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Doing it for the first time this year - hope the weather holds out as have put the summer tyres on the bike tonight!
Gonna get there early as the portaloos won't be pretty with 1350 twitching sphincters to deal with ...
should be there, depends how i feel after my 4 x 12hr shifts 🙁 ... will be on the cross bike this year for the first time , which is a unknown ?
fs 29er as its all i have... trying to decide whether or not to wear a back pack - mainly for the mountain of food i will need as much as anything else.
are the food stations to be trusted not to run out, and is the food expensive?
Doing it on a GT Grade this year.
Interested in this event. Moving down that way this summer, so I'll definitely look to ride the HONC next year.
Doing a family ride this year and aiming to take the same time to do 50k as I took to do 100k last year, should be a much more pleasant day out 🙂
Hoping the weather holds, most bits were quite dry when I rode around Winchcombe last weekend but a mate rode over Cleeve and some of that was a bit horrible.
Great event and hope all 1,200+ entrants manage to get there okay.
are the food stations to be trusted not to run out, and is the food expensive?
The only food stop is at Guiting Power. There's typically a mountainsof homemade cake and bananas as well as water - it's included in the cost of the ride, but a charitable donation is appreciated. I don't think they've ever run out - some usually ends up at the finish.
There's also a (non-free!) burger van at the start/finish.
HONC!
Me and my son will be there.
I'll be in my On One (1x9) or IO (1x1) as usual. Might be the wettest one I've ever done if the forecast is to be believed......
Yup, I'm in. My 3rd HONC - be aware of the gale force winds as is usual whenever I ride it.
Plenty of food as hoopyfrood says.
It's a bit late to be asking, I've just looked it up and entry is now closed for this year! Have fun and I hope the weather holds. I've bookmarked it for next year. ..
I'll be there!
Dogsby
I'm doing it again this year on my xc bike, planning on 100k route but may change if the weather is shocking. Expect lots of road sections, I think the off road bits are going to get cut up fairly quickly. We have had a bit of rain followed by glorious sunshine lately
Might have to rethink the front and rear crossmark combo...!
I'm in, second time for me, enjoyed it last year.
I'll be there for my 8th outing HONC!! I'll be on the 27.5'er 😕
Heading done on Saturday and staying in Tewkesbury overnight, got to get down from Derbyshire!
Planning the 100k route, but if the conditions/weather are bad I might swap onto the 50k route!
Im there, my 3rd HONC. Latest forecast looks decent - dry, sunny intervals 7 degrees
"The only food stop is at Guiting Power"
No , there is usually a little top available at the last check point of the 100km route.
After doing it 4 times, won't be doing it this year. Too much road involved nowadays
"Too much road involved nowadays "
It has always been a mix some times more road than off , sometimes the other way .
It has never been an MTB event , it has evolved from a reliability ride held by the local ROAD cycling clubs .
The name is partly in "homage" to the Paris Roubaix ROAD cycling event .
It's a bloody great event and does a lot of good for the local community .
Chill out and enjoy yourselves . You will ride through some amazing scenery and meet some really nice people .
I will be there but not as well prepared as the last few times so might just do the short loop.
It's always a great event and the cake is great.
And as above its not an mtb
Looks dry Sunday a lot of hail stones over the Cotswolds today will keep the dust down tomorrows dry bit of rain Saturday been some very windy days this week hopefully that will calm down.
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How Honc began.
As for those turning up, shut the f***ing gates and take your litter home with you! I am tailending and don't want be picking up the crap left by riders who can't be arsed to show any consideration.
Oh and enjoy the first climb....
and count the helmets......
Would it be GEL rappers by any chance!!!!!!!!!.
Anyone local know what the conditions are like? Certainly not going to be dusty like last year but how muddy are things?
i pre-rode the first 2 climbs yesterday and the third/fourth? climb today (this morning on the way to work, BEFORE the rain) hard ground, BUT lots of big puddles and a few soft patches. But not too bad.
However it has rained ALOT today, i suspect the ground will be hard with lots of big puddles on Sunday.
ba humbug Mr mo .
Have you drawn the short straw having to tail end ?
No, i choose to tail end,however i am also aware that some of the tracks used are NOT to be ridden outside of the event and i know from previous experience there are a surprising number of idiots who will leave gates open, there are sheep in some of the fields, such as on the first climb. There are also idiots who will drop wrappers and leave litter.
Like most things, HONC relies on goodwill, from the members of Winchcombe CC and Cheltenham and County CC to provide marshalling etc, and also relies on the local community for access etc. Just because HONC's been running for a while does not mean support won't be pulled, that the event will be blocked.
