Velothon Wales 2015
jfrankland1991
Posts: 100
Hi All,
I took part in the Velothon yesterday and thought it was a superb experience, first time I have ever rode on closed roads which was brilliant and all the support along the roadside was a real buzz and kept me going. The whole experience certainly outweighed the questionable organisation and shoddy feed stations in my view.
I'm interested to hear what everyone else thought that took part?
I took part in the Velothon yesterday and thought it was a superb experience, first time I have ever rode on closed roads which was brilliant and all the support along the roadside was a real buzz and kept me going. The whole experience certainly outweighed the questionable organisation and shoddy feed stations in my view.
I'm interested to hear what everyone else thought that took part?
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Comments
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It was a slowish start for me as I was with people from work, I decided to go at my own pace just before the golf course.... and then came to a near standstill because of the tacks.
I didn't stop at the feed stations so I can't comment on those.
Overall it was really good on the closed roads, everything seemed to work really well and lots of support as you were going around which was great.
I did find parts dangerous, nearly brought down on mass in Newport (you can see how easily and quickly it happens in the Pro Pelotons) but it was all due to pretty bad riding by others around pinch points but the majority of the ride was fine.
I wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't closed road but certainly glad I did, enjoyable day out.
Anyone know if the pro race will be repeated anywhere?The path of my life is strewn with cowpats from the devil's own satanic herd.0 -
hmmmm - the riding was good, spoilt by the tacks on the road, but thats that.
Feed stations were terrible took me 20minutes to get an awful tasting drink.
Concerning the amount of non-riders who were out on bikes trying to ride against the flow of event riders, and then there was a group of pedestrians that just decided to walk round a big roundabout near the end.0 -
hmmmm - the riding was good, spoilt by the tacks on the road, but thats that.
Feed stations were terrible took me 20minutes to get an awful tasting drink.
Concerning the amount of non-riders who were out on bikes trying to ride against the flow of event riders, and then there was a group of pedestrians that just decided to walk round a big roundabout near the end.
i had to swerve around a family after a downhill to a roundabout near caerphilly, and some motocrossers on the steep downhill off the tumble.
all in all i was impressed by the marshalling, slightly annoyed by the tacks, didn't bother with the first feed station, glad of the others and enjoyed the day with my wife. great to see families picnicking on the central res of a dual carriageway!--
Burls Ti Tourer for Tarmac, Saracen aluminium full suss for trails0 -
I thought it was a really well run event. Thankfully the weather held out.
I was lucky enough to get off early so wasn't caught up in any of the tack incident. I thought the marshals did well. There were a few people around not great at riding in groups but didn't witness any really dangerous riding or crashes. I guess it helps to be up the road a bit from everyone else.
The closed roads and local support was great. I ended up on my own for a while after our group got busted up on the tumble. Bombing through little villages with on your own with people clapping and cheering either side of the road was quite exciting.
Didn't stop at any of the feeds so can't comment on that.0 -
hmmmm - the riding was good, spoilt by the tacks on the road, but thats that.
Feed stations were terrible took me 20minutes to get an awful tasting drink.
Concerning the amount of non-riders who were out on bikes trying to ride against the flow of event riders, and then there was a group of pedestrians that just decided to walk round a big roundabout near the end.
Had to pull out of the even due to injury... DO you think there were too many riders then...? Does it need reducing in number for next year..?0 -
Thought it was a great event myself, lots of fast road surfaces on the flat. I was on my own and a few miles in a group of 4 of us began working together, lasted a short while before the Somerset Road Club train came steaming past on my outside, needless to say I jumped on the back and stuck with that group for most the ride. Finish time was 4:23, average moving speed according to Strava was 21.2mph which I was thrilled with.
I didn't like that small town/village which had the road narrowing and speed bumps through it but other than that it was fine.
Only used the feed zone on The Tumble, worked out if I carried 2 bottles I could miss the first stop and be near the end of my second on The Tumble so wouldn't be carrying much extra weight up there. Didn't have much problem with it, no queue for loos, quickly grabbed a couple of gels and drink sachet and filled up a bottle although that tasted very weak. Would have liked a choice of some cakes. And I'm pretty sure us cyclists are quite happy eating a whole banana not just half!
