Etape Cymru ?
Comments
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The-beast wrote:First 25miles were a killer too, website stated just over 1800meters (just over 6000ft) of climbing too, I clocked nearly 3000meters on my garmin, and that's missing out the shelf!
Have you got a log or map of the actual route we did? Would love to see the profile0 -
For the record, no part of the Horseshoe Pass is over 14%; the sign must be something the council had lying around the depot. Most of the climb out of Llangollen after the Britannia is around 8%. Then, after the bend it eases to around 6%. Climbs nearly 300 metres in 4 km.The-beast wrote:Horse shoe pass was something else, awesome climb, must have missed the 20% section as it never seem to go above 15%.
I am astonished by how much falling off there seems to have been. Ok, with 1600 out, law of averages says there will be an incident or two. But it wasn't wet, wasn't dark. What's going on?0 -
stanthomas wrote:
For the record, no part of the Horseshoe Pass is over 14%; the sign must be something the council had lying around the depot. Most of the climb out of Llangollen after the Britannia is around 8%. Then, after the bend it eases to around 6%. Climbs nearly 300 metres in 4 km.The-beast wrote:Horse shoe pass was something else, awesome climb, must have missed the 20% section as it never seem to go above 15%.
I am astonished by how much falling off there seems to have been. Ok, with 1600 out, law of averages says there will be an incident or two. But it wasn't wet, wasn't dark. What's going on?
Maybe people just like tarmac :?:
There seemed to be a lot of punctures too0 -
Sheep? Potholes?stanthomas wrote:I am astonished by how much falling off there seems to have been. Ok, with 1600 out, law of averages says there will be an incident or two. But it wasn't wet, wasn't dark. What's going on?
The descent from the Horseshoe Pass was pretty damp by the time we called it a day and headed home, although I'm not aware of anyone coming off on the bends there.0 -
I think that you have to accept that some/many of the roads used were actually unsuitable for an event that size.
I rode a lot of miles today on the kind of 'roads' that I'd never normally take a road bike on, let alone with hundreds of other riders. I suspect that in a lot of cases the route was influenced by which roads could be closed rather than which roads which make a good ride. It kind of spoils the point of closed roads if the roads that are closed are more dangerous than traffic!
I've not seen as many crashes and injured riders on a sportive before.
And I think that the lack of signage was pretty unforgivable, especially near the end.
Seemed like twice the price and half the organisation of any other sportive that I've. Done, perhaps the guys that ran it just bit off more than they could chew?0 -
tlr wrote:I think that you have to accept that some/many of the roads used were actually unsuitable for an event that size.
I rode a lot of miles today on the kind of 'roads' that I'd never normally take a road bike on, let alone with hundreds of other riders. I suspect that in a lot of cases the route was influenced by which roads could be closed rather than which roads which make a good ride. It kind of spoils the point of closed roads if the roads that are closed are more dangerous than traffic!
I've not seen as many crashes and injured riders on a sportive before.
And I think that the lack of signage was pretty unforgivable, especially near the end.
Seemed like twice the price and half the organisation of any other sportive that I've. Done, perhaps the guys that ran it just bit off more than they could chew?
I'm afraid to say I agree with every word of that :?0 -
PeteMadoc wrote:The-beast wrote:First 25miles were a killer too, website stated just over 1800meters (just over 6000ft) of climbing too, I clocked nearly 3000meters on my garmin, and that's missing out the shelf!
Have you got a log or map of the actual route we did? Would love to see the profile
Yeah I'll upload it, tried before but garmin site is under maintenance. Ignore my shocking climb times
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The-beast wrote:tlr wrote:I think that you have to accept that some/many of the roads used were actually unsuitable for an event that size.
I rode a lot of miles today on the kind of 'roads' that I'd never normally take a road bike on, let alone with hundreds of other riders. I suspect that in a lot of cases the route was influenced by which roads could be closed rather than which roads which make a good ride. It kind of spoils the point of closed roads if the roads that are closed are more dangerous than traffic!
I've not seen as many crashes and injured riders on a sportive before.
And I think that the lack of signage was pretty unforgivable, especially near the end.
Seemed like twice the price and half the organisation of any other sportive that I've. Done, perhaps the guys that ran it just bit off more than they could chew?
I'm afraid to say I agree with every word of that :?
Didn't think the roads in general were too bad but some of the descents were very hairy. Felt like my teeth were going to fall out at times. I was gripping my brakes so hard my hands hurt. I saw some guys on cross bikes with canti brakes, god knows what it was like for them.0 -
With the 25% off next year, I saw a flyer in passing and it said something about having to enter by the end of november this year... bit of trying to get the bucks in there. Who would book a sportive 10 months early??0
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Sadly I don't think this was a good event - which is a shame as it had to potential to be so. Lousy narrow country roads with awful surfaces, closed roads that still managed to have cars on them, empty food stops, missing signs, missing marshalls, I could go on...and I have on my blog if you feel like reading it. For £60?! 4/10 at best.
