Etape Crymu - closed roads
chris7
Posts: 49
................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
http://blog.chrisbarber.co.uk
http://blog.chrisbarber.co.uk
0
Comments
-
Maybe interesting not that much climbing though for North Wales 1828m in 161km.
Don't know where they get 20% for the Horseshoe from unless they are referring to the 'Old Horseshoe' to the east which is much shorter but very steep.
0 -
£65!!
does sound good though 0 -
dbg wrote:£65!! does sound good though
Where does £65 come from? the Etape Caledonia was £58. Not saying your wrong but is it a guess :?:0 -
-
Was interested until I found out the price. £65 they're having a laugh surely :shock:
Is an extra £30-£35 worth it for closed roads? Not to me anyway.0 -
I ride quite a few of the roads to be used on a regular basis and some of them are in terrible condition.
My experience of other sportives has taught me that there are alot of people out there that believe (incorrectly) they can descend like a pro. I wouldn't fancy descending the shelf with lots of company that's for sure, especially if it's wet.
As for the price
0 -
Tempted as its right on my doorstep but £65 will be hard to swallow.
They stand to take a max gross £227,500 if everyone payed £65 of course so prob closer to £200,000.
Id love to know the net income figure after the event.0 -
-
This bit below from the BikeRadar story is enough to put me off the event. I can see hours of waiting then carnage!And rather than the staggered start common with many sportives, all riders will set off at the same time.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
http://blog.chrisbarber.co.uk0 -
John Stevenson wrote:Bikeradar story wrote:Entry costs £65 for non-British Cycling members and £53 for those who are. For non-BC members, entry will get you a one-year British Cycling Ride membership worth £24.
So non-BC members are paying £41 for the ride & £24 for BC "Ride" membership and BC members are paying £53 for the ride having already paid £24 to be a "Ride" member (or more for a "Race" one).
hmm.0 -
I crashed (out of control dog) and busted my arm & bike on the route a few days ago.
http://3415milesonabike.blogspot.com
..and am nearly £10K out of pocket.
I would happily pay £65 if it were dog free too. Many of the road surfaces are indeed poor as previously noted.0 -
Having put some time into investigating this event it would seem that Mike Turner the organizer has got his bib shorts in a bit of a twist here.
Firstly I have just paid £25 for BC ride membership and resent a mere £12 discount on this event compared with £24 for yet to be ride members.
Next lose the £20 gilet from the goodie bag and charge less entry (or are they being acquired for nothing) :?:
Thirdly this an over complicated Audax Route not suitable parcours for more than about 150 riders, never the numbers being talked about here. 3500 riders straight out of a start into tinny little lanes, then round the Eglwyseg and Esclusham Mountains the surface is rubbish and there's plenty more nutter descents with suicide gravel etc.
Fourthly the selling of Horseshoe Pass is wrong there are no 20% ramps in this Horseshoe, it is a power climb (often used in Hill Climb TT's) average gradient is a little over 5% and max is around 9%, it's just fairly long.
Lastly and by no means least, as I suspected from my previous comment the overall ascent is far more than as advertised, it is a little over 3000m which is what I expected all along having ridden this part of the world extensively in the past.
How do I know well check this out..... http://ridewithgps.com/routes/372195 there is around 1200m difference.
Mike has already got his legs smacked for calling this a race and has had reprints made on the local BBC news page re-describing it as “a challenge” ride.
Will we see a major rethink about the cost and logistics :?: …. Mmm I wonder :shock:0 -
It's a shame really, as it does sound like not a bad route (having ridden all of the route at some point or other), but personally, I'm thinking, with regard to the cost:-
* got a gilet already so don't need another
* got a decent multi-tool already, so don't need another
* don't particularly want Ride membership
There's also the state of the roads as well. Not good I'm afraid. 25mm tyres with lower pressures for this I reckon.
But hey, good luck Mike. It takes a brave chap to organise a sportive nowadays !!"There are no hills, there is no wind, I feel no pain !"
"A bad day on the bike is always better than a good day in the office !"0 -
Much of what you said could well be true, but that bit about total climb is basically meaningless. The "total climb" depends on how you measure, and there's a million different ways. From your own route data on ridewith gps, you can get:Ron Stuart wrote:Lastly and by no means least, as I suspected from my previous comment the overall ascent is far more than as advertised, it is a little over 3000m which is what I expected all along having ridden this part of the world extensively in the past.
How do I know well check this out..... http://ridewithgps.com/routes/372195 there is around 1200m difference.
ridewithgps - 3026m
bikehike - 2720m
bikeroutetoaster - 2331m
mapmyride - 1882m
and so on. none are more accurate than the other. they all just count different things as "climbing".
What you mean is "he calculates total climb different to me" which isn't much of a criticism is it?0 -
Ron Stuart wrote:Firstly I have just paid £25 for BC ride membership and resent a mere £12 discount on this event compared with £24 for yet to be ride members.
So you're annoyed that you can only make back nearly 50% of your membership in a single event?
BC are going to get a huge number of members that they wouldn't do otherwise so it's not unreasonable that they offer a significant discount for people joining up through the event.
