CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
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CCE is 15years old!
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The Kinross event is this Saturday. Weather forecast looking okay at the moment with a light easterly - could bring the haar with drizzle?
I'll be doing the black route with number 485. Not sure which bike I'll take - depends ...
Looking forward to see some new roads.
Look out for #556 on the black route on the black and yellow Cannondale! I hope it's nice enough to be in short sleeves.
...and I'm 468 on the black route on a blue Tifosi with a skin tone to match probably. A lot of new roads for me there as well.
I have been round the Dunning bit but the other way around. It's pretty steep round there but the views are great.
Just be very careful of the road surfaces - lots of holes and loose gravel abounds. Make sure you have a good line of sight (not tight behind another rider) and you are not in or near a group on any of the fast descents
I was too late entering but their newsletter is interesting, almost complaining that so many of the 650 entrants are opting for the Black Route (many more than either of the other two routes). Plans to put in more hills on the Black Route next year. Around 300 cyclists. So nothing like the Etape's 3000 or the Glasgow-Edinburgh 7000 but take care on the hairpins
I usually end up going on my own around these things. Trouble is starting off in a group that matches your own speed. I did find a good group on the Trossachs Ton but then lost it at the first feed point. Must be my deoderant.
Must be my deoderant. ...or lack of it. Do you know if it's a group or individual start? The website doesn't seem to mention it.
In all the sportives that I've done, they start folk off in groups of 10-20 to ensure that groups are not too big.
But you're right - it doesn't say.
I'll probably aim for an 8.30 start but I expect that that time will be quite popular so there would be a queue.
News from the organisers (note road closure for cars on part of the route - just like a cheap Etape Caledonia):
"We have been notified of a road closure on the bridge over the River Devon (Black Route). This is at the bottom of the descent off Dunning Common and is due to emergency repairs to the bridge.
Ordnance Survey reference NO 00618 03000
N56 12 33.36 W 003 36 08.59
Or about 100 Km total distance.
The council have assured us the route will be open to cyclists on the day, although access across the bridge will be restricted and the road will be closed to other vehicles. For all Black Route riders PLEASE take extreme care on the approach to the bridge.
The local councils have been out sweeping some of the worst affected parts of the routes. But you should still be prepared for gravel on many of the bends on minor roads.
The weather is looking good for Saturday. Temperatures in the upper teens and light winds, although there may be the possibility of a few light showers in places. "
light showers
Could have done with a few of those on the Trossachs Ton last year!
Surely the reason people are entering the black route is because they want to say they did the hard option, not because they think it's too easy otherwise?
Looks like a fun day out - not part of the world I've really ridden in (except to ride from Edinburgh to Perth, which doesn't have the, ahem, "scenery").
I'm Reiver Fevering on Saturday, but due to an unfortunately timed wedding caterers meeting I'm not going to start until 3 hours late, which is going to make it a lonely spin!
Dave you will soon catch the back markers up!
Hopefully. I'm doing it by GPS (i.e not actually riding the formal calendar event) so all I have to do is ride through each checkpoint, not stop and get a receipt or look for info.
Surely the reason people are entering the black route is because they want to say they did the hard option I think the fun is in doing it, not in talking about it.
Weather forecast is looking okay so I be on the silvery Van Nicholas Mistral. Hope I'll be able to make it up the steep bits - the cassette is 12-25 with a compact and I am used to having a granny cop out (could be misread).
I think the fun is in doing it
absolutely!
I will also be on 10 speed 12-25 with 50/34 compact chainrings. It feels like having a granny after using an 8 speed 12-25 with 54/39 at the weekend on a bike that is 25% heavier.
I think the fun is in doing it
Is the black route more fun?
Using the logic that hills∞fun, then yes!
"Is the black route more fun? "
Before and after perhaps - during is debatable
I'll get some last minute practice on the way home tonight by going via Kirk Brae and Lasswade without the granny (I'm on the ridgeback with a triple). Hopefully there won't be anymore electrically assisted bikes to show me up.
@ Cyclingmollie "Do you know if it's a group or individual start? The website doesn't seem to mention it."
Found on the FAQs
Q. Will I receive a start time?
A. No. Registration is open from 08:00 to 09:30 with riders being allowed to start at any time between 08:30 and 10:00. This is normal for this type of Sportive. It allows you to just turn up, register and get on your way, hopefully avoiding big delays if we went for a mass start. There will however be a restriction on the number of riders setting off together. This is to avoid congestion on the open roads for the first part of the route.
If it's like other sportives I've done they'll let you go once every 5/10 minutes after you've signed up after a quick safety brief where they basically read you out the disclaimer that we've been asked to print, sign and bring along. We're aiming to get to KR just before 9, maybe start by 920-930.
Thanks amir. I'll aim to get there whenever, probably after several wrong turns if other sportives are anything to go by. I've prepared with a comprehensive two week layoff from cycling involving picnics and gardening. So it should be fun.
