Wrynose or Bust - This Sunday

Variance

Hi all

Is anyone on here doing this?

2 Main routes 112 miles Including Wrynose pass and a 60 mile route

Im in for the 60 mile option as I have a 100 mile charity ride from Kendal to Newcastle 6 days later!

Looking forward to this, hopefully the weather will be good

Paul

clanton

Hoping to do this but am struggling to shake off a lurgy :-(

Garz

Im doing this, the 112 miler though. Definitely hoping for that good weather!

Variance

Well, i had what i thought was a minor "off" on Sunday aft. Turns out the frame is damged beyond repair!!!

it's insured but means Im struggling to get a bike for Sunday

Variance

Well, the weather wasnt great, but it was dry enough. I was happy with my time of just over 4 hrs for the 60 miles. Did anyone else do this?

d198594t

Yip, I did the 60 miler in 4:05. Pretty good event. Well run & organised with a good route & a HUGE amount of hot pasta and a brew at the end. I'm sure I'll be signing up for next year too.

Garz

Done the 112, crap weather till near the end for us. Descending wrynose was dangerous, my buddy came off and this morning docs said he had mild concussion and a fractured rib!

We still managed it in 8 hours 45 as I shepherded the stubborn mule back. Was good event but there was a tougher hill after wrynose around the 75mile mark.

neil3072

did the 60 miler, struggle a bit (well a lot really) and finished in 5.45.
Really great day out though, and for a first time run sportive, absolutely superb. Good route, well signed, marshalls where needed and very very good hot food and drink at the end.
The organisers should be congratulated for what they came up with.
Garz, if you think wryonse was dangerous to descend, did you try the 20% descent into witherslack. That was scary, there were people walking down here.
I think special kudos shopuld go to the chap whose saddle broke, who then rode 20 odd miles back to the start stood up, with nothing but a seatpost below him
A great ride, will be back next year

clanton

Finished the 112, also came off on Wrynose - on the very last corner! Low speed, just lost the back wheel unexpectedly. Might have been diesel? No harm done apart from some road rash and, more seriously, the new bar tape I put on last week!

Weather was "interesting" and made it even tougher. By afternoon though it was very pleasant and I could enjoy the excellent post ride pasta in the sun!

Wrynose the "easy" way was not as tough as I'd expected.

Agree the organisation was good. Lots of feed stations and far and away the friendliest and most supportive marshals I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Could have had more signs though, every turn was adequately signed but long sections in between without a sign to confirm you were still on course. Not helped by the fact that a few members of the public decided to shift a few signs!

Overall really enjoyed the eventand will hopefully fit it in next year again.

shortyman

I did the 60 as it was my first sportive. Got round in 4:14 and didn't walk/fall off so feeling pleased with self.

Thought everything was well organised although had a head scratching moment at Meathop Hall.

Worst bit (other than the headwind) was the showers. Could have brewed tea with the water!

Agent57

I did the 60-miler as well (pic). Perfect weather for it, since we didn't venture too far into the grim depths of Cumbria. Time was 4:10 (actual rolling time of 4:00 dead).

That descent near Witherslack was a bit hairy; steep, tight bends, damp and mossy. I'm glad I had my brakes well covered, or I'd have overshot the first left-hander. Part-way down we passed a guy whose saddle had come off. He was walking around, looking for a bolt I think. Unfortunately, not the sort of spares I carry, so had nothing to offer. We did tell the people at the 20/40 mile dibber station, as that was about all we could do.

In the end, I think the rode the last 25 miles or so standing up - we saw him at Halton TC, so he definitely made it back OK.

Edit: Ah, I see neil3072 has already mentioned him. I should read all the posts before leaping in with mine.

StuWalker

Re-iterate the comments of most of the posts on this topic: a very well run event and a generally well selected route, just a shame about the rain lingering in Cumbria for most of the day: I had two or three hours of rain on and off despite the weather being OK at the start.
I liked the route through the Lake District, being a local I knew what to expect - the wet roads turned some tricky descents into treacherous ones unless taken very carefully. I suppose the organisers could reverse the direction of the Lake District loop, which would make the descents easier, but it would make the climbs a LOT harder - so no easy solution.
I'd like to thank a couple of Manchester Wheelers who I teamed up with on the last dozen miles who made the headwind more bearable! Personally I was very pleased with my time of 6:34 which augurs well for the Fred Whitton which I was using this as a warm-up for, where I'd like to do 7hr if possible. I see you all a week on Sunday - with sunny weather I hope!!!

Garz

neil3072 wrote:

Garz, if you think wryonse was dangerous to descend, did you try the 20% descent into witherslack. That was scary, there were people walking down here.
A great ride, will be back next year

Yes that was fairly dodgy but was not raining and didn't have motor vehicles so didn't seem as bad.

Agree with the marshalls and the event being friendly. My buddy even got a mention in the email follow up about his 10kg rucksack lol.

craigio

I also got a mention in the email report from the organisers - I was the fellow who started heading towards Barrow! Somehow either I missed a sign or as I suspect a sign was moved enroute to the second dibber station. I was first through the stations so had no one to follow and the rain had turned my map to mush so was useless.

In the end I found the return leg and followed that back to the 1st dibber and then went on my own sportive after that. STill managed 80 miles so a decent days riding - post ride food that was laid on was superb.

Definately will be entering again next year. Just hope they improve the signage (signs were sparse and several junctions unsigned) and have an outrider checking signage.
And of course provide the little route map in a laminated form.

Agent57

craigio wrote:

And of course provide the little route map in a laminated form.

You just needed a little sandwich or freezer bag, like I stuffed mine into (along with my phone).

