Road Cycling

On a separate note, I rode Etape du Dales for the first time yesterday. Glorious route and roads and a very tough day out. You end up going valley to valley and through some pretty spectacular scenery with hardly any cars (aside from a load of car clubs which was a cool distraction - never seen so many Lamborghinis outside of a show room!).

It's different from the Fred Whitton in that the gradients are less ridiculous but the climbs are longer and can be very pitchy. Buttertubs and Fleet Moss at the end are an absolute bugger. Fleet Moss isn't as steep as something like Hardknott but given the worst ramp comes after a 2 mile drag up it's just as hard in a different way. Overall though, it's an event I'd definitely recommend and unlike the Fred Whitton I think you're more or less guaranteed a spot. There's also a "mini" 60 mile route which follows the full route but cuts out the northernmost loop if you fancy a preview.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2381002941
 
I've always been puzzled about the Strava fitness graph, it tracks way lower than TP for me.

I'm 95 CTL in TP, but 79 in Strava. The pattern of the graph is the same, but the numbers never seem to line up. No idea why.
 
One More Solo said:
The Strava Fitness/Fatigue/Form is just their equivalent of CTL/ATL/TSB in TrainingPeaks. They will use slightly different inputs as I think they each estimate FTP slightly differently, but for reference mine is 71/78/-18 in TP and 73/88/-15 in Strava so they're pretty close.

If you keep Fatigue tracking slightly above Fitness so you get a gradual increase in the Fitness number without putting your Form too negative then generally you can't go too far wrong provided your riding contains an appropriate mix of efforts (i.e. doing loads of audaxes if you want to be a track sprinter probably won't do much for you and vice versa!).
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More fitness in Strava's. I'd use that! #margingains ;)

The amount of miles you clock up is seriously impressive though mate, especially now seeing that fatigue of 'only' 78/88 a day after that etape?! then again you didn't seem to taper at all - a 200 mile week is nothing unusual for you, it's more the norm! I'm jealous at times of the miles you clock up (my jealously comes from having that amount of time to be able to commit!), 100 miles nearly every weekend ain't it?! Other times I'm just stunned as you keep it up - mostly through the miserable weather clocking up over 100 miles regardless! Huge kudos as always. :)

Drollic said:
@Roady it's ok, I've gone with the nebula.
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I love the TraceR. To be fair I'm an Exposure fanboy. But the Nebula is a good light, with amazing brightness from such a light, it's seriously impressive! Just keep an eye on it's battery life while it's under warranty.
 
Roady said:
More fitness in Strava's. I'd use that! #margingains ;)

The amount of miles you clock up is seriously impressive though mate, especially now seeing that fatigue of 'only' 78/88 a day after that etape?! then again you didn't seem to taper at all - a 200 mile week is nothing unusual for you, it's more the norm! I'm jealous at times of the miles you clock up (my jealously comes from having that amount of time to be able to commit!), 100 miles nearly every weekend ain't it?! Other times I'm just stunned as you keep it up - mostly through the miserable weather clocking up over 100 miles regardless! Huge kudos as always. :)
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Ah cheers, very nice of you. :) Work is busy so I made the decision last year to make getting up at 6am a regular thing as that gives me enough time to do my rides before work and keep things ticking over. It also means I can knock off a long ride on the weekend and be home well before lunch. I haven't got kids which makes things much, much easier so just as much kudos to those who do and keep riding, including yourself! I know how hard it can be to fit it all in.

The ride yesterday was just for fun/training so no taper, I've got a target event at the end of next month so will be building and tapering for that instead. To be fair, I've had mixed success with tapers. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I think everyone that rides knows some days you get on a bike and feel grim and vice versa, it's hard to predict.
 