Well the fantastic work of the organisers couldn't change the weather which was a shame.
I met kaputnik at the start (I recognised the gloves) but he dropped me at the first hill. Maybe he was bored listening to me bang on about chimney farms and castles. These young blokes can be fast though.
I passed a nasty accident on the steep descent into Falkland. Someone seemed to have gone over a wall. There was a car stopped and several people warning riders to slow down. In truth there was some lairy riding going on. I met someone who'd been shunted by another rider leaving the feed stop and was riding back to the start with a buckled rear wheel.
The first feed stop at Newburgh (or was it Abernethy?) was very well stocked. But from there the rain got steadily worse and by the time the route split at the A90 I'd decided to call it a day. I took the fast route back into Kinross for a 45 mile round trip.
A superbly well organised event let down by the weather which made the ride feel at times like being inside a ping-pong ball - just whiteness in every direction. Still, better than sitting about the house.
Apologies to cyclingmollie, I honestly didn't realise that you weren't sat on my wheel going up that hill. Just wanted to find some open road for myself rather than constantly ducking in and out of people going at their own pace as I found I was having to do a lot of overtaking on wrong side of road as people were riding in little packs across full width of lane.
Can re-iterate that it was a very well organised event (although the absence of a feed or water stop after the half-way point seemed a little weird). Weather got progressively worse, not really assisted by the fact that after first feedstop in Newburgh we sat with our head in the clouds for most of the rest of the ride.
Saw one nasty accident myself - on same stretch of road. I stopped to check if they were OK, guy said that someone had come off and he and his mates came round blind corner and ran into that lot. My friend who had started before me and was on the red route is a doctor though and said she stopped and gave what assistance she could for the 20 minutes or so until ambulance arrived. One broken arm, one broken collar bone on someone else. They shall be sore and stiff but they will live to cycle another day.
Agree that some people were going at the descents a bit gung ho. Even if they knew them well, they were riding amongst lots of people who didn't. I'm not much of a descender and tend to go down and around things relatively cautiously. Also had some idiot run his bike into me as he was too eager to get out of the second feed stop. Didn't even say "excuse me" or "sorry".
Of course the last thing I said to my dad when he dropped us off was "here, I won't be needing this" and threw him my waterproof = mega fail! I had a waterproof gilet with me and my waterproof booties but eventually everything got soaked. Hands frozen to point of pins and needles at a number of points. There wasn't really anything to see being stuck inside clouds, but I had trouble seeing 5m ahead of me at times with the amount of spray, mist and muck on my glasses.
Just had to bash on. The coconut ice at the feed stops was top notch and kept me going. Not too sure about the donuts, but I had one anyway! The first big hill out of Newburgh caused me to blow up (had got a bit excited hanging off the wheel of a group of people who were much faster than me, so consequently was pretty knackered at the bottom of it before I even started) and I struggled to get any sort of a speed going for about the next 20 to 30 miles. Got a second wind approaching Knock Hill to try and claw my average back up, managed to take it up from 16.2 to 16.4 which seemed like very little return for what seemed like a lot of effort.
All in all it was a tough ride. The climbs were tough, doubly so because I was unfamiliar with them and you couldn't see far ahead so it was hard to judge where on earth you were and if you were near the top or it was just another blind summit.
I'm sure it would have offered splendid scenery if you could have seen any.
All in all I spent a lot of the ride not really enjoying it that much but feel some sense of accomplishment.
Oh, and my timing chip didnae work :(
Just back from a wee break in Pittenweem.
The annoying thing about this sportive was the only rain in umpteen weeks.
Going down the hill to Falkland was truely awful. Someone crashed behind me (I think above the group that Kaputnik stopped for). It was really difficult to stop to turn back up to help - very slippy. But eventually I managed. The guy had bumped himself painfully by the looks and his hands were rather messed up. His gear lever and helmet were written off but after a few minutes to get over his shock, we wheeled over onto the safe side and rang for help. Strangely he didn't have a phone - weird these days.
Afterwards I went on my merry way and managed to keep up with an exorbitantly fast group, which helped. The weather then started to go downhill but at least there no more crashes seen. I made 5 hr 41 - which I was pleased with given the conditions and I'll claim another 5-10 mins off for the crash stop.
Overall the route was good. The weather - well at least it showed that I will survive extended periods in the rain, even on the best bike.
Oh - and my speedometer went mad at the start and eventually reset itself. Will try to get my money back.
Did you spot yourselves - some photos at http://www.cyclesportphotos.com/section483233_416564.html#photos_id=7692174 (3 pages). I am on Kinross 2 - in the stripy red and white Pear Izumi - CSP7994. There were lots of photographers around as well as a large group of cheering kids the other side of Newburgh - a la Tour!
I'm not sure what the look is on my face. "Bl**dy photographers!" perhaps...
That must be really near the start as my gilet is unzipped and I've still got my wooly hat on - that came off on the way up Lomond hill.
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