Ride With Brad

whojanicanackerov

Yep top day hills dished out the pain and I`m knackered!!

davelakers

Fantastic day and a superb and bloody hard route. I always knew that the last 1/3 was the hard bit, but come on. The hardest way possible up Longridge Fell, Nick o Pendle, Black Hill, Newchurch, Barley Fell and then whoever arranged it thought they would have a laugh and send us through the one track roads to the end. 101 miles of hell but well worth it to actually ride with Brad for a few miles into Wray.

mr_poll

Was a great day - was stood getting a drink at Wray, turned around to have Brad striding towards me, was a tad star struck.

Dave you are right the last third was brutal, I have slated sportives for having flat boring end sections and there needs to be interest throughout the ride but that just took the p155. Evil, evil organisers.

whitedials

Agree with all comments above top but very tough day. Done lots of sportives but this was one of the best - well signed and marshalled, good feed stations, fantastic scenery (shame about the weather), friendly people, good start arrangements and goodie bags with food at the end. Thanks to all!

Cleat Eastwood

i missed wiggins . But I made my own fun...- smashed into a bollard and barbed wire fence on the descent of waddington fell after a guy cut in infront of me- mech was smegged, wiggle mechanics didnt show at the food stop (i can now genuinely blame them) so had to do 80 miles in the little ring, then got caught out in the rain on barley fell - so bad that the police were driving up asking if anyone wanted a lift to the finish as they feared the weather was getting worse. Brilliant day though - that last 15 - 20 miles is brutal. av speed 11.9, so i'm pleased.

danielstucke

Toughest ride I've done so far, and that was the 100km version. Last 20 miles really hurt, 5 times I thought it must be the last hill!

aspender

What a day.

Set off in the third wave at 7:17am and got round in 7hr 30m moving time. Toughest ride I've ever done.

Thought the organisation, marshalling and best of all people cheering us along were all superb. Only one negative was of our own making. About six miles after the stop at Wray the group I was in met another group coming back along the road to a turning off to the left. Discussion ensued as to why, and they seemed to think the route turned left (no signs, although somebody said there was an arrow further back) - one of them had the route on their Garmin and insisted it went down there so off we all went. About 100m on came the 16% descent sign, followed by a nasty, steep, wet, dirty, sharp left hander. One guy went down pretty hard but luckily just had road rash and a knackered thumb. We called it in and a couple of people waited with him until help came. Saw him at the end and all was well. It turns out that despite me asking the guy with the Garmin if he downloaded it last thing last night, he had an old version. They modified it to avoid that descent specifically because of that corner.

Saw the aftermath of one other off, involving a 4x4 in a ditch and ambulance attending a conscious rider in the last three miles, and there was apparently another incident coming off the Trough of Bowland as well (according to the police the rider was ok) However given the rather inclement conditions for the latter half and the numbers riding this is probably par for the course.

Also missed Wiggo (either whilst stopped at Wray, or on our little detour) but there was no danger of me staying with him anyway!

A lot of people walking the hills in the final 20 miles. For anybody not there before the raffle Brad himself said "I didn't know it was that tough. The last 20 miles were brutal!"

Beatmaker

The last 20 miles were indeed tough. I skipped the last feed feeling good and then paid for it later on, I was cramping when I got out of the saddle on the last three climbs. I did manage to catch up with Brad at the finish, he rode past and I managed to say congrats on this year and got a "cheers" in response before he was escorted off to the car. If I had more time I was going to give him a couple of pointers on technique, if he takes them on board he'll go far that boy.

desweller

Crashed . On the descent into Sabden, hit a pothole and went head-first into the air splitter of a Fiat Punto.

Otherwise a great ride; all the people out on the route cheering us on, I know they were only there to catch a glimpse of The Great Man but it still felt pretty good!

essjaydee

Agree with all the comments above.
Had a brilliant brilliant day. Weather held till late morning and we were lucky enough to finish before the torrential rain set in. Did the full 160Km route and it was relentless with the hills in the last quarter, but this was the longest ride I've done, so fully expected it to hurt, and I wasn't disappointed :!:

Brad slid past going us going up over the Trough and he was casually chatting with a group while we were grunting and puffing away. Also saw him at the next feedstop which seemed a bit surreal.

