Etape Loch Ness 2016
rabsterw91
Posts: 10
Hi guys !
Anyone doing the Etape loch ness? This will be my first sportive only got into road cycling last year as a means to get fit for rugby over the summer and got bit by the cycling bug so thought I'd enter a sportive been reading up on it and the king of the mountain seems quite daunting plus the mimimum speed lol would hate to have a black marker through my number
Does anyone have any tips or inside info and is this hill as bad as people have told me
Anyone doing the Etape loch ness? This will be my first sportive only got into road cycling last year as a means to get fit for rugby over the summer and got bit by the cycling bug so thought I'd enter a sportive been reading up on it and the king of the mountain seems quite daunting plus the mimimum speed lol would hate to have a black marker through my number
Does anyone have any tips or inside info and is this hill as bad as people have told me
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Me too. First Sportive. There's a group of us from Dalgety Bay coming up. Looks like quite a challenge when you get to the set of hills.
Doing the Scone 100 Audax in a couple of weeks to work on pace and feeding. I did 54 miles on Saturday, but seriously ran out of energy at about 40 miles and suffered knackered quads. Managed a further 12 miles yesterday afternoon, so nothing too serious0 -
As long as you can do the first bit > average speed requirement you'll be fine.
If you are slow and given a late start time (it's so you don't have bunching apparently ?!?) then you could always hop into an earlier starting pen - that's what we did - gives you a bit more time to clear the main road!
The hill is a good hill - 3 sections - don't race up the first bit, rest on the downhill bit and then pace yourself up the other two sections - the next feed station is a little way down from the top on the other side - but we were doing 40mph when we went past ... so didn't stop!0 -
I''m in too.
Pace yourself on the hill, the first bit is the steep bit, but once it eases off its not too bad,
Not sure about jumping your start time. Most closed road events start the fastest riders first for safety reasons, you don't want faster riders weaving through a pack of slower riders as its potentially dangerous.
The time limit is pretty generous and the first section is easy so I wouldn't worry too much about not making the time limit. I've made an assumption that you've done some training in saying this, rather than turned up on the day and hoped for the best.
Best of luck and remember to enjoy it.0 -
Yer - that's the story they told me ....Fat Cat wrote:Not sure about jumping your start time. Most closed road events start the fastest riders first for safety reasons, you don't want faster riders weaving through a pack of slower riders as its potentially dangerous.
So you've got 30 miles of A road - double width ... with a few thousand cyclists ... some of which will be slow ... who can easily ride on the left ... it's not rocket science and wasn't an issue for us - or quite a few others as it happened!
13mph is generous - if you're an average club rider - if you're not then whilst it's not too hard, you'd think they'd let the few slow riders have the extra hour to get the 30 miles down the road before they start sweeping them ...
We met one lady who had been unlucky to get two punctures in the first few miles - she had been "swept" - yet in the end she finished 10 minutes after we did (we went a bit quick downhill )
Other sportives manage mixed paced riders on open roads - closed roads make life much simpler ... or so you'd think ...
(ok - mini rant over! ) 0 -
Thanks guys! Looking forward to it and also nervous I have been training btween rugby and getting out on the bike as much as I can and doing spin class hope everyone has a good ride0
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Slowbike wrote:
Yer - that's the story they told me ....Fat Cat wrote:Not sure about jumping your start time. Most closed road events start the fastest riders first for safety reasons, you don't want faster riders weaving through a pack of slower riders as its potentially dangerous.
So you've got 30 miles of A road - double width ... with a few thousand cyclists ... some of which will be slow ... who can easily ride on the left ... it's not rocket science and wasn't an issue for us - or quite a few others as it happened!
13mph is generous - if you're an average club rider - if you're not then whilst it's not too hard, you'd think they'd let the few slow riders have the extra hour to get the 30 miles down the road before they start sweeping them ...
We met one lady who had been unlucky to get two punctures in the first few miles - she had been "swept" - yet in the end she finished 10 minutes after we did (we went a bit quick downhill )
Other sportives manage mixed paced riders on open roads - closed roads make life much simpler ... or so you'd think ...
