| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising 17:14 - Apr 25 with 7019 views | Cooperman |
Hello Planet Swans chums.
As some of you may remember from previous threads and topics I am participating in Velothon Wales 2016 which takes place on Sunday 22nd May 2016. My motivation for this is two fold namely i) get fit, but also ii) raise a little money along the way for a good cause. Point i) is not so relevant here and I'll summarise it by saying that I've lost a few pounds in weight over the past few months. More important than that though is my desire to raise some money to support a good cause or two. My Velothon entry fee is going direct to Bloodwise, a blood cancer charity. The 18,000 Velothon participants will raise around £1m for Bloodwise as a result of the efforts of 22nd May. However I would like to do something more and with that in mind I have researched the options for supporting our injured and maimed ex-service men and women. Most lately I have come across the charity called Blesma (British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association) and after some calls to them I have decided that this will be my charity of choice. I have no ties to the armed forces but this is a subject that I've grown an interest in following the horrors of Iraq and Afghanistan.
My Velothon involves me using leg power to negotiate 140km of South Wales roads at the end of May. My Velothon will also hopefully raise some cash towards those that have lost their leg power through the defence of our country. My sacrifice is nothing compared to those that benefit from Blesma.
So PS chums, can I kindly ask you to visit my Just Giving page via the link below and donate a small contribution? All donations will be willingly received with much gratitude.
Much love, COYS, Andrew.
https://www.justgiving.com/AndrewCooper1975
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 13:47 - May 19 with 2244 views | Batterseajack |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 13:26 - May 19 by Cooperman |
Pen A? Ouch! Did you advise of a fast target time? I read somewhere that Pen A is going first based on rider speed. |
Aiming to do it in under 4 hours. Should be possible providing there's a strong group and we chain gang it most the way around the course and treat it a bit like a race.
But this early start has thrown me a bit.. |  | | |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 16:03 - May 19 with 2226 views | Cooperman |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 13:47 - May 19 by Batterseajack |
Aiming to do it in under 4 hours. Should be possible providing there's a strong group and we chain gang it most the way around the course and treat it a bit like a race.
But this early start has thrown me a bit.. |
Sub 4 hours is stuff of legends, an amazing feat to even get near it. I'm reckoning on it taking the best part of an hour to climb The Tumble.
I've gone from averaging 12.5 mph at the start of my quest to 16 mph over a 102 mile training ride (that included ~3500 ft of climb, which is a little short of Sunday's climb). I'm therefore looking at around 6 hours. | |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 16:10 - May 19 with 2224 views | Cooperman |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 13:42 - May 19 by jackmorsel |
I think they have changed it round this year so the slower riders are off first? I'm in F same as you, I said 6-7 hours, mate of mine said 5 hours and he's in K which leaves at 7.46.
Going to be very busy though as Pen F has 1600 riders in it! That with some rain and wind will be it a bit more interesting.
Good luck, it's not that bad to be honest, I find the Carten more difficult (except this year). |
Big Planet Swans representation in Pen F!
I'm put off CarTen by the probability of a strong headwind. Maybe next year... | |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 17:18 - May 19 with 2193 views | sherpajacob |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 13:42 - May 19 by jackmorsel |
I think they have changed it round this year so the slower riders are off first? I'm in F same as you, I said 6-7 hours, mate of mine said 5 hours and he's in K which leaves at 7.46.
Going to be very busy though as Pen F has 1600 riders in it! That with some rain and wind will be it a bit more interesting.
Good luck, it's not that bad to be honest, I find the Carten more difficult (except this year). |
Good luck everyone on Sunday.
I'm pen F as well. First velathon so I'm not aiming for any time, just to stay ahead of broom wagon.
Hoping the closed roads and having a few fellow fat boys around me blocking the wind will help.
I've done the CARTEN slow and steady and today I made it up caerphilly mountain, from castell coch, with just one stop to take on board extra energy gel, so I'm now a bit more confident.
We'll have to get some team planet swans cycle shirts made next year. |  |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 18:43 - May 19 with 2167 views | Pacemaker |
Pen L off at 8 weather not looking great at the moment. The lovely flat ride to Newport looks like it might be a tad windy and wet this year. I am taking two friends who have never ridden anything like this before, the rest of us ride regularly but the weather will be a factor. |  |
| Life is an adventure or nothing at all. |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 18:50 - May 19 with 2164 views | Cooperman |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 18:43 - May 19 by Pacemaker |
Pen L off at 8 weather not looking great at the moment. The lovely flat ride to Newport looks like it might be a tad windy and wet this year. I am taking two friends who have never ridden anything like this before, the rest of us ride regularly but the weather will be a factor. |
BBC1 at 6:30 reported a good forecast. Not much breeze and not much in the way of rain. Saturday looked miserable but Sunday is good. I'll watch again later on Sky #503 at 5 to the hour and check. | |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:00 - May 19 with 2156 views | Pacemaker |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 18:50 - May 19 by Cooperman |
BBC1 at 6:30 reported a good forecast. Not much breeze and not much in the way of rain. Saturday looked miserable but Sunday is good. I'll watch again later on Sky #503 at 5 to the hour and check. |
Sounds better than the online Met office report I read.
