Etape Loch Ness

2

Comments

  • nweststeyn
    nweststeyn Posts: 1,574
    Wave C at 6:34 for me - #267.

    Thanks for the info Colin!
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    Looks like i'm the back marker so far. #918 leaving 0648hrs.

    And I agree with the birthday boy, the roads are really crap. Very worn and rutted. I was thinking my mountain bike would be more suitable in some places.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Don't worry - we _should_ be behind you ... ;)
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Pretty much rain from Saturday evening to Sunday lunch now. Just sent the birthday boy out on an Ass Saver mercy mission but might even deploy the winter bike...
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    Maybe I should head out and get some mudguards.... Or maybe not, it might stop others riding too close. :shock:
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    We drove the southern route up this afternoon ... Hmmm them hills are a bit steeper than I'd anticipated! Oh well, I'll just have to pedal harder then ....

    They've done some resurfacing work around foyers? I think that's where it was .... Most of the road was fine - a couple of holes, but nothing serious, there was worse on the main road from Spean Bridge.

    The weather doesn't look too bad - light rain for parts ...

    Road bikes only for us - no chance of changing now - it's a bit of a drive home.
  • nweststeyn
    nweststeyn Posts: 1,574
    I'd guessed there would be some steep parts on the climb but it's not too long and only rises to 400m-ish. Pretty excited about this now, one last wee spin to loosen the legs tomorrow morning and then we're driving up to arrive in Inverness end of the afternoon! See some of you out there, I'll be on the blue/grey Shand bike :)
  • Garryboy
    Garryboy Posts: 344
    Driving up tomorrow afternoon. Looking forward to it. Although I can feel the tingle of a cold coming on (always happens to me!)

    Good luck and stay safe everyone!
  • Silly Old Hector
    Silly Old Hector Posts: 573
    Route & scenery are fantastic, but.....

    Let me just say there are a few undulations on the way home :wink:

    The loch is flat calm and sun shining today - tempting to say "stuff it" and just do it a day early !
    All the gear, but no idea...
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    I noticed every B&B in the town had a car parked outside with a bike rack this afternoon,

    It must be bringing in a few quid this.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Spoken to a few locals in town - they've seem to accepted the road closures as a means to an end - more business for the town.
    Far better attitude than we get down south and that's without closures!!
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    I thought it was a great day, first event i've ever taken part in and first time i've ridden in groups.

    I tell you, you don't have get swept along. :shock:

    And there was some top banter climbing the hill out of Ft Augustus. :lol:

    I forgot to stop my clock until after I got my medal goody bag and left the marshalling area, so i'm hoping my chip time brings me in at under 3:45. Bit of a shocker as I reckoned 4:30.
  • adr82
    adr82 Posts: 4,002
    Colinthecop wrote:
    I thought it was a great day, first event i've ever taken part in and first time i've ridden in groups.

    I tell you, you don't have get swept along. :shock:

    And there was some top banter climbing the hill out of Ft Augustus. :lol:

    I forgot to stop my clock until after I got my medal goody bag and left the marshalling area, so i'm hoping my chip time brings me in at under 3:45. Bit of a shocker as I reckoned 4:30.
    Sounds like it went pretty well for you! How was the weather? And yes riding in groups is a hell of an energy saver, you don't appreciate how much until you've done it :)
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    About 15 mins or so of light drizzle and light winds, conditions were pretty favourable considering what the weather forecasts were saying earlier in the week
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    well done CtC ... we went nicely to FA then the killer climb took over an hour - right near the top the sweep car came along, but didn't take our chips - we overtook him on the descent and didn't see him again ... :)

    Drafting helps loads - unfortunately we couldn't get up to draft speed - too many little drags .. but we're getting there.

    I did have one nice solo bit - I stopped to change the battery in the GoPro and then chased down my wife - that was fun ... but didn't have anyone to draft by then so had to do the chasing by myself - she'd got a couple of miles down the road by the time I caught her ... :) (I forgot where I put the batteries! Doh!)
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    Cheers Slowbike, that's good to hear the sweep didn't enforce the rules rigidly...

    And it was a killer climb, I just kept my head down and plodded on. If I looked up to the clouds and saw the summit i'd have probably joined those who were pushing their bikes.

    The strava graph is pretty good. :shock:

    10309479_10152191384839580_97695410798142908_n.jpg

    The KOM was 20 mins I read, that's ever so impressive. 8)
  • Garryboy
    Garryboy Posts: 344
    Just back to Glasgow after driving back. Great event, really enjoyed it - very we'll organised. I liked it better than the etape Caledonia.

    The climb was a killer, particularly the first section. I don't do well when it's steep and I can't see where it finishes!

    Happy with my time of 3hrs 40m though, kom not so great at 33. Will def do again next year.
  • crescent
    crescent Posts: 1,201
    Garryboy wrote:
    Just back to Glasgow after driving back. Great event, really enjoyed it - very we'll organised. I liked it better than the etape Caledonia.

    The climb was a killer, particularly the first section. I don't do well when it's steep and I can't see where it finishes!

