Ride round Silverstone 30 August

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robgul

Legendary Member
All the details at http://www.macride-silverstone.org.uk/ - it's a fund-raiser fro Macmillan - ride around the motor racing track as many times as you like in the time available.

I'm not organising this one (although I did build the website) - I'm planning to go with my fixed.

Rob
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Rob - how many hours can riders ride for? 

Is the circuit flat and if it isn't, how much climbing would be involved per lap?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what distance to aim for if I can make it down for the event.

If I do it, I'll use my singlespeed bike.
 
OP
OP
robgul

robgul

Legendary Member
Rob - how many hours can riders ride for?

Is the circuit flat and if it isn't, how much climbing would be involved per lap?

I'm just trying to get a feel for what distance to aim for if I can make it down for the event.

If I do it, I'll use my singlespeed bike.

It's a couple of hours on a virtually flat circuit - I'm planning to to take both my fixed and a geared fast (well, fast for me!) machine - ... online entry is open ... we're expecting it to be busy so enter online so you're ready to go!

Rob
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
My singlespeed is undergeared for a race track (39/15) but I can't be bothered to change it and then change it back again afterwards. I'll see if I can do 40 miles in the 2 hours using that gear.
 

kit-small-wheels

New Member
Location
Forest of Dean
I rode that Silverstone MacRide today.

Good fun, even if I was running out of gears on the Copse-Stowe leg. It being slightly downhill and with a tailwind on a Moulton APB Land-Rover it gets you twiddling more than a bit! I don't think my fastest lap time of 14 mins 52 secs is going to worry Lewis Hamilton much though. :rolleyes:

The registration process at the start has to be called a shambles I'm afraid. With only one Marshal on the outside, with a pretty quiet voice even when shouting, it was very difficult to work out where you were meant to go to register, especially if you'd already signed up on the web site.

The on-track behaviour of some of the faster guys left something to be desired too. The track was laned so the left-hand side was meant for 'Family' and 'Slow Riders' and the right-hand side for the faster riders. That worked fine until you came to a left-hand bend, like Vale. Then a minority of the fast guys swept across to the apex of the bend no matter who was there, as if they'd hired the whole track! It's not as if it improved their lap time much, the track is so wide it makes not the slightest difference. One pair even shouted 'Riders on your right' when doing this, to which I replied 'You must drive BMWs then!' much to the amusement of a couple I was near to at the time.....

Play the game guys, just 'cos you're fast doesn't mean you're in charge.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I just rode the event too. I was hoping to do 40 miles in 2 hours on my singlespeed but that wind was a bit brutal! I checked it several times - it was 18 mph consistently for the whole 2 hours. I managed to do 12 minute laps so I had to stop at 19:50 because another lap would have put me over the time limit. 9 laps in total (3.54 miles a lap).

Some of the fast riders were really fast on those TT bikes. One rider lapped me at least twice.

I agree that some of the riding was a bit silly. At one point I was doing about 24 mph going in to a bend and had riders doing 30 mph overtaking me on both sides!

I thought it was a fun event. It was nice to see so many families out with young kids. I laughed at the lad on the skateboard being towed round by his mum!

I wish I had a nice flat circuit like that where I live, with no potholes and no traffic!
 

kit-small-wheels

New Member
Location
Forest of Dean
I just rode the event too. I was hoping to do 40 miles in 2 hours on my singlespeed but that wind was a bit brutal! I checked it several times - it was 18 mph consistently for the whole 2 hours. I managed to do 12 minute laps so I had to stop at 19:50 because another lap would have put me over the time limit. 9 laps in total (3.54 miles a lap).


You may have done better than you thought ColinJ. They used the current F1 circuit, rather than the advertised older version, so the lap distance was 3.66 miles. :biggrin:
 
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