Lots of ticks in boxes, and will definately sign up for next years event

butcher_boy

Thought when I got Nick of Pendle out the way it would have been easier The end just seemed to go up & up & up

Few tricky corners on the gravel on that single track :shock:

All in all I loved it. Crowds on every big hill cheering you on (Ok they were there for Brad but thanks all the same) Good signage , marshalls, food etc.

Is there nothing that the boy Wiggo doesn't do well

Beatmaker

butcher_boy wrote:

Thought when I got Nick of Pendle out the way it would have been easier The end just seemed to go up & up & up

I think that was the undoing of me, I thought after the Nick it would be a slightly rolling finish, not the sharp ups and downs it actually was.

essjaydee

Yeah...there was the long drag as well up Barley Fell (at 92 mile point) which was a good steady grind

Think I had about 4 energy gels in the last 10 miles :shock:

SportiveRater

Echo everything said above, great to ride with a cycling superstar however briefly, and the route was tough. Rode with 3 guys for a bit prior to Whalley, 1 was suffering and they kept telling him there was only 2 more hills - I took them at their word and relaxed once I got over the Nick o'Pendle - what a mistake!

At the top of the Barley Fell drag I decided to have a comfort break unclipped my left foot and with fatigue keeled over to my right :oops: Thanks to everyone who then passed asking if I was ok.

Crowds were great, marshalling was spot on for dodgy junctions - was a bit concerned with the amount of gravel on sections, appreciate that organisers can do little about road surfaces but surely a quick sweep nr nasty junctions/corners when they are checking the route could be done.

fungus_the_muffin_man

SportiveRater wrote:

was a bit concerned with the amount of gravel on sections, appreciate that organisers can do little about road surfaces but surely a quick sweep nr nasty junctions/corners when they are checking the route could be done.

Or perhaps riders should ensure they ride sensibly to the conditions of the road?

sweeping roads in advance!!!!!! I've heard it all now!

Cleat Eastwood

Does anyone know the gradient of padiham road - i think it might be knwon also black hill - the one just after the nick o'pendle.

Beatmaker

Fungus The Muffin Man wrote:

SportiveRater wrote:

was a bit concerned with the amount of gravel on sections, appreciate that organisers can do little about road surfaces but surely a quick sweep nr nasty junctions/corners when they are checking the route could be done.

Or perhaps riders should ensure they ride sensibly to the conditions of the road?

sweeping roads in advance!!!!!! I've heard it all now!

I have to agree, preparing roads in advance is taking things a step too far. Do you want cushions placing by the side of the road to provide a soft landing as well?

Beatmaker

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

Does anyone know the gradient of padiham road - i think it might be knwon also black hill - the one just after the nick o'pendle.

That climb was horrible! It would have been fine were it not for having just climbed nick o'pendle and cooled your muscles on the descent.

davelakers

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

Does anyone know the gradient of padiham road - i think it might be knwon also black hill - the one just after the nick o'pendle.

Not sure but there is some good advice from google on the first link when you type in "black hill sabden" :oops: :oops:

aspender

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

Does anyone know the gradient of padiham road - i think it might be knwon also black hill - the one just after the nick o'pendle.

Here's the Strava segment which gives a 12.1% average over 0.4 miles. I noticed 20% appear on my Garmin during it, but it was certainly in the 14+ for most of it.

http://app.strava.com/segments/632352

dwanes

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

Does anyone know the gradient of padiham road - i think it might be knwon also black hill - the one just after the nick o'pendle.

Had a look on Google street view and saw a sign showing 20%.

I was fortunate that I have ridden the hill a few times before so knew what was coming.

I found the climb shortly after, up to Newchurch, the hardest.

kayo74

Anyone found the photos yet?.

SportiveRater

Beatmaker wrote:

Fungus The Muffin Man wrote:

SportiveRater wrote:

was a bit concerned with the amount of gravel on sections, appreciate that organisers can do little about road surfaces but surely a quick sweep nr nasty junctions/corners when they are checking the route could be done.

