Etape Cymru: remarkably pointless information

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Comments

  • sancho_uk
    sancho_uk Posts: 141
    I certainly didnt think the road surface up Horse Shoe was in poor condition?

    In fact i thought most of the roads were spot on, but then again we were able to use the entire width of the road to pick out the best sections of each part. (the bonus of having closed roads i suppose) :D
    Focus Cayo 2.0 Ultegra 2012
  • sbbefc
    sbbefc Posts: 189
    Out of interest what did people get as their total elevation gain? Its billed as 3,000m I only got 2,255 yet a friend of mine got closer to 2,500m.
  • Davey C
    Davey C Posts: 80
    Yeah I had about 2,500m, kept myself in check for most of the ride as I thought 3,000m in 140km sounded quite tasty! In the end it wasn't quite as hard as I thought - great event though, well marshaled, good feed stops and plenty of signs. Wish there had been a bit more in the way of food stalls at the finish like the Tour de Mon the week before but I guess the race course would have been a bit annoyed to lose potential customers from their cafe!

    Will be back next year.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    cyclingsheep wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    In the end I had to have a look at the results table, to find out I am among the top 400... remarkable mediocrity... interesting to see quite a few people finishing sub 5 hours but well off pace up the Horseshoe pass as a clear indication they they knew a better way to the finish line... :wink:

    A lot of people didn't seem to know they were on Horseshoe Pass (had at least three ask me on the way up) so may not have been cracking on?

    DOn't think so... If someone can go through the all course in under 5 hours, I expect him to go up the Horseshoe pass in 20 minutes with no hands on the bars and not 25... I did it in under 22 and had I not been on a 90 miles sportive and an 11 Kg bike, I would probably do it in under 20 minutes... yet I would never be able to finish under 5 hours
    left the forum March 2023
  • vermin
    vermin Posts: 1,739
    I went for a time on the horseshoe, and paid in installments over the next 60 miles! (and still was way off my best for the climb)

    It's not entirely surprising that those who were a little more measured did better overall. Negative splits and all that.

    Road.cc did a nice little piece on the event this morning.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    vermin wrote:
    I went for a time on the horseshoe, and paid in installments over the next 60 miles! (and still was way off my best for the climb)

    It's not entirely surprising that those who were a little more measured did better overall. Negative splits and all that.

    Road.cc did a nice little piece on the event this morning.

    In such a ride, you can't go slow up the hills and post a good time... where are you going to make up the time?... except the first and last 6 miles, there wasn't a single flat one
    left the forum March 2023
  • sancho_uk
    sancho_uk Posts: 141
    With regards to elevation my Garmin connect data says 2650 metres... Yet my Strava data says 2410 metres.. So im using the Garmin connect data when I tell people about climbing haha :D

    This being the most I have climbed and doing a fair bit of training to ensure I was ok on the day (or at least as prepared as i could be).. I agree with Ugo, you cant take it easy on the hills..

    That said theres a difference between riding the hills at a pace you know you can comfortably manage without being overly cautious and going all out attack!

    I didnt even realise i was on horse shoe pass if im being honest until i seen the machine clocking the time at the top, otherwise my competitive side probably would of kicked in and i would of put a little more into it.. Not that im overly concerned i wouldnt of troubled the 16 minute winning time!
    Focus Cayo 2.0 Ultegra 2012
  • vermin
    vermin Posts: 1,739
    Who suggested taking it easy? You've got to push on in the hills. This is a race, folks. (I know, it's not a race)

    6 months of training rides up the horseshoe suggested I might trouble the top 5 on a good training day. With lots of competition around, who knew how much that would improve? So I went all-out and emptied my legs on the first big climb of the day. Disappointingly, the legs weren't great and my speed up the second half of the climb was a good 7mph down on the normal. Result - I finished outside the top 10 for the climb. As a consequence, my times up the shelf and world's end were a good 2-3 minutes off my usual training pace.

    And yeah, Strava reckons not much more than 2.2k climbing, fwiw.

    ETA: A big sceptical about the two chaps who took 27 and 28 minutes up the shoe and then went on to finish inside the top 20. If it's accurate, then chapeau to them for the rest of the ride!
  • sbbefc
    sbbefc Posts: 189
    vermin wrote:
    Who suggested taking it easy? You've got to push on in the hills. This is a race, folks. (I know, it's not a race)

    6 months of training rides up the horseshoe suggested I might trouble the top 5 on a good training day. With lots of competition around, who knew how much that would improve? So I went all-out and emptied my legs on the first big climb of the day. Disappointingly, the legs weren't great and my speed up the second half of the climb was a good 7mph down on the normal. Result - I finished outside the top 10 for the climb. As a consequence, my times up the shelf and world's end were a good 2-3 minutes off my usual training pace.

    And yeah, Strava reckons not much more than 2.2k climbing, fwiw.

    ETA: A big sceptical about the two chaps who took 27 and 28 minutes up the shoe and then went on to finish inside the top 20. If it's accurate, then chapeau to them for the rest of the ride!

    Perhaps they had a mechanical problem on the climb?

    I managed a PB on worlds end and the horseshoe, but that's probably more to do with a bit of adrenaline and the training I've done since I last climbed them. Over all very happy with my time since it was my first proper sportive, expected to complete it in 6-6.5 hours, managed 5:36 :) Garmin connect gives me 2,558m so ill go with that rather than starva!
  • Davey C
    Davey C Posts: 80
    Although I've been up Horseshoe once before I wasn't quite sure where the 'timed' section started so probably missed it. In any event a took it fairly steady, not knowing the course overall you don't want to burn all your matches and find a 30% 5km monster waiting for you with 30km to go!!

    I clocked a couple of seconds over 17 mins I think. May have dug a bit deeper if I had known I'd be in with a shout of the 'win'
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    Davey C wrote:
    Although I've been up Horseshoe once before I wasn't quite sure where the 'timed' section started so probably missed it. In any event a took it fairly steady, not knowing the course overall you don't want to burn all your matches and find a 30% 5km monster waiting for you with 30km to go!!

    I clocked a couple of seconds over 17 mins I think. May have dug a bit deeper if I had known I'd be in with a shout of the 'win'

    LIve and learn, sometimes it's better to grab the egg today... :wink:
    left the forum March 2023
  • vermin
    vermin Posts: 1,739
    Davey C wrote:
    Although I've been up Horseshoe once before I wasn't quite sure where the 'timed' section started so probably missed it. In any event a took it fairly steady, not knowing the course overall you don't want to burn all your matches and find a 30% 5km monster waiting for you with 30km to go!!

    I clocked a couple of seconds over 17 mins I think. May have dug a bit deeper if I had known I'd be in with a shout of the 'win'

    Ah, hard luck. I hope you found some comfort in 'winning' the entire event. ;-) Chapeau!

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