Tour of Cambridgeshire 2019

[Dec66]

The conditions seemed to really knock a lot of people about. I was lucky in that it didn't seem to bother me. I like riding in the heat. The wind was brutal, but the group I was riding in worked well together and we were in echelons quite a lot.

To my great surprise, I managed to qualify for the World Championships which is in Poznan, Poland on 1st September.

I came 14th in my age group (55-59) out of 107 in a time of 4:35:59 (chip time) in the Gran Fondo.

Great to meet a bunch of CC'ers, shame I missed some of you.

Cracking time, that, excellent work, and congratulations

 

[Norry1]

Made a vid of the pics in case anyone interested

View: https://youtu.be/Eua0BdMqmZY

 

[Dogtrousers]

What is it about the Tour of Cambridgeshire that makes it seem to run so smoothly? It's a closed road sportive isn't it? (Along with a race) No reports of angry residents scattering tacks. No grumpy people complaining how they have failed to get a place () Just a few reports of people who generally seem to have had a decent time of it.

What are they doing right? Or, are they in fact doing it all wrong?

 

[steverob]

I did see one sign out on the course that said "we object to our roads being closed" (or words to that effect) tied to a wheelie bin about three quarters of the way round the course, plus there have been reports since that some of the locals are complaining about the amount of litter being dropped, mainly plastic bottles (which is understandable) - although I'll say that most of the bottles I saw at the roadside were not one-use water bottles, but proper cycling ones that I'm guessing had been fumbled when riders were trying to get them out of cages (or weren't in there properly originally, given the amount I saw at the bottom of one particular hill).

I think the main reason though is that the route mainly goes through countryside and farmland - very few towns and villages are directly affected by the route, so there's less people to complain compared to RideLondon etc.

Having said that, I'm not too keen on giving any praise to the organisers given how badly they cocked up on the water/food front! Previous years went really smoothly, so I can't explain how they got it so wrong this year.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Watch out for the hills, they can come as a surprise

 

[mjr]

I did see one sign out on the course that said "we object to our roads being closed" (or words to that effect) tied to a wheelie bin about three quarters of the way round the course, plus there have been reports since that some of the locals are complaining about the amount of litter being dropped, mainly plastic bottles (which is understandable) - although I'll say that most of the bottles I saw at the roadside were not one-use water bottles, but proper cycling ones that I'm guessing had been fumbled when riders were trying to get them out of cages (or weren't in there properly originally, given the amount I saw at the bottom of one particular hill).

I think the main reason though is that the route mainly goes through countryside and farmland - very few towns and villages are directly affected by the route, so there's less people to complain compared to RideLondon etc.

Having said that, I'm not too keen on giving any praise to the organisers given how badly they cocked up on the water/food front! Previous years went really smoothly, so I can't explain how they got it so wrong this year.

Divided attention because the same organisers are also organising the national championships and associated sportive at the end of June?

 

[Dogtrousers]

Divided attention because the same organisers are also organising the national championships and associated sportive at the end of June?

What's the local sentiment like? (Assuming that Kings Lynn is sufficiently local to Cambridge for you to know, which is a bit of a stretch). Is it pitchforks and seething facebook groups or just handwritten signs on wheelie bins?

plus there have been reports since that some of the locals are complaining about the amount of litter being dropped, mainly plastic bottles (which is understandable)

There's really no excuse for not doing a thorough litter cleanup of the course afterwards.

I've considered doing it myself for the couple of years but diary complications have got in the way. Plus I seem to remember reading of an alarmingly fast cutoff time (but I may have made that up).

 

[steverob]

I've considered doing it myself for the couple of years but diary complications have got in the way. Plus I seem to remember reading of an alarmingly fast cutoff time (but I may have made that up).

As long as you're prepared for the headwinds, I think it is an event certainly worth doing at least once. The cutoff times aren't anything to be worried about - this year even the 100 mile route you only had to average 12mph to stay ahead of the broom wagon and there were two shortcuts you could take to reduce the ride by about 10 & 23 miles respectively if you were running behind schedule (e.g. following the route of the 67 mile ride they also do).

