Road Cycling

[AndyCr15]

What a beautiful morning for a ride. Went out with some of my usuals for a Sunday, not feeling great first thing, but later on my legs felt great and gave me some confidence I'm in reasonable form. Near the end of the ride, we did a 1.26 mile steady/slight climb segment I've done 12 times before and I remember thinking I could go faster, but no, sit behind the guys and don't push it... (I was already with the 'Group 1' riders, normally I would be back with 'Group 2') then after I see it's a PB anyway

Unfortunately, it looks like tomorrow will be a little damp

 

[Shadowness]

Back from 41C Bangkok on Friday.
Straight on it with 160 miles in the bag this weekend. Loving the weather and riding atm

 

[AndyCr15]

I decided today I think I'll do the Mallorca 312 next year, has anyone done it?

Mind you, I will do one of the shorter routes. Previously I kinda thought "if you're not doing the 312km, it's not on!" but tbh, I'm not sure I'll ever be good enough to do that, so stop putting it off! I like that you can decide during the ride, so after 98km, if you survive the cut-off, you can decide then. Maybe I can manage 220km... maybe... if I train hard through winter perhaps.

So, yes, has anyone done it? Any experiences to share?

 

[fez]

Went out relatively early on Saturday morning and had a cracking ride. Was super foggy for the first hour and a half but then the sun finally cut through and it was beautiful. Feel like my training is paying off at the moment.

Nearly average 30kph over the 75km I did which I think it reasonably good. It wasn't a very hilly route with only 800m of climbing but I wouldn't have been able to do that last year. Would have averaged over 30kph if my Garmin hadn't got it nickers in a twist at the beginning and I had to turn around a few times and stop.

 

[Nutty_Death]

Went out relatively early on Saturday morning and had a cracking ride. Was super foggy for the first hour and a half but then the sun finally cut through and it was beautiful. Feel like my training is paying off at the moment.

Nearly average 30kph over the 75km I did which I think it reasonably good. It wasn't a very hilly route with only 800m of climbing but I wouldn't have been able to do that last year. Would have averaged over 30kph if my Garmin hadn't got it nickers in a twist at the beginning and I had to turn around a few times and stop.

That's a decent pace.

I've had some issues with my Garmin 840 recently.

Auto routing often tries sending me on trail, canal, foot paths then is insistent on trying to get you to go back when you try and avoid and join the route later.

Route to start tried to send me through a park so I directed myself to the start of route, but it wouldn't start till I went into the park. It then ended the ride.

I've had it send me in the wrong with direction quickest route back to start.

Generally anything auto routing is just awful and I feel it should be much smart about rejoining a route front the point you're at to a point Infront of you, instead of constantly telling you to uturn.


All fairly annoying when your time limited as it sounds like you were and you've planned a route to fit your available time.

 

[-westy-]

Doing Ride London this year - which is in 3 weeks!

Any reviews/advice? I think I'm fairly ok with the distance, despite not having trained a massive amount, I'm generally in pretty good shape.

 

[One More Solo]

I decided today I think I'll do the Mallorca 312 next year, has anyone done it?

Mind you, I will do one of the shorter routes. Previously I kinda thought "if you're not doing the 312km, it's not on!" but tbh, I'm not sure I'll ever be good enough to do that, so stop putting it off! I like that you can decide during the ride, so after 98km, if you survive the cut-off, you can decide then. Maybe I can manage 220km... maybe... if I train hard through winter perhaps.

So, yes, has anyone done it? Any experiences to share?

I haven’t done it but it was everywhere on my social media this year and definitely tempted me. I haven’t ridden in Mallorca for ages and I do miss that ride up the mountain range from Soller to Pollensa.

 

[AndyCr15]

Any reviews/advice? I think I'm fairly ok with the distance, despite not having trained a massive amount

For me, I would say approach it like there are no feed stations. On the whole I think it's organised really well, but feed stations were the one thing that I thought were very bad. Take plenty of gels, bananas, bars and look out for shops or petrol stations for something more substantial.

I do miss that ride up the mountain range from Soller to Pollensa.

Soller and Puig Major are amazing. The 312 comes over them from the Pollenca side going west though.

