L'Eroica Britannia 2015

[ian.r.mcdonald]

Re:

on the same tack- you could buy reynolds frame stickers and put them on a gas pipe respray- but the ride would not be as nice

but how much nicer to be fully involved and part of the festival rather than just tagging on the contribution of others ?

in Gaole I saw the carbon framed "poachers" being turned back from the finish funnel- complete with boos and hisses from the spectators- but then the Italans do it with more style!

 

[Johnsqual]

Re: Re:

Apparently they were selling one day tickets for about 5 or 10 quid a day I think.

So if you really wanted to see the festival you could buy a cheap festival ticket and do the ride for free as well.

Yep you could freeload the event ... nothing to stop that ... plenty of freeloaders in this world.

I'd assume anyone doing that would at least have the decency to not avail themselves of the feed stations; but probably not.

You may find yourself prevented from entering the private grounds of Chatsworth.

I met some people at the real Eroica who were riding for free because they'd done the event several times, but had missed out in the lottery. Of course, they didn't use any of the feeding stations and looked out for themselves. I have absolutely no problem with that.

I don't see why paying entry for the festival and then riding on open public roads could be construed as freeloading.

As for the 'exclusive' entry to Chatsworth, well that's a bit naff I find. The beauty of cycling is that the roads are accessible to everyone - anyone can go and have a go at the Koppenberg or Ventoux and it doesn't cost anything. Making it into an exclusive, private activity seems to go against the spirit of the sport. Cycling is the new golf

 

[ian.r.mcdonald]

Re: Re:

A Great event, I did the 100 and enjoyed the majority of it though a couple of the downhill sections on the Bridleways were a bit hairy to say the least.

Was the first time I had ridden 100 miles or anywhere near since 1996 and would put the reason for getting round as comfortable as i did was the camaraderie with all the other cyclists i met on the route.

i don't know if he is a member on this site but one particular cyclist, Tom from Stanstead, who i met just after the first stop in Tideswell gave lots of encouragement and was a pleasure to ride with.

Speaking of the Tideswell stop, I had the Bacon sandwich there which was so substantial, it did not digest fully till two days later.

Definitely be doing it again next year, loved almost every minute though will train beforehand and have a better gear ratio on my Gios Torino.

Regards.

Keith.

i was looking to see if my rear mech would cope with a 28- but then realised the silly high gears were part of the fun- but then my raleigh ace gaspipe special was another excuse against your Gios!

 

[Deleted member 24574]

Re: Re:

I don't see why paying entry for the festival and then riding on open public roads could be construed as freeloading.

You would be there to enjoy the atmosphere created by the organisers; if you just want to do the ride then there are 364 other days in the year you could ride that route.

As I say there are plenty of people in this would who wish to freeload off the toil and payments of others ... it cant be stopped.

 

[Johnsqual]

Re:

It would be easier to ride the route on another day if the organisers had made good on their promise to provide a similar permanently signposted course to the one the real Eroica set up. Eroica Britannia originally promised that, but has gone rather quiet about their promise. I hope they get round to it some day.

On the ride itself, the atmosphere comes from the people taking part in the event - the 'toil' of the organisers has little to do with it, in my experience.

 

[carlyrox]

Re: Re:

A Great event, I did the 100 and enjoyed the majority of it though a couple of the downhill sections on the Bridleways were a bit hairy to say the least.

Was the first time I had ridden 100 miles or anywhere near since 1996 and would put the reason for getting round as comfortable as i did was the camaraderie with all the other cyclists i met on the route.

i don't know if he is a member on this site but one particular cyclist, Tom from Stanstead, who i met just after the first stop in Tideswell gave lots of encouragement and was a pleasure to ride with.

Speaking of the Tideswell stop, I had the Bacon sandwich there which was so substantial, it did not digest fully till two days later.

Definitely be doing it again next year, loved almost every minute though will train beforehand and have a better gear ratio on my Gios Torino.

Regards.

