England : Greater Manchester Greater Manchester Cycle 2012

[Garz]

Photos are on line. Can't see the merit of paying £20 for a photo if you can have 20 to 30 for £26. It has made me realise one of the ways they make this event profitable. £10 was very reasonable for a closed road event with excellent organisation, marshalls, facillities etc. compared to a lot of the sportive and charitiy events out there. Bike Events should be a little concerned. What do you get on their events....... poor marshalling, no photos, no timing, open roads and over twice the price iirc.

Absolutely bang on this, I have done a few events round the NW and this was probably the best ran by a long shot. If the salford quay section was changed it would have got full marks!

Congrats on the time Hacienda71, very respectable - I doth ones cap!

 

[PaulSB]

Ahh yeah I remember that jersey - it blue and white?

Agreed on their pace, it was what I was comfortable with. The mileage was the longest I had ridden this year, I also need to get sharper on the feeding. I regularly end events dehydrated or no energy left.

Yes blue and white. I enjoyed there pace because it pushed me just beyond my limit for a good distance but not so much that I got dropped.

 

[Hacienda71]

Absolutely bang on this, I have done a few events round the NW and this was probably the best ran by a long shot. If the salford quay section was changed it would have got full marks!

Congrats on the time Hacienda71, very respectable - I doth ones cap!

Agreed the Salford bit was a joke. The car park and first bridge and then having to ride up a curb near the Lowry was plain silly. Particularly the first lap where I had set off at the back of the crowd and ended up having to wait unclipped to get through the car park and over the bridge. I reckon I lost 5 minutes on the first lap having to deal with that and the sheer volume of cyclists to get past to get up to my own speed. All that said I will definitely do it again if they keep running it.

Oh and thanks I had quite a good run and settled into a good rythm with a few others were we worked well together. I had to do my fair share on the front which was character building You Gaz and Smokey did well though. Grimpeur is the star 2:16 was a cracking time. Even with a good first lap I wouldn't have got near that

 

[Garz]

I reckon I lost 5 minutes on the first lap having to deal with that and the sheer volume of cyclists to get past to get up to my own speed. All that said I will definitely do it again if they keep running it... Grimpeur is the star 2:16 was a cracking time. Even with a good first lap I wouldn't have got near that

Yeah if you look at my splits on the other thread I created you can see my times were around 39 mins per lap, however on the first I was clocked into the 40's. Factoring this is my race time would have come down like you have observed.

I think we should add our photos to the thread, moreso I can tell who was who and remember for the next time.

 

[gb155]

My lap times were consistent but it was down to sprinting out of salford to make up for lost time

 

[Hacienda71]

I should correct my post and say we all did well, not just those that I mentioned. In fact congratulations to everyone who took part on here whatever the time or distance you did, it was a good day out and excellent to see cycling getting similar billing to running. Runners regularly give the participants the opportunity to have closed road events and so should cycling.

 

[smokeysmoo]

 

[Peowpeowpeowlasers]

Just so you guys don't forget, the Manchester 100 is open for signups. 2 September this year.

It's more expensive and less well organised than the GMC but the views are fantastic and it's a good ride.

 

[Garz]

It's more expensive and less well organised than the GMC but the views are fantastic and it's a good ride.

Honest events dot com! Shame that Torelli outfit cannot adjust their write-ups.

 

[400bhp]

Just so you guys don't forget, the Manchester 100 is open for signups. 2 September this year.

It's more expensive and less well organised than the GMC but the views are fantastic and it's a good ride.

Or just turn up and don't bother paying.

 

[potsy]

Or just turn up and don't bother paying.

CC ride the same day?

 

[smokeysmoo]

CC ride the same day?

Now that's an idea. I've done the 'official' Bike Events M2B a couple of times, but after seeing the supreme organisation and execution of the GMC first hand yesterday I'm now loathe to pay Bike Events their inflated entry fees anymore.

The GMC has set a precedent IMO. I have no objection to paying a tenner, especially with the chip timing, but BE want £19 for the Manchester 100 with no timing, and no doubt poor everything else

 

[Hacienda71]

The other thing I noticed is that Brendan Foster is involved in the company that did The GMC. Someone who I have a great deal of respect for. He also comes across as a genuine and nice guy.

 

[gb155]

How about a mass email to bike events ,showing then what we got for our 10 quid vs what we get from them ?

I'm not saying they will drop there prices but now they have serious competition ,maybe we can ekk out some better value from them ???

 

[Alun]

How about a mass email to bike events ,showing then what we got for our 10 quid vs what we get from them ?

I'm not saying they will drop there prices but now they have serious competition ,maybe we can ekk out some better value from them ???

I wouldn't bother with expensive organised rides, go on a 100k Audax, well planned and all the food you can eat for about £5. Alternatively go on a CC ride, but beware of ColinJ, he takes you over every hill he can find!