Velo Birmingham saboteurs fail to spoil day for riders and locals

I was in the second to last start pen, and suffered from "bunching" on a number of occassions, at a couple of points having to stop completely as the road just didn't have the capacity to handle the number of riders.  Unlike Ride London where faster riders start earliest, start pens did not seem to be determined by estimated finish times and no doubt this added to the bunching issues.

The queues for the feed stations were so long I didn't bother using them and relied on gels and energy bars I carried with me.  At the first feed stop the queues blocked the road for those who didn't want to stop - partly a result of choosing a poor location for the feed stop.

As noted elsewhere,  the organisers vans caused blockages as well - at one point four of them parked one behind the other ..... on a bend.

The ride itself was definitely harder than Ride London.  It was disappointing that the start of the single significant climb wasn't indicated.

Universally the crowds were brilliant and created great a atmosphere in the villages and towns.  Putting rider names as well as numbers on the bike was a fantastic idea.

All in all I enjoyed the ride and the event, but felt it was let down by poor organisation.  The ride itself 7/10, organisation 2/10.  WIll probably eneter again for next year, largely because there are so few closed road events.

For future events I'd prefer to see the Cycle Show and Velo Birmingham coming together in some way, with Velo registration at the Cycle Show rather than the completely atmosphere-less NIA.  Or, better still, just mail out the rider packs.

My start time was 7.25, but was delayed (don't know why?).

Thoroughly enjoyable ride, and yes, tougher than Prudential Ride London. Being one of the earlier starters I had no problems at the feed stations, although the last one just before 'Mount Ribble' was crowded with pub-goers cheering everyone on - all good fun though! Riding over the River Severn and up into Bewdley was the highlight for me. That and the fantastic support from the locals cheering complete strangers on. This far outweighed the few haters.

It’s always the same with the feed stations. I was about mid field and there were plenty of supplies but people were taking great handfuls of food after eating and stuffing their pockets  full to bursting.

Really enjoyed the ride, a lot harder than Ride London.

Didn't have issues with food as I carry sufficient with me. But water facilities could have been improved by having more taps - I didn't bother at the one in a lay by due to the queues, and had to put up with the wait at the stop at a petrol station (73 miles in?), shorter queue.

Overall a good day, with some improvements for next year.

Such a shame to hear the feed zones were a disaster for so many ... i stopped only at 75 miles (Droitwich) and the place was practically deserted... piles of stuff and many enthusiastic helpers. Feeling guilty for having a double espresso rather than single at the coffee shot station.... 

I had no problems with the event, very good course, very enjoyable day, well stocked food stations. If people got to food stations with no food, I would suggest cycling faster!! ☺

I am Staffordshire born and bred and lived in the black country for the last 13 years. When I heard about a closed road 100 mile sportive in Birmingham I could not miss it. This event has helped bring cycling to the Midlands. Yes it may have disrupted a few businesses and inconvenienced a few people on the roads but the bigger picture is it brought thousands of people into the city. It also brought 15000 cyclists to little towns and communities in the rural areas, and because of the support that was received I am sure many will return (I know I want to). It has also raised thousands of pounds for local and national charities. Yes there were teething problems with the event, the start waves slightly disjointed and little info being passed on, the feed stations not adequately stocked and in poor locations so people were queuing on the course and at the finish many people couldn't get in the arena at the end without a 40 min wait. The saddest thing was the saboteurs throwing tacks and oil on the course (I was 1 who picked up 2 flat tyres due to tacks). However, I will be back next year, I loved riding in my home area on beautiful roads being supported by large crowds, many who spent several hours on the course cheering people on, many giving water, fruit, cakes, gels and thousands of high 5's. Every single person was fantastic, however Bewdley was inspirational. I have done many events and nothing was like this.... special.

Really good route and with 2000m of climb more of a challenge than Ride London. But feedstations with no feed!! Queuing at a petrol station to buy Mars bars to see me through to the end was not in my ride plan.  Not even Jesus could have stretched out what was provided to feed 15,000. 

I couldn't ride through illness, but did go up to watch the missus compete. I really have to say, the people of Birmingham were super friendly and almost everyone seemed to get in to the spirit of it.

It was a great advert for your city and meant that  we really got to feel the warmth that you and your people had to offer, see how lovely the city's architecture is and spend hundreds of pounds each within the local economy in the process. I'm likely to return to Birmingham in a non-cyle related way as the event was a great advert for the region.

Closing the roads just once a year seems like a price worth paying for me.  

Many thanks  to Rachel and her kids and all the other wonderful people who cheered us on - a good day had by all it seems.

Great that this event went to well in the end, and the local support was so good.  I'm sure the tack spreaders will be disappointed.

Spreading tacks and oil is stupid, dangerous, and should surely be classified as a hate crime.  If any cyclist had been injured, or even killed as a result, would the police have caught the culprits and what would they have been prosecuted for?  And even if they were prosecuted and found guilty, what sentence would they have got?  Eighteen months?

Is tack dropping the new national pastime?

Hopefully some of the tacking idiots will forget where they tacked and do their own tyres in.

Riding on closed roads and the support in Bewdley, Halesowen and Clent was brilliant.

The feedstops were however a disastor, the biggest queues I have ever seen at this type of event and some ran out. There were too many riders for some of the roads & in some instances blockages were caused by the organisers own vans.

Overlall much better than I expected but a lot of work to be done !

Will the local inbreds be out stretching barbed wire over the road & dousing it with petrol for the 1/2 marathon?

WTF is up with people, the irony of it all of course is that the roads stay shut for longer to deal with the punctures etc.

I love Rachel Farrow's story and picture.

I rode the event and enjoyed it. I did see some tacks on the road. Lots of people punctured, but luckily I avoided it. It's shocking that someone thinks it's a good idea to throw bits of metal and nails on the road.

Now he has set the precedent, I assume Jesse Norman is going to be firing letters off to nail manufacturers and hardware shops. Or does he only do that when he thinks he can get some cheap popularity from right-wing tabloids?

There was nobody giving any information when we were waiting to start - there was just no member of staff there at all. Also, the feed stations were a total bunfight, and an important one at 55 miles had run out of food and water, which is unforgiveable.

The organisers did well on some aspects, and badly on others. Assuming they run it again, they really need to sharpen up.