Guest EPCC Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Anothe great trip My report we'll have to start with the hovel sorry hostel 4 sets of bunks small room seven guys never going to be good, plus we got an extra to fill the room 0400 alarm which resulted in me getting no real sleep . Ride to start in the dark was fun got there in good time and all started in wave A The start was fast and it was faiy evident that you will have to be on the lookout for chippers About ten mile in you hit an underpass up to this me and Paul were dragging Charlie Tom and Porto up to Alex don't know what my watts were but felt hard but comfy under the underpass a massive crash happened Alan came down but got up ok I went to the right and just about thinking that was close a numb nuts ran straight into my hip , though I managed to stay upright until the guy that hit me fell off and his bike took me down Back up carried on with one sore hip shoulder and arm caught Alan who told me the rest were caught in the crash so sauntered for a while but never saw them Was now suffering cramp and stiff leg carried on on my own by now holding a wheel was not an option was looking to do about 420 think I was 5 40 Sportive are really becoming too dangerous more than half don't have a clue how to ride in a bunch One numpty whilst trying to take a selfie took out about 8 riders he stayed upright George and iain couttie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2024 Subscriptions Darryl Gunson Posted August 2, 2015 2024 Subscriptions Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Well done guys. Glad you survived! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Michael Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Billy u drunk? Never went down in tunnel crash or spoke to you during the ride. George 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EPCC Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Clarify nearly went down and Alex not drunk blind and dislectic Alan Michael and George 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions George Posted August 2, 2015 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Dislectic? Do you have a spell uncheck on your phone? Richie Cross 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Michael Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Well drunk or not our last night in London has ended up in bed for 10. Total light weights. Head phones in, can of beer and the ramones 😃 not all bad Richie Cross 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexb Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Presume you meant Alan Billy? Â Good run, but loads of crashes - even before we got to the start line there was a guy being treated with a head injury. Â Route was really nice, really well marshalled and organised event. Â With us all in the very front group the plan was to catch Iain and try and hold a JWCC group for a few miles. Best laid plans and all that... Headed through the front group to try and claw Iain back in. First tunnel, darkness, sunglasses isn't the best combination. Alan and I around 59 riders back from the very front and carnage ensued. Riders and bikes going down everywhere with screams, carbon scraping noises, and the panicked warning shouts echoed throughout the tunnel. I got through the smallest of gaps (this all around 35 mph) and fortunately Alan was right on my line too. This created quite a gap and we worked like hell to pull in the very leading group and Iain. Â Another small crash and we were on the group and with Iain. Stunned to see idiots taking selfies as we hammered through the city and one such idiot created the crash that Alan and Iain got caught up in. Another small gap for me with Iain and Alan on the deck. A broken shifter seemed to put Alan's day to an end 16 miles in... Â By the time we had tried to get Alan's bike on the road again various JWCC had passed us. A scraped Billy slowed to check we were okay and Iain and I worked to pull into a suitable bunch. After that it was pretty plain sailing, although permanently on edge for more crashes. Â Leith Hill was a killer. Box Hill was smooth and constant. Pretty nice actually. The route was excellent, but the sheer number of cyclists and the varying degrees of road sense kept an edge to the day. Â My mechanical prowess showed later as my handlebars worked loose forcing another stop about 65-70 miles in. Worked back onto a decent bunch and that was pretty much it until the final sprint up Pall Mall and meeting Iain after the line. Â Stunned to see Alan cross the line around 5 minutes later. Â Some incredible times too (Garmin - crash adjusted!). Iain at 4,18.27, me at 4,19.01, and with some calculation we worked Alan's time around 4,15ish. 8 wheelers - 3 crashes. Not a good percentage. Â Thanks to Alan for the Stella in the park. Great recovery! Â Thanks to Charlie for the "accommodation". Never again... 100 mile ride after 30 mins sleep wasn't the best plan ever. Â A great day, a good weekend in London, and a decent sleep last night thankfully. Hope all got / get home okay. iain couttie, ginty001 and JaneF 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark O Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Sounds like an interesting day out. Hope you all get up the road in one piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions PaulL Posted August 3, 2015 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Having a few pear ciders on the train to Glasgow with Alan after a good nights sleep in the hostel. It was a fast and fun day(everyone survived) well done to all. Â Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavieB Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Alex, Paul by injection of reason and sanity you have ruined the best thread ever .....comedy gold from Billy.  