ooh i did kent lanes for long, but never been to Biggin until yesterday. only did it as my visitor wanted to go there for a picI have a KOM on part of the Biggin Hill run waySounds like the old route I used to do a lot when I lived in SE London.
I miss cycling in kent, suffolk sucks... it's soooo flat
Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
I have a KOM on part of the Biggin Hill airport run way
I miss cycling in kent, suffolk sucks... it's soooo flat
I did 120km to the coast and along the sea the other week and about 75km of it was very flat. I just couldn't do that all the time. The wind. Oh the wind! I love a hill. I love the views at the top of hills. I love looking into tree filled valleys. Seeing amazing houses on the top of hills. Flying down pokey lanes with hedges either side. Birds and wildlife all around me.
I just don't think I would do it if I lived somewhere flat honestly.
- bunch of pics on here for you @fez
Had a good ride sunday, solo loop of Gospel pass. Well apart from there being a road closure (poor guy I overtook chased after me to tell me), so a diversion along the main road but traffic wasn't bad. Then got stuck behind a tractor+trailer from the start of Gospel, with quite a lot of traffic on the pass (Motorhomes & people who can't reverse), a traffic jam and multiple slow parts there was no fast time going to be set... A few spots of rain while descending didn't hang around to get down, but got soaked in a downpour after Hay. Dived into a layby to shelter under a tree, a motorcyclist already there doing the same and I randomly knew him - used to work with him! Somehow recognised him from his eyes as he turned towards me! Slog with gusty winds, high humidity and constant spots the way back home. But legs although felt average, didn't really struggle climbing, no real grinding difficult parts, had good speed on the flats and the miles just flew by!
Good bike and setup for the money, only others would be looking about your LBS for deals - now the TDF is over and we're nearing the autumn many brands will have their new models out/on the horizon so there could be deals to have on 2025 bikes still in stock...
Yeah I'd heard about serial oversleeping actually being bad for you. It's all to do with the amount of 'deep sleep' isn't it? When you oversleep your body isn't getting any more deep sleep than someone who gets the right amount. That's why sometimes even having a bit of sleep dept is a 'good' thing rather than oversleeping, it means if you get interrupted sleep on a normal night you're less impacted - your body compresses that deep sleep into the earlier sleep patterns which are less likely to be interrupted, then also when you oversleep all you do is clear that debt. But I think I disagree about catching up being a myth, I do it and feel a lot better for it... Needless to say the sleep debt I carry isn't a good amount - which is why catching up probably works for me. My Whoop telling me last month my average 'Need' was 9 hrs 40 mins, when my average actual was 6 hours 25 mins. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/sleep-debt-and-catch-up-sleep
Last night's was particularly bad and I've got a 'red' recovery this morning. Dozed in front of the TV at about 11:45 rather than get to bed, dragged my carcass there eventually at 1:49 am after a heavy day on the bike (20.5 strain on Whoop) then being awake at 4am for 12 mins with the dog before back asleep until my 6:40 alarm... Ooops - 4 hours 36 mins sleep. The word of the day today is 'coffee'. I do find this after a heavy day, the immediate sleep after it is very interrupted and poor (not just because of the dog). It could be a combination of dehydration/a few too many recovery beers/elevated resting HR and strain bringing a higher body temp so I'm more restless even being extra 'tired'? Next few days I know I'll sleep well, so just plan a few slightly earlier nights.
Yeah, not to mention the massive distraction of chatting to people, the hours just fly by! Can take a little to get to grips with group riding (gaps/wheels/calls/pace) but the benefits are massive - not just to pace/efforts.
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You could 100% build one of those up mate. Bikes are easy, especially with electronic gears. Literally the hardest part would be the routing of the brake cables. I have built up and taken my bike apart effectively 4 times with my current ultegra di2 setup.
