Have to say I'm fast going off this event - feels overmanaged and complex. As for making an 80mile round trip on Friday or Saturday just to register......
I don't mind getting there before 10am on Sunday, but I won't be investing the time and petrol to register on Fri/Sat
Starting 1000's of riders at noon is a logistics challenge, for sure and if everyone pitches up just before 10am it could be messy forparking and for registration. I'm starting to wonder about parking outside the showground - to avoid the hassle/noise/congestion. But on the other hand, it'd be nice to have the option of leaving stuff in the car at the last minute, esp if it's cold/raining. Getting away afterwards shouldn't be so much of a problem because finish times will be spread out
like MC i'll register Saturday as doing the TT. Sunday - 11 looks a good time to meet up and then get in the start pen's by about 11:15 maybe.
pen's open 10:45 and close 10 mins before the mass start at 12. difficult to balance - would be good to be near the front, but dont want to stand around for ages in a pen...
this is what the website says "If a group/club wants to ride together then just enter the rear pens/gates together. Once in the pen/gate it will not be easy to find each other or to move around until the race starts." Anyone in the race wave like Barron above will be in the front start pens.
by the way it says you should bring your original email confirmation to register - it has a QR code on it. i only spotted this in the race book, its not obvious. will make registration much quicker if you have the email printed out and know your race number.
Emma spotted that as it is a UCI event they have random dope tests - you really have to do one of these to complete the full pro-cyclist experience!
This is indeed the most over managed event bar the London 100 and the latter has more logistics to justify the faff!
I am doing this with my dad- will wear CCA gear Obvs but will have spent the night before at the Ducketts so I may be in too much of a mess to join the blue train!
@mc 11am sounds good, I entered the race wave but will go with the flow and spot blue shirts on arrival as I would agree it seems a touch over managed.
I too have entered the race wave but would be keen to join a CCA blue train. Will look out for riders wearing CCA kit.
Totally over managed but we've just go to go with the flow. Will be many out (non-CCA obviously) who don't know how to ride in a group so take extra care on this one.
How about meeting at the service station jct 17 on A1M ... depart there at 08:30 and convoy to the showground?
That way we could park together and then register, espresso, change out of civvies, go into the exhibition (I'll probably skip that bit), fix a dozen non-aero bits onto bikes ... then ride over to the pens when ready and according to how you want to ride/race.
That way, we could claim a bit of showground turf for CCA and have our own place to relax, bit of banter, team tactics etc. Good idea?
Stef and Alan, good call on printing the original registration email with the id all on a scannable info bar.
Mc is kindly going to sign me in tomorrow so I will be ready to go on Sunday. Will go with the flow for hooking up but am Keen to ride as fast as I can but this will not be hugely fast. No stopping at feed stations. It's going to be head down and find a train to hold onto.
I am also cheesed about the crowd pen nonsense but hey we get to ride fast, on closed roads and overtake loads of cyclists. Now that is worth a few inconveniences beforehand. I'm totally looking forward to this one and its on our doorstep on a sunny day to boot.
Had a bit of feedback on my post above ... 1) 8:30 sounds too early (too much hanging around after registration) ... and 2) 8:30 sounds too late (worried about missing registration deadline of 10am)
I'm still keen to meet at the service station, so we can park close together in the showground, but the convoy doesn't have to set off at 8:30.
Please post if you're interested (or have a better idea) - no point me stopping there if I am to be Billy-No-Mates
Hi Jane - I'm happy to meet up, I'm giving a lift to Stuart R and Alan T, we're currently planning on leaving Royston 7.30 - 7.45 so should be at the services around 8.30 - 8.45 ish.
Yeah it does sound way too early, but difficult to predict how busy it will be.
We went up this morning to register and it was pretty empty, but then far fewer people doing the TT. We saw the first guy go off, and were really glad we weren't on a TT bike in that wind, most people seemed to have full-on kit, disc wheels etc.
