Soldato
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Love the idea of you setting off to drop those MAMILs before you ID'd them!
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Love the idea of you setting off to drop those MAMILs before you ID'd them!
Darwin will sort them out before too long.
All kinds of people associated with pro teams tend to be quite handy by us mere mortals standards
Yes we assumed they were MAMILs. And when they began to pass I thought "I'm not letting this happen this, the cheeky buggers". And then there was Porte, casually gliding past.
Right, I've been selected for our big firm-wide national ride thingy next May. The nearest leg to me is Liverpool to Sheffield, so I'll be applying for that one. They're saying the leg is 105 miles long, and it comes via Manchester for a local ride in the middle of the day. Liverpool to Sheffield is only about 75 miles, so they must be taking a bit of a roundabout route, which is probably for the best, as you wouldn't want to spend any more time than is necessary in the thick of Liverpool or Manchester and I'll bet Sheffield is the same. I'd guess we'll be crossing the Pennines for that, unless the extra 30 miles is a long loop North to avoid them! Should be fun. The itinerary I've seen is based on an average speed of 15mph. When I did my first (and only to date!) imperial century last year I averaged 14.4mph but that was in the blazing heat in July, and I was only a year into cycling... Hopefully in May, with nearly 3 years experience under my belt I'll be able to manage that speed. I should be OK, depending on the route, I guess, as lots of climbing will take it out of me!
Ah, well, it's an adventure!
Ah, well, it's an adventure!
Soldato
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You'll be fine, loads of time to prepare.
You'll be fine, loads of time to prepare.
I've been averaging between 15.5mph and 16mph on the metric centuries I've done this year, with the exception of Saturday's ride which was super slow due to a slow companion for the first 25miles and dire headwinds on the return leg, so I should be OK if I can maintain that sort of speed for a bit of a longer distance. At least if I get on that Liverpool-Sheffield leg it should have the prevailing wind behind us!
Oi
Nearly got away with it!
(semi)Seriously though, it would be fun to change gender on 'special fridays' and go for segments dressed in a skirt! I'd actually stand a chance of getting some crowns then lol!
I forgot to post this on here. On our ride on Saturday (http://www.strava.com/activities/208729032) we got passed by three riders from Team Sky.
I couldn't identify the other two. Where Porte had his name on his helmet, the other two were wearing plain Team Sky silver helmets. One guy was pretty big and had an impressive beard. I didn't get a good look of the third rider.
Yes we assumed they were MAMILs. And when they began to pass I thought "I'm not letting this happen this, the cheeky buggers". And then there was Porte, casually gliding past.
I think that's awesome, the fact he would happily chat with you guys - he probably appreciated the effort you put in to keep up!
He had his name on his helmet, did he have his score?
And what's a MAMIL?
It's a bit crappy in a few places but most of the passes I wouldn't have a problem with - if I knew they were on the road going at those speeds I'd be expecting them to come blasting past! Quite impressed how safe they were to be honest (look at the guy dropping speed at 2:30 before the corner & cyclists to corner more safely), but I guess (no sound here at work) you'd hear them coming?
Congrats and goodluck! Start carb loading now?
Who do you work for? (if you're allowed to say...)
That was my winter gearing last year. 25mph is more of a realistic max and you'll be spinning right out to do that speed. I can click out 30mph on 48/18 on the flat but that's really flinging your feet round and round like mad
Of course, if it's not fixed gear it's not so much of a problem
Man of Honour
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I'm sure you'll be fine. I'm far from the fastest person around and I reckon I could pull that kind of speed fairly easily as long as I rested/ate properly
Hopefully you won't go down *any* of the TPT for that route though, otherwise 10mph average is more likely Nearly got away with it!
(semi)Seriously though, it would be fun to change gender on 'special fridays' and go for segments dressed in a skirt! I'd actually stand a chance of getting some crowns then lol!
It's tempting but a sex change operation just to try and get some QoMs is probably taking the Strava obsession too far
And what's a MAMIL?
Middle Aged Man in Lycra
I didn't have sound either when I watched it to be honest. It looks to me like they just randomly did it but I could be wrong. I can't imagine hearing them that well given how loud the wind is on a descent.
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Man of Honour
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edit: gah, really need to do all my replies on one post...
I got the impression they did it regularly, they certainly seem happy and in control at those speeds (technique too!). Cyclists didn't seem to be descending 'properly' - most seem to look like they're admiring the view! Didn't spot any/many of them in drops? I could be wrong...
Like mentioned - Darwin will decide their outcome.
My KKRMII, HRM and other bits arrived today! RR will have to wait until I drive in to collect it, but gonna give the HRM a blast tonight - paired with IpBike flawlessly
Man of Honour
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I got the impression they did it regularly, they certainly seem happy and in control at those speeds (technique too!). Cyclists didn't seem to be descending 'properly' - most seem to look like they're admiring the view! Didn't spot any/many of them in drops? I could be wrong...
Like mentioned - Darwin will decide their outcome.
My KKRMII, HRM and other bits arrived today! RR will have to wait until I drive in to collect it, but gonna give the HRM a blast tonight - paired with IpBike flawlessly
Yeah. None of the cyclists were going for it as far as I can tell. I've easily hit over 35mph without going into the drops on descents though.
Perhaps my natural tendency to find descents a bit stressful is causing me to overreact to the video
Do you have an ant+ stick for your PC? Time to get Trainerroad sorted
I don't suppose you'd consider weighing it when it arrives? I am wondering if it'll be any lighter than my current commuter, but PX don't list the weight on their site
Edit: I've just realised it has no mudguard mounts - that's disappointing!
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Man of Honour
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I don't suppose you'd consider weighing it when it arrives? I am wondering if it'll be any lighter than my current commuter, but PX don't list the weight on their site
Edit: I've just realised it has no mudguard mounts - that's disappointing!
PX London is the only disc bike on the PX site that has mud guard mounts unfortunately :/
Yes. It looked by no means a serious ride. They looked like they were taking it casually. If they were doing something more serious then maybe he wouldn't have been so interested in talking. Or probably we would have never been able to catch up in the first place!
Yeah. None of the cyclists were going for it as far as I can tell. I've easily hit over 35mph without going into the drops on descents though.
Perhaps my natural tendency to find descents a bit stressful is causing me to overreact to the video
Do you have an ant+ stick for your PC? Time to get Trainerroad sorted
If I'm descending at speed I do tend to ride the hoods too - feel like I have more control to miss the drains and potholes! Only times I ride my drops are on flat straights with good road surfaces... On roads I know well! Maybe I need to race more?
Don't have ANT+, then again I don't have a good laptop to use with trainerroad... Defo won't be using my trainer near my main PC! (upstairs in small spare room!)
Don't make me look at laptops! I'll spend money on one sooner rather than on a better bike next year!
I dont have enough leverage on the brakes to slow myself down on the hoods.
It's also more aero on the drops
I dont have enough leverage on the brakes to slow myself down on the hoods.
It's also more aero on the drops
Aye, can't get enough leverage on the... uh... levers from the hoods. Gotta be in the drops if descending at speed. Also means your centre of mavity is lower, so in theory you'll have more control of the bike...
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