Dragon ride 2013

#david2012
#david2012 Posts: 275
edited November 2012 in Road beginners
Well I'm in! Just signed up for the medio fondo, paid the extra to confirm my place. So that's one of my goal for next year :D:D hopefully it's achievable for a relative beginner! Can't wait

Comments

  • daxplusplus
    daxplusplus Posts: 631
    .. and me. I'm going forr the Grand Fondo as I did the Medio this year. The Medio is an awesome ride, you'll really enjoy it. Great atmosphere, location and climbs.
    Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail

    strava profile
  • Scottyjv
    Scottyjv Posts: 12
    Just entered the granfondo with three other novice cyclists but reasonably fit rowers...

    Never ridden more than 80km before and hoping to do it sub 8 hours!!!

    Not sure how much of this is a pipe dream and how much is realistic what i do know is that there is a lot of training ahead to get 90+kgs up the hills

    Best of luck to you guys who have entered....
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,174
    I can't believe anyone is prepared to pay £55 to enter a (single day) sportive especially when there are several others on equally good / better roads in the area. Each to their own I suppose.
  • daxplusplus
    daxplusplus Posts: 631
    Less than an hour - a bit slower than I expected ;-)
    Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail

    strava profile
  • #david2012
    #david2012 Posts: 275
    Pross wrote:
    I can't believe anyone is prepared to pay £55 to enter a (single day) sportive especially when there are several others on equally good / better roads in the area. Each to their own I suppose.

    Fair point if your experienced and know the ones to ride etc.. as a golf pro I personally wouldn't pay £190 to play royal st georges when princes next door is £40 and equally as good ( if I paid of course :D ) at the moment im enjoying the whole cycling experience and the cost is just the cost, im sure if im still riding in a couple of years I will have experienced enough to choose my favourites and know which ones to choose. perhaps someone should start a thread with the top 10 uk sportives for beginners?
  • #david2012
    #david2012 Posts: 275
    DaxPlusPlus wrote:
    .. and me. I'm going forr the Grand Fondo as I did the Medio this year. The Medio is an awesome ride, you'll really enjoy it. Great atmosphere, location and climbs.

    Sounds great! any tips? its a goal for next year and i will need to train currently doing approx 30 miles but its 7 months away
  • daxplusplus
    daxplusplus Posts: 631
    #david2012 wrote:
    Sounds great! any tips?

    Well there's loads of things you can do but off the top of my head the two things that helped me:

    1. Put the miles in now. It's a bit like revising for an exam, you can't leave it till the last moment or you'll spoil your day.
    2. Try and go with someone else or hook up with people on the day - it's a lot easier if your in a group (even if it's only two of you). Both mentally and physically.

    I'm sure over the coming months you'll discover a whole load of other tips about training, climbing, food, bike fit, clothes, tools and all the other things that you'll need but really? Just get as bike fit as you can cos it's bloody worth every second of effort you put in.
    Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail

    strava profile
  • craker
    craker Posts: 1,739
    I'm in two minds about entering this... I totally see the point of spending £55 for what is likely to be the biggest ride of your year. However there's an audax starting down the road from me - £2 for 200k that also gets into the Brecons.

    Either way, enjoy it. I did the Gran Fondo last year - brilliant day's ride.
  • elderone
    elderone Posts: 1,410
    good for you op,its not the money but the incentive to do it.Im in the same boat as my goal is a 100 mile sportive next summer..
    Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    I was going to enter, but the price put me off. I'll just ride the route the week after since it's in my back yard.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • leepez
    leepez Posts: 33
    #david2012 wrote:
    Well I'm in! Just signed up for the medio fondo, paid the extra to confirm my place. So that's one of my goal for next year :D:D hopefully it's achievable for a relative beginner! Can't wait

    Me too! I signed up for the Medio Fondo also, but do you know when the actual route will be made public?
    As far as I can see on their website the route that is on there is from last year.
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    The route IS the same as last year.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • sub55
    sub55 Posts: 1,025
    Pross wrote:
    I can't believe anyone is prepared to pay £55 to enter a (single day) sportive especially when there are several others on equally good / better roads in the area. Each to their own I suppose.

    haw much :!: :!: :!:
    constantly reavalueating the situation and altering the perceived parameters accordingly
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    After 3 years of absence, I have taken the plunge and invested 55 pounds in the Etape Cymru for next year, which is on closed roads. On paper it looks like a much better value than the Dragon Ride, which is on open roads (and not very good ones).
    Admittedly 55 pounds is a lot even for an event on closed roads, but hey oh, let's try, I thought...
    left the forum March 2023
  • daxplusplus
    daxplusplus Posts: 631
    What bugs me (apart from the cost) is the use of a ballot - why not just have a first come, first served system? Ballots are fine if you don't really care if you do an event or not, they are fine if you have time/money to enter multiple events (which you may or may not get a place in) and they are fine if you have plenty of free weekends throughout the year.

    They are also fine if those same conditions apply to all your cycling buddies.

    They are a total pain in the butt if any of those conditions do not apply.

    I've already put my name forward for the Ride London 100 ballot .. so I may have to pay up or I may not have a ride.
    If I'd put my name forward for the Dragon ride's ballot then I could have 1, 2 or no rides next year.

    I also want to do the etape cymru and that doesn't have a ballot (hurrah) but as I don't know if I'm doing 0, 1 or 2 rides (costing £0, £45 or £90) already next year I can't pull the trigger yet (so it's already £5 more expensive cos the 31st Oct deadline has passed).

    .. and now add in your busy cycling mates in the same position just to make it interesting.

    Or I could just say .. sod it, we've got unfinished business at the Dragon ride, here's an extra tenner and I can start organising my cycling calendar around June 9th :-)

    Sometimes you've just got to make a choice and the money part is a secondary consideration.
    Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail

    strava profile
  • nick1972
    nick1972 Posts: 144
    I've put my name in the ballot for the London 100 but is there somewhere I can find a list of sportives in London or surrounding areas?
  • #david2012
    #david2012 Posts: 275
    DaxPlusPlus wrote:
    Or I could just say .. sod it, we've got unfinished business at the Dragon ride, here's an extra tenner and I can start organising my cycling calendar around June 9th :-)

    Sometimes you've just got to make a choice and the money part is a secondary consideration.

    Exactly my thoughts Dax, I was happy just to know I'm in! So let the training begin :D

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