Road Cycling

Soldato
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Shropshire
Now I don't mind getting wet on the bike (witness slogging round the Evan's Cannock Chase sportive last year in heavy rain all day) but I'm not sure I fancy even getting a bike out of the garage for tomorrow's sportive...

M6UIOKtl.png.jpg
 
Soldato
Joined
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that looks bloody awful :( I'm doing the loch ness etape on Sunday, looks to be reasonable for it :)
Did that in 2017. Good fun but there was a horrific crash due to people riding like idiots just in front of me. Never heard how the guy faired. Have your wits about you :)
 
Soldato
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18 Oct 2002
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Fife, Scotland
Now I don't mind getting wet on the bike (witness slogging round the Evan's Cannock Chase sportive last year in heavy rain all day) but I'm not sure I fancy even getting a bike out of the garage for tomorrow's sportive...

http://imgur.com/M6UIOKtl.png

Hopefully on my upcoming 100 miler sportive in May it wont be that bad, i doubt i'd go if it was. :o

Anyone using Stans Race Sealant? I've been using the normal Stans for the past year but I'm thinking of a change as the Race sealant has larger crystals etc..
 

dod

dod

Soldato
Joined
31 Oct 2002
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Inverness
Did that in 2017. Good fun but there was a horrific crash due to people riding like idiots just in front of me. Never heard how the guy faired. Have your wits about you :)
If that was the one on the downhill I seem to remember it was a broken pelvis. 5500 folk, biggest problem I found was on the hills, people jumping off or stopping without any warning right in front of you. Third time I've done it but the price is getting a bit silly now, probably my last.
 
Soldato
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Hereford
Took the B-i-L down to Church Stretton last Saturday to warm up for the Tour de Yorkshire sportive (couple of weeks time). Lovely spin cross country... then we went up The Burway and Stiperstones for some quality suffering :D Was much nicer on the Mynd as the last time I rode up there the rain was horizontal. Felt pretty good on the toughest bits of the climbs - finally some benefit from dropping 6kgs in weight (which you don't appreciate on the turbo!). Clocked up 150k in the glorious Easter sunshine :cool:
B-i-L? Just spotted your ride on Strava, not sure how I missed it before! Great ride, bit of an epic with those 2 climbs right bang in the middle with all the usual rolling stuff. I hadn't really appreciated how flat/rolling/gradual/short things where around your neck of the woods/Shrewsbury until seeing that profile! You might wanna get some hill reps in for TDY as it'll just be climb after climb after climb. Active recovery and seated spinning type recovery stuff rather than raw power! :)

Now I don't mind getting wet on the bike (witness slogging round the Evan's Cannock Chase sportive last year in heavy rain all day) but I'm not sure I fancy even getting a bike out of the garage for tomorrow's sportive...

M6UIOKtl.png.jpg
Now that's miserable. Very similar here, thankfully the forecast for the sunday was just wet, not it actually looks dry - I'm not that fussed about showers - providing that wind really does stop blowing overnight for my jolly! Have a good one, fingers crossed it's not as bad as forecast, ride safe! :)

Anyone using Stans Race Sealant? I've been using the normal Stans for the past year but I'm thinking of a change as the Race sealant has larger crystals etc..
Usual Stans here for the last 6 months. No punctures, no problems, no sign of sealant, but only 1000 miles.
 
Soldato
Joined
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5,386
If that was the one on the downhill I seem to remember it was a broken pelvis. 5500 folk, biggest problem I found was on the hills, people jumping off or stopping without any warning right in front of you. Third time I've done it but the price is getting a bit silly now, probably my last.

Yep. Somewhere before Urquhart Castle I think.
 
Associate
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Lincoln
So I see 3 sportif’s have been cancelled tomorrow which is a shame for anyone signed up to do them.
I’m doing the Flab one on 11th May so fingers crossed for better weather.
 
Soldato
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Wigan
So I see 3 sportif’s have been cancelled tomorrow which is a shame for anyone signed up to do them.
I’m doing the Flab one on 11th May so fingers crossed for better weather.

Time Trial at Levens on Saturday night. Forecast is terrible for it.

