Tour of The National Forest Autumn Challenge

Rated Event: 100.000%

IvanCope wrote:

Despite the weather this was the best organised sportive i have entered and i have done a few

Rated Event: 71.111%

PaulAndrews wrote:

See above for main issue. As for the day itself bar the weather I can't fault it. I had a great day. Lack of signage was an issue after second feed station, but I understand this was due to locals tampering with signs

Rated Event: 100.000%

PeterHawTierney wrote:

Great event to start my sportive career! So easy from website info, signing up, pre-ride pack, arrival, route, stops, finish and dinner! Loved the personal touch, felt like every entrant was made to feel welcome. Great route, even though I needed to change to shorter distance part way through it was no problem, and loved the design where routes have plenty of overlap; really added to atmosphere when the riders on longer distance caught up with me again! Thanks to all involved, I'll definitely be back!

Rated Event: 93.333%

AndyWalker1 wrote:

These are minor worries, beautiful scenery, hard route at start which allowed break up of packs, but easing of difficulty later,allowed times to be recaptured. Will try and do again, next spring.

Rated Event: 100.000%

JerryP wrote:

Eight weeks ago I hadn't ridden a bike for over twenty years ,on October 5th I took part in a fabulous 100km national forest sportive and completed the course in under 5 hours just ,4h 59m 37s ,what a day ! ,a superbly well organised event ,very well signposted ,polite helpful staff ,they even managed to organise the weather ! and the views across Leicestershire were wonderful ,I can't wait to take part in your future events..........well done and a huge thank you for making my first sportive so memorable. Jerry Parker (rider # 1243)

Rated Event: 95.556%

andrewgrindrod wrote:

This was my first sportive and i was a little apprehensive if the truth be told, totally unfounded. this was a really well organized event - route signs were clear and easy to follow. Brilliant feedstation with lots on offer. Lovely route in a lovely area. I have a feeling I'll be doing some more sportives. thanks to the organizers.

Rated Event: 100.000%

HannahCheyney wrote:

This was my first experience of a sportive and didn't really know what to expect. However from the moment I arrived I was really impressed. The atmosphere was incredibly friendly, the support staff helpful, everything was very clearly signposted, so much so even I couldn't get lost! I had a fantastic experience. The feed stations were well stocked. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. The perfect weather helped too. Thank you to all who made it possible!

Rated Event: 86.667%

MartinButton wrote:

Good event, in fact my first cycle event. My only complaint was the missing sign at around 40miles. But, I did have the map and unlike loads of the other guys I took 20 seconds to see where I went wrong and turned around. So I did an extra 3 or so miles, one guy came with me the others carried on knowing they were wrong. Looking at the map I assume they too off a fair chunk of their mileage since the by-passed the 2nd feed station. But still enjoyed it, great weather, nice cakes at the feed stations and the meal at the end was great.

Rated Event: 97.778%

Dave Jerram wrote:

The organisation of this event was perfect in my opinion. I really enjoyed the route, the feed stations were well stocked so all in all had a fantastic day............

Rated Event: 97.778%

NeilMaycock wrote:

Just to express my personal thanks for all the hard work put in by the 'Collective Team' to make it such a success - whether it was the guys that signed the route, the mechanic (fortunately not needed), those helping at the feed stations (much needed), the time keeper (and his patience as everyone wanted their times), those who sorted out the packs (both before and after), the caterers, and so on and so on.
Everyone I spoke to at lunchtime said similar!
This was my first ever such event, and having such a strong back room team greatly helped being able to enjoy the day!

Rated Event: 70.000%

JohnHunter wrote:

I really enjoyed the ride - challenging but not so much that it was painful. It was really let down by the signage. One sign was missing at 40 miles and the signage on the 100 mile only section was sparse and ambiguous which didn't fill me with lots of confidence that I was going right. Pity - otherwise it was a great ride.

Rated Event: 100.000%

MarkEdmond wrote:

Brilliant

Rated Event: 100.000%

martinpeffers wrote:

WHAT A VERY WELL RUN EVENT , VERY GOOD SIGNAGE ON THE WHOLE 160K ROUTE HIGHLY RECCOMEND THIS EVENT

Rated Event: 90.000%

MundoWardy wrote:

This was by far the best organised sportive event I have attended. I especially liked the free meal at the finish. My only slight criticism is that because the course is generally a clockwise loop, there were a lot of right turns which are more dangerous to tackle as a cyclist than left turns. Otherwise, well done! I loved it (of course the good weather helped!)

Rated Event: 91.111%

RachaelJermyn wrote:

All in all it was terrific. I was just a bit confused as to what I was supposed to do on crossing the finish line-but I was exhausted.
Also I am dairy intolerant and wasn't certain which of the food stuffs contained milk, butter etc. that said this was my first long ride so I also hadn't got much experience of what to eat.

Rated Event: 100.000%

paulskipper wrote:

first sportive I have done brilliant from start to finish ...from arriving to post ride meal. never seen so many hills but all ridable ha ha would recommend this event

Rated Event: 95.556%

ChelloRider wrote:

A great day out as the weather was good along with a well organised event and a sufficiently testing route (100 miler)

Rated Event: 97.778%

NigelDilks wrote:

Top event - shame about the photographer!!

Rated Event: 87.778%

ashleycarreras wrote:

an excellent event, the weather may have helped , but it was well organised and everyone was very helpful. would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone and will do it again myself.

Rated Event: 96.667%

DaveBriggs wrote:

Really well organised and very well signed route. 160k route was very challenging with the first 25k or so being particularly tough. Feed stations were well stocked with a variety of sweet treats. Food afterwards was also very nice. Getting a 'party bag' at the end was a nice touch and added to the value of the day.

Only gripes were 2 or 3 junctions with main roads lacked good visibility to allow 100% safe crossing and a couple of idiot drivers who overtook on narrow lanes with oncoming traffic, narrowly missing us on both occasions (but you can't do much about them!)

Overall a great sportive, tough, well organised and great value.