étape pennines....

jaxf

There were a LOT of us Scots there. About half the voices I heard were Scottish, although I did meet a couple of people from Surrey.

htsw5

One thing that did annoy me was that in a couple of places on a fast descent there were warning signs for sharp corners but no indication that the sharp corner was about to send you up a steep hill.

It would have been useful to warn you of the steep climb as well so that you could get into low gear.

The one shortly after Cowshill had everyone falling over because they were still in a big gear.

rodgers73

Yep. I was saved a similar fate only by a female spectator shouting "steep hill" at riders as we reached the corner!

durhamwasp

Harthope Head (aka Chapel Fell) is indeed the highest road in England, and is a good climb from the way the Etappe did it, but even harder going up the other side (that many got above 50mph on their descent) which is one of the 'UKs toughest climbs' in book number 1 of their series.

thefog

Did Omega Pharma Quickstep turn up for this? Not heard anything mentioned about it, yet you'd have thought the organisers would have reported on it.

durhamwasp

TheFog wrote:

Did Omega Pharma Quickstep turn up for this? Not heard anything mentioned about it, yet you'd have thought the organisers would have reported on it.

I asked this on the previous page, and apparently they were not there.

Guess their idea of paying £300 or whatever it was for dinner with them didn't really work.

markhewitt1978

They've moved it to a 20th July date for next year and shortened the route to 60 miles.

On the face of it, great. But they've chosen a date which clashes with the Wiggle Northern Angel sportive, one of the few other big events in the area. Seriously, they couldn't have had it the week before or the week after. I despair...

durhamwasp

What are the reasons for the date and distance changes? I heard it was due to complaints about weather and it being too long? Seem massive changes to make tho.

Silly doing it the same day as a Wiggle one, stupid really. Whats the new cost for it?

markhewitt1978

http://www.etapepennines.co.uk/

New route up on the website - doesn't look half as good, 60 miles.

Looks like my choice to do 80 miles on the Northern Angel instead is the better one.

BTW The Wiggle Hell of Hexham a few weeks later basically covers the same ground, no closed roads, but half the price.

durhamwasp

Surely that can't be a success? £63 for 60 miles??? Anyone in their right mind is gonna chose one of those Wiggle events!

Nice route, done those climbs several times, and the roads are pretty quiet and scenery equally as nice any other day of the year....

http://www.northpenninescycling.co.uk/ is an excellent website detailing similar routes in that area, with profiles and info on the climbs.

butcher of bakersfield

Never ridden the Etape yet myself but I know the roads well and the route's still a good one, and pretty tough despite the distance. All of the big climbs are still included. In my experience, riding 80 miles through Northumberland is easier (and quicker!) than doing 60 miles through the Pennines. I've never ridden the exact Northern Angel route mind, so I'll happily be proven wrong on that one.

rodgers73

60 miles?? Whats the point?!

ronnierocket

They have kind of forced people to enter (although they may not turn up) by limiting the amount of single entry tickets for the Etape Caledonia. My friends who were not planning to do the Etape Pennines were forced to buy the double entry tickets to just take part in the Etape Caledonia as all the single entry ones had sold out by dinner time on Wednesday. It's double annoying for them as they like the orginal Etape Pennines and had taken part the last 2 years but cant do this one.

Spatulala

Yup, we had no choice but to enter both. I'm guessing there'll be lots of riders trying to offload their Pennines entries. I quite fancy giving it a go, even at only 60 miles. Nice to explore some iconic countryside by bike, especially with no cars

rodgers73

May be hard to offload if they ask for photo ID at the registration again.

durhamwasp

Not only does it sound like a rip off at £63 for 60 miles, but seems they are also taking the pee out of people by more or less making them enter. Don't know how people are putting up with this.

markhewitt1978

Especially when you consider the Wiggle Northern Angel starting nearby is doing 80 miles for £30; (94 miles would be the same price).

As you have the 'Hell of Hexham' a couple of weeks later; again £30 and covers some of the same roads as the Etape event does.

Neither are closed road; however the roads in this part of the world are quiet so it makes little difference.

bianchimoon

Jonathon Edwards planning to ride this year - his aim

"To ride the Etape Pennines in a half-decent time. The ride has around 2,000m of climbing over 60 miles, I can go out along rolling roads at an average of around 20mph which is okay. But put 2,000m of climbing in there and I'll average about 15-16mph, so if I can do it in three-and-a-half hours I'll be happy, so that's my challenge for the year."

