Who's doing the cheshire cat this weekend?
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Of course! You can have some CNP stuff if you want!0
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Heh heh!
I'll probably be out with the kids on our bikes watching somewhere anyway.0 -
If I get up early enough - I'll be starting before the masses. I'll be the first person to make it past your place!0
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Thanks for posting up the images so quickly.
I really enjoyed today - It was my first Sportive as I've only been riding on the road since mid Jan so was very pleased to finish the 100 distance in a reasonable time - 6 hours.
I made it up Mow Cop; it's not that hard really
The hardest thing was dodging all the fallers and people stopping suddenly.Specialized Enduro SL Pro Carbon
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Specialized FSRxc - XC Race Bike0 -
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Weird how some people are wearing waterproof jackets..... with shorts.
Too much insulation up top, not enough down below.
No way was it shorts weather out there today.0 -
The cold weather shorts wearers should have come on their MTB's-they are usually from that 'other' fraternity of cyclists anyway.0
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I was out in shorts and it was fine. Apart from the hour queue at the start :xSpecialized Enduro SL Pro Carbon
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Got my medal and is now hanging proudly next to my nine year old sons multiple football trophies and medals.0
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It was my first Sportive today. Just the 67mile one for me on my old MTB (I was the one with the spokey dokies) as all my other bikes are packed away. Given I was on an MTB Mow Cop was not so bad
It was a good event however II normally do MTB events and it was a surprise to have to wait to start and for a finish time at the end. This just seemed like poor planning to me.0 -
Cracking day. Thought it was going to be pretty miserable after standing in the cold for ages waiting to start but I was soon proved wrong. The sun came out for a bit and it was glorious, really nice and toasty.
I did the 100 mile route, only started riding last June and targeted 6hr 30min, I did it in 1min 54sec slower than that although I did get a little lost and added 3 more miles on so I'll let myself off! Got a silver time and the killer mile medal.
The queing was a bit much at the beginning and the end. I didn't really stop at the first food station but the other two were well organised and quick.If you do what you have always done, you will get what you always got....0 -
The queue at the start looked like it was going to be a major wait but it actually moved pretty quickly.
The queue at the end wasn't going anywhere though so I didn't bother picking my stuff up .Specialized Enduro SL Pro Carbon
Specialized Stumpy Evo Carbon
Canyon Aeroad Disc Di2
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The queue at the end was very disappointing. Queuing to walk over the finish line with no information about which way to go is not satisfactory. I too came away without my certificate, medal or pasta. No signing – no queues it says on the website. There may not have been any signing on but there were definitely queues.0
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My first sportive too, did the 100 miler.
My observations
Everyone was friendly and seemed to be having a good time. People took their turn at the front when in groups and during the last 15 miles I asked a club if I could suck their wheel for a bit cos I was shagged and they were more than happy to oblige. I'm just noting this as previous posts I've read about sportives have said the opposite.
The condition of roads around Cheshire is appalling, I mean really bad. I don't know how many pot holes and sunken drains I ran over but it was a lot!!!
Waiting around at the start for an hour to get going was very very very cold brrrrrr
The whole thing was well run and the feedstops were pretty good. Mavic outriders looked like they were doing a good job helping people who can't change their own tubes
Having to wait for what looked like another hour to get your time and a medal , well I couldn't be arsed with that. I'm hoping they'll post the times online but I have got a watch and I know hoe long it took.
Finally
A big thanks to the two guys who stopped to check I was ok when I had a rather embarrassing "off". New shutt pro bibs have just gone in the bin
All in all a good event that I'm surprised to say WAS worth the entry fee, but maybe not the £40 petrol money too.0 -
To be fair with 3000 riders you expect a queue at the start - although some staggering might help - 100 milers at 8:30 67 milers at 9 and 9:30 for 37, may of helped a little.
