Hell of the Ashdown turnout
Boleynboy
Posts: 83
I rode the Hell of the Ashdown today and it was probably the coldest I have ever been on a bike!
Never went much above freezing for the five hours I was on the road, light snow and a biting wind made this the toughest one yet in the four years I have entered the event.
What surprised me was the amount of no shows, if my counting is accurate only 820ish riders finished the route. 1500 riders had entered, that is a huge amount of entrants who have gone to the effort of getting their entry in (before it sold out in 24 hours),paying their money and then deciding not to bother.
Some riders obviously started but DNF, but judging by the amount of unclaimed starter packs at 9.30 when I signed on many just gave it a miss.
This event is at the end of February, surely people realise it has a good chance of not enjoying the best of weather, which along with the climbing has always been part of the Hell's sadistic appeal.
Although looking back on it, perhaps the DNS's had the best idea staying in bed, it was pretty brutal today.
Never went much above freezing for the five hours I was on the road, light snow and a biting wind made this the toughest one yet in the four years I have entered the event.
What surprised me was the amount of no shows, if my counting is accurate only 820ish riders finished the route. 1500 riders had entered, that is a huge amount of entrants who have gone to the effort of getting their entry in (before it sold out in 24 hours),paying their money and then deciding not to bother.
Some riders obviously started but DNF, but judging by the amount of unclaimed starter packs at 9.30 when I signed on many just gave it a miss.
This event is at the end of February, surely people realise it has a good chance of not enjoying the best of weather, which along with the climbing has always been part of the Hell's sadistic appeal.
Although looking back on it, perhaps the DNS's had the best idea staying in bed, it was pretty brutal today.
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We had about 100 cancelled by January and turned most of those over to reserve list, plus approx 70 transferred their space to a friend.
We probably had another 80 cancelled in the last week and hundred transfer requests but by then the start list was printed and it was too late to change, so that is a massive DNS list.
Congratulations to everyone that rode and great thank you to all our volunteer helpers braving the cold that make it such a success
Don\'t stop pedalling
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People get married and divorce in a similar proportion, so there are far more serious committments that rest unfulfilled...
Get over it, who cares... 8)
Well done Catford C.C. Ta adam
wow :roll: I think there must have been 2 Hell of the Ashdowns yesterday because this rant certainly isn't justified for the one I took part in. I turned up at registration to be welcomed by a really friendly guy who asked for my number and gave me an envelope with that number on it. If the envelope had a different number on it to my confirmation email I think I might have worked out to double check things with one of the many friendly helpers in the hall.
My thoughts too. Must remember the event is organised for the group, not your individual circumstances!
Anyway, great, friendly organisation - really well marshalled, and it felt less cold than claimed (that could be to do with running hot, one base layer, one winter jersey, pbk tights and a softshell did it for me)....
There and back made it 93 for the day.... almost wish I'd made it the tonne now!
Sorry to hear you were disappointed we need feedback to move forward I am always open to suggestions.
Start Times; With 1500 entries we cannot send everyone off on narrow lanes at the same time, Police and KCA Council risk assessments state we have to meter the groups with gaps.
This year with 600 non starters mean't there was plenty of free spaces within each slot that allowed us to be less draconian about start times.
£30 entry fee; We are becoming a victim of our own success, the HQ School for one had hiked it's fee for use through the roof, extra vans hired for transporting food to controls. Half the profit made is always donated to a Charity as well.
Handed wrong number at start; I apologise for that some of our volunteers were getting a bit flustered at the start, did you notice before setting off/ are you on the finish list correctly? If not email me via the HOTA website and I'll get our web guru to correct it.
Free Tea/ cake at finish; There was free food and drink at both Check/feed points at 26 miles Ashdown Forest and Ide Hill 50 miles, I'll bring up free drink at the Finish at the next Committee meeting.
Cold; Sorry out of my hands
Cheers
Steve
Don\'t stop pedalling
My bikes on flickr
http://www.catfordcc.co.uk/default.aspx?sm=1
http://www.aukweb.net/events/
Where in my original post did i say anything about stopping people from signing up to an event and then not turning up because of the weather, and how often do we get a "nice sunny day" in February?
I was just surprised at how many people are willing to go to the effort of signing up and spending £30 and then not turning up because it was a cold day.
Your last comment of "get over it, who cares" prompts me to ask, get over what exactly, and you obviously cared enough to reply to the post!
What the hell marriage and divorce has to do with any of it is beyond me!
As to the event, well done on yet another well organised ride, defiantly the toughest one for me in the past four years.
As for the person who knocked my bike over in the bike park at the finish, snapping my race blade in two whilst I was picking up my certificate, try to be a bit more careful in the future!
Most cyclists have enough money to throw away 30 pounds without second thoughts... The spread of completely pointless carbon components costing 3 to 4 figures proves it quite well, I reckon...
For the record, on a sunny summer day, you have to expect 80 per cent turnout, maybe a bit more on very popular events like FWC and Dragon Ride... So the 60 plus for the Hell of Ashdown is not bad
Don\'t stop pedalling
My bikes on flickr
http://www.catfordcc.co.uk/default.aspx?sm=1
http://www.aukweb.net/events/