    Happy with my time of 3hrs 40m though, kom not so great at 33. Will def do again next year.

    Agree with all of this. Much smaller scale than EC but I enjoyed it more. Climb out of Fort Augustus was very hard, much steeper and longer than Schiehallion, closely followed by the steep section on the single track road into Foyers, like hitting a wall!!. The first 15 and last 15 miles were an absolute blast though -flying! Originally planned 4- 4.5 hrs and absolutley chuffed to bits with 3h 49m. Stopped a few times on way home to Glasgow to stretch the legs, a tired but happy cyclist tonight :D
    Bianchi ImpulsoBMC Teammachine SLR02 01Trek Domane AL3“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. “ ~H.G. Wells Edit - "Unless it's a BMX"
  • nweststeyn
    nweststeyn Posts: 1,574
    Well done all. As with everyone else, the route was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated, especially the climb. The undulations on both sides of the loch really stopped us from getting into gear and I had a nightmare moment whilst sitting on the front of a big group going at an ideal pace and I dropped my chain. Never saw that group again :(

    Came in at 3:18:02 (59th overall) but most importantly I met some great people today! Real good sense of community spirit out there.
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    My job this year was to get the birthday boy round and he managed just over 4hrs which is not bad considering he picked his bike up in Nov. It was painful seeing folk go past me but I stuck to my domestique duties for most if the way. The climb was fun. Stuck it in the 27 and tapped away. It looked a wee bit Alpine in places and the bit where the clouds were lower than us was lovely. Tbh I spent most of my time looking about which was a nice change from burying myself. I'll return to that next year ;-) Came in with an ICC guy on Fulcrum bullets and legs like Griepel. Top bloke and we put on a sprint finish. Looks like they got the go ahead for 5000 next year btw.
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    5000...? That would be impressive.

    Being new at this I thought the start would be a bit of a crazy free for all, but in all honesty it didn't seem at all cramped or rushed.
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Colinthecop wrote:
    5000...? That would be impressive.

    Being new at this I thought the start would be a bit of a crazy free for all, but in all honesty it didn't seem at all cramped or rushed.

    I think Etape Cal is now 5500. The last single lane section could be a bit of an issue with that number.
  • adr82
    adr82 Posts: 4,002
    How many were there this year? I think they could do with keeping it smaller than that. The EC is a bit too big for it's own good now I think, especially at the start in the morning which is always a total mess. They should really knock off at least 1000 places... but it's so popular I can understand why they don't.
  • nweststeyn
    nweststeyn Posts: 1,574
    thegreatdivide wrote:
    My job this year was to get the birthday boy round and he managed just over 4hrs which is not bad considering he picked his bike up in Nov. It was painful seeing folk go past me but I stuck to my domestique duties for most if the way. The climb was fun. Stuck it in the 27 and tapped away. It looked a wee bit Alpine in places and the bit where the clouds were lower than us was lovely. Tbh I spent most of my time looking about which was a nice change from burying myself. I'll return to that next year ;-) Came in with an ICC guy on Fulcrum bullets and legs like Griepel. Top bloke and we put on a sprint finish. Looks like they got the go ahead for 5000 next year btw.

    Someone said to me yesterday afternoon - "I bet it was really scenic". It was at that point that I realised I don't remember noticing Loch Ness itself once. Was it really there? :D I do remember the top of the climb being nice and atmospheric though!

    Lots of good riders out there, and the 5 I arrived at the finish with sprinted to the line with me. I just managed to win it with half a bike length :D Great fun.

    Atmospheric:
    Bm3PqTVIgAAPk1u.jpg:large

    Sprinting from the hoods (poor show):
    Bm3KX7CIQAArVsz.jpg:large
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    I know the original plan was just to close one lane of the A82 before the decision was made to shut it all down, on both sides of the loch.

    I got the feeling people didnt get the update as there seemed to be a reluctance to use the whole road.
  • nweststeyn
    nweststeyn Posts: 1,574
    I noticed that... As we overtook groups down the A82 a lot of people were trying to squeeze through very small gaps between the riders and the white line, rather than cross the line. Saw a couple of brushes of shoulders which is fine on club rides & so on but with the higher number of potentially inexperienced riders could be quite dodgy (as far as I'm aware though noone had any problems?).
  • eh
    eh Posts: 4,854
    Really good event. But no way was I riding it for a time and missing the views. Rode around with a friend having a chat and taking in the scenery. Did have bit of a dig on the climb and did 31 mins up that, so happy considering I've done very little 'proper' cycling the last year or two.

    Agreed that 5000 people on the final stretch could be a mess, otherwise though I expect the route could support that number.
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    Is that the official Marathon-photos...?

    Mine are a bit crap, none on the climb despite the photographer assuring me I was still looking good when I asked him.

    Maybe he deleted them after I called him a liar.... :lol:
  • eh
    eh Posts: 4,854
    Have you done a search based on the colour of your helmet, bike gloves etc? As I didn't have any photos showing until I did this, then got about 9 come up.
  • Colinthecop
    Colinthecop Posts: 996
    No I havent, i'll give that ago, cheers for that.

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