Cycleops power road sportive-llandovery(Devils Staircase)

senoj

Anyone do this ride yesterday?
Enjoyed the whole day,thought there would be more people tbh.
The 85 miler was a beautyful ride,saw no end of Kites and Buzzards.

How did you get on with the Devils Staircase,I just managed to ride it,although the steepest thing ive ever ridden.

JohnCleland

Yes, I was there, and enjoyed it too

The turnout was poor, I entered late as I thought £27 was a bit much, (am I a tight wad?) but talked myself into it.

Could the cost be the reason for the low numbers?

only did the 50 :oops:

I managed the staircase, I was worried about traction due to the rain but it was dry. I did have a little trouble with the front wheel lifting at times, the hardest obstacle I`ve ever come across.

I was so slow up it, I was neck to neck with this guy who was walking up it!

There was a very warm welcome at the end, with an MC, photographer, coffee, cakes ect.

On reflection, I would do it again.

senoj

I thought £27 was a bit much,agree with you regards the warm welcome back..
Ill definately do it again next year.

Check out You Tube, it has it as part of 100 greatest climbs.
The guys breathing struck a chord

JohnCleland

I thought I would post the video you mention

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX3ralKsxkI

Well worth a visit, :shock:

campagone

I was between two minds as wether to do it or not, but in the end I didn't bother as I didn't fancy the £27 entry, tank of diesel and a 2.5-3 hour drive down from North Wales for a ride which I thought would probably be a battle against the wind given what it's been like up here the last few weeks.
What was the wind like? I did a local 50 miles and it was really windy, and I was home in time to watch the Giro which was nice.
But I think the main reason I didn't enter was the lack of interest shown in the ride. I googled the ride and there were no discussions about it on the forums, no one saying they were doing it and after all it was a new event so had no idea how good it was going to be. And I couldn't find a list of entries so I had no idea what the turnout would be like, nothing worse than a poor turnout on these events.

JohnCleland

It was only 20 miles for me so travelling was not an issue.

The wind really kicked in after clearing the staircase, it was pretty tough as I was on my own for most of the ride, would have been a lot quicker working with someone.

I did a few searches like yourself and found little or no info except for the main webpage, even then there seemed to be confusion over the distance and ascent for both rides with a few different numbers thrown around.

Its a shame really as it turned out to be a good ride, as I said I would probably do it again, agree that an entry list should be published.

If they spend a little time and effort on developing a good webpage and with some publicity in the correct areas, the event could grow into something big. It must be said though, that the sportive is a "bolt-on" to the main MTB race where they had around 500-600 riders.

MrChuck

I did it last year and wanted to do it again this year but couldn't make it. I think last yera there were around 120 riders, which I guess isn't many but I thought it gave the event a nice friendly atmosphere.
I did it as a warm up for the Dragon Ride but TBH I enjoyed it more!

campagone

Wasn't it based in Builth Wells last year? Im sure switching locations doesn't exacly help with the numbers, I wonder if they'll move it again next year. A bit of stability is what's needed for an event to grow and flourish.

senoj

Yep id say about 120 riders again this year.
I was an hours drive away,and the fuel was split between two.
There was another nasty climb after the 50 mile-85 mile split which brought you on to a barren landscape with no cover.
It started to rain quite heavy and the wind was horrendous,literally pushing the bike sideways.
I caught a glance at my mate,and for some reason started to laugh,£27 for this?
We descended and the rain stopped.
It was definately more relaxed than the Dragon ride,due to the smaller size,and enjoyed it as much.

eat_my_shorts

Hi, I did it also. The staircase was fairly tough but I thought the many many ups and downs after it were worse. I quite enjoyed the later long climb on the 85 route after the second feed station - speaking of which I thought the placement of both feed stations before big climbs was poor.

senoj

The first feed station at the foot of the staircase was poor,didnt mind the later one.

JohnCleland

Just checked the results, there were 145 riders.

I agree, the feed station at the bottom of the staircase was poorly positioned, would have been nice at the top in the lay-by.

It was tough trying to finish an energy bar whilst sucking big gulps of air.

One big plus from the devils staircase, I now know my new max heart-rate

eat_my_shorts

mind you, given the choice I would keep the feed stations in their poor positions and get rid of the rain - and that bloody headwind!

senoj

Im with you on the new heart rate front.
I think I had a tailwind the last 3 or 4 miles,not bad out of 85