Ride the North

bobmcstuff
bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
http://www.ride-the-north.co.uk/

Been offered a place on this due to a last minute dropout. Anyone here doing it? Second day looks quite climb-y!

Offshore till the 28th so hoping I get back smoothly (no weather delays etc) or it'll be a bit of a waste of money...

Comments

  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Missed the first day due to helicopter delays. They're letting me do the second day though.
  • Alpina007
    Alpina007 Posts: 106
    Did you do it? Some cracking climbs indeed!
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Yeah I did the second day - the Cabrach and the Suie were both good climbs!!

    The guy who's place I took was in one of the early waves so I ended up finishing before 3pm and there was hardly anyone there... Everyone was congratulating me and I felt guilty cos they would've assumed I did both days, when I actually only did the second.

    Definitely entering it next year when the entries are actually open and doing it properly. Good friendly atmosphere and a great route.

    Only downer was some slightly odd break stop choices - the lunch stop (Rhynie) was right before the Suie so I was busy trying not to chuck up my soup all the way up, which ruined my enjoyment of the climb somewhat. And the second last break stop was right before a nasty little climb too.
  • It was nice soup though, as was the nip of gin at Dunecht
  • I chucked my soup on the Suie - unfortunately I swallowed it so I had to stop for a quick drink and finished the climb off.

    That's my 2nd Ride the North - I think it's very well organised and probably apply for next year too.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    It was nice soup though, as was the nip of gin at Dunecht

    Heh, yeah that was good too!
  • It was nice soup - just too late for the Suie - ha ha ha
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Did anyone get on this for 2015? It sold out in less than a day!

    I missed out as I was off work and had no access to a computer. If anyone has an entry and decides to drop out let me know :D
  • I've managed to get a place on the team that my employer entered. Looking forward to it.
  • aberdeenal
    aberdeenal Posts: 200
    I got a space too :-)
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Got a space on this just before the cutoff for name changes in the end, friend of a friend dropped out.

    Looks a pretty challenging route!

    I'll probably be riding solo, the person who's space I took was in the green wave but I think I'm going to change to one of the faster waves (and get a bit of a lie in...).

    Accommodation in Elgin was all sold out or horribly priced and 20 miles away, managed to find a place on Airbnb in the end.
  • I bit the bullet and switched to the red (fast) wave just before the window closed. I figured you gotta do the thing properly if at all!
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    I changed to Orange wave just before it closed, should be able to make the Red pace but I know some people in the Green wave so I reckon I should be able to catch them and have a bit of a chat etc.. Also thought a little bit of leeway would be a good thing!
  • aberdeenal
    aberdeenal Posts: 200
    I'm in the yellow group - you can catch me up :-)
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Great event again, well organised and decent weather this year!

    Orange wave was about right, both days I rode out steady then caught on with some red wave guys as they came through. Very enjoyable. In particular the massive slightly downhill huge tailwind section yesterday where I was doing 60+kmh for a good five-ten minutes :)
  • aberdeenal
    aberdeenal Posts: 200
    Great event again, well organised and decent weather this year!

    Orange wave was about right, both days I rode out steady then caught on with some red wave guys as they came through. Very enjoyable. In particular the massive slightly downhill huge tailwind section yesterday where I was doing 60+kmh for a good five-ten minutes :)

    It was a great event - weather was fantastic apart from the headwinds