NEWS

09/08/09 AT LEAST WE CAN SPELL!

This weekend your organiser finally got round to tidying up the garage, checking the SUS09 paraphenelia and hoofing it up into the attic till next year. In the process of completing this somewhat tedious task, I came across one of our signs that had been 'humourously' defaced by some cretin or other. I'm thinking it sort of takes the edge off the point you were trying to make when your grammar is essentially crap. Unless, that is, all cyclists belong to someone called 'Dick' and we never even knew!  

17/07/09 JOB DONE!

On the day before the RADAR RIDE rolled out into a deluge, the sun shone on 10-year old Joe Thomson as he became the youngest rider to conquer Lowther Hill. Click here for photos. The full story will follow next week - in Joe's own words! 

17/07/09 RADAR RIDE RESULTS ONLINE

The full results of the 2009 RADAR RIDES are now online. Click here to see how you did.

09/07/09 FINAL START LIST NOW ONLINE

With entries now closed, the final start list for the 2009 RADAR RIDE is now online. Click here to see which number you've got and when you'll be starting your day.

07/07/09 RADAR RIDE FULL FOR THE 2ND YEAR RUNNING

The 2009 RADAR RIDE officially closed for entries today having far surpassed last year's total. If you were still wondering about whether to join us on Sunday - you're too late! Entries for the 2010 event will open in September.

05/07/09 YOUNGEST RADAR RIDER TACKLES 'THE HILL'

Next Saturday, the day before the 2009 RADAR RIDE, a young man from down south will attempt to conquer the highest road in Scotland at the ripe old age of 10! Joe Thomson is the son of our No Limits photographer from last year and Godson of yours truly. Resplendent in his new SUS09 kit and aboard his cool new Specialized Tarmac bike, this talented little fella will attempt to haul himself from Leadhills to the summit of Green Lowther and show the rest of us how its done. Word on the streets is that if Dave Brailsford is looking for a potential Tour winner for Team Sky, he needs to high-tail it to Hillingdon circuit on a Saturday morning. As his old man is an equally talented photographer you can definitely expect a full report and pictures right here.

04/07/09 RIDER BRIEFING NOW ONLINE

A comprehensive briefing for entrants to the 2009 RADAR RIDE is now online. Click here to find out when you start and where to go for a killer haggis and egg roll before you do.  

03/07/09  2009 RADAR RIDE SURPASSES SUS08

The first edition of the newly-titled RADAR RIDE has sped past last year's inaugural Southern Uplands Sportive in terms of entries. (For more on last year's event, click here). The cycling invasion of Wanlockhead next weekend will triple the size of the village. And that's before we add in spectators and supporters! One tip, get there early for the best parking!

26/06/09  IS THIS THE WAY TO ANOTHER HILL-O?

One of the things the 2008 Southern Uplands Sportive was praised for was its excellent signage. So, in the run up to it successor, what did we go and do? Buy more signs of course! The latest editions to our event paraphenalia arrived today to enable us to clearly mark the new parts of the course - and to mark some new challenges on existing parts of the route. Some of them will make you smile, some you'll wish you'd never seen (is there REALLY another 10Km to go??). But one thing is for sure, you'll have to try pretty damn hard to get lost.  

25/06/09  RADAR RIDE EXTENDS FIELD

The 2009 RADAR RIDE was this week ready to put up the 'full house' signs for the second year running until the kind people at NATS stepped in to agree a limited extension to the size of the field. As happened last year, entries have started to accelerate as we enter the final couple of weeks before the grand depart. If you have any friends, colleagues or ride buddies who are still swithering as to whether or not to enter tell them to p** or get off the pot!

07/06/09  HOPE SPRINGS FOR WANLOCKHEAD

Anyone who didn't ride the inaugural Southern Uplands Sportive last year or who has never visited Wanlockhead might want to tune in to BBC1 at 8pm tonight for the first in an 8-part series called 'Hope Spings'. Apparently its a tale of a group of women who nick a load of money and high tail it to the remote village of Hope Springs to hole up and wait for a friend to arrive. The series was shot in Wanlockhead - venue for the Grand Depart of the 2009 RADAR RIDE - and features many of the sights and some of the people you will come to know and love on the 12th of next month.

