Wiggle Northern Angel August 4th.

josehernandez

Anyone else do this ?
Standard route was quite a challenge. Some fair sized climbs and the wind was incredibly strong in the more exposed sections. I was surprised how poor some of the road surfaces were, thought it was just my local council that was skint.
To the organisers - how about making different coloured signs for the routes ? Nearly got lost on a couple of occasions.
That said it was a well organised event in a beautiful part of the country that I had never been to.

lakesluddite

Not sure if it's been discussed in other pages, but sad news from the Northern Angel regarding a fellow Cumbrian...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23586108

Heart-felt best wishes to all who knew him, especially family.

markhewitt1978

JoseHernandez wrote:

Anyone else do this ?
Standard route was quite a challenge. Some fair sized climbs and the wind was incredibly strong in the more exposed sections.

I did the 'short' route, although I did find it odd that it's called short, 68 miles felt pretty long to me!
Certainly on the short route I liked this sportive as compared to almost every other ride I've done it wasn't very hilly! The exception being that big one coming out of Otterburn of course, not crazy steep but as you said, a really strong wind blowing down the hill.

Overall a fantastic route and brilliant scenery. One of the best views was on the short route, just before the decent into Elsdon.

I was surprised how poor some of the road surfaces were, thought it was just my local council that was skint.

I've always thought every time I've ventured into Northumberland, even when I'm just hopping across the border from County Durham, that the road surfaces leave a lot to be desired. Not that C.Durham roads are particularly good either mind! There was one particularly bad stretch, after the decent from the climb from Otterburn, on approach to a t-junction, the surface was just crumbling away!

To the organisers - how about making different coloured signs for the routes ? Nearly got lost on a couple of occasions.

The signs seemed clear enough to me, but not as clear as the bright pink ones that Evans Cycles use on their sportives. But I suspect the colour choice is a corporate one!

That said it was a well organised event in a beautiful part of the country that I had never been to.

Very well organised, especially the feed stations, although I live relatively locally and been around that area quite a bit, most of the roads were new to me.

josehernandez

LakesLuddite wrote:

Not sure if it's been discussed in other pages, but sad news from the Northern Angel regarding a fellow Cumbrian...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23586108

Heart-felt best wishes to all who knew him, especially family.

Very sorry to hear about this.

mark, congratulations on your bronze award and excellent time of 5.02.37!

I too found it a bit bewildering that 68 miles is considered short. I tackled the Standard and it was only 13 miles more.
The signs were clear enough I just thought it would have been better to have the three separate routes in different colours. At one stage I thought I may have taken the Epic route by mistake. Had the signs been colour coded I would have realised very quickly I was ok.
Also, don't know about you but the last 5km was the longest 5km I've ever experienced in my life. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was jiggered by that stage but I would put money on that being a boob.

bobbydazzla

I live locally and nipped out for a 50 mile spin on Sunday and ended up on some parts of the Northern Angel route.

I stayed at relatively low altitude and the wind was still a pain in the arse, so can only imagine how tough it was out round Otterburn way.

Hats off to anyone who completed it, even doing the "short" 68 mile route in those conditions is a major achievement.

markhewitt1978

JoseHernandez wrote:

[

mark, congratulations on your bronze award and excellent time of 5.02.37!

Bronze = Everyone who was slower than the silver award time

I too found it a bit bewildering that 68 miles is considered short. I tackled the Standard and it was only 13 miles more.

I thought at the end there would have been no way I could do 80 miles, but as you say it was only 13 miles more, and you guys got an extra feed station!

The signs were clear enough I just thought it would have been better to have the three separate routes in different colours. At one stage I thought I may have taken the Epic route by mistake. Had the signs been colour coded I would have realised very quickly I was ok.

Not sure how you'd handle that given that the majority of the route was used by at least two of the three rides?

Also, don't know about you but the last 5km was the longest 5km I've ever experienced in my life. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was jiggered by that stage but I would put money on that being a boob.

Same here! Some guys who I'd been with a good while at the start but I was able to keep up with easily, then came past me, tried to keep up with them for a while but couldn't do it. . Would have got under 5 hours if I hadn't completely collapsed in the last 5km.

markhewitt1978

I notice their sportive this weekend is

Short = 40 miles
Standard = 65 miles
Epic = 98 miles

Which sounds a better spread.

josehernandez

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I notice their sportive this weekend is

Short = 40 miles
Standard = 65 miles
Epic = 98 miles

Which sounds a better spread.

Aye, that sounds more typical to me Mark.

issacforce

I agree some roads wer,nt the best especially turn off for epic route, but hey ho thats life, it was windy but not that bad, climbs were long but not steep just long climbs ova the moors, took 5.45 for epic, happy with that.