Princess Risborough Sportive 25th May

MRadd

Well done to all those who braved the conditions today!

I know it was rather crap for the weather... But at least it warmed near the end.

I wasn't actually doing the event... but I was one of the service vehicles that came to the needs of soooo many people! Well done to those that persevered. Apologies to those that we missed with the servicing, we did our best!

APIII

I'd planned to do the long route, but the combination of torrential rain and an early puncture (only packed one tube, doh) made the decision to switch to the short route an easy one. My mate perservered with the long route though, but he is from the north

Brakeless

I did the long route. I had two punctures in the first thirty miles which used up my inner tubes. A Third puncture at 50 miles had me waiting half an hour for the service car but I then got to the end with no further mishaps.. I thought some of the roads were too poor to use, the only clear bits were 'tyre tracks' with a mound of flint down the middle of the road. The only option for overtaking was to cross this mound! There's enough 'clean' B roads and quiet lanes in this area that would have made for a much better day out.

onthefells

Brakeless, as someone who lives on the route and does all his cycling in the area I can confirm that the only roads that don't get loads of grit, flints etc on them when it rains heavy are the big main roads that you don't really want to be doing a sportive on. Unfortunately thats the area, there's loads of farms meaning lots of crap gets dragged on the road by tractors etc and lots of the minor roads are difficult to get 2 cars past on so you have cars going on the verges dragging more rubbish on the road.

I have nothing to do with the event and wd have done it but have had a knee op and unfortunately for everyone last night and today is the first time its rained in 3 weeks round here!!

Jaeger

Did the long route and was cooked by the end! Not sure what could be done about the roads, they were pretty poor but i think that is inevitable at the moment.

Had 2 p*nct*res within 2 miles of each other, which upset the 'rhythm'. Was on for a decent time until then. I only took one tube but took some glueless patches too and am everso glad i did!

Again, shame about the rain. My waterproof socks only succeeded in keeping the rain that had run down my legs inside them. After an hour every pedal was met with a loud squelch! :roll:

pllb

I was down for the mid-route but missed a turn and ended up following the long route, 78 miles all in. No unscheduled deflations thankfully, a combination of Vittoria Rubino Pro Slicks 25s and 120 psi keeps the flints out I find. I thought the roads were pretty standard for the Chilterns. Was my first sportive and I finsihed in 5hrs with an average of 15mph so was happy with that. The worst bit was having wet feet which went numb and only warmed up at second feed stop. All in all a good day out. Wll done to all who finished.

ugo.santalucia

I also cycle in the area and flint on the lanes is a recurrent problem.

We basically ride "winter" tyres all year round. With a pair of Gatorskin in good conditions and a check for flint embebbed in the rubber before every ride, most punctures can be avoided.

That said, the Princes Risborough Sportive has selected the lanes in worst conditions. When I did it two years ago it was the same... a puncture festival.

patchy

hmmm. not feeling so bad that I overslept and missed the start now...

k1ng_of_england

The weather certainly was apalling at the start. Typical, it was so nice last week!
There's some photos on the http://www.mycyclingphotos.com site.

Jaeger

k1ng_of_england wrote:

There's some photos on the http://www.mycyclingphotos.com site.

Ha, whatdya know - photo 2!

ianglaurie

A life threatening man cold meant I only managed the short course but with the conditions was pretty glad I had chosen that. I hardly ever get punctures and managed 2 in short succession. Almost everyone that went past checked if I was ok and after the second tube went someone gave me a spare so thanks a million whoever you are!
As an ex local boy I kind of wish the Risborough was later in the season as the roads are so much better when they have dried out a bit and been patched...

parishair

I had a tyre ripped during a puncture incident and had to abandon the long route half way through. 6 Punctures, 3 tubes, one patched twice and then patching the tyre inner wall to get me home. Nice

disgruntledgoat

Jaeger wrote:

k1ng_of_england wrote:

There's some photos on the http://www.mycyclingphotos.com site.

Ha, whatdya know - photo 2!

Think I went through before he started snapping... no punctures either, couple of sketchy moments on tubs pumped to125psi though. I had to stop and let some air out of them at the 2nd feed!

Did 4:28 for the long route, well happy with that. Anybody know when the results go up?

sunburntknees

Lucky you!

I stayed puncture free too but my buddy flatted twice. Obviously, I had to wait and watch him fix them!

Really was a puncture party though. On some stretches there were guys mending flats every 150m. I'm not really sure what the organisers could have done about it though. Presumably they know the roads and have run events round there before?

Next year's event sponsored by Stan's 'No Flats'???

MRadd

+1 for sponsering by Stans!

sunburntknees

sunburntknees wrote:

Lucky you!

I stayed puncture free too but my buddy flatted twice. Obviously, I had to wait and watch him fix them!

Really was a puncture party though. On some stretches there were guys mending flats every 150m. I'm not really sure what the organisers could have done about it though. Presumably they know the roads and have run events round there before?

Next year's event sponsored by Stan's 'No Flats'???

Whoops!

I'm getting my tubeless tyre brands mixed-up! I meant 'no tubes'! :oops: