Verenti Cornwall Tor 2010

must-tri-harder

Only a week away now, fingers crossed for good weather and fair winds, any other forum members having a crack at this new 2010 route ?

I'm signed up for the 103 miles and as long as the weather is something like last year really looking forward to it, 6 hours ish ought to do it, depending on how those 20%+ hills treat me over the course of the day ..

rjh299

Yeah i'm signed up for 103 miler. Did the 73 mile route backwards the other week. Proper steep hills. Been off the bike during winter and now layed up because of football injury that hopefully will clear up soon. So a finish will be my target, fingers crossed!!!

Big Dave

I'm having a crack at the shortest route. First time at trying anything like a sportive and my fitness is nowhere near what it should be (lets just say I'm a tad above my ideal weight). Trying to shake an annoying virus at the moment but should be alright for Sunday.

If you see a portly fella spinning his way up the hills on a Surly Cross Check that'll be me!

mamba80

Also hope to do the 103 option, Metcheck say weather should be ok
2nd half looks quite fast compared to last years route.
have a bet that i can finish this one before my mate gets round the 44mile one...
i could be buying the beers for this

must-tri-harder

yeah the bit from Bodmin up to Widemouth Bay isnt exactly flat is it, likewise climbing out of Looe or Lostwithiel, but the mid section down to Looe shouldnt be too arduous, hopefully it won't be very windy or at least blowing in a helpful direction (does it ever?)

Some of the decents are a bit hairy with greasy/leafy damp roads, hopefully it will be dry so facing those in a group will be a little safer.

I may have new wheels by the weekend in which case you wont be able to miss the flash new HED's, i'm sure they'll make me so much quicker .. worth every penny .. do i sound like i'm trying to still convince myself.

i saw actual bones on the climb up through st endellion two weeks ago .. someone (or something) obviously couldn't make it to the top.

patchy

This'll be my first century ride. I can't f*cking wait.

must-tri-harder

well said patchy, it's only my second and I am equally looking forward to it.

the weather is looking good at the minute.

mamba80

Just MemoryMapped the route and it comes out with 3800m of climbing, most of it upto Widemouth, quite ahilly section between launceston and Liskeard as well....just recalculating my times :oops:

patchy

isn't there a hill near Widemouth which is 35% at one point? According to the video on their website there is anyway. Will be digging extra deep for that one, methinks.

must-tri-harder

i think we went down that 35% hill last year, doing it in the other direction this year, could be interesting. i suspect i'll be wishing i had more to play with than 53/39 - 11/28

ugo.santalucia

It looks like a tought course with some seriously evil gradients (Millook above all).

Anything under 7 hours would be good going. Six hours flat seems a bit difficult to achieve, in the absence of long flat sections.

rjh299

Milook's not that bad on it's own really. It's the sheer number of extremely steep hills that kill your legs. 7 hours is a good time for this course I reckon, partly due to slow descents because on narrow, slippery roads.

Recruit18

Really looking forward to this as its my first sportive. I was down to do the shortest 44m route but as my training has gone quite well I'm considering attempting the medium 73m route. The longest training ride I've done so far is 60m over rolling terain but I'm not used to the amount of climbing which the Cornwall Tor has.

Would people advise I push myself or play it safe? I did the 'Taste the Tor' 36m ride with Kilotogo last month and felt ok after that. Also the weather forecast is concerning me with rain and a fair breeze forecast.

mamba80

I think you should aim for the 73 and then at the turn off point make your mind up there. weather looks shite but then a couple of days ago "they" said it would be sunny so maybe it will change again?

must-tri-harder

it aint very sunny today here in bodmin i suspect this weather will linger until sunday but it may blow through and brighten up, fingers crossed for that.

either way i wont be beaten, unless its blowing a force 9 gale i'm going for it, preferably under 6.5 hours but we'll see about that .. i suspect my tapering should have started before last night.

Recruit18

mamba80 wrote:

I think you should aim for the 73 and then at the turn off point make your mind up there. weather looks shite but then a couple of days ago "they" said it would be sunny so maybe it will change again?

Good idea, thanks. Think the route splits about Boscastle after the first feed station so should have a good idea of how I'm feeling.

Good luck to all participating.

paultrueman

Im in two minds about this ride, booked in for the 103, but i just cant be dealing with a 8 hour slog in the forecasted wind and rain, roads will be slippey going up and down the hills, just not a great way to start the season.....I could just go out for a nice long ride in teh sun thats forcasted tomorrow......but i know if i miss the ride, i will kick myself if the weather cheers up for sunday

So question is should I just mtfu and ride sunday or enjoy the good weather focasted tomorrow and go out for a nice long ride down to the devon coast.

