Dragon Ride 2011

benno68

The queue jumpers are basically a bunch of cnuts. I passed a group of 20 of my club mates and I'm sure I could have embarrassed them into letting me jump in - I wouldn't have the cheek to do it and left about 45 minutes after them.

While I'm whinging, anyone experience the dreaded drafting fairies? Me and my mate towed a pair to Cowbridge, my mate asked when they were going to do a turn, the reply "we'll wait for the second half" :roll: It bloody hurt to drop them

My timing chip didn't work, no worries as my mate finished with me so I can check out his times, oh - his didn't work either!

I'll probably do this again next year and hope they get their act together.

alp777

Zoomer37 wrote:

Came close to 60mph decending down one part of the Bwlch which was fun and thought the apple pies at the feed stations were delicious.

You sure that wasn't kmph? I'm pretty good on the descents and my top speed was only a tad over 40mph!

nevman

My two penneth-the start was a real pain for all of us but if the Police had insisted on that,to run such a big event,then cannot blame the organisers who in every respect provided excellent marshalling (holding up roundabouts!) and clear signage-hats off to them and the safety team.
There was a bad bend near Ogwen by the sea-the rider who came down was sitting up when I passed him and there was a marsall slowing everyone down as the ambulance was parked (of neccessity) near by.
This was my first Dragon,I was impressed by the skill and control of all the riders on descents which were fast,unlike continental events where theres usually a bunch down on the corners,and the fitness of those in the 200k-very few looked on the rivets,again unlike what may be seen abroad where ability to climb seems to come naturally with nationality.
No prizes,but no complaints either-the scenery wins,Afan valley particularly.Dont blame Wiggle (really wanted to say ` I blame Wiggle` in the tent but resisted).

mattpage

Zoomer37 wrote:

Came close to 60mph decending down one part of the Bwlch which was fun and thought the apple pies at the feed stations were delicious.

60mph is possible off the Bwlch with the wind in the right direction (don't think it was yesterday though).

3 of us together taking the slip stream, moving through and off managed to get 80 kph and just under that on the second Bwlch descent in the wet which was a little dicey.

Zoomer37

alp777 wrote:

Zoomer37 wrote:

Came close to 60mph decending down one part of the Bwlch which was fun and thought the apple pies at the feed stations were delicious.

You sure that wasn't kmph? I'm pretty good on the descents and my top speed was only a tad over 40mph!

Hit 56mph on the first decent just after the feed station (left turn - 200km route) and again just before the cattle grid at the bottom. Used to live 2 miles from the Bwlch and been down there many times!

not_finbar

So he did a 190km individual time trial with slower cyclists as obstacles and still got the fastest time?! Not bad...

It certainly wasn't an ITT, I worked in a paceline of about 10 with him for a good while (until he dropped me on a hill, can't remember which one).

dru

Benno68 wrote:

The queue jumpers are basically a bunch of cnuts. I passed a group of 20 of my club mates and I'm sure I could have embarrassed them into letting me jump in - I wouldn't have the cheek to do it and left about 45 minutes after them.

While I'm whinging, anyone experience the dreaded drafting fairies? Me and my mate towed a pair to Cowbridge, my mate asked when they were going to do a turn, the reply "we'll wait for the second half" :roll: It bloody hurt to drop them

My timing chip didn't work, no worries as my mate finished with me so I can check out his times, oh - his didn't work either!

I'll probably do this again next year and hope they get their act together.

+1

We had exactly the same situation, we could have cut in at the front with a few other club mates, but we didn't so 20 Ajaxer's went to the back of the queue..

Out on the route we had the same fairies, the problem when riding as a club is that lots of other people (non-club members) think that its acceptable for a free ride around the route. We did have one guy in a liquidgas top help a bit, but that was the exception to the norm.

Just wish there were photographers earlier on in the route, some group pictures of 20 ajaxers together would have been great.

I like you also do not have an official time, and the rider I started and finished with doesn't either... happy days - I'm just waiting for all the photographers to say 'we forgot to load film into the cameras!)

GeorgeShaw

EdFrancis wrote:

I'm interested to know how many people came a cropper on the fast sweeping right hander as you hit the coast for the first time after about 10 miles. I was in a really fast group of about 4 going into it and as we went round the corner there was a bike in the road, as some poor chap had come off and broken a rib or two. Had to brake hard, and unfortunately I skidded on some gravel, mounted the pavement and went into the seawall.

nevman wrote:

There was a bad bend near Ogwen by the sea-the rider who came down was sitting up when I passed him and there was a marsall slowing everyone down as the ambulance was parked (of neccessity) near by.

