Velo Birmingham 2017

ugo.santalucia

EagleDay wrote:

Should've listened to some of you folk.

... obviously... it's not that one spends 15 years doing sportives and learns nothing... :roll:

lettingthedaysgoby

That was utterly brilliant.

6:15, over the moon with that time.

And yes, the people of Bewdley were amazing, one of (many) highlights of the route.

Probably loads more to say but right now I'm busy getting monumentally drunk.

My first ever "proper" cycling event was fantastic. 10 months or so ago I don't own a bike. Today I did this. I am LOVING it.

lettingthedaysgoby

barongreenback wrote:

Miles 80-90 were tough!!!

Yeah. Got to the top of St Kenelms and though "great, that's the hard bit done".

Then turned that corner after the descent and saw yet another wall of tarmac

kingrollo

Great day - totally overwhelmed with the support from the public, drums, cheers, flags, - averaged 14.3 - fitness wise was ok - but a little wary of riding so close to others -

Many thanks to the local residents who looked like they enjoyed it as much as the cyclists....

rank_amateur

The support along the route was amazing. There'd been such a lot of negative sh1te about it on FB and elsewhere but the support was moving. Bless em all. Particularly liked the drummers on the way back into brum, that got me fired up for the last mile or two.
There were plenty of teething problems with the pit stops but overall the closed roads experience alone was well worth the money. I'll do it next year.

lettingthedaysgoby

Rank_amateur wrote:

The support along the route was amazing. There'd been such a lot of negative sh1te about it on FB and elsewhere but the support was moving. Bless em all. Particularly liked the drummers on the way back into brum, that got me fired up for the last mile or two.
There were plenty of teething problems with the pit stops but overall the closed roads experience alone was well worth the money. I'll do it next year.

The pit stops were slow, due to the sheer volume of riders. But, given the geography involved I can't really see how they could be improved.

The locals made it. Impromptu water stops, biscuits, sweets. Meant I could ride past the queues at the main stops and just get a bottle topped up quickly and keep going.

It was brilliant.

rank_amateur

lettingthedaysgoby wrote:

Rank_amateur wrote:

The support along the route was amazing. There'd been such a lot of negative sh1te about it on FB and elsewhere but the support was moving. Bless em all. Particularly liked the drummers on the way back into brum, that got me fired up for the last mile or two.
There were plenty of teething problems with the pit stops but overall the closed roads experience alone was well worth the money. I'll do it next year.

The pit stops were slow, due to the sheer volume of riders. But, given the geography involved I can't really see how they could be improved.

The locals made it. Impromptu water stops, biscuits, sweets. Meant I could ride past the queues at the main stops and just get a bottle topped up quickly and keep going.

It was brilliant.

It was nothing to do with the geography - I queued for twenty minutes to get into the second stop, found there was nothing left to eat except half packets of fruit pastels and then queued for twenty minutes to get out again. There were thousands of people behind me so I don't know what they got. Hence massive queues at the petrol stations and shops. It needs to be sorted next time.
As I said, overall it was great but there were teething problems.

lettingthedaysgoby

Rank_amateur wrote:

lettingthedaysgoby wrote:

Rank_amateur wrote:

The support along the route was amazing. There'd been such a lot of negative sh1te about it on FB and elsewhere but the support was moving. Bless em all. Particularly liked the drummers on the way back into brum, that got me fired up for the last mile or two.
There were plenty of teething problems with the pit stops but overall the closed roads experience alone was well worth the money. I'll do it next year.

The pit stops were slow, due to the sheer volume of riders. But, given the geography involved I can't really see how they could be improved.

The locals made it. Impromptu water stops, biscuits, sweets. Meant I could ride past the queues at the main stops and just get a bottle topped up quickly and keep going.

It was brilliant.

