Etape Caledonia 2013
Comments
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Cool4catz wrote:My Garmin said I did less than 1144m climbing. Can anyone tell me what hill I missed?
The inbuilt barometer is not very accurate in all circumstances - generally it significantly undermeasures. In order to get the Garmin to give you true total height and assuming you upload the data to a PC you need to enable height correction when you upload (look on your Garmin dashboard lower left below summary data). That will then measure the height differentials from the map base data at each record point and give you a more accurate reading. In this case it would be c. 1,850m, so not far off the 1,900m headlined.0 -
Something based on a route around Loch Tay, with detours to Glen Quaich and Bridge of Balgie, would do the trick I think...Alan A wrote:thegreatdivide wrote:Oh yeah, and another highlight was driving up this:
http://www.strava.com/segments/kenmore-615848
Terrifying.
Lightweight, you should have ridden up it as your cool down.
Glen Quaich is by far the best climb in the area, I'd love to see a sportive or pro race go up it.0 -
You have every right to "get all nationalistic". It's a great event in every respect; the scenery, the route, the people, the closed roads...thegreatdivide wrote:Sorry for getting all nationalistic for a moment but although I’ve not done any sportives down south I can’t imagine how any of them could be better. Sure a few of them are harder but the nature of the event being closed road and all the folk who come out to cheer must make it the most atmospheric in the country. The finish line was also the best yet. Doubters can scoff all they want at the entry fee but IMO until you’ve ridden it you can’t make a judgement. I think it’s VFM – I’m still buzzing.
I made the trip from Devon and rode it last year for the first time and then made the mistake of telling my wife how wonderful it was which means that she demanded to go this year and left me at home with the kids and the inlaws :roll:
I think the Dartmoor Classic is the only event that I've ridden south of the border that compares. And the start line is only 3 miles from my front door!0 -
My garmin recorded about 1100 metres when i did it last year. The 1900m quoted on their website is wide of the mark.palex.sanderson wrote:Cool4catz wrote:My Garmin said I did less than 1144m climbing. Can anyone tell me what hill I missed?
The inbuilt barometer is not very accurate in all circumstances - generally it significantly undermeasures. In order to get the Garmin to give you true total height and assuming you upload the data to a PC you need to enable height correction when you upload (look on your Garmin dashboard lower left below summary data). That will then measure the height differentials from the map base data at each record point and give you a more accurate reading. In this case it would be c. 1,850m, so not far off the 1,900m headlined.
I think my garmin normally overestimates climbing. When I apply elevation correction it normally knocks off 10% of the metres climbed.
viewtopic.php?f=40007&t=128491420 -
Ok confession time:
I almost caused a crash not long out of Kinloch Rannoch when I hit the guy in fronts wheel and those behind had to take evasive action.
I did drop one gel wrapper, however, in my defense, I seen that many lying around, I thought it was ok to do so, as I am/was a complete novice.
and finally, I never once took a turn at the front in any of the six groups I recall being in. This I offer no apology for, as I was more hanging in there than just sitting in there, and as above, it was all fairly new to me.0 -
That climb out of Kenmore is probably the hardest I've done. Partly because it was a road I didn't know and partly because it rises up through the trees and you've no idea how far,it is to go or how many more hairpins there are. And I still had to get all the way back to Edinburgh.bompington wrote:
Something based on a route around Loch Tay, with detours to Glen Quaich and Bridge of Balgie, would do the trick I think...Alan A wrote:thegreatdivide wrote:Oh yeah, and another highlight was driving up this:
http://www.strava.com/segments/kenmore-615848
Terrifying.
Lightweight, you should have ridden up it as your cool down.
Glen Quaich is by far the best climb in the area, I'd love to see a sportive or pro race go up it.You've no won the Big Cup since 1902!0 -
We were one of the later groups to set off (Z) . Ignoring the gel wrappers, we couldn't believe the sheer number of drinks bottles in the road( after a while we noticed that the majority of dropped bottles were branded H##H 5-best not name just incase...) and we gave up counting at about 50.
Plus there were the usual -i'm riding 5 grands worth of bike but still don't realise that you can't go from 15th gear to first gear on a steep section without some kind of mechanical complaint!
This year seemed to be more crowded, whether that was due to lack of wind and hence an easier ride, so more people were bunched together??
We got to the first feed station and were told that there was virtually nothing left.
Despite the fact that we raised a few ££'s for charity, I still think that some of the £65 entry fee should go to the designated sponsor charity.0 -
Sorry to hear that Doubleoseven! The feed stations were certainly very well stocked when I passed through around mid pack. I suppose the early waves will be 'racing' and bypass the food stops, so it would have been the middle waves that cleared the feed stations. I only had 4 bottles of water from the feed stops and 1 zipvit bar though! It wasn't me!0
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i also seen lots of bottles, but just assumed they had been accidently dropped.
All I took from the stations was 3 energy bars, two gels, two bananas and a couple of water top ups. I also noticed next to no one at the last feed station, like no one around us stopped there, nor anyone I knew riding stopped there, so maybe an idea for them to distribute things better but you'd think they'd know that by now.
Oh, and those gels were horrible, I only used one, and it took me half the route to finish it...yuk !0 -
Great day out and knocked over half an hour off last time so pretty chuffed with that. The highlight was riding with a group of 40 or so people and we were sitting on 25-28 mph with not much effort required, amazing!
Can anyone clarify on whether there were goody bags handed out at registration or was it just the quite frankly, insulting,"goody bags" handed out at the end. Rubber ring and a few bits of paper? How can events much cheaper than this (and yes they do include road closures) manage to give entrants decent technical t-shirts etc as part of the event yet Challenger World seem to be profiting from the majority of the entry fee. Marshalls and helpers were all voluntary I believe and did a fantastic job.
Mavic pre race service was brilliant though, and some of the bikes we saw were getting new gear and or brake cables fitted for free!
All in, a great weekend and will probably be back next year to try and improve my time. I would love to go sub 4 next year!0 -
Well done to all the folks and their times. managed 3hr 53mins was happy i broke the 4 hour mark. glad the rain stayed away. I noticed the bunches were far bigger this year maybe that cross headwind out to the loch didnt help. really great atmosphere and knowing there are no cars coming at you. One complaint tho, £63 and no goody bag,no safety pins. The tour of the border is half price and you get more for your money. Dont think il be back as its only going to get more pricey.0
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bompington wrote:
Something based on a route around Loch Tay, with detours to Glen Quaich and Bridge of Balgie, would do the trick I think...Alan A wrote:thegreatdivide wrote:Oh yeah, and another highlight was driving up this:
http://www.strava.com/segments/kenmore-615848
Terrifying.
Lightweight, you should have ridden up it as your cool down.
Glen Quaich is by far the best climb in the area, I'd love to see a sportive or pro race go up it.
+1. I do some pretty good routes that take in both these climbs(and sometime both sides :evil: ) and the Glen Quaich climb out of Kenmore is monster. I have done the Mortirolo in Italy and this climb is a mini version of it and its really spooky how close they are - apart from the Italy climb being 3 times as long.Brian B.0 -
Yep the gels were um gloopy! Not sure I'd buy them but for getting me round the route they were ok - provided you washed them down with water/juice!!!
Loads of food in the feed stations when I was round - plus the cadets were a good laugh when you got them talking!
) saw a few folks get told off by some older dude in fatigues lol - I order you to slow down! 0 -
The quality of the riding experienced is really dependent on those around about you because i thought this year was really good, didnt see any littering apart from banana skins (Think the bottles on the ground might be bottles falling out rather than being chucked? Was a guy in front of me who dropped his inside the first 100 metres. The larger bottles are pretty insecure in alot of cages), no pissing in hedges and hardly any dodgy riding! Think it depends alot on your luck and who you are starting with.
Used to think what group you were with over Schiehallion was the key to a fast time but now i think from the start to the Queens View is more important - it is so worthwhile digging deep there and trying to stick with the fast guys in your wave because if you make it over with them you are likely going to be with them for the next 40 miles.0 -
My first time at the etape and really enjoyed it. What's the big deal about catching a ride on a fast group? Your time's not really reflective of your riding ability more your ability to draft, particularly if you don't even contribute to the group. Thought it was all about man and machine against the elements....0
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a lovley ride, knocked an hour out of last year's time and 33 mins off my PB so chuffed. Thanks to the small group I tagged onto in the 10 miles to Logierait, I think you contributed a few mins to my PB and tried to give as much back as I could with a few pulls on the front so if you found yourself pulling a Wycombe rider along, thanks!fay ce que voudres0
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dj eck wrote:My first time at the etape and really enjoyed it. What's the big deal about catching a ride on a fast group? Your time's not really reflective of your riding ability more your ability to draft, particularly if you don't even contribute to the group. Thought it was all about man and machine against the elements....
A big part of the attraction of the closed roads for me (and i think for many others) is being able to ride in a big group in a way that just isnt normally otherwise possible. A club ride with similarly sized groups to what i was in (at times i probably about 100 riders) on normal unclosed roads would be an entirely different proposition and one that wouldnt be particularly safe nor considerate to other road users.0 -
My first event and I thought it was a lot of fun. I didn't have a 'fast' bike or any idea of what time to expect when I signed up so went for 5 1/2 hrs plus and so started in the very last group.
I was pleasantly surprised by my speed and felt good on the way up and round Rannoch, although never got into any groups. Once up and over Schiehallion, I realised that I could be for sub 4 1/2hrs, so pushed on for the last 20 miles - managing to collect a train behind me who stayed there but admitted they didn't have the legs to come through.
I struggled a bit with the undulations after Logierait but managed to beat 4.25 so well chuffed.
I worked out that
I had overtaken over 2000 on the road / at the stops!
The old Uni cycling top I was wearing was older than the winner!
I should have taken my mudgaurds and pannier rack off - didn't see many others.
Definitely be back next year and will get a more appropriate start time.0 -
wonder how many actually completed all the 81 miles ?0
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htsw5 wrote:My first event and I thought it was a lot of fun. I didn't have a 'fast' bike or any idea of what time to expect when I signed up so went for 5 1/2 hrs plus and so started in the very last group.
I was pleasantly surprised by my speed and felt good on the way up and round Rannoch, although never got into any groups. Once up and over Schiehallion, I realised that I could be for sub 4 1/2hrs, so pushed on for the last 20 miles - managing to collect a train behind me who stayed there but admitted they didn't have the legs to come through.
I struggled a bit with the undulations after Logierait but managed to beat 4.25 so well chuffed.
I worked out that
I had overtaken over 2000 on the road / at the stops!
The old Uni cycling top I was wearing was older than the winner!
I should have taken my mudgaurds and pannier rack off - didn't see many others.
Definitely be back next year and will get a more appropriate start time.
Well done!
There was a chap in one of the packs I rode with who was on a full vintage tourer with panniers and bar-end shifters - he was belting along! :-)0 -
The Rusty Raleigh would certainly suit that kind of set-up, but is actually set up according to my idiosyncrasies, which are not the usual ones...0
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There might have been 4177 finishers but they all didn't complete the 81 miles. When I came down the mountain the crew at the bottom were changing the arrow showing the way as straight on instead of turning right and doing the loop around the loch, cutting about 10 miles off the route.0
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That's the Fortingall loop, which takes about 6 miles off the route.0
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bompington wrote:That's the Fortingall loop, which takes about 6 miles off the route.
Looking at my track of the day has it down for approx 8.5 miles0 -
Scozz76 wrote:Mavic pre race service was brilliant though, and some of the bikes we saw were getting new gear and or brake cables fitted for free!
