Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

spirro
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Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby spirro » Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:36 pm

Registrations open. Who's up for it this year? It's on Sunday 18 October

http://b2gc.bq.org.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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DanRef
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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby DanRef » Fri Jul 31, 2015 7:52 pm

I'm up for it even though it's my first official ride. I'm a bit nervous already :)

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby myway » Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:15 pm

I'm in. paid up mid June.
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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby Sabantien » Wed Aug 12, 2015 11:21 pm

I'm considering signing up, but I think the 60km.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby stevenaaus » Sat Oct 10, 2015 4:03 pm

Just a week to go now. Weather forecast is looking ok.
Looking forward to enjoying the bus tunnels, and staying out of trouble if i can :)
Hopefully i'll bus some beach gear down and have a swim too.

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Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby PiratePete » Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:55 am

Lots of 'random' riders out around Brissie yesterday when I did my regular Saturday ride. All kitted up and looking like serious cyclists. Obviously the masses have worked out only a week to go. Good training for the B2GC...

I'm hoping for a good southerly to be blowing, catch a draft on the way down and a tailwind for the ride home. [emoji1]

Currently Saturday is showing E-ENE around 10kn (at the Southport Seaway) which I suppose has to be considered close to perfect for the event. My weather forecasting crystal ball isn't talking about Sunday yet, I'll keep polishing it. [emoji4]
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Lukeyboy
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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby Lukeyboy » Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:36 pm

PiratePete wrote:Lots of 'random' riders out around Brissie yesterday when I did my regular Saturday ride. All kitted up and looking like serious cyclists. Obviously the masses have worked out only a week to go. Good training for the B2GC...

I'm hoping for a good southerly to be blowing, catch a draft on the way down and a tailwind for the ride home. [emoji1]

Currently Saturday is showing E-ENE around 10kn (at the Southport Seaway) which I suppose has to be considered close to perfect for the event. My weather forecasting crystal ball isn't talking about Sunday yet, I'll keep polishing it. [emoji4]
Lots out at Sandgate this morning in their kits. Skills came to the forefront when a few of them joined on to the back of our faster group and a crash resulted at a stop/give sign 10 seconds after the first stopping call and 20-30 seconds after the first slowing call.
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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby CKinnard » Sun Oct 11, 2015 2:19 pm

Lukeyboy wrote:Lots out at Sandgate this morning in their kits. Skills came to the forefront when a few of them joined on to the back of our faster group and a crash resulted at a stop/give sign 10 seconds after the first stopping call and 20-30 seconds after the first slowing call.
and you guys never went fast today. hint: if you go fast enough and accelerate from lights better, noobs can't hang on.

I know cos, unusual for me, I got on the back of a guy who looked over 55, with tri bars (have been getting over a persistent virus so am easily tapped out)...and he turns out to be a gun I've never seen before. Heading south on the Ted Smout he ramps it up to 40kph into the headwind, and I got toasted, :D as did Ted A and his wife, who we'd passed and they had got on the back of me.

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Lukeyboy
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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby Lukeyboy » Sun Oct 11, 2015 4:12 pm

Oh I know what going fast is like. *plugs strava kom status* You don't get the Mt Glorious koms dordling around :P I was just on a recovery ride after that Kilcoy loop/550km week but it was fast compared to other people around. Everyone was slowing but the newbies that were catching up/hanging on just had no clue about what was happening around them. One bloke overlapped wheels/stuck the front fork alongside me on the wrong side of the road around a 90 degree blind corner on 19th Ave coming onto Flinders Parade. It was just the group slowing for traffic at the roundabout. The front stops for traffic (and you know what I'm like when it comes to calling out hazards etc) and idiots at the back keep pedaling.... more than likely looking at the rear wheel in front... and rode straight into the back of riders. I said fudge this and then rode on the front for the rest of the ride :P Just like this on a certain ride to the gold coast a couple years ago.
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Or this other ride. Lets all look left and ride towards the right hahahaha.
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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby CKinnard » Sun Oct 11, 2015 4:50 pm