However I agree that queuing at the end was ridiculous - they did do a pasta run for ppl in the queue (even though the pasta was served in a seperate area and there was no queue's there anyway). However what was ridiculous was that for printing the certificates there were 2 guys and 2 printers - for 3000 people!!!! That was a serious cock up hence the queuing.
Apart from that I thought it was well run, good route, excellent signposting and the photographers were everywhere. I had no issues with the feed stations, the first was a little sparse but 2 and 3 were stuffed with gels, bars, cake and hi5 drink.0 -
I did it last year - got there early, but pootled about, and by the time I went to the start, there were loads of folk, took an hour then to get through. Needless to say, I was bursting for the loo, so made for the first stop loos.
The roads are bad - certainly were last year, and I looked in horror at a guy riding some top of the range Lightweights.... OMG - bomb proof handbuilts for me.0 -
I did the 100 mile route in just over 5 hours. 2 bottles of water and 6 gels. No stopping along the way. (except at NapD's house to change a flat!)
See? It isn't necessary to pay £40 to ride public roads!0 -
Pokerface wrote:I did the 100 mile route in just over 5 hours. 2 bottles of water and 6 gels. No stopping along the way. (except at NapD's house to change a flat!)
See? It isn't necessary to pay £40 to ride public roads!
Ah but you missed out on waiting in the cold for an hour at 8.00am which was actually 7.00am in my head cos the clocks changed0 -
Yep, that makes it well worth 40 quid!0
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NapoleonD wrote:Yep, that makes it well worth 40 quid!
Listen here NapD, I know your views on paying for events on open roads. But for novices (like me) and cycling enthusiasts It is worth the £32.50 (not £40) to ride with so many other cyclists and test yourself. There's another thread running about the cost of sportives if you wish to contribute.
Back to the Cheshire Cat . . .
Forgot to mention, Mow cop is way over rated! Yeah it's quite steep but it's short. The hardest part was dodging all the people zig zagging, falling over and walking.0 -
Well I intended to ride on the public roads too. Drove the 30 minutes to Crewe and got my bike out of the car and then to my horror realised that I had taken the pedals off it to ride another bike on the club run on Saturday morning. :oops:
End of ride - Tw-t! Serves me right - too many bikes and not enough pedals.0 -
Did the medium route and clocked 70 miles, enjoyed the days riding and it was a buz to be riding with so many people.
Thought Verenti did a great job of hosting the event, lots of stuff available at feed stations and the route was marked out very well.
Saw quite a few people with flat tyres guess that was down to the poor road conditions.
Loved mow cop as its a challenge on the day with so many people on the hill.0 -
nochekmate wrote:Well I intended to ride on the public roads too. Drove the 30 minutes to Crewe and got my bike out of the car and then to my horror realised that I had taken the pedals off it to ride another bike on the club run on Saturday morning. :oops:
End of ride - Tw-t! Serves me right - too many bikes and not enough pedals.
The queue to start was so long you could have made the return journey home and back in time to start. Bit late now though 0 -
PeteMadoc wrote:nochekmate wrote:Well I intended to ride on the public roads too. Drove the 30 minutes to Crewe and got my bike out of the car and then to my horror realised that I had taken the pedals off it to ride another bike on the club run on Saturday morning. :oops:
End of ride - Tw-t! Serves me right - too many bikes and not enough pedals.
The queue to start was so long you could have made the return journey home and back in time to start. Bit late now though
I couldn't be bothered - went home and out for a ride anyway!0 -
The bubble will eventually burst on these Sportive events when enough people realise they are just a badly organised rip off.
Santa's theme park was actually better value- you know the one made of cardboard where the organisers were guilty of fraud and went to jail.0 -
I completed the medium event. Gotta say that I was unimpressed with the wait ( in a busy car park) to sign on, which is why I and many others gave up and started without registering.
I do the Merida mountain bike events and they just have a mass start, sometimes with 3000 rides. Why can't the Cheshire Cat be the same? Great day, route, and the weather was better than predicted, but the wait at the beginning has put me off returning.0