There were at least two accidents there. We had a group of 16-odd and something happened (puncture?) at the front of the group - there was a plume of dust in the air - and despite careful braking at least one went down in the pack. About 100 metres later on the bend there had been another accident and riders were waving us to slow down.

benno68

GeorgeShaw wrote:

EdFrancis wrote:

I'm interested to know how many people came a cropper on the fast sweeping right hander as you hit the coast for the first time after about 10 miles. I was in a really fast group of about 4 going into it and as we went round the corner there was a bike in the road, as some poor chap had come off and broken a rib or two. Had to brake hard, and unfortunately I skidded on some gravel, mounted the pavement and went into the seawall.

nevman wrote:

There was a bad bend near Ogwen by the sea-the rider who came down was sitting up when I passed him and there was a marsall slowing everyone down as the ambulance was parked (of neccessity) near by.

There were at least two accidents there. We had a group of 16-odd and something happened (puncture?) at the front of the group - there was a plume of dust in the air - and despite careful braking at least one went down in the pack. About 100 metres later on the bend there had been another accident and riders were waving us to slow down.

It's a dicey stretch of road, hope that those who hit the deck make a speedy recovery. I mentioned this location in another thread as one to watch out for as my mate very nearly lost his back end on a training ride a couple of weeks before.

I nearly got taken out by a sheep a bit further along, wouldn't fancy hitting one of those at 20mph or so. Other than that I had an incident free 120 miles, only hit a max speed of 42 so no "exciting moments" going downhill - I must be getting old.

bcss

Dru wrote:

We had exactly the same situation, we could have cut in at the front with a few other club mates, but we didn't so 20 Ajaxer's went to the back of the queue..

to be quite frank, I saw some of your clubmates cutting in in front of me...I was about to say something but then didn't...and I think that's to all of us whining around: you either say something at that point (so in the queue)...rather than making a fist in your pocket and start crying later...if you don't have the courage to say something on the spot, then better be and remain quiet.

Dru wrote:

Out on the route we had the same fairies, the problem when riding as a club is that lots of other people (non-club members) think that its acceptable for a free ride around the route. We did have one guy in a liquidgas top help a bit, but that was the exception to the norm.

tnx for the lift :-)...think we rode together after the 1st foodstop (bumped couple of times into Ajax)...though I must say it was quite difficult to ride in groups as they constantly split up or were interrupted by other riders or traffic....

GeorgeShaw

Benno68 wrote:

It's a dicey stretch of road, hope that those who hit the deck make a speedy recovery. I mentioned this location in another thread as one to watch out for as my mate very nearly lost his back end on a training ride a couple of weeks before.

Earlier in this thread actually, and your comment was exactly right. It's a deceptive piece of road as you approach it.

usedtobefast

In no particular order.

Got off motorway at 7 and car parked by 7:15. Sorted my stuff out and got down to the start line and went off about 8:37. Didn't p*** around looking at the Wiggle tent etc before the start, leave that till the end.

Was in a great group till the first feed lead by the guys from Dulwich Paragon, excellent riding from clearly good club men used to riding in groups. Did my bit in the line also so no fairy here.

Feed stations were OK for my purposes just filled bottle up and grabbed a banana. Carry most of my own food.

Timing points beeped when I rode over them but like a lot of others I'm not on the official results.

Best part, the decent off the small climb after the decent of Bwlch (don't know the name) fast and technical shame it's not longer. Over took a couple of riders on the corners going down, those Cancellara descending videos on You Tube are really helping :-)

Worst part is trying to pass fools riding in the middle of the left side of the road when there's no reason for doing so, no pot holes, parked cars etc. Think some got a bit of a shock with someone passing on the inside.

Not sure it's worth £35 and don't know if I'll be back next year.

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slogfester

bcss wrote:

slogfester wrote:

As per my earlier post, the Medio turned out to 110km/1200m, 10 km and 500 m (of ascent) less than quoted. Thats a large error. Will the UCI tolerate that?.

Had the same thing when looking at my garmin, however just uploaded the ride on Strava and there it says 1,676 meters of ascent (though still 6km short), am really confused and annoyed, either my Garmin tells me crap (i used the adjustment on garmin connect) or the organisers cut it short 400 meters, but can't even tell. Anyone any insights?

I verified my distance and ascent figures with 2 other riders. Distance is spot on, i.e. 110 km. Total ascent is normally more variable (mine was from a GPS and Polar comp), but it sure as hell wasnt anywhere near 1700m. The point being, its not that there is an error (a hill is a hill, and I for one enjoyed it), its the size/proportion of the error and its supposed to be a professionally run event.

de_sisti

Does anyone know when the photographs will be published?

