Road Cycling

[fez]

I literally just got back from Harlow an hour ago! I drove out there for 8am, rode down to the coast (well, is it called an 'estuary') and back.

The morning started rather misty, but turned amazing around 10:00am.

For some reason it looks like your fork is on backwards. I know its impossible for it to be but I think its just the angle of the photo.

 

[AndyCr15]

What size did you go for? When I went to the shop he took one look at me and said 54 with a longer stem. I was sure I would’ve been a 56 but it makes sense (I think) as my Medium Canyon feels ever so slightly too long.

5’11/180cm though so I think a bit smaller than you

It's a 56 and I'm 6'3. I was worried about being too stretched out tbh, which might not go well with back issues. I think partly it's the design as my Canyon doesn't look as extreme.

 

[UTmaniac]

Semi-regretting not finally getting around to setting up and installing my VEL 50 RL wheels, bought during Black Friday '22, to use during this week of warm and dry weather.

But as much I'm pleased to have ridden ~6 hours outdoors this past week and hoping to get out again this afternoon, it's been a week of very low speeds and low effort besides a short local incline loop... According to https://intervals.icu/ , as Strava's average speed is actually average moving speed, yesterday's hybrid ride was a whopping 11.6mph (and far lower effort than the bizarre power estimates Strava gave, not sure why this happened, usually estimates are reasonable)!

During the last few weeks of base/endurance building, I'm only typically averaging 1-3mph quicker on the road bike, so while 50mm rims might make a nice whoosh sound (not that I've ridden wheels this deep before), they ain't going to give me more speed for this effort.

Oh well, another week of showers incoming, I should get the tubes; tyres and cassette fitted in little stints, in the hope of some summer weather in late May or early June...

 

[PikeyPriest]

First imperial century ride completed.

https://strava.app.link/6aURNQQFxJb

Overall it went really well. I took lots of food as not sure what the provision would be like, but I could have carried far less in the end. Completed the ride with rest stops and no I didn’t have to walk up any hills. I probably could have gone slightly faster for the first 30km, but I was keen to keep to 200W when pushing and the go easy on descents as I wasn’t sure how I would feel at the end.

Whiteleaf hill was about 110km in and Kop hill was at around 140km. Both were tough but doable by keeping my pace down the rest of the ride.

It was rolling group starts so had odd periods with no riders visible. I joined some of the lines occasionally, but it didn’t seem that many riders were doing a pacing line type thing outside some of the cycle clubs (who were really fast!). Doing 4 hours of Zwift workouts and races has certainly improved my fitness to be able to do the ride. Not sure whether a training program would be better or not, my FTP has been static for the last 2-3 months and if it continues I might try TR this winter.

Would recommend for anyone in for next year that wants to do some climbing. Route was nice, 4 feed stations well stocked and good views. Start location is Chesham.

Ride Chartridge

www.ridechartridge.com

 

[AndyCr15]

Oh, we had 5 guys from our club doing that ride this morning (HBV). Well done...I hate Whiteleaf...

 

[PikeyPriest]

Oh, we had 5 guys from our club doing that ride this morning (HBV). Well done...I hate Whiteleaf...

They were one of the fast groups! They overtook me about 30km in and I think I saw them at either the first of second test stop.

 

[AndyCr15]

Yeah, it's partly why I didn't do it I wouldn't have been able to keep up with them! Looking at your segments, I would have been at a similar pace to you.

 

[One More Solo]

Entered a 200 on Saturday which ended up being the worst I've felt on the bike in a very long time. Got round but my legs had packed in and my back was cramping badly for the final 50km. I've pushed my saddle forward a fair bit this year and while it's been good for shorter efforts it was evidently a disaster for proper endurance stuff. Back to the drawing board.

 

[UTmaniac]

https://www.hotukdeals.com/vouchers...of-strava-premium-using-discount-code-4341968 might be of intrest to some.

