Author Topic: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor  (Read 93279 times)

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #700 on: 03 June, 2015, 10:45:18 pm »
Ta Da!
Drumroll !

ACP brevet numbers are up.
Super speedy work by organiser and validation team  (I claim no credit, my bit only takes 5 minutes anyway)

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #701 on: 03 June, 2015, 10:50:12 pm »
I just picked up a ton of equipment from WCW and handed it over to DelphCyclist ready for A Pair of Kirtons this weekend. Another pallet load has been collected from alfapete and delivered in time for the 9 Counties. I just need to settle up with a couple of controllers and the event is done.  :thumbsup:

There were three of the LEL team helping on WCW, as well as our admin man and three controllers. At least two volunteers will run controls at LEL2017 and I'm waiting for the right time to ask a third if he fancies a crack at a control. Running a LEL control is a big job, so I'm keen to keep these people fresh until then. That's why WCW won't run until 2019.

Thank you ever so much for all your praise for this event. I think it brought out the best in the fantastic controllers and their teams of volunteers. We learnt a lot from LEL that we applied to this event, and there are a few lessons for the next LEL.

See you in London!

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #702 on: 03 June, 2015, 10:52:49 pm »
I have to say that AlfaPete's experience from LEL certainly showed at the Hartlebury control. He was absolutley on top of his game from start to finish.
You're only as successful as your last 1200...

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #703 on: 03 June, 2015, 10:59:58 pm »
I tried and failed to do something which was right at the edge of my abilities. Even with lovely full service controls, it was a challenge and adventure.

I wasn't culled.

There's no fault here. I'm glad I threw myself at this ride and every ride I've attempted and/or completed this year. I'm not going to feel too bad that I mentally and physically struggle with distances over TWO HUNDRED BLOODY MILES.

It bears repeating: THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY MILES IS A BLOODY LONG WAY, even with nice people feeding you potatoes and cakes.

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #704 on: 03 June, 2015, 11:07:34 pm »
There's no fault here. I'm glad I threw myself at this ride and every ride I've attempted and/or completed this year. I'm not going to feel too bad that I mentally and physically struggle with distances over TWO HUNDRED BLOODY MILES.

I hope you stick at audaxing and keep your promise to yourself to raise your game. I've enjoyed having you round these last two seasons. And thanks for coming all the way to Windsor to essentially ride home.

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #705 on: 03 June, 2015, 11:22:16 pm »
I average approx 20 kmh on 200+ audax rides, I divided the distance by that and knew how much time I had to spend in the saddle and how much sleep/feed/faff time I had. Ignored the 15.whatever kmh for the ride and had my own schedule based on the distance/climbing/my ability.

Simples :-) I had just over 30 hours ACTUAL riding that fitted the "plan".

As for the additional 8 hr 45 minutes? That was spend enjoying the controls and down to bad discipline at controls where I made myself too comfortable. I however feel my strategy worked even though it was fluid dependant on the weather at Chester - I stayed there 4 hours though I only slept for 90 mins, the rest was feed/drink/recuperation time.

Same as any ride that is OD, yes I would prefer the time to match the distance as it was an additional hours riding but you know what you are entering (apart from that ba***rd of a hill just out from Henley).

There did seem to be  a perception it was flat or flattish, remove that and set the expectation it ain't and it may ensure people are more certain of what they are undertaking.

Knowing is not enough, we must APPLY.
Willing is not enough, we must DO.

Smeth

  • less Grimpeur than Whimpeur...
Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #706 on: 03 June, 2015, 11:25:17 pm »
Ta Da!
Drumroll !

ACP brevet numbers are up.
Super speedy work by organiser and validation team  (I claim no credit, my bit only takes 5 minutes anyway)

Numbers have not quite got to PBP registration site yet. Off to bed - I'll have another go tmrw.

WCW 2015 - Lost for words had to go to Oxford English Dictionary....

superb
suːˈpəːb,sjuː-/Submit
adjective
1.
very good; excellent.
"a superb performance"
synonyms:   excellent, superlative, first-rate, first-class, superior, supreme, outstanding, remarkable, dazzling, marvellous, magnificent, wonderful, splendid, admirable, noteworthy, impressive, fine, exquisite, exceptional, glorious, sublime, perfect, of the first order, of the first water; More
2.
impressively splendid.
"the Bey of Tunis was building himself a superb mausoleum"
synonyms:   magnificent, majestic, splendid, grand, impressive, imposing, awe-inspiring, breathtaking; More

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #707 on: 03 June, 2015, 11:34:12 pm »
There did seem to be  a perception it was flat or flattish, remove that and set the expectation it ain't and it may ensure people are more certain of what they are undertaking.