Good luck to him and any others doing it

rodgers73

I'm not sure why his participation is relevant. He's a triple jumper. He showed up on the Winter Olympic coverage too. Seems like he's searching for a role!

durhamwasp

Can we expect Clare Balding to do a sub-4hr ride too, seeing as both her and Edwards are seemingly experts on every sport that the bbc show.

bianchimoon

Jonathon Edwards is doing a fair bit to promote his 'keep fit' sport of choice, simply because he loves it, he's an everyday rider like the rest of us, I can relate/compare myself a lot more to people like him than pro riders. All of the column inches and airtime he uses to promote 'generic sportives' and cycling has to be a good thing IMO.

Initialised

I was considering this but I've booked the Hell of Hexham already and this looks like a cropped version, also I can ride to Hexham, getting to Barnard Castle to register the day before is very off putting unless I took the MTB for a warm up session in Hamsterly.

I think I'll do:

Bobby (125miles) 8th June
Cyclone (104miles) 21st June
Northern Angel (94 miles) 20th July
Hell of Hexham (100 miles) 9th August

instead.

markhewitt1978

He's been a commentator / pundit on athletics for some time, so he's a public figure, that's all really

markhewitt1978

Initialised wrote:

I was considering this but I've booked the Hell of Hexham already and this looks like a cropped version, also I can ride to Hexham, getting to Barnard Castle to register the day before is very off putting unless I took the MTB for a warm up session in Hamsterly.

It's on the same day as Northern Angel and I'd already registered before that before EP announced their date, and yeah getting to B.Castle the day before is a real pain, turns what would be a day out into a full weekend exercise.

Bobby (125miles) 8th June
Cyclone (104miles) 21st June
Northern Angel (94 miles) 20th July
Hell of Hexham (100 miles) 9th August

I'm signed up for Northern Angel, probably 80 miles (did 68 last time), won't be doing Hell of Hexham or Cyclone but I'm thinking about Bike for Bobby, but that's the same weekend I was thinking of riding the tour route.

I was wondering about cycling to the start for Nothern Angel, inspired by your cycle to Hexham and back last year

Initialised

Yeah, that ended up being 140 miles in a day! Going to try and top 150miles in a day this year so I'll need a longer route home.

Northern Angel Starts at Kirkley Hall, about 10 miles north of me so you'd be looking at 24 miles each way.
PM me nearer the time and we can meet up on the way.

markhewitt1978

Initialised wrote:

Northern Angel Starts at Kirkley Hall, about 10 miles north of me so you'd be looking at 24 miles each way.
PM me nearer the time and we can meet up on the way.

Yep, I'd be looking at 130 miles, which would be tough but I've got until July to get ready for it, so it's not impossible!

htsw5

Just got latest email

2. Carry a full puncture kit. Don't forget spare inner tubes and puncture repair kit. Due to commitments at the Tour de France Mavic are unable to attend this year.

And

Please note that it will not be possible to collect your race pack on the day of the event. Below are the times you will be able to collect it from the Bowes Museum:

Saturday prior to the event: Registration open between 11am - 5pm

Is it just me that's a bit miffed by these?


I don't mind doing events without mechanical support, but one of the reasons I liked this event last year was the comfort factor of having the mobile mechanics and the feel it gave to the event. To my mind it was one of the reasons I could justify paying the £60 entrance fee.

The registration times seem pretty short. The Etape Caledonian is open 9am-8pm as well as Friday night. If you're travelling any sort of distance to get to the event you need wipe out most of Saturday.


I'm still a bit annoyed that they shortened it to 60miles too.

markhewitt1978

The day before registration rules it out for me too. On Sunday I plan to do the Wiggle Northern Angel instead.

With the Etape Pennines I don't find the closed roads thing to be that important I cycled a good bit of the route last Saturday and the roads are really quiet anyway.

durhamwasp

Really don't see any value at £60 for that ride.

Spatulala

I wonder how many people like me have an entry but won't be riding it. Me and a mate were forced to pay for a double entry so I could ride the Caledonia. If there are many others it could seriously impact the success of this event.