 

[Roady]

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Had a bit of a 'stupid' one for my first big outing on the Tarmac saturday...! But did a big day on it and it's GLORIOUS! So fast. So comfortable! Must have my fit pretty dialled in as zero pain - other than my hands. But can put that down to low amounts of ride time, some different/fairly thin gloves, some rough roads (everywhere) along with a slightly lower front end likely putting more weight on them. So back to the stupidity! Basically, Flat Di2 when the hills really started for the social club ride over Gospel Pass. So at around 30km I lost shifting on the front ring... It took me a couple of miles to realise... I hadn't checked the battery! Argh! I'd checked it once a month or so ago - without riding it and seem to recall it at 30-40%. Didn't think much of it at the time with all the stuff to sort out before it was ready to be ridden. I'd paired it to my head unit (as I've done with my 11 speed) and that's quite good to occasionally 'see' it as a reminder. I've never been caught out with the 11speed - even when I hadn't got the wireless unit for several months after fitting! then a couple of weeks ago replaced that head unit... So had only paired my commuters Di2 to the new BOLTv2 head unit and not the new bike. Doh. Idiot!

So after the rear stopped shifting, called a stop and discussing with clubmates while trying to figure out if I could do the climb without gears (and still with several miles before the real uphill started) decided to head back home instead! 30km of the easiest 'flat' route back (so I could ride it as single speed - as able to move the rear derailleur by hand, but not the front) involved the main A49 road - on a busy saturday. It was pretty busy but only a couple of stupid passes. Hardest part was getting through lunchtime stop/start traffic with only 34*10! Felt like a track rider! I'd arranged to pop into the LBS and check out my Hollowtech bearing preload cap issue, decided to head there instead - knowing they could charge di2 it while they investigated. End cap swapped - they figured my crankset had been sent out with the wrong cap. The R7100 105 is different to the R8100 Ultegra! The Ultegra crank has the 'stopper' in the axle, they say that's due to all the failures and the recall Shimano have done (which didn't impact the 105). So they've fitted an extra cap inside the axle to stop water/dirt getting in, with the R8100 preload cap being shorter. So with around 40 mins of Di2 charge, I headed home... Sun was gloriously warm by then! Gutted to be missing out on a long fun ride...

After grabbing some lunch, seeing a few messages from my clubmates, one of them had snapped a gear cable and was limping to their coffee stop. As my family where away visiting the in-laws I figured 'what the hell, lets go back out on a rescue mission!' (without really needing to or being asked to). I zoomed off and headed the reverse of their route figuring I'd find them at some point to confirm Mike had been rescued - or go find him and get him rolling again! A few miles short of their coffee destination I saw a couple of messages - they'd come back another way and he had been recued. Carried on to the coffee stop (Drovers Cycles), had a coffee and natter with the girl there then came back home!

So all in, 80mi/128km in around 8 hours (4.5 moving) very sporadic with random rests/fuelling and really unplanned time+distance. Club social was going to be 60-65 miles in 4-5 hours and with a bigger climb, but weirdly I'd done very similar total elevation as the others by the end. Just a sign of the rolling roads around these parts! I'd not even consider the roads I used as 'hilly'. Just normal! But a good lesson in checking batteries, but also in resilience. Even with that disappointing start to the planned first big ride day on the new bike, stubbonness and 'just wanting to ride' made the most of things and I actually had fun in the sun!

Easier week now, have a Zwift ladder crit race on Tuesday, with TTT Thursday...

Flamme Rouge Racing

www.flammerougeracing.com

Then Saturday 7am I'm on the 'FRR 24 hours Atop Ventop' Charity Challenge ride. I'm planning less than 6 hours but to do 3x VenTop (get a FRR jersey), (4600m ascent) supporting several EVO teammates who are planning to ride the 24 hours. Records will be broken - Guinness World womens record stands at 12 ascents, with the male one 'only' at 6. There's a 'most ascents per club' competition going on too - with the top 3 clubs getting money donated to their chosen charities.

so while 50mm rims might make a nice whoosh sound (not that I've ridden wheels this deep before), they ain't going to give me more speed for this effort.

