Gold award: for all teams with 16 or more points (this is equivalent to either 4 gold and 2 silver individual performances, or 5 gold and 1 bronze individual performances, or better).
Silver award: for all teams with points greater than 10 and less than 16 points from any 6 riders, based on best 6 team performances.
Bronze award: for all teams with 10 or less points from any 6 riders, based on best 6 team performances.
Team certificate: for teams with 5 points or less, based on best 6 team performances.
(Please note: I'm doing MEDIO FONDO but I think the points still count to the team if I get any.)
I did the Gran Fondo last year,i arrived just before 7 car parking was free at the station which is about 5 minutes ride to the event centre.Registration was quick even though there were lots of riders waiting.Facilities at the start location were very good plenty of toilets, food and drink available,bike parking area.As a team i think Gold standard is achievable,last year this was only the 2nd sportive i had done,i finished in 6 hours 31 mins riding on my own.
been confirmed by event organiser that i have been accepted as a substitute for toms place (thanks tom - send me an email and i will post you a cheque) - see you all sunday morning!
got to start as a blue train havent we... aim to stick together as long as we can, but recognise it will probably break up over time given the unrelenting saw tooth of the profile.
Boy did that hurt. My first ever sportive and I choose one with over 10,000ft of climbing!
Still, 6hrs 40 for me was silver standard and I'm well chuffed with that.
Chris
Great ride today well done Alex and Tim for putting it out for CCA. We will have to wait and see how the team results read. My time at time of writing is not known but it was not something to get excited about!
At the start Alex stayed with us till crossing the start line then, we blinked and he had about 500 yards on us. We never saw him again.
The Blue choo choo managed about 45 miles before various splits occured. Tim "Spider" Skelding decided to take off on "the wall" as i think it should be come to be known and nobody could stay with the man. It was adios Fabian and we didnt see him next till the start village. I think he had sight of a female triathlete in Rapha gear ahead, and well, as one can imagine, that must have been like a red rag to a bull.
The rest of our party were like me finding the going a little testing. Perhaps a shade too enthusiastic we were in the first 3rd but hey thats no a bad thing is it? Well yes it is when you get half way into a century ride....
I had a good ride till about 60 miles when the nasty steep bits appeared and things began to hurt. Interestingly the legs and lungs were fine it was my back and neck which decided to complain. And complain they very much did. Between 60 and 90 miles i was shot and on my own and making hard work of it. At 90 miles something clicked and I could climb again. My back seemed to forget its gripes and i got a second wind and even had people wheel sucking me for a few miles. Stef reappeared from behind, muttered something about getting a silver then promptly dropped me and soloed his way to glory.
I reached the last descent, hit a pothole and had one of those hillarious blow out front wheel punctures going downhill at 30mph. . The ensuing road side change undereneath the "Great Missenden 2" sign meant i just missed out on a silver.
A well organised event which i am sure will be revisited by quite a few in 2011.
Top tip for the day. Do NOT apply warming oil shortly before applying sun cream to face......
i think looking at the team award stuff on their website we'll get a silver team award. we were certainly very well represented with i think 11 riders in cca blue. a stonking effort by alex, deeply impressive. also by skelders narrowly missing out on a gold. when tim made the break on one of the killer hills in the middle section there was no response from the blue train peloton, heads went down and there were vague jealous mutterings about epo and testoserone. not sure exactly who finished next, malcolm i think with another fast time. i came in 4 minutes behind chris having not seen him for 107 miles since the start. after a shaky middle bit came good in the last 30 miles and delighted to scrape in with a silver time.
great effort by all, and some very strong riding by the 6-8 strong cca peloton for the first 50 miles or so. lovely route, the first few big hills and descents were fantastic. but the 3 or 4 big climbs around 50 miles really split us up and were very tough. i had no idea there were such consistently long and steep hills in the south east. a great sportive overall, very well organised, very challenging, would definately recommend.
It was all so easy at the start. How things had changed by about 70 miles after 40 miles of an irritating headwind. The climb into the second feed station was massive. Just big enough to ensure that my quads were cramping on each pedal stroke. After that I had to put out the white flag and creep home in survival mode. I even have to admit that I was overtaken by two riders. The shame.
