Kilo To Go - Tour Of the Peak Sun 14th August 2011

[lanternerouge]

Just entered the above - 64 mile route. Hoping to get round it in one piece!

Anyone else doing it / fancy it? Or has done it before and can give us the lowdown??

Many thanks

LR

ps Linky: Kilo to Go Tour of the Peak 2011

 

[fossyant]

Fancy it, but shoulder not upto it !

Nice route the 64 miler - the 100 looks insane, but looks like you've got Windgather to go up, down Pyms Chair (be very careful) then up Dead Man's Hill - both lung busters, 10-15%, then a bit lumpy before you tackle the Cat.

Lumpy then till you hit Winnats.... oh my you'll know about this one.

The 100 miles then takes you over Langsett (there are 3 x 20%-25% climbs coming out of the river 'cuttings', then Holme Moss, then Chunal and Chinley head to finish you off. Insane.

 

[lanternerouge]

Fancy it, but shoulder not upto it !

Nice route the 64 miler - the 100 looks insane, but looks like you've got Windgather to go up, down Pyms Chair (be very careful) then up Dead Man's Hill - both lung busters, 10-15%, then a bit lumpy before you tackle the Cat.

Lumpy then till you hit Winnats.... oh my you'll know about this one.

The 100 miles then takes you over Langsett (there are 3 x 20%-25% climbs coming out of the river 'cuttings', then Holme Moss, then Chunal and Chinley head to finish you off. Insane.

Yep insane indeed! Am hoping just to grovel round the 64 miler!

 

[fossyant]

Take your time - Windgather and Dead Man's are pretty good climbs. Be very careful going down Pym's Chair to Jenkins Chapel - it's 25% in places, and usually gritty on the bends - especially if it's rained, and it will be busy with cyclists - very easy to get caught out - my colleague did on a club run and ended up sprawled over the grass bankings.

If you are feeling very brave or want to cheat, and fancy a short cut to 1/2 way up the Cat, just turn left after the descent of Pyms Chair. Takes you past Lamaload Reservoir and up a very very steep climb (probably easier going the long way round).

Have you ever ridden Winnats ? That will be fun.

 

[Crimmey]

Was about to enter this and go for the 'Gold' time however the weather is going to be dismal, raining with howling winds, kinda describes the rest of August. No fun slogging up 'mountains' Did Spud Riley this year in bad wind and just couldn't be bothered with it. Getting lost with no water bottle didn't help. Might enter then do the shorter route or not even ride if it rains. Only a few more hours to decide. I take it you cant enter on day as most others do let you do that?

 

[lanternerouge]

Take your time - Windgather and Dead Man's are pretty good climbs. Be very careful going down Pym's Chair to Jenkins Chapel - it's 25% in places, and usually gritty on the bends - especially if it's rained, and it will be busy with cyclists - very easy to get caught out - my colleague did on a club run and ended up sprawled over the grass bankings.

If you are feeling very brave or want to cheat, and fancy a short cut to 1/2 way up the Cat, just turn left after the descent of Pyms Chair. Takes you past Lamaload Reservoir and up a very very steep climb (probably easier going the long way round).

Have you ever ridden Winnats ? That will be fun.

Yep I have "ridden" it - well I walked a fair bit too! I could get up it zigzagging but too much traffic.

I did Pym's Chair/Jenkins yesterday as well as the C&F - Pym's Chasir descent was scary on a dry day with only me there!

Crimmey - no, no sign ups on day AFAIK. Fingers crossed for the weather!!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Yes - I've entered the 97 mile distance. Not sure how long it will take but aiming to get going at the 7am start. Cycling with a colleague from work. We did a 161 mile ride together last year, in an elapsed time of 9 hours 51 mins, so hopefully this one will be fine if a little hillier.

 

[fossyant]

Entries on the line accepted - just had an email from Kilotogo !

 

[lanternerouge]

Well - I managed to finish it! Official time was 5:48:49 for the 64-mile route and I came 156th out of 223! Quite pleased with that for my first proper sportive event.