Or perhaps riders should ensure they ride sensibly to the conditions of the road?

sweeping roads in advance!!!!!! I've heard it all now!

I have to agree, preparing roads in advance is taking things a step too far. Do you want cushions placing by the side of the road to provide a soft landing as well?

Not really just making an observation - plenty of comments on this forum and others about organisers taking routes down pot holed roads or the fact that lots of riders dont communicate enough, on the day the route was changed due to flooding, perhaps riders should chuck the bike on their shoulders and wade through??
Wasn't suggesting they did the whole route just nasty turns, on roads you don't know when fatigue sets in stuff happens, one 90 degree corner near the end was covered in gravel in the wet was really nasty.

SportiveRater

kayo - the rider info says they will be here:

http://www.myfrozenphotos.com/

but nothing as yet

The timings and KOM's are up on mapmytracks.

aspender

kayo74 wrote:

Anyone found the photos yet?.

There are some unofficial ones here: http://gallery.eventphotos.co.uk/ride-w ... ggins-2012

The official ones will be on this site sometime on Wednesday apparently: http://www.myfrozenphotos.com

essjaydee

aspender wrote:

kayo74 wrote:

Anyone found the photos yet?.

There are some unofficial ones here: http://gallery.eventphotos.co.uk/ride-w ... ggins-2012

The official ones will be on this site sometime on Wednesday apparently: http://www.myfrozenphotos.com

I was about to ask the same question.
Thanks for the links

whojanicanackerov

The roads are what they are it's Lancashire the country side.Yes my tear wheel is out of true but I'm not in the slightest bothered what a day it was ace.my first year road biking My first ever event 160k of scenic torture.I finished in 112 place what a result!

lakesluddite

I can't really add that much to what everyone else has said, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it was brutal, especially the last 20 miles - I can handle the long slow uphills, but those series of short steep 'walls' was an absolute killer, I'm just glad I found the energy from somewhere to get up them all without walking. :shock:

Wiggo zipped past me at the top of Lythe Fell (is it? The long drag before the Wray feed stop), I was fiddling with the strap on my helmet but tried to catch him up on the downhill - no chance! Good to see him mingling with the hoi polloi (sp) at the feed station in Wray, managed to get a photo before he left us for dead.

All in all a great day, massive turn-out and plenty of well-wishers by the side of the road, which was great. Same time next year everyone?

thegodplato

aspender wrote:

What a day.

Saw the aftermath of one other off, involving a 4x4 in a ditch and ambulance attending a conscious rider in the last three miles, and there was apparently another incident coming off the Trough of Bowland as well (according to the police the rider was ok) However given the rather inclement conditions for the latter half and the numbers riding this is probably par for the course.

A lot of people walking the hills in the final 20 miles. For anybody not there before the raffle Brad himself said "I didn't know it was that tough. The last 20 miles were brutal!"

We saw the 4x4 in the ditch too. Hope the rider is OK. Obviously another driver who doesn't give two monkeys about slowing down. My mate saw a guy with ripped shorts before Waddi too, and then there was a bloke being patched up on his elbow on the flat section around Quernmore before Jubilee Tower climb. Maybe people trying to keep up with Bradley?
We had done the last 20miles about 3 or 4 weeks prior to the event as I'd been warned they were steep. Sabden is a killer but at least we had my daughters hanging out of my wife's car alongside us yelling at us "come on Daddy" to encourage us up. Of course we did! Couldn't let them down now could we!
I thought it was a brilliant day and even the torrential rain from Chipping to Whalley couldn't dampen my spirits of managing to keep up with the legend on the top section after the Cross O Greets climb before the drop down to Wray. It might have only been a while but worth it. The second time he came past us was before Jubilee and as I don't like Jubilee didn't even attempt to try again to match his speed. I have no idea how he rides at that speed and chats, but then again is is Super Wiggo!

medina

Hi

The official event photographs are now live on http://www.myfrozenphoto.com. You can search by rider number or by colour top.