Few guys from my club got in, not sure I’d be going...
 
Soldato
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Shropshire
B-i-L? Just spotted your ride on Strava, not sure how I missed it before! Great ride, bit of an epic with those 2 climbs right bang in the middle with all the usual rolling stuff. I hadn't really appreciated how flat/rolling/gradual/short things where around your neck of the woods/Shrewsbury until seeing that profile! You might wanna get some hill reps in for TDY as it'll just be climb after climb after climb. Active recovery and seated spinning type recovery stuff rather than raw power! :)

BiL = Brother-in-Law. TdY sportive route is almost the same as last year, so I know the climbs. I've also been targeting MAP (5 minute power) and FTP on the TT via the Sufferfest videos. Wednesday night was multiple intervals at 9/10 RPE with recovery between. Was tough but hit the targets and with the weight loss, hopefully climb better in Yorkshire this year.
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2004
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10,646
https://www.strava.com/activities/2326034162

Zeb for comparison
https://www.strava.com/activities/2326131840
Turned out a great day for a race today after last night was so wet I didn't go out for an opener!

It was impressive how many attacks went off at the start of the race today, 4 Ribble guys went up the road and then 2 Ribble guys, Nuun-Sigma and a Wheelbase rider got off the front too. The speed of the attacks was something else too, one would go then sit up bringing the bunch to a halt then another would smash it on the other side of the road so you're doing a full on sprint back into coming to a halt for about 5 miles. They group of 4 stayed around 30-40s infront of the bunch annoyingly.

My mate tried to jump across but got within bike lengths and couldn't make it on the second lap.

I ended up off the front of the bunch on/after the climb on the second lap with a 2nd cat guy I ride with but we got chased down(but nobody has legs to chase the group 30s up the road because the guys are good????).

Quite negative riding by the bunch but I imagine the race would have been different if 6 Ribble riders hadn't been in it.

Some pics on FB


https://www.facebook.com/caroline.legg.18/media_set?set=a.2124524257595531&type=3

@xdcx Racing the Scottish 10 today by the looks of it with a good ride.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
24 Apr 2013
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3,067
@Jonny ///M nice work, sounds and looked a hard shift! It's always same in races where a team has good numbers epsecially when it's a team like Ribble who are on another level. Can be very negative for all the guys with only a team mate or two and never seems to be the case that a good group of 5/6/7 will ignore their jerseys and combine to do what needs be done. It's all good experience and super strength building regardless :)

29th with a 22:02 for me. Terrible. I needed to get that first 10 in my legs though and see where I am at. Changed so much on the bike for this season and just finding my legs so a lot of work to do but was hoping to be a minute quicker to be honest! Scottish Cycling national in Fife on Sunday so hoping for better things there by far!
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Birmingham
Hi everyone. Some advice please!

I've entered the Birmingham Velo on May 12th which is a 100 mile event. Training has been less than ideal, but I think I've got the legs to get round. It's not going to be fast, it's not going to be pretty, but I'll get round. I've managed to increase my mileage over the course of the last couple of weeks, although I've never ridden for this distance before. I don't think I'll be round in less than 8 hours including stops if I'm realistic.

Training prior to the event is going to be tough, I'm on nights this week and it's my brother's wedding this weekend. A recipe for disaster, but I've got a plan:

29/04/19 - Spin class at the gym pre-nights
30/04/19 - Virtual cycling post nights (spin class on a big screen)
01/05/19 - Virtual cycling post nights
02/05/19 - ?Virtual cycling ?rest
03/05/19 - 70 mile ride
04/05/19 - 25 mile ride
05/05/19 - Wedding
06/05/19 - 35 mile ride
07/05/19 - Spin class/wattbike
08/09/19 - Spin class/wattbike (perhaps an evening ride weather and work schedule depending)
09/05/19 - 11/05/19 - Rest and eat
12/05/19 - VELO

Comments welcome. The legs don't feel bad after yesterday's 50 mile ride. The arse and arms are a slightly different matter... any tips to help apart from more cycling? I've got padded shorts.

