England : Lancashire Wiggle Dragon Ride 2013

[Banjo]

Dont suppose you will have much time to admire the views so heres some of them.

 

[jdtate101]

The only hill I'm not looking forward to is the Devils Elbow, all the rest are long, but not too steep, the DE on the other hand...close to 20% at points . Slow and steady me thinks until that point, then once I'm over if I'm still feeling ok, I will stretch the legs a bit on the Rhigos and Bwlch (both of which I have done a few times before, so know them well enough to pace correctly).

 

[DCLane]

It's all new to me - but hoping to get round OK. I did the Etape du Dales last month but am horrendously short on miles - about 800 miles down on plan for this year due to weather / IT band injury

 

[ColinJ]

I did the Etape du Dales last month but am horrendously short on miles - about 800 miles down on plan for this year due to weather / IT band injury

According to your MCL ticker, you are up on your target!

 

[DCLane]

@ColinJ - true, but shortly I've to have an operation which may curtail riding for a bit. So the 5000 mile target's over 9 months, rather than 12.

 

[ColinJ]

@ColinJ - true, but shortly I've to have an operation which may curtail riding for a bit. So the 5000 mile target's over 9 months, rather than 12.

Oh, I see ... Well, get the miles in while you can, enjoy yourself, and good luck with the op.!

 

[DCLane]

Do you have any links? Im thinking they are like bulldog clips, but smaller?

They're called Endura Race Snaps - like press studs but made of plastic but they don't mark.

 

[Banjo]

Some pics of people descending off the rhigos at between about 1230 and 1330.
http://s84.photobucket.com/user/VEGA165/library/Dragon Sportive 2013

You cant see the riders in some of the thumbnails so need to look at the full size pics if you think you may be there. Couldnt catch everyone that went by as only had a small camera.

 

[jdtate101]

Did the Gran Fondo in 8hrs44 at 16.4mph avg. Got well and truly cooked today, now sporting some razor sharp tan lines (currently sun burn lines). My Garmin recorded 28c on the ascent of the Bwlch. That's one tough route especially the Devils Elbow, what a bitch of a climb that is. I did stop as my eyes were full of sweat which stings like buggery. Top notch organisation with very well stocked rest stops. Mavic guys did a grand job too. The only thing that put a bit of a downer on the day was the sheer amount of idiots out there today. People descending like loons, taking huge risks and causing mayhem. I saw 5 serious accidents, two of which were very nasty. One guy hit the back of a pack of riders waiting at the lights at the bottom of the Byrn descent. I was just at the front of the queue moving off when we heard a loud scream and then the sound of smashing bikes and people in pain. Not nice. Another guy had gone round a corner too fast on the descent of Black mountain and hit a wall at high speed. He was being taken away in an ambulance as I passed, he looked in a very bad way.

Overall a very good, but exhausting day.

 

[dellzeqq]

Did the Gran Fondo in 8hrs44 at 16.4mph avg. Got well and truly cooked today, now sporting some razor sharp tan lines (currently sun burn lines). My Garmin recorded 28c on the ascent of the Bwlch. That's one tough route especially the Devils Elbow, what a bitch of a climb that is. I did stop as my eyes were full of sweat which stings like buggery. Top notch organisation with very well stocked rest stops. Mavic guys did a grand job too. The only thing that put a bit of a downer on the day was the sheer amount of idiots out there today. People descending like loons, taking huge risks and causing mayhem. I saw 5 serious accidents, two of which were very nasty. One guy hit the back of a pack of riders waiting at the lights at the bottom of the Byrn descent. I was just at the front of the queue moving off when we heard a loud scream and then the sound of smashing bikes and people in pain. Not nice. Another guy had gone round a corner too fast on the descent of Black mountain and hit a wall at high speed. He was being taken away in an ambulance as I passed, he looked in a very bad way.

Overall a very good, but exhausting day.

recce ride yesterday - not a complete success. The hill west of Maesteg is out - the road on the descent is broken up and the bend/traffic lights arrangement at the bottom isn't clever. I'm not confident about fifty people descending together. 6000 cyclists on the Dragon Ride will go down it today, so cross your fingers on that one.

 

[jdtate101]

Yep that was the place alright. Stupid thing there was a marshall about 200yrd before the bend with a red flag, but she was just standing here doing nowt, not even attempting to warn people. As I've done the route a few times I knew what was coming, so had slowed well in advance. I think it was 2012, but a guy going too fast there went through the lights and over the barrier the other side, he was also badly hurt. Obviously they haven't learnt from that incident.

 

[jdtate101]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-22835865

The story states the incident happened at the park, where the road is flat and wide, so I can only assume it was and RTA (car). Maybe more details later.

