Road Cycling Essentials

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Vonhelmet said:
Yeah, that's a good loop. That left on COR sounds like Foxholes. It's a toughie. I'm planning on heading up there tomorrow evening if I can. The top of it comes out just near the turning that takes you all the way up to the mast, where I was yestersday, so if you're a real masochist you can go to the mast that way, but I wouldn't fancy it. A guy I follow on strava posted a pretty impressive time up Foxholes this morning and said he'd thrown up at the top from pushing so hard :eek:
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That could well be it, depending if Dave is out I'll get to see how someone can fly up there on a bike that's about 50 years old with wiggly forks and some sort of hub gear in the back! Don't think we'll detour to the mast too, I'll save that for an ad-hoc of my own I think.
 
grudas said:
good tyres for the price! :) very puncture proof.. heavy of course but they've been perfect for my commuting needs.
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Was about to buy a pump then realised my Mini G MasterBlaster converts from Presta to Schrader within seconds, a few quid saved which is always pleasing :D
 
Vonhelmet said:
A guy I follow on strava posted a pretty impressive time up Foxholes this morning and said he'd thrown up at the top from pushing so hard :eek:
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I woofed up a few weeks back on an awful day out in the Peaks, Side End Lane I think it was :( but it was my first club ride in well over a month and my fitness was a bit low for doing probably our toughest route. I'd already come close on a few rides I'd done previously. Better now though, Sunday was good test of that and I've been back to the Peaks since leaving my breakfast there :p
 
tl45 said:
I woofed up a few weeks back on an awful day out in the Peaks, Side End Lane I think it was :( but it was my first club ride in well over a month and my fitness was a bit low for doing probably our toughest route. I'd already come close on a few rides I'd done previously. Better now though, Sunday was good test of that and I've been back to the Peaks since leaving my breakfast there :p
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Did you retrieve it? *vomit smiley*

I think I need to learn how to push more. I always feel like I'm holding back compared to people that vomit or have asthma attacks.
 
oli collett said:
Had to abandon the dragon ride with a knee problem

Absolutely gutted - was climbing really well but I started getting issues in my left knee. To make matters worse, my di2 battery started dying as well! Despite all that, 144km in and 2300m ascent done I had an average moving speed of 26km/h

Really worried now as I'm off to the Pyrenees in 2 weeks
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Ouch, sorry to hear that 144km would put you around the black mountain no or did you take a detour for the devil route?

First timer here and did it in a smidge under 9hrs which was a kinda random target set by me. Wanted to have a go at the Devils Elbow climb but was hampered by all the walkers/general slowness there. Was shocked at how badly it got clogged up given how everywhere else was nice a free flowing.

Black mountain was a mission ... never thought about giving up on a climb before and only just made it. Perched myself on a rock for a break at that point purely to admire the view ;)

Either way, was a good day out and will probably do it again next year. Try and make more of a weekend of it rather then purely an overnight stop/ride/travel home

http://www.strava.com/activities/151296378
http://www.strava.com/activities/151296378
 
Womble said:
Ouch, sorry to hear that 144km would put you around the black mountain no or did you take a detour for the devil route?

First timer here and did it in a smidge under 9hrs which was a kinda random target set by me. Wanted to have a go at the Devils Elbow climb but was hampered by all the walkers/general slowness there. Was shocked at how badly it got clogged up given how everywhere else was nice a free flowing.

Black mountain was a mission ... never thought about giving up on a climb before and only just made it. Perched myself on a rock for a break at that point purely to admire the view ;)

Either way, was a good day out and will probably do it again next year. Try and make more of a weekend of it rather then purely an overnight stop/ride/travel home

http://www.strava.com/activities/151296378
http://www.strava.com/activities/151296378
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Well done on that time :)

I abandoned at the route split so just before you would have started black mountain.

I would recommend starting earlier next time - was much easier! I set off right at the start and being able to descend the first climbs at full pelt without worrying about idiots was great :)
 
Vonhelmet said:
A530s or M324s are the pedals that leap to mind. Flat on one side for normal shoes with spd on the other side for cleats. There's another one in my head but I can't remember the model number. I don't think you can get any with an spd-sl or similar interface.

M545 is the other one I'm thinking of. It's not a proper platform pedal, but it would probably work ok. I'd look at one of the other two above, though.
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A530's don't look bad for £28, might have a go with these - got plenty of Amazon vouchers to use up so doesn't cost me anything as well! Thanks!
 
FrenchTart said:
Did you retrieve it? *vomit smiley*

I think I need to learn how to push more. I always feel like I'm holding back compared to people that vomit or have asthma attacks.
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There wasn't that much to retrieve and it was raining that much it soon got washed away. Wouldn't recommend it at all - I'd been seeing major heart rates for some of my rides (another indication of lacking fitness) and on that climb I was just pacing myself still in a high gear, low cadence and trying to keep my breathing under control, when the barfing started and I had to stop while it went the full distance :(

With better fitness/endurance you should be able to push to your limits without going as far as being sick or bringing on an asthma attack.

Maybe for the finish of an event or a TT you could push and push to those limits but if you can go as far as getting out of breath or the legs giving up that's a good enough sign you're pushing near your max. Same if you've got no breath spare for talking to the rider next to you.
 
