Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
Nope. When I was younger I played a fair bit of basketball and used to skateboard. These days cycling and the odd games of Badminton when I get a chance are about as much exercise as I get away with.
Work is kicking my ass this week. Was supposed to hop on the bike yesterday but when I got home from work the sofa looked far more appealing so I ended up doing the 6km round trip walk to nursery and back to have at least done something. Going to try and force myself onto the bike for an hour this evening. Either indoors or out, just need to do something!
Sounds like you had enough sealant but I find sometimes I can get a slow leak if the valve hasn't been put back properly. It's unlikely but could be worth checking that area too.
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Got the Nuroad Pro today, tubeless conversion was painless, went out for a ride in the eve and tested out the new lights too. Small size frame is great for me for sure, I like the nimbleness of the front end and the Cues drivetrain is very smooth and silent.
Did almost crash a few times due to muscle memory trying to pull brake levers that are no longer in the same place
Tyres are at 30psi currently but I feel this is too high for tarmac so will drop to around 24 I think which should satisfy mixed riding too and aid road comfort too.
Consider me a gravel bike convert
Did almost crash a few times due to muscle memory trying to pull brake levers that are no longer in the same place
Tyres are at 30psi currently but I feel this is too high for tarmac so will drop to around 24 I think which should satisfy mixed riding too and aid road comfort too.
Consider me a gravel bike convert
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Lot of Seka bikes here at the Traka check in day.
Easily the biggest event I’ve been part of (except maybe Manchester marathon) but nice feel.
Was raining this morning but just emerged into glorious sunshine as I’ve grabbed a coffee at the SRAM stand.
Eyeing up some Smith sunglasses which I massively do not need.
Easily the biggest event I’ve been part of (except maybe Manchester marathon) but nice feel.
Was raining this morning but just emerged into glorious sunshine as I’ve grabbed a coffee at the SRAM stand.
Eyeing up some Smith sunglasses which I massively do not need.
The Gravel ones I guess? How do they look in the flesh?
I keep going back to my Sweet Protection basket but just not sure I can/I wan't to justify £340 on a helmet and some glasses at the moment. It's a lovely lilac colour though haha
I keep going back to my Sweet Protection basket but just not sure I can/I wan't to justify £340 on a helmet and some glasses at the moment. It's a lovely lilac colour though haha
Did you see this one? Love it https://www.cyclingnews.com/bikes/p...at-the-traka-pushes-aero-gravel-to-the-limit/
Just do it. I recently got myself the Oakley Velo Helmet / Glasses combo. Can't put a price on style
Why does that look like a 3/4 size bike in that photo.
Choosing to look good is the reason I ride so slow......................................Just do it. I recently got myself the Oakley Velo Helmet / Glasses combo. Can't put a price on style
Give people a better chance to say "hey, whos that guy and why is he so handsome"
That's what they say then usually I roll past a few seconds later
Tell you what. I'm quite impressed with both Gemini and ChatGPT for helping my confirm the 'correct' choices. For sure there is a part of me that understands they're likely searching and learning from the same data and I asked both to be objective and accountable rather than just agreeing with that I type but both came back with more or less the same choices I should be going for and confirmed the issues I have with my current bike once I provided the measurements I currently have.
No doubt an experienced person could've done the same but it's been helpful for rattling off silly questions and getting quick responses.
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Looks like i need to top up sealant in the rear tyre as lost some air overnight, bit of initial faff as per usual. At least unlike last time on the MTB I am not sat there trying to force sealant through the valve without taking the head off first 
Edit* Cycling comp installed last night too, Xoss G+, GPS, barometer, BTLE etc and the app syncs quickly. Nicely built and comes with the rubber case and screen protector and mount kits.
Edit* Cycling comp installed last night too, Xoss G+, GPS, barometer, BTLE etc and the app syncs quickly. Nicely built and comes with the rubber case and screen protector and mount kits.
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I got back from sunny Wallonia on Tuesday, having gone over for the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Challenge. A proper beast. Including to/from our AirBnb (which was 7km from the start), my scores on the doors for the day were:
265km
4471m climbing
11:56 moving time
7299 calories
Only 8km longer than my previous longest ride but my previous PR for climbing in a ride was 3000m, so a big jump on that front. Elapsed time was 13:54 but that includes 30 minutes at the end between finishing and starting the ride "home".
We set out to ride to the start at 6am. Not sure I've ever been so cold on the bike. Now I can cope with 2 degC when you have winter bib tights, big jackets, winter boots and thick gloves. However, when it's going to be 20+ degC in the afternoon, it's trade-off between totally freezing your nuts off early doors and sweating to death later on. It wasn't helped as the 7km to the start was a 200m climb so we warmed up a little. However, the route starts with 10km downhill (so we froze again) and then 20km on the flat in the valleys (so no sign of any early sun). I was very glad of having fitted Di2 satellite shifters on the tops - my fingers were too cold to shift properly on the levers.