It only takes one idiot to screw it up for everyone.
Looks nice and muddy/puddly along the white road to Hinchcombe pass today on road has been a fair few showers over the Cotswolds today Stow/Bourton/Moreton etc ride a cross bike soon wiz through them.Well marked how long have they been using those yellow stickers etc?might give it ago again 😆
I've just ridden this section - https://www.strava.com/segments/3836362?filter=overall. Seems to be living up to it's name.
More rain overnight....
I remember Clag Fest 2013 - I had to walk my bike through it, I don't think it will get that bad this year....I hope 🙂
The trails are definitely better than 2013, or so it seems from recent riding but I think it may still be tough, the climb out of Laverton will be hard as the track has nearly washed away.
Does anyone have a pdf or similar for the 50k & 100k routes please?
Gizmo can't manage to fathom the gpx files unfortunately 🙁
Been raining on and off all day here in Tewkesbury....I have fitted my read mud guard!!!
I will be there tomorrow and I have also just dug out my rear guard.
For those of you planning to do the long route, ignore your gps and pay attention to the signs, there is a diversion in place avoiding a "field of doom lite".
Graham, first or second half of long route?
first part, not long after the checkpoint/split.
I've managed to loose my entry central entry confirmation email (I can bring id) - will I be sent home in disgrace. Emailed the organisers to tell them this 😳
G, between C1 and M16 on MMcG's map he sent round or further towards Notgrove? Basically the bit i am tail-ending?
Anyone been sent the GPS link? I had an email that said the link was invalid, but not one with the link.
Likely doing the 50k tomorrow. Mud tyres, for what it's worth!
Going to be very muddy lots of hail stone showers today out there hopefully a bit warmer tomorrow than today.
Yes,
I will be there as usual.
100k with semi slick on rear,ha ha!
Mite regret that tomorrow!
Usual trick to make the road sections easier.
No worries though as used to being on foot a lot through the CX race's!
Max
Crackin day on the Honc ,first time on the crosser and right bike for the event 🙂 weather was kind and course was good , Big thanks to the organizers for another top quality event
Apart from that wind...
Really good fun today, I rode it with my wife and we did the 50k in 4hrs 15 mins which, funnily enough was one minute faster than I managed to scramble round the 100k last year, and easier and more social.
Great event as always, every year it seems to get better - thanks Winchcombe CC, please keep running it!
And the mud getting up onto Cleeve Hill!! Great day out as ever!! Thanks to the organisers!
I wasn't impressed by the guy behind me who gave me a dirty look when I questioned why he wasn't shutting the gate! 👿
See you all again next year! 😀
The 100k was pretty brutal this year but all good fun!
Another great day out doing honc. Thanks for putting on a top event
Maybe I will push myself and try the 100 next time
Yeah,
Great day out.
The muddy bits on the 100k was a test for the legs!
Max
it was pretty brutal though....start at the front if you don't want to wait to push up climbs. i didn't this year and had 20km of walking up hills behind people. My walking later was purely me...Also saw lots of people with wide tyres spinning on top of the mud...Cotswolds in a damp April with loads of claggy mud; needs old school tyres or cx!
Yeah, the 60km to 90km section was a proper challenge today.
Those sections with the clagging mud had the weediest sticks for clearing the clags. Pretty much snapping in your hand.
Did anyone actually manage to ride the hill out of Laverton?
I never want to ride my bike ever again. Brilliant event.
The clag ate my mech hanger so had to finish ss.
I am very glad to be home!
The clag ate my mech hanger so had to finish ss.
But you did finish 😀
Great event, the grass sections sucked the life out of you with the soft mud underneath, none of the climbs were killers, wind was a pain at times. Well done to the organisers, will be back again next year.
Coming down the final decent there was a sign saying "Beware of children and walkers" some how this came to mind 😕
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Any idea when the results are published?
Any idea when the results are published?
They aren't its not a race.
Well that was brutal.. Mud was killer I was chuffed with how I was running till about 60k then that next 20k or so was horrific. I spent the whole of the last 40k wishing I was anywhere but there.. Brilliant! Back next year, maybe without a worn Race King on the rear!
Interested to know how the quick guys ran today in the mud - anyone on here from the front lot?
Did anyone actually manage to ride the hill out of Laverton?My team mate mentioned he managed it without a foot down but reckoned it was close, he was first home in the 100k and I think his time was about 4 hrs 23 mins, about 2 mins clear of the next guy.
I thought it was pretty dull to be honest. A bit too much of the slow, muddy tracks around the edge of fields.
