UK Etape Repotage.

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UK Etape Repotage.

Postby Andrew G » Sun Jul 01, 2007 7:53 pm

That one goes down in the book as a good day.

Alarm at 4:30!! To be out and on the road to meet up in Beckenham with t’others at 6!
Quite a few of us there for the Tunnell express to Greenwich. Unfortunately it rained on the way, but had stopped by the time we got there so we all got to stuff a wet rain jacket in our pocket, urgh. Fortunately the weather looked as though it might not turn out too bad and was fairly warm.

We all rolled in to the “pen” together, including Paul and Nick (unofficials) who just acted like they were meant to be there and there was no problem. Up to the start line and we were welcomed by the friendly smiling face of Kieran. Top work mate getting up at that time to help out.

We all started together, but Paul and Toby quickly started to slip round other riders and set off on a mission, never to be seen again today.

The bit through London was quite messy with lots of stops (yes we did) at traffic lights, and none to scenic surroundings. David Lombari and I pulled away from the others after a little while, but we saw them again at the first feed station. We’d stopped to top up water having drunk a bit getting up to London and using energy drink as my breakfast. :roll:
After this David and I rode together at a reasonable pace, but struggled to find a group. They were either too slow, or just that bit quicker than we wanted to go that early in the ride.

It’s fair to say David was doing more work than me at this point as my legs hadn’t really got going properly, but I started sharing the work a little bit later. We did hook up with a guy in a Dragon Ride jersey who was going at our pace and had consequently also found finding a group tough. At about 70 miles though on one of the many small hills he pulled away.

I had a small bad patch at about 60 miles but had my first gel and that seemed to do the trick as I perked up no end and started riding much stronger.

We were caught by Carl who was flying and I stayed with him for a few miles before a rocket from Pearsons passed on a hill, Carl jumped on his wheel, I tried but my legs told me not to be so bloody stupid.

David and I stopped for the second time to have a pee and top up on water as we were both sick to death of sticky energy stuff. My pork pie had jettisoned itself from my pocket at some point so my savoury snack was sitting in a verge somewhere.

A few more brief hook ups with other riders, including a tester chap who was pulling us along nicely on one of the few flat bits. I then took the front and was rolling along a big gear at a quick pace. This was at about 80 miles I think and I thought David was on the wheel, but he had now hit a bad patch and dropped off my wheel. Unfortunately I had my head down and ears pinned back and didn’t realise. :oops:

I did look back after a while and found nobody behind me anymore so had to just carry on ploughing through the wind. I didn’t mind as I was feeling strong and rolling along at a good speed without feeling it too much.

Hitting the 100 mile mark and my legs were starting to ache, but in a good way. I knew there wasn’t far to go now, just that last nasty hill at Farthing Down, and yes it was nasty. Got up okay though, just had to use my bottom gear and spin it.

At the top and the wind we’d had all day was now a howling cross wind up higher on exposed ground. This was nice flat / slight downhill territory though so I cold blunder along at 25-30mph quite happily with that little nagging ache in the legs that tells you you’re working hard.

Final run through Canterbury and up to the finish. I’d reset my computer as we crossed the start mat so whipped it out as I was crossing the finish one.

Ride time was 6hrs22mins with an average speed of 18.2mph, well chuffed. I’d never of thought I get that on this rolling course in the wind. Flat stage 1, no. Not for mortals anyway. It struck me as being very much like a long reliability ride with the constant rolls and hills. None of them were leg breakers but the cumulative effect started to kick in. David came in a short while later having sped up to beat 6h30, with a 6h29. :D

Will probably end up with an official time around 6hrs45 once you factor in a couple of 10 minute water stops and the traffic lights, particularly through the London start.

An excellent day. Only one bad shower during the ride which meant stopping to don rain jackets. A couple of others, but only very light and about 2 minutes so they were actually refreshing.

Thanks to my parents who were very Agreeable and decided to have a trip to Canterbury today so I got to have a kip in the car on the way home.

Cheers,

Andrew.

EDIT: Just got a text saying my official time was 6:47:02, including traffic light stops and watering at feed stations etc.
Last edited by Andrew G on Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Yohan » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:05 pm

..top man Andrew, well done brilliant ride...and great write up.

6hr 22min..wow, what a good time, and good aveg speed across the rolling scenery.

look forward to the other write ups

cheers
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Postby Ian A4size » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:43 pm

Nice write up Andrew, despite the typos :wink:

I guess you are tired.
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Postby adrian » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:46 pm

Good shootin', Tex. Looks as though we were writing our reports at the same time. Maybe they could be merged in some fancy way?

As if by Magic...

I'll do this report standing up, if you don't mind - as part of my ongoing adaptation to a new saddle, I've acquired an angry weal that makes sitting down quite unappealing.

Having risen at an obscene hour, rode up to Greenwich with Apples and another friend of mine. It had lashed it down all night but was already clearing up and the rainjacket was merely optional.

At the start couldn't see any other Agreeables, and it was clear that we could start without any hanging about, so we did that rather than wait around to hook up with the others.

