues for the later cyclists, but I suppose it's a minor problem. Next year I'll take more food with me.

robmurr2000

This event exceeded all my expectations!! I have done a few sportives before but all down here in the south of England and I will def be back to beat my overall time of 4:41(used all the stops) and kotm time of 26m 20s. Weather turned out to be nice and I really liked the experience of riding in a bunch,although there were a few nervy moments from people not looking over their shoulders and so on!! The atmosphere got the adrenalin pumping and it was great to see the locals out encouraging us,guess I'm really just echoing what everyone else said.Special mention of thanks to Rob the Irish Dundee Utd fan for the coffee at the start.
Everyone else has done it so......
http://www.sportcam.net/CompetitorDetai ... 306+&Name=

moto1

I was one of the motorcycle marshals on the Etape this year. From our point of view, it went off extremely well (compared to last year!)
I'm also a cyclist (did the Fred Whitton a couple of weeks ago) so have a keen interest in all things two wheeled.

Our main issues on the day were riders who were unable to mend their own punctures and other minor mechanicals. I helped at least two who had bought a pump and repair kit the day before then realised they didn't know how to actually use them :oops:

We had a few crashes - my main customer was a guy coming off Schiehallion who touched wheels, and ended up in the heather about 20 feet from the road. He only had scratches to his legs - extremely lucky. He carried on once the Mavic moto had issued him a nice new front Ksyrium.

The other issue was litter. As has been mentioned before, how hard is it to put gels wrappers back in your pocket?

Anyway, a great day and fantastic event to be involved in. I might even cycle it next year

Moto

ravencraig@aol.com

thecrofter wrote:

ravencraig@aol.com wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

doogee wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

ravencraig@aol.com wrote:

Here goes.....i survived a night at bompingtons cottage....great location..lets keep this our wee secret to the others who stayed Sat night.

i may have won the event on Sunday if it had not been for doogee on the bunk above me cycling in his sleep...all night....squeaky wooden bunks, pain in the ass.....or the bloke above thecrofter snoring like a walrus with a head cold..you know who you are!!!..

bompington....we are all sorry...we all get a bed and you end up on the camp bed...ooops.

the event was great..lots of opinions on the forum re. numbers and start times, road sense etc...

im more of a runner to be fair and cycle to give the knees a rest. i put a time of 4-30 on my entry form and hey ho finished in 4-30. good guess i suppose. im inexperienced as a cyclist in this type of event...hope i didnt P anyone off on the roads on Sunday. used good old common sense on the roads...it does work!!

now if i can only get some sleep prior to next years event....zzzz

Yes, I know who I am!! and apologies.... why did you think my mate was happy to sleep on the bare boards in the kitchen!!

It was YOU!!

I'm pretty sure it was the bloke below me that was restless that night. I blame nerves myself...

i know i may have a slight snore during the night.. it has been mentioned in passing before... though I would like to think of it a gentle rustling of tissue papers, a nice quiet reassuring noise of a man relaxed and asleep in the company of others. I am sure doogee was going through the motions of living up to the promise that his bike offered... practicing his sprinting, overtaking and positioning as he slept...

I was advised it was me snoring, though as you can imagine, I have never heard myself snore, so its just circumstantial ....

Guys, next year I will happily sleep in the conservatory.... that is if I get invited back!!

Dear Wallace 1492.......the gatehouse at the road end is probably far enough away.......and Doogee, u kept talking about Lance during the night...who is he!!

To be fair the snoring didn't bother me much. None of you have met my wife,have you.

i see you like to remind us all of memorable dates..........if i had to do the same you would have to cut down an e-tree to fit them all in!!!

Wallace1492

My secret weapon of keeping my mate awake all night with my snoring was foiled by him arriving late and kipping in another room. I had hoped he would be heading to the start line bleary eyed and knackered after a night of torture and torment. However, the good news is that although we did not ride together, and never saw each other till after, in the official reults I beat him by 2 seconds.... yes, 2 seconds... Thank gawd it was in my favour as I would have been royally slagged if he got it by that.... Me, I am sure I will never mention it at all!!