Lukeyboy wrote:Oh I know what going fast is like. *plugs strava kom status* You don't get the Mt Glorious koms dordling around :P I was just on a recovery ride after that Kilcoy loop/550km week but it was fast compared to other people around.
yeah I know about your koms. you promote them shamelessly! :)

I saw Mark McL's ride data from this morning...snail's pace for a 'fast' pack!
You guys were heading north when I departed Valoris Scarborough heading south ~7am...and you never caught me despite several water stops before I got to Nundah.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby Lukeyboy » Sun Oct 11, 2015 5:09 pm

It was fast compared to the others we were passing :P No one really likes it when I get on the front haha.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby CKinnard » Sun Oct 11, 2015 5:27 pm

And slow compared to others you didn't pass! :P

You shatter their considerable delusions Luke. None of them can hold pace longer than 5 minutes riding solo, or ride 200+km.
Such is the pack animal. But each to their own.

Those pics you put up of Brissy to Gold Coast couldn't have been in the front groups. It certainly pays to organize yourself to get through the start gate as early as possible to avoid that stuff.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby jerrah » Sun Oct 11, 2015 10:55 pm

I too was surprised by the large number of people about - seemingly training for next week. Do people really start training one week out?

I was shocked by the number of flat tyres I saw last year. Some people didn't even make it to the start of the bus tunnel without a flat! No crashes though thankfully.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby PiratePete » Mon Oct 12, 2015 8:46 am

Some might start training only a week before. Me personally, I'm not going to do any training at all for it. [emoji1]

The hardest bit is going to be getting up at 0300 to give me enough time to have brekkie and ride into town for the start (allowing enough time for a flat tyre [emoji52] ).

Saw some more 'Randoms' again this morning struggling through the StLucia hills. Next Monday will be quiet...

EDIT: Sorry told a fib, major shake up in the Pirate ship due to this event, Sunday's activities are swapped to Saturday as I'm normally riding my bike on Saturday, and Sunday is normally family 'funday'. The most dramatic change this brings is bacon and eggs on the BBQ will be Saturday's brekkie. Sunday, the crew will need to fend for themselves... That could mean that come Sunday morning the kids just might get dressed in there school uniforms thinking it's Monday...
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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby CKinnard » Mon Oct 12, 2015 12:48 pm

jerrah wrote:I too was surprised by the large number of people about - seemingly training for next week. Do people really start training one week out?

I was shocked by the number of flat tyres I saw last year. Some people didn't even make it to the start of the bus tunnel without a flat! No crashes though thankfully.
Lots of reasons for people out riding yesterday - warm weather, early sunrise, no chance of rain. All this contributes to people realizing winter is over. Then they start to notice how much flab they've put on. So off they go on their bike, only to stop for coffee and muffins.

Re B2GC, I've done it 5 or so times, but have gone off it recently. My tips for staying safe:

- get into the right speed group for your capabilities.
- keep left.....ALWAYS, KEEP LEFT when not overtaking. Before veering right to overtake, ALWAYS shoulder check to make sure someone faster is not about to overtake you. - When overtaking, ride for the people you are overtaking. If they are approaching slower riders, they will probably want to overtake as well...so give them room to do so, by slowing down, or veering further right (but shoulder check before veering right) So many of the incidents I've seen are due to riders not being competent or considerate, as it relates to shoulder checking.
- When drafting people you don't know, give yourself space for the unexpected. You don't know these people's skill levels, and even if they are skilled, they don't necessarily know you are up their bum, so won't consider your safety when braking, cornering, or pulling over.
- If overtaking people who appear unstable, call out 'passing' and give them a wider berth.
- Don't be an idiot and pass on corners and roundabouts, at least without extreme care. Some riders will take the whole width of the corner, and others may actually do a 360 turn on aroundabout to fall back to mates, without indicating. (I've seen this happen twice)
- be aware of who is riding behind you, and if anyone is overlapping wheels with you, let them know loud and clear. If I have someone I am suss about on my wheel, I'll brake harder, or slow down, then accelerate away hard, to get them off. If they manage all that ok, then I presume they are reasonably safe to stay on my wheel.
- When on the hammer, and others are on your wheel, use your right elbow to encourage them to pass well before you get distressed. Don't wait until you have to slow down to indicate they overtake. And do this on a safer stretch of road...not on corners and into roundabouts.
- when riding the traffic lights in the last10-15km, be extra careful hard braking into red lights. Keep well to the left. There's always bound to be some mug who will be coming up behind you at speed who wants to run the red. Better that he not smack into the back of you.
- always always stay aware of vehicles, whether parked or moving. motorists don't always react how you expect them to. you may think they've seen you, but then they pull out in front of you as if they haven't.
- FATIGUE is your enemy. It leads to a lack of concentration, blowing up during efforts, and poor decision making.