I had a great time actually - despite having to get up at 5 am to get there. It was fun looking at all the posh bikes and kit in the car park. I felt great up the first two climbs (Pym Chair and the Cat and Fiddle). I managed to keep eating all the way round and kept myself fairly well hydrated I think. (Second) Hardest bit was probably around the 30 mile mark when I felt a bit bonk-ish but the feed station at 33 miles sorted that one out.

I was also pleased that I managed not to be fazed by an endless stream of riders passing me. (Not sure what I could have done about it if I had been fazed by it anyway!)

Winnats pass was a killer as usual - I had to walk about half of it. It's the getting back on once you've stopped on a gradient like that - people were falling off and walking everywhere. I heard someone yell that a rider had been knocked off by a car - it wouldn't have surprised me.

I would definitely recommend the Tour of the Peak - it was very well organised, signage was mostly very clear, and a great route. Weather was miraculously OK too!

I learned a few things too - e.g. a base layer would have been a good idea as I was continually too hot or cold - it was too much of a pain to keep taking my jacket on and off. Can anyone recommend a good one?

 

[Crimmey]

Well done. I'd have relished all that climbing but really glad I didn't do it as when I'm up against an 'official clock' I like the weather to be close to perfect espcially in 'summer' and so that I can get my good bike out. It's barely seen tarmac all year. Too windy for me today. Thanks for finding out, Fos, if entries were accepted on the line. I know some don't like to advertise that fact as we'd all chicken out at the slightest hint of bad weather or is that just me .


Geoff Thomas coming up so hoping weather ok for that.

 

[fossyant]

Kilotogo don't guarantee EOL - I'm on their email list from the Cat in 2010. I think they had spaces left. I don't mind the weather, but at the minute, my current gearing and my shoulder problem - I'd not get up Winnats (PS walking is not an option). PS Winnats is stupidly busy at weekends with cars - unless you've got a compact and a good gear range, you'd need to weave to get up it.

Hoping to do Cat 2012, and a number of others next year

 

[steephill]

I did the TOTP yesterday and it was a nice ride but very tough. It was epic. One of the best memories I think will be Winnats. It was a good thing after all getting my bike seen to on the Saturday (I hadn't been able to shift up onto my biggest cog, a 25t). I needed that one as even on a 34 ring I was all over the bike heaving it up the gorge as others dismounted. The first of the three famous climbs, the Cat & Fiddle was a piece of cake compared to that! It became very lonely after about halfway as I found myself out on my own. Going through Holfirth up onto Holme Moss seemed quite errie and it was around the 1.25 mile to the summit marker where I really began to suffer and turned into a demented person. The descent, like many on the route, I found a little scary but was cheered up a bit when I saw a man and woman just starting an ascent on their tandem! I really have got to work out how I can become a better descender. There was a period out there when there seemed to be a bit of a yo-yo effect going on; I would crest a summit ahead of some other riders and they would just catch and pass me very quickly going down, and so it repeated until, as I hinted at earlier, they were eventually done for, I presume, by the unrelenting climbing. So in the end, I got my official time at the HQ and was very satisfied and a bit surprised to record 5:57 and make the top 10 overall . In the period of the last 10 miles or so I was just sick of the climbing and on the drag up through Hayfield I was getting a bit verbal .OK, it wasn't a race but you've got to be pleased to put in a good time. Already looking forward to the Cheshire Cat next yearas one of my next 'big ones', much less hilly but including that climb!

 

[fossyant]

Cracking time there steephill - Compact deffo needed given the hills.

 

[lanternerouge]

Awesome time there Steephill, respect! What was your bib number?

 

[Unclejohnsson]

I live and ride in the Peak District National Park and couldnt bring myself to pay the £40 eotd charge. I drove home, ditched the car and met the riders coming off the Cat, rode with them until the feed and then broke off to do my own climbs and distance. The last KTG ride out of Ilam had only basic (soreen and banana) feeds and I wasnt greatly impressed. See you on the Macc Monster though, for sure.