Wiggle Dragon Ride Wales

Rated Event: 28.9%

boyband6666 wrote:

Avoid, it was terribly organised, with hanging around for 3 hours waiting to start, and then timing chips not working. I cannot stress enough how crap this sportive was.

Rated Event: 73.3%

brianthesnail wrote:

I started early and didn't have to queue for parking or start. No issue with feed stations either. Perhaps later starters found that there was no food or gels left as there was plenty when I stopped. Zipvit, salted potatoes, and so on. However, first 40 miles of course was brutal. So boring in fact that I almost thought about giving up cycling. Finish wasn't much good either. And, course was several miles longer than advertised. Course was hard enough without that. In hindsight, I would have rode a compact. But, considering the cost of my travel to this event, 2 hotel overnight stops, I definitely will NOT be back..

Rated Event: 27.8%

wrote:

Nothing to say I think you are all aware of this events issues

Rated Event: 70.0%

red wrote:

The climbs, descents and feed stations were first class. The timing fiasco and very long start delays were poor. The thing that really upset me was the implication that the timing chip was mounted incorrectly by the rider, which resulted in no recorded time. As I suspect for the majority in the same poistion, the official photographs show clearly that my number/chip was mounted as instructed. The timing chip company should be ashamed and own up to a technological failure on their part. First Dragon Ride and probably the last.

Rated Event: 30.0%

Neil Armo wrote:

Supposed to be the best, but was actually the worst Sportive I have ever done.
How this has the reputation that it curently enjoys is beyond me. It has really disillusioned me as to ust why we bother with Sportive events instead of just going to ride the course in 'your own time'.
Like some other reviewers, I totally agree that a large portion of the course was through some truly awful and mediocre areas. Its no good basing a long 200km route around 3key climbs if the majority of the rest of the route is ugly. I thought it would be through beautful countryside similar to where i live in the Peak District, but not a chance. Industrial and run down describes a lot of the areas we rode through.
Timing issue doesnt personally wind me up that much as I think it's largely pointless unless the clock stops at each feed station that you stop at. However, the timed climb is where you could truly compare yourself to other riders and in this respect, the organisers failed miserably. There doesn't even seem to be much of an apology from anyone regarding this. Let alone a token gesture refund of some portion of the entry fee - I guess that would be too much to ask from a near £40 entry fee and after incuring sizeable hotel/petrol costs to do what was supposed to be a memorable event!
My biggest gripe is with the feed stations. Poorly placed, particularly for the 200km route. The last stop was at about 83miles and we still had a major climb and 40+miles to go. The snacks supplied were quite honestly the worst i have ever seen and i cannot believe that this can warrant UCI Gold medal standard. Can anyone please explain how crisps, potatoes, and jam tarts are deemed good enough for a testing 125mile hilly ride, with not an easily digestible energy bar or gel in sight?? It's not a 25mile leisure ride where you an get round with a Mars Bar in your pocket!!! Come on Mr Organiser, you can, and should, do much better. And if you didn't like the taste of orange energy drink then you were stuffed because thats all that was on offer. Absolutely RUBBISH.
I went to the neutral cycle service tent for assistance with a late bike problem at 8:30am and there was nobody in sight to help. It actually looked as if someone had just erected a tent, closed the flap/door then gone home as there was no evidence that anyone had been there. If ot hadn't been for a helpful guy from the Wiggle crew then I'd have been stuffed.
One final note, despite riding for just under 7hrs I never once saw a service car or motorbike. Where were they? What would you do if you had a problem?
To summarise. Been there, seen it, done it, never again. Very, VERY Poor.

Rated Event: 33.3%

damoncrawshaw wrote:

the whole of South Wales to play with and for some reason a dire route through dreary, mundane towns complete with lots of traffic and speed bumps was chosen, we even had a section on a dual carriageway! WHY!! Jam tarts and crisps at the feed stations would indicate a complete lack of thought in providing food that could be nibbled while riding. I won't even go in to the timing issue and queues. Truly disappointing, the organisers should be ashamed.

Rated Event: 47.8%

a-marshall1971 wrote:

Poor organisation. No control at the mass start. Poor toilet and Parking facilities. Tented "village" was very small and the timing was absolutely shameful. No official time to show for 6 months training and 6 and a half hours of effort on the day. (And there are many, many more with this issue) The course was ok.... and signage/course marshaling was fine, but I wont enter again. Not a "gold standard" event in my opinion.

Rated Event: 41.1%

wrote:

I've done and enoyed the event in previous years but it was poor this year - let down by the failure of timing chips, massive wait at start and unimaginative course (medio). They pride themselves on the route and the UCI Golden Bike status for 2012 but they should have a good look at what's on offer next year if they want to attract people back as I feel sure they will have lost a lot of "customers" due to complacency and poor organisation.

