Road Cycling

[BennyC]

I normally think about putting the bike in the car to get out to Surrey Hills then spend more miles in the hills than the 'commute' there and back but I normally just cycle because it only saves about 15-20mins + the added faff of unloading/loading the car.

Yep, all the extra faff is only really warranted if the destination is a significant distance away.

Makes more sense to just saunter your way to/from at a leisurely pace and just create a lap for the 'real' riding, or just create a ride for to/there/back.

 

[Vonhelmet]

That doesn't sound like fun

Well, I nearly got left hooked by some penis in an Audi, so no, it wasn't. There were two of them waiting at the lights, one in the left/straight on lane and one in the straight on lane. I was in the left/straight on lane behind one of them. The lights turn green and penis number one in front of me gives it the beans and rags it off going straight. I set off going straight at which point penis number two in the straight on only lane turns left across my path. Cue application of brakes and cry of "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" Probably late for his next drug deal.

No one in Bolton can drive. I once got asked by a lady in the car park of decathlon to reverse her car into a space because she couldn't do it. First time I've ever driven an automatic, that, fun times.

Anyway, the rest of the ride was good - 31 miles, 2000ft, 15.9mph, weighted average power 195W and 25 achievements, some of them on segments where I've not had a PR in forever.

I'm definitely seeing where I'll benefit from my power meter already. On the one hand it's useful to see when you're not doing enough - when you're bimbling at 100W or less on the flat or downhill - and it prompts you to shift up a gear and keep pushing. On the other hand it's useful to see when you're doing too much and pushing too hard and borrowing effort from the future that you'll have to pay back. At one point I went down a dip and on the climb out of the other side I was doing 5-600W for a short time and was then a bit knackered for a couple of minutes. I think it will definitely help me to pace myself and to know how much effort I can put in for how long, like 150W I could do all day, 300W is fine for a short while on a climb, but 500W I can't hold for long and I'll have to pay for it.

 

[Berger]

Parts two and three of 11 speed arrived!

Derailleurs from Ribble, slow delivery I'm afraid. Ordered on a Saturday, didn't dispatch until a Tuesday and then 13 days to arrive.

Rest from CRC, ordered on a Tuesday, delivered the following Monday!

Both using free delivery, Ribble use Royal Mail but CRC use Toll.

 

[madindehead]

Well, I nearly got left hooked by some penis in an Audi, so no, it wasn't. There were two of them waiting at the lights, one in the left/straight on lane and one in the straight on lane. I was in the left/straight on lane behind one of them. The lights turn green and penis number one in front of me gives it the beans and rags it off going straight. I set off going straight at which point penis number two in the straight on only lane turns left across my path. Cue application of brakes and cry of "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" Probably late for his next drug deal.

No one in Bolton can drive. I once got asked by a lady in the car park of decathlon to reverse her car into a space because she couldn't do it. First time I've ever driven an automatic, that, fun times.

Anyway, the rest of the ride was good - 31 miles, 2000ft, 15.9mph, weighted average power 195W and 25 achievements, some of them on segments where I've not had a PR in forever.

I'm definitely seeing where I'll benefit from my power meter already. On the one hand it's useful to see when you're not doing enough - when you're bimbling at 100W or less on the flat or downhill - and it prompts you to shift up a gear and keep pushing. On the other hand it's useful to see when you're doing too much and pushing too hard and borrowing effort from the future that you'll have to pay back. At one point I went down a dip and on the climb out of the other side I was doing 5-600W for a short time and was then a bit knackered for a couple of minutes. I think it will definitely help me to pace myself and to know how much effort I can put in for how long, like 150W I could do all day, 300W is fine for a short while on a climb, but 500W I can't hold for long and I'll have to pay for it.

Really interesting to read about your experiences so far with the power meter. Really nice to see that's it's helping you gauge your effort and understand how putting out certain power makes you feel!

I'm holding off for now. Need to save a few more pennies anyway.

 

[Vonhelmet]

Yeah, it's not cheap, and I knew there was definitely a serious risk of buyer's remorse!

 

[BennyC]

Yep, having a PM can be that slap round the face you need sometimes to tell you to reign it in a bit but that's not to say if you're feeling good & strong that you can't push yourself... being able to objectively measure just how hard you are pushing yourself is definitely useful.

I haven't yet ridden to power outside but have ridden outside with power, if that makes sense. Haven't had a huge chance to observe as I've been on or near wheels most times so attention has been focused elsewhere.

I've some intervals to do tomorrow and as it's 30 degrees the turbo can do one

 

[madindehead]

How are you finding your TrainerRoad sessions BennyC? I noticed you've been doing a few. And what plan are you on? Or just doing random stuff?

Makes sense regarding riding with poweregards but not to power. How are the P1 pedals?

I'm mainly holding off because I received some interesting info regarding Power2Max so I wanted to wait.