See you at the services on jct 17. BE READY TO LEAVE THERE AT 8:45 SHARP
I have it on good authority that it's a v short walk from car park to registration desks. So we should be parked by 9/9:15, then straight into those lovely, lovely queues
This ride is going to be a corker. Don't forget your suncream. And most importantly of all, have FUN
will see you there, wont make the services. i've already registered. you dont actually need the email to register, it was pretty efficient today - just need your rider number or surname. someone said today the first corner could be carnage tomorrow. suggest caution for the first few miles as people sort themselves out.. then a few miles in should be able to get the blue train up to speed... hope i can hang on.
Mc and me will be at Starbucks at baldock services, north of baldock off the A1 aiming to leave there at 8.30am as we have registered already. So will try to hook up on arrival. Stupidly I don't have many mobile nos from the club but Mark has.
Great event. Well organised and felt really special. Super fast in big bunches on closed roads. Lots of support from the roadside and plenty of CCA riding. As close to road racing as you'll ever get but the best thing is if you get dropped from one bunch you join the next train comin through.
Lots of good stories from the day that will be told once everyone has recovered enough to tell them.
Hats off to MC who did a fantastic ride in the TT the day before and rode really strongly in the bunches today.
I'd seen the Commisionaires car leave so expected a big surge forwards, oh how wrong I was! 30 mins later I hit the start gate, and we were off. Teh first 5kms were slightly higher than I wanted to average, but I was just settling nerves at this point, and BR and I were still together. Then the first up happened, and BR dropped me, opps., this didn't bode well! BigBen then caught me and said Hello.
The first decent didn't help nerves, as on the first right hander, was a bloke lying on the floor in a neck brace, as if a reminder was needed that accidents happen. Still thinking about this, I came to the first S bend, and carried too much speed through, but as I was solo at this point, I took the racing line through them. The only problem being the bike wouldn't bank over and I found myself heading for a large patch of gravel and a road sign! I stayed up right through the gravel, how I don't know, and stopped before I smacked the front wheel into the curb. From that moment on, I took corners with a lot more caution.
The rest of the day pased without incident for me, I passed the quite common puncture, and quite a bit of debris in the form of bottles, lights and other cycling kit. I played tag with a few riders, throughout the first 30 miles or so, and was quite happy. The people in the villages were quite something, and with the shouts of encourgment, you couldn't help but smile. Someone was having a stoking BBQ, and it smelt lovely! If they'd offered it out, I suspect they'd have had about 200+ "guests". I cannot stress how much the locals were encourging, I wasn't sure who was enjoying the day more, them or us! The local pubs were packed out, with everyone on the terraces watching and shouting.
40 miles hit on that arrow straight road, with headwind, not what you want when your solo (every group I found had been either to slow, or fast), and I felt the tendons on the inside of my hips complaining, so knew I had to stop. The PH jersey was picked out with the shout of c'mon PH, its all down hill from here, so smiled and continued, untill I got to the church and gave myself a feed break and stretch, then off again after a few minutes.
I picked up a group of 3 ladies who wheel sucked me, but as I'd done the same earlier, to a few riders, I didn't care, their shadows told me they were there. We approached a hump back bridge and a left turn. Lookign right, I could see a peleton coming under teh road, but didn't think anyhing off it. As it turns out, this would have been 1 of the lead groups.
Then I got to whhat I thought ws the 2nd feed station and needed to take on water, only to be told it was the last 1. This caused some confusion for 20 or so riders, 5 had 68 miles on the clock, the rest inc myself only had 44. I then rememebered the time cut, and I started doubting myself, I was showing an average of 17.4mph, and surely I couldn't have been that slow..... Turns out I wasn't. I have a feeling the cut had been introduced early.
Picking up the group of 3 ladies again, I rode in with them, chatting about the distance and why we were showing 20 less than expected, they were not happy! Even less than me! Then we hit the 1km sign, and all friendlyness went, it was going to be a sprint finish! We wre all game, so no harm done, and very enjoyable I must say, mainly becuase I dropped the last 1 with 150ish to go and gained a few places!
