Tour Rides - Tour of Britain
Comments
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I would guess the official line will be, no. However I did the Scottish ride and no-one checked any ID, so I could have been anyone......T.C. wrote:Alistair, my friend was down to ride the short route Sun, he's wife has had a baby- honest. Can anyone use his chip instead > cheers T.c.You've no won the Big Cup since 1902!0 -
Yes- thats what we thought0
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thecrofter wrote:
I would guess the official line will be, no. However I did the Scottish ride and no-one checked any ID, so I could have been anyone......T.C. wrote:Alistair, my friend was down to ride the short route Sun, he's wife has had a baby- honest. Can anyone use his chip instead > cheers T.c.
Alistair Cope of www.veloventures.co.uk
Cycling – Travel, Adventure & Events (www.jurassic-classic.org.uk)
Specialists in Biking Tours in Morocco0 -
Most forecasts suggest showers for our tootle around this Sunday...................bummer
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Either way it will be a good ride. I'll have a rain jacket in my jersey just in case Freelance Journalist
ex-Team Cycling Plus 2011
Three Boardmans and a Spesh,
numerous test rigs0 -
Great ride today, very impressed with the organisation. The end was cool, with loads of people like the tour. Also well supported and plenty of encouragement. Food stops were well stocked, infact very well stocked. excellent day, 6.26mins, Gun hill was ok it was the long drags that was the problem. well done to the organisers!0
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Yeah, I had a brilliant day. Hats off and a big thanks to all those involved, well marshalled and well signposted.
Loved the rain, and the descent into Leek? was amazing, seen one guy over take a caravan and his gf/wife take a tumble as caravan stopped abruptly. And that climb just before the last feed station was a bugger.
Food stations well stocked, in fact you could have ridden it carrying just one bottle of water as after the firts 20 miles the grub and drinks were free.
Anyway despite a bit of cramp and cleat probs on gun hill did it in 6:01.
Awesome day, though, thoroughly enjoyed itThe dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
I wanted to do the stoke sportive but i missed out due to the 4 year old being in hosptial, pregnant wife being ill etc etc .
Gutted as i was really looking forward to it FCN 3/5/90 -
Yeah, it was an awesome day. A long ride for me, but really enjoyed it and completed it with a riding time of 5:21hr, but 6:06 hr with stops.
+1. Yeh, really well sign posted and organised.Hats off and a big thanks to all those involved, well marshalled and well signposted.
+10And that climb just before the last feed station was a bugger.
Dunno what the all the fuss was about with Gun hill. That was a piece of p1ss compared to the last sharp climb.0 -
My first sportive and I loved every minute. Somehow the rain just made it even more satisfying. Happy with my time of 5 hours 30.
Well organised, well marshalled, and great feed stations.
As said above, Commonside was by far the worst climb of the lot, made worse by having to dodge around oncoming traffic.
A big thank you to all who made it happen.
Rob0 -
Well,
To echo previous comments, I found the route yesterday challenging, with the feed stops, signalling and marshalling first class
The atmosphere from start to finish was superb, and the people along the route who had come out to clap and cheer the riders on was heart-warming and a great motivator...
Re the hills, it would have been nice if the KoM signs had been out - I was still wondering where the first hill was by the time we were descending to the feed ahead of Gun Hill!!
The weather put a bit of a dampner on some of the route - lucky the pro's didnt have such weather, otherwise with all the farm debris on the lanes there could have been a few spills!!
+1 for the short sharp climb before the last feed being the worst one fo the bunch, gun Hill was a good challenge, but one you could spin up relatively easily..
Overall I was pleased with my 5:15 time, my aim had been to get within 90 minutes of the pro time (3:30), so I'll have to come back next year for that!!
btw - there were several photographers around the route - where can we find / see these images...I'm especially looking forwards to the one at the finish, I had a Cav-esqu lunge for the line moment
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Yeah, it was an decent day. Plus points were that the route was well signposted, feed zones were well stocked, motorbike marshals/medics seemed to be doing a good job and getting cheered on by various people over the route including passing children and the photographers!
Negatives were the start/finish setup didn't particularly work, no KOM signs, no M&S sarnies this year and the weather for the second half although the rain wasn't too bad really.
Also the route being the same as last year but with the toughest climb taken out. Having done it last year I decided to ride out to the start this year to make it more of a challenge and don't think I'll be back next year unless they change the route significantly. Obviously the appeal is that the route is the same as the ToB stage (which I think could be made much better anyway) but it doesn't make for a particularly nice sportive route, lots of main road sections.
Re the climbs the ToB does seem to have a bit of an arbitrary classification system and without the signs it does leave you guessing. Agree that Gun Hill is made out to be tougher than it is, of the people I saw on Commonside all but one was walking it!
Photo's will be here:
http://sportivephoto.thirdlight.com/gallery.tlx0 -
just seen the photoies and finish times. A fella did it in 3:46...I knew there was a short cut.
He must have been the one who nicked the pasta meal at the end...I didnt get mine
The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
I think quite a few of those times must have been people deciding to take the shorter route on the day. Doing the course just 16 minutes slower than the pro's would be good going! I was one of the later starters for the full route (sorry for everyone I had to push past at the start!) and found once the course split I was out on my own for quite a while.0
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I think a lot of people got to Leek and cut out the Gun hill loop0
