L'Eroica Britannia: best of British

Found the Incycle segment on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlPIimHSLag&list=UUXgba6tOLghtJuXaD8LBHWg

Didn't spot myself! Fingers crossed I made the cut for the official film...

Sky Go website has never heard of "Incycle". Was it on that "Riding the Dales" programme?

a very nice feature on L'Eroica Brittania on tonights InCycle, Sky Sports 4 , 7pm and Online tomorrow... the official film is coming very soon too...

The helmet issue was circumnavigated by classifying the event as "heritage" and therefore making it somehow exempt. The same i'm sure applies to the fact that beer, champagne and Pimms were served at the incredible feed stations.

This is not a sportive and should not be thought of as much. It was a fantastic festival of cycling, a fancy dress procession or a glorious touring "picnic". No timing of any sort took place and no one even cared which route you rode (long, medium, short).

I for one cannot wait to ride it again next year. I absolutely loved it and am already planning to seek out more vintage clobber next year (including a retro leather helmet if funds allow).

Just like classic cars don't require seat belts and airbags, neither should this require modern carbon/polystryrene helmets which clash with your vintage steed and woollen jersey.

I can only echo this blog and all the other commentary I have seen. Absolutely superb event. Really fancied it when it was announced but baulked at the price as I generally avoid events that cost more than £20. However all the added extras on this I feel justified the fee, especially if you camped over for a night or two.

I was lucky enough to win an entry via a draw being done on the Brooks website. They then emailed me a couple of days later saying "some of our winners can't make it, would you like to bring a guest?". Errr - yes please!

My guest's best mate and family live in Hathersage, just a few miles from Bakewell, so we went and stayed the Saturday night with them. They were at a mini music festival somewhere in the East Midlands and not expecting to get home until after midnight, so we drove over (from Lancs) fairly late, parked the car and hit the pub. Four pints later we got the "we're home" text so back to the house for a nip of whisky and a slice of toast before heading to the open-air swimming pool. Yes, on the Summer Solstice the pool stays open until 3.30am! Fantastic experience!

Left the pool about 2.30, back to the house for another large nip and watch the crescent moon rise over the hills as the sky starts to lighten. With my alarm set for 6am I hit the sack about 3.30. Perhaps not the Sportive preparation that you see recommended in all those magazine articles but hey, it wasn't London-Brighton we were tackling after all...

Had that "what the hell?!" feeling when the alarm went off, then remembered, pulled on my gear, quick cup of tea and half a bagel then drove down to Bakewell. We were a few minutes late for the 730am cutoff to start the 100 mile but nobody tried to stop us. Tried to balance the "get to the breakfast stop quickly" against "don't burn out too quickly" and successfully made it to Tideswell for bacon rolls and proper coffee (yes - proper filter and espresso coffee at a Sportive feedstop). That set the tone for the rest of the stops except the mini one at Derbyshire Bridge which was being run by Rapha. Who had run out! Boo!

We were welcomed through every village with smiling faces and chatted to various other participants and other awestruck cyclists throughout. Being in a line of guys on skinny-tyred vintage steel racing bikes blasting (politely of course) past groups of mountain-bikers on some of the white gravel trails was a particular highlight.

Reckon we'll be back next year even if I do have to pay for a ticket this time. Also reckon I'll be back riding in Derbyshire sooner than that as well- what fantastic cycling country it is.

at Cambridge Cycling Campaign, we run a mass bike ride (families etc) under Bikeweek insurance. We had the best part of a thousand riders and passengers this year (youngest rider was 6, not bad for a 28 mile ride- youngest passenger I heard an age being defined in weeks). Helmets weren't compulsory and indeed were the minority...

Farrell, It's not Peking, it's Bei Jing. Peking is from Westerners mispronouncing Bei Jing. Get Iceland to fix that! Pedantry over.

I went down this weekend just to be a part of it as I live locally. I didn't know about it early enough to get one of the 2000 rider spots available. From my point of view it was fantastic. So many lovely bikes and incredible outfits. The crowds of people all seemed to be in a similar mindset with everyone enjoying the sunshine and talking about bikes. the weather was astounding and after chatting to a lot of the stall holders everyone one was really happy with the organisation and the whole event. I will certainly be entering it next year, so far I have recruited 6 others too!

This whole helmet / insurance debate....... this was an event with beautiful bikes, beautiful scenery and beautiful people. Common sense and smiles ruled the course.

Similar, but much smaller scale event here if anyone is interested in it:

http://chilterncyclingfestival.com/

I am not connected with it at all, I just saw it advertised locally.

My mate persists in mispronouncing it as 'Erotica'. I imagined him turning up on his bike in stockings and suspender belt and being a little disappointed...

Great event all round, and much better value than any 30 quid sportive I ever entered.

Only negative points were the toilet issues, some horse scaring numpty, and a sweary motorcylist having a pop (not only ironic coming from a fellow two wheeled transport user, but also uncalled for as I was just stood by side of the road minding my own business at the time).

Amazing atmosphere - the only bike event I would unhesitatingly do again.

http://groceries.iceland.co.uk/medias/sys_master/ha2/h81/8835835166750.jpg

I think we are hitting Peak Peak

I was there too - it was a brilliant weekend amazingly well managed considering it was the first one. I did wonder how much fun some of the tracks would have been in the rain (there were quite a few descents I wouldn't have fancied at all if my 53 year-old brakes had been wet) but thankfully that was gloriously irrelevant because the weather was fantastic all weekend. I will be going back too.