Tumble will be ok for you Coop's just stay seated and spin up it in a low gear, the descent is very quick, very steep and very slippery so take your time. Last year there were a load of crashes on the descents as people got carried away.
As someone else said Caerphilly is a a bit of a beast after 60/70 miles and people walking the width of the road, once your over the halfway point you are over the steepest part the rest is just like any other climb. Good luck I have no doubt you will smash it you have done more than enough training.
I hope to catch up with Jackmorsel on one of these rides we enter almost every race and intend to meet up but never do. | |
| Life is an adventure or nothing at all. |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:16 - May 19 with 2148 views | Cooperman |
Weather aside I'm ready to go. I've covered over 2000km on the road this year alone plus countless hours in the gym. I'm down to around 14.5 stone after peaking at 17 following the Chrimbo indulgence, but I've still been able to enjoy life by balancing diet; I must be healthier for it. Carb up starts tomorrow along with the excitement of collecting badge, timing chip, and vest in Cardiff during the afternoon. Saturday involves packing a bag with bananas, flap jacks, and juices, and after a final bike check I won't be doing much else. Then it's an early start on Sunday, on the road to Cardiff by 5am. The most pleasing point of all though is the £1500 or so that I have raised for those supported by Blesma - the charity that supports our service men and women injured fighting our battles. This is the motivation that will get me up the mountains. Thank you Planet Swans family for your support.
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:28 - May 19 with 2144 views | Pacemaker |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:16 - May 19 by Cooperman |
Weather aside I'm ready to go. I've covered over 2000km on the road this year alone plus countless hours in the gym. I'm down to around 14.5 stone after peaking at 17 following the Chrimbo indulgence, but I've still been able to enjoy life by balancing diet; I must be healthier for it. Carb up starts tomorrow along with the excitement of collecting badge, timing chip, and vest in Cardiff during the afternoon. Saturday involves packing a bag with bananas, flap jacks, and juices, and after a final bike check I won't be doing much else. Then it's an early start on Sunday, on the road to Cardiff by 5am. The most pleasing point of all though is the £1500 or so that I have raised for those supported by Blesma - the charity that supports our service men and women injured fighting our battles. This is the motivation that will get me up the mountains. Thank you Planet Swans family for your support.
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The food stations last year were not great if you were starting late as the early riders seemed to eat a lot! I just take some high five zero tabs to prevent cramp and their 4:1 carb powders to alternate to make sure I get enough fuel. They will have bananas at the stations and probably sugary snacks, it's the water you need to get first. I will probably ride past the Usk stop and fill up at the top of Tumble, I should have enough not to stop at the Caerphilly mountain stop as I didn't need it last year.
There is a bit of an incline from Pontypool almost all the way to Caerphilly so just keep a bit in reserve until Caerphilly once your over that it is a very fast downhill to the finish apart from one little rise near Llanishen? | |
| Life is an adventure or nothing at all. |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:48 - May 19 with 2130 views | sherpajacob |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:00 - May 19 by Pacemaker |
Sounds better than the online Met office report I read.
Tumble will be ok for you Coop's just stay seated and spin up it in a low gear, the descent is very quick, very steep and very slippery so take your time. Last year there were a load of crashes on the descents as people got carried away.
As someone else said Caerphilly is a a bit of a beast after 60/70 miles and people walking the width of the road, once your over the halfway point you are over the steepest part the rest is just like any other climb. Good luck I have no doubt you will smash it you have done more than enough training.
I hope to catch up with Jackmorsel on one of these rides we enter almost every race and intend to meet up but never do. |
I'm probably more worried about the descents than the climbs. | |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 22:08 - May 19 with 2090 views | Andy1300 |
I'm pen E 7.15 start, never done this before so looking forward with a bit of apprehension |  |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 22:11 - May 19 with 2089 views | Cooperman |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 22:08 - May 19 by Andy1300 |
I'm pen E 7.15 start, never done this before so looking forward with a bit of apprehension |
Good luck fellow debutant. I'm getting less apprehensive as the days tick by :-)
All good chaps on the 21:55 weather forecast, it was even better than reported on the 6 o'clock news. | |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 13:08 - May 20 with 2038 views | Batterseajack |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 16:03 - May 19 by Cooperman |
Sub 4 hours is stuff of legends, an amazing feat to even get near it. I'm reckoning on it taking the best part of an hour to climb The Tumble.