BTW were they using selfie sticks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions thejanullrichdietplan Posted August 3, 2015 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Enjoyable day despite the crashes. Most of the riders in the lead group were members of clubs and race teams so they dont have the excuse of inexperience for doing daft stuff, whether it be holding their lines, divebombing or taking selfies! To be fair the group size was huge (200 or so) and the vast majority were fine but it only takes a handful of idiots to cause multiple knock on problems when there are so many riders together and moving fast.  After the crash a couple of large groups went by, unfortunately it looked like Alan couldnt continue due to his shifter but my bike was ok and i was only sore rather than injured so continued on with Alex just as Billy passed with some nasty looking road rash. Hope it didnt sting too much in the shower afterwards! We tried to chase back on, going through Richmond Park and beyond. That was fun, we were jumping from small group to small group - was nice to pretend for a few minutes to be Cancellara at E3 a few years back. Eventually collected another few riders and got some help working and caught up with Charlies group then the combined group made it the big group in front with Tom and Paul in it just before the hills started. The hills - Newlands was alright, Leith was tough and longer than i remember and Box Hill was dare i say it enjoyable! The final tough bit was a climb after a tight left hander at Wimbledon once over the top it was a fast 10 mile run in to the finish and past all the sights.  Anyway sorry i couldnt stick around for long after the finish, had intended to make it back for the pro race but couldnt make it in the end.  Looking at the time splits to those that finished in the top 20 then the crash i was involved in (not so much the time on the deck but the miles afterwards being out of lead group) basically cost about 10 minutes before the hills started. I think i'd have been able to stay with them until Leith Hill quite comfortably otherwise. It would have cost Alan even more as he had more time waiting to get things sorted. So thanks to Alex for stopping and making sure we were both ok, you would likely have been knocking on the door of a top 100 placing otherwise! alexb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexb Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Alex, Paul by injection of reason and sanity you have ruined the best thread ever .....comedy gold from Billy.  BTW were they using selfie sticks? Sorry Davie! I've had a full weekend of comedy gold starting with a room that was at most 14 foot x 9 foot.  For 8.  I think I hid my displeasure well and didn't really comment on it too much... George, iain couttie and DavieB 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions George Posted August 3, 2015 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Alex, you should have booked the Crowne Plaza. Basic but reasonably priced. Richie Cross and alexb 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions P McDonald Posted August 4, 2015 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 Sounds like a crazy adventure. Glad all in one piece ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Subscriptions charlie p Posted August 5, 2015 2023 Subscriptions Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 Another excellent jwcc adventure. First of all well done to Ian for making sure we had 2 teams in. Well done to me for arranging luxurious accommodation within 3 miles of finish. Ignore the moans from others the hostel was fit for purpose. Cosy room for team bonding hot running water and our own bike shed The sportive in the main was run like clockwork. Only problem I encountered was a car appearing on route when av speed was 30 mph plus and nearly caused a major pile up. Jwcc set off at a very fast pace which had me gasping by Richmond Park but after that it settled down and I had a fairly comfortable ride after that with one brief pit stop for call of nature. The Chinese curry the night before was to blame. As I got back on my bike I saw big Al pass. I joined the group behind and saw Al ahead till box hill. After box hill I got my second wind and had a fairly swift run back leading one group for a few miles then piggybacking on to a faster group who took me into London. That part was fun. Paul Leavy & Tom Hill were both in great form. Billy was clearly out of sorts after his crash and the speed merchants have already told you their tales. Special mention has to go to Ian Porteous who with very little training showed true Corinthian spirit in completing the sportive. He still had the energy to share his discomfort by sending us hilarious text messages and images. His classic was that his strava went to auto pause when going up Leith Hill. I would recommend this sportive as a must do. Ps there is a Crown Plaza alexb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexb Posted August 5, 2015 Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 Good point Charlie, I forgot none of this would have been possible without Iain. Thanks Iain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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