Tour of Britain 2012 - East Anglia

Brushiemma10w

I did the 2011 leg of the ToB East Anglia and there was transport arranged at the finish for bike & rider back to the start at Bury St Edmunds. Anyone know when we can expect to hear about this year's transport arrangements & associated costs?

A group of us are holding off from booking pending this information. Last year there was someone called Alistair R (or similar) who was connected with the ToB and was very helpful with answering any questions associated with the tour. Is he or someone else dealing with it this year?

Thanks

gog555

I e-mailed the organisers asking the same question and got a reply saying they are working on them and details will be out soon.

Brushiemma10w

gog555 wrote:

I e-mailed the organisers asking the same question and got a reply saying they are working on them and details will be out soon.

You did better than me then, cos I emailed them too and got no response.
I wonder if theres a touch of the old 'chicken & egg' thing here. They won't release transfer details until they have some idea of numbers, whilst there are people out there like my group who are holding off booking until they know the transfer details :roll:

gog555

It took them about a fortnight to reply.

carl_p

Has anybody successfully entered? I can't see a link on the main web page.

Cleat Eastwood

Carl_P wrote:

Has anybody successfully entered? I can't see a link on the main web page.

No you're right, there's an entry form on the Stoke one - but none on the anglian/scottish or welsh

Brushiemma10w

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

Carl_P wrote:

Has anybody successfully entered? I can't see a link on the main web page.

No you're right, there's an entry form on the Stoke one - but none on the anglian/scottish or welsh

I've emailed them again and got a read receipt but still no answer. 2 of my friends have now signed up for a Spartan Race instead. The East Anglia ToB ride is just 4 weeks tomorrow and still no change to the Main Web Page & no answers to emails........think I might have to scrath this one, which is very disappointing.

Ankles50

The website was updated today, tabs now there to register

You will see the event date has moved from July to September, a sunday to a saturday...no explanation as why it's been pushed back
Transport has been made available, subject to enough interest

steveb1020

Hi yea I brave just entered and all went through fine I think it's been changed because of low entries , hope to see you there cheers

steveb1020

Sorry meant have just entered

Brushiemma10w

steveb1020 wrote:

Hi yea I brave just entered and all went through fine I think it's been changed because of low entries , hope to see you there cheers

Hardly surprising given the manner in which enquiries have been dealt with. The switch from a Sunday in July to a Saturday in September means this is now a no no for me. oh well :roll:

verylonglegs

I was considering the challenge ride, Gt Yarmouth to Norwich, but with a £35 entry fee they can get lost. Probably works out at more than 50p a mile on unclosed roads..if you tried to charge motorists that there would be absolute outrage and I'm not paying that voluntarily to ride a bloody bike.

steveb1020

The Sun May Shine

carl_p

The revised date actually works better for me. £35 entry + £18 coach transfer (or about £14 by train) makes it an expensive ride though.

Looking at the route not the most cycle friendly roads either. The section from Gt Yarmouth to Fleggburgh looks horrendous.

Ankles50

I looked at train, only 38minutes & £14 from Norwich seemed ok, but Greater Anglia only allow 4 bikes on any one train, on a first come first served basis. Seem's too big a risk to take a flyer that i'd be only one of 4 bikes on the morning as having spoken to the help desk they just repeated the ruling and said it should be enforced

The fact they are giving free suppliments, gels etc away at feedstations this year is a big step forward, i plan to take on board a reasonable amount to recompense for the entry fee

carl_p

I wasn't aware of the 4 bike rule on a train. That's interesting because I believe there are several from my club planning to use the train from Norwich, so I can pretty much guarantee there will me more than 4!

So how many bikes can they get on a coach and how do they stack them?

Ankles50

Was a surpise to me also, here is the URL, which they read from almost verbatum if you do talk to anyone

http://www.greateranglia.co.uk/travel-i ... ey/cycling

"Local services in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire
Free of charge.
First come first served.
Four cycle spaces per train"

carl_p

Cheers for the link Ankles. On the Inter City Norwich to London St, which normally stops at Ipswich it's 6 bikes, and looks like it has to be prebooked. I would imagine you also have to prearrange with the guard that you are getting off at Ipswich to unlock them.

steveb1020

Hi As I only do 25 miles quite regularly on about a 19 mph average what sort of average would the regular cyclist be looking at over 124 miles , I'm guessing to take between seven and a quarter and seven and half on a 16 or 17 average