Cairngorms Loop 300 - September Group Start

[ScotRoutes]

Now announced for Saturday 11th September.

We'll kick off slightly earlier this year (9:00) as there have been a few requests to make more use of the available daylight but I'm also trying to take into account that folk might have to travel some way to get to Blair Atholl.

Details at the usual place.

https://www.cairngormsloop.net/group-ride

[ScotRoutes]

Seven folk currently signed up for Saturday morning.

There was an "unofficial" group start last weekend too with a small group of very fast riders involved. Huw Oliver knocked another 30 minutes off the FKT, which now stands at 17h53m. Annie Le set the ladies FKT at 26h58m.

[Boab]

Has anyone managed it on a gravel bike yet...?

[ScotRoutes]

Has anyone managed it on a gravel bike yet...?

Yep. It's been done. The walking bits aren't any slower

[ScotRoutes]

And the times are in; 6 starters, 4 finishers.

Campbell Davidson whizzed round in 24h 58m and Gemma Baird took the womens record down to 26h 4m, 54m quicker than Annie Le managed just two weeks ago.
Mike DeBernardo finished in 27h 33m and Christine Campbell completed the finishers in 31h 19m despite losing her bottle on the route



It seems that stopping is for wimps these days. Huw Oliver had a total stopped time of just 31 minutes on his recent (joint) record ride.

Depending upon interest (and Covid) levels there might be a May Group Start date again next year. I wonder if that would have any affect on completion times.

[fatbikephil]

Oof its getting quicker. I'd better have another go next year using my YD300 sleep strategy.
Was Mike Debernado single speed do you know Colin?

[ScotRoutes]

Oof its getting quicker. I'd better have another go next year using my YD300 sleep strategy.
Was Mike Debernado single speed do you know Colin?

Yep!

[mikedeber]

Hi that was me on the SS - 32x18. I was indecisive at the start about whether I would sleep or not, ended up bringing a bivvy and lightweight bag in case I wanted to sleep for a few hours but never used them. I want to go back and see that northern section in the daylight

[fatbikephil]

Hi that was me on the SS - 32x18. I was indecisive at the start about whether I would sleep or not, ended up bringing a bivvy and lightweight bag in case I wanted to sleep for a few hours but never used them. I want to go back and see that northern section in the daylight

Well done Mike
Yes that section has some really nice riding in it, hence my decision last year to stop for 6 hours so I could do it in the daylight!

[ScotRoutes]

Seems like the best pace to link this

https://youtu.be/rojRqxiaSEo

[Verena]

Seems like the best pace to link this

https://youtu.be/rojRqxiaSEo

Enjoyed that, thank you

[fatbikephil]

Saw the edited highlights on bikepacking. Lucky score with the weather!

[ScotRoutes]

Saw the edited highlights on bikepacking. Lucky score with the weather!

Very similar to my ride 2 years ago. I only saw one small patch of cloud.

[fatbikephil]

One day I will roll the dice right

[FLV]

Probably a bit premature, but I'll be back for September 22. Maybe May if its running a group start and the weekend fits.

[ScotRoutes]

Probably a bit premature, but I'll be back for September 22. Maybe May if its running a group start and the weekend fits.

Got your email...

Depending upon how my year goes, I'd like to aim for September too. Maybe a bit less stopped time than my last go.

[FLV]

its my all time favourite route, even if in all my years I have never actually made it round the whole thing!!

This time.....

[Senor Charrleh]

I sent an email, i'm looking to do it in Sept and hopefully bring my time down to 24hrs now i have my kit dallied in and i've been Turbo bashing all winter., I did an unofficial ride last year and did it in just over 29 hrs.

[fatbikephil]

Anyone on the group start today? Been somewhat wet this afternoon....

[ScotRoutes]

Three official starters, plus a couple of guys who had hoped to do it incognito but chose the wrong time

One of the three has scratched already.

I was on the Minigaig-Gaick loop today, doing a track survey for ScotWays. The rain rolled in at lunchtime and was then pretty persistent. A quite strong (and cold) Southerly wind was less than ideal for my return leg and would have hit the Loopers too.

[ScotRoutes]

For completeness... 2/3 scratched on Saturday. A combination of weather and navigation issues.

Mike DeB soldiered on for 35 hours but needed some outside assistance.

In contrast with yesterday afternoon, today has been sunny, dry and warm. A nice evening here at the moment too. The difference 24 hours makes!

We do seem to have a high attrition rate. I might dig out some stats from my time running the event.

[robbie]

Colin Is there a list of starters for this weekend don't see anything on the website Cheers

[ScotRoutes]

Hmm. Something up with formatting on the website. The names are listed on the Group Roster page, but only showing when the + symbol is used. I'll have a look.


Currently 4 riders (it was 5 until this morning).

[ScotRoutes]

Thought I'd best come back to this...

A weekend of "mixed" weather resulted in 2 completions from 4 riders. Fastest time was 25h 4m, slowest was 41h 22m. Quite different strategies being employed!

I also said I'd take a look at the attrition rate. Totalling all the group rides for which I have records, I currently have 36 starts and only 11 finishes*. That's much lower than I'd have expected but does include the August 2019 start where the rivers were all so high that everyone DNF'ed. There might be an effect whereby folk who have previously recorded a decent time "give up" once they realise they aren't likely to be any faster. I know this is something that other event organisers are experiencing and we might see it affecting entry selection for some of the more popular events. I guess that 11 of 36 successful completions also speaks to the level of challenge that this ride entails.

(* I obviously have no idea of the number of "failed" solo rides)