It was nothing to do with the geography - I queued for twenty minutes to get into the second stop, found there was nothing left to eat except half packets of fruit pastels and then queued for twenty minutes to get out again. There were thousands of people behind me so I don't know what they got. Hence massive queues at the petrol stations and shops. It needs to be sorted next time.
As I said, overall it was great but there were teething problems.

That's kinda what I mean by the geography though - the second one was a hotel, with a typical long hotel entrance road. Trying to shove several thousand cyclists up it will create bottlenecks.

martinperry

I only stopped once@ the 73 mile pitstop
(About 1200) It was overstaffed with fantastic help, and in and out within 5 mins for piss, food and electrolytes
Overall, aside from the delayed start, a superb event
IMHO a much more interesting route than RL100 or Cardiff and stunning support
Can't wait till next year
(6.15 if that matters)

kingrollo

The real downside (or upside) - is that I feel a new canyon aero road is more than justified.

rank_amateur

kingrollo wrote:

The real downside (or upside) - is that I feel a new canyon aero road is more than justified.

There were sooo many beautiful bikes out there yesterday I feel one of each is justified

harry-s

Good ride and route I thought, and I didn't hit a pothole all day. Surrey, sort yourself out.
Some questionable antics by the locals though. Tacks on the road, - I didn't see this mind, just heard about it. Oil thrown on the road on a fast downhill bend, which could have been very nasty. Local farmer or farmers near Bobbington making sure they had all their hedge cutting machinery out and working, spraying the road with debris.
Apart from that, the local support was fantastic, it looked like they really enjoyed too.

lettingthedaysgoby

The standard of riding seemed pretty good overall as well. Saw a couple of overly aggressive fast guys going for gaps that really weren't there (and then blaming the poor sods they were barging out the way) but nothing major. I didn't see a single crash anyway.

The tacks and oil on the road was a shame but was dealt with quickly and efficiently by the marshals from what I've heard.

mroli

So rode this with my wife yesterday - she has only done 100 miles by herself once before (on "home" roads in London) and was pretty nervous about it all.

The collection on Sat eve was pretty easy - in fact I thought it was pretty empty at 18.30 the night before. No queue, no hassle. Everyone very friendly, but certainly not as "commercialised" as Ride London. Nice to hear Ned Boulting do a little turn as well. There were a couple of really nice touches - name on your timing card, a little top tube sticker thing with ride "highlights" on it.
Stayed overnight in a hotel (Ibis) which was only £60 and a short (5min) ride to the start - which was excellent (although the hotel was patchy!). Really easy to get to the pen, but then had a frustrating 40min wait past start time - not terribly well organised that.

The ride itself was pretty good, surprisingly lumpy and a lot of downhills followed by a sharp turn and then a steep uphill.

They need to do some work on foodstops - Mile 55 was, quite simply, a debacle - indeed I think on sportives this size, having stops on the right hand side is just negligent, there were not enough toilets AND they couldn't clear people of the road. I think they were lucky it was dry - a wet one could have been more "interesting".

The route was really nice, the riders were also really nice, there were a lot less self-interested aggressive riders than in the Ride London I thought.

The thing that made it for me was the support from the roadside - really was incredible. Stourbridge and Bewdley were real highlights - and as mentioned above, I will defo be going back to Bewdley. It was BEAUTIFUL.

Mile 80 - 90 almost finished off a lot of riders. Saw few in tears and collapsing over their bikes after the last steep climb! But - the final 6 or so miles into Brum was incredible. Generally downhill, on smooth tarmac. Amazing. No finale could ever compete with the Mall, but it did feel a little anti-climactic.

A good event. Could do with a little sharpening up, but thought it showcased the area really well. But the people were fantastic.

whyamihere

I've already pre-registered for next year. The feed stops weren't great (particularly the mile 55 one), but other than that it was fantastic. It was great to see so many excited people on the side of the road cheering riders on, asking for high 5s, and taking the time to read everyone's number board to cheer them on by name. The standard of riding was way higher than I thought it would be too, I didn't see anything particularly dangerous being attempted.