 

[Kimi]

Longest ride of the year yesterday at 70 miles. Loads of people out in the Chilterns. I thought id feel awful today but my legs actually feel ok. Turbo work is definitely paying off.

So tell me about the Wahoo Element. Does it fit the Garmin mounts? Ive got the Canyon Aero mount on my Aeroad and im a bit stuck if i cant use that because the handle bars are so wide.

With the live track thing, does it essentially put you on a map that people can check on a browser?

 

[Shamrock]

Nobody mentioned this yet?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-36819791

 

[FrenchTart]

Nobody mentioned this yet?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-36819791

Read that last night. Horrible

 

[Saytan]

Got today off, was planning a ride. Woke up with gardener's back after ripping out a load of weeds yesterday. Might just do a gentle 10-15 to loosen me up

 

[Roady]

The LBS in Worcester are matching the Evans price on the Diverge Comp if thats any help to you.

http://worcestercyclecentre.com/product/specialized-diverge-comp-carbon-2016/

Good shout, thanks!

The Diverge price drop seems to be a thing across the country: Just received the latest copy of Cyclist magazine, and a shop called Wheelbase has the Diverge you saw for £1850 too. News models are obviously coming in very soon!

Fingers crossed my LBS will do the same, gonna give them a ring at lunchtime to see, fingers crossed! With that price drop it's pretty much made the decision for me. Before it was £2500 or a 'bit' more to a £3000 2017 Trek with twin Isospeed. But with the Diverge down to £1850 the Trek is really far too much money (it was before anyway, just was closer to the Diverge RRP!)

I did manage to slip when clipping in at the lights and smashed my shin into the pedal. Ouch. One day I'll learn that I can't clip in road cleats anything close to as quick as SPD ones.

Glad you're enjoying the PWM and congratulations on the leg-egg. I've had 3 in the last few weeks, when I'm riding tired I'm certainly more prone to it! New bike... Look Keo's and will be changing pedals on the current the same time.

If anyone spots any Keo's on a deal, please let me know (2 sets of pedals & 2-3 sets of cleats needed)!

A fella on my first 'official' club ride this morning was sat on his top tube like Froome a few times today not sure if heroic or moronic...

In other news post ride brain derp but the HR module from my Garmin HRM through the wash with my gear.

Monkey see...!

How was the club ride?

I've put my TICKR through the wash once and it was fine! Strap gets washed every couple of months anyway, almost 3 years old and going strong! Wahoo FTW!

Can you have a one man grupetto? The last 20k were horribly hard work, perhaps I can blame that on last night's trip to the village pub for their beer & music festival?

Random one, was that the Rose & Crown?

 

[BennyC]

How are you finding your TrainerRoad sessions BennyC? I noticed you've been doing a few. And what plan are you on? Or just doing random stuff?

I'm a bit of a turbo veteran... did loads in my first winter of cycling so am quite accustomed to it, so the time/suffering isn't new

I opted for the 'Sustained Build - Low volume'. If I wasn't riding 50-70m at the weekend I'd have gone for the mid or high volume. 3 rides a week. 2 are 60-70 minutes mid-week with some shorter supra-threshold efforts and then over/unders. With a 2 hour 75-90% FTP 20-25min efforts. In the past I've made good progress just winging it and picking workouts I fancied ensuring good variety harder shorter workouts in the week and longer easier 'recovery' sessions at the weekend. Of course you still need to push yourself so I tried to ride higher VP progressively.

Very intense short efforts & recovery from these I'm well accustomed to, as climbs round here are similar in nature, so more progressive longer efforts will help my FTP. There's a nice mix in the plan. Volume ramps up for the last half towards 4 workouts a week growing in intensity.

Had my first official club ride at the weekend which with the journey to & from turns the 35m for most of them to 65m for me. Only another 1kft of climbing but still it's another 90 minutes in the saddle.

I tried to complete the 2nd Sunday ride yesterday but to due entertaining my friends with a BBQ and not sitting down until 9PM (on the go from 6AM including that ride) my recovery was somewhat delayed and power was rock bottom. So I just assigned the ride to 'Complete Outdoors'. Last week it wasn't an issue but I'd only ridden 50m and my current calorie deficit wasn't taking such a toll.

Makes sense regarding riding with poweregards but not to power. How are the P1 pedals?

I'm mainly holding off because I received some interesting info regarding Power2Max so I wanted to wait.

*Touch wood* no issues so far I will post my experience with them shortly. I thought signal from them was a bit weak but it turns out this is a universal problem for most PM's (Stages, P2M etc) when on a turbo with lots of interference and wi-fi networks bouncing around. A USB extension to move the ANT+ receiver for my MBP closer to the crank improved this. I didn't have any dropouts or trouble but just signal was showing as 'bad/poor'. I e-mailed PowerTap but haven't had a reply, should probably check my spam folder.