On the day I'm trying to remember that it isn't a race. I need to stop for food and water regularly. I probably need to stop briefly at every water/food station (there are 8). I'll not have my usual skiing/cycling rucksack with my camelbak in it, so I've got 2 bottle cages with litre bottles. Which electrolyte replacement is good? Any gels/food that I should bring or that you would recommend (my other half thought I might have a pannier with my sandwiches in it!)?

I'll be bringing a spare inner tube, I've got a small pump which I'll probably tape to my frame and some tyre levers and small allen key set. Any recommendations for a saddle bag and a cycling top with pockets? Currently it looks like fine weather, but I won't have any room for spare clothes. Any advice for this?

Sorry for all the questions, thank you for your help. Let me know if there's anything that I've missed. I'm getting my bike serviced tomorrow and will have a new chain and cassette.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Feb 2003
Posts
7,173
Location
Shropshire
Saturday's outing was kind of fun (as expected). Decided it wasn't a day for epics, so rode the 33 mile sportive route but with riding from home made it 65 miles for the morning.

Massive recommendation for my Gore ShakeDry jacket and Galibier Mistral tights Had the jacket on all ride on Saturday over a base layer and Altura long-sleeved jersey. Light rain early on, lots of all wind (it was blowing the showers through quickly) and then steady rain for the last hour home. Got back with a completely dry top-half (rain does indeed shake off the jacket and it breathes amazingly well) and the tights were just starting to feel a little damp.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Feb 2003
Posts
7,173
Location
Shropshire
On the day I'm trying to remember that it isn't a race. I need to stop for food and water regularly. I probably need to stop briefly at every water/food station (there are 8). I'll not have my usual skiing/cycling rucksack with my camelbak in it, so I've got 2 bottle cages with litre bottles. Which electrolyte replacement is good? Any gels/food that I should bring or that you would recommend (my other half thought I might have a pannier with my sandwiches in it!)?

I'll be bringing a spare inner tube, I've got a small pump which I'll probably tape to my frame and some tyre levers and small allen key set. Any recommendations for a saddle bag and a cycling top with pockets? Currently it looks like fine weather, but I won't have any room for spare clothes. Any advice for this?

Sorry for all the questions, thank you for your help. Let me know if there's anything that I've missed. I'm getting my bike serviced tomorrow and will have a new chain and cassette.

Food is personal preference, so use your 70 and 35 mile rides to see what works. Could be simple stuff like jam sandwiches and malt loaf (which are also cheap and easily sourced). I mix things like that up some energy bars (currently have boxes of OTE and Torq on the go) and flapjacks. My fave' gels are Torq, High5 are okay and I'll shove SiS ones down as a last resort. XMiles sell a big range of gels individually if you want to try a selection: https://xmiles.co.uk/collections/gels or hit up a local bike shop as they will probably have a choice.

I use High5 electrolyte tabs but again plenty of choice from SiS, Powerbar etc etc.

My saddlebags are https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/lezyne-caddy-saddle-bag-medium/rp-prod24784 - enough space for two tubes, a small pump, tyre levers, multi-tool, couple of quid and some spare chain links.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,437
Location
Hereford
https://www.strava.com/activities/2326022865

My first Sportive of 2019 completed. 'Short' but brutal rolling route and a chilling wind most of the way around. Rode it with a friend who's really short on training (+ carrying 15-20kg 'extra'!), so used it as a good social type ride. I put efforts into each of the climbs, some of the descents, but the flats/rolling I rode really easy. I also stopped a bunch of times as it was 'easier' than riding really slowly to wait for him. Loads of riders out, not many of them local. Some groups from Cardiff, Halesowen.cc and various other midlands club colours. Found most of the club guys not very chatty which was a bit off-putting/depressing, but after playing leapfrog with 4-5 other groups (I'd smash past them on climbs then be sat waiting) and persisting with chatting nonsense/encouragement I eventually wore them down! Some good banter on the final slopes and a good chat afterwards with several. Some really interested and asked me to send them more routes around here.

