I did one or two of these back in the 90s, as a teenager, on (my only 'road' bike at the time) an MTB with slicks - and it's probably one of my fondest memories of winter riding with South West RC.
One of the things that was so good about it was how relaxed the whole event was, with a simple ethos of just getting round the wet rainy course in the dark of winter. And you received a cool certificate at the end.. 🙂
I fancy doing a few of these this winter, if I can haul myself out of bed early enough on a Sunday for the inevitably God-awful early start time that these road CC clubs seem to masochistically do [i]everything[/i].
Do reliability runs/trials still exist? What do I need to know about them? Do they still have a satisfyingly chilled out vibe? Are there likely to be any near me in deepest, darkest Oxfordishire? Are road CC clubs always masochistic?
Cheers guys.. 🙂
Yes, they still exist, although in my experience not until the back side of winter. Our [url= http://www.leekcyclistsclub.org.uk ]local club[/url] reliability, for example, was early March this year. Other clubs nearby also do them.
I've no experience other than of our club reliability, but it's certainly chilled out.
Aye they do in Yorkshire anyways.
However they are no longer relaxed. Well, in my experience anyways. We have a few local pro's turn up on a couple of them and this cranks up the speed as everyone gets a bit giddy and it goes tits up.
A lad who was very popular in the local are was killed in one last year 🙁 It was only a matter of time tbh because the size and speed of them at the time of year is just silly.
I no longer do them due to the ego's and willy waving that goes on. Would rather go out with a few lads and get some base in that way.
Thats from my experience btw.
Unfortunately, it's my high expectation of egos and willy waving that keep me away from riding again with CC groups, or participating in their events.. 😐
Much the same reason why I largely tend to avoid riding in groups with other MTBers too really.. 😐
I am a miserable bugger at times.. 😆
Just look up audaxes. Technically not the same thing but IME there's very closely related once out on the road.
And FWIW, not all clubs, etc match the negative stereotypes.
On the off chance that you're near enough to Bristol:
http://audax.lvis.org.uk - more cake than you can shake a stick at 🙂
Unfortunately, it's my high expectation of egos and willy waving that keep me away from riding again with CC groups, or participating in their events..Much the same reason why I largely tend to avoid riding in groups with other MTBers too really..
I am a miserable bugger at times..
You could probably just go for a really long ride and finish at home with your certificate to print out 😉
Unfortunately, it's my high expectation of egos and willy waving that keep me away from riding again with CC groups, or participating in their events..Much the same reason why I largely tend to avoid riding in groups with other MTBers too really..
I am a miserable bugger at times..
You will get willy waving and Ego in all clubs of a certain size IMO if its allowed to. The club I am with doesnt, its well grounded and I hope it stays that way.
The Otley Reliability gets over 400 riders which IMO is way too big for a RR. Couple of years ago there was riders spread the full width of the dual carriage way it was mental. Soon calmed down like when it got out but its silly numbers.
The Otley Reliability gets over 400 riders
Jeeezus. 😯
I expected audaxes to attract even more competitive silliness, given that they are timed, but that Bristol one looks to have the right attitude.
FWIW, I'm not averse to competitive silliness, but I tend to only want to inflict that only upon myself, by myself*. If I'm riding with other people I just want it to be a bit of a laugh. So perhaps finding the right event with the right club is key.
* I'm probably more of a TT rider at heart.. 😆
We limit the LVIS one to 500 riders (three routes though).
Audaxes aren't timed or at least aren't races and typically there are very few competitive muppets on them IME, even if there are some very fast people.
The slower groups tend to be a bit more relaxed as you'd probably expect.
The few I did last year tended to set the slow group off first with the progressively faster groups following to catch up (and ultimately pass). Option to bail onto the next slower group if you can hang on until they're caught.
There was one that switched the order resulting in 100+ riders all leaving at the same time thinking they'll stay with the scratch until they blew, then limping back in several small groups, ones and twos etc.
I really like them...
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Otley RR with Scott Thwaites on the front with Jonny & Ali Brownlee, Bustard et al in there.
[url= http://prologuecycling.co.uk/events/event/yorkshire-reliability-ride/ ]Linky[/url] to t'other ones
We run 3 groups
1/The Beginners,Newbies and youngsters .
2/The Intermediates,the hungover and the 'I can't be arsed doing the big run as I am so off the pace'
3/The 'Come along if you think you're [s]quick[/s] [s]hard[/s] [s]enough[/s] feeling good' express
Reading CC do one, inevitably it's in Oxfordshire, because south of Reading has too few hills and not enough good cake stops.