Norwich - Gas Hill Gasp Friday 8th July

BMX Bear

The imfamous Gas Hill Gasp has been resurected, any climbers fancy their chances?

http://www.norfolkcycling.co.uk/Gasp.html

markos1963

If I can loose 4 stone in weight by the &th of July I might give it a go!

Kona21

im in !! sent my entry off last week. Look forward to it

95kgclimber

Sounds a blast. I used to live near Norwich but can't remember Gas Hill. How long is it, and what's the gradiant?

danowat

95kgclimber wrote:

what's the gradiant?

F'ing steep

Pross

95kgclimber wrote:

Sounds a blast. I used to live near Norwich but can't remember Gas Hill. How long is it, and what's the gradiant?

From Ride with GPS it is about 300m long and a max gradient of just under 7% which doesn't seem much and appears to be backed up by Streetview but the only photo I managed to find was this one



which seems to suggest it is steeper at about 15% judging by the bricks on the wall.

I guess it's a big deal in Norfolk but most of us ride hump back bridges that are bigger [/b]

markos1963

I doubt it's 7%, I ride up Beacon Hill frequently(near Cromer) and that's about 8% and I can ride it on the SS/fixed. No way could I get up Gas Hill without some gears, 15% seems about right to me. I does get steeper the further you go up and you don't have any sort of run up to it as well.

danowat

Have heard this morning that there is a chance this may have to be cancelled due to very low entries, so if you are interested, enter to try and get the numbers up.

markos1963

danowat wrote:

Have heard this morning that there is a chance this may have to be cancelled due to very low entries, so if you are interested, enter to try and get the numbers up.

I think it's been a right co%k up. At first it was open to all, then it was teams of 4( difficult enough getting a match for a 2up TT let alone 4 climbers of similar ability) then I heard it was for cat riders only. No wonder the entry list is so low.

danowat

That and the lack of advertisment......

rbirkett

The way it read on the entry was that you need a team of 4 but that can't be right - not much of a competition if you're just racing your 3 mates.

Best thing to do is take entries off anyone (Cat riders or not), no ranking and put them in fours. Depending on numbers, the top 2 go through or if there's plenty of heats, just the winner.

Kona21

Its not teams of four. It means you will be up against 3 other rider in the heats. I did read it as the team thing first though.
I have also heard there have very few entries. It needs to be enter on the line £5.

Kona21

Message from the organiser

FolksSorry to have to make another plea!
To date I have 21 entries, I need 48 minimum to make up a viable raceprogram and we are concerned that we will not get this number by this Friday.

We are sorry there can be NO ENTRY ON THE LINE, to do so wouldcreate organisational mayhem on the night, assuming anyone turned up!T here is a £400+ prize list including £100 for 1st. Not great we know, buthiring of the crowd barriers alone cost £1560.

Entries must reach me by am Sat 18th June otherwise I will have no optionbut to cancel the event.We now realize that the Gasp is probably a 'step to far' especially inthis flat area.However we noted that Town Centre Hill Climbs have been a phenomenalsuccess in both Time Trial and 2 up match racing format in several partsof the country. This is why we agreed to run the event at, almost, therequest of the Norwich City Council. (We originally went in for a Crit but Gas Hill was the only possibility this year.)

We would like to point out that the LCCRL has organized over 60 races in Norfolk for you in the last 6 years as against less than 10 in total byother clubs. As a way of thanking the LCCRL we hoped that this, admittedlyodd event, would be supported by those who have benefited from the LCCRL'sraces each year. One of the original aims of the LCCRL was to demonstrate the need for adedicated cycling facility in the area. This we believe we have done asover 100 regularly race / train at Lotus each week.We have reached a point where the various district councils and countycouncil are beginning to understand our needs and difficulties we face.

To cancel will probably set Cycling back 5 or 6 years. Needless to say we will also be disappointed if we have to cancel, a hugeamount of effort on behalf of Cycling will have been wasted. Some havesuggested that it is perhaps time to close down the LCCRL after July. We think you know what you need to do rather quick!

danowat

Its a real shame, but I just can't justify entry for something I have no interest in taking part in.

flegghighsmells

Norfolk doesn't seem to breed the best climbers! Speaking as a pure sprinter, I couldn't climb to save my life so unfortunately have minor apprehension in entering hill climbs. It also seems that a lot of the racers are more interested in getting points at this point in time, none of which are available since the gasp is classified as a time trial.

It's a shame the organisers are in this position as it will be a wicked event with a great view for spectators- that hill is a monster! It's bad enough walking up Gas Hill! I would enter anyway however it's on the Friday when I'll be tapering for the VC Norwich race on the Sunday so it's just too inconvenient from a racing perspective. Maybe this is why so few have entered?

Kona21

I can why it may not attract some people. Going up there a few times is not easy!
I am also doing the vcn race.
I do hope it goes ahead tho.. being 9 stone I may have a chance! I think it should be 5quid, enter on line

markos1963

I think it should be an allcomers race. Anybody on two wheels can enter, be it the roadie on his 6.8kg racer of the chav on his 6.8t BSO. This would be a good way to promote cycling in the city.
As a big fat TT'r I to have no real interest in competing, maybe if it was a one off TT up the hill but a series of elimiation races would kill me off after the first!.

Kona21

Would be nice if it was organised by the council and free, no prize money etc.. Its on the Lords Majors weekend and you could get all sorts of people trying it, just for a laugh.
Im not doing it for the money, im doing it because its should be a good event.

There was a hill climb somewhere else in the UK this year, cant remember where but it was sponsered by Red Bull and was a huge event.

£1500 for the barriers!!??