Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2006
- Posts
- 4,470
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Too busy outside enjoying the weather!
Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
Associate
- Joined
- 10 Feb 2025
- Posts
- 160
- Location
- London
Off to do some training laps at Stratford Velo Park later on today. looking forward to soaking up the rays on a car free circuit, ive never been before.
The house move has been dominating my time and my bike is behinds lots of things I need to put away (masterstroke of genius from my partner) Looking forward to getting out on the bike, eventually. We've only moved 5 minutes up the road but it's 5 minutes closer to nice country roads which make them harder to ignore 
Also have been reading about the Next-Bike-That'll-Never-Arrive. Think the Factor Monza has knocked it out of the park. Wonder if other brands will follow suit of making a racing bike but for everyday people.
Also have been reading about the Next-Bike-That'll-Never-Arrive. Think the Factor Monza has knocked it out of the park. Wonder if other brands will follow suit of making a racing bike but for everyday people.
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2006
- Posts
- 4,470
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Yeh that Factor does look nice!
Rode 170 miles over the weekend on the new throne. Should have changed soon after getting the bike, been noticing it more and more lately. This one is MUCH more comfortable when in an 'aggressive aero' position (previous saddle doesn't have a cut out). General riding is noticeable too.
Rode 170 miles over the weekend on the new throne. Should have changed soon after getting the bike, been noticing it more and more lately. This one is MUCH more comfortable when in an 'aggressive aero' position (previous saddle doesn't have a cut out). General riding is noticeable too.
Been out doing some rides and been busy out in the garden as had to spend a fortune on the car so my SL8 plans been put on the back burner for a bit. I have been wanting to get to 100 park runs as a challange but ive had a few years out from running was had sore knees with the weight. Riding has helped me shift 30kg's so been working have been working toward getting to 100 got 27 to go.
That factor looks fantastic. Interesting that they start the sizing at 45 as well. Thats super small! Perhaps the bike industry is finally realising that most people are riding bikes that are too large and there are a lot of tiny women that would benefit from much smaller frames.
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Nov 2005
- Posts
- 9,537
- Location
- Southampton, hopefully not too hot, or too cold
This thread usually comes to a holt when @Roady leaves the building, he's trying to avoid being shot and/or being sent to that El Salvador prison while on holiday in USA iirc.
Lovely weather for riding yesterday evening. I'm still trying to decide if there's very few ebikers around my way, or if they simply don't make their erides public as an extra security measure, I ended up with some top tens while mostly freewheeling downhill last night!
This thread usually comes to a holt when @Roady leaves the building, he's trying to avoid being shot and/or being sent to that El Salvador prison while on holiday in USA iirc.
He just need to ride with an american flag on his back and make sure he doesn't get too tanned and he should be fine!
As mentioned previously, I was doing the Mallorca 312 on Saturday.
Initially, there was an element of disappointment for me. I’d hoped I would make the cutoff for one of the 225km route. Unfortunately, only about two-thirds of the way up Fermenia (the first climb), I was passed by the pace riders. I stuck to them for about 5 minutes, but soon realised I would burn myself out trying to make the cutoff, so I accepted the defeat and just rode the 167km route. (I missed by about 35 minutes, so not even close).
On reflection, I probably couldn’t have gone a mile longer! Given we all rode to the start and back to the hotel afterwards, the total miles for the day of 120 miles was only 5 miles short of my most ever. Then, throw in the elevation of Fermenia, Puig Major, Can Costa and more, and I was only a few hundred feet short of my most climbing ever too.
Still, we had good weather, amazing scenery and there was a good atmosphere, so I still managed to enjoy the day.
Initially, there was an element of disappointment for me. I’d hoped I would make the cutoff for one of the 225km route. Unfortunately, only about two-thirds of the way up Fermenia (the first climb), I was passed by the pace riders. I stuck to them for about 5 minutes, but soon realised I would burn myself out trying to make the cutoff, so I accepted the defeat and just rode the 167km route. (I missed by about 35 minutes, so not even close).
On reflection, I probably couldn’t have gone a mile longer! Given we all rode to the start and back to the hotel afterwards, the total miles for the day of 120 miles was only 5 miles short of my most ever. Then, throw in the elevation of Fermenia, Puig Major, Can Costa and more, and I was only a few hundred feet short of my most climbing ever too.
Still, we had good weather, amazing scenery and there was a good atmosphere, so I still managed to enjoy the day.