(Now where can I get a T Shirt made that says "Frankie says 2 Seconds...." or maybe "Choose Life, Choose 2 Seconds")

Did I mention 2 seconds......

thecrofter

No sign off the video finish yet. Perhaps I should wait awhile, I'll check back in a COUPLE OF SECONDS

daviesee

Some videos are up.
Mine wasn't on the list

Then again, I found my team mate's.
No sound and about 4 seconds of riders crossing the line.

Nothing to get excited about, unless you were first!

thecrofter

Got the link to mine now.........pretty poor, no sound, could be more or less anyone and as you say four seconds. :x

Cliffter1970

thecrofter wrote:

Got the link to mine now.........pretty poor, no sound, could be more or less anyone and as you say four seconds. :x

Well I liked mine, simply because I looked slimmer, hard to focus on the gut when its travelling at 12mph (i was coasting at the end after having chased down some fella in the last 300m)

AndyD2574

Joined up for the Etape next year.

Should be good if I get into the Fred Whitton too coz its the week before the Etape!

rokkala

Was my first time doing the this, and I know some people turn their noses up at paying to ride on roads they can for free, but i think it was entirely worth it.

Locals were really friendly and supportive, organisation was fantastic. Took all of a minute to get registered around about mid-day on Saturday.

I was in one of the last waves away as I had wanted to start with family members, probably a mistake in hindsight as I lost a good amount of time in the run down to the turn at Loch Rannoch trying to get past groups blocking the road etc, but the scenery & weather made up for it.

No sooner was i on the south shore of the Loch when I felt my quads twinging. So I went to stand up to check it out, and sure enough, as soon as i tried to get out the saddle my legs were just seizing up, and kept threatening to do so when seated too.

With Schiehallion approaching i decided it would be wise to stop and try and stretch a bit to alleviate it. So i did that for a few minutes at the 40miles feed station, then gingerly started the KoM split, anxious of my legs going into full cramp.

Was going easy but when it came to that steepest hairpin part the road was edge-to-edge with cyclists going very slow and i had to stand on the pedals to avoid rolling backwards! Was a blessing in disguise though, as when i stood my legs didn't cramp up so i just thought i'd go for it while my legs weren't giving me gyp!

Ended up with a sub-4hour time and top 20 for KoM, so i was happy with it in light of the circumstances! Also managed to crash just before 60miles when i went down on gravel on inside of a hairpin, but got up to a good group for Weem-Logierait which helped me keep the average speed up whilst happy-slapping my legs to try and alleviate the cramp

Great day all in all, the atmosphere and camaraderie that i witnessed was superb!

colinmcp

[quote="moto1"
We had a few crashes - my main customer was a guy coming off Schiehallion who touched wheels, and ended up in the heather about 20 feet from the road. He only had scratches to his legs - extremely lucky. He carried on once the Mavic moto had issued him a nice new front Ksyrium.

Moto[/quote]

That was me! I made it to the finish in about 5 hours 50 after losing about an hour waiting for the Mavic moto - which seemed more like 15 mins cos of the adrenaline from the surprise of flying through the air, seeing bike going over the fence and walking away with scratches. Got a big bruise on knee now where I hit the handlebars on the way over - but got a great story to tell the folks at work. Thanks for help. Bucked wheel pic at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5 ... =665429362

spezial

Did it for the first time this year and found it to be superbly organised and a great route. I'm fairly new to sportives, and riding in groups certainly helps push your speed up having trained on my own for it. Made it round in 4h29, which was about an hour quicker than I expected!

Friendly atmosphere in the bunch and the locals were out in force cheering everyone along which was great to see given the E-tack Caledonia (sorry) last year, looks like all the publicity actually helped boost the event's popularity.

The event organisers send you out a form afterwards to see roughly how much you spent in the local area over the course of your stay if you were travelling from farther afield, and I was shocked how much I estimated me and my girlfriend spent in our 3 night stay in Pitlochry, the local economy must get a real shot in the arm from the event, and for a few road closures on a Sunday morning that looks like a pretty small price to pay.