I was thinking earlier about a horrid section of hills I've ridden this year, in a place I didn't expect them. I couldn't place the ride then realised it was test riding the WCW route between Droitwich and Weston Subedge. Oof!

The extra distance is a minor factor here, despite all the shrieking from MoanyMinter. The hills caught folk out, as did the wind. The validators tell me average time on WCW appear to be around 4 hours longer than on Flatlands. There are only a couple of big-ish hills on this ride, but a lot of steep little ones. I'll point that out next time more forcefully.

Hummers

  • It is all about the taste.
Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #708 on: 03 June, 2015, 11:39:24 pm »
This may sound pervy but I enjoyed the lumpy bits.

 :smug:

H

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #709 on: 03 June, 2015, 11:49:07 pm »
despite all the shrieking

Is there just as much freedom to call people names in the other direction?
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #710 on: 04 June, 2015, 01:39:28 am »
despite all the shrieking

Is there just as much freedom to call people names in the other direction?

Given that alwyn ain't nothin' but a hound dawg ...




(Does sound to have been a Rather Good event. Having enjoyed last year's iteration, I'm increasingly sorry to have missed this one and to realise there's another four years to wait. Hmmph.)

Cycling Daddy

  • "We shall have an adventure by and by," said Don Q
Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #711 on: 04 June, 2015, 05:28:38 am »
I luckily don't know how strict organisers were with regard to riders arriving out of time, but there obviously is an issue if riders who shortened the route were homolgated while those who stuck to it and arrived out of time due to the OD were disqualified.

How is this a problem when no rules were broken?

I assumed that BRM rides were run subject to ALL ACP rules, but that does not seem to be the case. My bad, sorry! Good to know for future rides.





*Ce n’est pas ma faute / Je n’en sais rien.

The French Shrug

These phrases usually accompanies the good old Gallic shrug—raised shoulders, raised eyebrows, lower lip thrust out, hands held up like you are being robbed. Meaning: It’s not my fault / I don’t know (how that happened).
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

αdαmsκι

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Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #712 on: 04 June, 2015, 06:40:37 am »
ACP brevet numbers are up.
Super speedy work by organiser and validation team  (I claim no credit, my bit only takes 5 minutes anyway)

Wow, that's really speedy. Thanks. :thumbsup:
What on earth am I doing here on this beautiful day?! This is the only life I've got!!

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marcusjb

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Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #713 on: 04 June, 2015, 08:12:51 am »
This may sound pervy but I enjoyed the lumpy bits.

 :smug:

H

being on fixed, I knew which section would be tough on the way home! It was really odd, on the way out we had gentle climbs and some steep descents, so I know it would be a bit of work on the way home.

I was pleased with my climbing this time, I had struggled a lot towards the end of my 400.

I had a couple of little walks, Howe Hill near Stoner being the one I really remember.

I made it around 5300m of ascent for the 600 - so nothing overly crazy, but equally, far from flat.

There is no such thing as an easy 600.  Riding 600km on a bike in 40 hours is never going to be ever so easy and the terrain and weather are just factors in the equation.

The route was one of the most delightful routes I have ever done on a 600 - so many little lanes that are forgotten by all but locals.  Loved it!  It was a great surprise to me just how pretty some of the midlands bits were - not a bit of the world I know well.   

It amazed me how we threaded our way around conurbations and stayed laney and rural most of the way. Even the little hop through droitwich was hardly noticeable as we made the little cut through.

I can not think of a better way to have qualified for PBP than going back to our roots and doing WCW (I know it's a different animal to the WCW of years gone by, but the world is a very different place as well).

