Even went to the beach yesterday!
Lol we did the same but stupidly didn't bring an extra layer as the wind was still crisp.
Nothing beats sea side fish and chips though.
Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
Lol we did the same but stupidly didn't bring an extra layer as the wind was still crisp.
Nothing beats sea side fish and chips though.
Literally just back from Mallorca. We got quite lucky with the weather, given what they've had over the last few weeks. Rather mixed trip for me. I knew I wasn't feeling great, which was backed up by no PB's on any climbs, which is a first from one of these trips. Strangely, no one seemed to be going quick, so maybe the cold, headwind and air density were a factor.
Gentle ride on Thursday, and I didn't drink enough, felt crap on Friday for Sa Calobra and had a terrible day, feeling awful in the evening. Saturday was a bus to Andratx, then ride back to Port de Pollenca, which was an amazing ride. Missed Puig Major PB by 2 mins, which looking at others times was par for the course. For some reason though, I felt amazing after PM, with only about 45km to go I was feeling better than when I started the ride! How odd! Finished the day 3ft.... THREE FEET short of my most elevation ever!!! (3ft behind Pico de las Nieves day from the end of January!)
Still, all around another great trip.
Gentle ride on Thursday, and I didn't drink enough, felt crap on Friday for Sa Calobra and had a terrible day, feeling awful in the evening. Saturday was a bus to Andratx, then ride back to Port de Pollenca, which was an amazing ride. Missed Puig Major PB by 2 mins, which looking at others times was par for the course. For some reason though, I felt amazing after PM, with only about 45km to go I was feeling better than when I started the ride! How odd! Finished the day 3ft.... THREE FEET short of my most elevation ever!!! (3ft behind Pico de las Nieves day from the end of January!)
Still, all around another great trip.
The strongest GCN member seems to switch quite a lot so its hard to make any firm statements. Oli was a beast for a while at a chunk over 5w/kg I think but hes shrunk back and is one of the weaker ones again from what I see.
Indeed. I'm always intrigued how much they pay the presenters? Is it a **** salary and a lifestyle job or is the pay actually OK?
Yeah, bolting on a towbar was the cheap part, it was wiring it in that was the cost.
I see you've got a copy of the big book of excuses
I have a co-author credit on that book.I see you've got a copy of the big book of excuses
Tbf, I wasn't making excuses for me, I was pondering why almost everyone (we were a group of 28, many who had been out there before) was having slower times...
Thats straight out of the big book of excuses in of itself! Right alongside "I was going easy so we didn't drop the slower people in the group"
I jest of course. If everyone is slower and people don't think they are slower (and cyclists are usually pretty good at knowing when they aren't in peak fitness) then something is probably different.
You can't be coming in here with a 29.3kph average and agree with me you're slow!
I got my frame bag last week, but one of the mounting holes was slightly out (went for mounting to the frame rather than straps). Dropped it off Friday and it was ready to collect. Decided to ride down to the coast to pick it up after work. Ended up being a pretty decent ride. My legs ached 1km in which didn't bode well, and i faced some horrific winds around the airport. It was pretty much 42km each way. Downhill there, then uphill back. I felt pretty good on the return leg and given most of the climbing was the last 15km or so i was pretty happy to get home feeling strong and Strava suggests i hit a few segment PR's.
Good few hours of riding in the dark aswell which was actually really enjoyable!
barely any climbing in that ride, decent average.
Also, they're released the provisional route for the Traka. Depending on whether i use Strava or Garmin to upload the GPX to, it's either 2800m of elevation of 3400m. I get there's occasionally small variances, but this is ~20% variance
Both profiles/maps look the same, so it's quite baffling!
Both profiles/maps look the same, so it's quite baffling!
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try komoot, that'll give you something that'll make you feel better about the ride
HAha didn't notice that! Trimmed the last 4.5 mins off.
Lost 600m distance from the GPS burp but gained 7w avg power & 1.5km/h speed... Also gained 27m elevation somehow cutting off this corner and my drive/garage!
Haha where did you go? Weston for us while the doggo is allowed on the beach! F+C was quality but I've had a dodgy stomach afterwards so regretting my choice of a massive fish!Lol we did the same but stupidly didn't bring an extra layer as the wind was still crisp.
Nothing beats sea side fish and chips though.
Enjoyed your photos as always mate, glad you had a good one. Someone on Lanza said they've had horrific winds most of the year, then Spain itself has had a bunch of rain and flooding the last couple of weeks hasn't it? Sure it was Calpe or at least near @Martynt74 ?
I'm fairly sure it's just an 'ok paid' UK journalism job, then the promotions, partnerships and being 'in the industry' is the real gain. But then most of them live around Bath, a fairly nice and hipster affluent area to live for their sorts of lifestyles. Connor, Alex, Dan and Simon would probably have enough money from their Pro years that they don't need a massive income. I seem to recall something a while ago that Connor has a couple of homes, including one in Nice. He's Irish but family from St Albans, his sister a professional tennis player and his uncle raced yacts. So yeah not exactly on the breadline. His other halfs family raise racehorses around Waterford in southern ireland and own a bunch of land there.
