Cycle Sportives

not long back... feeling pretty brutalised!

Stinking weather to start off with eh? Sorry I never hooked up with anyone-we were running a bit late and must've been one of the last ones off, then my mate got pissed off because some bloke (not an official or anything) took it upon himself to give him gip about not wearing a helmet and went off on the rampage to prove a point... leaving me to ride pretty much the whole way alone [insertforeveralone.jpg#]

I was going pretty well for the first 40 but the last 10 miles were pretty unpleasant-really sore back and neck and my knee started being a dick too. Can't believe how many punctures I saw-50? I spoke to one guy who punctured 3 times, then there was some poor sod that punctured twice in the last few miles.

Bath running and not plugged the garmin in yet-think I scraped in at about 4.45 though, which I'm ok with considering I'm still way off fitness-wise. Feeling it now... want a whiskey in the bath and then I'm going to drink about a gallon of milk with dinner.

Chapeau to you all chaps!

Olly, Sorry I lost you right at the start! I got stuck in traffic behind a group riding two-abreast and I didn't want to blow myself up pushing past them to catch up.
Miniature Italian bike did very well, except I had to stop on Whitedown when the stem came loose and needed a bit of allen-key action. No punctures though.
A fine way to break in a brand new Brooks Swift!

Olly, Benjam, pm'd you my no.

will aim to be there just before 9, black carbon steed with blanked out logos. Most likely adorning my huge dome will be a molteni chapeau and helmet (literal, not metaphorical) for anyone else en route...

Think I spotted you at the feed station.

Was a mixed bag for me - my brother in law had to drop out after he drove his car under a "restricted height" football goal thing in a carpark - with his bike on the roof... Goodbye carbon saddle and forks :(

I was adopted by some lovely irish people who I met on the train - but I lost them at around 50k when my legs went into seriously bad cramps. Got a bit lost and added another 10 miles and some savage climbs to my route which was awesome.

However all-in-all pretty good and I was just happy to finish my first proper sportive. The last descent was amazing and the sun had just come out which made it all worth it!

Onion was a good ride apart from the terrible weather... my bike looked like it had been in a cyclocross race by the end. Managed a ride time of 4h11 with an official time of 4h29. Good course and some really challenging climbing. They could have put marshals on the whitedown decent like last week on the surrey rumble. It was a bit scary in the rain and mist with cars blasting towards you and less effective brakes.

Onion was a good ride apart from the terrible weather... my bike looked like it had been in a cyclocross race by the end. Managed a ride time of 4h11 with an official time of 4h29. Good course and some really challenging climbing. They could have put marshals on the whitedown decent like last week on the surrey rumble. It was a bit scary in the rain and mist with cars blasting towards you and less effective brakes.

How was the new bike Dan?

The White Down was so much harder this week after 90k than it was last week on the hilly 50... I was swearing internally the whole way up but was reeling past loads of folk. Developed a new climbing technique of putting my hat visor down so I can only see about 10ft in front of me and just pumping away till the summit. Not graceful, but effective.

Generally I was ok apart froma couple of periods where the leggied turned to lead, was a bit annoying passing groups on the hills then having them chainganging past me 5 mins later-made it seem like much harder work ;(

Definitely feeling better after a bath an a remedial beverage though...

Struggled a bit more than I thought I would - didn't feel on top form and had a low spot from about 40-50 miles. Didn't mind the wet weather too much (been out in it a lot recently) apart from really slowing down the descents - some of them were a bit hairy.

Got away with no punctures thank god, although had no end of Garmin problems - it seems to switch itself off once every ride at the moment, and then the avg speed displayed goes crazy, unless I did actually average 22mph (I didn't). It also had a bit of a fit at the start when it was picking up everyone's heart rate and cadence devices and decided to freeze.

From what I can tell I got round in 4.30 for 68 miles, which is a tad over 15mph so I'm fairly pleased with that considering how I felt.

The 2 big climbs were hard going but not as bad as expected - especially after rolling down Whitedown which seemed massive, for some reason didn't seem as bad as expected going back up. The run from there back to the finish was great, probably did average over 20 for that bit.

Overall a good event, the route was excellent. Only minor negs were the gpx route file they supplied which wasn't accurate enough, and the markings on the road were a bit tricky to see - took a few wrong turnings. The numbers were manageable though, so there wasn't much queuing and no hold ups. Definitely one to do again next year.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/72912336

my bike looked like it had been in a cyclocross race by the end.

love it when ones rear drops look like they sneezed brake blocks...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2096259/photo.JPG

I made the mistake of doing this ride without a computer, so I literally had no idea how far I'd travelled or how much was left. Wasn't until I stopped to grab a drink from a shop and spoke to another rider that I realised I was only 8miles from the end. Music to my ears at the time

How was the new bike Dan?