The dash out of London on still-greasy roads had the inevitable results, with a few riders taking bends and approaches to roundabouts too quickly, and ending up on the deck.

The first hour found us in Gravesend - home of Dickens (one of many, admittedly) and place of my birth. There had been one or two little rises to get the heart rate going but nothing serious until we passed Rochester Castle - here there was a short but very steep climb that sent my HRM haywire.

At this point I was unwilling to undergo the suffering necessary to staying up with Apples and let him go his way. We were now heading due south towards Maidstone and the roads had dried up nicely. There was one more brief shower mid-morning, but it didn't amount to anything.

The only climb of any length came out of Tonbridge - it was maybe a couple of miles long but not terribly steep, and we've all done far worse than that.

The towns that the route took us through were clearly looking forward to having the Tour come through (and why not?), and a week early, lots of burgers had turned out to play their part in this dress rehearsal - it was very heartening to be clapped and urged on; can't say I'm used to that sort of thing on a bike. Particularly notable in this regard were the impossibly lovely town of Goudhurst and the lawless city of Tenterden.

After a lengthy spell at 30mph, we began to near the Straits of Dover, and we were riding right into the teeth of a freshening wind. We did a right angle to head back inland and negotiate the last main climb of the day - a short but nasty affair up to the Kent Downs that I imagine would see a fair few walker-uppers before the day was out. Our reward was the welcome sight of the '10 miles to go' sign.

These last ten were mostly downhill and downwind - you could only guess at the sort of insane speeds that will be attained here next week. It meant that in no time we were flying into Canterbury and to the finish. I crossed the line in a total time of just over 6:30, which I was pretty happy with. I'd avoided wasting time at feed stations, not all of which I stopped at, armed I was with a goodly supply of Melton Mowbray pork pies. I'd smeared these with mustard earlier for enhanced enjoyment.

The end was slightly anticlimatic - Family Apples was there but no-one else was around, so I shuffled off to collect my bag (nothing in which I needed as it turned out), get my bike on the truck and get on the bus.

Here the organisation went awry somewhat: one truckload of bikes equated to three busload of riders, so we all had to sit there, cramped and minging, until three buses filled up. This amounted to about an hour.

Apart from this, it was an excellent day and a well-run event that I'm pleased to have supported. The signing and marshalling was good and the feed stations regular and well-stocked. I did think it odd, though, that they didn't have any bananas, that cyclosportive staple. Yes, they had no bananas - they had no bananas today.

Looking forward to hearing how everyone else got on - Apples I do know did a storming time but, as Ian M would say, that's not my story to tell.

Cheers all
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Postby David Lombari » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:49 pm

Can't really add too much more to Andrew's report, except to confirm that I did have a bad patch c.90 miles so decided to sit up and have a energy gel. It worked and I soon got my second wind and, apart from Farthing Common, had a strong finish.

A good day, though I would've prefered better weather obviously.

Thanks to all the other Agreeables for their support, especially Andrew.

Now I'm off to bed!

David.
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Postby David Lombari » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:58 pm

Oh, and I saw the lovely Miss P, though no time to stop and slobber!
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Postby Andrew G » Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:05 pm

Knackered Ian! Legs have that constant ache to them. Day off work tomorrow (I ain't stoopid) so will try for a short low gear leg spin to loosen them off. Then Palace on Tuesday, that should be fun. :wink:
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Postby Graham O » Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:33 pm

Well done chaps....Good times !!

I tagged along until Tonbridge, then turned back as I did't have a lift back. Just as well though as my leg was givig me jip..

Well done again !
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Postby carl f » Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:34 pm

Well done all,not much to add to exellent reports,enjoyed the ride although getting out of london was a drag and the traffic was a problem in areas
Andrew- that pearson rocket and i must have shared around 50 odd miles work,then i stopped for a waz and lost him.
Eventualy got home after the bus fiasco and bike pick up,cracked open a couple of beers for the perfect recovery
just got official time text to me-6.02.46 :)
Cheers
Carl
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Postby Brian Nolan » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:58 am

well done Andrew ,

what a great way to break you sportive ' cherry '..
good write up and a storming ride - excellent !
cheers,
brian.
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Postby Rob C » Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:27 am

Official results:


43 1570 Toby Kerr Male Addiscombe CC 05:47:16
44 1564 Hal Bransby Male Addiscombe CC 05:47:17
120 1562 Carl Ferri Male Addiscombe CC 06:02:46
169 1563 Richard Appleton Male Addiscombe CC 06:10:32
206 4864 Rob Crozier Male Addiscombe CC 06:16:02
411 1561 Adrian Ashworth Male Addiscombe CC 06:35:00
636 1569 Andrew Green Male Addiscombe CC 06:47:02
1557 1566 Daniel Adlem Male Addiscombe CC 07:28:30
1594 1571 Steve Wakley Male ADDISCOMBE 07:30:04
1843 1568 Jonathan Bailey Male Addiscombe CC 07:41:00
2622 1567 Mark Leedham Male Addiscombe CC 08:17:26
2914 1565 Jeff Mesie Male Addiscombe CC 08:36:21


