Road Cycling

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First TT of the year today, except I didn't go. Got up this morning done a few bits and thought I'd take my TT bike out to check it all over as I've not ridden it properly in about 2 months and that was on the turbo, went out position felt awful, so decided to go little further than planned and almost got squashed by a car driver. Luckily he stopped before squeezing me completely into the kerb.

Stopped and checked bike over, got the blokes number who was conviently a bike rider, but no damage, decided there and then I didn't want to race today. So went on a bit further and done few shorter intervals just trying to get comfy, but need to adjust my position, kept coming far too forward. Was a good decision in the end as the time I would have been going off it started to rain, and with the northerly winds I would have frozen.

Hope it starts to warm up soon, depressing riding in this cold after Majorca! :P
 
Saytan said:
Pass cleanly, leave plenty of space. Do it at a pace you were making anyway.

If in doubt, refer to rule 71
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And say hello.

And yes, if you're on a climb it is imperative that you not appear to be suffering at all. A couple of years ago [Damien] and I were climbing a cat 2 near here and about 3/4 of the way up we happened upon some mountain bikers who were grinding away super slow in their great-great-granny gears. Naturally we both took a deep breath and powered past with a very cheery "Good evening!" as we dropped their sorry panting asses. Had to be done.
 
I'm trying to pave the way with the Mrs to do the 100 mile Liverpool Chester Liverpool in July... Fingers crossed.

I'm also looking ahead to the Tour of Britain in September and thinking about routes. I can play it safe and just do 50 miles to Tatton and back or go all out and do 100 then as well, going up the Brickworks, through the Goyt Valley and back up the Cat and Fiddle from the Buxton side. It'd be a tough day, but if I keep up commuting between now and then I should toughen up...
 
oli collett said:
You divert from your route to avoid overtaking :confused:

You spot the rider, ride up towards them, check over your shoulder that it's safe to overtake, indicate and ride past
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saitrix said:
What's wrong with overtaking? Just make sure you can stay ahead if you do! :p
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Yeah I have on several occasions. Maybe I've just been unlucky but I've had in the past;

Come within a few hundred yards of a couple of guys who I was catching at a fairly steady pace only for one of them look over their shoulder, say something to the other guy and they then upped their pace. Problem was I was still going quicker than them (all be it now by a much smaller margin) and after about a mile of them checking over their shoulders every 30 seconds to ensure they were maintaining the gap I got cheesed off and backed right off.

Caught a cycling club who were obviously on a long run or were the super rookie group as they were going quite slow. I didn't fancy getting in the mix of them (about 25 or so) while trying to get past so I diverted.

Had a guy slam his brakes on in front of me. I was still quite a way back so I managed to come to a hault ok but he goes "I'm sorry but I just HATE having people behind me". I explained that I would have passed when I caught up and if he did feel the need to stop so I passed it probably wasn't the best of ideas to do it when a car was coming the other way on a narrow country lane :rolleyes:

Started passing a woman who was coasting to the grass verge who then did a U-Turn without notice and without looking... she went down like a sack of spuds :o Was the one time I didn't call as I passed as it looked like she was stopping and I was going some.

Finally a guy I passed and thought nothing more of it until about a mile and a half later when I turn into a junction and get the shock of my life as he's stuck on my back wheel. It was a windy day and I was oblivious to him even being there.

Anyway, I guess for those who see every ride as a race it must suck to get passed by a fat guy on a hybrid.

When I pass other cyclists I always give plenty of room, acknowledge them, give an "on your right" if they are all over the place or aren't aware that I'm there and maintain my speed once I've passed so I think I'm ticking all the boxes. Advice on hills doesn't apply in Norfolk ;)
 
Woo, bit of evening bike maintenance. The front brake on my single speed was sticking closed, so I took out the cable and cleaned it, before tracing the problem to one of the v brake arms, which wasn't springing open very enthusiastically. I cleaned it and worked some oil into it, then adjusted the spring tension on it a bit to get it a bit keener to stay open. It's all sorted now. Love fixing my own stuff.
 
Just did 70 mins on the turbo, and my 1st foam rolling session afterwards. It hurt...but that really good pain. And my quads feel pretty damn good right now!

Really glad I bought one, thanks Roady, Shamrock and FT!
 
Wake up, bit of a thick head, check the weather there's wind & rain forecast. Sod that, I can't be bothered. Two hours of broken sunshine and little wind later and I think, no I will get out for a short one... then the heavens open. Lesson learned- weather forecasts are bull twoddle. I think I need to invest in a packable rain jacket to get over my reluctance to ride if there is a chance of rain.
 
Saw this beauty of a bike at the café stop today...

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Went out to do the first BTR of the season which is a bigger circuit on a Sunday compared to the out and back of the Tuesday nights.

Asked to go in the first of three groups as I've done not a lot!

Was meant to be 5 but a guy pulled out as his nose was bleeding, 4 of us were working together but one guy(who I get as fit as or faster then usually) kept going through quite hard. I, having not warmed up, was feeling it so just eased up and came through at my own speed, which helped the guy on my wheel as he was suffering a bit too.

Ended up letting they two go as the other guy was getting dropped and I was trying to keep him on, got back on, puncture as we descended into Muirkirk. Quite sketchy bringing it from 30+ to a stop with a flat front tube.

I just turned and went back the same way as the scratch had passed and no way I was going the rest of the way myself.

Went out on the mountain bike with a mate who's just started out to give me more of a workout.
 
I got out for 20 miles earlier. I did about 10 into a headwind, then a chunk up a hill before finally getting some downhills in. The climb felt good. It's a cat 4 and while I was a bit off my best pace up there I felt quite strong and did a good chunk of it stood up in a higher gear. I'll have to push myself a bit more this year and try to get some PRs on some climbs, as last year was very lacklustre for me. There's a good downhill soon after the climb, and even though I tucked so tight my back hurt I was still a few seconds off my best down there. Oh well, another day maybe.
 
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