Wales : South Glamorgan Velothon Wales

[sleaver]

The feed stops are going to be bedlam

They were bad at RideLondon and they have more stops, three main "Hubs" but they they have smaller ones in-between. I just used them to get water and for the call of nature.

Although I did pick up some fig rolls at the last big stop, eat them and then remembered I didn't really like figs but they were kind of tasty. Not sure how much of that was down to just getting to eat some "normal" food rather than SiS bars and gels.

@Broadside Have you got a link to that Strava page you mentioned?

I had a look at their Facebook page today and it was full of people moaning about having a cut off time, why the faster riders are going first and that they were going to pull out because of that.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I wrote to them when they extended the distance, but kept the time limit the same, asking for my money back. I figured it would mess up our (4 of us) chances of getting round as a group, and quite probably my personal chances too - although I'm not the slowest of our group. They offered us an early start, which I took. This means we'll be trundling off with gangs of very fast riders up our backsides. Could be interesting.

 

[sleaver]

Just saw this post on the Velothon Wales Facebook page:

I did the route yesterday. 151km in under 5 hours and just two of us rising and we get put in Wave 17 with 8500 riders in front. Guess it was a just a random ballot?

Say 5 hours to make things easier, thats an average of around 30km/h, on open roads, and they are in wave 17.

If the start times are truly done on estimated times, a lot of people are going to be in trouble.

If they have put slower riders in earlier waves, lets hope they don't cause problems for faster riders coming up behind them.

 

[Dogtrousers]

It's a worry. We'll certainly be overtaken constantly. As long as we keep in a tight group and don't make any unpredictable moves, I'm hoping the overtakers will be sensible.

 

[themosquitoking]

It'll be fine,try to ride single file rather than 4 abreast and if you're overtaking a lot stay more to the right, if you're getting overtaken more keep left.

 

[Dogtrousers]

We have two experienced ride leaders, and two who have done plenty of group riding, so hopefully we'll not pose any problems to overtakers.

 

[themosquitoking]

We have two experienced ride leaders, and two who have done plenty of group riding, so hopefully we'll not pose any problems to overtakers.

I haven't done much group riding but the blokes i'm riding with i feel confident riding with. It makes a lot of difference as i'm sure you're aware.

 

[Broadside]

@Broadside Have you got a link to that Strava page you mentioned?

I downloaded the route from the Velothon website, gpx file attached.

The actual route recorded on my Garmin is here https://www.strava.com/activities/311394940 it doesn't follow the exact route because of the closed roads bit. We also started out north of Cardiff, rode in to the start, what you see on this gpx is the complete route but we started at a different spot.

 

[NorvernRob]

We have two experienced ride leaders, and two who have done plenty of group riding, so hopefully we'll not pose any problems to overtakers.

I've plotted the route in detail and there are a lot of A and B roads plus dual carriageways. The roads should be more than wide enough 99% of the time for people to overtake. I appreciate that in total there will be a hell of a lot of
riders on the road, but they are only sending out 500 at a time. We did a mass start of 400+ at the Holme Moss classic last year and within a minute or two it was thinning out no problem at all.

I downloaded the route from the Velothon website, gpx file attached.

The actual route recorded on my Garmin is here https://www.strava.com/activities/311394940 it doesn't follow the exact route because of the closed roads bit. We also started out north of Cardiff, rode in to the start, what you see on this gpx is the complete route but we started at a different spot.

That elevation is exactly what I got when I plotted the route, I knew there wasn't 6,000ft+ with that profile.

 

[jowwy]

Ive just read the last 4/5 pages with a huge smile and a giggle.........as i only live 3 miles from the top of the tumble and ride some of the route as my commute ride, don't under estimate the climbing on the rolling terrain prior to even getting to the tumble, cause if the wind is up, your riding into it all day long.......and this morning it was gusting at around 20mph

I'm not trying to scare monger here, i'm just giving you guys some local advice.........enjoy

 

[sleaver]

The weather has crossed my mind before because Wales isn't exactly known for its brilliant weather. I did RideLondon in the remnants of Bertha last year so the rain doesn't bother be, it would just be the headwind.

Don't worry everyone, I'll hopefully be there and when ever I'm out riding, no matter what direction I'm going, sods law it is into a headwind

 

[benb]

Don't worry everyone, I'll hopefully be there and when ever I'm out riding, no matter what direction I'm going, sods law it is into a headwind

If you could ride it in reverse, that would be grand.

 

[NorvernRob]

Ive just read the last 4/5 pages with a huge smile and a giggle.........as i only live 3 miles from the top of the tumble and ride some of the route as my commute ride, don't under estimate the climbing on the rolling terrain prior to even getting to the tumble, cause if the wind is up, your riding into it all day long.......and this morning it was gusting at around 20mph

I'm not trying to scare monger here, i'm just giving you guys some local advice.........enjoy

I appreciate what you're saying about the wind, it makes any ride a whole lot harder if it's a headwind. It never seems to stop this year and I'm pretty sick of it tbh, it's the only thing that could spoil the ride for me (apart from torrential rain obviously!).

However, there's about 1800ft in nearly 50 miles before getting to the Tumble - ok if you live somewhere flat then it might be a drag, but I couldn't do a route with that little elevation anywhere around here. I'm not underestimating it, it's just is what it is.

It's all relative I guess. 50/60ft of elevation per mile is pretty flat to me, 100ft is hilly and 120ft+ is really hilly.

Some of my friends post 60 mile rides with under 1,000ft of elevation. One of my 63 mile routes has 7,400ft of elevation......even my 'flat and fast' training route has 1800ft in 35 miles.

 

[sleaver]

Hmm, so this is in the competitors guide:

RIDING WITH CAUTION –
TRAFFIC FLOWING ON OTHER SIDE OF THE ROADThere are a number of sections where the Velothon Wales route will be using one side of the road while normal traffic will be flowing on the other side. You will always be separated by cones and barriers but please try and cycle on the side of the road farthest away from the traffic except when overtaking.

Those bits could be bottle necks.

 

[sleaver]

Just in case anyone finds it useful:

http://ouestleventoux.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/velothon-wales-hazard-points.html

Point 11 sums up what I have been thinking. A fast descent on unknown roads better pack some toilet roll in the back pocket