Road Cycling

All set for Loch Lomond :cool:

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Not shown here is the top tube bag I've got already on my bike which has my tools in it. Pretty pleased with how light and small I've got it. We're talking 4.5 kilos of additional weight. Ok I'm not going very far or for very long, but I figure a longer trip wouldn't actually require that much more.

I've got, one set of clothes, cables for gadgets and phone, kindle, spare inner (another one in my toolkit), toiletries, zip ties just in case. I'll be securing a pair of pumps with bungees for footwear. Simple! Just need to get there now.
 
Did I miss why you're going there?

There's nice roads nearby and a race over at rosneath on Sunday which is a taxing circuit.

Anybody see the Spanish inquisition i got for a KOM on the way to work? Drafting yo.
 
Two short rides for me this evening. 8 miles on the cx bike working out an off-road route to a nearby park then back home for a quick change over to the single speed bike to see how the wheels feel with the new bearing cones in. Miles better is the answer - hurrah. Next up, replace all the bits that have gone rusty on that bike in the 4000 miles since I got it it this time last year. Pedals, brakes, bolts, you name it...
 
Stupidly bimbled around yesterday thinking my bike feels more comfortable over bumps etc today. I had felt the back wheel slide out a few times despite it being dry... after 50 miles I checked and discovered my tyre at about 40psi. Whoops!

I figured it had lasted that long and I just fancied getting home so popped more air in and off I went.
 
Nipped out for a quick one yesterday morning to beat the rain :D

Trimmed my AssSaver down today, I used it in the week and could feel it rubbing on the inside of my thighs (dat girth y0 & narrow saddle). Took it off and stuck it in the seat tube bottle cage for the remainder of my ride as I'd rather a wet backside than ruined bib shorts.

Also had to tighten the bottle cage mounts on the seat & down tube as they'd come a little loose from taking them on/off for Crit's and probably over-tightening :o

Taking Steedie up some longer climbs today ;) inb4 categorised HC :p
 
platypus said:
My cousin-in-law manages the loch lomond estate, thought I'd go and spend a week in that wonderful area, although after cycling there I'm not sure how much I'll be able to enjoy it.
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Why is that? The roads are pretty busy on sunny days I guess.


https://www.strava.com/activities/999144668/segments/24473294049

Got out later than expected today after running around buying fish and such like. Met at 2.30pm with a long sleeve top on, shorts and my good bike. Got caught in slight drizzle on the way out but it stayed clammy as hell all day.

Lumpy one taking in a few climbs.

Sydes brae- warming up and a headwind up it.
Ardochrig - same again with even more of a block headwind since it's next to one of the largest wind farms in Europe
Transmitter - first time up it, headwind if it wasn't so steep, stayed with the guy I was with until I thought **** it and gave it a go. 10:20 isn't a bad time going by my boss saying 10 minutes dead on his training loops when he was racing.
Cemetery - was burst after 35 miles since miles is what I'm lacking. Guy I was with got his scalp back here.

Glad I went out, glad I got over my fear of hills and tried some of them. :)
 
Had my first fall today meeting BennyC :o

Riding up to meet him and saw him the other side of the road. Saw traffic coming so thought I'd beat it and just go up the kerb, cycle up to it and attempt a bunny hop and instead just lifted my legs and didn't even attempt to lift the front wheel. So just hit it and stopped, couldn't unclip in time and fell off. Must have looked hilarious to all the traffic I tried to avoid haha

Poor Ben didn't even know I was there until he heard me fall off. My thigh has a nasty deep cut and is bruising a treat now, going to be nasty tomorrow as it's seizing up now

Still, despite that was a brilliant ride for me, no doubt slow and too easy for Ben but I did some long climbs that taught me a lot of lessons about pacing and conserving energy.

https://www.strava.com/activities/998887586
 
Went over to Giant today to take a propel advanced pro out for a test ride. Weather was fantastic all day and had a good 3 hours on the bike. The bike felt faaaaast.

