9th Annual Cyclosportive

This year’s May randonnee was rebranded a Cyclosportive (in line with the current trend), the two names being synonymous. Also, along with the current trend, entries before the day were well up on our 2006 event and we had to take the unprecedented step of closing entries with just over a week to go to avoid exceeding our maximum number of riders (limited by insurance) – apologies once again to those we had to turn away. We also made other changes this year including providing water and bananas/cakes at each check point and booked a village hall to finish at instead of the drafty car park. As always, there was a choice of distances – 50 miles and 90 miles.

The ideas were good and all went well until the day itself. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side and the threatening rain, which kept about 90 of the pre-entered riders away all together, started soon after the last group left the start.

However, the 240 plus riders who actually started the event managed to eat all the cake, a fair number of bananas, but did not make much of a dent in the gallons of water we had dispersed around the Surrey and Sussex countryside. As in previous years, Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates were awarded to all finishers according to age, sex and time taken to complete the route of their choice. It was possibly surprising that, despite the weather, the majority of finishers actually completed the longer route. A summary of the results can be found here.

This is the second time this year that the weather has let us down, with heavy rain also trying to spoil our early season cyclosportive at the beginning of March. However, despite the weather this event was also once again a success and will be held again next year.

If you are wondering what you missed, make a note in your diary for next May, keep an eye open for our advertising nearer the time and get your entry form in sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment. If you can’t wait that long, there is always our early season cyclosportive in March or one of our regular Saturday club runs. If you want details of these, or any other activities of SWRC, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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