By the end I had figured out how to spot the oncoming hills. The pattern seemed to be: (1) ride along the flat for about 3 miles; (2) turn left to go up a huge hill; (3) top-out the hill, turn right and drop down a huge hill to the valley floor; (4) repeat.
Just a bit of a shame that the roads were damp as a few of the descents were a bit sketchy. I think I approached 50mph on a couple of them though.
Well done to all the CCA guys for a good showing. A well organised event and thoroughly recommended (although not to be taken lightly).
I have just felt my legs for the first time since the end of the race!
Total respect Alex, I would, however, have loved to have seen you with a white flag in hand ;-)... I actually don't believe that for a moment!
I believe the first ridiculously steep hill was Whiteleaf? That's where the 7 remaining riders of the Blue Train started to split. Thank you for the kind words from Stef & James, I'm still not quite sure how it happened?? One minute you were all there, the next I was descending as fast as I could, chasing that '40+ old man's Gold time'... missed it by 9 mins came in with a 6hrs 24 mins.
Best & hardest race I've ever done....
Next year chaps, we could double that entry! Its only up the road from us, excellent course, well organised and good fun!
I'd arranged to ride with a non-club friend and we'd agreed to meet up at hill tops/junctions so we could stay together. Although my friend is very fit he's 65 and would be riding a heavy mountain bike, so I was well awaire that getting a good time probably wasnt going to be possible.
I decided my goal for the day (being of larger frame would be to cycle up every hill, no walking, no stopping half way, no excuses. Which I did just about managed. Some of those hills were ridiculous, I was forced to stand on the peddles to keep the front wheel on the ground more than a few times.
The descents where exhilarating if not a bit hairy (the state of the roads in this county is shocking) I found myself holding back, thinking my wheels & bike were going disintegrate at any moment. Damp leaf matter and gravel added to the hazardous road conditions. Still managed 44mph (one day Ive beat my 48mph PB, lol)
To my surprise we were still in contention for bronze by the time we got to Christmas hill. (thanks to the CCA guy who shouted "Go Ashwell" as he passed me) Though that sadly went out the window as unsurprisingly my friends legs turned to lead not far after. Meeting my wife at the pub on Christmas hill and several other stops meant our time looked rather shameful at 5hr40min (70mile ride) but all in all I had a great day out, got round a hard ride and dragging my arse up every hill. Definitely need to do something about the ballast round my waist, which should be a little easier now I'm haunted my the pain of Chiltern hills!
Great to see all the friendly CCA members at the finish. Massive respect to you all, youre in a different league to me. Planning to do it again next year and go for a decent time.
Once again I was operating on a different timetable to the rest of the Blue Train I stayed on board for the first 15 or so miles but my usual steady approach to hills meant that a gap soon appeared. Frustratingly I punctured during a long descent at about 50 miles which lost me a bit of time.
A good challenge of a ride which I finished in 7hrs 34 (only 2hrs behind Alex!!).
Great day out.
Well done to all the CCA riders who took part.
It was a very tough day, i finished in 6 hrs 31.
Great event,very well organised,good feed stations.
Will be back again next year,aiming for a gold.
Well this was my first sportive and i must admit a superb day out. The group from CCA were very supportive which definitely helped me through what was a very tough ride.
The first 50 miles we were all flying and i even had delusions that a gold medal was well within our grasp. That was until we hit some of the big climbs and the whole ride quickly became more about getting round without retirement rather than trying to beat a time. Superb riding from the guys with great strength shown by all to get over what i initially thought were impossible climbs.
After Tim and James pulled away on one of the steeper climbs me, Pete G, Stef and Paul kept it going for a while but this soon broke up over the next couple of sections. Great riding from Stef who really came alive in the last third and climbed really well and shot off into the distance while my legs were threatening to cramp on every turn of my pedals.
Thankfully crossed the line with Pete G on 6 hrs 59 mins. Very pleased to have finished and will definitely be back to do this next year. Perhaps i will do some more hill training before hand though!!!
Highlights for me: clocking 50mph on a less than ideal descent. Narrowly avoiding taking out 2 horses/riders on a worse descent (very close to skidding off). Feeling like I was going to black-out on the Whitelea ascent (maybe not a highlight)! Finally seeing the second feed after yet another challenging climb.
And finally crawling home after one helluva ride in 6:59.
