Trossachs Ton - Feedback please

[wakemalcolm]

Hi

Before the pain subsides and the memories fade, we need some feedback from you to make sure next year's event works well. I spent most of the day in the sweeper van and didn't get back until 7:30 so got my feedback second hand.

Can you let me know what worked well and what could be improved on regarding:
- Registration
- Route (including the road surfaces which were the subject of much discussion before the event)
- Signing
- Feed zones (both their location frequency and what was available)
- Finish/deregistration

For those of you who didn't do the event, can you let me know:
- Whether you knew about the event
- What changes to the event would make it more appealing to you.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Malcolm

 

[eldudino]

I dropped in after only a 35 mile ride and had a nice chat with the event organiser's dad!

 

[HLaB]

I did the ride wakem and thought it was really well organised the only downside was the road the Carron Valley to Stirling these were the general comments of most riders I met.

Well organised though

 

[magnatom]

For your interest here is my ride summary. Overall I think it was a wonderful event and an excellent first outing for the Trossachs Ton. If I can, I'll be back!

Registration: Seemed to go very smoothly. My only concern would have been if it had been a wet day. Having the tents, start and finish on grass could become a mud bath in the rain. Not sure how you could change that though.

Route: That road from Carron Valley onwards was a challenge. Not just on the legs (lots and lots of short sharp hills!) but on the nerves. There was a lot of loose gravel and dirt on the road which made the descents worrisome. The A81 after the lunch stop was a long slog on a busy road.


Signage: A little small and close to the turns. I know some riders made a wrong turn (not sure if it was us or them!). Slightly larger and a little more advanced warning would help, but in saying that, I didn't know much of the route and I didn't get lost!

Feed Zones: Excellent. The helpers were excellent and the supplies available were spot on, although I didn't stop at them all of course!

Finish/Deregistration: Very good, especially the massage! Nice touch! It was a little disappointing that there was not more of a welcome at the finish (not many clapping etc). Maybe that will improve as the ride gets bigger next year. Did the organisers let the locals know about the event, i.e. encourage people to cheer us on?

Apart from the road condition towards the end, they are all minor points, so well done to the organisers!

 

[magnatom]

Out of interest Malcolm, from your point of view were then any problems? Did any riders have serious problems etc, and how many riders started and finished. Just curious!

 

[wakemalcolm]

Magnatom

Overall, I thought it went very well and the positives outweighed the negatives. The areas where I think we can look to improve are:

The start - it's tricky when you're trying to prevent huge peletons from developing by setting people off in very small groups because it ceases to be an event in itself (like it is for etape C)

Signage - we caught a man in his 50s turning round one of the signs on Loch Katrine about an hour after we'd put it up. He thought it was the funniest thing ever. What can you do?
I'm not sure about the roundabout signs which seem to point in all directions at the same time. Out in the wilder parts it was difficult to find anything to attach them to.

Route - The A81 was a lot quieter when we did the initial recce. Yesterday even in the van I was just willing it to end. We'll certainly look into alternatives. As you'll know we made some progress with the council regarding the road near Kinlochard; we'll maybe look to do the same for the final 10 miles.

Food stations - even though the banana hand-ups were some of the comedy highlights of the day, the 1st food station was just too early. Am wondering whether moving it to the start line might be the way to go. Might look to add midge spray to the inventory for the 2nd food stop.

Finish - we need to get the de-reg closer to the gate to encourage people to go there first before heading off to meet friends and family.


As I said though, a good start to the event and we're planning for the same weekend next year. Just need to check out for clashes with Take That tour dates first.

Thanks to everybody for their feedback so far.
Malcolm

 

[magnatom]

That's shocking about about man changing the signage. Did you contact the police about this? (I assume you didn't have the time). I can almost understand some neds doing it, but an older man...


Now you mention it, I remember squinting at the roundabout signs. I remember thinking one of them looked like it was pointing in two different directions until I got close up to it. A simple redesign should sort it.

As you say, the first food stop was a little early, I passed by it smiling at the held out bananas!

I absolutely agree that it went very well and it was an enjoyable event. I'm already looking forward to next year!

 

[eldudino]

Magnatom
As you'll know we made some progress with the council regarding the road near Kinlochard; we'll maybe look to do the same for the final 10 miles.

I'd love it if you could put pressure on Stirling Council to get the route from Carron Valley to Stirling/North Third upgraded, I do most of my riding round there and I aggravated a wrist injury from my teens by being a bit exuberant on one of the rougher descents yesterday.

If I'm not fit/light enough to take part next year I'll gladly volunteer to help out (depending on holidays). I like the idea of the A-Team style support van, rescuing stricken cyclists, banana-ing them up and leaving with a squeal from the tyres in a flurry of gunfire.

 

[boydj]

Having completed the event yesterday as my first long-distance cycling event, I have to say that overall the organisation and the helpers were superb.

Registration was painless and efficient - though the first station was just too early.

Feeding stations were terrific - friendly, helpful, and plenty of choice.

The signing was fairly good though you did have to be watching carefully, so maybe an additional sign ~100 yards before each turn would have been useful. I was one of a small pack that missed the turn for the loop round to Thornhill - but I'll blame the pack from Stirling Tri Club that I was tucked in behind. As locals, they thought they knew the route better than the signs, but I realised very quickly that we had missed the turn, because I did see the signs.

The route overall was scenic and mostly fairly quiet roads and for the most part, very enjoyable. The road south from Aberfoyle was a bit of a drag and possibly just a bit too busy for the number of cyclists by the time we were on that section.

The facilities at the finish were fine. A simple de-registration process, a useful goody bag with a medal and certificate - and the massage was very welcome.

My only real complaint was the terrible road surface on the last few miles into Stirling. I don't think this road is suitable for bikes - especially when the riders have over 90 miles in their legs. Potholes, loose stones, gravel and a badly rutted surface, exacerbated by short sharp climbs and steep descents made this section unsafe and an exercise in concentration.

The only other comment I would make would be that the last 20 miles was much hillier than I had been expecting - so maybe some warning to this effect in the pre-event information sheets would have been useful.

Let me be clear, though, that none of the negatives took away from the overall enjoyment of the day. I had a great day out and I have huge respect for the fantastic job done by the organisers and all the helpers out on the route and at the finish.

 

[ghitchen]

- Registration

Perfect, but as mentioned above would have been a mud bath in the wet.

- Route (including the road surfaces which were the subject of much discussion before the event)

Good route. I would have liked more hills but appreciate that it is aimed at people doing their first big ride and for them it was probably perfect. What I didn't enjoy was the road surface, especially the last section which was horrendous - by this point I wished I'd left my best wheels at home.

- Signing

Generally good although I missed the left turn after the lunch stop and ended up on the A81 for even longer than I wanted to be, luckily a left at the next roundabout saw me okay. Agree that some turns needed a pre-warning.

- Feed zones (both their location frequency and what was available)

As I had forgotten my water bottles (I had to borrow some empty ones) I was glad that the first stop was early, but under normal circumstances it needs to be a bit later. Lunch was great but I would have preferred a normal feed stop and then had the bigger food at the end.

- Finish/deregistration

Excellent. A big thank you to the massage trio. But again, in the rain the field would have been awful. Also why did the portaloos dissapear during the day?

Overall - very good. A great day (despite the midges by Loch Katrine). Well done to everyone concerned. Hope to be back next year.