Garz

The cardboard numbers weren't so good either..

mididoctors

I was out and saw you lot..was visiting my folks...you were unlucky as it was about the worse day of the week...

havinitlarge

StuWalker wrote:

Re-iterate the comments of most of the posts on this topic: a very well run event and a generally well selected route, just a shame about the rain lingering in Cumbria for most of the day: I had two or three hours of rain on and off despite the weather being OK at the start.
I liked the route through the Lake District, being a local I knew what to expect - the wet roads turned some tricky descents into treacherous ones unless taken very carefully. I suppose the organisers could reverse the direction of the Lake District loop, which would make the descents easier, but it would make the climbs a LOT harder - so no easy solution.
I'd like to thank a couple of Manchester Wheelers who I teamed up with on the last dozen miles who made the headwind more bearable! Personally I was very pleased with my time of 6:34 which augurs well for the Fred Whitton which I was using this as a warm-up for, where I'd like to do 7hr if possible. I see you all a week on Sunday - with sunny weather I hope!!!

i was one of the group stopped to have a pitstop before the checkpoint
we were only a few secs behind you then when we arrived at corner we had a couple of roads to choose from
picked the wrong one and then you were gone
paul

StuWalker

havinitlarge wrote:

StuWalker wrote:

Re-iterate the comments of most of the posts on this topic: a very well run event and a generally well selected route, just a shame about the rain lingering in Cumbria for most of the day: I had two or three hours of rain on and off despite the weather being OK at the start.
I liked the route through the Lake District, being a local I knew what to expect - the wet roads turned some tricky descents into treacherous ones unless taken very carefully. I suppose the organisers could reverse the direction of the Lake District loop, which would make the descents easier, but it would make the climbs a LOT harder - so no easy solution.
I'd like to thank a couple of Manchester Wheelers who I teamed up with on the last dozen miles who made the headwind more bearable! Personally I was very pleased with my time of 6:34 which augurs well for the Fred Whitton which I was using this as a warm-up for, where I'd like to do 7hr if possible. I see you all a week on Sunday - with sunny weather I hope!!!

i was one of the group stopped to have a pitstop before the checkpoint
we were only a few secs behind you then when we arrived at corner we had a couple of roads to choose from
picked the wrong one and then you were gone
paul

Paul - whereabouts / which checkpoint was this (I passed quite a lot of groups!) I might remember you better! Sorry to hear about the navigational glitch.

Cheers Stuart

havinitlarge

StuWalker wrote:

havinitlarge wrote:

StuWalker wrote:

Re-iterate the comments of most of the posts on this topic: a very well run event and a generally well selected route, just a shame about the rain lingering in Cumbria for most of the day: I had two or three hours of rain on and off despite the weather being OK at the start.
I liked the route through the Lake District, being a local I knew what to expect - the wet roads turned some tricky descents into treacherous ones unless taken very carefully. I suppose the organisers could reverse the direction of the Lake District loop, which would make the descents easier, but it would make the climbs a LOT harder - so no easy solution.
I'd like to thank a couple of Manchester Wheelers who I teamed up with on the last dozen miles who made the headwind more bearable! Personally I was very pleased with my time of 6:34 which augurs well for the Fred Whitton which I was using this as a warm-up for, where I'd like to do 7hr if possible. I see you all a week on Sunday - with sunny weather I hope!!!

i was one of the group stopped to have a pitstop before the checkpoint
we were only a few secs behind you then when we arrived at corner we had a couple of roads to choose from
picked the wrong one and then you were gone
paul

Paul - whereabouts / which checkpoint was this (I passed quite a lot of groups!) I might remember you better! Sorry to hear about the navigational glitch.
it was the checkpoint nr levens on the way out same one we stopped at on way back
there were 3 of us
saw you looking behind at us
did you set off one of the last we did not see anyone for a whlie we wereooff after 8-45
paul

Cheers Stuart

StuWalker

Paul - whereabouts / which checkpoint was this (I passed quite a lot of groups!) I might remember you better! Sorry to hear about the navigational glitch.

it was the checkpoint nr levens on the way out same one we stopped at on way back
there were 3 of us saw you looking behind at us did you set off one of the last we did not see anyone for a whlie we wereooff after 8-45
paul

Paul - yes I remember, I was having an energy bar just after the Levens dibber station and was looking to see if you were catching with the potential of maybe sharing the effort, however you all disappeared after the the caravan site entrance at Meathop. In retrospect, I can see what happened: there was a fork in the road without an event marker - one to the left uphill one to the right downhill. If you took the right and then went right again you would end up off the course back on the A590. I knew the route, it being a regular club run route for me, so the significance of the missing sign didn't click till later.

On your other question. I set off at 8:55, looking at the weather in Barrow when leaving home it looked like the later I started the less likely I was to be soaked - unfortunately the rain was still too slow to clear from the Lakes!

Hope the navigational problems didn't spoil things for you.

Cheers Stuart

havinitlarge

no .we had a great day stu
did the cumbrian killer last sun 2 of us
that was quite a bit harder

StuWalker

havinitlarge wrote:

no .we had a great day stu
did the cumbrian killer last sun 2 of us
that was quite a bit harder

Hope you had a good one. Did the Killer last year when it was run in September, but didn't bother this time as it was too close to the Fred Whitton to ride "full on". I hear they chopped off the flat bits at each end by starting at Milnthorpe rather than Silverdale. Plenty of hills in the middle though - I thought that part of it was really good, taking in a number of climbs people out of the area wouldn't think of trying, so it's one like to support in future - but not the week before the FW!!