Rated Event: 42.2%

gollancz wrote:

I like to park, sh*t, start, ride and get a time.

Park: okay 'cause i got there early
Sh*t: 4 loos for 4,000. No loo roll at 8am in the morning. Cattle are better catered for.
Start: Totally inadequate organisation with long wait times for most
Ride: loved it. quick to the cost and blasted the hills. No problems en route but mostly because i was out early and avoided the crowds
Time: Totally and completely unforgivable. A full refund is required but even this does not compensate me for slogging myself for 6.5 hours and still have no idea where I finished or how I did relative to everyone else

How anyone can rate this the 'best in the UK' is beyond me. My local village 10k could teach them how to run a professional event.

Rated Event: 41.1%

bumsteer wrote:

Like so many others have said: this was my third Dragon and every year it gets worse. 40 mins. to park and 75 mins. waiting at the start. The whole point of the Dragon is to do the signature climbs of the Bwlch (from two different directions) and the Rhigos. Except they just have to tamper with it... Although Ogmore is pleasant, I don't want to be taken there on this ride. Clearly, with 4000 entrants, this event has now become a victim of its own perceived success and disappeared up its own fundament. Emperor's new clothes, perhaps? Time to move on and look forward to the Etape Cymru in October :-)

Rated Event: 50.0%

wrote:

Dont understand how this can be rated as the best sportive. Joke! I queued for half an hour to park then queued again for 1hour 15 mins to start, on top of this the timing chip didnt work. The route isnt that special, Porthcawl was a joke, the only good thing about this event is the climbs.

Rated Event: 50.0%

Lee C wrote:

I'd done this event once before and was expecting this to be just as good. Big wait to get into the event was not a problem, it is after all a motorway junction. What wasn't ok was standing aound for over an hour before even getting over the start line. I don't have the solution for this i'm just glad that the forecasted poor weather didn't arrive early. The route could never fail to impress in that terrain. Sadly the timing issue ruined the day for me. My time for this was a PB. Initially the results showed that my chip had activated at all but the start of the second Bwlch climb and the finish. Why? i can only imagine that this was because i dained to cross the mat at the same time as another rider! They can't tell me my chip was fitted incorrectly as it activated again at the top of the climb and then failed once more at the finish. So, PB but no comparison to other riders, poorest goody bag ever received and i'm left wondering why i didn't keep my money and ride the route when it suited me to do so. I hope the Magnificat doesn't suffer the same problems as this has left thinking "Is this really the best the UK has to offer?" In future if i want a time to compare i'll go road racing

Rated Event: 80.0%

OrangeItalian wrote:

Like many others, I can't excuse the timing failure - on the 200km route, my name and times didn't list at all, yet I went over every mat, and my number was attached as for all other events - including one other using this dogbone type of disposable number.
Start queues - sound to have been linked with the above - but allowing people to push in was annoying, but then it isn't considerate of fellow riders to do this - this made me less inclined to help broken down cyclists - as they probably pushed in front of me - this detracts from event friendliness.
Completing the 200km in 9 hours including half an hour at the feeds left me without any potatoes enroute, with only a sachet recovery drink (no water) at end, and a small amount of pasta with very little sauce. A brew would have been nice!
On the plus side, the campsite was great, well-managed, with superb little cafe, animals to look at (other than fellow competitors, that is!), gold star loos! - and very friendly accommodating hosts. I hope the folk at Dexters will do the camping again - they even closed my truck door for me halfway through the event, so my dog had air, but didn't drown in the rain!
The route was superb, sweeping alpine terrain, some great wild high country and coastal views, friendly villagers shouting support - and well-signed - except for a sharp left turn before the second ascent of the Bwlch - where I stopped about 15 people going straight on - but the signs were there - I think people get tired and have tunnel vision at this stage - esp. in the rain.
Feeds were overall good - the Bwlch summit one felt like an alpine col - great! All the marshalls and helpers were lovely people and extremely hardworking, cheerful and enthusiastic, on a cloudy day. I would have loved a spud - not sure if they ran out, or I was blind!
Road support from Mavic was brilliant,as ever - they give a real professional feel to the event. The ambulances also seemed to be at hand whenever there was a need.
I found my fellow competitors enroute very friendly and good company.
The event centre was well-organised, and the stall holders helpful - I loved the cyclist's wallet giveaway from the French stall.
The photo service was as good as ever.
Great event almost ruined by timing failure - think people do like to know how they ranked among fellow competitors, incl. on the climbs, in these large events - I do!
Enjoyed it nevertheless.

