Evans Ride It - Cliddesden (Basingstoke) this Saturday 13th

Shotsaway

Anybody planning on riding this?

It's local for me and it will be interesting to see the route Evans choose. If Evans use the same route as last year, the bit between Ellisfield and Herriard will be interesting as there is a small section that is really muddy/watery at the moment. There is also quite a bit of rain forecast for this week.

For anybody driving down please note that the road (Wood Lane) between Brighton Hill and Cliddesden is closed as they are digging it up.

dubcat

Hi mate - I am still on course to drive down for this This will be my third ride with Evans and my first alone (no Pplum this time - gutted). Kinda scared about doing it alone as riding with others is a great way to keep yourself motivated when you are tired - and i would have definitely have gotten lost on the last ride had i been alone lol.

Anyone wanting to team up with a 39 year old who is relatively new to riding and is out of shape - but who did manage to do the long route at the last evans ride (in epic long time) - please get in touch I plan to start early as I intend to do the long route and this means i will probably be one of the last back!

Dub

p.s. here is link to the event http://www.evanscycles.com/ride-it/clid ... ember-2010

dubcat

Hahha just noticed the weather forecast!!! Sunny on Friday. Sunny on Sunday. Wet on Saturday .. haha.. epic.

delta5

I'm thinking of doing the 25 mile route but it will depend on my work demands (I might be on call) and if I can sort out transport. I'll only know late Thursday or Friday.
Dubcat, good news is BBC weather now shows Saturday as sunny . . . but it's still a few days away so we'll see.

ollie_lucas1985

I've actually pre-registerd this time which is a first for me!!..

Dubcat - What time are you planning on starting and arriving back?

Shotsaway - Is there a diversion clealy labled? I will be coming along the M3 via basingstoke.. will I be diverted?.. Is it fairly flat around that area? and whats the parking like at the village hall?

Soundslike i'm going to need to bust out the mud tyres haha

dubcat

Ollie planning to start as early as possible. Technically this means 8.30 but I could be a little delayed as I am coming from Gatwick. I want to do the long route ... I cant say what time i will be back. I don't plan to stop and have a picnic but I am more of a slow and steady type rider :oops:

Want to meet up at the start? I am teaming up with a friend from Southampton as long as he can manage to get his bike rack sorted by the weekend.

Dub

Shotsaway

ollie_lucas1985 wrote:

Is there a diversion clealy labled? I will be coming along the M3 via basingstoke.. will I be diverted?.. Is it fairly flat around that area? and whats the parking like at the village hall?

If you are coming down the M3, the closure of Wood Lane won’t affect you.
1) Exit at Junction 6 and follow the roundabout under the M3.
2) At the next roundabout, take the 1st exit onto the A30 (Signposted towards Alton)
3) At the next roundabout, take the 1st exit onto the A339/Hackwood Road (Again signposted towards Alton)
4) Go straight over the next roundabout and drive under the M3.
5) Just after you drive under the M3, turn right onto the B3046/Farleigh Road (This road will take you straight into Cliddesden)
6) When you arrive at Cliddesden, turn left into Church Lane.

Parking shouldn’t be a problem but if you can’t park, there is some space outside Cliddesden Primary School, which is further up Church Lane/Hackwood Lane

If Evans use the same route as last year it will be fairly flat. There are one or two climbs but the gradients are low, so nothing too difficult. One of the climbs is 2 miles long from Berrydown Lane up to the Avenue in Farleigh Wallop but it is so gradual, you may not even realise you are climbing!

dubcat

Gatwick was a 1 on the climb rating they use but the long route had a few hilly bits that were still killer. The muddyness of the hills also made them rather tiring. This one is a 2 so i assume it will be a little more hilly than Gatwick. I wouldn't really call Gatwick flat.

You can see the event map and the route altitude profile at the link i posted in my previous message.

The map is here but you need to go to the page i posted to see the altitude thingy:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8& ... urce=embed

Shotsaway

I had a few hours to kill this morning, so I decided to recce on LAST YEARS SHORT ROUTE. Well the sun was out but I did have to get my tights and Seal Skins out of hibernation!
Overall the route was quite muddy and it was hard going. If you have mud tyres, I would recommend putting them on. My pace was down on my normal pace and I just couldn't get an momentum or a flow going. There were times where my wheels were spinning very slightly in the mud. There were one or two bits that were nearly unrideable. If Evans decide to use the same short route as last year, I would recommend an early start, as alot of the bridleway/byways are already cut up from farm vehicles and horses. These will only get worse once a couple of hundred MTB'ers have riden over the same tracks.

