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I did it for the 3rd time yesterday - great event, largely due to the very tough course. this year was made even worse by damp cobbles and niggling wind….
But why were the numbers down so much? Seems to be about 16=50 or so riders - last year I think was more like 500?
No timing system this year and disappointing feed arrangements but I suspect that both of these were driven by the lower entries/fees…..
Christ has it been a year already?
I did last year and it was great fun, totally missed this years.
bum 🙁
velocipede - Member
I did it for the 3rd time yesterday - great event, largely due to the very tough course. this year was made even worse by damp cobbles and niggling wind….But why were the numbers down so much? Seems to be about 16=50 or so riders - last year I think was more like 500?
No timing system this year and disappointing feed arrangements but I suspect that both of these were driven by the lower entries/fees…
Probably cos they keep changing the dates, the organisation is shocking and the 100 mile route probably put people off.
@steve_b77 - it was even more shocking this year - Lyme Park was shut, with a queue outside when I got there at 7.20am…it was due to open at 7am according to the manual….food was awful and the gap between stops was 40 miles, which on a tough course like this was pretty bad…no energy drinks, only water…..etc, etc
Date changes probably don't help as you say….the 100 mile route was totally brutal and fair play to anyone who managed it yesterday….apparently only 20 or so did it….I stuck with the 100k
Can't knock the volunteers themselves though….the girl I chatted to at the food stop was lovely and made me forget about how sore my legs were, at least only briefly!!
BTW - typo in original post - about 150 riders vs 500 last year?
Yes - first time for me, thought it was great, I did the 100K. Tougher than I expected, few big climbs but a ton of up and down. Agree it seemed quiet, was riding on my own for a fair bit, but I don't know what numbers you'd normally expect.
Did think the 100 mile route looked bobbins, really. Same course as the 100k repeating a loop? You could do so much more with 100 miles in that terrain - but maybe they had to scale things back due to numbers.
Corkscrew was tough with the damp cobbles - didn't make it up and everyone around me was struggling, spinning out. Dropping the rear tyre pressure I reckon I'd have been up it - one to try again next year.
Oh dear... I was contemplating riding the White Roads Classic in July, is it also shoddily organised/run?
Did the white roads classic last year. Was really good and well organised. I think while all the events come under the same sponsor they are run by different people.
I did the Tour of the Black Country last year, same people, and it was very good indeed….not sure what went wrong with the Cheshire Cobbled Classic this year…..I'll do it for the 4th time next year I'm sure because the terrain is fantastically tough (if that's a good thing!)….but I'll make sure I take plenty of my own food and carry some Zero tabs with me…...