Road Cycling Essentials

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Thomas. PLease. said:
Just made a new garmin mount for the TT bike out of some plumbers pipe. Pretty happy with the result, if only I could make an out front mount for he road bike now!
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Haha, i did the same with a little bit i cut off an old mop handle. It really makes a big difference from having it on the stem. Before, when i was on the aero bars, i couldnt actually see the garmin at all.


I did a road race tonight and i was speaking to an IronMan triathlete at the end. He thought it was pretty tough and said that was his first and last road race and he was going back to ironmans. I guess training for huge distance time trials doesnt translate well to the start-stop accelerations of road races :p.
 
My Ironman training started this week, though I haven't yet pin pointed the exact one I want to do, probably Outlaw/Bolton. I've just formalised my training times and got a plan together for base mileage over the winter. Swam 6k this week so far and my arms are aching with supressed memories of how boring/painful I find swimming :p.

Just have to stay injury free!
 
BBC said:
Sandwich-eating driver cleared of dangerous driving death

A motorist who knocked down and killed a cyclist while he was eating at the wheel has been cleared of causing death by dangerous driving.

Joseph Wilkins was cycling on a country road near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in May 2012 when he was struck.

Paul Brown, 30, admitted he had been eating a sandwich between five and 10 seconds before he hit him.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-23626666
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Gutted with that outcome.

Not excusing cycling without lights in any way - although the time of the accident isn't stated and could have been dusk rather than night - but why courts let people off who have admitted not being in full control of their vehicle is beyond me. What kind of message does that honestly send to people? Oh it's fine to be doing other things when driving a large metal death trap that weighs a ton.
 
platypus said:
My Ironman training started this week, though I haven't yet pin pointed the exact one I want to do, probably Outlaw/Bolton. I've just formalised my training times and got a plan together for base mileage over the winter. Swam 6k this week so far and my arms are aching with supressed memories of how boring/painful I find swimming :p.

Just have to stay injury free!
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Nice one platypus, I would recommend going for the official ironman event if possible, I think it's really worth the extra cash. It's also been said the bike course for Bolton is changing to a two lap loop, so might find its not quite so hilly. Another thing I would recommend if i may is go careful on the amount of volume you do before your full training plan starts. I trained too much in the winter, and struggled for motivation towards the event as I had been training basically for 9 months.
 
Cheers - I'll definitely look at Bolton, just gall a bit at the expense..

Training has always gone reasonably well for me, the last ironman I trained was going ok until injury (broken ankle). I think the cycling will take care of itself, training wise certainly and running I'll always just get around. The swim genuinely worries me, even though I've done that distance (and more) before. I'll very much be a finisher (hopefully) rather than a racer anyway.
 
SoliD said:
Cheers, ye I'm not disappointed with the results, until I tried the first tt, I had never really gone much above 20mph on my own for 10 miles, first one was a 12 miler and managed 22.01 mph, then 21.5 over 15 and then 22.5 over 9. So not actually done a 10 yet, but my local route should allow a 22.5-23 over 10 I would hope, as the last section is downhill and very quick. Certainly got the bug and decided to focus on TTs for next year.
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What is the 12 mile course like? If the weather's good next Friday I will be doing a 10miler on an old airfield, its supposed to be really quick so hoping for a PB.

TT bars should arrive in time for next week so looking forward to see what kind of difference they make.
 
daveski said:
What is the 12 mile course like? If the weather's good next Friday I will be doing a 10miler on an old airfield, its supposed to be really quick so hoping for a PB.

TT bars should arrive in time for next week so looking forward to see what kind of difference they make.
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Basically the 9 mile with 2 loops instead of the 1. About 400 ft of climbing. So relatively flat. But the loop is poorly surfaced.

That 15 was actually 20.5 or so, but it's a much hillier route.
 
IMAG0628_zps070ccbb0.jpg


Arrived already.
 
olv said:
gurdas, I spotted you whizz past at Marble Arch, stark contrast to the guy dressed head to toe in Rapha-Condor with shaved legs on a Condor bike who I shared most of my commute with! Your bike looks better in camo green than I would have expected for the second i saw it.

[/stalker]
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:D yeah i quite like the way my bike looks right now, thanks :) just need to re-do the half arsed grip tape and I'm good!

quite comfy clothing today if i was to compare it to my usual, undershorts(with a PAD!) shorts, t-shirt and trainers..

normally i cycle in jeans but i gotta admit having a pad between my balls and seat is quite nice :(:D
 
TT bikes are awesome, I'm in love with mine. Nothing quite like the feeling of getting tucked into aero and holding 25mph+ on the flat.

I've got those extensions I used to use for my road bike, I found them great very comfortable.
 
daveski said:
I to want a TT bike but in order for that to happen I need a better job!

Solid - they're these ones http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-sh...bars-tri-bars/profile-legacy-zb-aero-bar.html framing of the photo makes them look big, trying to get as little of the office into the photo.
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I think I'm going to look for a bargain from someone upgrading or didn't use it much over the winter!

Ah thats better, look more normal sized now! Have to let us know how much time the bars take off!
 
On the TT on Wednesday night someone turned up on a TT bike with disc wheel and was only 4 seconds faster than me :)

I hope to be further into the 25s if my legs are up to it.
 
Thomas. PLease. said:
TT bikes are awesome, I'm in love with mine. Nothing quite like the feeling of getting tucked into aero and holding 25mph+ on the flat.

I've got those extensions I used to use for my road bike, I found them great very comfortable.
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How do you feel about not being able to reach your gears or brakes? That's the main thing that puts me off of trying some clip-on aero bars. That said, I am tempted again to give them a try. The guy who did my bike fit adjusted the angle of my levers in relation to the bar, so that I can actually reach them while riding in the drops. As a result I've been riding in the drops almost all the time, and I must say it has made a noticeable difference - at least 2kph on my stop-start commute. I've also stopped wearing a backpack, which I suspect also helps a fair bit in terms of aerodynamics.
 
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