13/05/09  NEW KIT FOR '09 GOES ON SALE

The kit for the 2009 RADAR RIDE is now on sale.

Made by Lincoln-based Impsport this year's offering sees a dazzling array of multi-coloured designs resplendent on a royal blue background.

For the 2nd edition of the event the clothing range has been expanded to include jerseys (short and long sleeved), shorts, gilet, warmers (knee and arm), caps and overshoes. Oh, and roubaix knickers as well.

The new kit is available for a limited time. So to avoid the same disappointment as those who waited too long to order last year's black jersey go to www.impsport.com. 

11/05/09  RADAR RIDE GLASS ALREADY HALF FULL

With 10 weeks still to go before the official depart of the 2009 RADAR RIDE, and less than 4 weeks after entries opened, the event is now over half full. To guarantee your place on the start line and a crack at the highest road in Scotland, click here. 

14/04/09  RADAR RIDE 2009 OPENS FOR ENTRIES

The 2009 RADAR RIDE is now open for registration. Entries are limited to 350 so go to the 'Entry' tab to guarantee your tilt at the highest road in Scotland. This will be the second year for an event that started off in 2008 as the Southern Uplands Sportive and was an instant hit with the sportive cognisenti finishing 7th in the Cyclosport.org rankings - ahead of established classics such as the Fred Whitton and Dragon Ride. Click here for more. 

13/04/09  RADAR RIDE ANNOUNCES NEW KIT SUPPLIER

After the success of last year's uber-cool black jersey by Sportful, this year's kit for the RADAR RIDE will be supplied by Lincoln-based Impsport. We have extended the range for the 2009 event to include shorts, long sleeved jersey, gilet, knee warmers and roubaix knickers. Now you can be SUS'd from head to toe!

This year's stuff features the very latest hi-tech fabrics and digital printing. Delivery is a measly 3 weeks from order! COMING SOON...WATCH THIS SPACE

10/04/09  RADAR RIDE CONFIRMS NEW SUMMIT FINISH FOR '09

With the kind permission of Scottish Power, all three of this year's RADAR RIDES will finish at the top of Green Lowther - the highest point on the highest road in Scotland.

With the NATS radar station at the top of Lowther Hill undergoing extensive refurbishment, the finish line of last year's inaugural event will be obliterated by scaffolding and contractors wagons. The new finish is less than a mile across the ridge in amongst the telecommunications masts. At 732m, Green Lowther is a whole 7m higher than the Lowther Hill summit.

Organiser Peter Smith said; "For those of you lucky enough to participate in last year's inaugural event the new finish will be more than a match in terms of drama and spectacle. When you've hauled yourself the 9 miles up to the '08 finish line, this year's parcours turns left and descends befor climbing through the telecommunications masts to the line. With legs likely to already have turned to jelly some way down the hill it will take a will of iron to negotiate the extra few hundred metres."

Click here for the first pictures of the new summit finish!

09/04/09  DO YOU REALLY LOVE THE RADAR?

One of the 'friends' of the RADAR RIDE had a sneak preview of the new web-site and decided it reminded him of a hoary old rock song from (I think) the 70s. Ian, you're showing your age mate! Click here for a good laugh - if you're under 40 - and some misty eyed remembrance if you're not. 

01/04/09  EVENT X BITES THE DUST...FOR NOW!

Late last year we were ranting and raving in these pages about a mysterious new event we were working on that would rival the RADAR RIDE in terms of spectacle but be without equal in terms of severity - the intended summit finish of this sporting behemoth was more than 100m higher than Lowther Hill! Unfortunately, whilst the owner of the road was willing to give us permission to let battle commence on these fearsome slopes, the main user was not. The sense of disappointment amongst the team at sus8events and the group of hardened sportivistes who trialled the parcours for us was palpable. Maintenance work on the hill will prevent an attempt in 2010.

Organiser Peter Smith said; "When we rode the course of this proposed event back last summer the guys who joined us were simply on fire at the prospect of a full sportive tackling this terrain. As one of the team rightly said, 'Its the closest you'll get to a mountain stage of a grand tour without leaving the island' and he was right. We understand and respect the reasons for refusing permission but we reserve the right to go back around the bouy in 2011. Watch this space!"