Etape Caledonia 2012 (etape virgin)

[c4rver]

First time I've attempted this - anyone got any tips (I've done 5 100-mile events before)
Also - leaving from Livingston I've got space for 3 others in a Discovery 3 with a 4-bike rack
Anyone want to share the fuel??

 

[Herbie]

First time I've attempted this - anyone got any tips (I've done 5 100-mile events before)
Also - leaving from Livingston I've got space for 3 others in a Discovery 3 with a 4-bike rack
Anyone want to share the fuel??

5 100 events! 81 miles etape cal should be a doddle for you? You'll be fine.

 

[HLaB]

Ive done it 4 times, I'm not doing it this year though. Its a pancake flat course with a small rise in the middle. What nastier is the wee sharp kick up as you turn back into Pitlochry (just before Logierait), its easy to be in too hard a gear there. Some great views though, enjoy

And like Alan says, its much easier than other events, it'll be a doddle for you if you've already done 5 x 100.

 

[Herbie]

Ive done it 4 times, I'm not doing it this year though. Its a pancake flat course with a small rise in the middle. What nastier is the wee sharp kick up as you turn back into Pitlochry (just before Logierait), its easy to be in too hard a gear there. Some great views though, enjoy

And like Alan says, its much easier than other events, it'll be a doddle for you if you've already done 5 x 100.

Yes i've done it twice and doing it this year again...yes the bit at Logierait is the worst bit so be prepared there

 

[zizou]

I've done it twice and doing it again this year as well. Schiehallion was the hardest bit for me - the course up to then really encourages you to push pretty hard - with the closed roads and the numbers involved the event really carries riders along in a way that i havent really experienced at other UK sportives - so both times i've hit my max HR just after the switchback near the bottom due to not pacing myself properly. My KOTM position was awful and about 1000 places more than my overall time / position

Logierait would have been really bad if unprepared but i'd read people warning about it so knew what to expect. Quite funny hearing all the gears being crunched after the turn from people who dont know its coming!

 

[c4rver]

Thanks for the tips - I'd better study the route (that'll be a first!) - to summarise :
2 sharp climbs and don't get carried along too fast at the beginning - would this be a fair description??

 

[Herbie]

Thanks for the tips - I'd better study the route (that'll be a first!) - to summarise :
2 sharp climbs and don't get carried along too fast at the beginning - would this be a fair description??

Aye...thats pretty much it

 

[snorri]

nastier is the wee sharp kick up as you turn back into Pitlochry (just before Logierait), its easy to be in too hard a gear there.

I'm sure the locals make that brae a little steeper every winter, or could it be my advancing years?

 

[HLaB]

I'm sure the locals make that brae a little steeper every winter, or could it be my advancing years?

I think the first time I did it I was in the 53, 12; it coincided with knee problems for a few years!

 

[boydj]

Don't push too hard early on, and try to find a group that you can live with comfortably - especially after you come off Schiehallion. It can be quite windy up there, so stay well tucked in into the wind.

 

[c4rver]

Thanks everyone - sounds like a doddle (!) - 1st event of the year though, so anything under 5 hours will be a bonus

 

[Nebulous]

I started cycling in October 2010 and did the EC in May last year.I signed up for it fairly early, and the thought of it motivated me to do a lot of training.

It was possibly my best day ever on a bike - the buzz was amazing. I started too far back and spent the first three quarters of the course overtaking people. It was only in the last 20 miles or so that I found a group of people about the same speed as me, which was certainly better.

Here are some of my suggestions:

Try some of it beforehand. I did a 2 day tour about 6 weeks before and took in a chunk of the course. I also stayed there for the weekend and went out the day before the event and checked out that climb at Logierait.
Get to the start early. The main street was awash with bikes and you can't get through, so I missed my start.
Have a plan - what is your strategy for eating, drinking, toilet stops? I had intended missing the first two feedstops as I thought they would be very busy, and stopping at the third, but in the event I got carried away and just went straight through.

 

[HLaB]

Thanks everyone - sounds like a doddle (!) - 1st event of the year though, so anything under 5 hours will be a bonus

I thought that, or maybe more when I first done it and I'd never done any official rides of that length before and ended up doing sub 4h 25min.

 

[Fubar]

I started cycling in October 2010 and did the EC in May last year.I signed up for it fairly early, and the thought of it motivated me to do a lot of training.

It was possibly my best day ever on a bike - the buzz was amazing. I started too far back and spent the first three quarters of the course overtaking people. It was only in the last 20 miles or so that I found a group of people about the same speed as me, which was certainly better.

Here are some of my suggestions:

Try some of it beforehand. I did a 2 day tour about 6 weeks before and took in a chunk of the course. I also stayed there for the weekend and went out the day before the event and checked out that climb at Logierait.
Get to the start early. The main street was awash with bikes and you can't get through, so I missed my start.
Have a plan - what is your strategy for eating, drinking, toilet stops? I had intended missing the first two feedstops as I thought they would be very busy, and stopping at the third, but in the event I got carried away and just went straight through.

Some good stuff there, not sure I'll get to try any of the route first but I'm staying the weekend so intend driving it any maybe pootle up some of the hills on the bike - don't want to kill myself the day before! Bit worried about the minimum speed requirement of 13mph, I'm sort-of averaging 14mph at the moment (though the distance doesn't seem to matter?!?), though my ultimate aim is just to finish. I've done 73 miles in a oner so hoping 80-81 is within my reach, only 3 weeks to go!!!

 

[Col5632]

Some good stuff there, not sure I'll get to try any of the route first but I'm staying the weekend so intend driving it any maybe pootle up some of the hills on the bike - don't want to kill myself the day before! Bit worried about the minimum speed requirement of 13mph, I'm sort-of averaging 14mph at the moment (though the distance doesn't seem to matter?!?), though my ultimate aim is just to finish. I've done 73 miles in a oner so hoping 80-81 is within my reach, only 3 weeks to go!!!

You will prob find being in a group that the average will be higher than you usually do