A massive thanks to Andy Hartley for riding the whole course together, definatly helps having a buddy on the lonely back straight.
Congratulations to all participants, team morale best I've experienced yet. Blue Train Whooo!
Entered the Gran Fondo months ago with a team from work who were as wet behin the ears as myself.Great event
good to see the blue train out in numbers there.However nothing in life goes according to plan.Enjoying the experience right to second feed station then fell for the trap of assuming everyone else knew where we were going
Had a nice little detour to Marlow 10 extra miles and two more climbs to find our way back on route!Tank now on empty, ground my way back to HQ in time to help the organisers put the cat and milk bottles out.Yet a great day
117 miles in 9 hours plus,wont break any records, but to rub salt in the wounds it appears that despite dilligently
riding over the mats my start and intermediate timings didnt register giving me a no show!! Well done to all CCA
riders good show
Now i have to put my hands up and say sorry to the organisers just got confirmation from tdl i do exist but
9.41 for 117 miles means i cant give up the day job.
Comments
Individual (men age 18-39)
06:10 Gold
06:45 Silver
07:20 Bronze
Team:
Gold award: for all teams with 16 or more points (this is equivalent to either 4 gold and 2 silver individual performances, or 5 gold and 1 bronze individual performances, or better).
Silver award: for all teams with points greater than 10 and less than 16 points from any 6 riders, based on best 6 team performances.
Bronze award: for all teams with 10 or less points from any 6 riders, based on best 6 team performances.
Team certificate: for teams with 5 points or less, based on best 6 team performances.
(Please note: I'm doing MEDIO FONDO but I think the points still count to the team if I get any.)
06:15 Gold
06:50 Silver
07:30 Bronze
Just let me know.
blimey just 5 mins longer for gold standard for us over 40's versus the 18 years olds... seems a bit tough....
Can i hitch a ride with you?
weather forecast looks promising at this stage
congrats to Alex.... 4th!!! 5hrs 34mins I think?
more detail later, but I'm still knackered!
Still, 6hrs 40 for me was silver standard and I'm well chuffed with that.
Chris
At the start Alex stayed with us till crossing the start line then, we blinked and he had about 500 yards on us. We never saw him again.
The Blue choo choo managed about 45 miles before various splits occured. Tim "Spider" Skelding decided to take off on "the wall" as i think it should be come to be known and nobody could stay with the man. It was adios Fabian and we didnt see him next till the start village. I think he had sight of a female triathlete in Rapha gear ahead, and well, as one can imagine, that must have been like a red rag to a bull.
The rest of our party were like me finding the going a little testing. Perhaps a shade too enthusiastic we were in the first 3rd but hey thats no a bad thing is it? Well yes it is when you get half way into a century ride....
I had a good ride till about 60 miles when the nasty steep bits appeared and things began to hurt. Interestingly the legs and lungs were fine it was my back and neck which decided to complain. And complain they very much did. Between 60 and 90 miles i was shot and on my own and making hard work of it. At 90 miles something clicked and I could climb again. My back seemed to forget its gripes and i got a second wind and even had people wheel sucking me for a few miles. Stef reappeared from behind, muttered something about getting a silver then promptly dropped me and soloed his way to glory.
I reached the last descent, hit a pothole and had one of those hillarious blow out front wheel punctures going downhill at 30mph. . The ensuing road side change undereneath the "Great Missenden 2" sign meant i just missed out on a silver.
A well organised event which i am sure will be revisited by quite a few in 2011.
Top tip for the day. Do NOT apply warming oil shortly before applying sun cream to face......
Chapeau CCA!
great effort by all, and some very strong riding by the 6-8 strong cca peloton for the first 50 miles or so. lovely route, the first few big hills and descents were fantastic. but the 3 or 4 big climbs around 50 miles really split us up and were very tough. i had no idea there were such consistently long and steep hills in the south east. a great sportive overall, very well organised, very challenging, would definately recommend.
It was all so easy at the start. How things had changed by about 70 miles after 40 miles of an irritating headwind. The climb into the second feed station was massive. Just big enough to ensure that my quads were cramping on each pedal stroke. After that I had to put out the white flag and creep home in survival mode. I even have to admit that I was overtaken by two riders. The shame.