I've gone from averaging 12.5 mph at the start of my quest to 16 mph over a 102 mile training ride (that included ~3500 ft of climb, which is a little short of Sunday's climb). I'm therefore looking at around 6 hours. |
Don't get me wrong, if i did this ride solo i'd be looking closer to 5 hours to complete it (approx. 29 to 31 km/hr). I'm relying on there being a bit of Peloton action in the first wave, which could take the average speed up to 35 to 40 km/hr. Its kind of cheating in a way.
I can almost guarantee you'll be quicker on the day than you would on a regular training ride. If you end up in a decent group you'll be whizzing along on the long flat sections.
But at the end of the day, its not a race. The weathers looking good and there'll be that big sense of occasion with the amount of people out on the roads, not to mention them being closed off for motorists. | | | |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 13:32 - May 20 with 2031 views | jackmorsel |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:00 - May 19 by Pacemaker |
Sounds better than the online Met office report I read.
Tumble will be ok for you Coop's just stay seated and spin up it in a low gear, the descent is very quick, very steep and very slippery so take your time. Last year there were a load of crashes on the descents as people got carried away.
As someone else said Caerphilly is a a bit of a beast after 60/70 miles and people walking the width of the road, once your over the halfway point you are over the steepest part the rest is just like any other climb. Good luck I have no doubt you will smash it you have done more than enough training.
I hope to catch up with Jackmorsel on one of these rides we enter almost every race and intend to meet up but never do. |
Cheers Lee! Yeah we've not managed it yet have we, see you are off a bit later than me, you'll catch up with me I'm sure.
Weather looking quite good now.
I did Caerphilly ramp on Monday, after 60km and it was tough, got a 32 on the back now and I was still grinding it up there!
Hopefully I can do the Tumble this time round.
Good Luck Coop and anyone else doing it! It's a great feeling coming back into Cardiff. |  | | |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:24 - May 20 with 2001 views | Pacemaker |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 13:32 - May 20 by jackmorsel |
Cheers Lee! Yeah we've not managed it yet have we, see you are off a bit later than me, you'll catch up with me I'm sure.
Weather looking quite good now.
I did Caerphilly ramp on Monday, after 60km and it was tough, got a 32 on the back now and I was still grinding it up there!
Hopefully I can do the Tumble this time round.
Good Luck Coop and anyone else doing it! It's a great feeling coming back into Cardiff. |
We may well meet up, my mate is doing this distance for the first time so I will be going at his pace he has a Specialised with a 32 on the back so he should be ok. I rode into work Monday and Tuesday but have rested since as I have not done a lot of training this year.
If the weather stays dry and calm should be a great day again. | |
| Life is an adventure or nothing at all. |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 20:38 - May 20 with 1908 views | Cooperman |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 13:32 - May 20 by jackmorsel |
Cheers Lee! Yeah we've not managed it yet have we, see you are off a bit later than me, you'll catch up with me I'm sure.
Weather looking quite good now.
I did Caerphilly ramp on Monday, after 60km and it was tough, got a 32 on the back now and I was still grinding it up there!
Hopefully I can do the Tumble this time round.
Good Luck Coop and anyone else doing it! It's a great feeling coming back into Cardiff. |
Cheers JM.
I'm all checked in, caught the train up this afternoon and met a team member at the Expo. | |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 01:11 - May 22 with 1792 views | Lord_Bony |
Good luck to our PSwans people participating today. |  |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 17:35 - May 22 with 1715 views | Pacemaker |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 01:11 - May 22 by Lord_Bony |
Good luck to our PSwans people participating today. |
There were some really serious crashes today I hope those involved are OK and that all the members of PS had a safe and enjoyable day. | |
| Life is an adventure or nothing at all. |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 18:18 - May 22 with 1708 views | Cooperman |
I made it home unscathed.
Alarm clock at 4am, on the road by 04:50, in my start pen for 06:40, and underway by 07:22.
Crossed the line 5 hrs 31 mins later against my target of 6 hrs.
What an amazing day, with the exception of getting married and having kids it's up there with the best.
The Tumble was accomplished without much fuss, Caerphilly was a monster though!
