Road Cycling

One More Solo said:
100km off road is a decent distance to achieve in 4 months from that base I'd say, you're probably going to be out for at least 5 hours depending on terrain. The 110km with 3000m of ascent looks like the next logical step up.
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So you're saying don't go with the 226km :p

I think i'd probably "prefer" a longer but less hilly route, which makes me lean to the IG360 variant vs the Iron Gravel
 
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Roady said:
I was some way past that... Plus I have no friends! So it was all me solo struggling and many hours of some serious finger strengthening. But have you had any issues since @Trifid ?
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Nope, they remain securely on the rim. :cry: All I did at the start of the season is renew the tyre sealant and get on the bike. I'm not looking forward to replacing them when they get tired.
 
Martynt74 said:
I know the answer to this is "it depends", but where do you think you could get to distance wise for a single event in 4 months? Obviously it depends on training/current levels.

At the moment i do around 2 rides/week of 15-20 miles each. However i'm looking at events to find motivation to up this, and reclaim fitness. In the past (2022 in particular) i was quite happy running in the mountains for >10hrs, but a foot injury has put an end to that. My fitness since Oct 22 has plummeted as a result. Only mentioning that because it shows my body is capable of silly volumes.

I'm looking to sign up for this to drum up some motivation

IG'360 - Iron Gravel

irongravel.com irongravel.com

The scenery looks amazing and it gives me an excuse to buy stuff (will need some wider tyres). Now the decision comes down to which event to enter

There's the IG360 on April 20th and the Iron Busot on May 25th

The IG360 has 3 distances, of which the easiest is 100km, this doesn't feel long enough to be a challenge (i'm sure it would be as it's off road and hilly), however the next step up is the 226km version with 2500m of ascent. This i wonder if it's a step too far.

The Iron Busot also has 3 distances (55/110/180), the 180km has 5100m of ascent though and climbing is not something i'm good at since i'm fat!
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if you have the base endurance there from previous it will only take a month or two to get back to being able to ride that distance, albeit slower than previous. Most distance is in the head providing you eat correctly.
 
SoliD said:
if you have the base endurance there from previous it will only take a month or two to get back to being able to ride that distance, albeit slower than previous. Most distance is in the head providing you eat correctly.
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I guess the concern is that the base endurance is from running rather than cycling, so from a body adaptability side, i'm unsure how my body copes going from an hour in the saddle up to ~10hrs in a relatively short time.

I think I'm going to wait till January, try and build up time in the saddle and see where i get to in a month. Probably pick up some 38mm Gravel King tyres too, and recce some of the official route to see how i get on.
 
If you've done long endurance events before, don't have excessive weight to lose and train regularly leading up to it. You'll be able to suck it up on the day, provided you go at a sensible pace and fuel properly.

It's going to be mental and pretty rough on the body.
 
best tyre levers are Schwalbe ones
https://www.merlincycles.com/schwal..._medium=Affiliates&utm_campaign=genieshopping

have not cycled at all last week, and as weather was so bad, i couldnt be even bothered to commute...

travelling back home tomorrow, and i hope that weather will stay warm here so i can get some miles in around xmas break and NY.

one of my mates finally gave in and bought a gravel bike, so now am on lookout for routes around Essex and Kent.
 
Weather here has been bloody awful. Was meant to be sunny the other day and it was just miserable dark grey most of the day with rain showers throughout the day. Miserable time of year in the UK. I just hate the constant grey. I don't care about the cold. Cold and sunny is lovely. Tepid and grey like so much of our winter is just depressing.
 
100% The rain/damp just makes everything miserable. (He says after just getting out for a ride in 17C conditions, whilst moaning it's a bit windy :p)
 
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I actually love cycling in the cold. A friend and I went out for a ride in January/February this year where the whole ride average temperature was -1 but it was so pretty being out in the country side. The ice makes it a bit rubbish but if you have the right clothes and can keep warm, I'd take a freezing cold ride over a hot one.

And I say that as someone who hates the cold and complains when it's bellow 10 degrees lol.
 
Well thats annoying. One of the tabs on my 18 month old garmin 830 has snapped off in the mount. Just talking to their support but in my experience they won't replace it free of charge.

Edit 1: They seem to be agreeing to replace it with a refurb but the wait could be 8-12 weeks which is ridiculous.

Edit 2: I had a bit of a whinge about it potentially being 3 months to sort out when its not my fault their mount broke and was there anything else we could do ie. I give them a deposit and they send out the device first. The issue was stock of refurb 830s so they offered to send out an 840. Win! Should only take a few days as well!
 
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fez said:
Edit 2: I had a bit of a whinge about it potentially being 3 months to sort out when its not my fault their mount broke and was there anything else we could do ie. I give them a deposit and they send out the device first. The issue was stock of refurb 830s so they offered to send out an 840. Win! Should only take a few days as well!
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Awesome result
 
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Shoeyuk said:
That looks fun, i'd be worried forgetting the golden rule of don't stop pedaling and going over the top of the bars.
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You only make that mistake once. I'd love to try a velodrome but I have a 'track inspired' fixe (with a front brake. I'm not an idiot) and I have to say, I hate how it sounds, but riding fixed gear is unlike anything else. Can't explain it but I love how connected you feel to the bike. I hate descending on them though!
 
Loved riding a fixie in my youth, as Junglist says, theres nothing like it. I would love to build up a nice cheap single speed for knobbing around the local area but I think the missus might explode if I buy any more bikes/bike related stuff. Wouldn't dare leave my road bike anywhere locked up around here. Far too many scumbags around.
 
Shoeyuk said:
That looks fun, i'd be worried forgetting the golden rule of don't stop pedaling and going over the top of the bars.
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I thought that was going to be a hard habit to kick but once you get out there on the track you never even think about it, i quickly got used to it and using my legs to slow down if i needed to, honestly the hardest part of it was getting clipped in once you start moving.
 
I used to race track and only forget to keep pedalling once when I was doing an elimination race and got squeezed between the top rider and the barrier. Luckily the back wheel kicked up and I remembered what I was doing quickly.
 
Finally got out for a longer ride. Only 34 miles which will be nothing for some but about double my usual ride.

Had initially plotted a route at 66miles but realised it had a section with 700m of climb over 5km and not sure I could manage that!

Decided to be sensible and just aim for something around 2 hours and build up to longer rather than trying to just have a bike ramp up.
Definitely could’ve done with gloves. It took ages for my hands to warm up!
 
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