 

[Dec66]

I did see one sign out on the course that said "we object to our roads being closed" (or words to that effect) tied to a wheelie bin about three quarters of the way round the course, plus there have been reports since that some of the locals are complaining about the amount of litter being dropped, mainly plastic bottles (which is understandable) - although I'll say that most of the bottles I saw at the roadside were not one-use water bottles, but proper cycling ones that I'm guessing had been fumbled when riders were trying to get them out of cages (or weren't in there properly originally, given the amount I saw at the bottom of one particular hill).

I think the main reason though is that the route mainly goes through countryside and farmland - very few towns and villages are directly affected by the route, so there's less people to complain compared to RideLondon etc.

Having said that, I'm not too keen on giving any praise to the organisers given how badly they cocked up on the water/food front! Previous years went really smoothly, so I can't explain how they got it so wrong this year.

I saw that sign too, it made me chuckle. Mostly, as far as I could see, the locals were making a day of it, sitting in the sunshine outside their houses and giving encouragement.

I saw a little bit of debris about, but like you said, it did seem to be bidons and the odd pair of sunglasses. They looked like they had been shook out of their cages (or off someone's head in the case of the glasses).

 

[mjr]

What's the local sentiment like? (Assuming that Kings Lynn is sufficiently local to Cambridge for you to know, which is a bit of a stretch). Is it pitchforks and seething facebook groups or just handwritten signs on wheelie bins?

The ride is actually well away from Cambridge, but even so, I think it only just clips the area I monitor, with only the loop southeast of Whittlesey straying into Fenland district. As far as I've seen, local complaints are at the "handwritten signs" level and far outnumbered by cyclists grumbling about the non-event costs of going to ride it like expensive car parking near the start, the awkwardness of taking bikes on the Ely-Peterborough trains and the high hotel prices the nights either side.

 

[Browser]

Just reading over the comments on the above thread I was fascinated by the references to the headwinds. I've seen similar sentiments expressed on other threads about other rides taking people through my neck of the woods, and as a bod who's spent 42 of his 48 years on planet earth living in the South Lincs flatlands I'm realising I must have a different perspective than most to the conditions hereabouts. I live in a small town right on the South Lincs/North Cambs border and commute fairly regularly to Peterborough along a road which for approx 3 miles runs roughly North-North-East dead-straight. Us local yokels say that you can ride into a headwind, turn 180 degrees and ride...........into a headwind, and as has been said there's little respite due to the lack of hedges and flat landscape, but apart from the occasional grumble I never really give it much thought, assuming ( I now think incorrectly?) that the rest of the UK is much the same? I've had odd days when I've damn near needed the granny ring to make any headway but just shrug and think of it as resistance training

 

[Ming the Merciless]

People who come from hilly areas find it hard to ride in the flatlands. They often underestimate it before scuttling back to their easier hills.

 

[mjr]

Just reading over the comments on the above thread I was fascinated by the references to the headwinds. I've seen similar sentiments expressed on other threads about other rides taking people through my neck of the woods, and as a bod who's spent 42 of his 48 years on planet earth living in the South Lincs flatlands I'm realising I must have a different perspective than most to the conditions hereabouts. I live in a small town right on the South Lincs/North Cambs border and commute fairly regularly to Peterborough along a road which for approx 3 miles runs roughly North-North-East dead-straight. Us local yokels say that you can ride into a headwind, turn 180 degrees and ride...........into a headwind, and as has been said there's little respite due to the lack of hedges and flat landscape, but apart from the occasional grumble I never really give it much thought, assuming ( I now think incorrectly?) that the rest of the UK is much the same? I've had odd days when I've damn near needed the granny ring to make any headway but just shrug and think of it as resistance training

No, it's different elsewhere. I grew up in rolling country and also lived at the foot of the Mendips. When it's windy, you can hide in the hills... even uphill won't be harder than usual unless it's extremely windy. But on the flat, it's constant in each direction until the weather shifts. Dutch mountains have no summits!