Hardest uk sportive??

GATES

Got to be the ronde van calderdale

did this yesterday 13 cobbled climbs including lee lane(shibdenwall) old lane i know of one person that didn't put a foot down all day. I my self fell off on old lane as did most people and didnt make trooperlane all the way up

75miles 10,000ft of climbing

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/294679153

is their a harder sportive?







surly not?

thefd

Fred Whitton - 112 miles, 12,500 feet!

GATES

TheFD wrote:

Fred Whitton - 112 miles, 12,500 feet!

yeah lots of people was saying the fred is easier as its longer for the climbing

marcusjb

GATES wrote:

yeah lots of people was saying the fred is easier as its longer for the climbing

Spot on - simply looking at ascent figures doesn't make a rider harder. The type of climbing makes a real difference.

A ride in, let's say, Wales will generally have longer, shallower climbs than something in, let's say, Wessex where it's constant choppy up down steep hills. A ride in choppy countryside will usually be much harder than one in an area with longer steadier climbs. (I pick Wessex as an example as I spent the weekend riding there and did a couple of audaxes with reasonably high ascent figures (but nowhere near as high as some rides I have done) - Wessex was very much harder despite lower ascent figures - bloody tiring).

I had a look at the profile of that Calderdale ride - does look like hard work! Well done.

stuyd

Fred Whittington all day, then white rose classic.

Scotter

Gentlemen (and ladies!), I give you Britain`s hardest sportive, bar NONE.

http://bowlandbadass.com/

thefd

GATES wrote:

TheFD wrote:

Fred Whitton - 112 miles, 12,500 feet!

yeah lots of people was saying the fred is easier as its longer for the climbing

Oh yeah...it's longer and got more climbing!!! It must be easier

I get what you are saying but it will be a longer day in the saddle.

oldwelshman

Guys your missing the point, its not the route but how hard you ride it. You could ride what you describe as an easy sportive and if you ride it very hard you will struggle on the easiest of slopes

LegendLust

The hardest sportive?

An 80 mile Premier Calendar

topcattim

All 3 days of the Tour of Wessex?

Mikey23

Anything with around 100 ft per mile of ascent is going to be pretty tough...

rolf_f

Scotter wrote:

Gentlemen (and ladies!), I give you Britain`s hardest sportive, bar NONE.

http://bowlandbadass.com/

I'd say this maybe correct. I've done the Fred and I've done the Pendle Predator which did a lot of the above route but by no means all of it. The Predator was about the same length as the Fred and my average speed was only a tiny bit quicker which says a lot. The thing about the Fred is just the gradients of Hardknott and Wrynose near the end - effectively there are a few 10s of metres of ascent that really make the difference but that's it - all that comes before Hardknott is hard work but only Honister is really brutal. Away from the climbs there are long flat sections or relatively sane rolling sections which help on recovery. It's really hard but the terrain isn't as pitiless as Bowland which just goes up and down endlessly - there is just so little relief. I have little desire to try the Bowlandbadass but I'll not believe it is easier than the Fred until someone who has done both says it is and means it!

Brian B

I think it depends on how fast you ride. I have seen some incredible times by people on sportives and if I tried to stay with their wheel then any sportive would be hard.

Hardest by stats - Bowland Badass gets my vote
Hardest 100miler(or so) - Then the Fred gets my vote but not for stats but only for going up Hardknott at 100miles

A few other sportives can be termed 'hard' - Le Terrier, Etape du Dales for the amount of climbing and one hill after anther.

I have done a lot of sportives and I generally feel the same after any as I try for a good time and ride as fast as I can. I do 150 mile plus rides which are harder than most sportives on my own but go a slightly more moderate pace and take in some views and I always feel fresher when out on my own.

marcusjb

Mikey23 wrote:

Anything with around 100 ft per mile of ascent is going to be pretty tough...

In general terms, I work on percentages.

Anything under 1000m of ascent per 100km can be considered to be flat (<1%) - obviously there could be somewhere in the world where you ride for 98km without ascent, and then have to climb 1000m in 2km - but as a general rule it works.

1000-1250m per 100km - rolling (1%-1.25%)

1250-1500m per 100km - hilly

Above 1500m per 100km - going to be hard work

I'd put your 100ft in a mile as rolling if my maths is right? You need to read up on Rule#24 - it's all a bit confusing for us poor audaxers and our metric ways - http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#24

It's always going to be possible to find locations where the rough percentages don't work (where 1 monster hill skews it all or whatever) - but I find them good rough numbers to know what to expect of a ride when combined with knowledge of an area (5000m of ascent in Wales is, in general, easier than 5000m of ascent in Wessex or Cornwall).

MartinB2444

I'm contemplating the Peak Epic - 4000m in 162K (>13 000ft in 100miles) which is more than scary enough for me

GATES

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/sporti ... portive--0

Want just me then.

Cleat Eastwood

A report in here reckons its the badass

stuyd

I don't have the cahones to go any where near the bowland badass, done alot of cycling round there it would be a killer. Would love to do Fred Whittington one day.

Velonutter

The Wild Wales last year was a b'strd, but this year is supposed to be 85.8 Mile and 9939ft of climbing, but a few who have done this route reckon it's more like 11,000ft of climbing.

keef66

Will you stop it with the Fred Whittington already!

boogi11

more2sea

12500ft climbing 112miles!!1

got to be failry hard

cheaterkiller

doesnt LEJOG count as a sportive?

maddog 2

I've done four Freds (and two Marmottes and a Maratona) and take it from me they aren't even close* to:

The Badass

*actually the Marmotte isn't far off

nammynake

maddog 2 wrote:

I've done four Freds (and two Marmottes and a Maratona) and take it from me they aren't even close* to:

The Badass

*actually the Marmotte isn't far off

How did the Marmotte compare to the Fred Whitton? I did the Fred Whitton last year and I'm doing the Marmotte this year.

xixang

I've done fred once and marmotte twice. I found marmotte significantly harder mainly due to the length of the climb up galibier and the heat going up alpe d'huez at the end.