The sun was out when riders started arriving early on Saturday morning to sign on and then to tackle the standard or the classic sportive which was laid out for them. Almost 150 riders made it to the 1st instalment of the new edition to the event weekends and going by the feedback we had when they came over the line they had a great time out on the hills.

“What a great start to our Sportive series,” says Ben Washington from Gore Bike Wear. “We saw lots of happy faces coming back over the line and the feedback from the riders has been all positive.”

“A fantastic course, lovely weather, a lively event village, top notch facilities paired with ample parking and camping space – simply a great combination. I am sure that this success will make the rounds in the sportive community and hopefully we will see lots of return customers as well as some new ones at the next round in Builth Wells,” he continues.

The two road routes on offer where the 40mile (1080m of climbing) and 80mile (2069m of climbing) options. Both routes headed out of historic Ruthin along the pastoral Vale of Clwyd towards the coast. The climbing started as the route went through the centre of Denbigh past its 13th century castle. Moving up onto the moorland above the town the route cut back to pass Lyn Brenig, famous locally for its fishing and watersports.

Next stop was Cerrigydrudion where the two routes parted company. The 40 mile route headed back to Ruthin through Clawdd- Newydd. The 80 mile route carried on towards Bala and its famous lake. Back towards Corwen through the town centre and over the river before taking the scenic backroads towards Llangollen. Then came the final challenge, the Horeseshoe Pass. Chris Boardman still holds the record for the ascent here. Topping the final miles took in a descent of the Nant y Garth Pass before the return to Ruthin.

With the first round behind us now the focus turns to Builth Wells where John Lloyd is putting his years of road training experience into the two courses on offer. We will have a more detailed course breakdown in one of our next newsletters and add it to the website.

To find out more about the details of the Gore Bike Wear Road Sportive Series 2008 please go to the Gore Sportive page on the website.

At this event we had again two photographers out on the course; our regular photographer, Jon Brooke and his colleague Lauris Naglins – the idea being to give you an even greater selection of images to choose from. Head to www.rightplacerighttime.co.uk for your photo.