Road Cycling Essentials

uniQ · 1 Aug 2013 at 17:38

Vonhelmet said:
Likewise, albeit only with a single century, not a double!

I think 40-50 miles is a distance I'm happy with at the moment. I'll build up to longer distances being comfortable, but that's enough for now. The century was hard work. The first 75 miles were OK, and then the last 25 were just murder. I was losing my mind by the end of it. I spoke to a mate about it and he said he's heard similar things said about marathons - "When you've done 20 miles, you're halfway there."

Going the distance gets much easier. I just realised that I can get as good a workout doing 20-30miles flat out at a higher intensity and in a couple of hours than sitting in a saddle all day spinning the miles away.

Saying that I'll probably go for the 300 next year if 200 becomes the new 100

nydryl · 1 Aug 2013 at 17:39

Vonhelmet said:
Likewise, albeit only with a single century, not a double!

I think 40-50 miles is a distance I'm happy with at the moment. I'll build up to longer distances being comfortable, but that's enough for now. The century was hard work. The first 75 miles were OK, and then the last 25 were just murder. I was losing my mind by the end of it. I spoke to a mate about it and he said he's heard similar things said about marathons - "When you've done 20 miles, you're halfway there."

I had the same with my 90 miler earlier last month.

http://app.strava.com/activities/65626872

It was scorching hot that day and I intended on doing 50 miles out to Wanlockhead (highest village in Scotland apparantly, although not a difficult climb) and then continuing on to the coast to make a century. I ended up bailing after 90 miles, and probably pused too hard at the beginning of the ride. I couldn't stop myself feeling dehydrated from around 70 miles onwards my mind was a bleak and angry place! The last 15 were torture, I remember shouting at myself going up the A70. Odd that the moment I stepped off the bike in Ayr and bought three litres of water all was right in the world again. Other people I've spoken to get it too. Bike depression. The only time I've experienced anything similar was towards the end of a half-marathon when I'd gone off far too quickly without enough food in my stomach.

e: Looking at that ride, I swear I remember the last 25miles feeling like they were up hill!

Vonhelmet · 1 Aug 2013 at 17:49

nydryl said:
I had the same with my 90 miler earlier last month.

http://app.strava.com/activities/65626872

It was scorching hot that day and I intended on doing 50 miles out to Wanlockhead (highest village in Scotland apparantly, although not a difficult climb) and then continuing on to the coast to make a century. I ended up bailing after 90 miles, and probably pused too hard at the beginning of the ride. I couldn't stop myself feeling dehydrated from around 70 miles onwards my mind was a bleak and angry place! The last 15 were torture, I remember shouting at myself going up the A70. Odd that the moment I stepped off the bike in Ayr and bought three litres of water all was right in the world again. Other people I've spoken to get it too. Bike depression.

Mine was the Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool ride. I'd set off from Liverpool at 7:30am and ridden to Chester, all round Delamere and back to Chester, and then had to get back to the tunnel mouth in Birkenhead by 3:00pm or they'd have re-opened the tunnel and I wouldn't be allowed through. There was a feed station in Chester which was 25 miles from Liverpool. I got there about 1:10pm and had about 5 minutes break. My mate who I was riding with bailed at this point, so I was on my own from there on, just clinging on to groups when I needed to and overtaking them when I'd recovered enough or got fed up with the speed they were doing. For the last 25 miles I kept myself sane by looking at the mile markers by the side of the road - 25 miles to go, 24 miles to go, 23 miles to go, etc - and doing the maths in my head to figure out how fast I had to be going to make it. So I'd spend each mile thinking "20 miles to go, it's twenty to two which means I've got 80 minutes to get to the tunnel mouth, which means I have to average 15mph." That was pretty much all I could think by that point.

I made it to the tunnel with ten minutes to spare, and rode through with some guy who'd done the 100 miles on a mountain bike with front suspension :eek:

It's a good job I'd pushed myself on - the next week I was at the cafe on our standard Saturday ride and overheard some riders from Southport cycling club saying that they'd been running late and were indeed turned away.

When I came out of the tunnel at the other end I rode through the finishing lane and was handed a medal and a half litre bottle of water. I practically fell off and went and leaned against a portaloo and chugged the water in one go. Absolutely mullered.

Shamrock · 1 Aug 2013 at 18:39

Ahhh much better! It now has 38cm 3T Ergonovas and 100mm 3T Arx stem.

Also the Rose for comparison. I donated the Fizik Antares to the Cinelli and got a carbon braided Antares for the Rose.

Excuse the poor photos!

Disco Boy · 1 Aug 2013 at 18:41

Your poor chain.

What wheels are those on the Cinelli?

And are those Shimano M520s on a Cinelli?!

uniQ · 1 Aug 2013 at 18:47

Thanks for changing the bar tape

Looks good you just need to dump that Campag crap and come over to the light side

e: Same saddles. Antares carbon on R5 and Antares ki:um on Ti

Also what's up with your carpet(s)?

[DOD]Asprilla · 1 Aug 2013 at 18:47

How are the Ergonovas? I've got a set for the Soloist but I'm debating whether to send them back; I was going though my parts bin and found some FSA Omega Compacts which I use everywhere else.

Not opened the box yet but it occurs to me that the ovalised top could make mounting lights and a computer difficult?

