The SEG's 75 miles Reliability Ride (aka 'Brentwood 75')
Advert/intro for 2007 ride, including route sheet
Download the 2007 report (this page) in pdf format
Report on SEG's 75 (aka 'Brentwood 75') on Sunday, 18th February 2007
Well, what shall I say? - Perhaps that it's the last time to have mentioned
'Brentwood 75' here.
No, I shall start with my highest thanks and appreciation to Mary Frost in
the first instance who helped me very professionally at the start with the
overwhelming number of entries on the line. Also thanks to Brian Eves who
quickly went out to get some photocopies for the check cards, which
unfortunately only a few at the end got to take with them.
Now, that already hints on the size of the event: I got about 60odd
pre-entries by post and considering the experiences of the previous organiser
Dot Sharp I expected about another 20 to 30 on the line. I prepared for about
120 in total.
Unusual also for this event, which obviously helped some to decide to take
part, was the weather, which I expected to be freezing cold, gale force winds
& snow - as it was traditionally. In fact it turned out to be an 'ideal'
cycling weather, dry and hardly any wind. I really wished I would have been out
there...
So, I ran out of everything: entry forms, check cards, route sheets ... and
most important of all, food at the halfway-stage. Upon this point I would like
to emphasise my gratefulness to John Hand, marshal at the car park and provider
of additional food (bananas, mars bars, milk, tea & coffee) to get the
riders fed at checkpoint 3.
Well, at the start my organised layout got completely overrun, so I decided
to hand out the cards all at once hoping for the groups to start at the time
indicated on the cards that I prepared from the pre-entries. Most of the riders
went off between 8:45 & 9:10, when the groups got their cards. And at the
end, it must have been like: if at least one has got a route sheet, the rest can
follow.
As I said I was overwhelmed with entries and found it amazing to have so many
people coming. Well done to all participants and thank you very much for taking
part. From the feedback I gathered that all riders enjoyed the event.
I would also like to give a huge thank you to Tony & Hilary and the staff
at the Lake Meadows Park Café. Their catering was fabulous and much appreciated
by the riders after their tour and by me for the time I spent there during the
event.
Some notes on the run-through:
At 5 past 10am Brian Penny confirmed at check point 1 that Mary & Brian
just came through on the tandem and confirmed that they were the last.
I had the stroll through Billericay to get the entry forms copied to capture
some people's addresses when they come back to send them their certificate. When
I got back Dennis Frost (from check point 2) had arrived to agree with the
surprisingly successful event ... and told me about the 3 cyclists who arrived
just before he left.
At about 10 past 12noon Chris Spicer phoned from Great Bardfield that they
were finished there and about to pack, so I just verified that the 3 cyclists
came through already - they hadn't and were still on the way. The sight there
must have been quite astonishing, as I remembered from previous years that
riders were arriving over a time of 2-3 hours. This time Chris had a faithful
help in Ken Winters dishing out the cups of tea for the groups coming in bulk to
the 'half-way' check point within a rather short time.
Dennis and I ordered a bit of a breakfast and I thought to have another hour
or so before I would expect the first lot back; that was 12:20. I was just
trying to get somehow the names sorted, when I looked up to see the first one
back at 12:45. "The others are not far behind" and arrived at 13:00.
Admitting that he started just after 9:00 (instead of the intended time for the
fast group of 9:30), it still knocked me that with an average of 19.6 mph, this
Shaftesbury group was faster than I managed to do the route by car. - At
route-checking you stop on the odd occasion to verify points, but then I also
can drive certain stretches faster, which should balance out the timing.
Now, I didn't expect 'professionals' to use this dash to prepare for the
'Tour de France'. Still only thinking of it makes me chuckle with amazement. But
then, I am coming from the distance touring end and not from racing. They kindly
completed their entry forms as did some of the riders arriving after them in
different states of exhaustion.
At 15:35 Keith Stone from check point 5 confirmed that he packed up, though
he hadn't seen the 3 cyclists. From different accounts I heard that they had one
p... after another, very obviously a discouraging experience. When I left at 10
to 4pm they hadn't arrived, so 3 DNFs together with 3 who had reported back that
they didn't complete.
John Smith at check point 4 spotted several groups who followed the previous
route, thus coming from high Easter rather than from the north to his check
point. Trying to be prepared well before the first riders arrive, John set
himself up around 11:00. Thereabouts this first group to complete the route shot
past at 11:05, simply shouting, "no cards" and not even stopping. I
anticipated the check point to open at 11:30, which would have been ok, if the
groups had started at the indicated times.
A couple of remarks:
At Pleshey Dennis got a complaint that a rider threw a banana peels over the
fence into the garden of the pub. Being bio-degradable Dennis didn't have to
remove it. This was about the only negative voice from outside. Rubbish to
discard should be given to the marshals to dispose of.
I received a hint to have the longer part of the ride before the 'half-way'
check point, and also some of the riders 'complained' that the route is too
short. Well, yes, ok, differing milometers state different distances. But with
so many confirming the discrepancy, I shall put the water tower near High Easter
in again, so that some of the riders can do this part of the ride by heart (as
before).
With regards to the certificates - due to the rather un-orderly entry and
timing conditions - this time it's probably more like certificates of attendance
than of completion acc to the required checkpoint entries. Wherever I have got
an address/entry form I'll send out a certificate.
Anyway, to satisfy you with the actual numbers: 60odd at pre-entry, of which
2 apologised that they couldn't make it and 5 didn't turn up. The odd stems from
lists of people announced to 'pay on the day'. There were 108 on the line,
which made it to the highest turnout this event apparently has ever had of 161
riders.
Pre-entry |
60 |
|
Of which, |
|
|
Pre-entry, attended: |
53 |
53 |
Pre-entry, withdrawn |
2 |
|
Pre-entry, DNE |
5 |
|
EOL |
108 |
108 |
Of which, |
|
|
EOL with entry forms |
78 |
|
EOL without entry forms |
30 |
|
Total riders |
|
161 |
Having the groups and respective names the organisation of the event should
be better next year.
Considering the 3 emails below that I got on the same evening, I am
encouraged to organise the event again next year - same time, same place. So be
prepared for the SEG's 75 on 17th February 2008.
###
From: Wind, Kevan
Sent: 18 February 2007 16:47
Stefan,
Thanks for organising the event today. It was very well done and I think
everyone really enjoyed themselves. I know these things mean a lot of work for
the organisers. So thanks. It was appreciated.
Kevan Wind
[...]
###
From: John Williams
Sent: 18 February 2007 17:47
Hi Stephan
I'm just back from the ride
Thank you for organising it and what an excellent route - better than
previous one- hope the stress at the start wasn't too bad
Thanks again
Cheers
John Williams
[...]
###
From: C and S Spicer
Sent: 18 February 2007 21:21
Hi Stefan
You must have been pleased with today's event, with so many cyclists coming
out of the woodwork! Everyone seemed really happy with the ride, making all
your hard work worthwhile.
Regards
Chris
###
I can only thank all again for participating, the caterers, the marshals and
the riders!
Stefan Eichenseher
(Organiser)
