Piccolo Sportive. Fun, but could do better

Gran Fondo: Piccolo (60km). 

Plymouth, May 31st 2015

(L-R) David, Mel, Me, Julian

There is a saying around around here, 

that really early mornings are 'sparrow fart o'clock'. 

The time we had to get up to travel to Plymouth for the  Gran Fondo , there were no

sparrows up. It was that early. Myself [Murray], Mel & Julian parked up in a multi story in 

Plymouth at 06.30hrs. Putting our bikes together and assembling our kit, I asked, 

"Butt cream anyone?" An innocent question for a cyclist just about to embark on a sportive. 

Maybe not so in a city car park early on a Sunday morning. 

We all made it down to Sutton Harbour, Plymouth , for the start of the inaugural 

'Rockets&Rascals' Sportive. 

The weather forecast for today, the last day of May, was not good. Fantastic.

 But the salty sea air, combined with the smell of fresh coffee in the shop was comforting. I

 wanted to have some coffee, I really did, but I had already had enough caffeine and 

did not want to chance it. Anyway, I digress. We registered, posed for a few photo's 

and were all set to go. Adrenaline was pumping, despite the early hour [or maybe that was 

the caffeine?], but then I realised something was not right. I had a puncture- and we 

hadn't evenstarted yet!

ooops!!

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A quick inner tube change, with help from the nifty hands of Julian, and all was good. 
Breath and Relax. Now we can start. Let's hope nothing else goes wrong!.Quite sensibly, 
the timing was not started until we had gone through the centre of Plymouth. 
We snaked through town, through Saltram , and then off. But Sportives are not races, are they? 
The weather so far, held off. It was damp, but it was not raining. Passing through the suburbs, we 
were warming up, literally. It was too warm. Starting at sea level, it was inevitable we would be going up. 
And up, we did. Sparkwell, Lutton, Cornwood. Up, Up, Up! 
We were also dressed for wet weather, and were getting hot. Stop to take off jacket? 
Decisions. However, we were soon up on the Moors and the choice of clothing was vindicated;
 it started to drizzle. It was also slightly misty, so the stunning vistas of Dartmoor were not declaring 
themselves. 

But the cycling was good and Mel [her first Sportive] was still strong. The climb from Cornwood 
to Lee Moor was something special. It was long. 
Not as relentless as some of the classic climbs in the cycling world, 
but uphill for a long way, none the less!

Pootling across the moors from Lee Moor to Sheepstor, there was some remittance 
from the climbing and the weather. Both had eased off. A nifty decent to 
Burrator Reservoir and an almost flat, semi circuit of the 
reservoir, raised spirits. Out towards Dousland and then the rain really did begin to fall. 
Proper Dartmoor rain. Rain that showed no respect towards Gortex. Basically, we got wet. 
Very wet.    Our hope, was that we were almost at the feed station. 
The thought of cake kept us going. Dousland, 
Yelverton. Crapstone, Buckland Abbey. FOOD. Oh, how disappointing. No cake. 
Fruit only; Banana or orange. Water or sports drink. That was it. Quite poor really. 
Not impressed at all. Wanted cake. Or at least something more than fruit.

Buckland Abbey back to Plymouth was , apart from a cheeky uphill soon after the feed stop, 
mostly downhill, on the Plym Valley cycle path. Quite a lovely way to finish, 
especially since the rain had now stopped. 
But all that changed when we got back into Plymouth. 
Joining up with the SkyRide was part of the route, 
and quite pleasant, on account of the road closures. 
But then as we turned towards the finish, it appeared a 
lack of marshals and signage caused more than us to go the wrong way 
and end up in city traffic. 
Again, quite poor.

The finish itself, once we found it, was OK. A good medal and a packet of Burts lentil crisps. 
Tasty. 
There was some consternation amongst riders, as there was one medal for all distances, 
the 60km, 100km 
and 100mile, all got the same medal, and there was no time categories, as there is 
in many sportives. 
Or any T-shirts. Or a goody bag.

As an inaugural sportive, it was OK. But nothing more. The organisation was Ok.
 The signage and marshalling was OK- until the return into Plymouth when it was poor / non existent. 
Feed station was poor. Ok, we only did the 60km, but I still think a feed station should have more 
than a banana & orange. The medal was nice- but if I had done the 100mile, 
I would be really peeved that there were no time 
categories and different medals.

I had a nice day out with my friends Mel, Julian and David and the atmosphere of the event 
was really good. 
But it could do better for next year. 

Murray Turner

getoutmoor   

GetOutMoor

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