Who cares about speed! All about the grin on your face! they will whoosh - my 303 S do at 45mm and I'd forgotten just how cool it is until I heard them again

First imperial century ride completed.

https://strava.app.link/6aURNQQFxJb

Great ride, well done! The route/course looks an attritional one too!

Entered a 200 on Saturday which ended up being the worst I've felt on the bike in a very long time. Got round but my legs had packed in and my back was cramping badly for the final 50km. I've pushed my saddle forward a fair bit this year and while it's been good for shorter efforts it was evidently a disaster for proper endurance stuff. Back to the drawing board.

Not just a bad day? Too much tweaking without enough riding? You've always got the big miles in mate so quite surprised to see you hit so hard! Not coming down with something or some other reason you've strained your back doing things and the bike just made it worse?!

 

[Junglist]

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Had a bit of a 'stupid' one for my first big outing on the Tarmac saturday...! But did a big day on it and it's GLORIOUS! So fast. So comfortable! Must have my fit pretty dialled in as zero pain - other than my hands. But can put that down to low amounts of ride time, some different/fairly thin gloves, some rough roads (everywhere) along with a slightly lower front end likely putting more weight on them. So back to the stupidity! Basically, Flat Di2 when the hills really started for the social club ride over Gospel Pass. So at around 30km I lost shifting on the front ring... It took me a couple of miles to realise... I hadn't checked the battery! Argh! I'd checked it once a month or so ago - without riding it and seem to recall it at 30-40%. Didn't think much of it at the time with all the stuff to sort out before it was ready to be ridden. I'd paired it to my head unit (as I've done with my 11 speed) and that's quite good to occasionally 'see' it as a reminder. I've never been caught out with the 11speed - even when I hadn't got the wireless unit for several months after fitting! then a couple of weeks ago replaced that head unit... So had only paired my commuters Di2 to the new BOLTv2 head unit and not the new bike. Doh. Idiot!

So after stopping and discussing with clubmates while trying to figure out if I could do the climb without gears (and still with several miles before the real uphill started) decided to head back home instead! 30km of the easiest 'flat' route back (so I could ride it as single speed - as able to move the rear derailleur by hand, but not the front) involved the main A49 road - on a busy saturday. It was pretty busy but only a couple of stupid passes. Hardest part was getting through lunchtime stop/start traffic with only 34*10! Felt like a track rider! I'd arranged to pop into the LBS and check out my Hollowtech bearing preload cap issue, decided to head there instead - knowing they could charge di2 it while they investigated. End cap swapped - they figured my crankset had been sent out with the wrong cap. The R7100 105 is different to the R8100 Ultegra! The Ultegra crank has the 'stopper' in the axle, they say that's due to all the failures and the recall Shimano have done (which didn't impact the 105). So they've fitted an extra cap inside the axle to stop water/dirt getting in, with the R8100 preload cap being shorter. So with around 40 mins of Di2 charge, I headed home... Sun was gloriously warm by then! Gutted to be missing out on a long fun ride...

After grabbing some lunch, seeing a few messages from my clubmates, one of them had snapped a gear cable and was limping to their coffee stop. As my family where away visiting the in-laws I figured 'what the hell, lets go back out on a rescue mission!' (without really needing to or being asked to). I zoomed off and headed the reverse of their route figuring I'd find them at some point to confirm Mike had been rescued - or go find him and get him rolling again! A few miles short of their coffee destination I saw a couple of messages - they'd come back another way and he had been recued. Carried on to the coffee stop (Drovers Cycles), had a coffee and natter with the girl there then came back home!