I hope the PS riders are fighting fit tonight. [Post edited 22 May 2016 19:36]
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 18:34 - May 22 with 1705 views | Pacemaker |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 18:18 - May 22 by Cooperman |
I made it home unscathed.
Alarm clock at 4am, on the road by 04:50, in my start pen for 06:40, and underway by 07:22.
Crossed the line 5 hrs 31 mins later against my target of 6 hrs.
What an amazing day, with the exception of getting married and having kids it's up there with the best.
The Tumble was accomplished without much fuss, Caerphilly was a monster though!
I hope the PS riders are fighting fit tonight. [Post edited 22 May 2016 19:36]
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Super effort mate saw your Strava record well done.
I spoke to Jack Morsel who is celebrating after a good ride.
Saw some really nasty crashes today it was really bad, we were held back on the tumble for about twenty minutes due to a nasty crash.
Did see a guy as we were entering Pontypool in a Swans 2015 away shirt which was good. [Post edited 22 May 2016 18:37]
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| Life is an adventure or nothing at all. |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:44 - May 22 with 1680 views | Cooperman |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 18:34 - May 22 by Pacemaker |
Super effort mate saw your Strava record well done.
I spoke to Jack Morsel who is celebrating after a good ride.
Saw some really nasty crashes today it was really bad, we were held back on the tumble for about twenty minutes due to a nasty crash.
Did see a guy as we were entering Pontypool in a Swans 2015 away shirt which was good. [Post edited 22 May 2016 18:37]
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I also saw a guy in an away shirt up that way. I gave it 'come on you swans' large as I hurtled past.
Only saw 2 falls myself, one on the run out to Newport which was simply inexperienced riders thinking they are on a 15 mile sprint, and on the final leg I went past the Llanishen fall that's in the press. The ambulance was there by then.
I kept an eye out for your numbers chaps but didn't see you, this time. A Planet Swans team entry for 2017 would be a great idea. [Post edited 22 May 2016 19:44]
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 11:15 - May 23 with 1596 views | Jack_y_Jwc |
FYI - S4C are showing a highlights programme of the Velothon next Sunday (29/05) @ 18:20 | |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 11:27 - May 23 with 1591 views | Lord_Bony |
Had a great spot outside Roath Park,perfect weather.well done to all. | |
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| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 15:55 - May 23 with 1556 views | jackmorsel |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 19:44 - May 22 by Cooperman |
I also saw a guy in an away shirt up that way. I gave it 'come on you swans' large as I hurtled past.
Only saw 2 falls myself, one on the run out to Newport which was simply inexperienced riders thinking they are on a 15 mile sprint, and on the final leg I went past the Llanishen fall that's in the press. The ambulance was there by then.
I kept an eye out for your numbers chaps but didn't see you, this time. A Planet Swans team entry for 2017 would be a great idea. [Post edited 22 May 2016 19:44]
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Great time, well done, that is some effort! I was just over 7 hours, but I did get up the Tumble and Caerphilly mountain without stopping so I am happy about that. The rain really slowed me down, got soaked coming out of the Usk food stop and on the way to the Tumble.
Great day, though. Looks like only 8800 riders in total, bit of a joke when they say 18000! I guess loads bailed out when they saw the weather. | | | |
| Velothon Wales - Please Support My Fundraising on 16:02 - May 23 with 1554 views | Batterseajack |
How did everyone get on? That rain shower was pretty brutal, thought about wearing some wet weather gear but decided against it. Got absolutely drenched and could have done with a snorkel and goggles to deal with the spray being kicked up from the wheels in front. But lovely weather waiting for us back in Cardiff to dry off.
Absolutely loved the first hour or so of riding up to Caerleon. We had a load of Bath CC riders, Cardiff Jif pushing a fast pace off the front in the first group. I think we averaged about 26.5 mph (42kph). The elastic snapped a few miles prior to the Tumble, but a small group of 4 of us were still holding a 40 kph average leading to the foot of the Tumble. We wouldn't hit anywhere near these speeds on a normal ride so tonnes of fun.
The first half of the Tumble was a brute until you get out of the woods, but i found myself trying to keep plenty in the tank for the fast roads to follow. Caerphilly mountain was just torture. I found the long drags on the duel carriage ways surprisingly challenging to gauge the appropriate effort, the roads were so wide and smooth its hard to work out how steep they were and if you should be going faster.
All in all though, seemed to be a well run event. I can't comment on the food stations but the coffee and cake on offer after in the expo area hit the mark. Nice to see loads pf spectators out clapping us along too and getting behind the event. Definitely up for doing this again next ear. | | | |
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