 

[dellzeqq]

Yep that was the place alright. Stupid thing there was a marshall about 200yrd before the bend with a red flag, but she was just standing here doing nowt, not even attempting to warn people. As I've done the route a few times I knew what was coming, so had slowed well in advance. I think it was 2012, but a guy going too fast there went through the lights and over the barrier the other side, he was also badly hurt. Obviously they haven't learnt from that incident.

if they had prior knowledge, a cyclist ran in to another cyclist where you heard the screams, then somebody is going to have to come up with a risk assessment that demonstrates consideration, and, given what you tell us about the red flag, a copy of the instructions given to the marshals. And I hope for Wiggle's sake it's a bit more professional than the pony tick box risk assessment the CTC relies on

 

[Nuncio]

I saw 5 serious accidents, two of which were very nasty.

I wasn’t on the ride but was involved in one of the incidents.

I decided to do a bit of the ride in reverse to witness the fine spectacle of lots of riders on ‘my’ roads. The leading group came past just after I’d turned onto the Black Mountain road. I was about half a mile from the bottom of the Black Mountain, and there was a rider coming fast round a (for him) left-hand bend. He was about 15m away from me and taking it quite fast and wide when I heard the unmistakable sound of his tyre blow. Losing control he came straight at me. There wasn’t any space for me to bail out of his way, but he adjusted very slightly and our forearms collided as we passed. I wobbled and came to a halt. Propped my bike up and ran back, seeing him on the road. Got his bike out of the way of other riders and propped it up.

Meanwhile he was trying to stand up but ended up stumbling across the road. I grabbed him and sat him down out of the way. By the look of him he’d slid on his face along the road. He was conscious but couldn’t tell me his name. And the blood! All over, and he was spitting it out (broken teeth?) of his mouth as well. Managed to get hold of an ambulance while a man – announcing himself as ex army medic – got out of his car with a bottle of water, and a rag to do a bit of blood mopping (but it was a losing battle). He was able to tell the ambulance people that the rider had ‘lacerations’ and was ‘concussed’ (I‘d only managed ‘cuts’ and ‘dazed’), while a St John’s motorcycle man turned up and was able to give grid reference. Then a Mavic car arrived and the man stood at the bend to slow down the approaching riders, many of whom passed with an ‘Ooooh’ or an ‘Ouch!’ as they saw the stricken rider and the blood.

Checked with the two semi-pros that they didn’t need me while they waited for the ambulance, wished the bloke well (he grunted) and went on my way, taking the bends on the descent of the Black Mountain with somewhat less of my carefree abandon than usual.

 

[jdtate101]

I wasn’t on the ride but was involved in one of the incidents.

I decided to do a bit of the ride in reverse to witness the fine spectacle of lots of riders on ‘my’ roads. The leading group came past just after I’d turned onto the Black Mountain road. I was about half a mile from the bottom of the Black Mountain, and there was a rider coming fast round a (for him) left-hand bend. He was about 15m away from me and taking it quite fast and wide when I heard the unmistakable sound of his tyre blow. Losing control he came straight at me. There wasn’t any space for me to bail out of his way, but he adjusted very slightly and our forearms collided as we passed. I wobbled and came to a halt. Propped my bike up and ran back, seeing him on the road. Got his bike out of the way of other riders and propped it up.

Meanwhile he was trying to stand up but ended up stumbling across the road. I grabbed him and sat him down out of the way. By the look of him he’d slid on his face along the road. He was conscious but couldn’t tell me his name. And the blood! All over, and he was spitting it out (broken teeth?) of his mouth as well. Managed to get hold of an ambulance while a man – announcing himself as ex army medic – got out of his car with a bottle of water, and a rag to do a bit of blood mopping (but it was a losing battle). He was able to tell the ambulance people that the rider had ‘lacerations’ and was ‘concussed’ (I‘d only managed ‘cuts’ and ‘dazed’), while a St John’s motorcycle man turned up and was able to give grid reference. Then a Mavic car arrived and the man stood at the bend to slow down the approaching riders, many of whom passed with an ‘Ooooh’ or an ‘Ouch!’ as they saw the stricken rider and the blood.

Checked with the two semi-pros that they didn’t need me while they waited for the ambulance, wished the bloke well (he grunted) and went on my way, taking the bends on the descent of the Black Mountain with somewhat less of my carefree abandon than usual.

Not the one I saw, as I suspect that was cleaned up before I got to the backside of Black Mountain, but from the sounds of it there might have been more than a few. A busy day for the medics, I really wish people would be a bit more cautious if they are unfamiliar with the area, although from your story his was unavoidable and not his fault, just one of those things that can happen. Although saying that, carrying high speed into corners with equally heavy braking can heat the tyre rim and cause tyre failures.....hope he's ok, but I'm guessing that one will take a long recovery time.

The closest I saw to a total wipeout happened right infront of me coming down out of Bryn at 45mph. The guy in front of me got a full on speed wobble with the handlebars going like the clappers, he only just managed to get it under control without falling off. When we got to the lights he was white as a sheet. that would have been potentially fatal if he'd come off at that speed. Yowzers.