Jonny ///M said:
Managed to get 9th after a scary as hell race round a 5 lap course. 24.4mph average after the car left us with all of the laps being over 24mph - I could have sat up at any point but talked myself out of that.
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Well done, that's a good result!
That's always been a scary race. Don't know what's different about it, just something about it makes people ride stupid.
Looks like a more sensible finish now though. Last time I did it we went all the way down the hill and finished in the centre of Pitcairngreen, that was a scary descent!
 
touch said:
Well done, that's a good result!
That's always been a scary race. Don't know what's different about it, just something about it makes people ride stupid.
Looks like a more sensible finish now though. Last time I did it we went all the way down the hill and finished in the centre of Pitcairngreen, that was a scary descent!
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Top result Jonny, well done!

touch is right though, it's a mental race (but I secretively enjoy it!)
Usually an 80 man field which doesn't help. 80 nutjobs is worse than the usual 60 :p
The juniors were attacking each other behind the neutral car last time I was there.... And we met the same bin lorry 4 times as it done its rounds on the course. Totally daft.
 
Depending upon the site, my fitness/fatigue/form scores are all over the shop! I've been recording my postal delivery duties for ~6 months, because I noticed a trend last summer where I rarely went for a training/fun ride after a work shift, which includes a sub 6-mile bike commute each way... However, my commuter does not have a power meter and I can very rarely be faffed to wear my heart rate monitor for work.

Strava (which requires power and/or hrm to give a score to an activity, so it excludes 99% of my work stuff) has me at 56/55/+1.
Elevate (formerly known as Stavistix, which will estimate power and hrm to score each activity) has me at 81.1/98.6/-17.1 {this app also generates scores from your calendar "athlete settings" over specific periods, Strava only uses your current FTP/weight IIRC}*
https://power-meter.cc/home (generates scores strictly off activities with power data, so only my turbo trainer sessions and rides on the non-commuter) has me at 34/67/-27*
https://cricklesorg.wordpress.com/ (generates scores for all activities with hrm data IIRC, using estimates if required, so all my activities) has me at 117/106/+11*

* All freebies

I think purely on feel when on the road bike (on the turbo), when trying to do any intervals around or just over my FTP, it doesn't take much for my legs to feel a bit flat/sore... But given my total TSS for the last two weeks is ~812, while trying to revive my MAMIL body after ~8 weeks of practically zero training around my FTP, that's hardly surprising.

Doubt I'll be doing much in the way of hard sessions over the next few days, in the hope of freshening my legs up a bit to tackle some real hills over the upcoming bank holiday weekend, providing the weather holds up!
 
You missed your score from www.wattsboard.com (like you need any more!)... ;)

to be fair I've never really tried to correlate that to Stravas FAF. The fact my Wattsboard is populating from Strava it should be the 'same'.

I do have TP but not a paid account so can't even compare/figure out. I couldn't grasp it when I had a trial, just knew it was too complex and expensive for me - but I'll happily pay for Strava summit as I understand it, so feel I get more from it lol
 
touch said:
Well done, that's a good result!
That's always been a scary race. Don't know what's different about it, just something about it makes people ride stupid.
Looks like a more sensible finish now though. Last time I did it we went all the way down the hill and finished in the centre of Pitcairngreen, that was a scary descent!
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xdcx said:
Top result Jonny, well done!

touch is right though, it's a mental race (but I secretively enjoy it!)
Usually an 80 man field which doesn't help. 80 nutjobs is worse than the usual 60 :p
The juniors were attacking each other behind the neutral car last time I was there.... And we met the same bin lorry 4 times as it done its rounds on the course. Totally daft.
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Cheers guys,

I'm pretty happy with it considering how I was going to chuck it up until about half way mark, then on the final straight to the corner where we were now turning right I decided to move up to about 4th or 5th wheel to get my mate on my wheel, let him have it as he corners better than me(and I could slow the bunch up :cool:) then I sat up for my race to be 'finished behind bunch' but as I got back up to speed people felt like they were coming backwards on the left so found a gap and went for it. In a romantic Hollywood movie scene me and my mate crossed the line basically in line after he fought his way to the right of the bunch that had swarmed him.

The finish sounds better but I still don't get why they don't finish it on the long straight, that right hand then left hand bend made it a bit iffy.

The organiser did say he hoped to miss the bin lorry so it sound good that we did from your experience :D

All in all it helps to know the course, the first lap was terrifying being in the middle of the bunch :eek:

I don't get how it passed a risk assessment for an 80 man field when the Glenmarnock race in September is all left turns, bigger roads and is used for the Drummond too but is kept to 60 riders.