By the end I had figured out how to spot the oncoming hills. The pattern seemed to be: (1) ride along the flat for about 3 miles; (2) turn left to go up a huge hill; (3) top-out the hill, turn right and drop down a huge hill to the valley floor; (4) repeat.
Just a bit of a shame that the roads were damp as a few of the descents were a bit sketchy. I think I approached 50mph on a couple of them though.
Well done to all the CCA guys for a good showing. A well organised event and thoroughly recommended (although not to be taken lightly).
Total respect Alex, I would, however, have loved to have seen you with a white flag in hand ;-)... I actually don't believe that for a moment!
I believe the first ridiculously steep hill was Whiteleaf? That's where the 7 remaining riders of the Blue Train started to split. Thank you for the kind words from Stef & James, I'm still not quite sure how it happened?? One minute you were all there, the next I was descending as fast as I could, chasing that '40+ old man's Gold time'... missed it by 9 mins
Best & hardest race I've ever done....
Next year chaps, we could double that entry! Its only up the road from us, excellent course, well organised and good fun!
now ....onto the Pyrenees :-)
I'd arranged to ride with a non-club friend and we'd agreed to meet up at hill tops/junctions so we could stay together. Although my friend is very fit he's 65 and would be riding a heavy mountain bike, so I was well awaire that getting a good time probably wasnt going to be possible.
I decided my goal for the day (being of larger frame
The descents where exhilarating if not a bit hairy (the state of the roads in this county is shocking) I found myself holding back, thinking my wheels & bike were going disintegrate at any moment. Damp leaf matter and gravel added to the hazardous road conditions. Still managed 44mph (one day Ive beat my 48mph PB, lol)
To my surprise we were still in contention for bronze by the time we got to Christmas hill. (thanks to the CCA guy who shouted "Go Ashwell" as he passed me) Though that sadly went out the window as unsurprisingly my friends legs turned to lead not far after. Meeting my wife at the pub
Great to see all the friendly CCA members at the finish. Massive respect to you all, youre in a different league to me. Planning to do it again next year and go for a decent time.
Twelve words you will seldom see written by Alex on this forum :-)
Well done all. I did it last year, and apart from being really slow (it was my first ever sportive) I hated every minute.
A good challenge of a ride which I finished in 7hrs 34 (only 2hrs behind Alex!!).
Well done to all the CCA riders who took part.
It was a very tough day, i finished in 6 hrs 31.
Great event,very well organised,good feed stations.
Will be back again next year,aiming for a gold.
The first 50 miles we were all flying and i even had delusions that a gold medal was well within our grasp. That was until we hit some of the big climbs and the whole ride quickly became more about getting round without retirement rather than trying to beat a time. Superb riding from the guys with great strength shown by all to get over what i initially thought were impossible climbs.
After Tim and James pulled away on one of the steeper climbs me, Pete G, Stef and Paul kept it going for a while but this soon broke up over the next couple of sections. Great riding from Stef who really came alive in the last third and climbed really well and shot off into the distance while my legs were threatening to cramp on every turn of my pedals.
Thankfully crossed the line with Pete G on 6 hrs 59 mins. Very pleased to have finished and will definitely be back to do this next year. Perhaps i will do some more hill training before hand though!!!
Cheers guys for a great ride.
clocking 50mph on a less than ideal descent.
Narrowly avoiding taking out 2 horses/riders on a worse descent (very close to skidding off).
Feeling like I was going to black-out on the Whitelea ascent (maybe not a highlight)!
Finally seeing the second feed after yet another challenging climb.
And finally crawling home after one helluva ride in 6:59.
A massive thanks to Andy Hartley for riding the whole course together, definatly helps having a buddy on the lonely back straight.
Congratulations to all participants, team morale best I've experienced yet. Blue Train Whooo!
good to see the blue train out in numbers there.However nothing in life goes according to plan.Enjoying the experience right to second feed station then fell for the trap of assuming everyone else knew where we were going
Had a nice little detour to Marlow 10 extra miles and two more climbs to find our way back on route!Tank now on empty, ground my way back to HQ in time to help the organisers put the cat and milk bottles out.Yet a great day
117 miles in 9 hours plus,wont break any records, but to rub salt in the wounds it appears that despite dilligently
riding over the mats my start and intermediate timings didnt register giving me a no show!! Well done to all CCA
riders good show
9.41 for 117 miles means i cant give up the day job.