So all in, 80mi/128km in around 8 hours (4.5 moving) very sporadic with random rests/fuelling and really unplanned time+distance. Club social was going to be 60-65 miles in 4-5 hours and with a bigger climb, but weirdly I'd done very similar total elevation as the others by the end. Just a sign of the rolling roads around these parts! I'd not even consider the roads I used as 'hilly'. Just normal! But a good lesson in checking batteries, but also in resilience. Even with that disappointing start to the planned first big ride day on the new bike, stubbonness and 'just wanting to ride' made the most of things and I actually had fun in the sun!

Never a dull moment with your stories! I went out for a short ride on Saturday and had a big puncture on the front... It was the first time I had such a big puncture with tubeless (that I noticed) as I could hear the hiss over my earphones... plus I was getting sprayed by the sealant. Few moments later it had stopped with minimal pressure loss. Was really impressed!

Who cares about speed! All about the grin on your face! they will whoosh - my 303 S do at 45mm and I'd forgotten just how cool it is until I heard them again

My partner and I went for a ride on Friday. I usually always ride with headphones in so not having headphones in I forgot how loud my bike sounds. It's like a spaceship

 

[UTmaniac]

https://www.hotukdeals.com/vouchers...of-strava-premium-using-discount-code-4341968 might be of intrest to some.

Thought I better add that some are finding this code will entend their existing subscription by 90 days depending on how you pay and how you try to apply the code (seems to work more often if you use website instead of app), rather than free users like me these days after the last price hike a year or so ago, making use of it.

If a free user, it auto renews the payment plan for after the 90 days, but I cancelled the renewal and my premium use is still available until 11th August.

 

[Roady]

My budget chinese outfront mount arrived. I'd chosen this one as seemed to be made of metal, many of the others looked like 3D printed plastic. Seems pretty good quality! Not fitted it yet... Will report back, certainly cheaper than the 'genuine' Specialized (actually made by Barfly) or the K-Edge option!

I'll just be paranoid and fit a tether (not the genuine one!) for a few months so my Bolt doesn't bounce down the road...

Never a dull moment with your stories! I went out for a short ride on Saturday and had a big puncture on the front... It was the first time I had such a big puncture with tubeless (that I noticed) as I could hear the hiss over my earphones... plus I was getting sprayed by the sealant. Few moments later it had stopped with minimal pressure loss. Was really impressed!


My partner and I went for a ride on Friday. I usually always ride with headphones in so not having headphones in I forgot how loud my bike sounds. It's like a spaceship

Haha glad you enjoyed my story... I really do like to ramble don't I?! More like a Diary... Any excuse to have a break during work when things are quiet!

Serious sealant spray! I've only had it a couple of times and thankfully was on a rear under mudguards so quite 'contained'. Just be sure you washed it off! Sealant when dried out on clothing is horrible to get rid of! Especially my Mucoff stuff... Goes a pinky white colour and looks like I've got a little excited about things...

Thanks @UTmaniac used the code and extended mine. Again with recent Zwift price hike trying to justify Strava Premium again as just another expense... I can justify Zwift, but really struggling to see if I gain value from Strava, it's just a 'nice to have'...!

 

[Martynt74]

Can’t seem to find my Garmin. 2 days in a row now I’ve just used my watch but can’t be bothered syncing it to my power meters.

Getting annoying seeing Strava estimate power at 140w avg

 

[UTmaniac]

Can’t seem to find my Garmin. 2 days in a row now I’ve just used my watch but can’t be bothered syncing it to my power meters.

Getting annoying seeing Strava estimate power at 140w avg

Usually, when my bike details and me are correct in Strava, the power estimates when I go out on the bike without a power meter are usually reasonable.

But last week something was very off, given I averaged 103W on the 4iiii equipped road bike during https://www.strava.com/activities/11354429944 , there is absolutely no way I averaged anything close to 181W on the hybrid during https://www.strava.com/activities/11387865287 !!!!

The only thing different on the hybrid was I attached a bar/stem bottle bag and 750ml bottle as a second drink resource just before leaving, much confused.

