Firstly, let me just say that the scenery was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately this is where the 'positives' end. The negatives are so numerous, I've decided to actaully number them:
1. The ride started twenty minutes late and en mass, which meant the early stages were very crowded - especially on the first hill, where there were many crashes as 2000 people tried not to collide with one another.
2. The road surfaces were very poor, with many holes (and many punctures) suffered. It would have been better to have brought a cross bike. Indeed, some people familiar with the roads turned up to do this "100 mile road bike suitable sportive" on a mountain bike! More should have been done to advise entrants of the road quality being so poor - gravel in places - unless the organisers seriously believe these are no worse than elsewhere in the country?
3. Route signage was sparse. There were too many junctions with no signage or marshalls, which meant that educated guesses had to be made. Many people ended up taking different routes based on the guesses they made! Signage was also lacking in providing warnings of sharp corners or steep descents - something that is pretty much standard on most sportives in the UK nowadays.
4. Not all roads were closed. This was advertised as a closed road sportive. Not only was this disappointing, it was dangerous as coming down a hill trying not to hit the potholes was hard enough, without trying to avoid on-coming traffic as well.
5. Feed stations were under-stocked. Water and bananas on a ride that cost £60 to enter? I was one of the lucky riders to see the water and bananas though, as I hear they ran out of BOTH later in the ride with half the field still to come through!
6. There was no sign of any motorcycle out-riders or mechanical support. Although I have heard that the Mavic van (was there only one?) got lost as it was relying on the route signage too.
7. There was no event control phone number or emergency number provided. Not particularly reassuring when you find yourself in the middle of no-where, without any route map, without marshalls or any support vehicles...
Well, I'm really sorry to come across as a moany old sod about this ride, but the truth is I was really looking forward to it and, having ridden many other sportives at a fraction of the cost, felt quite misled. I'm not alone either, as you can see many other opinions along the lines above, including the Cycling Weekly write-up. I've been offered a 25% discount on next year's ride, but with many other sportives to choose from I simply will not be taking the risk. Maybe I will in a few years if this is still going and the organisers learn how to put on such an event.
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