Silly commuting racing

Feltup

Thanks for he welcome. I shall try and take some of the Tourmalet but at the moment it is buried in the shed behind lots of DIY stuff. DIY - Don't Involve Yourself, my friends very wise words.

UnworthyPapaLazaru

Welcome Feltup.

Well, thats my working day over. Im not heading straight home tonight so I am hoping this new route will serve up a large slice of scalp pie with a big dollup of awesomesauce. I'll be all over it.

Kindest regards

Littigator

Wotcha Feltup

Liking your "so if he gets knocked over can I steal his bike/scalp/wife" style

No retreat...no surrender...no braking into corners!

biondino

I dunno if anyone else has felt like this, but the juxtaposition of the Silly Commuting Racing thread and all the threads about injury and death on the roads makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. I've even started wondering when one of us will be seriously hurt when Not Trying, which I know isn't useful but I can't help it. Anyone else feel this way?

Whatever you may feel, don't take any risks out there, okay.

snooks

biondino wrote:

Whatever you may feel, don't take any risks out there, okay.

That's why rules 1 and 2 are there:

1/ No Dangerous Manoeuvres (Don’t be a danger to any other road users or yourself) Falling off causes pain to you and others around you, don’t do it! (oh and you loose yer points)
2/ Don’t ride like a cock, we’re all just trying to get somewhere!

Citizen Smith

Attention: square mile gamers

Anyone travelling from London Bridge to Embankment circa 5.30pm....please do not antagonise me into gaming.....I am travelling to work drinks in my work clothes, I am not in the game as I am not yet engaged in my commute. However, it is worth noting that my equivalent FCN for this journey would be 10....would be a heck of a hustler. If I was playing.

Chances of me turning up to my drinks without a bead of perspiration...nil.

[Doff of his tricolore cap to JB here, for as mentioned earlier, he wouldn't break sweat).

Note to self: work on toughening up my 'sweat seal'.

lost_in_thought

SiHughes wrote:

Note to self: work on toughening up my 'sweat seal'.

Laminate yourself.

attica

biondino wrote:

Do we rate Descente stuff? Just bought a windproof jacket on Wiggle for half price (£57) so I hope it's okay.

Biondino, I quite like the Descente stuff although I think they're retreating from cycle gear again (I think they mainly do skiing kit) now that they no longer make Team CSCs stuff.

I've picked up a few bargains on wiggle though, a really nice T-shirt base layer that I'm gonna buy more of, now that you mention it, it's pay day <surfs off to wiggle>

By the way, where did you get that big red hand mark on your face from?

Chapeau LiT

Littigator

biondino wrote:

I dunno if anyone else has felt like this, but the juxtaposition of the Silly Commuting Racing thread and all the threads about injury and death on the roads makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. I've even started wondering when one of us will be seriously hurt when Not Trying, which I know isn't useful but I can't help it. Anyone else feel this way?

Whatever you may feel, don't take any risks out there, okay.

I know what you mean BD and I think it's always worth reminding ourselves that safety is no1.

Feltup

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

Man walks into the Doctors after laminating himself.

Dr looks him up and down and says " I can clearly see your nuts".

I'll get my gilet. Now hills or dual carriageway on the way home?

Hope you all have a safe ride.

attica

Hills man hills

Dual carriageway increases your chances of becoming a smear on the tarmac.
Hills will just increase your fitness.

Ride safe peeps

UnworthyPapaLazaru

biondino wrote:

I dunno if anyone else has felt like this, but the juxtaposition of the Silly Commuting Racing thread and all the threads about injury and death on the roads makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. I've even started wondering when one of us will be seriously hurt when Not Trying, which I know isn't useful but I can't help it. Anyone else feel this way?

Whatever you may feel, don't take any risks out there, okay.

For sure. I have actually been keeping away from them and not reading for the last day or two. I know it happens, but I dont need the details.

The first rule is safety.

My route that has left me dripping in awesomesauce was pretty much all cycle path. I tore that shit up. I think they may need to re-lay the surface. One guy did a good job keeping up but I eventually lost him after about 3 miles. I also encountered a total arsehole, I didnt pass him (he was a fecking danger to himself/everyone), but I stayed close enough to him to let him know I was gifting him the lead.

jonginge

Feltup wrote:

Thanks for he welcome. I shall try and take some of the Tourmalet but at the moment it is buried in the shed behind lots of DIY stuff. DIY - Don't Involve Yourself, my friends very wise words.

Also welcome. Until a couple of weeks ago my main commute ride was a 1980s Peugoet Aravis. Still a great bike

cjcp

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

My route that has left me dripping in awesomesauce was pretty much all cycle path. I tore that shoot up. I think they may need to re-lay the surface. One guy did a good job keeping up but I eventually lost him after about 3 miles. I also encountered a total arsehole, I didnt pass him (he was a fecking danger to himself/everyone), but I stayed close enough to him to let him know I was gifting him the lead.

snooks

OK I got my Felt today!....still a bit wobbly, and it will take me a bit of time to get used to it...but Oh My GOD! how fast is it???

For the last year I've been trying to beat the lights from Putney Bridge to the south circular...every time previous I've either been no where near them when they have changed or just gone red as I turn the last corner....but tonight I made it!!!

And cyciling a light bike with big wheels is so much easier....makes me wonder how I've been scalping roadies at all...did I say how quick it was?

What a great bike, gimme a few weeks and I'll at least know where the breaks are!!

Oh and to hijack this thread.....Spread the word:


Oh and join the facbook site as well...if yer that way inclined

http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28903548493
.

UnworthyPapaLazaru

So Snooks, Im interested in the speed that you mentioned (twice?) Im on a slicked MTB and everyone tells of the noticeable increase of speed on a road bike, what do you think it added to your average speed in mph? Do you think it was the feeling of speed rather than anything measurable??