Having full control support was amazing. I know I can often come across as a bit hair shirt and into the self sufficiency and suffering (and indeed, I love rides like the HGWI1300 ever so much), but I am equally comfortable with this style of event and hope that we will see some more larger and well supported events (I do put my foot down at bag drops on a 600 though!).  Who doesn't love a bit of pampering? Best bit of pampering was the christleton control where a plate of food was put on the table before I even sat down (and it was delicious, the pancake things with vegetables and beans - nom nom nom! Toss up between that and Keith's bean stew as best dish of the ride)

2019 is a long way away, but I really hope that this event is run in a similar fashion again as I would 100% want to ride it again as my qualifier.
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #714 on: 04 June, 2015, 09:12:04 am »
It looks like less of a return to tradition from the northern end, as the old WCW had a concurrent Chester-Windsor-Chester. That's not to criticise an excellent event, which couldn't accommodate two starts, at that level of provision.

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #715 on: 04 June, 2015, 09:35:06 am »
MJB – thanks for the thumbs up about the route. In all the talk about whether the route was too long (it wasn’t) or too hilly (it wasn’t), whether it was any good seems to have got lost.

Devising a route between Windsor and Chester, that called at six village halls I could use, which dodged Berkshire conurbation, Oxford, Kidderminster, Droitwich, Wolverhampton and Chester, which kept off main roads and still came in under 630km (with a minimum distance as close as possible to 600km) AND which was pretty was a tough challenge. It took about seven full days to devise, write, ride, revise and finalise, and probably another day’s worth of general faff emailing, posting and last-minute checks for roadworks.

I’m particularly pleased with the route from Christleton to Market Drayton, and I hope to keep this section intact.

Keeff and I have had a chat about what we could do better next time, route-wise. Moving a couple of the controls, if we can secure bookings in time, could shave 10-20km off the actual route without reducing the minimum distance. It would also save money by using controls with better facilities. I’d like to remove a couple of climbs, but only because they’re long climbs up fairly busy roads. I may decide to use the reduced distance to take out the section of the A44. Plenty of time to think about that though, and I won’t turn my mind to it until after LEL.

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #716 on: 04 June, 2015, 09:37:12 am »
It looks like less of a return to tradition from the northern end, as the old WCW had a concurrent Chester-Windsor-Chester. That's not to criticise an excellent event, which couldn't accommodate two starts, at that level of provision.

I didn't know that. It might actually be feasible to do too. I'll have a think about that.

Salvatore

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Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #717 on: 04 June, 2015, 09:37:41 am »
It looks like less of a return to tradition from the northern end, as the old WCW had a concurrent Chester-Windsor-Chester. That's not to criticise an excellent event, which couldn't accommodate two starts, at that level of provision.
There was also a Kidderminster start when I rode it, as well as Northwich and Marlow. Incidentally it also featured a control at a Little Chef (now disappeared) in Thame which refused to serve cyclists.
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Salvatore

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Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #718 on: 04 June, 2015, 09:43:22 am »

Devising a route between Windsor and Chester,

If you want to stick to tradition, then have the start and turn in places other than Windsor and Chester!

I don't think the 'old' WCW ever started at Windsor (I think the very first one started at Beaconsfield, but I may be wrong), or turned at Chester (unless you define 'Windsor' and 'Chester' to include anywhere within about 50km).

Some more history (from http://www.audax.org.au/pdf/checkpoint/cp9.pdf):
Quote from: John Nicholas
The 600 kilometre Windsor-Chester-Windsor was “cobbled together” in a matter of
weeks and, in retrospect, one can only be amazed that controls were set up and participants
found in so short a time.


Quote
There were those who were willing to dismiss the first W-C-W as a one-off effort
but the 1977 event saw the entry doubled. In 1978, the W-C-W had more participants than
the national ‘24’ and in the P-B-P year, 1979, the event had more entrants than all 24s.
The Mersey RC had the sense to comprehend that, with the right kind of encouragement,
the hard-riding members of AUK could be converted to the 24 hour scene.

Quote
The W-C-W had well over one hundred entries in 1979 and the AUK team for the
P-B-P numbered 58, of whom 54 were successful. Not bad going for just over three years
of effort.

The next quadrennial, leading to the 1983 P-B-P saw more growth with the W-C-W
having over a hundred entrants each year until, in 1983, the entry rose above 150. This
was despite the creation of two further 600 kilometre events. 

Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #719 on: 04 June, 2015, 09:59:51 am »
Ta Da!
Drumroll !

ACP brevet numbers are up.
Super speedy work by organiser and validation team  (I claim no credit, my bit only takes 5 minutes anyway)

I have an ACP Brevet number for WCW but it doesn't seem to work when I try to register.... Is this a problem anyone else is having?