Beatmaker

Really easy to get to the pen, but then had a frustrating 40min wait past start time - not terribly well organised that.

I heard this was down to the oil having to be dealt with on the road, hardly the organisers fault.The only minor criticism I had on this was they would have communicated at the start, but how do you do that to 15,000 people (and not increase nerves etc)?

I enjoyed it, I thought the event bar a few teething problems was really well organised, the crowds were amazing! I had a tough time about 60 miles for not taking enough fuel on but finished in 5:18:02, not too bad I guess considering I was on crutches in Jan.

rank_amateur

It was the most distance and the most climbing I've ever done so I was chuffed to bits when I started to recognise familiar bits of Brum and know the hills we behind me and I was nearly done. Sounds awful but I was also secretly pleased to see younger, fitter people than me walking on some of those hills....

And hats off to those doing it on MTBs with big knobbly tyres.

For those who've done this and Ride London, was the RL as easy in terms of parking, signing on, decent toilets at the start etc etc? Those were the things that were a pleasant surprise - it really was all a doddle - except for the cycling part

carbonclem

My thoughts - the day before registration was a pain, at least at the Excel for RL they make an effort, this was a big hall of nothing. No reason why packs cant be posted, in fact they did so for the enhanced entry schemes (yeah, I get they do it to boost tourism by getting people into the city).
Organisation on the day was good, parked at Edgbaston Cricket Ground which was open for loo's etc and an easy ride to the start - the delay was freezing at the start especially with no sun amongst the tall buildings but given the reason for the delay you cant complain.
It appears they was no 'seeding' by rider times as with RL? This meant for very congested roads with all types of riders all over the road. I got taken down just after the 30 miles water point by two riders exiting the stop point, I was ok, but it was annoying. I found most of the stop points had people veering about causing near misses. I heard lots of complaints about lack of supplies, but other that grabbing a gel from the roadside I didn't stop. Do people really need so much stuff? Or is it a case of its free so they'll get it anyway? Genuine question ... I did it on a Clif bar, a couple of mini Soreens and my two water bottles (plus a couple of gels). Anyway ...

The end was well managed and the hall had a good vibe. Got a beer, got some food and headed off.

I thought the goody bag was pretty dire. Yay! a bottle. Yay! A kit kat. Yay! some sort of lottery based train ticket ... really?

The route was nice enough but there was nothing in any way remarkable or iconic about it. I guess there's not much can be done there?

Finally, the people en route in towns and villages, take a bow, that support was absolutely brilliant. Amazed with that.

To the oil spilling, tack scattering, hedge trimming saddo's - you are pathetic. You lose.

carbonclem

Rank_amateur wrote:

For those who've done this and Ride London, was the RL as easy in terms of parking, signing on, decent toilets at the start etc etc? Those were the things that were a pleasant surprise - it really was all a doddle - except for the cycling part

If you are travelling the RL is a bigger pain as the roads are also closed on the Saturday for the free rides and the racing. I drove (from Gloucester) both days for this (Brum) and distance aside, the logistics were fine. There's no way I would consider that for RL - staying over is pretty much vital.

Beatmaker

To the oil spilling, tack scattering, hedge trimming saddo's - you are pathetic. You lose.

+1

lettingthedaysgoby

CarbonClem wrote:

some sort of lottery based train ticket

As a Birmingham local the 4 free day train tickets are great - that's a day out in the future for me and the family for zero travel cost. And it's anywhere on the London Midland network - so that's potentially 4 of us going to London and back, which could cost a three figure sum otherwise. Not to be sniffed at!

kingrollo

Beatmaker wrote:

To the oil spilling, tack scattering, hedge trimming saddo's - you are pathetic. You lose.