Edit: Now I've got premium Strava through code I linked on earlier post, just seen my heart rate zones are duff, my current Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (zone 4 limit) is more like 150-155, 174 is from when I last had premium before long covid. Maybe this is the issue. LTHR ballpark can be taken from 98% of your highest sustained heart rate over 20mins, it varies with fitness just like FTP, so if intrested should be tested every six weeks or so.

 

[bastic]

went for a bike re-fit last night.
biggest change was this

saddle tiny bit down and back

 

[Martynt74]

Usually, when my bike details and me are correct in Strava, the power estimates when I go out on the bike without a power meter are usually reasonable.

Yeah. Mines always well off. All I wonder is my watched recorded as “bike” rather than “road bike” so doesn’t have the history?

I find the same with my MTB though.

It’s frustrating as makes you wonder if my speed/weight expects a much lower power output and then what am I doing wrong to be so slow as the watts I put out. Watts are fairly consistent across multiple power meters so going 140-200 seems a bit margin of error!

The fact Strava recalculated my 90 minutes cycling from the Garmin calories of 1100 down to 450 seems more odd though too! HR is also dodgy as don’t believe I hit 190 on todays ride. I never hit that when killing myself.

 

[Liefrich]

I've just had a rather nasty incident cycling into work with Range Rover threatening me on a narrow country lane. He said he sees me every day and thinks I ride too fast (I was plodding along at like 17mph ) before shouting about how cyclists think they rule the road etc etc. I don't commute daily, but it's made me a bit concerned if I see him again and he decides to do something stupid. I've therefore decided to invest in a camera finally. I don't intend to become CyclingMikey but it would be good to know I can also submit footage to the police in the event something does happen.

I don't intend to make any videos for pleasure. I only want to record my commutes. Are budget cameras worth it? I don't mind spending £300 if I need to. I know some of you use cameras, can anyone recommend a decent one?

 

[AndyCr15]

I've just had a rather nasty incident cycling into work with Range Rover threatening me on a narrow country lane. He said he sees me every day and thinks I ride too fast (I was plodding along at like 17mph ) before shouting about how cyclists think they rule the road etc etc.

That's interesting, you would think most car drivers want you to speed up? Out of interest, what was the actual threat? I wonder if you can/should alert the police now, get an incident number perhaps?

At the end of my last ride and out at lunch today I noticed a creak when hitting bumps. I'm fairly sure it's seat-related, as I don't think it did it if I came out of the saddle, but at the same time, when I've had that before I can press the seat hard and replicate the noise, but I can't now. Any thoughts? Could there be a crack in the frame? Did I overtighten the seatpost maybe? Maybe just some GT85 around the saddle bracket...?

 

[Liefrich]

That's interesting, you would think most car drivers want you to speed up? Out of interest, what was the actual threat? I wonder if you can/should alert the police now, get an incident number perhaps?

At the end of my last ride and out at lunch today I noticed a creak when hitting bumps. I'm fairly sure it's seat-related, as I don't think it did it if I came out of the saddle, but at the same time, when I've had that before I can press the seat hard and replicate the noise, but I can't now. Any thoughts? Could there be a crack in the frame? Did I overtighten the seatpost maybe? Maybe just some GT85 around the saddle bracket...?

We were travelling in opposite directions on a narrow country lane. It was a blind bend. I'm on the left-hand side of the lane next to the hedge. He is driving his Range Rover, taking up a large chunk of the road. We passed each other fine. He didn't give me 1.5m but riding on narrow lanes, I don't mind that provided there is a degree of consideration from the driver. He then beeped me when he went past. I stopped, he reversed and then started shouting at me.

The treat was in the reversing to shout at me, the close pass but the fact he specifically mentioned he sees me each day and I guess I worry that he may do something stupid (to be clear he did not say he would get me). He was the typical Range Rover driver, private plate, a 60-year-old male with an OTT Ralph Lauren T-shirt and a bling watch.

I will change my route on the way home tonight but will certainly be travelling that route again.

EDIT - After thinking about it, I've logged it with 101 just in case.