Nexus · 1 Aug 2013 at 18:53

All this talk of hitting the wall has got me a little nervous for the Ride London on Sunday. I was certainly feeling it on my longest training ride, but at the sametime, I wonder how much comes down to proper nutrition which I hadn't really been doing. On a proper distance sportive I'd need to make sure to eat every hour and keep refilling my drinks bottles. Riding long on my own, I tend to reserve fluids until desperate and then maybe buy/refill, which is probably too late. I'll have an energy bar and maybe a caffeine gel towards the end, but certainly not one every hour or whatever it is recommended.

Calpol · 1 Aug 2013 at 18:57

Shamrock said:
Ahhh much better! It now has 38cm 3T Ergonovas and 100mm 3T Arx stem.

Also the Rose for comparison. I donated the Fizik Antares to the Cinelli and got a carbon braided Antares for the Rose.

Excuse the poor photos!

Two very nice bikes there. That Rose in particular looks very tasty with Athena? and Cosmics. I need some 50mm wheels! - add them to the list!

[DOD]Asprilla · 1 Aug 2013 at 18:59

Don't worry about Sunday; there are seven food and drink stops and you'll be in the biggest chain gang this side of the Cape Argus Pick n' Pay (which has 35,000 cyclists).

Disco Boy · 1 Aug 2013 at 18:59

Nexus said:
All this talk of hitting the wall has got me a little nervous for the Ride London on Sunday. I was certainly feeling it on my longest training ride, but at the sametime, I wonder how much comes down to proper nutrition which I hadn't really been doing. On a proper distance sportive I'd need to make sure to eat every hour and keep refilling my drinks bottles. Riding long on my own, I tend to reserve fluids until desperate and then maybe buy/refill, which is probably too late. I'll have an energy bar and maybe a caffeine gel towards the end, but certainly not one every hour or whatever it is recommended.

What're you planning on eating every hour? Assuming you're drinking water, or water&electrolytes, you will need about one gel (~100kcal) every 20 minutes, or slightly less often.

[Damien] · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:00

Nexus said:
Riding long on my own, I tend to reserve fluids until desperate and then maybe buy/refill, which is probably too late. I'll have an energy bar and maybe a caffeine gel towards the end, but certainly not one every hour or whatever it is recommended.

Eat before you're hungry, drink before you're thirsty. And if it's a long one, pacing yourself using a HRM helps. Riding with slower people than you is good too. The only reason I attack hills the way I do is because I've usually chilled out keeping pace with others up until that point.

[DOD]Asprilla · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:03

I hear that one gel every 20 minutes but if I did that then I'd be puking on the hour.

I'll start with a Cliff Bar about an hour and a half in and have another an hour later and so on. If I need a quick sugar hit I'll have some of that expensive Haribo Wiggle keep sending me; it would be much cheaper if they didn't keep putting bike components in the boxes with it.

Calpol · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:04

Disco Boy said:
What're you planning on eating every hour? Assuming you're drinking water, or water&electrolytes, you will need about one gel (~100kcal) every 20 minutes, or slightly less often.

I tend to save gels till nearer the end of a longer ride or ahead of a climb. They don't really agree with my stomach in large quantities. I prefer to munch a fig roll or some soreen every 45 mins or so. I reckon I will need c3 litres of water on Sunday - I normally pop a High 5 Zero tab into my bottles. I did a 104 miles a few weeks ago on a bowl of muesli and 6 fig rolls but that was a little low.

Gribs · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:11

uniQ said:
Thanks for changing the bar tape Looks good you just need to dump that Campag crap and come over to the light side

Heathen. Proper road bikes deserve Italian goodness, Shimano/Sram belong on bikes that need to deal with filth and not just look pretty. It'd just feel wrong to me to buy a road bike without Campag stuff on it.

Calpol · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:13

Gribs said:
Heathen. Proper road bikes deserve Italian goodness, Shimano/Sram belong on bikes that need to deal with filth and not just look pretty. It'd just feel wrong to me to buy a road bike without Campag stuff on it.

I have to agree. Campagnolo superior in every way

Vonhelmet · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:22

Take carb drinks like high5 energy source. I drank a bottle of that every 25 miles but didn't have one for the last 25 which sucked. Also take real food rather than just gels. Gels and drinks will keep your energy up, but your stomach will be growling with nothing to actually digest properly. Take some flapjacks and bananas.

platypus · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:25

[DOD]Asprilla;24702280 said:
I hear that one gel every 20 minutes but if I did that then I'd be puking on the hour.

I'll start with a Cliff Bar about an hour and a half in and have another an hour later and so on. If I need a quick sugar hit I'll have some of that expensive Haribo Wiggle keep sending me; it would be much cheaper if they didn't keep putting bike components in the boxes with it.

Pfff Mulebar > Clifbar.

Calpol · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:27

platypus said:
Pfff Mulebar > Clifbar.

You obviously haven't tasted peanut Clif Bars. YUM

Shamrock · 1 Aug 2013 at 19:43

Oops, I was so focused on the front I forget to set up the rear for the OCP photo! I obviously don't ride it like that.

The wheels are the stock Miche clinchers without the decals. They probably weigh 3kg in total. The M520s will have to stay until I can afford to replace them with Speedplay Zeroes.

@Calpol - the Rose is Chorus 11s which feels a lot nicer than the Veloce on the Cinelli. But Veloce is still pretty smooth for a low-end gruppo.

@uniQ - the bits of carpet are left over from when the Landlord re-carpeted. I figured I'd put them over places where I roll my bikes around to protect the actual carpet. From a distance the Cinelli cork/gel tape looks black, but upon closer inspection...