The Rawlinson Bracket
23/02/2014 - Gaydon, Warwickshire - Sportive
Rating: 91.1% based on 2 reviews - 
Previous Years Rating: 92.8% based on 12 reviews
Nick was a local lad, born and bred in Kenilworth and worked at JLR. Nick loved cycling, especially the suffering aspect. The Hilly Route goes over some of Nick's favourite local climbs and training routes. He was using these roads in preparation for the Maratona dles Dolomites in July 2012 and his first season of road racing. He was a keen Strava member and follower of 'The Rules' (http://www.velominati.com) especially rule#9. He was also the owner of one of the noisiest bikes I've ever come across, after several weeks and new components later it turned out that the bottom bracket was the final piece of the jigsaw which is why this event is called The Rawlinson Bracket.
ALL PROFITS FROM THIS EVENT WILL GO TO THE SADS UK CHARITY (http://sadsuk.org.uk).
This event is registered with British Cycling and is covered by its liability insurance for non-competitive road events.
On the Top Bracket route (80km) these are the climbs you will encounter -
Climb#1 Burton Dassett - A short climb where you will find it difficult to stay out of the red, you will have an audience on the way up, the sheep are always curious.
Climb#2 Shotteswell - The rural version of the Côte de Saint-Nicolas, a short steep climb encompassed by houses but no screaming Belgian cycling fans (possibly).
Climb#3 Edge Hill (Knowle Hill) - This climbs appears in 'Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs' by Simon Warren. It's only 600m in length but has a maximum gradient of 14% which makes for a gruelling climb. Nick enjoyed this one and always found some extra power to sprint over the top.
Climb#4 Lady Elizabeth Hill - A relatively long steady climb to allow you to settle in a rhythm (unlike the proceeding climbs).
Climb#5 Compton Winyates Hill - Another relatively long climb with some interesting kicks, enjoy the scenery - imagine you're climbing the Côte de La Redoute.
Climb#6 Sunrising Hill - Same height gain as the Edge Hill climb but a different character, a max gradient of 16% and a rough road surface make for an attritional climb with an alpine style switch-back at half-way. Nick would always smash his way up this climb.
The Bottom Bracket route (45km) is 45km in length and has 276 gentle meters of climbing. To me this one is reminiscent of the rolling fields of northern France, a little Paris-Roubaix but without the cobbles. Nick and I used this route as our endurance building route in preparation for circuit racing.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
