Tour de Yorkshire Sportive

[Heisenberg71]

We did a recce ride last Sunday round a chunk of the course....suspect it will catch a few people out with how hard it is in the latter 20k.
5000+ riders going up Pea Royd on cold legs 100m from the start is going to be carnage.... not the best way to start IMHO.

I agree, crazy way to start a 5000 rider Sportive. That hill is brutal!
It's a tough course this year. Certainly tougher than last year.

 

[Heisenberg71]

Has everyone got their rider packs through the post?
My friends had theirs on Wednesday. Mine still not here.

 

[Kestevan]

Has everyone got their rider packs through the post?
My friends had theirs on Wednesday. Mine still not here.

Got mine on Tuesday. If your's doesn't arrive you can register at Full Gas cycling on Saturday.

 

[ColinJ]

Has everyone got their rider packs through the post?
My friends had theirs on Wednesday. Mine still not here.

I got my pack nearly a week ago.

For those of you who don't know Pea Royd Ln (e.g. me) but who do know my local climbs Heptonstall Rd and Church Ln/Mytholm Steeps (e.g. me!) ... Pea Royd's average gradient is about 20% greater than Heptonstall Rd's (up to the left hand kink which reveals the cobbled section above) and 10% less than Mytholm Steeps's (to the top of the 25% ramp). In normal health I can do Heptonstall Rd but struggle on Mytholm Steeps so it sounds like Pea Royd would be at the extreme end of my comfort zone even if I hadn't been coughing, spluttering, dripping and shivering for the past week!

 

[Kestevan]

It's stupid steep at the bottom, then flattens out (all things being relative of course) over the bridge and then kicks up again at the top.

Good view from the summit....so good my lungs were trying to get out to see it for themselves...

 

[ColinJ]

Oh, For Fox (Valley's) Sake ...!





At least there might be a cross/tailwind up some of it on Sunday?

 

[Heisenberg71]

I had to do the side-to-side weave on the top section to try and reduce some gradient. This helped me get up in one go. With hundreds of others I can't see weaving being possible on the day. It's a challenge, but so are the rest of the hills. All good fun.

 

[Heisenberg71]

Oh, For Fox (Valley's) Sake ...!





At least there might be a cross/tailwind up some of it on Sunday?

Yep, that's the foxer!
Should be renamed as Heart Attack Hill. I was 99% of HR Max! I shoot you not! Now imagine 300-400 on the hill at the same time. Insane!

 

[screenman]

If I was riding I can see me needing the 12 on those slopes.

My eldest and my DIL are riding it.

 

[ColinJ]

If I was riding I can see me needing the 12 on those slopes.

Yeah, a '12' would be really handy - a 12-tooth chainring that is, NOT a sprocket!

 

[screenman]

Yeah, a '12' would be really handy - a 12-tooth chainring that is, NOT a sprocket!

You got it.

 

[Annieshaf]

I'm signed up for this again after doing the one in Scarborough last year. This definitely looks tougher and not looking forward to doing that climb twice in one day.

 

[ColinJ]

I saw sense and had to pull out of doing the ride!

I went out on Friday and did a 50 km ride with only 800 m of climbing and felt that I couldn't have done much more. Yesterday, I rode 10 km from Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse and tried riding up the steep climb there. I only managed 200 m of the 1.2 km! The headwind riding back up the valley to the car exhausted me. I have been coughing and spluttering since I got home.

Oh well ... it means I can watch the whole stage on TV. (I could have ridden over to Oxenhope or Haworth and watched the race go through there but I feel I need to let my body get over this bug or it could linger on for weeks and scupper even more of my rides.)

My cousin left at about 04:30 this morning to make sure that he would be ready for his start at Stocksbridge just after 07:00.

 

[ColinJ]

Blimey - my cousin has just got back! He decided not to hang about for hours to watch the finish live and we are watching the race on TV instead.

He said that the sportive WAS really hard but he managed to ride up all the climbs, avoiding strugglers. He did 4 hrs, 11 mins and 17 secs (!) of actual riding or 4 hrs 22 mins 47 secs including a short stop at the feed station.

I'm not jealous of his fitness, oh no, not me! (I would have been aiming for 6 hrs 30 mins including the feed stop.)

 

[Heisenberg71]

It was brutal! I did it in in 5hrs 1min, so quite pleased, your cousin should be over the moon.
It was insane the amount of 15%+ climbs, and long dragging climbs. You were literally never on the flat.

That was hard.