Road Cycling Essentials

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VeNT said:
off work next week, making up for it by doing all my commuting miles tomorrow! hope it stays dry!
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I'm planning to take a Friday off work at the end of November, ahead of a night away with my wife. I'll be missing my usual Saturday morning group ride, so I think I'll be spending some of that Friday going it alone and attempting this climb. I've only done it once before and walked part of it, so I want to see if I can pull it off. I'm hoping the conditions are still going to be OK that high up at the end of November...
 
Vonhelmet said:
I'm planning to take a Friday off work at the end of November, ahead of a night away with my wife. I'll be missing my usual Saturday morning group ride, so I think I'll be spending some of that Friday going it alone and attempting this climb. I've only done it once before and walked part of it, so I want to see if I can pull it off. I'm hoping the conditions are still going to be OK that high up at the end of November...
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Its definately a tough climb. The first time i did it i had to stop halfway for a couple of minutes for a breather. Since then i've completed it a couple of times very slowy.
 
Jonny ///M said:
Sounds more like a saddle issue than a fit issue if your gooch/balls get sore? Some other saddles can relieve stress on that area making it really comfy.
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That's the issue I am having now, it's getting warmer and I am riding further, finding that I'm getting rubbed a bit in that area causing some discomfort. Using the standard Giant saddle, it seems a bit of a lottery ordering a different saddle hoping that it will be better though.

I planned an easy ride today looking at google maps. Ended up being far from it, instead of doing 30+ kmh I was struggling into a nasty wind doing close to 20. Followed up with a CAT 3 climb that I wasn't expecting. Turns out that it is on the "long" course of the sportif that's run in April. With the wind and the inexperience of the climb, 200th quickest of 250 on Strava. I'll be losing out loads compared to the bunch riders and due to the poor weather, I'll aim for the top 100 by Xmas and see how I go! Going off other local rides where people ride solo I am normally in the top 25%.

Spent most of it in the granny ring with the biggest ring on the back spinning away and standing when it went crazy steep.

Evil Climb
 
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Berger said:
That's the issue I am having now, it's getting warmer and I am riding further, finding that I'm getting rubbed a bit in that area causing some discomfort. Using the standard Giant saddle, it seems a bit of a lottery ordering a different saddle hoping that it will be better though.
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Have a look on the specialized site and see if you have one of the saddle bg fit centers near you - I really like my specialized saddle so have one on both bikes and that was just luck rather than a proper fit!!
 
Vonhelmet said:
That sucks. I do my mid-week rides on my own, but weekends I ride with a small group of people - half a dozen or so. If I get a weekend sometime when we're not riding, I'll give you and [Damien] a shout and we'll see if we can sort something out.
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Yeah, definitely up for that. I'm going to try a 65m ride today. I'll let you know how it went assuming I don't die of exhaustion.

I'll be starting off with that Platt Rd climb, then doing a double loop of Worsley, Cadishead, Leigh, and Warrington.
 
Yay! So the Ti is mine again and has replaced the Trek as my new commuter bike :)

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Is there a way to give Strava a nudge when it doesn't pick up a segment that you've done? Last time I was out I smashed it at the end to get a PB on a segment and it just didn't pick it up :(
 
What a great day for cycling, stunning weather.

Ended up doing the short route in the end. When i turned up i started chatting to a chap and it was his first cyclosportive as well so i said id stick with him. turns out he was quite slow but i went round slowly and kept chatting. Today was the first time i came off the bike as well, i was coming down quite a steep decent and i was braking and i his some mud a leaves and the bike went underneath me and i slid with it. No major damage, a few cuts on my leg and hip. I had to bend the shifter back into place as well. all in all a decent day, thoroughly enjoyed it. The fastest person doing the long route (78 miles) completed it in 4 hrs!
 
Well done on getting your ride done minty! Where did you come off - anywhere I'd know? Some bits of Anglezarke are a bit ropey, but I don't know if your route took in the nasty steep blind 90 degree bend over the bridge that really scares me!
 
minty said:
What a great day for cycling, stunning weather.

Ended up doing the short route in the end. When i turned up i started chatting to a chap and it was his first cyclosportive as well so i said id stick with him. turns out he was quite slow but i went round slowly and kept chatting. Today was the first time i came off the bike as well, i was coming down quite a steep decent and i was braking and i his some mud a leaves and the bike went underneath me and i slid with it. No major damage, a few cuts on my leg and hip. I had to bend the shifter back into place as well. all in all a decent day, thoroughly enjoyed it. The fastest person doing the long route (78 miles) completed it in 4 hrs!
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Its pretty nasty out there today, very slippy and the leaves are really starting to come down.

I myself also did a Sportive today and sadly saw two ambulances carting Cyclists off to Hospital along the route. First one slipped out on a bend and broke his collarbone. The second one was worse and the rider hit an oncoming car, though apparently the people he was riding with said that he was in the opposite lane when it happened.
 
The one sportive I did back in July was quite eye opening in terms of gung ho cyclists acting like the road was closed, riding 6 abreast, all over the road, no respect for lights... Not a wonder some of them run into bother.
 
Nearly finished building my new Chinese carbon special this weekend, its completely carbon, everything that can be carbon is. Quite proud so thought I post it up :-)

Current weight is 6.3kg just missing: chain, bar tape, and a bit of gear cable, so will be a bit over 6.5kg total for full ridable bike. I also haven't gone for all out lightness ie frame and wheels have a slight bit of aero and my brifters are a good 200g heavier than sram stuff but I just prefer the feel.

Built for a tiny bit over £1000, full ultegra, all new parts bar carbon crank and brifters.

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