On the whole a very enjoyable day out, riding on closed roads was fantastic, certainly well thought out, in terms of marshalls, medi cover and food stops. The locals were amazing, the route fantastic, and the company I had at point great. The only 2 points that let it down were the shambles of a start and the time cut at 42ish miles, there were an awful lot of people with avg speeds in the 18's that missed the time cut too, and pished that they only got 60 miles.
I will be maining the organisers with congratulations and my thoughts. 1 of which is if they had widened the start lane, by taking out the finish entrance, we'd have all been out in under 20 mins.
Am I considering another, yes, but when I'm slightly faster. Would I do this event again, we'll have to wait and see.
The results are now out for all events, TT, GF and MF, and it appears I finished 18th overall on start times 12th in Male, 2nd in age group, in the MF, out of 223
Going back through my gps trace, and the MF results. The cut for the MF was introduced at 3pm not 3:05pm as advertised. On the 3:05pm cut time I missed it by 76 seconds, thanks to the start!
Still struggling to find the words to express the kaleidoscope of emotions I went through yesterday
I entered this gran fondo q late (- thx Vince for the push) and it was later still that it achieved UCI-qualifying status. With all the interruptions that Ive had to my 2015 training, I signed up to it purely as a training ride, so I was slightly daunted to find myself penned at the front with the racers yesterday. Even more so, because I was mixed in with the men, rather than being in a bunch of women, as the helpline had described
Chatting to Tom D kept a lid on my nerves, as did the low-flying, camera-equipped drone (- yes, we waved at it and apparently some of that was aired on ITV later) ... and with only a couple of minutes before the gun, somebodys tyre exploded and everybody laughed (although possibly not the guy whos bike it was)
And then we were off and (predictably) much faster than Id ever start a sportif. Onto the main road and safely through the 1st bottleneck - it was all v exciting (marred slightly by the nagging suspicion that Id regret this pace later)
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Ive done my first road race at last. Had a few tense moments, some utterly brilliant bits at speed and some v tough miles after I ran out of water. I am stunned at what my body+brain+bike combination produced under that pressure. Thrilled with my time and I was blown away with the news that along with Martin, MC and Jeremy, Ive qualified for the Amateur World Championships. How cool is that!
Dont think times have been published yet, but its something like Martin 3hr 31, MC 3hr 33, Jeremy 3hr 40, me 3hr 52, Tom (punctured) 4hr 05. Cant remember (sorry) approx times for Stef, Vince and Andrew and unfortunately I didnt catch Tim(mer), Alan and Stu at the finish. I know we had a few more CCA riders too and if we didnt, next year we certainly should, because as predicted, this ride was a CORKER
Comments
Am I the only one thinking this way?
Starting 1000's of riders at noon is a logistics challenge, for sure and if everyone pitches up just before 10am it could be messy forparking and for registration. I'm starting to wonder about parking outside the showground - to avoid the hassle/noise/congestion. But on the other hand, it'd be nice to have the option of leaving stuff in the car at the last minute, esp if it's cold/raining. Getting away afterwards shouldn't be so much of a problem because finish times will be spread out
Would be good if CCA's fancy agreeing a start time together?
Barron.
Sunday - 11 looks a good time to meet up and then get in the start pen's by about 11:15 maybe.
pen's open 10:45 and close 10 mins before the mass start at 12.
difficult to balance - would be good to be near the front, but dont want to stand around for ages in a pen...
this is what the website says "If a group/club wants to ride together then just enter the rear pens/gates together.
Once in the pen/gate it will not be easy to find each other or to move around until the race starts."
Anyone in the race wave like Barron above will be in the front start pens.
by the way it says you should bring your original email confirmation to register - it has a QR code on it. i only spotted this in the race book, its not obvious. will make registration much quicker if you have the email printed out and know your race number.