I assume the reason they're invovled at all is for the insurance.Next lose the £20 gilet from the goodie bag and charge less entry (or are they being acquired for nothing) :?:
They state RRP £20. You can be pretty confident that that's not what it's costing them.Thirdly this an over complicated Audax Route not suitable parcours for more than about 150 riders, never the numbers being talked about here. 3500 riders straight out of a start into tinny little lanes, then round the Eglwyseg and Esclusham Mountains the surface is rubbish and there's plenty more nutter descents with suicide gravel etc.
Closed roads will make a huge difference to the capacity, but I do agree that a 3500 bike mass start sounds a bit crazy.Lastly and by no means least, as I suspected from my previous comment the overall ascent is far more than as advertised, it is a little over 3000m which is what I expected all along having ridden this part of the world extensively in the past.
How do I know well check this out..... http://ridewithgps.com/routes/372195 there is around 1200m difference.
It's well known that websites that calculate elevation change based on a route and geographical elevation data are often miles out - examples where the route is out by a factor of 10 have been seen. Errors are particularly bad where routes go sideways across a steep incline - like most mountain roads do.
The level of negativity on this thread is pretty disappointing. Am I only the only person who thinks that having another closed road event on the calendar is a big step forward?
I have some reservations about the organisation (I'd be interested to know what events they've run in the past) but I hope that it's well run and very successful so that closing roads for cycle events becomes a normal and acceptable practice.0 -
avoidingmyphd wrote:
Much of what you said could well be true, but that bit about total climb is basically meaningless. The "total climb" depends on how you measure, and there's a million different ways. From your own route data on ridewith gps, you can get:Ron Stuart wrote:Lastly and by no means least, as I suspected from my previous comment the overall ascent is far more than as advertised, it is a little over 3000m which is what I expected all along having ridden this part of the world extensively in the past.
How do I know well check this out..... http://ridewithgps.com/routes/372195 there is around 1200m difference.
ridewithgps - 3026m
bikehike - 2720m
bikeroutetoaster - 2331m
mapmyride - 1882m
and so on. none are more accurate than the other. they all just count different things as "climbing".
What you mean is "he calculates total climb different to me" which isn't much of a criticism is it?
ridewithgps is compatable with Garmin the best and most commonly used bike GPS system so it would be smart to use that benchmark me thinks and mapmyride (mickey mouse) is the only one agreeing with the advert.
I rest my case.0 -
pdw wrote:Ron Stuart wrote:Firstly I have just paid £25 for BC ride membership and resent a mere £12 discount on this event compared with £24 for yet to be ride members.
So you're annoyed that you can only make back nearly 50% of your membership in a single event?
BC are going to get a huge number of members that they wouldn't do otherwise so it's not unreasonable that they offer a significant discount for people joining up through the event.
I assume the reason they're invovled at all is for the insurance.Next lose the £20 gilet from the goodie bag and charge less entry (or are they being acquired for nothing) :?:
They state RRP £20. You can be pretty confident that that's not what it's costing them.Thirdly this an over complicated Audax Route not suitable parcours for more than about 150 riders, never the numbers being talked about here. 3500 riders straight out of a start into tinny little lanes, then round the Eglwyseg and Esclusham Mountains the surface is rubbish and there's plenty more nutter descents with suicide gravel etc.
Closed roads will make a huge difference to the capacity, but I do agree that a 3500 bike mass start sounds a bit crazy.Lastly and by no means least, as I suspected from my previous comment the overall ascent is far more than as advertised, it is a little over 3000m which is what I expected all along having ridden this part of the world extensively in the past.
How do I know well check this out..... http://ridewithgps.com/routes/372195 there is around 1200m difference.
It's well known that websites that calculate elevation change based on a route and geographical elevation data are often miles out - examples where the route is out by a factor of 10 have been seen. Errors are particularly bad where routes go sideways across a steep incline - like most mountain roads do.
The level of negativity on this thread is pretty disappointing. Am I only the only person who thinks that having another closed road event on the calendar is a big step forward?
I have some reservations about the organisation (I'd be interested to know what events they've run in the past) but I hope that it's well run and very successful so that closing roads for cycle events becomes a normal and acceptable practice.
I am annoyed that not all the entrants are indirectly not paying the same entry fee. No more no less... clear?
I feel quite confident they aren't paying £20 for the gilet as I remarked upon... :shock:
It's not a discount it's the full fee but unfortunately it's not free, it's part of the entry fee we are all paying for (no such thing as a free meal son.
A lot of this isn't roads its narrow pothole strune lanes, with gravel at the bottom of 18% descents mate. :roll:
We all think a Sportive on closed roads is a great idea but it is essential for the future events that this one goes off without major problems. It's not a case of being negative but seeing a problem before it happens.
It's us that pay and it's our ride so don't just knock the folk who want value for money and to get round in one peace, it kind of makes sense if you think about it.
. 0 -
-
It sounds a nightmare to me, at serious cost as well, and for just a few £££ more I'll be doing the 3 days of the Tour of Wessex. No closed roads but a quality event...
I really get frustrated when organisers use things like gilets to justify/bump up entry prices. Seriously, how many people see it as a useful benefit? The last thing I want is a cheapo gilet (seriously - how good is a £20 gilet likely to be anyway?) and its just a way to try and excuse high prices.Your Past is Not Your Potential...0
