great weather and a good route for the 100 miler, but overall disappointed with the organisation of the sportive - especially for 45 quid entry fee

feed stations didnt have enough water and all food had to be paid for, route marking was poor in places (at least a couple of dozen riders sent the wrong way at the 24m mark by marshal on motor bike) and what a wasted opportunity for a great finish. not many sportives will have the prestige of finishing on a race circuit but the finish was flat - no organisation and not even a bottle of water for riders!. poor effort.

had been looking forward to this ride for months but definetly won't bother next year - far better organised events are around at half the cost.

Perhaps all thone who DNS knew something.

There again, why pay a £45 fee then DNS ?

I agree with paulo70.

At the end of the race we were met with just a clinical "What size t-shirt do you want?", no "well done" no water, anything... very poor.

Also the 100km was actually 112km on my Garmin by the time we finished. Not to whinge but a 12% inaccurracy doesn't help if you try to pace yourself correctly.

Also a nice certificate would have gone well with the medal which everyone got.

Was my first sportive so I can't compare but I can see how it could have been made better.

not a good event by a top ranked cycling magazine............

the road to the start / finish was like a BMX track, where was the matting???????

fed stations running out of water.......

Not a good day for cycling plus.......

I think the above is all a little harsh, I for one had a great day out. Riding around the circuit was amazing - even managed to find some energy to give it full gas on the circuit at the end of the 100 miles. All the feed stations were well stocked with free SIS bars, gels and water when I was at them (can't comment on what happened later). At one stage my mate and I cycled a few miles in a small bunch of 3 - the other member being Graeme Obree! How cool is that? Chatting to a world champ like you're out on a club run, brilliant and something I'll remember for a long time. Once I'd finished one of the Cycling Plus editors came and had a chat with me after I crossed the line, really friendly bloke (sorry - can't remember your name, was a bit knackered after sprinting up that hill into the wind towards the timing mat. Didn't have enough cerebral blood flow to lay down new memories)

I grew up in the White Peak and still go back to do a lot of my riding there, I know that area very well but the course still managed to take me down some lanes I'd never been down before and will defiantly be riding them again, I felt the course was really well set out and clearly way marked.

No matter what you do when you set up something that big some people are going to find something to grumble about (and the complaints may be just, I don't know) and this group of people are probably self selecting to post on threads like this as they want to vent their displeasure but I for one had a great day out.

Big thumbs up from me!

I agree with jon208 (not just because my name is Jon). I had a fantastic day out. I don't think you could ask for a better day's challenging cycling. The scenery was breathtaking and it felt like the roads were closed they were so quiet.

I stopped at all the feed stations which were well stocked with water not to mention as many free SIS energy gels/bars you could fit into your pockets which aren't cheap!

The locals were pleasant and fully supportive of the event which is far cry from the sabotage witnessed at the Etape Caledonia a couple of weeks ago (£54 to enter)

I agree that it wasn't necessarily obvious where to go at the end and some matting perhaps would have been useful to cover the gravel but this is the first time the event has happened and there was lots of other things going on. I'm sure they will improve this for next year and that was hardly the end of the world.

I was pleased with my chunky gold medal and t-shirt plus I hadn't been to the area before but I'll certainly be returning next year if not sooner!

This was a good course, well signed and the feed stations were well supplied with water and free gels (at least when I was at them). Of course improvements can be made but this is true of any event and I am sure next year will have a few less wrinkles, along with a few new ones to iron out. As for the cost, sign up earlier as it only cost me £25 for the ride +weekend.

Ps, hello to all those I rode and chatted with, this made it a very friendly and enjoyable ride.

Regards

Number one.

Our group of 8 (4 riders, 4 non riders) had a great wknd. The Animal stunt show was amazing !! Trialling bikes both on the track and off road was excellent although could prove expensive as I much preferred the Scott Genius 10 to the 50 ! Hopefully a few more manufacturers will be showing next year.

4 of us entered the 115km ;o) sportive but thought the route was very good. We didn't experience having to pay for any gels etc but would have preferred a more grab a go water option for those those who just wanted to fill up and get going again.

Camping field could have done with a few more toilets but they were regularly cleaned. the showers were great.

All in all a great first effort and will be back next year.

Must admit i really enjoyed it , im down as dns but thats probally cause i came in last (race no 175) in total time 10 h 46 mins , they had stopped timing by then , i was greated well and had loads of people shaking my hand and congratulating me.

I think some of the negative comments are a little harsh.

I was a broken man after a tough day in hot conditions but felt it was a good event. The route markings were for the most part good. I guess some locals had moved some signs causing me to go off route on a couple of occasions leaving my total mileage nearer to 108! I think the lesson to be learnt for me is buy a GPS or have back up maps. I wouldnt want to be worrying about navigation at that stage of the day though as had all on cycling! :-)

The feed stations were well stocked with water, SIS drinks and as many gels and bars as you could need which probably kept me going! Perhaps it would make sense to have more than 1 stall at the first station to get things moving a bit quicker (or maybe i should train harder and get there quicker!),

Marshalls also checked on me enroute giving me water etc.

Big thumbs up also. Great day!

Rich

Does anyone know where the offical photos are?

Overall I feel it was a good day, a great route and fantastic weather.

Admittedly as mentioned above, some small organisational flaws, but hopefully for next year these will improve.