Emma spotted that as it is a UCI event they have random dope tests - you really have to do one of these to complete the full pro-cyclist experience!
I am doing this with my dad- will wear CCA gear Obvs but will have spent the night before at the Ducketts so I may be in too much of a mess to join the blue train!
good luck all in the TT
Totally over managed but we've just go to go with the flow. Will be many out (non-CCA obviously) who don't know how to ride in a group so take extra care on this one.
That way we could park together and then register, espresso, change out of civvies, go into the exhibition (I'll probably skip that bit), fix a dozen non-aero bits onto bikes ... then ride over to the pens when ready and according to how you want to ride/race.
That way, we could claim a bit of showground turf for CCA and have our own place to relax, bit of banter, team tactics etc. Good idea?
Mc is kindly going to sign me in tomorrow so I will be ready to go on Sunday. Will go with the flow for hooking up but am Keen to ride as fast as I can but this will not be hugely fast. No stopping at feed stations. It's going to be head down and find a train to hold onto.
I am also cheesed about the crowd pen nonsense but hey we get to ride fast, on closed roads and overtake loads of cyclists. Now that is worth a few inconveniences beforehand. I'm totally looking forward to this one and its on our doorstep on a sunny day to boot.
I'm still keen to meet at the service station, so we can park close together in the showground, but the convoy doesn't have to set off at 8:30.
Please post if you're interested (or have a better idea) - no point me stopping there if I am to be Billy-No-Mates
J
Yeah it does sound way too early, but difficult to predict how busy it will be.
We went up this morning to register and it was pretty empty, but then far fewer people doing the TT. We saw the first guy go off, and were really glad we weren't on a TT bike in that wind, most people seemed to have full-on kit, disc wheels etc.
register then an hour or 2 sunbathing me thinks.
See you at the services on jct 17. BE READY TO LEAVE THERE AT 8:45 SHARP
I have it on good authority that it's a v short walk from car park to registration desks. So we should be parked by 9/9:15, then straight into those lovely, lovely queues
This ride is going to be a corker. Don't forget your suncream. And most importantly of all, have FUN
you dont actually need the email to register, it was pretty efficient today - just need your rider number or surname.
someone said today the first corner could be carnage tomorrow. suggest caution for the first few miles as people sort themselves out..
then a few miles in should be able to get the blue train up to speed... hope i can hang on.
Lots of good stories from the day that will be told once everyone has recovered enough to tell them.
Hats off to MC who did a fantastic ride in the TT the day before and rode really strongly in the bunches today.
I'd seen the Commisionaires car leave so expected a big surge forwards, oh how wrong I was! 30 mins later I hit the start gate, and we were off. Teh first 5kms were slightly higher than I wanted to average, but I was just settling nerves at this point, and BR and I were still together. Then the first up happened, and BR dropped me, opps., this didn't bode well! BigBen then caught me and said Hello.
The first decent didn't help nerves, as on the first right hander, was a bloke lying on the floor in a neck brace, as if a reminder was needed that accidents happen. Still thinking about this, I came to the first S bend, and carried too much speed through, but as I was solo at this point, I took the racing line through them. The only problem being the bike wouldn't bank over and I found myself heading for a large patch of gravel and a road sign! I stayed up right through the gravel, how I don't know, and stopped before I smacked the front wheel into the curb. From that moment on, I took corners with a lot more caution.
The rest of the day pased without incident for me, I passed the quite common puncture, and quite a bit of debris in the form of bottles, lights and other cycling kit. I played tag with a few riders, throughout the first 30 miles or so, and was quite happy. The people in the villages were quite something, and with the shouts of encourgment, you couldn't help but smile. Someone was having a stoking BBQ, and it smelt lovely! If they'd offered it out, I suspect they'd have had about 200+ "guests". I cannot stress how much the locals were encourging, I wasn't sure who was enjoying the day more, them or us! The local pubs were packed out, with everyone on the terraces watching and shouting.
