Hope you're all well (including SoliD, very lucky buddy!). I'm still on furlough so hardly ever on here... Enjoying the peace and quiet without massive multi-quotes? Well, just so you don't forgot here's one for you...
I've not done masses since my last post when I'd done
Gospel south. One day
did a Zwift race to empty the legs as a bit of a warmup to then do the
long overdue FTP test. But again blew myself up again riding the interval before it at around 115%-120% FTP. I'm at threshold with power generally lower than what I'd ridden in the race.... Just can't understand whats wrong with me! I think I know it's from lack of Zwift time and so much outside riding. Maybe I'll just settle for an approx/guessed FTP of 245W and be done with it. I was hoping for something around/above my previous best of 270W-ish as I'm performing out on the road faster/quicker than I was then... But that's really far shorter efforts than anything on the turbo and that really could be my problem (thoughts?).
Rather annoyed from the day before I went on
a bit of a local hilly adventure the next day and abused myself. I recalled a segment someone had linked ages ago I meant to ride. It was brutal/grim but some quality hill training for me, utterly emptied myself and really rounded off the week - made it quite a heavy one (8 hours, 535 TSS & 147 miles) without that much riding (4 rides).
Doesn't look like I'll be commuting again - company had drunk the WFH koolaid
Great to hear, fingers crossed mine will be similar but for now it looks I'm still on furlough until at least the end of June. Superb!
That’s a very long false flat Roady, only getting good towards the end!
Ha, there are a couple of ramps in there on that so called false flat. It's an odd one, many of the longer climbs around here are mixtures of gradient where much of the time I'll be balancing going hard enough while also easy enough to maintain/active recover. That one I struggled to ride the eases in gradient hard enough, as I just don't know the climb well enough.
It doesn't look as bad in that pic actually. It's
this one. Looking at my order, it was a Large (59-63 cm) but I've just measured my head at 56cm, so I guess I just ordered one that was too big!
Funnily enough, the Specialised Evade was on my shortlist of two, along with the Oakley Aro5. If I can find either in medium (or I'm actually top end of small!?) and white at a reasonable price, I might pull the trigger.
Doesn't look big on you mate and yes you should be wearing a medium! I've a 62cm bean of a head and struggling some Large's (like my Kask) whereas the Specialized Large's I have both fit me well. I'll be sticking with Specialized helmets for now, but the Evade is really overpriced for what it is. I'm wearing a 2018/19 without MIPS and my LBS where able to source for £150. I don't think I'd want to spend the £200 (or more) they are for current. My previous day to day was an Echelon II and would happily buy again for the £60/£70 they are.
i'd wait til the shops open and try them on til you find one you like.
This! But try and find various local shops to try as each tends to have a limited number of brands (commonly the same as the bikes they sell).
So unfortunately bit of an accident the other day
Was shocked to see/hear this buddy as know generally here how safe and experienced a rider you are! It's hard to make out the damage on the bike, or more specifically where it's damaged to determine the impact. The lack of injuries except your face makes me think someone clipped you or bounced you up the bonnet? I'm sure you'd have mentioned any rash/grazing/ripped clothing which would indicate you wiping out before you hit anything. Shoes can be a tell tale as much of the time they're attached to the bike at the time of the impact... Big scuffs on them again would indicate you came off/hit something before the head impact.
Really really glad you're ok, part of me wants to hope you rode into a parked car or something unseen which is no longer there, rather than someone hitting you and doing a runner!
Oh well least my wedding has been postponed next week so hopefully my face will be healed by October!
Ooooft that was a close one haha!
Haven't posted on here in ages, but glad you are okay
@SoliD!
On the positive side, new bike!
Good to see you buddy, hope is all well... But spill the beans! What you got!
how is garmin 800 these days? Still supported by strava etc or should I be looking to get something else? I need routes + strava.
Really good to see you back! Shocked you sold all your bikes but really pleased you want to get out again in your new spot. Goodluck! Although regarding head unit no point getting something new(er) unles you get back into riding more buddy, but when you do Wahoo BOLT is what you need. You won't be disappointed.
Saddle sores really are a pita, I don't want to take time off the bike
On a positive note, fizik infinito r1 knits feel amazing.
