Still, with thousands of riders, it will be like herding cats, so I could be very wrong, but I'd be surprised if they are too fussed by which pen people start in. They will probably tell us all which pen to go in, hoping the majority follow the instructions, but accepting that some will want to ride with their teams.
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Anyone thinking of doing this new event? https://www.veloessex.com/100-mile-route/route/
I was thinking the same as I wrote my last response, but then I argued with myself that the times are taken from when you pass the Start line so convinced myself that at what point you pass that shouldn't make any difference. But ... I suppose it could if an older rider, joins the pens of younger riders to get a better draft.
Oh well, I guess we'll see how strict they are on the day
Yeah probably - we'll see.
Can we have a re-cap on who is riding TOC this year and in which event? I've been scrolling back trying to find out but getting bored with that! So fill in the gaps please guys:
Bridgy - Gran fondo, 45-49 age cat
@<Tommy> - Gran Fondo, (40-44 age cat??)
@Whorty - Gran Fondo 50-54 age cat
@Norry1 - Gran Fondo (age cat??)
@Del C - Gran Fondo(age cat??)
@LBHIFI - TT??
Anyone else?
Can we have a re-cap on who is riding TOC this year and in which event? I've been scrolling back trying to find out but getting bored with that! So fill in the gaps please guys:
Bridgy - Gran fondo, 45-49 age cat
@<Tommy> - Gran Fondo, (40-44 age cat??)
@Whorty - Gran Fondo 50-54 age cat
@Norry1 - Gran Fondo (age cat??)
@Del C - Gran Fondo(age cat??)
@LBHIFI - TT??
Anyone else?
Ah yes I remember you changed that now.
steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
The first year I did ToC (2016) they still did age categories whether you were in the Race or the Sportive (this was when you could still qualify from the Sportive pens, so there wasn't a Gran Fondo pen) and they were NOT well policed. A load of people kicked off about the fact that older riders were going off with the younger ones and drafting to get a better time so the organisers made a rule change on the fly that if you went off in the wrong pen (they could tell by what time your chip crossed the start line), then while you weren't DQ'd as such, your time would no longer count as an official qualifying time. This of course led to people thinking on the day that they'd qualified only to find out they hadn't when they looked at the results online and some who went home thinking they'd missed out, to get a letter later saying they now had, due to results of others ahead of them now being thrown out.I was thinking the same as I wrote my last response, but then I argued with myself that the times are taken from when you pass the Start line so convinced myself that at what point you pass that shouldn't make any difference. But ... I suppose it could if an older rider, joins the pens of younger riders to get a better draft.
Oh well, I guess we'll see how strict they are on the day
Fast forward to 2017 (which I entered but had to withdraw from late on) and they promised that they would police the pens a lot more strictly, although from people who were there, it sounded like they didn't need to as a lot of riders had learned their lesson from the previous year and made sure they were in the right pen from the start!
By 2018 (when I had a deferred entry) they'd changed it to Race, GF and Sportive and as I was in the third category, it was just a mass start pen, so I didn't get a close up look at whether they were policing the other gates properly or not. How it is now, I don't know, but generally ToC have always seemed to learned lessons from previous year's mistakes, so I think they would probably at least try to keep a reasonable level of effort on this to avoid further complaints.
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Not wanting to contradict you Steve but I, and some others here, did TOC in 2018 and that year there was just what they called a "Gran Fondo Sportive" and a separate race (plus a couple of shorter sportives I think). The GF Sportive was a qualifier for the GF world champs as was the race. We all did the GF Sportive and it was just a mass start with no age category separation at all. It was the following year (2019) when they introduced the Gran Fondo as a separate event to the Sportive. @Norry1 did the Gran Fondo in 2019 but the rest of us did the Sportive (which as you said was just a mass start again)
steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
To be honest, I didn't pay that much attention in 2018! I had a deferred entry due to my previous withdrawal, so didn't even look at what the entry options were (kept them the same as previous year) and when I turned up and found it was a mass entry pen compared to the age groups in 2016. So I've just assumed that year (as it was in 2019, when I also entered) they must have already set up the three types of ride - I was just a year too early I guess!
Correct for me
This is going to hurt!
I'm entered for the Grand Fondo. Because of the age cut-off date, I've ended up in the 65-69 age group, even though I was 63 when I entered in June last year. Naturally, this p***ed me off!
I think I even end up riding a shorter distance, 70 miles if I remember correctly.
I'm thinking I probably need to turn up in a pair of slippers and with a registered carer to get me round the course!
You're OK, it's only 70+ men (and women) that ride the shorter 70m distance - you'll be 100 miles with the rest of us! And look at it this way, you'll be the youngster in your age group so in theroy more chance of qualifying for the world champs in your age cat (whether you intend to go, or just for bragging rights)This is going to hurt!
I'm entered for the Grand Fondo. Because of the age cut-off date, I've ended up in the 65-69 age group, even though I was 63 when I entered in June last year. Naturally, this p***ed me off!
I think I even end up riding a shorter distance, 70 miles if I remember correctly.
I'm thinking I probably need to turn up in a pair of slippers and with a registered carer to get me round the course!
You're OK, it's only 70+ men (and women) that ride the shorter 70m distance - you'll be 100 miles with the rest of us! And look at it this way, you'll be the youngster in your age group so in theroy more chance of qualifying for the world champs in your age cat (whether you intend to go, or just for bragging rights)
Not sure that is correct @bridgy
The qualification distances for Women is 70 miles, 19-59 Men is 100 miles and 60+ Men will compete over 70 miles. A race license is not required to take part in the Gran Fondo, but there is a minimum age of 19yrs of age on 31st December in the year of the event.
The fastest 20% of riders in each Masters age group from both the Road Race and Gran Fondo combined will be invited to ride for their nation at the UCI GF World Championships. The number of qualifier will be determined by the overall number of riders in your age group.
Oh sorry - you are right. There's alot of mentions of 60 and 70 in that sentence and I'm easily confused! Sorry @Del C I got that wrong