Abdoujaparov

not_finbar wrote:

So he did a 190km individual time trial with slower cyclists as obstacles and still got the fastest time?! Not bad...

It certainly wasn't an ITT, I worked in a paceline of about 10 with him for a good while (until he dropped me on a hill, can't remember which one).

That was last year? Surprised there were so many top level cyclists starting right at the back.

lemoncurd

De Sisti wrote:

Does anyone know when the photographs will be published?

Send them a message using: http://www.philoconnor.com/sportive/con ... ct_us.html

They'll mail you when they're ready

orangesmarty

Hey Zoomer37, there were 8 of us out from Derby Mercury, some in team kit. Some of us rode with you quite a way and noticed the Storck Scenero- nice bike! Just didn't have the breath to chat much. I was on a Boardman with white gilet.

We had a great time but felt the event was badly let down by the start and elements of the organisation- massive queues for 4 portaloos (no paper) at the main car park where 4000 competitors were arriving!! Huge queue for the start which would have caused hypothermia if the rain had set in earlier.
The final hospitality was also disappointing. 1/2 a cardboard container of tasteless pasta and a crap goody-bag. Hardly befitting of 'the UK's premier sportive'.
3 of us did the Fred Whitton and (despite the weather being much worse) was more enjoyable and the final hospitality far better. Yes it was slightly more but included a T-shirt and you can't put a price on unlimited tea and cake after 100+miles.
Ps I'm not knocking the volunteers who did a great job individually but considering it's 'status' and sponsor really ought to be better.

bendertherobot

Abdoujaparov wrote:

That was last year? Surprised there were so many top level cyclists starting right at the back.

Should they be starting anywhere else? Depends when they show up, surely?

pdw

nevman wrote:

My two penneth-the start was a real pain for all of us but if the Police had insisted on that,to run such a big event,then cannot blame the organisers

It's not the fact that there was a queue that annoyed me. It was the fact that they screwed the start up: they knew how many riders there were (4000), how long they had to get them started (90 minutes), and what the limits were on the rate that they could start them (100 every 2 minutes). As far as I'm aware, at no point between 8am and 9:30am was there not at least 100 riders ready to go and yet they were still starting people until well after 9:45. EIther they weren't going every 2 minutes or there were groups with fewer than 100 people in them (pretty sure it was the latter)

To get everyone off on time they needed to start at least 88 every 2 minutes, which doesn't give them a lot of slack, so you'd think they'd have a good mechanism for ensuring that the groups were full. Obviously they didn't.

Having screwed this up, to then stop people who made reasonable time from a late start from doing the long course was very poor.

Boleynboy

I knew that a fair few chips had not worked when I went to ride HQ to report mine had not beeped and saw how many rider numbers were already on a list that they were compiling, but for so many riders on this forum alone to have chips that have failed is a complete debacle.
The organisers should hang their heads in shame, the UK's favourite sportive 2011, no chance!
Last year they cocked up the energy drink, this year the start and the timing, does anyone know who we can send an official complaint to?
I would also like to extend my gratitude to the South Downs Velo club rider who decided it would be a good idea to squeeze past me on the left hand side, on the second descent of the Bwlch, in the wet at 35 mph plus, without a warning. You sir are a plank and I hope you heard me telling you so in rather coarser language on the road!
As I have already stated I will not be riding next year, and this event really does show that many sportives in this country are dreadful value for money, woeful, really woeful.

wicked

Boleynboy wrote:

I would also like to extend my gratitude to the South Downs Velo club rider who decided it would be a good idea to squeeze past me on the left hand side, on the second descent of the Bwlch, in the wet at 35 mph plus, without a warning. You sir are a plank and I hope you heard me telling you so in rather coarser language on the road!
As I have already stated I will not be riding next year, and this event really does show that many sportives in this country are dreadful value for money, woeful, really woeful.

Have to agree with you the standard of some of the riding it was shocking. People ambling along in the middle of the road, jumping red lights and going straight across roundabouts with cars coming. I too came up behind a rider on the descent of the Bwlch and he just decided to move out into the middle of the road with no warning and no checking over his shoulder. There seem to be a lot of people who have never ridden in a group before. There also seemed to be lots of people that were under the impression they were in a race, if they want to race they should enter a real race they will be very popular with constant line changing.

sampras38

Swansea_Dave wrote:

Well, I enjoyed every minute of the ride yesterday (but it was my first sportive ride so I have no comparisons to draw from). I had never cycled more than 80 odd miles previously and the 120 mile route took me 8.38 total time. I was fine until about 110 miles and then gritted my teeth til the finish.

