Woodcote CX Sportive this Sunday

antsmithmk
antsmithmk Posts: 717
edited January 2014 in Sportives/audaxes/training rides
Hi all,

Anyone taking part? 60km route for me. I have just swapped the cross king CX tyres for 28mm Gatorskins... Have I done the right thing? Most of the route looks to be road with very few sections off. I have also got SKS guards now fitted on the CX... Again is this the right thing to have fitted for this event?

Thanks

Comments

  • the_fuggler
    the_fuggler Posts: 1,228
    antsmithmk wrote:
    Hi all,

    Anyone taking part? 60km route for me. I have just swapped the cross king CX tyres for 28mm Gatorskins... Have I done the right thing? Most of the route looks to be road with very few sections off. I have also got SKS guards now fitted on the CX... Again is this the right thing to have fitted for this event?

    Thanks

    I've ridden some of the off-road sections in the last couple of weeks. Very, very muddy. Depends how good your bike handling skills are, but I'd personally go for CX tyres and no guards.
    FCN 3 / 4
  • antsmithmk
    antsmithmk Posts: 717
    This is going to be brutal. It will be an achievement to finish! I'm going full waterproofs looking at the forecast.
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,064
    how was it?
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • antsmithmk
    antsmithmk Posts: 717
    Horrible!

    I was signed up to the 60km but had already decided 40km would be enough before the start. I knew the route back to the start at the 30km Mark (a few km max) and it took some serious internal words to set off in the other direction to finish the route.

    The roads were awful, absolutely caked in mud. Lots of the off road sections had flint covering the trails. How I managed to get round with a puncture I will never know!

    A couple of things I have learned -
    My bike handing skills on the CX are not good enough on what was termed semi technical...
    Running 35mm was a great idea
    Other riders running 25mm slicks - terrible idea!
    Puddles - aim straight and hope for the best.

    Oh I also lost my clip on rear light. :-(
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,064
    well done i wouldnt have gone out in that today, I was out on my road bike yesterday and it was so caked in mud it looked like i'd been on CX ride.

    Wiltshire, Berkshire & Hampshire roads are now officially just muddy tracks or rivers
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • antsmithmk
    antsmithmk Posts: 717
    I wouldn't normally but I had paid in advance!
  • haywire
    haywire Posts: 23
    I too was thankful that the fairy spared me today - god knows how. Like a lot of others, I dropped down a distance (80km to 60km in my case)
    Puddles - aim straight and hope for the best.
    This was good advice, except for when it was more than hub-deep. A clipless moment followed to great hilarity

    I was pleased with the Schwalbe CX pros I bought for the event, they coped with mud as well as I could have hoped. Bumpy descents however were appalling, a real eye opener - they would have been no problem on a hardtail MTB.

    I sort of enjoyed it...
  • hd_andy
    hd_andy Posts: 28
    It was awesome. Really good fun.

    Really nice to have a sportive that includes a bit of CX action, shame there are not more of them.

    I also dropped down to the 60km.

    Absolutely soaked through, very pleased to have a dry pair of socks at the finish!

    Haywire > I've been running those CX Pros - they're really good. Zero punctures so far.

    The bumpy flint sections reminded me of Flanders - real bone shakers!
  • hd_andy
    hd_andy Posts: 28
    Oh, and that 1/2 meter deep puddle coming out of the woods onto the main road was a bit of a surprise!
  • haywire
    haywire Posts: 23
    hd_andy wrote:
    Oh, and that 1/2 meter deep puddle coming out of the woods onto the main road was a bit of a surprise!

    Sure it wasn't a minor road? I wasn't the only one to take a dip.

    One day later and I find myself considering signing up for the bucks off road sportive, so maybe it wasn't that bad. Need a bit of bridleway bashing practice first though.

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