B2GC is overwhelmingly ridden by people with low rider skill level who don't consider other riders' wellbeing. Experienced riders who don't understand this and ride appropriately for the conditions are part of the problem.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby jerrah » Mon Oct 12, 2015 1:53 pm

CKinnard wrote:B2GC is overwhelmingly ridden by people with low rider skill level who don't consider other riders' wellbeing. Experienced riders who don't understand this and ride appropriately for the conditions are part of the problem.
I didn't have any issues last year other than constantly overtaking people who had nominated a too high a speed group and observing a lot of flat tyres. I commute daily on a mixture of roads and shared paths so appreciate that there are all sorts of cyclists.

The long trip home is probably the biggest issue for me, and apart from riding on a bus tunnel it's something I could do with mates any weekend for free!

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby daft1024 » Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:59 pm

CKinnard wrote: B2GC is overwhelmingly ridden by people with low rider skill level who don't consider other riders' wellbeing. Experienced riders who don't understand this and ride appropriately for the conditions are part of the problem.
Hey that's me! Well kinda - check on the low skill level but I do try and consider others :-)

This will be my first group ride ever. I'm ok with the distance and the speed but I've always been a solo or bush rider so the other people are my biggest concern. I'm not sure of the group etiquette. Those suggestions are really useful. I didn't know about the elbow thing - any other suggestions?

Whats the go if I'm planning on passing someone. I passed a group on the soorley pathway on the weekend and they had a bit of a go. I thought the pass was fine (they were single file) with heaps of room and was over with quickly but it obviously not ok from their perspective considering the yelling and carry on they made. I've been put in much worse positions by people riding three abreast towards me on that path so I was bit surprised I misjudged the situation so badly.

Also apart from the busway pretty much the ride is on public roads right so the two abreast rule should apply right?

Finally can anyone recommend where to park if I was going to drive in? I was thinking anywhere along Montague road might be the go? I'm guessing the paid parks are probably out?

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby CKinnard » Mon Oct 12, 2015 8:01 pm

daft1024 wrote:Hey that's me! Well kinda - check on the low skill level but I do try and consider others :-)

This will be my first group ride ever. I'm ok with the distance and the speed but I've always been a solo or bush rider so the other people are my biggest concern. I'm not sure of the group etiquette. Those suggestions are really useful. I didn't know about the elbow thing - any other suggestions?

Whats the go if I'm planning on passing someone. I passed a group on the soorley pathway on the weekend and they had a bit of a go. I thought the pass was fine (they were single file) with heaps of room and was over with quickly but it obviously not ok from their perspective considering the yelling and carry on they made. I've been put in much worse positions by people riding three abreast towards me on that path so I was bit surprised I misjudged the situation so badly.

Also apart from the busway pretty much the ride is on public roads right so the two abreast rule should apply right?