Here are some pictures from this morning,
The 1st off road climb out of Cliddesden

Between the dismantled railway line and Ellisfield

Between Ellisfield and Herriard (This was deep and the water came up to the BB)

The track down to Berrydown Lane

The 2 mile climb from Berrydown Lane to Farleigh Wallop

The slight decent back into Cliddesden

Even though it was muddy, I had a great ride. Now do I do the 15 or 25 miles?

dubcat

Do the 30... Why cheat yourself out of the extra 5 miles?

ollie_lucas1985

I dont recall any hills on the gatwick one.. ? There may have been on the "Long" strech but the Medium I dont recall..

The last one I done which was rated 2 was in liphook and was pretty good lots of ups and downs!! ..

It does look a tad muddy there, looks like im going to have to pack a spare pair of socks!!

Dubcat - Theres no chance that Im going to be there for anywhere near 8.30 .. thats just silly time to be up on a saturday..

dubcat

Ollie - well my mate is not coming so if we can team up then i'd be happy to come later. My main concern is that you will be too fast for me... what route are you planning to do? I am also worried that if i start too late i wont get back while there are still people around to receive me lol

What time do you plan to get there? Just remember the later you go the more churned up the mud will be

Maybe my definition of hill is different to yours as anything pointing even slightly up causes me to slow down quite a bit Having said that I think that most of the hilly bits were actually on the extra loop you do for the long bit as that took you up and over the M25 on to the north downs.

Dub

dubcat

Weather forecast for Saturday looking rather bad on weather channel website at least.

beechtree

Weather forcast from Met Office is (currently) looking pretty good for Saturday

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/se/se_forecast_allmaps.html

I have a free Ride It voucher that Evans gave me when i bought the Kona that expires 31/12/2010 ... so looks like i will be using it up.

Will be cycling to Cliddesden as only live 3 miles away.

Need to pop the mud tyres on and hope the overshoes arrive later today ... looks a big sloppy in those pictures and we've had more rain since those were taken.

paulbox

Dubcat wrote:

Anyone wanting to team up with a 39 year old who is relatively new to riding and is out of shape - but who did manage to do the long route at the last evans ride (in epic long time) - please get in touch I plan to start early as I intend to do the long route and this means i will probably be one of the last back!

:oops: How about a 40 year old who is also out of shape...?

I've never done one of these but sounds like a good ride. I will drop you a PM.

dubcat

Paul - you described me in your post so i guess it makes sense for us unfit oldies to stick together eh! I have pm'd you my number and stuff - let me know what you think.
Dub

delta5

Dubcat, Paul
Mind if I join you?
I haven't ridden for two weeks so I'm expecting to be a bit slow tomorrow. That said, I might still go for a the 30 miler . . . at a relaxed pace 8)

Assuming I don't get called in to work, I should be able to get there for a start around 8:45 or 9. Wouldn't want to start any later than 9 though as the tracks will be mush.
Do you have a meeting time & place?

Thanks
D5

dubcat

Delta the more the merrier. We are going for a relaxed pace on the long route (can always switch to medium mid ride) so an early start is imperative. We are looking to arrive on site for 8-8.15 to register and get as close to an 8.30 start as possible. I will pm you my mobile number. Please reciprocate.

Cheers
Dub

paulbox

Cool, with three of us we should be able to slow a lot of people down... 8)

delta5

PaulBox wrote:

Cool, with three of us we should be able to slow a lot of people down... 8)

Dub - thanks, sent you a pm
See you both there ±8:15.

D

PS - hope you got the pm - webpage says its been sent, but its still sitting in my outbox . . not in sent :?

dubcat

Got it see you tomorrow.

ollie_lucas1985

wellies are packed..

dubcat

Haha. This is a most uncivilized hour to be awake! (6.30am)

paulbox

Guys, good to meet you today, shame about my tyre & Dave's cramp though...

dubcat

It was great to meet you guys too
I must hold the world record for falling nearest to the beginning of a ride. What was it, half a mile lol? After I left you guys I took another fab fall. This time when I sat up the water was above my waist...

