Dartmoor Classic Sportive 2012. its coming!

I will drink to that! And have a small piece of cheddar!

Next year....Gold But I said that last year, and the year before and the year before that

Ouch lots of ouch and what happened to your local knowledge Gold medal fever?

My climbing ability is coming back; hooray! Saw a lot of people who seemed new to cycling but the only a**ehole was having a wee whilst sitting on his bike on the tarmac halfway up a climb...why? Does 'doing an event' mean that you can commit a public order offence? But he was not as bad as someone having a wee against someones front gate in Lydford a couple of years ago; how to give cyclists a good name? As well as plenty of litter despite the organisers begging people not to litter or urinate irresponsibly! Today I saw the 'Tavistock Taskforce' collecting litter along the route; bet they love cyclists now! But I did see a nasty accident, an ambulance and police car on blues and other emergency vehicles looking like they were on the way to incidents...anyone know if there were any significant incidents?

Had a few moments when i thought i was Cav on stage 3 of the Giro, when Roberto Ferrari cut across him!!

Too many riders cutting across each other on steep climbs and as for a certain larger rider (colnago bike) overtaking on a decent in the wet round a corner on the wrong side of the road............gggrrrrrr

I got a lot of cheers bagpuss and thanked them for it! I think that doing this route on a mountain bike should get a special mention...there was not too many of you!

I think any medal was well earned yesterday!! The harsh headwind in the morning was definately easing. The first 30 miles hurt!! You are right about the 600 that could not be bothered poor weather and lack of knowledge of rule 9 (above) could be an issue!

Only managed bronze again (100km) but a much better time in last year even if the first 30 miles was a killer
push myself for that elusive silver next year......

Plus with 2800 places available and sold; 600 riders still didn't show up!!!

Did not get the time I wanted and the weather in morning But as the day went on Waterproof suncream was a prophetic good call Bagpuss!

Forecast for Sunday A bit windy possibly.

Bad weather s**t roads this Classic sounds like it is going to be a....classic! As far as the big pot-hole is concerned can you send it to http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ which is the CTC's website for reporting pot-holes; that way if anyone suffers damage or injury then it is fairly straight forward to make a legal claim. What the authority do not reasonably know about cannot be claimed for in negligence. What they DO know about..... New frame/wheels anyone?

I'll be riding the short one. I'm keeping a mate company as it's his first sportive. It'll be my first ride on Dartmoor and I can't wait! 3600 miles under the belt this year so my legs should be fine.

I rode the 65-miler yesterday on the club run, as a training ride for the 104-mile on Sunday. My training has been lacking and re-acquainting myself with some of the climbs hasn't exactly inspired me! The first 35 miles just seem to be endlessly upwards!

For info:

-There's a monster pothole at the top of the initial climb up onto the moor out of Bovey. I double-punctured yesterday when I didn't manage to avoid it.

-The roads are generally covered in detritus - stones, bits of tree, etc, from all the recent poor weather. Stay away from the kerb and expect other riders swerving at random.

-The roads between Holne Chase & Princetown have been "surfaced dressed" (i.e. covered in tar and then gravel). There are stone chippings all over the place at the road edges and the section into Princetown has been relatively recently done.

-The descent into Moretonhampstead has 3 sections where the top layer of tarmac has been removed for resurfacing. At present, we're working to determine if it's going to be sorted for the day, but be wary of it.

Have just been reminded about rule 9, "If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Fair-weather riding is a luxury reserved for Sunday afternoons and wide boulevards. Those who ride in foul weather – be it cold, wet, or inordinately hot – are members of a special club of riders who, on the morning of a big ride, pull back the curtain to check the weather and, upon seeing rain falling from the skies, allow a wry smile to spread across their face. This is a rider who loves the work". So change my smiley above to Dartmoor when the weathers bad is fantastic; honest!

always one kill joy! long range forecast looking good

Make sure the suncream is waterproof

And the weather IS going to break sunburn anyone Don't forget the suncream

Yep I am in; doing the 100mile again. Training going well I have got in a few hilly 140km rides at decent pace...and I have been lucky with the rain. Weather looked bad rode anyway but have only got soaked once! Gold this year is the plan but it was last year (snapped chain), and the year before(Broken saddle), and the year before that(too slow)! Studying and marathon running gets in the way! How is your training going? And anyone know a good campsite or good value accomodation nearby?

Training not been great this year for me!
This will be my 2nd year and doing the 100km route again but feel good.
Trying to get rides in with this bloody rain isn't helping. Gonna brave the wind tomorrow for couple hours......