 

[Junglist]

Nearly average 30kph over the 75km I did which I think it reasonably good. It wasn't a very hilly route with only 800m of climbing but I wouldn't have been able to do that last year. Would have averaged over 30kph if my Garmin hadn't got it nickers in a twist at the beginning and I had to turn around a few times and stop.

Rapid! Makes me realise how slow I am! I only managed to get out for a 50km ride with only 350m of elevation and I only managed 26kph. I wasn't exactly trying to ride fast other than one part but even if I did, i doubt I'd have been over 27kph!

 

[-westy-]

For me, I would say approach it like there are no feed stations. On the whole I think it's organised really well, but feed stations were the one thing that I thought were very bad. Take plenty of gels, bananas, bars and look out for shops or petrol stations for something more substantial.

That's a great shout, thanks. I've got small frame bag which I'll be packing with food/gels, plus some extra powder for the bottles. Looks a bit ominous though, bag full of white powder...

 

[fez]

Rapid! Makes me realise how slow I am! I only managed to get out for a 50km ride with only 350m of elevation and I only managed 26kph. I wasn't exactly trying to ride fast other than one part but even if I did, i doubt I'd have been over 27kph!

Thats not slow! You'll find that if you can stick at your training you will suddenly make a little jump in pace.

Turns out I haven't been doing any hard rides outside this year due to the weather and going out with mates who are much less fit than me. I fuelled a little more than usual but I think I probably had about 100g carbs on the bike and I probably should have had closed to 200g. My legs are still feeling quite beaten up after it. I was basically sitting on the edge most of the ride and at times I considered stopping for a few minutes to have a gel and a break but there was never the perfect spot so I just kept going.

I think the biggest thing on long, hard rides is fuelling on the bike. If you don't do that you will suffer for days afterwards. I know this and still I struggle to calibrate the amount of calories I should be taking in. I don't think you can out eat the calories you are burning on a hard ride so I just need to take in an amount every hour whether I think I need it or not.

 

[UTmaniac]

Looks like we finally have at least a few days on the trott to use summer cycling kit, at least in Hampshire! \o/

 

[One More Solo]

Second ride of the year in shorts on Sunday. An improvement on Saturday which was 3/4 bibs, toe covers, winter jersey and neoprene gloves.

 

[fez]

You bunch of pansies! I've been in standard bibs since February. You just need to be less fit so you overheat early on in the ride and then you are fine. That being said, I did nearly die a few weekends back when we stopped for a coffee and snack and had to sit outside when it was 8 degrees and windy.

 

[One More Solo]

You bunch of pansies! I've been in standard bibs since February. You just need to be less fit so you overheat early on in the ride and then you are fine. That being said, I did nearly die a few weekends back when we stopped for a coffee and snack and had to sit outside when it was 8 degrees and windy.

Location: Tunbridge Wells

 

[fez]

The weather has been so bloody awful here this winter that I sometimes think I'm northern!

 

[Trifid]

Doing Ride London this year - which is in 3 weeks!

Any reviews/advice? I think I'm fairly ok with the distance, despite not having trained a massive amount, I'm generally in pretty good shape.

Expect a long wait to actually start. Between getting the first train into London, cycling across London and getting through to the start line it was about 3 hours after I had breakfast. Normally I'd be looking to have a 2nd breakfast 3 hours after the first so definitely bring a pre-start snack to eat while walking.

 

[manic111]

Doing Ride London this year - which is in 3 weeks!

Any reviews/advice? I think I'm fairly ok with the distance, despite not having trained a massive amount, I'm generally in pretty good shape.

Me too! Never cycled that far before, but did 110km on Sunday at an average speed of 26 and felt pretty comfy, so I'm not too concerned.

My main worry is that, somehow, my friends and I are in the first wave at 6.15am. I only live a half hour cycle from the start, but still, that's a 4.30 wake up!

When are you starting?

 

[Martynt74]

The weather has been so bloody awful here this winter that I sometimes think I'm northern!

You're not that lucky

 

[Trifid]

Me too! Never cycled that far before, but did 110km on Sunday at an average speed of 26 and felt pretty comfy, so I'm not too concerned.

My main worry is that, somehow, my friends and I are in the first wave at 6.15am. I only live a half hour cycle from the start, but still, that's a 4.30 wake up!

When are you starting?

Better that then starting late as it avoids the backlog. If you've done 100km, you can do 100 miles. It is also a lot easier on the body without the constant stops.