All in, a great weekend and will probably be back next year to try and improve my time. I would love to go sub 4 next year!
The day before I put on 2 new sets of brake blocks myself.
Went to the Mavic guys and got two new gear cables, two new brake cables and everything re indexed. It was like riding a new bike. Pity I was riding old tired unfit legs.
Similar thing happened at the Marmotte last summer, but with fit legs.
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Robert72 wrote:There might have been 4177 finishers but they all didn't complete the 81 miles. When I came down the mountain the crew at the bottom were changing the arrow showing the way as straight on instead of turning right and doing the loop around the loch, cutting about 10 miles off the route.
I was wondering why a load of people came out in front of me from the left somewhere around 60 miles. They looked like they'd been on a shortcut. As a finger in the air guess based on range of times from the group I was in at that point, the distance shortening probably doesn't apply to a huge number of people - maybe 200 to 300?
Incidentally, agree with what's been said about the Mavic guys - totally brilliant.0 -
I really enjoyed the day again despite the usual mess at the start - why people with race numbers in the 4000's thought they should be starting in the first few waves I have no idea. Or why the organisers don't really seem to care about enforcing the wave numbers properly. Seriously, just wait your turn and in the meantime stay away from the start pens! Every year they're almost totally blocked by people who aren't supposed to be starting for another 20-30 minutes. I managed to squeeze in "only" one wave late, my brother had to resort to climbing over the barriers to get into his.
Once I got going I had a lot of trouble trying to find any decent groups over Queen's View and out towards Loch Rannoch. Most of the faster guys were already gone in the first 2-3 waves and nobody seemed to be willing to do more than 18-20mph (there wasn't *that* much wind!) or do proper turns on the front. Finally got overtaken by a chap from Berwick Wheelers a few miles from the 2nd feed stop who looked like he was doing a good pace, jumped on his wheel and then worked with him all the way over Schiehallion and on to the finish... the pair of us overtook a group of at least 20 on the way to Weem. Most of them tagged onto us and then did absolutely no work, the two of us had to tow them all the way from Weem down to Logierait :roll: Seriously lazy people. When we got to Logierait a few of them suddenly appeared at the front to try and race off up the hill, but most of them got dropped there (how sad
) and they were all gone by the time we got to Pitlochry, except for the guy who'd been doing the work with me. Crossed the line with him which was nice! Knocked almost half an hour off my previous best time from a couple of years ago when I was less fit and got into the top 20 on the KOM which I was really chuffed about. Weather was surprisingly good too! 0 -
adr82 wrote:.. the pair of us overtook a group of at least 20 on the way to Weem. Most of them tagged onto us and then did absolutely no work, the two of us had to tow them all the way from Weem down to Logierait :roll: Seriously lazy people. When we got to Logierait a few of them suddenly appeared at the front to try and race off up the hill, but most of them got dropped there (how sad ) and they were all gone by the time we got to Pitlochry, except for the guy who'd been doing the work with me. !
That sounds affy like the group I tagged on to and did zilch work, cheers for that, I would never have had the time I had if it wasn't for you guys. 8)
NB: If you read back you'll see a confession posting from me, I made no apologies for it, as a complete novice and my first sportive who's only just taken up the sport I was just glad to be able to hang in there.0 -
adr82 wrote:... the usual mess at the start - why people with race numbers in the 4000's thought they should be starting in the first few waves I have no idea. Or why the organisers don't really seem to care about enforcing the wave numbers properly. Seriously, just wait your turn and in the meantime stay away from the start pens! Every year they're almost totally blocked by people who aren't supposed to be starting for another 20-30 minutes. I managed to squeeze in "only" one wave late, my brother had to resort to climbing over the barriers to get into his.
The one advantage of me starting in the last wave was that I had a very relaxed start. I waited in the car park for a bit and then waited in the event area before finally wandering up when there was only a couple of waves to left to start.
Just a thought if you want to avoid the melee...0