Best thing for me was there was no segment obsession, no going for the fastest time and riding on the rivet The whole thing was about the journey as someone eloquently put it to me.

I paid the entry fee and did not even camp (I only live the other side of the hill in Chesterfield) and think it was excellent value compared to some sportives I've done.

I had a conversation with a bloke who came to our stand who was a cyclist and not doing the ride and was having a bit of a how much moment about the price. (He didn't mind visiting the festival bit and enjoying the entertainment for free though). We both eventually agreed that if you wanted to pay less then just rock up at your local Audax, but if you wanted a little more for your experience this was what you should be after.

The insurance requirement is bollocks, I strongly suspect. If an event has an insurance policy where a participant not wearing a helmet could cause the organiser to face legal or financial risks, then the insurance policy isn't worth much. The organiser would have to be an idiot not to find a better insurer, if that were true.

If you ran a sportive, would you be happy with a 3rd party liability insurance scheme that covered you against damages *except* where it involved a rider, outside of your control, removing a helmet? No you wouldn't. Nor would any real sportive organiser.

I've asked these sportive organisers who say they require helmets because of their insurance to show me the policy, but they always refuse. One of the road.cc staff claims to have seen a policy requiring it, but again, no actual policy text to back it up.

British cycling non-competitive event insurance, FWIW, does not require that riders wear helmets. So any sportive under its auspices whose organisers try to claim that the insurance requires helmets would definitely be talking bollocks.

As for the person above claiming it was a scandal that this retro-sportive allowed non-helmet-wearers to take part: If not wearing a helmet is such a huge risk, why weren't there dozens of people injured in this sportive?

The truth is that non-competitive cycling is pretty safe, with or without helmet. That there is a car-loving lobby, and a number of Stockholm-syndrome afflicted cyclists, who screech otherwise and try to denormalise cycling, does not change that fact.

I was there too. My family and I had an amazing weekend. I can only echo the comments above - I've done numerous sportives in the UK, but never have I felt so welcome as I did on the Sunday ride. Being cheered and clapped as we rode through gorgeous little villages was a unique experience!
If you're of a certain age, the bikes on display will have made you go weak at the knees.
We'll definitely be back next year.

It was fantastic! Price wise don't forget it included 3 nights camping for you and your family in the Peak District.
Missing famous climbs? Well it would have needed to be a couple of times longer to get them all and even the 30 mile had a sting in the tail of the Monsal Hill Climb!
Didn't wear a helmet this time but then I grew up riding these roads and trails (thats why my 1984 Raleigh Gran Course was wearing 28mm Gatorskins!) in a time before anyone but racers wore helmets.
Had fun picking up all the £1000ish vintage Pinarellos and Colagnos and finding them heavier than my Raleigh but then I suppose 30 years ago it was the top non custom frame from a maker at the top of the game!

I was there. It was a fantastic ride and a great event. The entry price included camping for three nights so I think it represented good value. The free food along the way was all local produce and very tasty and the Pimms stop at Chatsworth house (93miles) was a nice touch. The route was challenging but not crazy and the long sections along strade bianche style gravel trails and the railway tunnels were very memorable although a little sketchy and challenging at times on 23mm tyres.

The festival had plenty going on for non-riding friends and family and it's a great area for making a long weekend of it. Great food and beer, live music, fairground rides etc etc Very friendly locals along the way - puts the New Forest to shame!

A different kind of bike porn on display than at the usual cafe stop. If you don't appreciate all of that steel and chrome then you've lost connection with the soul of cycling. Putting together my steed (a Molteni Merckx) and outfit over the weeks and months has been great fun too. I need to try harder on the decorative facial hair front though!

You seemingly can't avoid the helmet debate on any thread on this site. My own personal feeling was that I didn't fancy being unprotected (within the range of impact parameters where a helmet affords some degree of mitigation of the degree of injury) so I borrowed a friend's 1980s original Bell monstrosity so I looked the part to some degree. This ride emphasised personal choice and being less competitive than your usual sportive. It's not a risk-free activity though. On one of the longest/fastest descents I encountered the aftermath of a very nasty looking wipeout with the unlucky guy bleeding pretty heavily from the head. I hope he's OK.

Brilliant I wish I had been there, L'eroica Britannia is here to stay I hope, the PEAKS look superb must have a PEAK sometime soon!...off now feeling a little PEAK...ish prob will have a PEAK frean biscuit!
Ha ha there is always one isnt there!

So how was it for those that didn't get a free jersey and schmoozed by Brooks? If this is going the way of L'Eroica in Italy then there's nothing like a bunch of free-loaders getting in the way of those that paid their entry and feel like they're only there to serve the needs of the sponsors and their guests?

Was it classed as a sportive and was there insurance coverage? The reason I ask is that (sensibly) riders could choose their headwear or lack of it, whereas at other events (Wiggle) failure to don the polystyrene will result in ejection from the event due to 'insurance issues.' Can anyone illuminate please?

isn't it "L'Eroica" ????

I'm pretty sure my mates and I all refer to it as "The Peaks", even the ones that live there.