Rated Event: 60.0%

wrote:

I had a 'lucky' day out - got into the overflow carpark without any problem having seen the queues for main car park, managed to get started reasonably easily, feed stops were ok for me (I carry my own stuff due to past experiences) and my chip worked fine. Rode well, enjoyed the course, got in some good groups and had a good bit of banter with one or two fellow riders.

But clearly 'luck' ran out for hundreds, if not thousands, of people and if this was their first Dragon, I can understand why they might not bother again, especially as for many of us riding these events, the 'time' is the prize and we all secretly enjoy seeing how we got on in our category even though it's not a race!

This year's timing disaster aside, I've always endured some form of queueing at the Dragon - small queues several years back, much bigger queues now. I've queued at the top of singletrack in off road marathons and suffered queues and feed stop nightmares of epic proportions in so called prestige events such as the Etape, where I naively thought big entry fees and closed roads would prevent such an experience.

I'll still ride the odd sportive but nowadays, if I want a more mellow free flowing ride I just head out of my front door...

Rated Event: 62.2%

wrote:

My first Dragon Ride

Without repeating a lot of the valid points already made regarding the start and timing chips etc.

I enjoyed the free massage at the finish which made a big difference to my post ride recovery.

I didn't enjoy the water and energy drink in the rain water butts at the feed stations which had an overwhelming taste of toxic plastic. I'm sure these containers weren't meant for drinking water and could be a health hazard to use them in this way. I was a bit disappointed they didn't have any free energy bars or jells

Rated Event: 51.1%

henry321 wrote:

This was my first Dragon Ride and I arrived with high expectations to complete the 200km Gran Fondo route. Clearly the waiting time at the start was unacceptable, we were waiting for well over an hour and didn't set off until 0930. After 45 miles disaster struck for me as my chain snapped. Without the knowledge or tools to fix it, and with the Support/Maintenance phone 'switched off' (!!!) I was pretty much screwed. Luckily for me some kind cyclist eventually stopped and fixed it for me. I was held up for around 30 minutes because of this setback, which ultimately proved costly to me as I soon learnt that I had missed the cut-off point for Gran Fondo by 5 minutes! Maybe I could have rode faster, maybe I should have checked the cut-off time before, maybe I should have been better prepared for a snapped chain, but I can't help feeling that I missed the cut-off due to the poor event organization.

Nice scenery in places but all in all a very unsatisfactory day-out, travelling all the way from London for what ultimately proved to be a relatively unchallenging 120km ride.

Rated Event: 44.4%

Rich N wrote:

Not good really
It was the first time I'd done the event and not at all impressed
first of all it took me and my brother in law 80min in the que to start and there was loads of people behind us (so god knows how long it took them!)
the feed stops were heaving not good enough for the amount of people.
I've done alot of other sportives and considering this was by far the biggest hardly any marshals about at the start and consequencly lots of people pushing in.
and I'm sorry but the timing issues are unforgivable ! (I mean can you imagine this in the London marathon)in the first place my brother in law put in for the gran fondo but did the medio but it seems the only way you could tell is if he'd gone over the second split mat,odd .and also his average speed for the medio was 15.68mph just short of silver medal time should be 15.74mph where as my average was 16.21mph for the gran fondo so you would think I should get silver as I did 50miles more and 2 extra mountains but no the average for silver on the G F is 16.87mph work that one out .you can't blame that on the timing people He should have thought about these things before.
I'm sorry but it makes a joke of the gold standard event status.

Rated Event: 44.4%

wrote:

This is the third time I have ridden this event in consecutive years
This years route was far more enjoyable than previous years no issues there!

I dont see where they get their rating from, organisation is appauling!

This year the timing is not working correctly, last year the energy drink supplier failed to turn up and the year before it took an hour to get off the motorway, and its always someone elses fault!

The sighting of the second feedstation was dangerous, the signage to it needed to be at 500m not 100m when approaching a downhill section and tucked behind a corner!
The sighting of the timing mats was laughable and now they are not working!
Never ever again will i ride this event.

Rated Event: 30.0%

wrote:

The most badly organised sportive I have experienced. Parking, toilets and starting arrangements just dreadful. Would be bad for a village fete, but for a so-called premier sportive it's reprehensible. Route was great in rural areas, but too much was in nonedescript towns or on main roads with a lot of traffic. More imagination and thought needs to go into this event, I wonder if the organisers have lost sight of the fundamentals in their search for "Gold status". Food was OK, and most of the staff were friendly enough, but given the saturated nature of the market, they need to get their act together.

Rated Event: 64.4%

wrote:

Well spaced feed stops but the range of provisions was a little poor plus only one portaloo per stop was far from adequate. Timing chips for most of my group didn't work. Route arrow signs were good but hill info signs had too much detail too take in at speed. Doing the same fairly dull climb twice was less than I'd expect from an event billed as the UK's premier sportive.