The 1st Kinross Sportive

kfinlay

Anyone doing it? It's sold out and the Black route that I'm doing is pretty challenging with a varied hills.

Hope we get good weather or at least a dry day

glasgowbhoy

Think there was a thread on this earlier in the year. There are a fair amount of posters on here riding in Kinross. Looking forward to it as my only knowledge of the roads up there have been en route to T in the Park. I'm sure it'll have some good climbs but after the Lakeland Loop and Hardnott Pass last weekend my legs shouldn't be screaming on this.

kfinlay

If you've done Hardnott and the Lakeland loop it should be no problem for ye. There are a few bits of the Black route touch on 15% and one at 20% but they are all short. The longer hills average about 6%. I live locally so will cycle up to Kinross and back so will work out 111 miles for me - my first ton! I'll be on a red Vitus with Pro-Lite wheels in case you pass me

deekreid

I,m doing this as well looking forward to it , weather looks promising too , Kuota kharma with reynolds assault wheels.

blim

Doing it too (red route) and looking forward to it, now I've got over a stomach bug. I grew up in Newburgh, and haven't cycled those Howe of Fife roads in 15 years. Of course, it were all fields, then...

themightyw

Reckon it's going to be a phenomenal ride, and I've signed up (misguidedly) for the black route though I'll be taking it mighty slowly.

Will be wearing a kinross top and riding a black trek, so say hi as you pass me on the hills

blim

Will be on a black Giant, wearing Belgian national team jersey, and sporting hairy legs [insert comment here].

Drummybuich

A few coming down from Deeside for this one. I'm looking forward to the Black route, which looks much more hilly than either the the Etape Caledonia or Trossachs Ton which I did last year.
I did a recce of the route from Milnathort over Stronachie to Dunning last month. The road surface at Path o'condie was pretty loose, but I beleive this was to be cleared up well before the event itself.

Weather is looking pretty good for the day :oops:

blim

What's going on with the weather?!? :shock:

beinbhan

It's Scotland you find out the weather at 6 am on Saturday morning not from so called weather forecast's that are based on best guess

navrig

blim wrote:

What's going on with the weather?!? :shock:

It's allover the place. I've packed for winter and summer just in case.

I'm booked onto the black but after loosing 7 weeks of training since Xmas I'll probably change to the red route.

My first event of this type.

3 of us coming up from East Lothian.

glasgowbhoy

Big thanks to the Kinross CC for putting on an excellent event. Considering this was the inaugural sportive for them they had pretty much got it spot on. Good signage, good marshaling, good showers, lunch provided afterwards and a good fast route on the black run.The amenities were gratefully accepted as the last 30 miles into the wind in the pouring rain left my shivering at the finish

I was a bit disappointed about the lack of groups moving at speed. I started about 3/4 of the way down the field and worked my way though the morning hoping to find people to work with or a fast moving group from the back. By 60 miles there was no one in front of me and reflecting back it was really just an 86 mile TT. My Garmin ran out of juice about 70 miles in (forgot to charge it last night :oops: )so will have to have a look now to see if it recorded my time. I know these aren't races but I think I'll make sure we have a team from my club for any sportive I enter in the future.

Anyway well done everyone involved in organising this event. Throughly recommend it to anyone next year.

glasgowbhoy

Garmin ran out at 66 miles and 3hrs 37mins. Ave speed 18.6mph. Will have to wait for the results to be posted then for the finishing times. Was number 470.

meanredspider

I know from countless weekends at Knockhill racing that the weather is unbelieveably unpredictable around Kinross. Glad it went well.

deekreid

Totally agree with everything glasgowbhoy said, The event was excellent maybe apart from the weather (but thats the joys of scotland for u) Will be doing this event next year again for sure if its repeated, Thanks too all involved in organising and running this , and especially the marshalls who stood out in the miserable conditions .