There's a reason most of GCN have Pinarello's and Orbea's with Princeton wheels, when the teams they raced with didn't use those brands. Whereas most retired Pro's who do 'normal jobs' afterwards still ride the same brands.
Probably much better getting home and around your quiet roads in the dark rather than around Alicante! although your pics do show really quiet roads around there. Great ride mate & good opportunity to get a long ride in!
Who are you with the compliments and what have you done with grudas?
Load it into Strava then see if you can do elevation correction on it? As that uses actual map data/elevations to recalculate it?
Garmin random number generation is rife everywhere! A friends BOTB ride of 42km told him he needed 120 hours to recover. He rides 300km most weeks. I get that it's a race on sand & lots of running sections but wow...
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Fitting GP5000 tyres on my old rim break bike is nearly impossible, and is impossible to do solo. So a mate popped by to help me.
So picture this scene...
My mate is kneeling down, bent over the tyre, levers on both sides of the tyres pushing in towards the end where the tyre valve is.
I am behind him, leaning over his back reaching over him to use a tyre bead tool to lift the bead up a bit so he can push the bead along further towards the centre.
It requires all of our strength to move it a cm at time. There was grunting.
Half way through this procedure I say "I'm glad there isn't anyone else here to see this scene..."
So picture this scene...
My mate is kneeling down, bent over the tyre, levers on both sides of the tyres pushing in towards the end where the tyre valve is.
I am behind him, leaning over his back reaching over him to use a tyre bead tool to lift the bead up a bit so he can push the bead along further towards the centre.
It requires all of our strength to move it a cm at time. There was grunting.
Half way through this procedure I say "I'm glad there isn't anyone else here to see this scene..."
Aha so we usually go to Weston but recently we’ve been going to Sand Bay which is the next beach along. It’s more of a pebble beach, despite the name, but no restrictions on dogs so that’s where we walk ours. Often a bit quieter too
Yeah they are tough. I feel the coloured wall ones are even stiffer than the black. If you haven't, try a cup of warm soapy water and just run your finger around the inside bead of the tyre first. makes a difference.
Yeah, we've had pretty miserable weather most of 2026 (by comparison to usual here)
Haha yep, i was 3 hours into my ride the other night and Garmin popped up telling me i was having a nice relaxing day and to do some yoga to wind down before bed.
His pits are sweaty, legs weak, wheels are heavy
There's vomit on his top tube already, porridge from breaky
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop watt bombs, but he just keeps on wrecking...
I do think these days many riders lack the 'toughness' of changing multiple tubes per 'bad' ride from many years!
I'm joking slightly but a lot of it is technique which you only really learn through having some tough ones like this... Finger strength and 'hard' skin can help massively. Most of us (certainly in here?) have cushty indoor jobs with soft hands away from the hard work! Some of the best guys at changing tyres I've seen are the older generations who worked much harder & changed far worse!
'Soapy water' cannot be overrated (or use some sealant if tubeless), only awkward thing then is it making your hands softer and things hard to grip. So some latex/nitrile/TPE gloves do help - but you'll also catch and tear them easily. Buy them in bulk boxes aimed at garages or thicker ones aimed at food prep where you'll get 100+ in a box for £5. I use ones from work they get for handling spiky plants, get them at cost which is 250+ gloves for a couple of quid. That cheap I wear them for any messy job to avoid needing hard cleaning of my hands (like servicing chainsaw/car/painting walls/fences/etc).
Working a tyre slowly onto a rim, 1cm at a time (or less!) is just sometimes what you need to do. Having things warmed up does massively help, usually when things get that tight the tyre bead tools are pretty useless. I've a tyre glider and it's neat+fast for the good fits, but almost useless with tight fits or tubeless. A heavy duty tyre lever with a smooth tip I keep going back to the Park Tool TL1.2 they're just (almost) impossible to break (I have broken them). The 'new' Park Tool TL4.2 is not as tough, the tips bend and are too wide. I've used and probably broken nearly every other popular make of tyre levers. Pedros are good too, but do bend. I've even broke Schwalbe steel core levers. Might be the time I bent a rim wall. Had a Tubeless so tight it took days getting it on, then the wheel buckled overnight before I fitted it to the bike and I realised the rim wall had semi collapsed on 1 side!
There's vomit on his top tube already, porridge from breaky
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop watt bombs, but he just keeps on wrecking...
They're pretty tough, but same as many older tyres... At a bet your older alloy rims are 19mm or narrower and will be of an age before ETRO and rim standards came out. The newer tyres then conforming to the standards are generally tighter than some of the older tyres. But even back then Continental where known to be fairly tight fits on some rims! Maybe they where closes to ETRO standards even then...
I do think these days many riders lack the 'toughness' of changing multiple tubes per 'bad' ride from many years!