Managed to get some flat/undulating milage in and also tackled the steyning bostal hill climb (no.21 in uk top 100). Been a while since i've gone up it and it was as gross as i remember :p One problem i did find was on the 20% + gradient bits i couldn't stop the front wheel from coming off the ground. I'm assuming this was because its a lot stiffer/lighter than my current bike...something i'll learn to control?

Anyway, loved the bike but haven't bit the bullet yet. I need to have another proper go on the emonda SLR 6 pro and finally ride the allez sprint i have ordered.

Some photos from today :cool:

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Jonny ///M said:
Why is that? The roads are pretty busy on sunny days I guess.
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Because I'm going to be knackered :D. I'll enjoy the cycle, I just meant that I won't be able to enjoy Loch Lomond as much as I normally would because I certainly won't be doing much walking!

Actually, since you know the area, here's my route to LL from Edinburgh: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/14398351. Is there anywhere on there you'd recommend avoiding/detouring to see? I don't expect my last days ride to be quick and I'm happy for a bit of sightseeing.

I was considering https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/15269840 as an alternate route, but I honestly doubt I'll have the legs for it.
 
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Anyone after some nice wheels - Shimano RS81 35mm for £280 - https://www.evanscycles.com/shimano...awin&utm_campaign=169609&utm_medium=Affiliate

I paid £250 for some of the c24 in a Ribble FUBAR (should've been £350) and they're fantastic.

lordrobs said:
Nice one Roady, I'll take the whole lot off, clean it up and reassemble. I haven't got any carbon paste but I wonder if some copper grease would do the trick?

EDIT - OK so I just had a look and under the headset bearing cover is full of grease. A little tell tale of grease has also been seeping out from under the headset bearing cover for a while which I've ignored and just wiped away periodically :o Is this normal or is it fudged?
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Grease in there shouldn't make much of a difference, it really doesn't need much though. Just on the bolts threads.

Vonhelmet said:
Thinking about it, is will throw the chain line off a little bit, so I'll have to find some way around that. Argh, dammit.
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Track nuts, is this your single speed? If so is a perfect chainline really crucial?

platypus said:
All set for Loch Lomond :cool:

gl8kjNo.jpg
Not shown here is the top tube bag I've got already on my bike which has my tools in it. Pretty pleased with how light and small I've got it. We're talking 4.5 kilos of additional weight. Ok I'm not going very far or for very long, but I figure a longer trip wouldn't actually require that much more.

I've got, one set of clothes, cables for gadgets and phone, kindle, spare inner (another one in my toolkit), toiletries, zip ties just in case. I'll be securing a pair of pumps with bungees for footwear. Simple! Just need to get there now.
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Sounds like you've got everything but I'd leave out the picture frame, wouldn't think you really need that. ;)

platypus said:
My cousin-in-law manages the loch lomond estate, thought I'd go and spend a week in that wonderful area, although after cycling there I'm not sure how much I'll be able to enjoy it.
Click to expand...

Jonny ///M said:
Why is that? The roads are pretty busy on sunny days I guess.
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Think he means the mileage, especially if cycling from Rhône. Even from Cambridge it's quite a jaunt!

Steedie said:
Riding up to meet him and saw him the other side of the road. Saw traffic coming so thought I'd beat it and just go up the kerb, cycle up to it and attempt a bunny hop and instead just lifted my legs and didn't even attempt to lift the front wheel. So just hit it and stopped, couldn't unclip in time and fell off. Must have looked hilarious to all the traffic I tried to avoid haha
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Hahaha, shame he missed it as it sounds hilarious! :D

Good ride guys & kudos on conquering some hills, hope the leg isn't too bad today!

alexisonfire said:
Went over to Giant today to take a propel advanced pro out for a test ride. Weather was fantastic all day and had a good 3 hours on the bike. The bike felt faaaaast.
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They're fantastic bikes, looks superb in that black/blue/grey. Is that a 53 chainring? Looks huge! :o I really love the Black/Orange of the Advanced Pro 0 2015. Just no option to only buy the frame :(
 
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Thinking about it more, as saytan said, chainline won't have been affected. The freewheel is on the hub and I've not made the hub itself wider, just the bit of the axle between the stays.