(ok - mini rant over! )
At the end of the day do what you like, it's no skin off my nose.
FWIW I'm not an average club rider, I'm a former fat bloke in my late 40's who still managed to average 17.3 mph on this event last year, so I stand by my earlier comments. Remember its closed roads so you don't have to stop at junctions which certainly helps the average speed.0 -
Thanks for the tips. Completed the Scone 100 in just over 5hrs riding ( delayed by the lack of staff at the café break), so hoping with closed roads and no navigation hitches, we should be able to complete in the allowed time.
Hopefully the weather will be decent and I can use my Defy rather than the Planet X London Road which has been my winter hack. There's about 2Kg difference in weight and I've got some new wheels on order for the Defy.
I might have the same problem stopping at the feed station after the climb as the rim brakes are nowhere near as good as discs.0 -
Scottish Scrutineer wrote:Thanks for the tips. Completed the Scone 100 in just over 5hrs riding ( delayed by the lack of staff at the café break), so hoping with closed roads and no navigation hitches, we should be able to complete in the allowed time.
Hopefully the weather will be decent and I can use my Defy rather than the Planet X London Road which has been my winter hack. There's about 2Kg difference in weight and I've got some new wheels on order for the Defy.
I might have the same problem stopping at the feed station after the climb as the rim brakes are nowhere near as good as discs.
You'll have no problem with the time limit.
Don't bank on good weather - we did it in the rain - didn't matter though, still used the best bike - why else would you have one?
Really, unless you're short of drink I wouldn't bother with the feed station after the major climb (assuming they're still using that one) - it's a 67? mile ride - you could run non-stop or just one stop max ... it's handy having the feed stations spread out though as it means less of a queue for those wanting to fill up
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Fretting close now folks ! Still nervous about it but looking forward training has not gone to plan at all !! Picked up a nasty knee injury coming down a a hill and seen some glass tried to avoid it and lost control of the bike went flying was a sore one only just started to get back on the bike so it's really going to be an uphill struggle now0
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Slowbike wrote:13mph is generous - if you're an average club rider - if you're not then whilst it's not too hard, you'd think they'd let the few slow riders have the extra hour to get the 30 miles down the road before they start sweeping them ...
It's about getting the road open again. You should see the amount of whailing that goes on from locals and others than the A82 is closed for what, 2 hours early on a Sunday morning. When they aren't even likely to be using it. The organisers are under a lot of pressure to get the road open again, so people can drive about the place.We met one lady who had been unlucky to get two punctures in the first few miles - she had been "swept" - yet in the end she finished 10 minutes after we did (we went a bit quick downhill )
I understand that you're allowed to continue on open roads if the sweeper catches you?Other sportives manage mixed paced riders on open roads - closed roads make life much simpler ... or so you'd think ...
They do, but they also tend to send people off in small groups, plus there tends to be far fewer taking part.0 -
I did it last year with not much saddle time, week before was on a cruise ship so used the stationary bike for 30km a day, on the event if you go to the venue area the day before you could get your bike checked over and also some freebie gels and also slow release porridge which came in handy the following morning at the b&b. I went round on gels and a banana, didn't stop at any food stations, not saying you should do the same. Whole point is enjoying it, which am sure you will.0
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Even more reason to set the slow riders off first then - get them down the road and clear sooner rather than later! Shame the organisers didn't get that when I contacted them for the inaugural one ...markhewitt1978 wrote:Slowbike wrote:13mph is generous - if you're an average club rider - if you're not then whilst it's not too hard, you'd think they'd let the few slow riders have the extra hour to get the 30 miles down the road before they start sweeping them ...
It's about getting the road open again. You should see the amount of whailing that goes on from locals and others than the A82 is closed for what, 2 hours early on a Sunday morning. When they aren't even likely to be using it. The organisers are under a lot of pressure to get the road open again, so people can drive about the place.