They've woken & calibrated *almost* flawlessly every-time so far. Had to re-pair to my Wahoo on one ride. Had to repair my HRM too so think the Wahoo was having a moment rather than the P1's. Not having to torque them is a nice novelty

I've not used LOOK cleats but the P1's are ridiculously slippy by comparison to the Shimano's

P2M offering dual sided upgrades I read somewhere?

 

[madindehead]

I find the TrainerRoad sessions to be really good. Keeps the turbo fun and interesting. I'm currently doing bits from Sustained Power - Medium volume. Only 1-2 70km rides at the weekend, so they take the place of the weekend rides. I am however going to properly start the SweetSpot Base training when the winter rolls around, and get a full progression of SweetSpot base into Sustained Power Build into Climbing Road race (mainly because that focuses on sustained power, and I want to try and get to LBL next year, after missing this year!)

The P2M I had info on was support for Shimano chain rings: They had a version of this last year, with the 4 bolt support, but very few were sold apparently. Could be making a comeback: they look fairly nice, DCRainmaker has a photo of them:

Spoiler

 

[BennyC]

So tell me about the Wahoo Element. Does it fit the Garmin mounts? Ive got the Canyon Aero mount on my Aeroad and im a bit stuck if i cant use that because the handle bars are so wide.

With the live track thing, does it essentially put you on a map that people can check on a browser?

It does fit in a Garmin mount though at 90 degrees lol I haven't tested how secure it is mind but on a harsh road might come loose. It does come with 3 mounts. One is an out front, the other for TT aero bars and the other is a stem mount. I think K-Edge have just released one too.

Haven't used Live tracking yet but from what I read I think that's the principle. You send them a link etc.

How was the club ride?

I've put my TICKR through the wash once and it was fine! Strap gets washed every couple of months anyway, almost 3 years old and going strong! Wahoo FTW!

Club ride was good thanks. Nice to be among a bunch of people with a shared interest. The pace was good and now I know that, with current calorie intake and cycling/lifting volume, the distance & climbing isn't too much of an ask I can open the tap a bit more on some of the climbs.

Falling off the back and then getting back on again is one way to make it more challenging There were a few new riders in the group so it was a little disorganised and a short chain gain wasn't quite getting hang of easing off on the front

Think it'll be my Saturday staple ride for the time being. Some of the roads were single track country lanes and atrocious in places. The profile was nice and undulated which was a nice change as normally I just have moderate rolling roads and then minging climbs in between

Seemed to be working fine for the brief use it got on Sunday it looks well sealed and it was only a short wash.

Edit: Madindehead - that looks joooooocey I need some DA goodness.

 

[Kimi]

What cycling club did you join Benny? we need to do a hopefully a Chilterns bike ratz meet over the summer will happen

 

[Kimi]

It does fit in a Garmin mount though at 90 degrees lol I haven't tested how secure it is mind but on a harsh road might come loose. It does come with 3 mounts. One is an out front, the other for TT aero bars and the other is a stem mount. I think K-Edge have just released one too.

Thats cool, i think i can rotate my mount center bit 90 degrees so it should fit ok.

Im going to order one now.

 

[madindehead]

Thats cool, i think i can rotate my mount center bit 90 degrees so it should fit ok.

Im going to order one now.

Another member of the Elemnt club! For what it's worth, the TateLabs BarFly Wahoo mount is also excellent (they also sell an insert). The K-Edge ones are apparently solid, but expensive.

From what I've read, the Elemnt Live Tracking is quite...basic right now. But they are apparently going to be working on that for next year I believe. Possibly sooner. They are also working to add GoPro control, but that will be next year before it's done!

Regarding that P2M: I figured I would ask them about it, as I'm sort of intrigued by the new DA chain rings, which have the improved tooth profile for bikes with discs and shorter chainstays. Currently the chainline can be a bit of an issue: I know Specialized had to make some funky wheels with moving the hub inboard to fix the chainline on the Tarmac disc. When I know more, I will try and remember to update. Although DCRainmaker will probably know sooner or later too!

 

[Vonhelmet]

P2M offering dual sided upgrades I read somewhere?

P2M is dual sided anyway as it's spider based. Or rather it's not dual sided as it can't actually tell when you're putting power through which pedal, so it sort of guesses and calls half the rotation left and half right. It measures both, but can't tell them apart. Only pedals or crank based solutions (or cleats, if they ever get mainstream) can do properly measured left/right.

Unless the upgrade you were referring to was some way of splitting it up more accurately.

 

[BennyC]

What cycling club did you join Benny? we need to do a hopefully a Chilterns bike ratz meet over the summer will happen

Definitely, very up for this.

Berkhampstead It's 26m further to ride each Saturday morning but it's a bigger club than Aylesbury and I've a friend who's already a member.

Thats cool, i think i can rotate my mount center bit 90 degrees so it should fit ok.

Im going to order one now.

Oooo welcome to the club #soon

Spoiler