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #720 on: 04 June, 2015, 10:00:48 am »
It looks like less of a return to tradition from the northern end, as the old WCW had a concurrent Chester-Windsor-Chester. That's not to criticise an excellent event, which couldn't accommodate two starts, at that level of provision.

I didn't know that. It might actually be feasible to do too. I'll have a think about that.

If you started on a Friday from Chester, you could use commercial controls to Windsor, and catered controls on the return. Although I understand there are problems with the rules.

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #721 on: 04 June, 2015, 10:12:22 am »
I've also checked my previous post about the ride and would like to extend it slightly.

I didn't mind the fact that it was overdistance (in fact the overdistance took the start closer to my house which is how I managed to actually start in the first place after my issues on saturday).  I didn't mind that it was a bit hilly (on reflection, at the time I was less happy!), although it was worse than I'd expected because I rode it last year and then it hadn't occurred to me that the route would be significantly different.  Yeah... Not expecting any sympathy for that particular bit of stupidity.

I really liked the route, apart from a couple of climbs on main roads which I'm not a big fan of I thought it was really good.  The vast majority was on quiet lanes and I encountered very few cars over the weekend.  Well done Danial!  I think the only complaint I could have is to echo the point that some others have made about the info controls as it was only just light enough to see the colour of the door when I got to it and there were riders behind me (although not many!).  But that's me really trying hard to find something to complain about!

In summary of my two posts, this audax was excellent.

Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #722 on: 04 June, 2015, 10:28:30 am »
I have an ACP Brevet number for WCW but it doesn't seem to work when I try to register.... Is this a problem anyone else is having?

ACP allocates the numbers - and, this season, does so in a new way which means we can get the numbers on to AUK system really fast. 
We've been running the new system all year and it is well run-in and, now, problem-free.

I was also rather impressed with the PBP system which gave me a drop-down showing all my 200, 300, 400, qualifiers up to that point.

What we don't know is how they cross-deck the names/ brevet numbers from the ACP database to the PBP entry system.   
My guess is that it isn't automated, and will need someone to do a bit of copy & paste every few days.

You can register with your 200,300,400km rides, pay, confirm your place etc and then go back in later (any time up until July 14 IIRC) to fill in the brevet number of your 600.

Give it a few days and if still not working I'll talk to bods over in ACP.

redfalo

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Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #723 on: 04 June, 2015, 10:35:01 am »
I just picked up a ton of equipment from WCW and handed it over to DelphCyclist ready for A Pair of Kirtons this weekend. Another pallet load has been collected from alfapete and delivered in time for the 9 Counties. I just need to settle up with a couple of controllers and the event is done.  :thumbsup:

There were three of the LEL team helping on WCW, as well as our admin man and three controllers. At least two volunteers will run controls at LEL2017 and I'm waiting for the right time to ask a third if he fancies a crack at a control. Running a LEL control is a big job, so I'm keen to keep these people fresh until then. That's why WCW won't run until 2019.

Thank you ever so much for all your praise for this event. I think it brought out the best in the fantastic controllers and their teams of volunteers. We learnt a lot from LEL that we applied to this event, and there are a few lessons for the next LEL.

See you in London!

As already expressed on AUK's Facebook page earlier this week: Many thanks to Danial and everyone else involved in making this outstanding weekend happen. The route went through the best of English countryside, mostly on traffic free lanes. While I saw a fair bit of dodgy driving, I wasn't bothered too much by the A road sections.

As many people have noted before: The controls were the most impressive part of the ride - manned with an army of super-friendly volunteers serving delicious home-cooked food and giving moral support. I am particularly grateful for the latter! I was also surprised to see what a difference it makes at a control when you don't have to queue, order your food, wait until it's being served.

I found the ride bloody tough (it was my first 600) and panicked on the way back because I thought I was close to the wire. I eventually finished with 2 hours in hand, despite a complicated puncture which required booting the tyre and another visitation at my cycling buddy's bike.

And the super-fast validation is the icing on the cake. Just utterly outstanding, many thanks again!

Here are some pix.




If you can't convince, confuse.

https://cycling-intelligence.com/ - my blog on cycling, long distances and short ones

Salvatore

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Re: Coming soon - the all new Windsor-Chester-Windsor
« Reply #724 on: 04 June, 2015, 11:08:17 am »
I remember that giant whisk looming out of the darkness. I think the sign nearby said it was a cookery school.
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur