oxfordsportive

The second of the two Etapes that are planned for 2012 is in the Pyrenees. There is a good description of the route in Cycling Weekly at Etape du Tour 2012: Pau to Bagneres de Luchon.

There is also an interesting and well informed article on Le Domestique Tours  (although this website does seem temperamental, I had to refresh the page to get it to load).

This looks to be a tough route with plenty of climbing involved, the estimates vary but looking at the table below which includes the ascent of the categorised climbs and also adds in the altitude difference between the start and finish locations then the minimum ascent will be in the region of 4,500 metres.

After mapping the route on Google maps the total climb was reported as just over 5,400 metres, this includes all the minor hills and gradients and the climbs up the valley floors that are not part of the categorised climbs.

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Cat and Fiddle climb

Last Sunday was the Brian Rourke Cat and Fiddle challenge starting and ending in Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire.  This event is run to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust which is a very worthy cause raising cash to fund the search for a cure to this disease . It is also a great occasion, with Sean Kelly and other cycling celebrities riding the course alongside us mere mortals.

From Stoke-on-Trent, this 55-mile circular route takes you through Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and the beautiful Peak District National Park, including the infamous 7-mile Cat and Fiddle climb which will leave you breathless not only from the cycling, but from the stunning scenery that surrounds you.

The HQ for the event is in the Cobridge Community Centre just a few yards from Brian Rourke Cycles, early on Sunday it was busy with a thousand plus cyclists converging on the start from near and far.

This is a challenge event so there are no numbers or timing. Registration in the Community Centre was quick and efficient in spite of the number of participants and the start was anytime between 8 to 9:30 am.

The ride distance is only 85 km with about 1,200 metre elevation gain.  With my Zappi club mate Mike we left the start with several other riders and followed the route through mainly built up areas via Congleton to the centre of Macclesfield in Cheshire where the 11.4 km climb of the Cat and Fiddle begins at about the 36 km point.

The route is available at http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Cat-and-Fiddle.

This is a long climb but it is not that steep, it has sections at 8% near the beginning but thereafter is mainly 4-6% with an average gradient of under 4% so is not as challenging as climbs that come later in the day.

Compare that to Alpe d’Huez at 14 km with an average of 7.7% and a maximum gradient of 12% at the start of the climb.

The climb up to the Cat and Fiddle Inn through the Peak District National Park is very beautiful and the weather last Sunday was kind, warm but not too hot while staying dry. There was a slight headwind at times but nothing major. After the summit the route descends to Buxton where a right turn at the traffic lights signals the start of the Axe Edge climb at about the 50 km point.

The route then follows the road back to Stoke passing through Leek town centre on the way with three or four smaller steep climbs that continue even in Stoke itself to give the sting in the tail to tired legs.

There is a warm welcome back in the community centre with hot drinks and piles of sandwiches and cake to scoff on and the opportunity to shop in Brian Rourke’s cycle shop just down the road.

Rode the Blenheim Sportive 100 mile route today, that was quite tough,  lots of climbs up and down the Cotswold escarpment plus a “rolling” course which had few places you could call flat.

Riding the Blenheim 100 mile sportive route this weekend.  This is part of the Bike Blenheim Festival of Cycling on the 21 of August 2011.

There is also a time trial held in the Palace Grounds as well as the Brompton World Championship.

For details see the Blenheim website

A while ago I did a couple of sessions with Gary Palmer at Sportstest which I would recommend to anyone who is interested in exploring their fitness limits. The regime he recommends is quite tough but I have never been fitter than when subject to his tender mercies. One thing Gary said has stuck which was to have major goals during the year that  you can work towards and limit the number of events. The logic is you will find it easier to motivate yourself towards major goals and doing less events means more time for training.

With all of that in mind I tend to ride 4 to 5 sportives a year, and my plans for the first part of the sportive season are starting to fall into place. (more…)

Next sportive for me is the White Horse Challenge which is on 17 April this year, looking forward to this event which I’ve done each year since it started in 2007 – so this will be the fifth time around. The advantage of doing the same event each year is it gives you an indication of how fit you are. My personal best was in 2009 with just under 5 hours, last year in 2010 it was just over five hours.

The fastest time last year was 4:26 with an average speed of nearly 34kph which is pretty impressive given the climbing.

So  here is hoping 2011 will be a good year for all who are riding the WHC, all the profits go to WaterAid which is a very good cause, the total amount raised for WaterAid by WHC 2010 was £13,328.21 which is pretty fantastic!

The event filled up pretty quickly as it always does, however here are some places still available for those willing to do some fundraising:

Standard entry (450 places) has filled up. There are still some additional guaranteed entry places for those who commit to raise at least £100 sponsorship for WaterAid. Please e-mail us if you are interested and we will send you an application form.

The weather forecast for the Exmoor Beast 2010 was for showers or light rain with a easterly breeze, on the day it was pretty wet when arriving in Minehead for the start. I rode the inaugural edition of this sportive in 2007 and was back to try it again. The start venue had moved from Dunster Castle to Butlins which was a positive move as there was plenty of parking and other amenities at hand. This made up for the lack of Dunster’s undoubted attractiveness and old worldly beauty.

Exmoor Beast crossing the ford

The ride was wet to start off and very misty once the route turned off the main road and started the climb up to Exmoor. It then climbs steeply over to the top of Exmoor, one of the highlights being crossing the ford.

There are plenty of cattle grids on Exmoor, some of which felt pretty slippy in the wet. The ride then descends very steeply down Countesbury Hill to the port of Lynmouth in Devon, which is very pretty and has a water powered funicular railway. Then there is a long steady climb up the Gorge of the East Lynn river up Watersmeet Road back up to Exmoor again to the high point of Span Head before descending down to Dulverton on the Barle river.
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The Shakespeare 100 sportive took place on Sunday 11 September 2011 starting and finishing in Stratford-upon-Avon. This event is a charity ride in support of Macmillan Cancer Support so it is for a good cause. The actual start location was in the Stratford Park and Ride which is quite a good idea as there are obviously no problems finding a parking spot.

Registering was fast, this sportive does not use electronic timing but does have a brevet type card you can get stamped at the feed stations. I did the 100 miles route which has 1,700 odd metres of climbing although my Garmin claimed it was more like 1,200 metres which just goes to show how imprecise these figures can be.

The route is fairly flat for the first 80k until the first climb at Saintbury which was fairly demanding, then there is another series of climbs at the 100k point around Barton on the Heath.

There were one or two problems with the signs, even riding with the GPS route loaded it was quite hard to follow at times. The organisers have said they will drive around checking the signs ahead of the riders on the day for next year’s edition, sadly this has become a necessity lately because some morons find switching the signs around amusing.

The route is excellent except for the last section returning to Stratford that winds it’s way around an industrial estate, not quite what you’d expect. In fact the Shakespeare and Stratford connections are rather tenuous as you don’t actually get to see anything of the town centre, just the Park and Ride which was slightly disappointing.

White Horse Challenge medal

The forecast for the Sunday of this years White Horse was for showers possibly heavy with a fairly fresh wind from the SW. It was drizzling as I drove down from Oxford but in the end stayed dry and warm with some sunshine and stiff breeze.

The first few kilometres up to Highworth are roly poly which always seems to catch me out, and rather contradict the description of this ride that claims ‘the first 40k of the ride are virtually flat’.

I managed to tag on to the end of a  group from BAD Tri then teamed up with a guy riding a stealth black Specialized called Andy, he was going strong and we picked up a number of other cyclists as we rode through Wootton Bassett which is instantly recognisable from the TV images of the processions. I was feeling strong up the first climbs at Broad Town and Cherhill and managed to keep up a decent pace through the stone circles at Avebury and all the way to Marlborough and the second feed stop at Froxfield. It was then at the three and a half hour mark that I began to feel the effects of the hills on my legs and the speed began to drop off.

The long straight climb up to the Ridgeway after leaving Lambourn felt heavy and slow so I was paying the price for starting fast out of the gate. Regardless of the pain the climb up the Uffington White was still beautiful and thanks to the guy with his two children ringing that cowbell and blowing their whistles. From Uffington it is a short dash to the finish at Shrivenham and boy was I glad to finish.

Next year I will be back, better stronger fitter faster! See below for Garmin Connect details of my ride, pedal turn by pedal turn…