Indeed ... just seemed pointless "sweeping" her - which involved removing her timing chip ... only for her to catch and overtake the sweep vehicle later on in the course ... the 13mph was not "average" it was a constant pace ...markhewitt1978 wrote:We met one lady who had been unlucky to get two punctures in the first few miles - she had been "swept" - yet in the end she finished 10 minutes after we did (we went a bit quick downhill )
I understand that you're allowed to continue on open roads if the sweeper catches you?
About 4000 odd riders on closed roads ... Wiggle (I think) tend to have 2000 on open roads ... sorry - far fewer doesn't work ...markhewitt1978 wrote:Other sportives manage mixed paced riders on open roads - closed roads make life much simpler ... or so you'd think ...
They do, but they also tend to send people off in small groups, plus there tends to be far fewer taking part.
feck - Tour of Flanders - 16000 riders - mostly on open roads - much narrower than Etap Loch Ness ... no fuss about when you start - no start time set - turn up and ride when you want ... No toots from cars ....
you want a nice sportive - go European ....0 -
I put in 33 mile on Sunday half the distance of the sportive was finished at 2hr 33 min Ave speed was 13mph so I'm hitting the basic at least my best bet is just to give my best shot0
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I'm not a fan of long range weather forecasts but all signs point to a bit of an Arctic blast for the weekend in Scotland. The wind's to pick up too.0
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Best take the Hybrid with ice tyres then! 0
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Double post.0
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Maybe a wee bit extreme ;-)
But yip, it deffo looks like a very cold weekend ahead.0 -
So...looks like a cold, cold start but a chance of sun mid morning and the wind's down. I can live with that!
Happy riding tmrw folks.0 -
If the wind stays down the ride will be infinitely better, nice route and a good spirit when I rode it on its first year.
Heading up from Fife soon and hoping the event can kick start my training since lethargy and Olympic standard excuse making have taken hold.0 -
I've checked in having made a 550 mile trip to get here.
Weather looks OK, cold but not much wind.
Good luck to all taking part. Enjoy it!0 -
Fat Cat wrote:I've checked in having made a 550 mile trip to get here.
Weather looks OK, cold but not much wind.
Good luck to all taking part. Enjoy it!
Hope you didn't cycle up here lol0 -
Good luck all - did this last year, was a good ride. Started snowing heavily shortly after we finished!
The way they stagger the start times absolutely makes sense with the huge number of starters.0 -
Well sort of enjoyed that.
Suffered like a dog on the climb. Paying the price of a month or so of lost training due to a crash.
Also went through a bad patch after the descent along the banks of the loch, but got a second wind and finished strongly. Happy with a sub 4 hour time in the circumstances.
Well run event on closed roads with great scenery. Would recommend it,0 -
The loch was like a sheet of glass! A great day for sure and well done to all who took part.
The climb is a tough one. You'll always get folk who'll claim it's a flat ride with nothing too taxing along the way, but in the real world it's anything but.0 -
thegreatdivide wrote:You'll always get folk who'll claim it's a flat ride with nothing too taxing along the way, but in the real world it's anything but.
:roll: :roll:
left the forum March 20230 -
ugo.santalucia wrote:thegreatdivide wrote:You'll always get folk who'll claim it's a flat ride with nothing too taxing along the way, but in the real world it's anything but.
:roll: :roll:
Go away.0 -
To me it's a flat ride with a stonking great climb in the middle of it! The fort Augustus climb is a pretty big one, by UK standards it's one of the biggest going.0
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bobmcstuff wrote:To me it's a flat ride with a stonking great climb in the middle of it! The fort Augustus climb is a pretty big one, by UK standards it's one of the biggest going.
Not to Ugo Bob. Ugo is a cycling legend. He once did the Fred Whitton.0 -
The big climb has the effect of making the rest of the profile look flat. If you take the big climb out you could then re scale the rest of it.
Even excluding the big hill it's probably as challenging as a lot of sportive routes in the South of England. The first half is pretty flat,except for the drag out of Drumnadrochit, but the little kicker half way down the descent, just before Foyers is nasty, short but very steep, and the climb after Dores is longer than it looks on the profile.
It's not the Fred Whitton, but it's tough enough to be a real challenge.0
