Road Cycling Essentials

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I made it, however, I didn't particularly enjoy it! I found it pretty hard going and gruelling.

I don't know whether to blame fatigue or the relentless headwind for the entire ride or having a rucksack on my back, but I can't see myself doing a similar ride any time soon!

http://www.strava.com/activities/78919704

Route came up shorter in the end. Had some scary moments where I ended up on dual carriageways for a few miles!
 
should have done an extra 7mi, to join the 150 club :mad:

lol @ relentless headwind :D good job though seriously, you earned it :)
 
Cheers for the Strava comments.:)

Despite wearing the Castelli Bodypaint bibs with a huge dollop of chamois cream my nethers are a bit tender!

uniQ said:
should have done an extra 7mi, to join the 150 club :mad:

lol @ relentless headwind :D good job though seriously, you earned it :)
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Yeah it's a shame I didn't crack the 150 but I was glad just to make it home alive!

The headwind whilst only 10-12mph, was definitely making me work harder to maintain my speed. I'm used to doing circuit type routes where you at least get a tailwind for part of the ride.

I consumed 1.75L of energy drink, 12 fig rolls, a pack of jelly babies and 5 SiS energy bars.
 
Some fantastic rides today, chaps. I decided to go for a run prior to making a much needed trip to the barber this morning; I will however be out tomorrow morning.

I have just received an email from Raymond Lammerts van Bueren of Van Nicholas, who informs me that they are at Eurobike, hence the lack of response to my query regarding the seatpost. I had a look at the Thomson Elite and Masterpiece posts, and they're both lighter and cheaper than the VN titanium post. They're also both available in silver, which should look okay with the titanium frame. The reviews I've seen of the VN titanium post aren't especially flattering, so I think it'd be best to forget that and go for a Thomson post.

With regards to wheels, is there anything better than Fulcrum Racing 5s for under £200? I don't really want to spend more than £200 on what will be my winter commuting wheels. I was thinking of getting the CX version for the improved weatherproofing.

Shamrock said:
I consumed 1.75L of energy drink, 12 fig rolls, a pack of jelly babies and 5 SiS energy bars.
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Is that all the fluid you drank? I drank over twice that on my 120 mile ride last month :O
 
Saundie said:
Some fantastic rides today, chaps. I decided to go for a run prior to making a much needed trip to the barber this morning; I will however be out tomorrow morning.

I have just received an email from Raymond Lammerts van Bueren of Van Nicholas, who informs me that they are at Eurobike, hence the lack of response to my query regarding the seatpost. I had a look at the Thomson Elite and Masterpiece posts, and they're both lighter and cheaper than the VN titanium post. They're also both available in silver, which should look okay with the titanium frame. The reviews I've seen of the VN titanium post aren't especially flattering, so I think it'd be best to forget that and go for a Thomson post.

With regards to wheels, is there anything better than Fulcrum Racing 5s for under £200? I don't really want to spend more than £200 on what will be my winter commuting wheels. I was thinking of getting the CX version for the improved weatherproofing.

Is that all the fluid you drank? I drank over twice that on my 120 mile ride last month :O
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mate of mine (in our club) rode the Ride London 100, and all he drank was 1 bottle of water and ate 1 ham roll, and he's not a young chap either
 
Shamrock said:
I made it, however, I didn't particularly enjoy it! I found it pretty hard going and gruelling.

I don't know whether to blame fatigue or the relentless headwind for the entire ride or having a rucksack on my back, but I can't see myself doing a similar ride any time soon!

http://www.strava.com/activities/78919704

Route came up shorter in the end. Had some scary moments where I ended up on dual carriageways for a few miles!
Click to expand...

good work! would love to give a 100 miler a shot one day..
 
Saundie said:
With regards to wheels, is there anything better than Fulcrum Racing 5s for under £200? I don't really want to spend more than £200 on what will be my winter commuting wheels. I was thinking of getting the CX version for the improved weatherproofing.
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Get some mavic open sport on shimano 105 hubs or similar. Stronger and more repairable.
 