I thought they might publish a running order and the timings. The bloke I gave my card to wrote down my time but I do not know what it was.
Interested to know how the quick guys ran today in the mud - anyone on here from the front lot?
Saw Matt Page come in at about 2pm, so around the 5hr mark.
The muddy bits on the 100k was a test for the legs!
I can assure you that the 58k (somebody can't count!) route was far tougher than I've done before, the sticky mud just wouldn't let go of my tyres until I was the far side of 30mph, and at points both wheels were locked solid (on my disc braked CX bike!) due to mud build up.
Great route and great weather, shame that the ground was so soft but that's the luck of the draw I guess! Mind you, last time I did it was bone dry and dusty and I got shaken to pieces on a CX bike, and that didn't happen today!
Had a great time, really challenging but much preferred this years route to last years. Relatively happy with my time for 50k. Some of the open field runs into a head wind were killers but nothing to brutal hill wise.
Thank led to all the volunteers and organisers
awesome day out - hats of to the organisers for doing such a great job - again!
Proper epic on a fatbike in all the clag. At one point it must have weighed 40lbs
Cleared the climb up Laverton - tough as hell but real satisfying
Ah, thanks Iain missed that.
Hats off to anybody clearing that in 4.23, that's not much off last years pace which was very different!
Second HONC for me - it makes always makes me thankful I live in Manchester with access to decent trails. Perfect ride for a CX bike pretty dull for a MTB. That mud was horrific it sucked the joy from the ride for me and my rear mech with it, good job I had a spare mech hanger. Great training though and very well organised.
"Perfect ride for a CX bike pretty dull for a MTB"
Its not a MTB event.
I did it on my XC 29er and thought this years route was great! Claggy mud, lots of long rolling fields. Just what i want from this type of event. This years route was much, much better than last years in my opinion. Albeit I like the last bit of Cleeve hill last year. The organisers are pretty clear its not an MTB event, it just happens to of developed into something that works well on a MTB. There is a real cross section of people entered so anything too gnar would likely change the event and the entrant. I should of really fitted the pair of cross tyres i have hanging in my garage knowing what the route was goign to be like. But you live and you learn, a Highlight for me was seeing a chap on a Cross Bike overtake me on the final gravel descent like i was sat still he was barely touching the ground and testament to how to ride a cross bike. I was half expecting to have to pick him up in bits he was moving that quickly.
snapperdan - Member
Perfect ride for a CX bike pretty dull for a MTB. That mud was horrific it sucked the joy from the ride for me and my rear mech with it, good job I had a spare mech hanger
as said, it's not an MTB ride, but congratulations on understanding the 'reliability trial' bit of the event 😉
Great event just the way it is.
Pity there was no photographer at the ford just after the food stop. He could have filmed me sliding in the mud and going backwards over the bridge and into the stream, followed by a very cold and wet 2nd half.
LoL!!
I remember the year I came down to the ford & decided to go through the water, only to find out that it was a lot deeper than I thought! The photographer got a great sequence of photos with the expression on my face changing from broad grin to 'Oh sh!t this water's a lot deeper than I thought!' before being obscured by the bow-wave!! Great fun!! 😀
a Highlight for me was seeing a chap on a Cross Bike overtake me on the final gravel descent like i was sat still
If that was me, it was because my hands were too tired to brake properly at that point. Stupid cantis were packing up anyway.
I thought a CX bike might have been the quickest way, but it was grim on some of the muddy and bumpy bits and I was overgeared for most of the climbs - 42t ring may be fine for a 45 minute CX race but that's the limit. Silly me.
A chap on a hardtail finished in under 4h20, proving that good legs trump bike selection.
100km for me on a cross bike. Brilliant day out. Love the event as well organised, lovely countryside and friendly riders. Really liked the course, with more off road this year and the mud gave it a challanging edge without being as horrendous as in prev years.
4h 20 mins in that mud...I need new legs!
Be thankful it wasnt today, its rained all day and the mud would be horrendous
managed the 100k - just! that wasn't mud, that was bloody potters clay!
hats off to the two guys who did the 100k on the tandem. it looked scary coming down the muddy track through the woods just after the 75k checkpoint.
surprised by the no. of blokes on fat bikes - fair play. fatties - was it easier on the mud or did you get stuck down like everyone else seemed to?
really well organised day. well done organisers!
Does anyone know why the drone footage has been removed from YouTube?
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http://www.ipernity.com/doc/dylbic/album/884482
Re the video, apparently the author had complaints about flying a drone over the crowd, so he took it down.