Velo Birmingham 2017

prhymeate
prhymeate Posts: 795
edited February 2018 in Sportives/audaxes/training rides
100 miles, closed roads, 15,000 riders. Pre Registration opened today. I don't live in the area so I'm not sure if I'll register but I thought it might be of interest.

http://www.velobirmingham.com/
«1345678

Comments

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    I do live in the area, but I really can't face sharing the road with another 15,000 cyclists... I'd rather share it with the weekend traffic, to be honest... less dangerous
    left the forum March 2023
  • narbs
    narbs Posts: 593
    15000 riders is far, far too many. Mind you, as one of the advertised benefits is a fleet of

    'domestiques riding alongside you, offering gels, mechanical support, top tips and lots of banter!'

    perhaps I'm not in their target audience.
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    Will they get 15k cyclists though ? What does London get ?

    I bet the route is quite nice - any mahoosive hills ?
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    edited September 2016
    Fenix wrote:
    Will they get 15k cyclists though ? What does London get ?

    I bet the route is quite nice - any mahoosive hills ?

    25 K or so.

    No massive hills, they don' go deep enough into Shropshire.

    The profile seems to suggest Birmingham is at 600 feet elevation... which I'm prety sure it's bollox
    left the forum March 2023
  • cafestopper
    cafestopper Posts: 2
    There are prizes for "fastest team" - hardly a sportive then!
  • wongataa
    wongataa Posts: 1,001
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Fenix wrote:
    The profile seems to suggest Birmingham is at 600 feet elevation... which I'm prety sure it's bollox
    I live in Erdington (Between the Spaghetti Jucntion and Sutton Coldfield). My house is at an elevation of 120 metres. Central Birmingham won't be spectacularly off from that so 600 feet is wrong.
  • carbonclem
    carbonclem Posts: 1,784
    Seems odd they aren't releasing the prices? Build up the hype and then hope people rush to sign up and don't notice the cost?

    I fancy it, I live close enough to make it not too much of a logistical nightmare and I like to do one big sportive a year.
    2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,104
    I fancy it, the logistics put me off ride london but this shouldn't require an overnight stay.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    I'm not even sure about the concept of signing up for a ride around Birmingham, probably at a significant cost,12 months in advance... people must be pretty desperate
    left the forum March 2023
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    YEah but its not just Birmingham is it - LOVELY country surrounding it.

    100miles buys you plenty of nice places.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    Fenix wrote:
    YEah but its not just Birmingham is it - LOVELY country surrounding it.

    100miles buys you plenty of nice places.

    I happen to live round here... the cotswolds are worth paying a bit of money, they are pitoresque, the rest of the countryside is nice, it's not spectacular. For spectacular you have to get more into Shropshire or Wales. People enter the Ride London because of London, not because of Surrey, I doubt people will enter the Ride Birmingham because of Birmingham. I doubt it will sell out.

    That said, it's a welcome event, there aren't many round here...
    left the forum March 2023
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    A bit of inside info - the entry fee is mind boggling £75.... with min sponsorship £100 - if youre early - late entries have to raise £400...

    I live quite near part of the route - any ideas what hill the KOM is ? - could be romsley ? - surley its not winwood heath ?

    Im really tempted £75 is serious cash - but nothing to what we waste on gadgets, clothing, upgrades which we all know influence our performance very little
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Fenix wrote:
    YEah but its not just Birmingham is it - LOVELY country surrounding it.

    100miles buys you plenty of nice places.

    I happen to live round here... the cotswolds are worth paying a bit of money, they are pitoresque, the rest of the countryside is nice, it's not spectacular. For spectacular you have to get more into Shropshire or Wales. People enter the Ride London because of London, not because of Surrey, I doubt people will enter the Ride Birmingham because of Birmingham. I doubt it will sell out.

    That said, it's a welcome event, there aren't many round here...

    To be honest its part of council sponsored programme to increase cycling in Brum. I hoped they haven't overcooked the price - wouldn't be good for us commuting brummies if only 400 riders turned up !
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    kingrollo wrote:
    A bit of inside info - the entry fee is mind boggling £75.... with min sponsorship £100 - if youre early - late entries have to raise £400...

    I live quite near part of the route - any ideas what hill the KOM is ? - could be romsley ? - surley its not winwood heath ?

    Im really tempted £75 is serious cash - but nothing to what we waste on gadgets, clothing, upgrades which we all know influence our performance very little

    It's in line with the market for a closed roads event

    Looks like this to me

    https://www.strava.com/segments/735391
    left the forum March 2023
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    kingrollo wrote:
    A bit of inside info - the entry fee is mind boggling £75.... with min sponsorship £100 - if youre early - late entries have to raise £400...

    I live quite near part of the route - any ideas what hill the KOM is ? - could be romsley ? - surley its not winwood heath ?

    Im really tempted £75 is serious cash - but nothing to what we waste on gadgets, clothing, upgrades which we all know influence our performance very little

    It's in line with the market for a closed roads event

    Looks like this to me

    https://www.strava.com/segments/735391


    I know that climb - not so bad - not sure what it would be like with 85 miles in youre legs !
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    kingrollo wrote:


    I know that climb - not so bad - not sure what it would be like with 85 miles in youre legs !

    Like you have to use the 19 T sprocket instead of the 17 T

    I did my fastest ever climb of Dovers hill after 60 miles and 1500 mt of climbing... fastest climb of Salters Lane just after doing Bushcombe lane... it doesn't really make a lot of difference
    left the forum March 2023
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,104
    Not sure about the minimum sponsorship bit - to me that makes the entry £175 which is too rich. For £75 I'd be interested though I was rather hoping for a more challenging route - I don't expect the Alps round Birmingham but if the set piece climb is 2km at 5% this is clearly going to be a sub 5 hour smash round in a group.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • Philip Whiteman
    Philip Whiteman Posts: 470
    If you don't fancy the price and want a challenging ride the try this:

    The Kidderminster Killer. 22nd July 2017. Belbroughton to Montgomeryshire and back via the Stretton Hills. 215km with 3,750m of ascent. Not 15,000 cyclists but 120. £8 to enter

    http://www.beaconrcc.org.uk/audax/kille ... iller.html
  • fuel2000
    fuel2000 Posts: 65
    Philip Whiteman wrote:
    If you don't fancy the price and want a challenging ride the try this:

    The Kidderminster Killer. 22nd July 2017. Belbroughton to Montgomeryshire and back via the Stretton Hills. 215km with 3,750m of ascent. Not 15,000 cyclists but 120. £8 to enter

    http://www.beaconrcc.org.uk/audax/kille ... iller.html

    There's a lot of cake as well! the Kidderminster Killer is a wonderful route through along some very quite country side.
  • carbonclem
    carbonclem Posts: 1,784
    kingrollo wrote:
    A bit of inside info - the entry fee is mind boggling £75.... with min sponsorship £100 - if youre early - late entries have to raise £400...

    I live quite near part of the route - any ideas what hill the KOM is ? - could be romsley ? - surley its not winwood heath ?

    Im really tempted £75 is serious cash - but nothing to what we waste on gadgets, clothing, upgrades which we all know influence our performance very little


    So you 'have' to raise some money for charity to just enter? Seems strange, and they ought to be announcing this sort of detail ahead of Thursday really.
    Is that £75 the standard price or the fast track entry with the benefits do you know?
    2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner
  • capt_slog
    capt_slog Posts: 3,974
    That does sound like a high price to me, but as kigrollo says, it's not a lot compared to most cycling stuff (quite a bit compared to mine though I'll admit :roll: )

    I can afford that but less happy about the sponsorship. I hate asking folks for money, so I'd end up paying for myself either directly or via Mrs Slog.

    I'm interested though, a lot closer to me than London.


    (BTW, what's with the thread order/times in this bit of the forum? Is it just me or my settings that has things not listed 'newest first'?)


    The older I get, the better I was.

  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    Sorry folks I may have the entry price wrong (£75) - that was the deal if you enter for a particular charity.

    I assume you can pay and ride and not raise anything for charity - some charities have the entry fee as low as £40 - but with £400 sponsorship.....

    Apologies for the duff info !
  • ajh18
    ajh18 Posts: 41
    15,000 riders is pretty ambitious of the organisers - going to take some work to attract those sort of numbers to Birmingham in late September, if I was them I'd price it more around the £40 to £55 mark. Wish them luck though, wouldn't do cycling in the city any favours if it's not seen to be a success.

    Been a few years since I've spent much time there, but it did always seem a pretty car-centric place.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,313
    Capt Slog wrote:

    I can afford that but less happy about the sponsorship. I hate asking folks for money, so I'd end up paying for myself either directly or via Mrs Slog.

    I know... I think many do. The format is tired... if you work in an office, you'll be surrounded by people that run a mile or a marathon and they all want money... frankly we are all desensitised... it's time organisers find a new way to fund charities
    left the forum March 2023
  • rank_amateur
    rank_amateur Posts: 117
    Normal entry is £75+ booking fee, fast track entry is.....£115+ booking fee. I chose normal!
  • wongataa
    wongataa Posts: 1,001
    I'm not entering. Those prices are way too high. How can they justify them? Ride London 100 is cheaper.
  • rank_amateur
    rank_amateur Posts: 117
    wongataa wrote:
    I'm not entering. Those prices are way too high. How can they justify them? Ride London 100 is cheaper.
    I can't imagine what's involved in closing a hundred miles of roads but that's mainly what I'm paying £75 for. It'll be a novelty and something to aim for. I've tried every year to get into the RL and not managed it yet.
  • wongataa
    wongataa Posts: 1,001
    Rank_amateur wrote:
    wongataa wrote:
    I'm not entering. Those prices are way too high. How can they justify them? Ride London 100 is cheaper.
    I can't imagine what's involved in closing a hundred miles of roads but that's mainly what I'm paying £75 for. It'll be a novelty and something to aim for. I've tried every year to get into the RL and not managed it yet.
    Of course there are costs that need to be paid but RL can do it for less. If it was a similar price I would be interested.
  • carbonclem
    carbonclem Posts: 1,784
    Rank_amateur wrote:
    Normal entry is £75+ booking fee, fast track entry is.....£115+ booking fee. I chose normal!


    Realistically the additional £40 for fast track would offset the costs of parking and a trip on Saturday to register, or an overnight stay.

    I'm still baulking at the cost though ... how come you have had sight of this? no-one else seems to know. The charity places are £40 with a £400 sponsorship pledge.
    2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner
  • rank_amateur
    rank_amateur Posts: 117
    CarbonClem wrote:
    Rank_amateur wrote:
    Normal entry is £75+ booking fee, fast track entry is.....£115+ booking fee. I chose normal!


    Realistically the additional £40 for fast track would offset the costs of parking and a trip on Saturday to register, or an overnight stay.

    I'm still baulking at the cost though ... how come you have had sight of this? no-one else seems to know. The charity places are £40 with a £400 sponsorship pledge.

    Yeah the fast track is fine if you live out of the area, I don't so I just chose the normal.

    I entered this morning via British Cycling. If you're a member you'll have had an email a week or so ago with a link to pre-register for entry today. They sent me an email this morning, I clicked the link, entered, boom. :D

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