Support on the roads was great, many locals could have been sat at home moaning on Facebook about the road closures so it was great for so many to come out and enjoy being part of the event. Apologies to all of them who saw me suffer badly with cramp on Caerphilly Mountain, I doubt I was a pleasant sight to look at then!0 -
the guys at the tumble water barrels said they were all plain water, you had to add the free sachet of mix that had beside the barrel.
on caerphilly they were cutting bananas in to three.--
Burls Ti Tourer for Tarmac, Saracen aluminium full suss for trails0 -
hmmmm - the riding was good, spoilt by the tacks on the road, but thats that.
Feed stations were terrible took me 20minutes to get an awful tasting drink.
Concerning the amount of non-riders who were out on bikes trying to ride against the flow of event riders, and then there was a group of pedestrians that just decided to walk round a big roundabout near the end.
Had to pull out of the even due to injury... DO you think there were too many riders then...? Does it need reducing in number for next year..?
There were under 9,000 official finishers out of an advertised 15,000 places I think. Not sure if that included the 50km ride though.Rose Xlite Team 3100 Di2
Kinesis Tripster ATR
Orro Oxygen0 -
There were 1038 50k finishers. IIRC there were about 1300 supposed to start the 50k.
Would be interesting to see how many started, I was happier with my placing until I saw there were only 8.7K rather than 13-14k finishers for the 140km. That's 4-5k people I wasn't faster than. LOL
I did enjoy the event though, I was pretty skeptical going in, but the actual ride and support from folk along the route I thought was great.0 -
Tacks on the road are a Welsh classic... every event I have done in Wales someone threw tacks on the road the night before...
left the forum March 20230 -
Why bother to moan about why they cut bananas into 2 or 3. If you wanted more than 1 piece you could have eaten it. To me it made sense to avoid waste. I pretty much enjoyed the whole affair. I was amazed by how many people got to the tumble and started to push their bikes within a couple of hundred yards, Caerphilly I could get a bit as it was near the end, but there seemed to be more pushing than riding.0
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Why bother to moan about why they cut bananas into 2 or 3. If you wanted more than 1 piece you could have eaten it. To me it made sense to avoid waste. I pretty much enjoyed the whole affair. I was amazed by how many people got to the tumble and started to push their bikes within a couple of hundred yards, Caerphilly I could get a bit as it was near the end, but there seemed to be more pushing than riding.
because they go brown, wet and mushy at the cut ends very very quickly. it don't look good and people were ignoring the brown, wet mushy ones and waiting for a freshly cut piece. thereby increasing waste many fold.
if you get a middle bit its has two brown, wet and mushy bits which were meeting in the middle and were quite off putting.--
Burls Ti Tourer for Tarmac, Saracen aluminium full suss for trails0 -
mushy bananas.... tacks... local MP up in arms... gives you summat to drink your beer to in the lounge bars of Surrey, then... well away from South Wales0
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on caerphilly they were cutting bananas in to three.
I always had the impression Caerphilly was downmarket... left the forum March 20230 -
I'm surprised to hear about some problems with spectators, I didn't see any problem at all with them and thought the support was fantastic given the uproar before hand, I think the people of Caerphilly 'spoke' much more highly of the event than their MP!
Despite thoroughly enjoying the event I thought it was pretty badly planned with no signs whatsoever to the car park we were at, luckily my friend knows Cardiff! The signs to the start line were very poor and the start line itself was disorganised chaos!
The tacs were annoying but at least they weren't on a steep descent and didn't cause too much a problem to my knowledge. The feed stations were shocking, the first one looked like two vans had just turned up at the side of the road and then opened to back doors and waited for people to arrive, there was no food apart from sandwiches and crisps?! The other two feeding stations werent much better.
I think there wasnt too many cyclists and the roads weren't particularly clogged up apart from on the climbs, I've heard that 20,000 have already pre-registered for next year so there may well be more than last year! Who's doing it next year?0