Finally can anyone recommend where to park if I was going to drive in? I was thinking anywhere along Montague road might be the go? I'm guessing the paid parks are probably out?
Re the Soorley path, I don't know how you passed so cannot comment. Maybe they expected you to ring your bell before passing.
Re the two abreast rule, how do you think that works when two groups riding two abreast, one riding faster than the other, comes up behind the group riding slower?
Re where to park, my suggestion is to park in George Street, CBD, then ride across the bridge and you're there. The Madding Crowd don't think to do things like this because they think the parking is restricted in the cbd....but not on Sundays! and they think the river is some kind of physical barrier!

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Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby PiratePete » Mon Oct 12, 2015 10:20 pm

Alerting the rider that your 'passing' 'on your right' or even calling 'bike back' could possibly help. Normally I call 'on your right' before passing if space is a little tight or if the person appears to be off with the fairies.

The road rules state no more than two abreast, on an event like this it is impossible to achieve. When the flow thins out then this should be the ambition, when it gets congested then hopefully we can manage only to take up one lane of traffic (if on a multi lane road). Thinking of other road users is the key here, think about how frustrating it would be if you were in there position before clogging the whole roadway. Remember if you do it, multiple others are likely to follow suit as cyclists in large numbers all of a sudden are bullet proof...

Oh and don't overtake cars on the left, especially if they are trying to turn left. This was an issue at Bunnings Tingalpa for the BNE to the Bay this year, cars couldn't get into the car park as we kept flooding passed in the bike lane. We are ambassadors and need to consider how that same driver is going to treat us the next time they see A solo cyclist out on the road.
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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby myforwik » Mon Oct 12, 2015 10:56 pm

Well I'm planning to do it on my heavy commuter mountain bike, as i don't even have a road bike at the moment. I only average 20km/hr on it, taking swimmers and a strong lock in panniers.

So I'll start on the slowest group, I wonder if i will catch anyone, or will i simply never see any road bike?

Does anyone know how many people actually complete the whole thing around the 5 hour mark? A guy from work claims thousands just drop out and it's rare for anyone from the slow categories to even reach the end?? Then again he was very negative about the while thing and swore of it after getting trapped up in 4 crashes.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby myforwik » Mon Oct 12, 2015 11:18 pm

From what I've been reading i think the main problem is, there are only really two speed groups.

The red and orange, and each has 3,000 riders, but they queue up not based on speed, but based on when ever the hell they roll up to the starting area. So on basic probability, you will probably be faster than 1500 people ahead of you - even if you are all in the correct speed group.

Throw in a few hundred corporate sponsors, most of which don't actual ride much, and you have literally hundreds, if not thousands of passes to make.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby K2 » Tue Oct 13, 2015 4:57 am

jerrah wrote:I didn't have any issues last year other than constantly overtaking people who had nominated a too high a speed group and observing a lot of flat tyres....
I can't recall if it was the year before last or the one before that, but back then they seemed to manage to time road sweeping with the ride, from about Loganholme south at least. Last year this didn't occur which may have contributed to the number of flats.

There hasn't been any sweeping for ages and with no heavy rain recently the shoulders have the usual accumulation of debris dropped/thrown/fallen from vehicles, at least they did last weekend....someone had even thrown away a car at the little bridge at the bottom of the cemetry hill! :? Add to that the gravel being brought on by the trucks working on the developments on the eastern side from around there down to Coomera and I suspect you'll be seeing a lot of flats this year too.

Riding alone you can keep an eye out for the worst of it, but the hordes will make that more difficult, so best to ensure everyone is carrying whatever they need to fix at least a couple of flats, and perhaps something to share with those not as prepared. No doubt most folk hereabout who travel any distance do that as a matter of course.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby PiratePete » Tue Oct 13, 2015 8:19 am

myforwik wrote:From what I've been reading i think the main problem is, there are only really two speed groups.

The red and orange, and each has 3,000 riders, but they queue up not based on speed, but based on when ever the hell they roll up to the starting area. So on basic probability, you will probably be faster than 1500 people ahead of you - even if you are all in the correct speed group.