40 miles hit on that arrow straight road, with headwind, not what you want when your solo (every group I found had been either to slow, or fast), and I felt the tendons on the inside of my hips complaining, so knew I had to stop. The PH jersey was picked out with the shout of c'mon PH, its all down hill from here, so smiled and continued, untill I got to the church and gave myself a feed break and stretch, then off again after a few minutes.
I picked up a group of 3 ladies who wheel sucked me, but as I'd done the same earlier, to a few riders, I didn't care, their shadows told me they were there. We approached a hump back bridge and a left turn. Lookign right, I could see a peleton coming under teh road, but didn't think anyhing off it. As it turns out, this would have been 1 of the lead groups.
Then I got to whhat I thought ws the 2nd feed station and needed to take on water, only to be told it was the last 1. This caused some confusion for 20 or so riders, 5 had 68 miles on the clock, the rest inc myself only had 44. I then rememebered the time cut, and I started doubting myself, I was showing an average of 17.4mph, and surely I couldn't have been that slow..... Turns out I wasn't. I have a feeling the cut had been introduced early.
Picking up the group of 3 ladies again, I rode in with them, chatting about the distance and why we were showing 20 less than expected, they were not happy! Even less than me! Then we hit the 1km sign, and all friendlyness went, it was going to be a sprint finish! We wre all game, so no harm done, and very enjoyable I must say, mainly becuase I dropped the last 1 with 150ish to go and gained a few places!
On the whole a very enjoyable day out, riding on closed roads was fantastic, certainly well thought out, in terms of marshalls, medi cover and food stops. The locals were amazing, the route fantastic, and the company I had at point great. The only 2 points that let it down were the shambles of a start and the time cut at 42ish miles, there were an awful lot of people with avg speeds in the 18's that missed the time cut too, and pished that they only got 60 miles.
I will be maining the organisers with congratulations and my thoughts. 1 of which is if they had widened the start lane, by taking out the finish entrance, we'd have all been out in under 20 mins.
Am I considering another, yes, but when I'm slightly faster. Would I do this event again, we'll have to wait and see.
The results are now out for all events, TT, GF and MF, and it appears I finished 18th overall on start times 12th in Male, 2nd in age group, in the MF, out of 223
Going back through my gps trace, and the MF results. The cut for the MF was introduced at 3pm not 3:05pm as advertised. On the 3:05pm cut time I missed it by 76 seconds, thanks to the start!
I entered this gran fondo q late (- thx Vince for the push) and it was later still that it achieved UCI-qualifying status. With all the interruptions that Ive had to my 2015 training, I signed up to it purely as a training ride, so I was slightly daunted to find myself penned at the front with the racers yesterday. Even more so, because I was mixed in with the men, rather than being in a bunch of women, as the helpline had described
Chatting to Tom D kept a lid on my nerves, as did the low-flying, camera-equipped drone (- yes, we waved at it and apparently some of that was aired on ITV later) ... and with only a couple of minutes before the gun, somebodys tyre exploded and everybody laughed (although possibly not the guy whos bike it was)
And then we were off and (predictably) much faster than Id ever start a sportif. Onto the main road and safely through the 1st bottleneck - it was all v exciting (marred slightly by the nagging suspicion that Id regret this pace later)
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Ive done my first road race at last. Had a few tense moments, some utterly brilliant bits at speed and some v tough miles after I ran out of water. I am stunned at what my body+brain+bike combination produced under that pressure. Thrilled with my time and I was blown away with the news that along with Martin, MC and Jeremy, Ive qualified for the Amateur World Championships. How cool is that!
Dont think times have been published yet, but its something like Martin 3hr 31, MC 3hr 33, Jeremy 3hr 40, me 3hr 52, Tom (punctured) 4hr 05. Cant remember (sorry) approx times for Stef, Vince and Andrew and unfortunately I didnt catch Tim(mer), Alan and Stu at the finish. I know we had a few more CCA riders too and if we didnt, next year we certainly should, because as predicted, this ride was a CORKER