Before we got to the where the 160km route splits from the 250km, the brother-in-law decided to drop down to the 160km option as he wasn't sure if he'd make the 6pm time cut at @210km to get the last loop in. I pushed on, trying to find some wheels to surf for a free tow. On the long, straight but undulating run into Bastogne, I jumped on the back of a group that came past me. They were absolutely flying and I knew I'd pay for the effort later but it such a blast. Probably the closest I'll ever get to feeling like a pro-rider as we blew into Bastogne at 50km/h. The madness of it all was proved by setting my second fastest PRs for 20k and 30k in the middle of 265km climbing fest. Eventually we hit a climb. I could claim I sat up to ride my own tempo but I think it was more that I very quickly got shelled out the back of the group.
There were some utterly wonderful descents in between all that climbing. Streetview doesn't do this one justice. Super smooth tarmac, a nice -2 to -5 gradient and flowing corners you didn't need to brake for.
I did wonder what all the fuss was about at the start of La Redoute but eventually got past the campervans to the 15%+ section Pogi attacked on. Ah, that bit properly stung. It took 10:23 for me to crawl up (compare to Pogi and Seixas at 3:47!). I think I made the cutoff point about 5.15/5.30pm, so in good time to get in the final loop in and eventually finished at 7.15pm.
Made for a superb boys road trip. We spent the Sunday in Liege and watched the pro's in a great bar which had Tripel Karmeliet on tap I love our village pub here in the UK but there's something about table service and running a tab in European bars. Just nod at the barman and a few minutes later fresh beer magically appears without having to move an inch.
Happy to share our planning / logistics etc if anyone fancies it in the future.
265km
4471m climbing
11:56 moving time
7299 calories
Only 8km longer than my previous longest ride but my previous PR for climbing in a ride was 3000m, so a big jump on that front. Elapsed time was 13:54 but that includes 30 minutes at the end between finishing and starting the ride "home".
We set out to ride to the start at 6am. Not sure I've ever been so cold on the bike. Now I can cope with 2 degC when you have winter bib tights, big jackets, winter boots and thick gloves. However, when it's going to be 20+ degC in the afternoon, it's trade-off between totally freezing your nuts off early doors and sweating to death later on. It wasn't helped as the 7km to the start was a 200m climb so we warmed up a little. However, the route starts with 10km downhill (so we froze again) and then 20km on the flat in the valleys (so no sign of any early sun). I was very glad of having fitted Di2 satellite shifters on the tops - my fingers were too cold to shift properly on the levers.
Before we got to the where the 160km route splits from the 250km, the brother-in-law decided to drop down to the 160km option as he wasn't sure if he'd make the 6pm time cut at @210km to get the last loop in. I pushed on, trying to find some wheels to surf for a free tow. On the long, straight but undulating run into Bastogne, I jumped on the back of a group that came past me. They were absolutely flying and I knew I'd pay for the effort later but it such a blast. Probably the closest I'll ever get to feeling like a pro-rider as we blew into Bastogne at 50km/h. The madness of it all was proved by setting my second fastest PRs for 20k and 30k in the middle of 265km climbing fest. Eventually we hit a climb. I could claim I sat up to ride my own tempo but I think it was more that I very quickly got shelled out the back of the group.
There were some utterly wonderful descents in between all that climbing. Streetview doesn't do this one justice. Super smooth tarmac, a nice -2 to -5 gradient and flowing corners you didn't need to brake for.
I did wonder what all the fuss was about at the start of La Redoute but eventually got past the campervans to the 15%+ section Pogi attacked on. Ah, that bit properly stung. It took 10:23 for me to crawl up (compare to Pogi and Seixas at 3:47!). I think I made the cutoff point about 5.15/5.30pm, so in good time to get in the final loop in and eventually finished at 7.15pm.
Made for a superb boys road trip. We spent the Sunday in Liege and watched the pro's in a great bar which had Tripel Karmeliet on tap
I love our village pub here in the UK but there's something about table service and running a tab in European bars. Just nod at the barman and a few minutes later fresh beer magically appears without having to move an inch.Happy to share our planning / logistics etc if anyone fancies it in the future.
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Didn’t notice it but equally I skipped the pro athletes presentation.
Body feels like I’ve been hit by a truck. Made it around 25 mins under the cut off at 21:35 which was around 3:30am.
Luckily the beer tent was still open for a quick beee before riding back to the hotel.
Easily the hardest thing I’ve ever done but surprisingly felt great late on. I had a wobble around the 120km mark where I felt I might give up. Just couldn’t seem to breathe and it was horrid gravel where I was putting out 250w and doing 13kph. Weird day though as my average power for the first 6hrs was around 220w when normally my lunch rides are only 180ish, but I wasn’t going very fast.
Only 2 small mechanicals. One was the rear tyre losing air slowly and needing pumping. Then the other was my own fault. I’d loosened the seat tube to drop it when it was in the car. However it felt seized so I left it. Forgot to tighten it back up. Hit a few rocks and it slammed down!
I dread to see the state of the shower as I was absolutely caked in mud.
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Monumental effort. Huge congrats and respect for the work you've put in to get there and do it. 220W average for 6 hours - gulp.
Well done.
I swapped out some rather expensive wheels because they were so hard to seat tyres onto. I'll never forget coming back from Sa Calobra and having to stop at the petrol station to basically have a 'who can seat the tyre back on my wheel' competition. An Italian trio won in the end. Soapy water being the key.
The new wheels (even more expensive, as you have to upgrade if changing!) are much better.
The new wheels (even more expensive, as you have to upgrade if changing!) are much better.