P.s. Cycling Plus, talk to your "Howie", his Midland Monster was, apart from the weather, spot on!

I did the 100 miler, it was really tough, really hot, and I got cramp in both legs and my feet are still numb.

Given all the pain it was brilliant. There will always be areas for improvement, but overall well organised. Maybe at the finish they could have had some recovery powder and water.

Really loved the ride particularly around Llam, as part of my training for the l'etape it will be a great help.

Al

Great day, was my first sportif and I was really chuffed to complete it. However I agree about the finish, some drinks as you crossed the line would have been really welcome, and it was a bit of a pain that the 60 miles was 70, especially if you'd drained your bottles and given it the beans thinking you were nearly there. It was only the altitude of the airliners on approach that suddenly made me realise that there was still a long way to go!

But still a very good first event, hopefully it will be back next year...improvements should be more toilets (although they were clean), more trade stands to buy kit, a tent for the DJ sessions as it was too cold outside, and perhaps some healthier options in the food department. The weather made the weekend, it would have been a one day show for me if it had not been so nice.

But I'll be back, and signing up for the 100 miler next time!

Thanks Bikeradar team!!!

As a 68 year old doing his first sportive (100mile) what a fantastic day out. I was part of the group that was sent the wrong way at 24k but having a road map with me we were soon back on route.

Lots of teething problems but I am sure it will be put right next year.

Just one thing my wife and daughter travelled 30 miles to see me finish but either had to pay £12 each at 4.00 to get in or sit on the back outside the gate. I am sure that an area could be found near the finish for friends and family to cheer the cyclists in. After 100miles it would have been welcome.

I also had the good luck to park next to Karen Popplewell and Dan White from Team Cycling Plus and what a friendly helpful pair. Karen even had the time to say a cheery hello again as she flashed by me at 30 mph atfter 20mile, never to be seen again!!!! Dan had the time to chat to me and my family for over half an hour after the sportive. Lets hear more about these smashing people (Team CPlus) in Cycling Plus please.

I am now a sportive addict!!

Yeah, getting there at 1650 on Friday evening, to be met by a massive queue of traffic and people wasn't great. There was some trouble in getting it open and stuff...eventually opening at 1720. The stands inside on Fri PM weren't really ready and a lot of them were half assed about talking etc. Though the were all much, much better on Sat PM. Probably just have registration next year on the Fri PM.

The morning of the sportive was distinctly under impressive, organisation wise, but, once we got going it was okay. Not too impressed with the feed stations lacking pre-filled bottles, but FREE SIS stuff was ace, however, paying for normal food was not. Some of the signs were a bit last minute, especially on the RH turns, being a local it wasn't too much trouble though. I think the route changed quite a bit from the one on Bikely???

I loved the route though and £25 for the sportive, a medal and rag (T-Shirt) and weekend entry was awesome. Will I do it next year? Will I ever!!! Great day out cycling there and back from Derby, then 100 miles in the Peaks with club mates was truly awesome. Just think of it as £25 for weekend entry and a free sportive...

Oh, and where are the photos? Just upload them all to Picasa/flickr or something...c'mon!

Where are all the photos of the event????????

This was mine and my Brothers first Sportive race and i thought it was ace.

People have commented on a lack of water and free food... Well we both had free water, energy drinks/gels and bars. So i dunno what the people whinging above are on about...?

The only poor part of organisation that i could see was at the start of the race. The 8am start time was actually an hour later at 9am but aside from that it was all good.

Well signposted and plenty of Marshals.

Having only ridden Mountain Bikes before i did it on a hybrid and my Brother paul did it on a Hybrid with 8 Nexus gears!!!

I was always led to believe that road cyclists were a stuffy bunch, but i have to say that EVERYONE was really nice. Dead supportive and encouaging with no sneers or nastiness about the bikes we were using!

We have both said we're gonna do some more and are considering buying road bikes now...

All in all we had a great weekend and it's definately wetted my apetite for cycling even more!

Jamie Swinfield

I had a few admin problems before the event however the event did meet most of my expectations! I do think that the organizers did a good job but also feel that they have a need to inquire from some who took part for constructive advise on how to make the GOOD - BETTER. for 2010.

As an outsider looking in [I competed and organized at the highest level in an un-related sport] I say again "a great job was done" - I rode the 100K which may have been a little longer than thought but it was a challange met!.

If I was scoring out of ten I would give a 10 the all the staff/team for the effort put in to make this happen and I would give 8 out of ten for it not being perfect.

Will I be at Donington Bike Radar in 2010 - even my wife could not stop me.

C+ had too much going on over the weekend to organise the sportive well, I was sent the wrong way buy a bike marshall after querying the route with him after seeing an arrowed sign blown round the back of a lamp post, I did four miles in the wrong direction taking two other guys with me only for the same bike marshall to roar up alongside us a say "youve gone the wrong way" brilliant! The pig pen at the pre-start, the unessesary wait for the actual start which was very late and the totally naff finish with only fairground food on offer was unacceptable at these prices. C+ gave out a lot of pre event info about how to ride a sportive, maybe it's time for them to take some advice on how to run one. Example:- Epic Cycles Spring Challenge, Devil Ride and Autumn Epic and there is always my clubs Grand Fondo Cymru with it's first class website as an example.