Throw in a few hundred corporate sponsors, most of which don't actual ride much, and you have literally hundreds, if not thousands of passes to make.
This is the feeling that I'm getting too. I'm a reasonably fast rider (according to Strava's segment ratings anyway...), however I thought long and hard as to which speed category to register for. I'm now consistently averaging around 31-32.5kmh for the River Loop, but my speed drops for longer rides with a recent 200km ride averaging 27kmh (new route never traveled). I mainly ride solo, and these stats are solo riding, with no drafting. The Cycle of Giving 100, I did 33kmh (on my MTB) and the Bne to the Bay 30 (including the ride to the start and sitting with the slow traffic back from Morningside at around 20kmh). On the BNE to the Bay I still had the police escort bike in view when I stopped to fill my water bottle at the 65km Cleveland stop. I was chugging along with the boy racers quite nicely, with a lot of draft going in my direction...

So which category is correct? I finally decided to put myself in the red group (30+), normally though if heading out for a 200+ ride (which this will be for me) I would pacing myself around 30-32kmh on the flat so my average would actually be below the red group. However I figure that lots of people who do a short ride and ride at 30-32kmh on the flat would straight away select the red group due to ego, or simply the belief that this is the speed they can carry as they do so along Coro drive. Then there is the group bit, a lot of draft will be heading south on Sunday morning, this is going to pick my average up by a couple of K's. I suspect that I'll be passing a lot of people, even with trying to control my pace with the return trip in mind.

Personally I feel that the speed categories should be 33+, 27-33, 27-. The majority of numbers should be in the last category and only very small numbers in the 33+. Many of the folks like myself who ride distance regularly, would be in the middle group, and this would hopefully reduce issues up the front with newbies, or randoms tangling with the boy racers who will be chasing the course KOM (remembering it's not a race).

Also I have to say that if I was female and registered to ride with girls, I'd be very disappointed that they're starting at the back of the crowd. Living in a ship with an all female crew, I firmly believe that girls can do anything and believe in gender equality. This category should be done away with and we should all just ride together, in the appropriate speed grouping.
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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby jerrah » Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:01 am

I'm pretty sure females can ride in any group they choose. I think they've put that group at the rear to reduce intimidation but I'm not sure I'd want to start at the back. Get to sleep in I guess?

Last year I nominated <25km/h and it was the longest ride I had ever completed. The week prior I had bought a 2nd hand road bike and completed 85km in the "Ride for life". Since then I regularly do 100+ rides but I've never done anything over 150km.

My average for last year was 24.8km/h which I thought was a spot on time for my nominated group but I was surprised at how many people (hundreds) I overtook, especially on the hills. It felt like a constant stream of people passing on my left.

This year I nominated 25-30km/h as my commute to work I average around 27-28km/h including traffic and lights and I figure that's not being too optimistic. The group I'm doing the ride with averaged 31ish km/h last year so maybe I'm being too conservative again? I don't see myself as being a gun top speed athlete.

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Re: Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2015

Postby PiratePete » Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:42 pm

jerrah wrote:This year I nominated 25-30km/h as my commute to work I average around 27-28km/h including traffic and lights and I figure that's not being too optimistic. The group I'm doing the ride with averaged 31ish km/h last year so maybe I'm being too conservative again? I don't see myself as being a gun top speed athlete.
Did your whole group register in the 25-30 category even with the faster average?

I'm no athlete either, hence my pondering on speed category, if a 27-33 group existed, I'd fit right in. It could be advantageous to be the over-taker rather than the one being constantly overtaken - feels like you have some control of the environment that way. Maybe I should have gone the slower category. :? I think I'll probably just aim for the middle to rear of the 30+ start line and what will be will be.

Weather crystal ball is currently suggesting ESE 6-8kn till around 11 am where it will build to around 10-12kn for the rest of the day, pretty good if it holds true for the ride back to Brissie. I don't want a SW breeze in the morning and a NE seabreeze coming in during the afternoon which we so typically get here...
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