Got away at about 09:15 after a long queue to start. That bit was a fiasco but the rest of the organisation was fine.

Timing mats didn't bleep when I went over them. When riding over them in a group I'd say they seemed to bleep for maybe half of the riders so the results could be interesting.

3 friends of mine did the shorter route and all 3 had dodgy chips that didn't record their times. I was due to do the long route for the 3rd time but had to pull out at the last minute and from what I've read I don't think I missed much. Only reason for doing it a 3rd time was to go for gold and experience the new route along the coast but sounds like they've ruined it.

sampras38

Gooner69 wrote:

Seems a bit strange that simply "curling" the flexy bendy chip around the bars is enough to make it unreadable. Surely it couldnt have been damaged by that process?

I bent by number round the bars lst year and the chip recorded my time fine.

Make of that what you will..

sampras38

De Sisti wrote:

Does anyone know when the photographs will be published?

They probably hired photographers who forgot to bring their cameras..;-)

dombo6

bendertherobot wrote:

Slightly OT, but, beat my best up the Bwlch today. In previous years have been averaging 6-7 mph. Today I was doing a minimum of 9 and between 9.5 and 10 most of the time. Was dead chuffed.

Well done. Was that Bwlch 1 or Bwlch 2? First climb of Bwlch I did in my 39/25 passing loads more riders than passed me. Second time around i crawled up in 30/25 like a dying thing crawling unwillingly to its grave. Haven't figured out the splits yet, but they won't be pretty.

dombo6

Surfr wrote:

Oldwelshman, 20MPH avg? bloody well done. I managed 16.5 over the 200Km but I'm no climber. I spun my way up everything in 39:25 as I didn't know what lay ahead.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90412718

+1! only 15.75MPH for me at 8 hrs elapsed for 121 miles, 7.35 riding time

Abdoujaparov

bendertherobot wrote:

Abdoujaparov wrote:

That was last year? Surprised there were so many top level cyclists starting right at the back.

Should they be starting anywhere else? Depends when they show up, surely?

Just surprised that Ben Simmons managed to forget his shoes, drive home to get them, start dead last (way after everyone else?) and still find a group of 10 that could share the work with him for a long time. Bear in mind, he did it in 5h40 so you'd have thought you'd need to be a sub-6h rider to share the work for a long time. To pick up 10 of them when many would be long gone (law of averages) is pretty surprising I reckon.

I thought the guy who replied to my earlier post might have been talking about this year, not last.

Pseudonym

Abdoujaparov wrote:

Just surprised that Ben Simmons managed to forget his shoes, drive home to get them, start dead last (way after everyone else?) and still find a group of 10 that could share the work with him for a long time. Bear in mind, he did it in 5h40 so you'd have thought you'd need to be a sub-6h rider to share the work for a long time. To pick up 10 of them when many would be long gone (law of averages) is pretty surprising I reckon.

Simmons is a solid, 1st cat road racer, currently ranked 54 in the UK I think. I doubt if he needed anyone to share the work with him...

not_finbar

Abdoujaparov wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Abdoujaparov wrote:

That was last year? Surprised there were so many top level cyclists starting right at the back.

Should they be starting anywhere else? Depends when they show up, surely?

Just surprised that Ben Simmons managed to forget his shoes, drive home to get them, start dead last (way after everyone else?) and still find a group of 10 that could share the work with him for a long time. Bear in mind, he did it in 5h40 so you'd have thought you'd need to be a sub-6h rider to share the work for a long time. To pick up 10 of them when many would be long gone (law of averages) is pretty surprising I reckon.

I thought the guy who replied to my earlier post might have been talking about this year, not last.

No, i was talking about 2010. I finished it in 6h10m. Here's an excerpt from his blog entry:

At the second feed station I stopped to refill my bottles and Rich Carter was there with his new Verenti Rhigos 1.0 so yet another chat and refuel and I was on my way but this time I found a group of riders who were setting a fair pace so decided to work with these riders. We were riding well but I was dropping them on the climbs but I would sit up and wait for them as I was getting a little bit lonely riding on my own. By the time we got to Port Talbot and had a steep climb to the third feed station I dropped them all again and decided to keep going on my own.

dru

sampras38 wrote:

De Sisti wrote:

Does anyone know when the photographs will be published?

They probably hired photographers who forgot to bring their cameras..;-)

Well, I'm waiting for that as well, or maybe, they miscalculated how many people were going to ride, so they all ran out of film or digital storage matter after the first few hundred riders...... lol :roll: (god I hope thats not true!)