Keith.

i was looking to see if my rear mech would cope with a 28- but then realised the silly high gears were part of the fun- but then my raleigh ace gaspipe special was another excuse against your Gios!

Certainly was fun until I attempted Mam Nick, which up until the Eroica I have completed on many occasions though this time my chain jumped from the 24 which is the largest gear and onto the second cog on the cassette. This almost had me off the bike and I came to an abrupt halt just managing to ground my foot from the Toeclips.

The problem then hit at every climb though only when out of the saddle, thus I sat and climbed like an overweight aged Rhino. Next year a new cassette will be used and will definitely have a 28 on.

Regards.

Keith.

 

[ian.r.mcdonald]

Re: Re:

A Great event, I did the 100 and enjoyed the majority of it though a couple of the downhill sections on the Bridleways were a bit hairy to say the least.

Was the first time I had ridden 100 miles or anywhere near since 1996 and would put the reason for getting round as comfortable as i did was the camaraderie with all the other cyclists i met on the route.

i don't know if he is a member on this site but one particular cyclist, Tom from Stanstead, who i met just after the first stop in Tideswell gave lots of encouragement and was a pleasure to ride with.

Speaking of the Tideswell stop, I had the Bacon sandwich there which was so substantial, it did not digest fully till two days later.

Definitely be doing it again next year, loved almost every minute though will train beforehand and have a better gear ratio on my Gios Torino.

Regards.

Keith.

i was looking to see if my rear mech would cope with a 28- but then realised the silly high gears were part of the fun- but then my raleigh ace gaspipe special was another excuse against your Gios!

Certainly was fun until I attempted Mam Nick, which up until the Eroica I have completed on many occasions though this time my chain jumped from the 24 which is the largest gear and onto the second cog on the cassette. This almost had me off the bike and I came to an abrupt halt just managing to ground my foot from the Toeclips.

The problem then hit at every climb though only when out of the saddle, thus I sat and climbed like an overweight aged Rhino. Next year a new cassette will be used and will definitely have a 28 on.

Regards.

Keith.

i stopped worrying about my gearing when the guy came by on the ordinary/penny farthing- lucky not to be close to him on the descents- a real hero!

 

[Maca]

Just my two penny's worth but I agree with Montello if you want to do the ride on the same day as every one else you should pay and be part of it all.
a lot of time effort and money went in to making it what it was, and it needs people to pay to ride in order to carry on, and I for one hope it does as I will continue to go.

 

[Johnsqual]

Re:

Fine but why don't the organisers offer the chance to pay say 30 quid and just do the ride. I'm not that interested in the festival part personally.

Also, the organisers are continuing to use volunteers to run what seems to be a purely profit making event. If they are donating a significant amount of money to charity and/or the organisations that do the volunteering, then no problem. It's not clear what the situation is here though.

If they are using the volunteers just to up their profit margins then I find it a bit snide - and against the spirt of the real Eroica which does donate quite a bit to charity.

 

[Deleted member 24574]

Re: Re:

Fine but why don't the organisers offer the chance to pay say 30 quid and just do the ride. I'm not that interested in the festival part personally.

Also, the organisers are continuing to use volunteers to run what seems to be a purely profit making event. If they are donating a significant amount of money to charity and/or the organisations that do the volunteering, then no problem. It's not clear what the situation is here though.

If they are using the volunteers just to up their profit margins then I find it a bit snide - and against the spirt of the real Eroica which does donate quite a bit to charity.

Give it up will you ... the price is the price; don't want to pay it don't go ... simple.

As far as I know this event does not receive any local government cash support like some of the events in mainland Europe.

No-one is forced to volunteer; if they want to they want to; from what I saw everyone helping out paid, volunteering or running their own business for profit had a good attitude so were clearly happy with the arrangement.

The event has a huge positive impact on the local community and I suspect puts a lot of cash into the local economy and provides excellent entertainment for the locals regardless in their interest in cycling.