Yeah..I wasn't super serious about the vomiting/asthma :p

I definitely feel that I hold back more compared to some but it's also extremely rare I make myself ill from too much exertion so I guess it's balancing out. I think I just need to push a *tiny* bit harder really.
 
oli collett said:
Well done on that time :)

I abandoned at the route split so just before you would have started black mountain.

I would recommend starting earlier next time - was much easier! I set off right at the start and being able to descend the first climbs at full pelt without worrying about idiots was great :)
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Got an 8:20 start time so turned up at 7:30 thinking I may be able to sneak in an earlier group. Turns out no one checked ... if I knew I would have been there at 6:30/7. Was really nervous about it as it was my longest distance/climbing by quite a way so was awake anyway

The descents were fine tbh - got clear of the masses going up the climbs (only for them to catch me going down hill). Was just the elbow that as a little annoying :(
 
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FrenchTart said:
Yeah..I wasn't super serious about the vomiting/asthma :p

I definitely feel that I hold back more compared to some but it's also extremely rare I make myself ill from too much exertion so I guess it's balancing out. I think I just need to push a *tiny* bit harder really.
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It depends what sort of ride you are on and how far into it you are etc, plus with better fitness you recover quicker. The ride I did on Sunday I was out of breath at the top of several of the climbs but was able to keep going, to repeat the process several times.

While it was a tough route with one particular painful climb I didn't max out my heart rate like I have done on other rides, course I noticed at the end of a century ride recently that once the legs have almost given up you don't have the capacity left to get your heart working that hard.
 
I think I'd benefit from having an HRM and such.. probably proper speed and cadence too :)

I'm really just at the start of my "fitness journey" though. I can handle longer rides, climbs and sustained riding but not at anything like the sustained speed the more pro cyclists (on here) regularly do.
 
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Pete19s said:
Struggled to get in any miles over the last 4/5 days. 12 hour days at work killed any get up & go on the one day it wasn't lashing it down. Did get a lovely ride in yesterday afternoon ruined ever so slightly when I discovered the council had got merry with the loose chippings along one of my favourite bits on road. Pacing myself much better & getting my average speed up which is what I'm most pleased with though.

http://www.strava.com/activities/151042857

Got a build date for my PX Pro Carbon too, 18th June which is under the 21 day build queue. Cant wait! Just need to decided on some replacement tyres for the standard Conti Ultrasports, some very rural roads and decent puncture protection is a must.
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Your pace just keeps going up even with the longer rides! I'm still struggling to get out for longer rides but tonight I averaged 17.6 mph on my usual 13 mile loop which is up from my previous best of 17.2 mph on Saturday. Definitely feel fitter but I must admit it is pleasant to go out with a random route planned on the Garmin so I can't keep looking at and obsessing over my pace :o

What is happening to the Felt when you get the new bike? Winter bike?
 
FrenchTart said:
I think I'd benefit from having an HRM and such.. probably proper speed and cadence too :)

I'm really just at the start of my "fitness journey" though. I can handle longer rides, climbs and sustained riding but not at anything like the sustained speed the more pro cyclists regularly do.
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Sounds like you're well on the way already, though it's rather shocking seeing just how far ahead the pro's are. I try not to think about that and just try to keep improving myself bit by bit.

I mainly use the heart rate monitor when I'm doing indoor training on my turbo trainer, that way you can work to a plan with specific targets zones & intervals without running out of road or having the rhythm disturbed with hills and descents, junctions etc.

I will use it on solo rides though if I'm generally trying to do a steady ride or busting myself a bit but find sometimes I do a better ride if I work to heart rate zone and cadence and ignore speed altogether. For rides out with the club or sportives etc I'll maybe keep an eye on cadence but after that the heart rate is whatever it is.
 
Less said about the rain on the commute home the better, torrential and mixed in with thunder and lightning....at one point there was a flash of lightning every 10 seconds or so.

Got the Assault SLG's on, more room between the chainstays than i thought there would be considering they are 25mm wide rims (Veloflex Corsa 25c tyres).

Took it for a quick spin on the local estate with my DA9000 front wheel still fitted then i had brakes as i'm waiting for the proper carbon pads to turn up (a source in Germany).
The Campag free hub with Chorus 12-27 cassette seemed to be ok with my DA9000 as has been suggested online.

 
Had a nice ride round Esher this evening. Strong head wind for the first 17 miles, mostly tail afterwards. Felt like I worked hard to keep some pace in the first half, and then pushed a little harder than usual to try and compensate for the head wind.

One thing I'm really struggling with is climbs. Only had to take on dark Hill, but feel incapable of spinning it out, or pushing a bigger gear out of the saddle. Any tips?

http://app.strava.com/activities/151955276
 
When a hill is too steep for me to spin up and too long to sprint up I end up crawling up at 3mph just standing on the pedals using my weight to push down on them. Takes forever and is hard work but I get there in the end without walking.

Weight loss was going well until middle of march and it has stalled since then. Need to lose more before I can spin up most hills I think. Also need to find some more hills. I'll be back to 5 minutes from toys hill soon. Maybe I should get a bigger cassette, but 30x25 tends to be enough.
 
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