etape caledonia - king of mountains

Cliffter1970

As someone who came approx 900 places worse in the KoTM (thanks to a truely woefull 31.14) compared to overall placings I''d have to say there were too many hills! :oops: :oops:

I'm aiming to be at least 3 stone lighter for next year, hopefully I'll still improve the power in my legs and lungs and will feel that the hills aren't plentifull enough.

The only plus was the two earlishy climbs saw my pal disappear into the distance and took me a considerable time to claw him back, thought the KoTM only saw him 1 second faster.

themightyw

Just incase anyone misconstrues any comments I've made I think it's absolutely fantastic that people of all ages participate. The more the merrier - 1 year ago I'd never done any kind of event like this.

My comment about always being held up by polka dot wearers was simply an ironic observation that kept me amused as I trundled along the 80 miles.

Personally I saw almost no evidence of poor riding, and everyone I encountered was doing their best to keep out of people's way.

If events like Etape Cal were to become more 'exclusive' then they'd be infinitely poorer for it.
Experienced riders should be better equipped than anyone to avoid hazards / obstacles in their path.

thecrofter

Cliffter1970 wrote:

As someone who came approx 900 places worse in the KoTM (thanks to a truely woefull 31.14) compared to overall placings I''d have to say there were too many hills! :oops: :oops:

I'm aiming to be at least 3 stone lighter for next year, hopefully I'll still improve the power in my legs and lungs and will feel that the hills aren't plentifull enough.

The only plus was the two earlishy climbs saw my pal disappear into the distance and took me a considerable time to claw him back, thought the KoTM only saw him 1 second faster.

Being from Norwich I guess you don't have too many hills to practice on, for us hardy Highland lads they were reasonably minor slopes.

fenski

Firstly I fully accept I'm an anti-social old grump! But all this talk of the right way or the wrong way to ride a sportive reminds me why I tend to give them a wide berth these days - that and the expense.

I much prefer to ride solo or with a friend round Perthshire - I enjoy the peace and quiet and the fact I can get away from the crowds more than anything else. It's a bit like hill-walking - much more enjoyable if you have that sense of isolation.

Having said that I still think it's great that a mass participation event like the Etape raises the profile of cycling and encourages so many people to give it a go.

pedylan

Congratulations all you guys with times well below 4 and half hours. My third time on this event and my slowest time yet due to basically poor training input.

That Logierat section catches people out all the time, this year I and others warned everyone in our group to get in small ring and low gear, one guy didn't buy it and came to a halt on the ramp and fell sideways into the hedge taking the guy behind him with him. The whole section is a big sting in the tail.

I thought the standard of riding was as good as it could be and we should all expect mixed ability from a field this size - events like this get people cycling and beginners have to start a big field event somewhere.

Next year's entry going in now.

Cliffter1970

thecrofter wrote:

Being from Norwich I guess you don't have too many hills to practice on, for us hardy Highland lads they were reasonably minor slopes.

Yeah my hills are similar in the main to the rolling parts of the course, never the less it has spurred me on to consider joining either NABC or VCN both are Norwich based cycling clubs. I certainly enjoyed the atmosphere of cycling in groups and will be doing the event again next year looking to break 4hrs 30 (did 4 hrs 50) and hopefully sub 27mins (did 31.14 ooops) for KoTM, no point in setting impossible targets. Don't think I did too bad for a fat bloke who only rode about 110 miles in the three weeks prior to the Etape.

kfinlay

When I got to the bottom of Logierait, I had held back from the group in front to get a bit of space as I knew how tight the road got and didn't have time to get in front. Still felt strong and just as I was turning one spectator shouted "Go on give it some welly!" So I hammered up the ramp fast as I could then carried on to the other steep bits but had to slow right down as there was a bunch going up really slow and hardly any space to pass. By the top of the last climb I was at the front, I had a quick look down to check my gears to find I was in the big ring on the front and in the middle at the back!
Maybe my legs are a bit better than I think - will have to test them more on the Trossachs Tonne I think