Kudos to all the lovely folk who took time out of their day to wave, clap, cowbell, high 5, etc though - made it that bit more bearable
http://www.thecyclingmayor.com/?p=2216My cycling blog: http://www.thecyclingmayor.com0 -
If you ever want to see a Garmin trace for an event you're interested, just use the explore function on Garmin Connect, like I just did and found this:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/120271430
There are a few others and they all consistently record more than 9500 of climbing (this is with one climb removed as I understand it). All the pre-ride marketing had it at 100 miles and 6000feet, how can they have been so far out? You wouldn't market a ride at 60 miles and then make everyone ride 100 miles would you?
Strange!
If I was a spin doctor, I'd say "you got more for your money" 0 -
If you use map my ride or similar mapping tools it comes out at about 6300ft. Numerous Garmins have come out at over 9000 so not sure what to believe.
After reading other peoples experiences of the event it sounds like the people at the front and the back had a few problems. Front riders were too fast for the organisers, some roads weren't closed for them and some timing mats weren't out. People at the back didn't get food or water at feed stations.0 -
Positives:
- Some of the views were stunning.
- Friendly people both in the race and cheering on at the side of the road.
- The weather - reasonable dry and lots of shelter from the wind due to small roads.
- I didn't mind the size of the roads, but...see below for my point about making the route too complicated.
Negatives:
- No gillets!
- Started 15 minutes late.
- Missing signage
- Even the marshals didn't seem to know where they were going as they were following the signs too....I discoverd this after speaking to a couple of marshals after running off route.
- Due to being delayed by running off route there was no food/water for me at the first feed stop. Made more significant by my next point.
- The ride was hillier than advertised, I was burning calories much faster than I should have been if it was truly 6000ft in that distance. I've been training on a 54 mile route with 6500ft of climbing in it.
- Road closure not managed properly (not enough police?)
I think that if they had simplified the route and stuck to more main roads, while it would have caused a bit more disruption, it would have been much easier for them to manage. I'm seriously considering signing up for next year though as I'm hoping that they will leanr from the mistakes this year and make next year a much better event.
I've done the Etape Caledonia a few times and the route is much more straightforward, I've never encountered a car coming the other way on it and all of the turns are marshalled.
Richard0 -
PeteMadoc wrote:If you use map my ride or similar mapping tools it comes out at about 6300ft. Numerous Garmins have come out at over 9000 so not sure what to believe.
After reading other peoples experiences of the event it sounds like the people at the front and the back had a few problems. Front riders were too fast for the organisers, some roads weren't closed for them and some timing mats weren't out. People at the back didn't get food or water at feed stations.
My Bryton Rider showed an elevation gain similar to the Garmins at 8800ft.
The hardest climb for me was over the windy moreland up by Carrog, I went to a dark place there!
As a whole though I enjoyed the challenging day.1nca0 -
So it looks like it was nearer the 9000ft mark then.
I found the climbs tough but not too bad. The one that really got me though was the start of the horseshoe. Not very steep but the headwind was so immense it nearly stopped me dead, I kept thinking, just keep turning your legs, just keep going, ignore the pain . . . brilliant!0 -
My Garmin came out at 7600ft once it had been 'elevation corrected' on Garmin Connect, which I understand corrects the elevation to the map rather than the inbuilt altimeter. Either way it was a lot of climbing and I was jealous of those with triples!
Overall I really enjoyed the ride, it was a proper challenge.
I feel a bit dissapointed to fall short of the 100 miles, 93 doesn't sound quite so impressive. Hopefully they can sort out the wandering signage for next year.
The feed station probelm also has to be sorted - the 2nd stop was completely out of food when I arrived and I know there still hundreds of riders behind me. I was cramping up pretty bad at the bottom of the Horseshoe cos I couldn't force any more energy drink down on an empty stomach (that's my excuse for the appaling time!). Stops 1 and 3 were fine though.0 -
Krys wrote:Sadly I don't think this was a good event - which is a shame as it had to potential to be so. Lousy narrow country roads with awful surfaces, closed roads that still managed to have cars on them, empty food stops, missing signs, missing marshalls, I could go on...and I have on my blog if you feel like reading it. For £60?! 4/10 at best.