'Letsgovelo' ran a good event, well organised and fairly well signposted - it really needed to be as it was such a circular route with many turns/junctions. Feed stops where very plain. Just egg or creamcheese & cucumber sandwiches, neither of which I like. Thankfully a few flapjack, but these went very quickly, drinks and bananas. No energy bars/gels etc which was a bit annoying (as I ran an empty pocket meaning to stock up on gels lol). The finish you got a special beer (which was really nice) but that was it. No included food at the start/finish, just tea/coffee. BBQ/burgers at the finish you had to buy. No certificate or medal for finishing as 'usual' for these type of Sportives I've done before. Considering this was an expensive one (£30+booking fee) compared to many and a fairly short route I'm left feeling a little bit disappointed. Nothing worse than feeling like you 'didn't get your moneys worth'! :o

BiL = Brother-in-Law. TdY sportive route is almost the same as last year, so I know the climbs. I've also been targeting MAP (5 minute power) and FTP on the TT via the Sufferfest videos. Wednesday night was multiple intervals at 9/10 RPE with recovery between. Was tough but hit the targets and with the weight loss, hopefully climb better in Yorkshire this year.
:D

I had B-i-L down as some kinda secret transport system I wasn't aware of, haha! Ahh, good you've done it before so know what to expect! My comment was related to the ride you did as comparable training for TdY, trying to give an opinion when it really wasn't required! ;)

Fair play for your ride on saturday, no shame in doing the shorter route in those conditions! It was brutal here, strong driving rain with really strong gusty winds. The rain cleared through the afternoon but the winds got stronger!

https://www.strava.com/activities/2326034162

Zeb for comparison
https://www.strava.com/activities/2326131840
Turned out a great day for a race today after last night was so wet I didn't go out for an opener!

It was impressive how many attacks went off at the start of the race today, 4 Ribble guys went up the road and then 2 Ribble guys, Nuun-Sigma and a Wheelbase rider got off the front too. The speed of the attacks was something else too, one would go then sit up bringing the bunch to a halt then another would smash it on the other side of the road so you're doing a full on sprint back into coming to a halt for about 5 miles. They group of 4 stayed around 30-40s infront of the bunch annoyingly.

My mate tried to jump across but got within bike lengths and couldn't make it on the second lap.

I ended up off the front of the bunch on/after the climb on the second lap with a 2nd cat guy I ride with but we got chased down(but nobody has legs to chase the group 30s up the road because the guys are good????).

Quite negative riding by the bunch but I imagine the race would have been different if 6 Ribble riders hadn't been in it.

Some pics on FB


https://www.facebook.com/caroline.legg.18/media_set?set=a.2124524257595531&type=3

@xdcx Racing the Scottish 10 today by the looks of it with a good ride.
Good riding mate, bit hard to do anything against such a strong team with the most numbers. At least not without enough other teams all working together! Brutal.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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12,409
Location
Birmingham
Spin class done. I wasn't the most energetic, not surprising after a 3.5 hour cycle yesterday, but I managed it and then some foam roller action.

@#Chri5# Thanks for the tips, the saddle bag looks great and is about £10 cheaper than an equivalent one that I looked at in Halfords. Will have a browse around.

Any other tips apart from prayer and/or funeral plans much appreciated! I'm planning to get on my bike a lot more this summer, so hopefully this will be the catalyst for some decent rides in 2019.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
20,701
Location
England
https://www.strava.com/activities/2326022865
Some groups from Cardiff, Halesowen.cc and various other midlands club colours. Found most of the club guys not very chatty which was a bit off-putting/depressing, but after playing leapfrog with 4-5 other groups (I'd smash past them on climbs then be sat waiting) and persisting with chatting nonsense/encouragement I eventually wore them down! Some good banter on the final slopes and a good chat afterwards with several. Some really interested and asked me to send them more routes around here.

Good ride - bet it felt good to get out into the open air for a proper leg stretch huh? Hopefully you get some more time unleashed from home/wife/baby this summer (in the nicest possible way of course).

Looking at the Halesowen CC Strava feed and not one person has uploaded a ride, so it's more than likely just jersey wearers (people seem to like the purple) rather than full on club members.

So, who else here is doing the Birmingham/W Midlands Velo next week? I'm in purple 2 phase - absolute dead last group to be released from the starting pens. :rolleyes::(
 
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