Drummybuich

Fantastic organisation today.
Real pity about the delayed start an poor weather, but good communication from Kinross CC meant no one was complaining.
Managed to finish the black rote in a fraction over 5 hrs. Found the final 25 miles a slog through the rain and on my tod. Heard there was a crash on Lomond and saw a few really shivering back at the school. Hope all okay.

glasgowbhoy

results here: http://www.sportive-kinross.co.uk/resul ... &rou=BLACK

4.43 quite happy considering that was all out on my own with nowhere to shelter.

Some of the timings must be wrong. There's a guy listed as having done the Black route - 86 miles in 2hrs 7mins. On a motorbike maybe. Even one at 3hours 30mins is pushing it. Maybe they opted for the other routes on the day.

themightyw

Yep! I think quite a few of the black routers ducked back early when their peripherals started to freeze up and drop off. Unlike most I switched from black to red BECAUSE I've done almost no long rides this year (max has been 40 miles) so I wanted to do a killer training session, but my god was it tough and I think I was one of the slowest black routers out there. A gruelling, frozen psychologically brusing day in the saddle for me but a great ride nonetheless, and excellent organisation.

How did the red route compare to the black? Looks like it could have been ideal for chain gangs.

Drummybuich

Yeah, I have to agree that a number of the black route times look a bit suspicious. I wonder how many followed the red route back rather than going over Knockhill.

lochindaal

Have to agree about how well this was organised, especially for a first time event.

I was part of a group of 4 and got a puncture at the top of one of the hills just before the second feedstop. Just as I got it repaired and we went to head off my mate realised he was flat as well. By the time we had both changed we were frozen. The descent down to the feedstop was a nightmare, we were all shivering and hardly able to feel our brakes. We flew up the next climb to get warm again.

Had another puncture after hitting a pothole 4 miles from the finish!

Finished the black route in 6 1/2 hours due to stops.

If they had got the wather it would have been a stunning route. sunny today though

niblue

We saw quite a few cars loaded with road bikes on the M90 yesterday, clearing heading for the sportive. We were heading up to Dalwhinnie for some hillwalking and for reasonably lucky with the weather (no view but managed to finish the hill without getting rained on) - wasn't looking so good for the Kinross folks though and it was pretty nasty when we went past on the way down. One of my colleagues was doing the long route so looking forward to hearing how he got on.

Shame it wasn't today as the weathers is lovely at the moment.

navrig

Thoroughly enjoyed it although the last 8 miles were a slog into the wind and rain. Did the red route in, for me, a respectable 05:14. First cycling event at 48 years old.


Kinross CC need to be applauded. The organisation was first class from the marshalling to the wee kids who were taking the timing chips off of the bikes (not sure I could have bent over that far ;-) ).

Next year - black.

themightyw

Navrig wrote:

the wee kids who were taking the timing chips off of the bikes (not sure I could have bent over that far ;-) ).

Next year - black.

Glad I'm not the only one! Was amused by the fact that after managing to cycle the black route battling against the weather gods I was utterly stumped by my inability to undo some velcro...

BlueScot

Another thumbs up for the guys at Kinross. A great route, well signed and marshalled, and great cakes at the feedstops. Pity about the weather, but there's not a lot you can do about that. Our first 28 miles were dry, next 25 were in the drizzle, the last 33 were in the rain We weren't happy when we woke up to blue skies in our Kinross hotel this morning.
I saw the guys by the side of the road on the way down to Falkland. I heard there were a couple of broken bones - best wishes to both of them for a speedy recovery.
I met the last marshall on the route (5 miles from home) again in the pub on Saturday night. He was keen for feedback and what they could do better in the future. To be honest, I've struggled to come up with anything. I suppose the only criticism was at the very end. Some of us took a long time to complete the black course, a little over 7 hours :oops: We barely saw another soul for the last 20 miles. By the time we got to the community centre there was no hot food left, even the hot drinks were running out - all you fast guys must have scoffed the lot!!
Anyway, that was just a small point. Well done Kinross CC!!