It's riding a lot better! The ride in this morning was much more pleasant.
 
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So I skipped the group rides on saturday as the rain which was forecast was pretty torrential! Glad I did really, I had some saddle sores from riding 11 days in a row and my legs needed a bit of Giro TV time. Went out on sunday to tackle some climbs in an effort to regain some of the form/fitness I seem to be lacking and to get my miles up to 100 for the week.

https://www.strava.com/activities/998262787

Around 3.5 miles from home I get a phonecall from a stressed sounding other half, the dog was in the back garden with a dead pigeon and there were feathers EVERYWHERE. Bombed it back to clear up the mess before heading out again. Weather was fantastic but a fairly constant strong wind from the South-south/East.

https://www.strava.com/activities/998551223

I headed out to Dorstone hill, I'd not climbed it for 18 months as I've always favoured a quieter neighbouring climb. 18mph average out (slight tail winds) but I totally overcooked the climb going out far too hard at the bottom and blew up royally. I stopped just after the start to strip off arm warmers, the first blow up coincided with losing back wheel grip/traction on a steep & rough part. I was able to continue but nearly got wiped out by an oncoming 4x4 going far to quick less than 100 feet later, I'd unclipped bailing out out of his way (don't know how I didn't fall) so really struggled to get going again and had to stop. 3 stops had really ruined any chance of setting a good time up there so I I thought screw it, 180'd and figured I'd explore lots of back roads on the way home enjoying the sun and to avoid as much of the headwinds as possible. Found a nice road through Staunton I'll use again, but drew a blank finding another cut through marked on Google maps. Ending up on a muddy farm track dead end. Gravel riding on the Diverge is fun, but these Pro4 Endurance 28mm @ 75/80 psi suck for grip! :D

Finished the week at 97 miles, quite disappointed with my distance and riding. Didn't do anything spectacularly hill wise but my shins are utterly ruined. I was struggling to walk yesterday afternoon? My left shin is worst but both feeling like 'shin-splints'?! I've had them before when walking loads (8+ miles) as I'm not used to it, but I hadn't done anything 'extra' walking wise, just the normal dog walks, ridden those 32 miles fairly easily (with the one climb effort) and the usual weekend things - BBQ & gardening. Yet with my mileage below my weekly usual, saddle sores and then these sore shins I feel defeated?! Can you get DOMS in your shins in the afternoon after some climbing efforts in the morning? :o
 
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Haha just the thought of attempting that at my level now terrifies me. I struggled on my second climb yesterday, 2.6 miles and only an average grade of 3% going up to 10% in places which is laughable in comparison, so have massive amounts of respect for doing stuff like that!

Genuinely excited to get to a level where I can give have a solid attempt at a climb like that. Me and Ben are off to the Peaks in August for a bromantic weekend away, so setting up a structured plan now to be at a decent level for that. I'm also still at 95kg from my bodybuilding days, so looking to shave off 10kg by then
 
Steedie said:
Haha just the thought of attempting that at my level now terrifies me. I struggled on my second climb yesterday, 2.6 miles and only an average grade of 3% going up to 10% in places which is laughable in comparison, so have massive amounts of respect for doing stuff like that!

Genuinely excited to get to a level where I can give have a solid attempt at a climb like that. Me and Ben are off to the Peaks in August for a bromantic weekend away, so setting up a structured plan now to be at a decent level for that. I'm also still at 95kg from my bodybuilding days, so looking to shave off 10kg by then
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You're going to love Pyms Chair :p
 
Just had a look, that looks like a fairly respectable climb and what I should be aiming to do by August. Those little kickers look fun!
 
Steedie said:
Just had a look, that looks like a fairly respectable climb and what I should be aiming to do by August. Those little kickers look fun!
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There's also Blaze Hill, Brickworks and other fun ones near where you're staying. Depending on how you feel about distance it's not incredibly far to go to Mow Cop too...

https://www.strava.com/segments/8268038?hl=en-GB

Fun fun :)
 
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