Re:
Pretty good Jim. My reflections after a couple of days... Really well organised - Great wee event village at the Eden Theatre, pick up your number/tag day before, rolling start on the day, closed roads (almost worth the entry price alone), 3 well stocked feed stops, free Harry Gow donut thing and slurp of beer at the end. For having over 4,500 folk riding, it didn't feel all that crowded.
The ride itself was pretty straightforward - one bastard of a climb half-way round (5.3 miles averaging 4%, although you get a break part way through when you lose a few hundred feet). Kept myself well fuelled, didn't go hell for leather at the start or for the climb, and still had a bit left in the tank at the end.
Weather was fantastic. Sunny, next to no wind. Early start (6.30), so it was only a couple of degrees above freezing when we set off. I'd imagine if it was blowing a hooly and/or pishing down, it would be a slog of epic proportions - you're either loch-side or on exposed moor land, so there's no natural shelter. I'd never been up the right-hand side of the Loch, so that was pretty cool.
First Etape and would do one again. Absolutely amazed at the amount of folk that got out of their beds on a Sunday morning to cheer on several thousand random strangers on bikes.
Pretty good Jim. My reflections after a couple of days... Really well organised - Great wee event village at the Eden Theatre, pick up your number/tag day before, rolling start on the day, closed roads (almost worth the entry price alone), 3 well stocked feed stops, free Harry Gow donut thing and slurp of beer at the end. For having over 4,500 folk riding, it didn't feel all that crowded.
The ride itself was pretty straightforward - one bastard of a climb half-way round (5.3 miles averaging 4%, although you get a break part way through when you lose a few hundred feet). Kept myself well fuelled, didn't go hell for leather at the start or for the climb, and still had a bit left in the tank at the end.
Weather was fantastic. Sunny, next to no wind. Early start (6.30), so it was only a couple of degrees above freezing when we set off. I'd imagine if it was blowing a hooly and/or pishing down, it would be a slog of epic proportions - you're either loch-side or on exposed moor land, so there's no natural shelter. I'd never been up the right-hand side of the Loch, so that was pretty cool.
First Etape and would do one again. Absolutely amazed at the amount of folk that got out of their beds on a Sunday morning to cheer on several thousand random strangers on bikes.