First time I'd ridden that far, didn't think the route was that great and wasn't impressed with the organisation. Had a reasonably good day though having said that. Rode up from Beckenham with the 6 o'clock lot. Went off with Toby, Hal and Paul for a while but we lost Paul and then I lost Toby and Hal once the T&O started. Had a few stops including one to fix a jumpy rear hanger. Saw Paul T after this and we stayed together for a while until I fell out the back of the group we were in with only about 5 miles to go, gutted. Managed to find a pub with free crisps on the table before getting picked up!! Orangeboom Vrs SIS = Orangeboom by a country mile....
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Postby huw williams » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:42 am

Well done chaps - excellent riding and reportage as usual

Got home last night after a stunning Indian (Tabaq, in Croydon, the best Indian food I've ever eaten outside AJ's house) to receive a text from BC

"Congratulations on finishing the UK Etape in 9hrs 30mins"

That's very efficient I thought - or it would have been if I'd actualy done the f***ing ride !!!

I stayed in bed

9hrs.30? I could have walked round in 9hrs 30! - what are they thinking?

And who was that sluggish imposter who stole my number and set such an appaling time? Was it you Munnery?

I'm going to sign up for the Balck Mountains tour under the name Ian Munnery and take two days to finish the course - that'll learn him.

Actually that would probably be not a bad time for him, I'll make it three :-)
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Postby Hal » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:36 am

Epic ride today,

A bit wet getting to the start, but there was some blue sky when we were waiting to start with the ACC crowd. About 500m in Toby, Paul T and Rob C were pushing ahead, I decided to join in , after a bit we had lost Paul on one of those early climbs and got a group of about 8 into some kind of through and off. Slowly dropped some and gained other but Toby and I stayed with it.

Stopped for about 5 mins at a food stop with no food just water took a pee and carried on sharing out my remaining food stocks with Toby who was on the brink of hitting the wall. 'Your like a school tuck shop' was his comment.

A group of about 6 of us continued working together to the foot to the last climb and we pulled away but were reeled in about 3 miles down the road. Great sprint to the finish that Toby got by a second!

Quick slice of pitza (cheers for that Toby) and the offer of a lift home to save the Mrs comming to collect me made me a very happy boy.

I went to bed so early it was still light and then got woken up by the text message telling me 5:47, this is the stuff dreams a made of.
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Postby Nick » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:50 am

An epic ride.

As an un-official entry(I did make a donation of £40 to ease my guilt) And no real prep, not going to bed until 1.15am and alarming going off at 5.00 am. I managed a total ride time of 7.02.28. Not sure of overall time but pleased with that time.

I set of with the main bunch around 6.30ish and did enjoy going over some of my old commuting route, the roads where in no different condition that 3 years ago and they were bad then.

The first short climb after the start took us towards erith that got the legs going for sure,MAking a stop a the first refreshment area was almost the end of my day when a chap rode across the pack entering I managed to stay on my feet after knocking him to the ground but a chap behind wasn't so lucky and hit the deck quite hard.

Unfortunatley I started to cramp with only 40 odd miles on the clock. It had set in for the day on every climb but wasn't to bad on flats or desents so made them count. I had rode most of the day so far with carole and other members of the ACC they came and went. After the 60 mile to go sign we had to turn right and thats when I dismounted as i had severe cramp and took some time to strechth, this helped a great deal. I told Carole to battle on I managed to catch them at the next refreshment stop.

Me,Carole and John? made a good run for over 15 miles and made great headway, then there was just the 2 of us ME and CAROLE both feeling quite alot but she still looked strong I even had to draft behind her sometimes. We came to the last climb and I told carole to go on and I'll try and catch up, I stopoped at the top to take a Picture and then set my mind on catching up with carole, we had both helped each other all day and felt it would be great to finish together. the next set of terrain was my type mostly downhill and a few little rises. I choose to ignore the cramp and rode as fast as I could muster, over 30mph most of the way through 4 fella took my wheel and wouldn't take there share even just to allow me to re-coup maanaged to get rid of them, then I over took a man moutain who caught my wheel and did come through when promted only to say that we wouldn't be able to keep my pace but gave me a breather anyway, I could now see Carole caught up and then rode the last 3-4 miles maybe more with her.

WE crossed the line THANK GOD.

Meet Caroles better half Chris and her kids. Went to the beer tent!!!!Onlt to dicover they only sold TEA (Well green tea and earl grey) Coffe and Hot choclate.

NOW TIME TO ORGAINSE A LIFT BACK!

Thanks Chris and Carole for keeping me company whilst waiting for my parents.


Mum and Dad came and drove me home...............

A fantastic day not quite sure if I would do one in the near future but you never know.

Nick.
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Postby adrian » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:16 am

Matt Seaton of The Guardian - 5:33! Can this be right? :shock:
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