Easter 4 Day

shockedsoshocked

Anyone else riding?

Managed to sneak in on a team entry, looking at the profile and weather could be an interesting race!

mpg

Have not ridden this race for a few [6?] years, don't road race any more though still ride a few TTs to try to keep fit.
The weather at this time of year can be interesting as you say, i have ridden on days when it has been hot & sunny to freezing with horizontal sleet & snow. Just be prepared for any kind of conditions, take plenty of warm layers to wear during & after each stage. Also have something ready to eat & drink as soon as you get back to the HQ.

Worst 4 day i ever raced was in the mid 90s, can't remember the exact year. Stage 1, 78 mile stage [6 laps of Ingoe circuit] + a 6 miles each way ride from the HQ to the circuit, 90 miles in all, poured with rain & sleet the whole way, flooded roads the lot, never felt warm at any point during that 90 miles. Saturday, boiling hot sunshine. Sunday & Monday, same as Friday, lovely.

Let us know how you get on

Good luck

m

celbianchi

Good luck with it Luke.
Not done the 4 day for 3 years. I have decided it is too early in the season for me to be competitive. If I'd done it this season it would have been my first RR of the season as was away for the earlier pursuits. It's too hard a race to go into without some racing (for me anyway).

Echo the above - if you get dropped on an early stage (not saying you will mind you) remember not to kill yourself riding solo to limit you losses as you have 3 more stages, though I believe there is a time limit this year but that should not be too much of an issue at 30 mins.

Also - I guess this is your first stage race, err on the sid eof caution and try not to do too much in stages one and two.

Enjoy.

shockedsoshocked

celbianchi wrote:

Good luck with it Luke.
Not done the 4 day for 3 years. I have decided it is too early in the season for me to be competitive. If I'd done it this season it would have been my first RR of the season as was away for the earlier pursuits. It's too hard a race to go into without some racing (for me anyway).

Echo the above - if you get dropped on an early stage (not saying you will mind you) remember not to kill yourself riding solo to limit you losses as you have 3 more stages, though I believe there is a time limit this year but that should not be too much of an issue at 30 mins.

Also - I guess this is your first stage race, err on the sid eof caution and try not to do too much in stages one and two.

Enjoy.

I'm in the same boat, my preparation hasn't gone quite to plan but I'm hoping to get round in the bunch. Also hoping I'll hit some form afterwards! Some of the big hitters I ride with were saying I'm looking good so I'm feeling a little bit more confident (whether it works out that way in the racing I don't know!) There'll be no heroics from me anyway.

First stage race, bound to be an eye opener! Will keep you posted 8)

celbianchi

good stuff.
I'm poncing about doing a couple of spoco TT's (one Sat, one Sunday). Start road racing again the following weekend.

Enjoy is as much as you can. Remember Bilsmoor in the Ballantyne? 4 day goes over it a bit quicker again!

shockedsoshocked

I remember it in the Ballantyne and the Divs! 7 times round that circuit, ooof.

shockedsoshocked

Today wasn't too bad, perched myself pretty firmly in the middle of the bunch and stayed there. Had a cheeky nap in the car back and my legs are feeling decent so overall happy with today. Tomorrow and sunday appear to be the more testing stages so I'll see how things pan out. Got some tips from the older lads in the group, namely sit on the leaders and you might just end up in a break! Don't know about that like haha.

Few bad crashes though, a team mate of mine came down pretty hard when in a small break trying to get onto the leaders. Rolled in about 20 mins down so he's a bit annoyed to say he least.

celbianchi

Good work Luke. Sunday over the Ryals will be a bit grippy, Bilsmoor and Gibbet have been scrapped tomorrow haven't they?
Hang on in there.

shockedsoshocked

I don't know what's happening tomorrow but it doesn't look that way. The circuit goes over some of the same roads except it goes a little further north past
Netherwitton/Nunnykirk/Coldrife, finishing up Middleton Bank again.

shockedsoshocked

Hard day today. Circuit was just constant sharp climbs and drags. Went off the back on the first lap and got into a small bunch. Felt OK the rest of the race but it pissed it down after that, was pretty cold by the time I finished. Sat in the strip shivering and unable to take my overshoes off :shock:

Tomorrow supposed to be a nicer day though :twisted:

brucey72

I heard that the race has been cancelled due to some pretty bad crashes and the conditions of the road surface...........can anyone confirm this as I was going to head out and watch the final stage tomorrow

fastercyclist

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Hard day today. Circuit was just constant sharp climbs and drags. Went off the back on the first lap and got into a small bunch. Felt OK the rest of the race but it pissed it down after that, was pretty cold by the time I finished. Sat in the strip shivering and unable to take my overshoes off :shock:

Tomorrow supposed to be a nicer day though :twisted:

How you doing on the GC ??

shockedsoshocked

fastercyclist wrote:

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Hard day today. Circuit was just constant sharp climbs and drags. Went off the back on the first lap and got into a small bunch. Felt OK the rest of the race but it pissed it down after that, was pretty cold by the time I finished. Sat in the strip shivering and unable to take my overshoes off :shock:

Tomorrow supposed to be a nicer day though :twisted:

How you doing on the GC ??

Shall we say I'm not last

Unfortunately the last 2 stages were cancelled. A few bad crashes yesterday with one lad going to hospital with pretty serious injuries meant the organisers have pulled the plug. With the state of the roads they don't want any more accidents as they can't guarantee rider safety.

fastercyclist

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

fastercyclist wrote:

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Hard day today. Circuit was just constant sharp climbs and drags. Went off the back on the first lap and got into a small bunch. Felt OK the rest of the race but it pissed it down after that, was pretty cold by the time I finished. Sat in the strip shivering and unable to take my overshoes off :shock:

Tomorrow supposed to be a nicer day though :twisted:

How you doing on the GC ??

Shall we say I'm not last

Unfortunately the last 2 stages were cancelled. A few bad crashes yesterday with one lad going to hospital with pretty serious injuries meant the organisers have pulled the plug. With the state of the roads they don't want any more accidents as they can't guarantee rider safety.

Pity but understandable. Shame I was getting interested in following this. Best of luck in the future.

shockedsoshocked

Thanks man, I'll be there next year for sure, hopefully better prepared! Was my first stage race and I would have liked to have gotten round.

Lillywhite

My son went out to watch yesterday and wondered why he couldn't find the race.

More information here:-

http://www.veloriders.co.uk/phpBB2/view ... hp?t=90971

Good blog report from David McIean who was leading on GC when the event was cancelled.

http://forum.errl.org.uk/entry.php?51-T ... the-border