+1

+2

A very small minority - massively outnumbered by the positive vibes\cheers crowds on the day -

carbonclem

lettingthedaysgoby wrote:

CarbonClem wrote:

some sort of lottery based train ticket

As a Birmingham local the 4 free day train tickets are great - that's a day out in the future for me and the family for zero travel cost. And it's anywhere on the London Midland network - so that's potentially 4 of us going to London and back, which could cost a three figure sum otherwise. Not to be sniffed at!

Yeah, I guess if you are on the netwrok then its a good thing. I may be able to make it work with a bit of faffing.

And another thing, free photo downloads - excellent.

mellex

Great overall experience. Never ridden closed roads before and I was determined to ride the whole route on the wrong side of the road (I didn't).

Massive praise and thanks has to go to the residents of the towns and villages we passed through. I benefitted from a roadside top-up around mile 80 and even offered a cheeky beer! God help those around me on the decents back into Brum if I'd necked that!

Didn't even consider stopping at the feed stations. When all said and done, I'm not sure how you'd resolve the issues some riders faced. More food and water, yes. Thing is, when people are arriving in waves, you have to plan for those who want to stop for 5-10 minutes and those who want to get cracking ASAP.

The route was 'rolling' more than anything else but it did have enough to keep you interested and working.

For what it's worth, I got round in 5h 34mins and I will be signing up again.

barongreenback

kingrollo wrote:

Beatmaker wrote:

To the oil spilling, tack scattering, hedge trimming saddo's - you are pathetic. You lose.

+1

+2

A very small minority - massively outnumbered by the positive vibes\cheers crowds on the day -

Absolutely. I think the worst were the couple of passive aggressive morons (farmers mainly) who chose to trim their hedges in the full knowledge that sharp bits of wood would be all over the road. Pathetic tosspots. Still, it’s going ahead next year - so much for their impotent rage.

TheStone

I managed to use one of the train scratch cards to get back to London today. Bonus!

I was dubious in the lead up, but thought that was an excellent event. The support was amazing.
I only used the mile 55 feedstop and it was very busy, but didn't cost that much time.

I'm in bad shape, but found the route very tough. With Ride London you fly down to Surrey in a massive group, do some climbing, then find another group to get back in. This was relentless hills. Barely any groups or any flat.

kingrollo

I want to do this again next year - but don't want to go cap in hand for the same people to raise sponsorship

Can I just enter ? in anyway ?

whyamihere

kingrollo wrote:

I want to do this again next year - but don't want to go cap in hand for the same people to raise sponsorship

Can I just enter ? in anyway ?

You don't have to raise anything for charity.

cruff

I did it - signed up at the beginning of the year and, despite regretting it and trying to get rid of the place, ended up doing it anyway. Thought it was OK - well organised considering, but obviously didn't see any of the hassle people had later on at feed stops etc.

The delay at the start was annoying - almost an hour before my wave (A1) got going - would have been nice if they'd told us the reason for this (idiot farmer chucking diesel on the road) but I guess they didn't want riders getting angry about it and potentially causing conflict.

The support along the route in villages was great - Bewdley and Stourbridge were brilliant - on a par with, if not better than Dorking and Esher on Ride London.

The route itself was 'meh' - rolling, no real hills to speak of (they built St Kenelm's Pass up to be like Hardknott but I have more difficult hills on my commute) and nothing flat and fast. I guess there isn't much you can do about that - though it was reasonably scenic and the decent weather helped.

All in all, it was pretty decent - I wouldn't do it again, but it certainly wasn't the noddergeddon that Ride London is, and there wasn't the carnage that the local media promised there would be

ugo.santalucia

Cruff wrote:

The route itself was 'meh' - rolling, no real hills to speak of (they built St Kenelm's Pass up to be like Hardknott but I have more difficult hills on my commute) and nothing flat and fast. I guess there isn't much you can do about that - though it was reasonably scenic and the decent weather helped.

Midlands... if they wanted decent hills, they should have pushed it deeper into Shropshire, but I suppose "The Burway" would have seen three quarters of the entrants walking... it would have been a nice piece of British Cycling history though... memories from 1989