What other shoes do you have/wear to give a bit of a comparison on the knits to? I'm looking at Giro knits and really not sure/trying to convince myself. I've ridden in cheapy Shimano/Giro velcros and they're ok. My 'best' are Sidi boa/velcro combo and they fit like slippers, but I regularly do them up too tight and only realise around 20 minutes later when I've got a sore toes/foot! Simple re-click and all done (no need to stop). I'm not sure I want lace up shoes for that very reason...
And saddle sores for me where a combination of shorts, fit and saddle. Certain saddles (narrow/flat/firm) where good and felt ok but anything over 4/5 hours I'd get sores, but equally not something I did regularly enough. Went through various shorts/pads then and the wider/thicker more premium (Rapha/Sportful) made a big difference. Switching saddle to a middle cutout was a revelation and tweaking various of those I've ended up on a Specialized Power. I'm comfortable in various positions on it, but it is very firm and I get saddle pain sometimes. Often when going for a couple of hours, but it doesn't seem to lead to sores anymore and a change of position often sorts it. I'm often very sensitive 'down there' after any big/long/sweaty/hot ride, but only for a few hours barely feeling it the next morning.
Hutchinson Fusion5 Performance 11Storm in 28mm setup tubeless on my best bike. No punctures (now there's a kiss of death!) and they have more grip than I have testicular fortitude!
Thanks had been meaning to hunt down their best of everything tyres for my summer 28mm tubeless setup (which I may carry across to winter if it's a mild one and don't need these 32mm's).
What poblems? I've had this (the Wahoo ELEMNT, as said
) for about a year and it's always sync'd great with Strava.
My ELEMNT has been slow a few times and I've had a couple of crashes freezes but they where generally when following a route every time. But mine is quite old now and memory must be utterly full on it. It's still superb and really glad I changed from the shockingly bad/unreliable 810 to it.
I'm being pretty passive these days, I just pull in and unclip for tractors and trucks.
I'm also taking it easy round blind bends as loads of pedestrians tend to be walking on that side at the moment.
Have to admit I'm doing more of this, might be because I'm riding more backlanes and in less of a 'hurry' with my riding?!
Will a decent pair of padded shorts make a big difference? And if so, are there any reasonably priced ones to check out?
Yes they will, although they can also be a personal thing. Some people can ride in any shorts, some like shorts due to fit/brand yet don't feel too many adverse effects from others. Then there are people like me who've been through probably 10+ different shorts/brands and have an overly sensititive arse!
it is odd with my 800 that I had for years.
it basically works really well for daily commutes etc but as soon as any longer route is kicked in it dies down randomly.. or "works" but fails to record gps track.
e.g. of the ride I did with some ocuk guys :
https://www.strava.com/activities/306503405
you can see it crapping out completely randomly, but the distance etc is correct bar the trail and speed getting messed up.
so it seems that any time using the navigation features kills the device, this is 800 and that is an old device that has had no updates/fixes by garmin for a long time.
I think I am pretty much set on wahoo elmnt bolt, looks perfect for my use.
@AndyCr15 early on wahoo release I've read reports of strava route -> wahoo not containing any cue points just breadcrumb train, it looks like strava/wahoo have no sorted that.
but then again, I'd be using ridewithgps and that generates cues/road names etc.
This. RWGPS generates the cues, don't think Strava does yet? Wahoo units need the cues for you, they are not intelligent enough units to calculate it from map points like the Garmin units...
Through town yesterday I had a delightful passenger "sneeze" on me out the window. I say sneeze, he leant out the window, looked right at me and kind of barked, clearly intentionally in my face. I caught them up at traffic lights and the young scrote and his driver soon shot off when I confronted them. He nudged me off the road as he did. Wussies!
I'd have spat back through his window but then that's generally me.
@xdcx x with that much of it I'd go with what I considered on my commuting gloves when I did much more inner city... Some kinda metal 'padding' on the outside edge of the little finger with a rough edge so I can 'nudge' cars back (all down their paintwork...) when they start coming my way. Maybe slightly evil, but if they're close enough for me to do it they've already proven they don't value life.
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