forest of dean sportive this weekend
reacher
Posts: 416
has any one on here done this event ?
not that i'm in it this year , i was interested in what standard you would have to be at to enter this in terms of
A , training runs, milage , that you would need to be doing on a weekly basis to complete it or would you need to train at or very near to this distance ?
B , amount of hill training required or can you do say 4 or 5 in a training run then still complete all the ones in this event ?
not that i'm in it this year , i was interested in what standard you would have to be at to enter this in terms of
A , training runs, milage , that you would need to be doing on a weekly basis to complete it or would you need to train at or very near to this distance ?
B , amount of hill training required or can you do say 4 or 5 in a training run then still complete all the ones in this event ?
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reacher wrote:has any one on here done this event ?
not that i'm in it this year , i was interested in what standard you would have to be at to enter this in terms of
A , training runs, milage , that you would need to be doing on a weekly basis to complete it or would you need to train at or very near to this distance ?
B , amount of hill training required or can you do say 4 or 5 in a training run then still complete all the ones in this event ?
Got any more details of the event?Purveyor of "up"
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Here you go:
http://www.wheelsinwheels.com/FOD/fores ... rtive.html
You may also be interested in the Lumpy Scrumpy audax next w/e since it is only £4:
http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/11-516/
I have signed up for the latter and it looks a good balance (110 KM and 1,850M of climbing).0 -
im doing it this year as a warm up to the fred whitton, i've had the benefit that i live just off the course so i worked my self up to completing it all on a weekly basis.
it is hilly,but as long as you have the gears to get up them and are used to cycling for the time (not knowing how fast you are but say 5hr-6hr rides), you may suffer but you will complete it.
A wonderful route for the scenery except the buggers have added any extra climb this year and made it upto 89 miles 
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i live not far from the area but have'nt yet tried some of those particular hills on that route as i do know haveing driven them that they are pretty steep ,
would a normal 39 x 53 be ok and just change the cassette ? i have a 11 x 23 , although when i bought the bike and he asked where i live he did recommend a cassette with a smaller gear ,
some of the hils i'm tackling are pretty tough already i must admit .0 -
ive been training round them on a 39 with a 24 largest on the back (well a 28 cassette but set so i cant get into the 28)
It really depends on your style, your power to weight....
I will be running a 39 with a 25 on sunday, but i weight about 67kg, and like my climbing.
If your used to climbing 25% grades on your current you will be fine, if your not used to it, you may suffer a bit up some of the later steep sections (bulls hill and yat rock)0 -
I'm doing this as my first sportive - thought it would give me something to train towards.
I started cycling in February, and have averaged 150 miles a week since then; including 4 rides of 60-70 miles and 4 of 50-60 miles. I live near the FoD course, in Chepstow, so most of my long rides take in a section of the route. I've recce'd all of the hills at least once (with some of them, that's all I've been able to face!
) and my rides average about the same height gain/loss per mile as the sportive. I think I'll manage to finish, but it might not be pretty going up the Yat
I have 50/34 at the front and 11-25 at the back. I started cycling using 53/39 but TBH it was a bit much for me on anything steeper than 15%, so I switched to a compact (I'm female and find it takes a while to build up the muscle power).
Having said all that ... I might've *entered* this event, but of course that doesn't mean I'll *finish* it 0 -
wriggle how did you get on?
if you saw some numpty in a grey mavic long sleve rain jacket caning up the hills just to wait at the top and watch you pass him again that would be me 0 -
Hi Will, thanks for asking! - 7:47 ride time, plus however long I spent snacking at the feed stations Somewhere around 8 hours all told, I think. A bit slower than my optimistic "goal time" - but then I didn't have anyone to ride with, so struggled a bit on my own into the wind. (I thought I'd end up in a little group, but that didn't really happen.)
However - I finished, plus I didn't have to walk up any of the hills Result.
How about you?? I'm sorry but I probably didn't see you waiting at the roadside - I'm sure you would've been somewhere way in front of me anyway! Also I was slightly preoccupied on the hills
A good day out, and a lovely course - continually interesting!0 -
glad to hear you got round okay, with its 2700 odd meters of climbing its not flat and not fast!
I was suprised at how few groups I saw out, I left in the first wave just after 8am and rarely saw a group go past (we were not motoring either), having a slight but dragging hill though as you leave monmouth was going to spread everyone out quite quickly.
Can imagine if you didnt have anyone to ride with that you would have struggled with the wind, mind you it was nice once it was behind you :)ll
The feed stations were definetly good, i took the opurtunity to stock up at each one, and somehow ended up with more energy food than I left in the morning with, quite a lot more
How did you find the final 5 climbs, they saved the best till last that is for sure
Bulls hill, cats hill, joys green, eastback and finally yat rock.
When I got to yat rock is was bedlem, cars coming up and down getting stuck as cyclists were riding up
Going to do it next year?0 -
wriggle wrote:A good day out, and a lovely course - continually interesting!
oh and it does take it some of my favourite rounds round there, like the climbs around soudley with the thick blanket of blue bells!0 -
Yes, excellent feed stations - I'll be on a sugar high for a week after that lot!
TBH, given how little cycling I've done, I thought I'd be really struggling on the hills from about the Star Beech climb (by Hope Mansell) onwards, and was thinking I'd have to walk up the steeper sections - particularly Bulls Hill, English Bicknor and Yat Rock. It was a pleasant surprise that they all felt much less terrible than I thought they would! Previously I'd found e.g. Bulls Hill to be a real battle, but yesterday it didn't seem too bad.
The Soudley section was one of my favourites - it's a lovely bit of countryside. I'll definitely do it again next year - hopefully a year of cycling will make me a bit quicker!
Glad you had a good day out too!0 -
any chacne your pretty local then since you have gone up bulls hill before and you know star beach?
I'm off the lakes next week for the fred whitton :S0 -
Yes, local-ish - the chic metropolis of Chepstow Good luck for the Fred Whitton - with favourable weather that'll be a fantastic day out! 0