I finished in 5 hours but I estimate about half an hour of that was standing about lending my pump to a group of 3 riders who all managed to get a puncture at the same time and were unable to inflate their tubes with my pump - which was previously unused and untested. Time for a new pump methinks. I got bloomin cold standing about . I wish I was faster .. I did medium by the way.

I bumped in to Dave at the bike wash and was very pleased to hear you guys got a new tyre and finished the ride!!! it would also be good to team up with you for another ride - I will skip dorking though.

Cheers
Dub

delta5

Dub, Paul - thanks and good to meet you both too - glad it all worked out okay in the end and that in spite of our various hiccups at least we finished the ride. The mud was unbelievable though. The night ride must have been fun!
The last section back from the water point was much better, and the singletrack descent back into Cliddesden was great after all that wallowing.

It was my first Evans ride and I was mightily impressed with the facilities and organisation - will def go on more of those.

Ollie, Shotsaway - how did you guys get on?

Bobbinboy

Agree with you guys it was seriously muddy. I started about 30 mins after the first guys and the paths had really cut up, so much so that some of the smallest hills were virtually unrideable even though on a dry day they would have been a piece of cake.

Highlight of my day was one of the massive puddles that came up to my mates Knees (he thought he could cycle through it) and then when the same bloke went superman style over the bars and landed sort of 'splat' like face first in the mud.

Had planned to do the full 32 miles but we decided to do just the 25 as we were well behind plan at the medium/long split. Most people I spoke to did the same. Only down side was that it took me an hour to clean the bike when I got home!

dubcat

Bobbin was that the puddle at the bottom of a long straight downhill bit just before a road? I road through that and paulbox followed me lol. Very funny.

Later i found myself sitting in an even deeper one with 12 miles to go /sigh

beechtree

An interesting ride, even though live local there were a number of sections i'd not ridden and will definiately try again ... in the summer. Particularly the woody section between the A339 and Bradley.

Not sure i would have chosen that same route, bit too muddy to ride in places and some of the climbs were so slippery / muddy that the back wheel was just spinning ... even with mud tyres. Every time i looked down it looked like half the tracks in the mud i was following were from hardpack oriented tyres ... wonder how those people would have gotten on.

To anyone who did the 25 rather than the 30, you missed nothing of real interest, about two thirds of the extra loop was road / concrete; 2 steep climbs (both muddy) and 2 shallow climbs (both hard pack).

paulbox

Delta5 wrote:

It was my first Evans ride and I was mightily impressed with the facilities and organisation - will def go on more of those.

Me too mate, at the start I was wondering why the hell I was paying to ride on public bridleways, but after blowing a hole in my tyre and being able to buy a new one off the guy in the van, washing my bike down and getting some warm food I kind of thought it was a good idea...

Would have been a long walk back from where the tyre blew.

Shotsaway

Even through the condtions had deteriorated massively since my recce on Wednesday, I had a great ride on Saturday. I left home at about 8.15 and cycled over to Cliddesden. After registering I set off from Cliddesden at about 9.00 and I have to admit even though the course was awful, I had a fairly good ride and finished the medium route in approximately 2 hours 50 minutes (This will be confirmed once Evans put the times up).

It was my daughters birthday and my in laws were coming around for lunch, so I promised my wife that I would be back just before lunch. However once I got riding, I was considering switching to the long route, but by the time I got to the long split, the mud had seriously sapped all of my energy, so I decided to continue on the medium. (Just as well really as my wife would have killed me).

I didn't have a problem with any of the climbs and I cycled the whole route, apart from one flat section of bridleway between Bradley and Upper Wield (Near Ashley Farm). I had Maxxis ADvantage 2.25 tyres on and they coped very well with the condtions. I only had one or two wobbles but overall the tyres gripped. After my recce earlier in the week I was considering buying some Mud X's but the ADvantages did their job!

I normally ride between 6 and 8 events a year, so those of you that had not ridden an organised event before Saturday, keep an eye out on the Evans and the Wiggle Super Series websites. Evans have another local ride at Chieveley on the 15th January.