Paul

TimeTrialTomo

im signed up for the 40 as i have never really got anu experience on road races, got any tips.
cheers

must-tri-harder

paultrueman wrote:

Im in two minds about this ride, booked in for the 103, but i just cant be dealing with a 8 hour slog in the forecasted wind and rain, roads will be slippey going up and down the hills, just not a great way to start the season.....I could just go out for a nice long ride in teh sun thats forcasted tomorrow......but i know if i miss the ride, i will kick myself if the weather cheers up for sunday

So question is should I just mtfu and ride sunday or enjoy the good weather focasted tomorrow and go out for a nice long ride down to the devon coast.

Paul

i share your pain here, blue skies in bodmin right now (ok an hour ago) and saturday could be lovely, who knows what sunday will bring, it could well be fine also.

must-tri-harder

TimeTrialTomo wrote:

im signed up for the 40 as i have never really got anu experience on road races, got any tips.
cheers

its not a race firstly, there are no prizes, just enjoy it. bring some backup food and be prepared .. you'll be fine, its great to out number the traffic with bikes and remember you're around like minded people so any problems and someone will help you out.

Erudin

Good luck everyone for tomorrow. I rode out to Crackington Haven today and followed the route signs which are up now to Widemouth bay, the 30/35% hills were tough even with my low 30/28 bailout gears. The views are spectacular at the top though and the country lanes were in good repair.

must-tri-harder

yeah i see the bright PINK signs have appeared all over the place, lovely evening here, lets hope its ok in the morning. good luck to all taking part. i just registered and picked up number/timing chip, they were just unloading 25 crates of bananas, it was in fact a full van load of them !?

ugo.santalucia

so, how was it?

rjh299

ugo.santalucia wrote:

so, how was it?

Very hard! The weather was extremely changeable. Heavy rain, drizzle, wind, sunshine.
Definitely my hardest day on a bike. Pleased to have done it though.

Cornish-J

woke up and saw it was a bit drizzley, decided not to bother. Hope all the people that didnt wimp out enjoyed their day! :P

must-tri-harder

hardest day on the bike of my life, that climb out of lostwithiel to finish at 100 miles was almost a bridge too far. got round in 7:25 and i wasnt hanging about, fookin mental stuff some of those climbs/descents, especially with wet roads and repeat 30% gradients.

i managed to park myself in one nice lush green hedge whilst trying to go round an off camber wet corner, great fun, looked liked i'd applied camo to the bike when i extracated myself from the hedge.

paultrueman

Im well pleased i bothered now, what a cracking ride, first 50 miles were very tough, I eased off a little to try and save some energy for the second half, which i slightly regret now as the second half of the ride was a whole lot easier. the hill out of lostwithiel was a monster. have to admit walking from about 3/4 of the way up it!

MTH, 7.25, thats a cracking time, i looked at my clock at 100 miles and that said 7.30, it then took me another 40 minutes to do the last 5 miles.

Their were some firsts on this ride......getting off to walk DOWN the hills, come on....i'd take my chances with rubber tyres over slippery cleats anyday.

also see a few offs, Hope the guys and girls involved are all ok!

next stop...the dartmoor classic

mamba80

Very nice day out, 2 things that made it for were the 34/27 gearing and the GORE Oxygen jacket i got on friday, stayed dry and not too sweaty, nice to get out of it at liskeard though!
Personally found the decents fine, Milook was ok as well, BUT the final hill ot of Losthwiel was amazing, there r obviously some sick people in Kilotogo!
Ride time was 6.20 and total 6.40ish so well pleased

paultrueman

I think also it was the third pasty i scoffed that may of slowed me down!!

Mamba you are a beast!! thats a very impressive time.

paultrueman

anyone know where you can find results and photos?

Paul

Toby_W

I've done it every year so far and was worried it might not be as hard this year. Silly silly me. As someone said that hill at 100!
Solo ride time 6.22 total 6.35 with stops. Was a bit worried about my fitness so eased myself up the early hills and was then able to power the flats and finish in comfort with a smile which was lovely.
Loved the sausage rolls.

Polar made it 2957 m of climbing and 104.8 miles but I've just bought new wheels so could be off.

Well done to the guy who span his bike through 180 degrees on the greasy hill decent, not for spinning it but for staying on it!!

Cheers

Toby