Kudos to all the lovely folk who took time out of their day to wave, clap, cowbell, high 5, etc though - made it that bit more bearable
http://www.thecyclingmayor.com/?p=2216
Nice blog. It was my first Sportive so not sure what to expect. Didn't enjoy the strong wind at all, particularly over Carrog Mountain (the last one before the Horseshoe Pass).
I have also written a blog about the event:
http://chestercyclist.blogspot.com/2011 ... ed-it.html
Hopefully the next one I do will be a bit easier 0 -
I enjoyed the ride - much better weather than forecast, lovely scenery, terrific support. No problem with the roads (how some people look at a route map that consists largely of unclassified roads in rural North Wales and think, "they will all be smooth, clean, lovingly tended ribbons of Continental tarmac, I'll pop my 50mm carbon tubs on", is a bit beyond me).
But boy was I ripped off. £60 for closed roads that weren't all closed (which is more frightening and dangerous than roads that are just open); a £20 gilet that became a £5 note; and tiny, cramped, utterly inadequate feed stops where I couldn't get food and they ran out of water.
There's lots of options for my sportive dollar these days. This bunch won't be getting mine again.0 -
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I think they have a lot of room for improvement organisation wise for next year, it may help that it is scheduled for september rather than october because some of the roads were downright dangerous.
Thanks to the spectators for cheering us on, really helped.
Gps was also way over what was advertised climbing wise :?
Any idea where the results will be posted, want to see how slow i was up the horseshoe!! :oops:0 -
Just done a search for etape cymru on the garmin website. Various altitudes recorded, lowest being 6926ft and the highest 9072ft. I'm wondering how accurate Garmins are? ?
Looking at the different routes tracked I can't see any two identical ones which would confirm the poor signage problems0 -
PeteMadoc wrote:Just done a search for etape cymru on the garmin website. Various altitudes recorded, lowest being 6926ft and the highest 9072ft. I'm wondering how accurate Garmins are? ?
Looking at the different routes tracked I can't see any two identical ones which would confirm the poor signage problems
Garmin data is pretty accurate if it's a device with a barometric sensor built in which makes the altitude recordings more accurate. So look at the equipment type on the Garmin page for the route you're looking at.
Edge 205 = no barometric
Edge 305 = barometric
Edge 605 = no barometric
Edge 705 = barometric
Edge 800 = barometric
I've downloaded 3 of the Etape Cymru recordings and put them through Sporttracks (with various plugins enabled and disabled) and confirmed that 9500 feet is about correct.0 -
Wasnt decided if i would do ride,acl and cartilage ops in may,until my mate told me 2 weeks ago that he'd booked the b&b!!
So with no training and just the weekly 20-40 miles social plod i had no great expectations about doing this ride,but i managed to get round with great difficulty.
My ride below as i remember it
Punctured at 15miles
Right calf seizes at 25 miles
Empty feed stop number 1( the apologetic lady was lovely) but came prepared for it.
More hills
Water at 2nd feed stop with a scoop of yuk!
Worlds End
Left calf seizes after cattle grid
Windy moors
Scarey descents
3-4mph up Horseshoe
Small cakes and stuff at 3rd feed stop
Relief that the final climb,the Shelf?,had been umm Shelved
Being waved onto a road by marshall into traffic (lucky i dont trust anyone)
No pasta left at end
But above all it was the peeps that came out to support me(us) on the ride,aBIG thankyou to you all
time moving 7hr 23mins so 8plus in result list i guess
well chuffed to manage to get round but what a beast of a route,
cheers
A.Mamil
PS-i dont own a pinnerelo and am not a dentist
now sharing my plods on
http://www.strava.com/athletes/cwm0 -
PeteMadoc wrote:I'm sure there will be the usual slagging off but for me this was a great event and worth the money.
The highs
Closed roads worked well, really noticed the difference on descents
Generally a friendly crowd and a good atmosphere
Feed stops were well stocked and the staff were all working hard to keep everyone topped up
Lots of marshals and police keep the roads clear
The WEATHER, I was expecting to get very wet today but the weather held. strong winds but this didn't matter as it was a tail wind on the way home
Horseshoe pass, after 60 very hilly miles starting the pass with an immense headwind was sadistically fun, turning the corner and flying up at 22mph made it though
The lows
the 5am alarm clock
Seeing the paramedics treat some poor guy on the descent to Minera, hope he's ok
locals nicking signs which I believe resulted in the route being shortened to 86 miles
+1 Didnt have the 5am alarm though :-)
Was good to meet you Pete, im guessing you finished way before me as your car was gone when i got back.
Really strugled with cramp in the last 30miles and kept having to stop periodically to massage the legs.
Other than that I enjoyed the day, had a prob with the bike where it wouldnt change down to the granny ring but one of the Mechanics from Demon Tweeks who were offering free assistance fixed it at the first stop - top chaps.