Lovely, only 3rd time I've ridden it. Pretty much completely sold on the Campy ergos now (move the whole way across the block with two movements, pretty amazing for those nasty gradient changes).

So stiff when climbing. I was also extremely grateful for the damping inserts it has in the frame when things got rough and I feel so much more confident descending on it too.

Only negative was I had completely the wrong gearing for those hills (waiting for a new spider for my cranks so I can make them compact).. my smallest gear was 39-24.. which made the steep climbs horrible.

Only negative was I had completely the wrong gearing for those hills (waiting for a new spider for my cranks so I can make them compact).. my smallest gear was 39-24.. which made the steep climbs horrible.

Ouch yes I can imagine Whitedown on that would be bad. My lowest gear was 39-25, I think I'll be getting a 27 sometime before I head to the Alps in July

They're not as steep as the climbs over here though. They just go on for a lot longer.

How steep/long is Whitedown anyway? Don't know if I've ridden it or not.

It's no more than 1 km long, averages something like 12% with 18% section on one of the hairpins.

Apparently

"Average 11% max 19.3%"

i thought that bedham hill mid way was a more challenging climb... we all had more energy but it was much more of an achievement to get up it... though having 34-25 made life a lot more bearable!

dan i think you rode with my Irish mates.. we were 30mins late so they set off with you and told me about the bike rack incident at the finish... gutting!

Better pack some walking shoes then . . .
#smacktalking

Last one to dab wins.

Spring Onion results are up here

I was just under 4:30 so 150th official position out of 529 finishers. Just shy of a 15mph average but includes punture time so I'm not disappointed.

i thought that bedham hill mid way was a more challenging climb... we all had more energy but it was much more of an achievement to get up it... though having 34-25 made life a lot more bearable!

dan i think you rode with my Irish mates.. we were 30mins late so they set off with you and told me about the bike rack incident at the finish... gutting!

yeah - luckily he didn't break his frame- just bent one of the drop outs on his forks.

Bedlam hill was definitely worse than Whitedown imo - especially straight after the feed station. I got terrible cramps around about there and had to stop and drink/wait for about 15-20 mins until my legs played ball again.

Might not be anything visible, but that could be the frame's deathknell
[\prophetofdoom]

Spring Onion results are up here

I was just under 4:30 so 150th official position out of 529 finishers. Just shy of a 15mph average but includes punture time so I'm not disappointed.

You would have finished ahead of me if it wasn't for the puncture - just under 4.28, 135th.

They're not as steep as the climbs over here though. They just go on for a lot longer.

What Hippy says is all true, but if you're doing the Galibier you will look back on your 25/27t decision with either regret or relief as you look up to your right when you approach Plan Lachat!

you reckon I'll need a 27 even with a compact?

Tbh - I'll need all the help I can get for the L'alpe D'Huez climb at the end

I've got a compact with a 29tooth bailout gear for alpe d'huez. Hope I don't need it but nice to know it's there.

you reckon I'll need a 27 even with a compact?

Tbh - I'll need all the help I can get for the L'alpe D'Huez climb at the end

I presume you're doing the etape? Depends on how much of this sort of climbing you've done in the past. Like Hippy said, not so much the steepness but the sheer duration that gets you. By the time you get to Plan Lachat on the Galibier you will (apart from a short descent into Valloire) have been cycling uphill for a very long time and then you hit the top of the valley and the road goes up the valley wall to the pass itself, some bits at that point are at 10%ish and you're now at 2,500m above sea level so you get a little bit of altitude effect as well. Oh, and it could be cool as well, last year on the Marmotte the top of Galibier was 16 degrees and overcast, Bourg D'Oisans was over 35 degrees and brilliant sunshine. But then you get the descent, especially after you join up with the Lauteret - it is awesome (except one or two of the tunnels!). A 34x25 on the Alpe at 80rpm avg cadence will get you from bottom to top in under an hour - you need to judge for yourself whether you think you will have that in you at the end of a long day in the saddle (that would be some ride). The 27 was my friend at the end the Marmotte, and I had a compact. There's nothing macho about small cogs and standard doubles when you're walking your bike up!

This ^ (apart from Plan Lachat being at 2500 metres, it's just below 2000 metres, you gain the best part of 700 vertical metres in the 8 kms from there to the summit).

I've done Alpe d'Huez after a 15 min warm up, and at the end of the Marmotte and it's a very different proposition for the latter.

Anyone doing the Endura Lionheart this weekend?

Goes past the lion enclosure at Longleat! I am doing the 100k run wth a mate who lives out there. Hope for better weather than the Spring Onion, as I've only just finished cleaning my feckin bike.