I'm joking slightly but a lot of it is technique which you only really learn through having some tough ones like this... Finger strength and 'hard' skin can help massively. Most of us (certainly in here?) have cushty indoor jobs with soft hands away from the hard work! Some of the best guys at changing tyres I've seen are the older generations who worked much harder & changed far worse!
'Soapy water' cannot be overrated (or use some sealant if tubeless), only awkward thing then is it making your hands softer and things hard to grip. So some latex/nitrile/TPE gloves do help - but you'll also catch and tear them easily. Buy them in bulk boxes aimed at garages or thicker ones aimed at food prep where you'll get 100+ in a box for £5. I use ones from work they get for handling spiky plants, get them at cost which is 250+ gloves for a couple of quid. That cheap I wear them for any messy job to avoid needing hard cleaning of my hands (like servicing chainsaw/car/painting walls/fences/etc).
Working a tyre slowly onto a rim, 1cm at a time (or less!) is just sometimes what you need to do. Having things warmed up does massively help, usually when things get that tight the tyre bead tools are pretty useless. I've a tyre glider and it's neat+fast for the good fits, but almost useless with tight fits or tubeless. A heavy duty tyre lever with a smooth tip I keep going back to the Park Tool TL1.2 they're just (almost) impossible to break (I have broken them). The 'new' Park Tool TL4.2 is not as tough, the tips bend and are too wide. I've used and probably broken nearly every other popular make of tyre levers. Pedros are good too, but do bend. I've even broke Schwalbe steel core levers. Might be the time I bent a rim wall. Had a Tubeless so tight it took days getting it on, then the wheel buckled overnight before I fitted it to the bike and I realised the rim wall had semi collapsed on 1 side!
Weston usually so busy we avoid it unless quiet times to go! We found Burnham-on-Sea as an alternative during covid times and would usually go there peak summer. Feels very good to drive past the queue for Weston! Quite muddy there and the sea goes out a massive distance so not the best for paddling/sea but plenty of sand for kids building and the front is good for walking along (massive sea wall).
Great tip, addresses the friction/tension when trying to get a tyre to mount from rim depth 'channel' to the rim itself and 'snap' on like a tubeless. I've usually got sealant I use instead, as always going to get that around the place anyway so expecting to clean up afterwards!
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They're pretty tough, but same as many older tyres... At a bet your older alloy rims are 19mm or narrower and will be of an age before ETRO and rim standards came out. The newer tyres then conforming to the standards are generally tighter than some of the older tyres. But even back then Continental where known to be fairly tight fits on some rims! Maybe they where closes to ETRO standards even then...
I do think these days many riders lack the 'toughness' of changing multiple tubes per 'bad' ride from many years!
I'm joking slightly but a lot of it is technique which you only really learn through having some tough ones like this... Finger strength and 'hard' skin can help massively. Most of us (certainly in here?) have cushty indoor jobs with soft hands away from the hard work! Some of the best guys at changing tyres I've seen are the older generations who worked much harder & changed far worse!
'Soapy water' cannot be overrated (or use some sealant if tubeless), only awkward thing then is it making your hands softer and things hard to grip. So some latex/nitrile/TPE gloves do help - but you'll also catch and tear them easily. Buy them in bulk boxes aimed at garages or thicker ones aimed at food prep where you'll get 100+ in a box for £5. I use ones from work they get for handling spiky plants, get them at cost which is 250+ gloves for a couple of quid. That cheap I wear them for any messy job to avoid needing hard cleaning of my hands (like servicing chainsaw/car/painting walls/fences/etc).
Working a tyre slowly onto a rim, 1cm at a time (or less!) is just sometimes what you need to do. Having things warmed up does massively help, usually when things get that tight the tyre bead tools are pretty useless. I've a tyre glider and it's neat+fast for the good fits, but almost useless with tight fits or tubeless. A heavy duty tyre lever with a smooth tip I keep going back to the Park Tool TL1.2 they're just (almost) impossible to break (I have broken them). The 'new' Park Tool TL4.2 is not as tough, the tips bend and are too wide. I've used and probably broken nearly every other popular make of tyre levers. Pedros are good too, but do bend. I've even broke Schwalbe steel core levers. Might be the time I bent a rim wall. Had a Tubeless so tight it took days getting it on, then the wheel buckled overnight before I fitted it to the bike and I realised the rim wall had semi collapsed on 1 side!
It's a old UST carbon rim, notorious for being very difficult. When I first went tubeless I couldn't do it so tried the bike shop and none of them could either. Unfortunately the rim tape had failed so wasn't holding pressure any more, but tbh the rims are near the end of their life so think I will replace them if I keep the bike. But just want it to get me a month or so before my new disk brake bike can take over regular duties (been waiting over a month for the wheels to be shipped...). Oh well, done now and it has held pressure for 24 hours so should be good for tomorrow, I did need sealant to seal the valve though, as it was leaking a bit through the seal which was unexpected.
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