First 4th cat in the race again, shame there wasn't a price like last year!
 
Jonny ///M said:
Cheers guys,

I'm pretty happy with it considering how I was going to chuck it up until about half way mark, then on the final straight to the corner where we were now turning right I decided to move up to about 4th or 5th wheel to get my mate on my wheel, let him have it as he corners better than me(and I could slow the bunch up :cool:) then I sat up for my race to be 'finished behind bunch' but as I got back up to speed people felt like they were coming backwards on the left so found a gap and went for it. In a romantic Hollywood movie scene me and my mate crossed the line basically in line after he fought his way to the right of the bunch that had swarmed him.

The finish sounds better but I still don't get why they don't finish it on the long straight, that right hand then left hand bend made it a bit iffy.

The organiser did say he hoped to miss the bin lorry so it sound good that we did from your experience :D

All in all it helps to know the course, the first lap was terrifying being in the middle of the bunch :eek:

I don't get how it passed a risk assessment for an 80 man field when the Glenmarnock race in September is all left turns, bigger roads and is used for the Drummond too but is kept to 60 riders.

First 4th cat in the race again, shame there wasn't a price like last year!
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There is always prizes for the 1st of the 4th CAT's.... especially with 80 folk having paid entry you should be getting a prize. Can't believe they have done away with that!!

I think it is a case of they got the 80 man upgrade years and years ago and it has simply been allowed to continue with it each year. You ask any person that has done it and they will tell you it is super sketch and how they get away with running it is beyond everyone. One semi serious crash is all it will take and things will be drastically altered and they'll be seriously questioned on how it has ever run how it does.

I've never finished in the centre of the village like Touch mentioned. Yet every time I have done it has been a different finish. One year we went back through the village and finished out side it somewhere after a 90 degree left bend and up a shallow hill.... Last time I done it we finished where you did on Sunday which of all the finishes is actually the most sane one to be honest! :p
 
Jonny ///M said:
I'm now at -75 form as per that graph after the race on Sunday.

Managed to get 9th after a scary as hell race round a 5 lap course. 24.4mph average after the car left us with all of the laps being over 24mph - I could have sat up at any point but talked myself out of that.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2380387898
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Mega riding mate & awesome result. Great tactics at the finish too, sounded like it worked well! :D

Shadowness said:
Nope. Both the same.
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Could be your zones? HR or power zones being only slightly different would lead to differing fatigue/form numbers after any amount of riding - the amount you do could easily explain things?

xdcx said:
The juniors were attacking each other behind the neutral car last time I was there.... And we met the same bin lorry 4 times as it done its rounds on the course. Totally daft.
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Hahaha classic, heard of similar here but it's the post vans who get blamed!
 
Ordered from wiggle & Crc yesterday. Both arrived today using the free delivery option (RM)!

Certainly turned it around, a few years back it would be a day or two before even being picked/processed!
 
Roady said:
Mega riding mate & awesome result. Great tactics at the finish too, sounded like it worked well! :D

Could be your zones? HR or power zones being only slightly different would lead to differing fatigue/form numbers after any amount of riding - the amount you do could easily explain things?

Hahaha classic, heard of similar here but it's the post vans who get blamed!
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****** now, my back was sore at work earlier and I had zero motivation to go out tonight.

Turned up and couldn't for the life of me get off the front 5-6 without someone shouting to go get back on the wheel, ended up attacking on all 3 wee rises towards the turn for the diversion climb. Was sparkled on that and didn't realise how long it was but managed to get back on at the descent and throw myself up the next climb that we usually do. Was pretty hard when Martin Lonie and some GB squad triathlete were giving it tight.
Eventually caught 6 that took a shortcut after 4 or so miles and then they start attacking the guys that went the hard way, always love it when they do that.
Think I need a wee rest now :o

https://www.strava.com/activities/2386348792/overview
 
That's me had a good rest tonight :o

I'm so easily led to go out and deal with it. Probably be at -100 form on Sunday for this race and I can use it as an excuse for doing *****. :D
 
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