Built old TCR and then stripped when I got the SL frameset
Build SL frameset and stripped again when it had to be warrantied
Built old TCR and then stripped when I got the replacement SL frameset
Built up current TCR SL
Honestly, the only thing that was annoying and time consuming was getting the bloody cable with all the cable ties (anti rattle) fed down the seattube. If I had SRAM wireless each one would have taken me a couple of hours absolute max. Probably far less.
If thats got a threaded BB then even easier. It would almost be a shame not to.
You could even ask them to change out the quote to something even more ***** like "pain is just weakness leaving the body". Hey, if you really want some inspiration, go on the david goggins subreddit and ask. They will give you about a million with a completely straight face
I lived in Se London most of my life so I was always riding around kent, I also lived half way up the Jura in Switzerland for a few years (that was amazing). So at first I loved the flats up this way but now I'm really missing climbs.
I think I'm going to start chucking the bike in the back of the car to find some decent climbs again. meh
yup, hardest bit is probably hydraulic brakes but even that isn't difficult.
@grudas That's a long flight
Also comical that it's now the 29th and the updated from the 25th was only updated sometime today.
Also trying to decide whether it makes sense to pick up a new handlebar/stem. I'm currently rocking an integrated aero style one, but i wonder if i'd prefer a bit wider for the stability. Might be a good time to experiment with various stem lengths whilst i fit the new forks and need to re-run brake hoses etc anyway.
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Also think i need to ban myself from Aliexpress or i might as well try and compete with Trace Velo!
Just ordered some bibshorts from there to try them out in the hope they might fit and be fine for short hour rides. I've a few pairs desperately in need of replacing.
Just ordered some bibshorts from there to try them out in the hope they might fit and be fine for short hour rides. I've a few pairs desperately in need of replacing.
I've got the same problem.
I'm kinda in a mood to find gems on it
I've got some really good lights, some really cheap jerseys etc from there and happy with it all.
some cheaper products are a bit meh.
not tried any bibs as I've got enough for now.
Thats good to know. I need some new jerseys, but being 190cm i sometimes struggle to find things long enough for me. Figured chinese stuff might not suit me so will stick to Siroko
Do fancy some new lights. Magene have one which looks good. I mainly want Garmin integration so i can track battery life.
Do fancy some new lights. Magene have one which looks good. I mainly want Garmin integration so i can track battery life.
cyclami fronts have been good. Not found a good/bright rear yet.
Deep head tube with the bar set back looks exactly the same as the Tarmac SL8 'speed sniffer'? In fact the whole thing reminds me of it, but the rest of the looks much of a muchness of modern aero frames which they're all pretty guilty of...
You must have half a garage full with some of the monstrosities you've played around with and inflicted pictures upon us!
Head unit integration to track life? Just by having that functionality you're losing 15% of your battery. Just buy quality. My Exposure's tell me the % with a button press, takes 1s.
Still love my Exposure TraceR's but heard good things about the Magishine SeeMee 300, would probably try one.
If I was after budget lights, hard to ignore Cateye and regularly do recommend them. I've a rear strapped to my helmet which must be 7-8 years old and still works well. Sits for months unused all weathers, then on foggy/wet/poor visibility days gets switched on and always has enough charge for a ~10 min commute. Cost me £12.
You must have half a garage full with some of the monstrosities you've played around with and inflicted pictures upon us!
I've honestly not got *that* much!
Can't say any of the lights I have do that, nearly everything has a coloured LED on it which determines life and changes to warn you, then my big Exposure has a display on the back showing remaining %. But everything of mine is/was branded - Exposure, Cateye, Lifeline, Lezyne, Knog & Moon. My time using an aliexpress cheap '10,000 lumen' torch for £6 (which you could barely scare a rabbit with) are long gone.
Haha, you know how few bikes and swapping of stuff I do... Somehow still have 4 sets of 'spare' handlebars on my shelf and don't really know where 2 of them came from!
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my garmin varia radar sorta does that.. tells battery is low when its at 15% on the computer it self.