Saundie said:
With regards to wheels, is there anything better than Fulcrum Racing 5s for under £200? I don't really want to spend more than £200 on what will be my winter commuting wheels. I was thinking of getting the CX version for the improved weatherproofing.
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I think most of the more popular wheels at that price bracket by Shimano, Fulcrum, Planet X, Mavic are all much of a muchness. I read loads of reviews and various threads on each of them when i was deciding what to get back in the spring. Eventually just plumped for the Fulcrums as i liked the look of them, as reviews were all pretty similar for all of them. I've had no issue, and they've been a nice upgrade on the ones that came with my Giant Defy 2.

Oh, and just to mention, i don't commute, i just use them as training wheels. But the roads are pretty rough round south lanarkshire, so they've had plenty of knocks and bumps over potholes etc and shrugged them all off.
 
Saundie said:
With regards to wheels, is there anything better than Fulcrum Racing 5s for under £200? I don't really want to spend more than £200 on what will be my winter commuting wheels. I was thinking of getting the CX version for the improved weatherproofing.
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TO be honest Fulcrum 5s are decent wheels and will stand up to commuting well.
he only thing against them is the spoke count. Its quite low and dependent on your roads you might want something stronger. Handbuilts would be the way to go but for £200 it might be tight. £275 would prob get you a set of archetype rims, 105/ultegra hubs with higher spoke count - totally bomb proof and smooth.
 
Calpol said:
TO be honest Fulcrum 5s are decent wheels and will stand up to commuting well.
he only thing against them is the spoke count. Its quite low and dependent on your roads you might want something stronger. Handbuilts would be the way to go but for £200 it might be tight. £275 would prob get you a set of archetype rims, 105/ultegra hubs with higher spoke count - totally bomb proof and smooth.
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/700C-REAR...sure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item4d10aca2c8
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/700C-FRON...sure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item4d117c6ddc

And still some cash left over for a couple of pints. :) Those are a bargain actually.
 
One More Solo said:
There's always going to be issues, I'm still fettling the bike I built over 3 months ago! :D Always room for improvement.
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Only real issue today was adjustment of the seat post height and saddle position. Everything else is working well.

It's very smooth and comfortable to ride. So far I'm happy I bought it.

Ti1.jpg


Ti2.jpg
 
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I had my first long night bike ride on my B'Twin Triban 5 (pics on other bike threads!).

In total we covered 45.3 miles but the time wasn't brilliant including breaks, probably 6 hours worth :(

I had with me two water bottles - one 750ml and another 900ml filled with lucozade sport. But I didn't bring much in the way of snacks which screwed me over. I wore a high vis, had a 3 rear lights - 1 flashing (on my saddle bag) 2 front lights (one off/dim/bright depending on how dark the country lanes were) and of course a helmet and bought with me dextrose tablets and some energy gels.

Around 10 miles in to the ride, I nearly got knocked off my bike by a badger that ran out in to my bike - fortunately it hit the back wheel of my bike and I was able to maintain control of the bike and come to a safe stop. My other two incidents were fairly minor - I hit a kerb with my front wheel because I got to a corner too quickly on a dark country lane and one of my lights came off in a town centre - but fortunately on these occasions no accidents, injuries or damage to the bike.

But the biggest issue I had was after 26 miles. After 26 miles we schedule a stop in Mcdonalds where we have to eat - we were probably there for 30 minutes to 1 hour and I stubbornly struggled on for the next 19 miles when all my energy was depleted - it was horrible.

I ate weetabix and two slices of toast for breakfast, for lunch I had chicken prawns and rice, a few hours later I had a ham and cheese sandwich then at 5pm I had a massive plate filled with 2 porkchops, rice, mashed potato with cauliflower and cheese as well as black beans with meat. Then at 7pm I had a chicken kiev with pasta.

Did I go wrong because I hadn't had enough to eat, or did I really burn through all my energy through bad gear selection, cadence and burning myself out as a result? Perhaps getting used to the bike? Any ideas? It really is a horrible feeling.

Sorry I've gone on a bit, I wanted to illustrate my problem in case others have been there so that we can all learn from this bad experience :S
 
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