I had 93.3 miles on the speedo in the end.
Great days riding, always room for improvement but you could say that about every sportive on the calendar.0 -
JD_76 wrote:PeteMadoc wrote:I'm sure there will be the usual slagging off but for me this was a great event and worth the money.
The highs
Closed roads worked well, really noticed the difference on descents
Generally a friendly crowd and a good atmosphere
Feed stops were well stocked and the staff were all working hard to keep everyone topped up
Lots of marshals and police keep the roads clear
The WEATHER, I was expecting to get very wet today but the weather held. strong winds but this didn't matter as it was a tail wind on the way home
Horseshoe pass, after 60 very hilly miles starting the pass with an immense headwind was sadistically fun, turning the corner and flying up at 22mph made it though
The lows
the 5am alarm clock
Seeing the paramedics treat some poor guy on the descent to Minera, hope he's ok
locals nicking signs which I believe resulted in the route being shortened to 86 miles
+1 Didnt have the 5am alarm though :-)
Was good to meet you Pete, im guessing you finished way before me as your car was gone when i got back.
Really strugled with cramp in the last 30miles and kept having to stop periodically to massage the legs.
Other than that I enjoyed the day, had a prob with the bike where it wouldnt change down to the granny ring but one of the Mechanics from Demon Tweeks who were offering free assistance fixed it at the first stop - top chaps.
I had 93.3 miles on the speedo in the end.
Great days riding, always room for improvement but you could say that about every sportive on the calendar.
Nice to meet you too James, thanks again for registering me. I did suffer from a bit of cramp towards the end too, just need to keep the legs spinning fast
My speedo read 87 miles in 5 hr 40 mins, I was quite pleased with that. My real time will probably top 6hrs0 -
This year I was down to do the Johnny Helms two up memorial TT on Sunday but was interested in how the Etape Cymru went. It would seem from this Thread and comments made here http://www.wrexham.com/news/etape-cymru ... -3008.html that all was not as well as it could have been.
I did back in April on a separate thread post this....
Having put some time into investigating this event it would seem that Mike Turner the organizer has got his bib shorts in a bit of a twist here.
Firstly I have just paid £24 for BC ride membership and this represents a mere £12 discount on this event compared with £24 for yet to be ride members.
Next lose the £20 gilet from the goodie bag and charge less entry (or are they being acquired for nothing)
Thirdly this an over complicated Audax Type Route not suitable parcours for more than about 150 riders, never the numbers being talked about here. 3500 riders straight out of a start into tinny little lanes, then round the Eglwyseg and Esclusham Mountains the surface is rubbish and there's plenty more nutter descents with suicide gravel etc.
Fourthly the selling of Horseshoe Pass is wrong there are no 20% ramps in this Horseshoe, it is a power climb (often used in Hill Climb TT's) average gradient is a little over 5% and max is around 9%, it's just fairly long.
Lastly and by no means least, as I suspected from my previous comment the overall ascent is far more than as advertised, it is a little over 3000m which is what I expected all along having ridden this part of the world extensively in the past.
How do I know well check this out..... http://ridewithgps.com/routes/372195 there is around 1200m difference.
Will we see a major rethink about the cost and logistics …. Mmm I wonder
A guy suggested I was being negative, so I responded as below.
We all think a Sportive on closed roads is a great idea but it is essential for the future events that this one goes off without major problems. It's not a case of being negative but seeing a problem before it happens.
It's us that pay and it's our ride so don't just knock the folk who want value for money and to get round in one peace, it kind of makes sense if you think about it. [/i]
Isn't it about time that the organizers of these very big events got together with others from similar events and set out what exactly is needed for the rides to be a unanimous success? The posts from the Dragon ride sound somewhat similar, cutting out part of the route is simply a failure, bottom line.0 -
in the last 10 miles we came up to a T junction, the marshal wasnt moving... we thought he was asleep.. he wasn't... he was PRAYING! :shock: :shock:0
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My thoughts summarised here:
http://monmarduman.blogspot.com/2011/10 ... tions.html
To summarise, I wasn't happy, and Ron - you were bang on with your assessment/predictions; wish I'd looked at the route a bit more carefully before entering.0 -
My wife crashed at one of the junctions she breaked and the bike just slid from under her
difficult decents, mud smeared lanes,,,lots of spills. but not sure if this was on a miss marked route!
Still really enjoyed it and we both hope to be back for next years event.
The organisers want these events to work they put a lot of hard work into trying to give us the best day possible. constructive comments will only help improve future events
ps
any chance that some of those hills will have eroded by then?0