I'm interested as well. I'd love to do the 312 but its a lot of time and money and I would want to try and finish the whole thing so knowing what sort of fitness is required would probably be a good idea before I start getting too excited 
.
.I've been kind of thinking the same thing with my cycling group while also being equally as guilty with lacking motivation. I was up early enough today to get a 60-90 minute ride in before work but ended up staying in bed. I think I may be savouring being able to have rest days without horrific cramps the next day a bit too much after finding the source of the problem last autumn.
Yeah, one of the tour operators that we use, rider leader only made cutoff with a minute to spare... The first cutoff is really quite tough (compared to the second I mean), but I think I've realised they do that to weed out those that wouldn't cope trying to complete a longer route. I wonder if it used to be a little easier and they found more people beating cutoff but then blowing up, miles from home.
Given everything was all for one ride, yeah, very expensive compared to a trip where you would perhaps have 4 or 5 decent days riding.
Have you done Sa Calobra before? I can tell you the other guys I went with managed the full 312 but found it crazy hard and they have Sa Calobra times between 37 and 44 minutes. I did it just under 49 and wasn't close to the cutoff. If that helps give an idea of climbing ability needed at all?
I have done Sa Colobra once but it wasn't with any eye on anything. It was in the middle of a 110km ride where I descended to the bottom and turned straight back around and went back up. I am not 100% but I think my time was 48:30 if I am looking at the right segment. I could do it considerably faster if I recovered at the bottom and didn't front load it with 1000m of climbing and 60km or so. Seems some people actually get a lift to the top before setting a time on it.
My w/kg should be sitting around 4w/kg within the next 6 months hopefully. Currently at about 3.8. Not sure if that maps to anything or helps with the speculation.
I just did a little googling and it seems that the route is rather front loaded on the climbing in the first 150km so that probably makes it harder to hit those cutoff times!
I've been doing more running of late as I entered a local 10k. I set my 10k PB in 2023 on the back of 5 runs in 3 months whilst training for We Ride Flanders but I want to make sure I give a couple of younger guys at work a kicking (time-wise) next month.
Then it's all about the bike for the rest of the year and into 2026 as the follow up to Flanders is the Liege-Bastogne-Liege sportive. Already have an Airbnb booked for what should be the weekend next year. The GPX for the long route this year is 253km and 4126m climbing, so need to find the climbing legs in the coming months.
Then it's all about the bike for the rest of the year and into 2026 as the follow up to Flanders is the Liege-Bastogne-Liege sportive. Already have an Airbnb booked for what should be the weekend next year. The GPX for the long route this year is 253km and 4126m climbing, so need to find the climbing legs in the coming months.
Anyone I know has probably done that same ride before the climb too. Aside getting a lift (which I've never seen or even hear of tbh? Unless maybe serious folk going for records) you almost can't help it.
I'm assuming you're reasonably light? (As in, maybe below 80kg?) I would imagine with those numbers, you'd probably be fine as long as you're used to those sort of overall distances.
If you're doing the full 312, apparently it's just got a few small kickers from 150km onwards. Unfortunately, by all accounts you're almost dead at that point and the little kickers really hurt!
Many of the videos I have seen on youtube have people going out to Sa Colobra to do an effort on it. i.e thats the aim of their ride. They take it easy to get there and then rest at the bottom, have a gel etc before going for it. Another one was a guided holiday I assume as they took a minibus to near the top of Sa Colobra before heading down and coming back up.
I'm currently 83kg but im 6'2" so i'm not likely to lose much weight unless I want to look like a...well a cyclist.
If you're doing the full 312, apparently it's just got a few small kickers from 150km onwards. Unfortunately, by all accounts you're almost dead at that point and the little kickers really hurt!
Yeah I bet. I did 136km out there with 2500m climbing and that was quite a lot for my poor little legs. I think I am a bit fitter now but I would need to get better before trying the full thing.
Problem here is that the most my hills are is about 150m. Most are much less. Theres a lot of elevation around here but its rolling hills.
To me, that's 'reasonably light'
I'm used to being a heavier cyclist but yeah, in the grand scheme of things I'm not heavy.
I know a few people around your weight who are very good climbers. I had the obvious thought that even though I put a lot of miles in, some long distances, I'm still not a 'GC' type, I'll probably always be a sprinter and I guess it can apply as a GC types too, even if you're a bit heavier. If you are predominantly slow twitch, etc. then you can still climb well. Yes, weight plays a part, but also your 'type' is very important.