Bassjunkieuk

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

So Snooks, Im interested in the speed that you mentioned (twice?) Im on a slicked MTB and everyone tells of the noticeable increase of speed on a road bike, what do you think it added to your average speed in mph? Do you think it was the feeling of speed rather than anything measurable??

I had a discussion about this with a work mate the other day after he asked me the exact same question. The way I explained it was there are the visually obvious parts i.e the skinny tyres reduce rolling resistance, the drops offer a more aero position and the bike is generally much lighter!

I also explained about the fact that the gearing is setup a lot closer with a much higher top end then a MTB. So whilst his MTB's fast gear might be 42/12, mine is 52/12 so I can move faster at the same rpm :-) The gearing is also quite a lot narrower so you can always stay at your most comfortable cadence and power output whilst maintaining the highest possible speed.

Of course all this technical mumbo jumbo is no substitute for experiencing it yourself. I can still remember getting out on my first road bike, a rather old Raleigh and taking it down one of the hills in my area. Speeding down there on the drops was an incredible adrenaline rush and huge fun!

Anyhow back OT for a quick run down of my homeward journey. Had a shaved roadie on Vauxhall Bridge Road. He was really shifting over the bridge and we ended up parting ways at Stockwell tube. I think the only reason I got there first was due to some better filtering - this guy was rather rapid and performed effortless trackstands at each set of light's I was with him at!

Nothing else above me in the FC for the rest of the ride but I'm sure I went flying past some guy with one of the hideous electric powered bikes up a hill. I can only assume his tiny leccy motor couldn't match my legs up Leyham Court Road - especially as I was trying out climbing the brief steep section out of the saddle so did it a bit quicker then usual. Having said that I seemed to fly up Beulah Hill and then turned onto my "reward" descent and set about chasing down the white van ahead of me. A car had turned into the road shortly after me and I was pulling away from them as the van infront got closer.
Tucked in behind the van and kept the power on for the rest of the road until I had to turn off. A quick check on the ol' puter confirmed I had reached 39.1mph :twisted:

itboffin

Kieran_Burns wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

This is it though, I arrived fresh as the proverbial daisy. Not even a sweat on. If you ever want to see people cycling slower than walking pace then head down to Clapham High St/Clapham Road/Kennington Road one evening. It's like watching turtles migrate.

there's this increibly old bloke who lives in the village next to mine. He must be in his 90s and he cycles EVERYWHERE. He also has a permanent drip hanging from the end of his nose, but that's another story....

He crawls along on his bike, but he cycles something like 10 miles every day to get to the shops in the Derby suburbs. He has this pre-war bike made out of cast iron and come rain or shine or hurricanes... there he is going so slow it looks like continental drift.

The most bizarre thing is that when he gets OFF the bike he maintains EXACTLY the same shape as when he is sat on it.

It really is the most incredible sight to see.

Show no mercy TAKE him down, age is no object. Speed past him in a blur slowing just enough to grab his remaining locks in one hand whilst you peel away the soft flesh from his dome. :twisted:

Too much...?

snooks

UnworthyPapaLazaru

Well I too have a slicked MTB, which I thought was light...but a road bike is so much lighter, and easier to ride, it's smoother (yep not a jerky as the MTB) the bigger wheels/thinner tyres roll so much better think about the difference from nobblies to slicks, it's that sort of difference again

Want to quickly sprint past someone, you can, want to get low and reduce your wind resistance you can, want to go off road, sorry they might be good, but they aren't that good.

It's not a bone jarring as I expected either, hitting a pot hole at speed does go straight to your fillings, but it feels better than my slicked mtb at speed...but the wierd thing is that wheels aren't spinning as fast, it's only when you look to the side you realise the speed you're doing (I haven't fitted a speedo yet)

Also there are the different handlebar positions to get used to...and changing gear is fun as I now have oldskool thumbies, rapid fire shifters and now the ultegra push the break lever sideways, and flick another lever...all a bit fun...and riding on the hoods will take a bit of getting used to. My handlebars are quite high up (I've got an reversable stem) so it doesn't feel like my mouth inches from the handlebars.

When I do a full there-and-back commute I'll have a better idea on the differences, but I'm going to take it out over the weekend and see how I get on

UnworthyPapaLazaru

Bassjunkie/Snooks

This leaves me even more eager to join the road bike gang! Let me know how the weekend goes!

Cheers

snooks

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

This leaves me even more eager to join the road bike gang! Let me know how the weekend goes!

Forgot to say....I haven't had any inclination or thoughts about shaving my legs....Just in case that was what was stopping you

m0scs

Snooks,glad to hear you are luving your new ride.

Better change your sign off to include your new steed.

I've been lusting after a road bike for ages. Felt/Focus/Roubaiux. Cant decide.

I buy the Cycling Plus every month and scour through the ads, like some cheap porn mag.

Like a few on here Im riding an mtb on the road with slicks and making the best of it. Its never seen so much as a dirt track.

In a lot of ways I have a good compromise, can lock out the suspension if I want or have a soft cushioned ride.

My bike is not cheap either. I could have bought a serious carbon roady for the money I spent on my mtb, but thought that the MTB would be a better, more reliable ,all weather, all year bike; and if I wanted to go off road, just put the old tyes back on.

Also, I've always been a bit worried about brakes on a road bike, since my teenage years on my first "racing bike"with No f*cking brakes at all in the wet. I guess they are a bit better now but still not a patch on a decent hydraulic disk.

The answer to my problem (al a BD) and others) is to have 2 bikes, one road bike for the summer thrash/ pose and a mtb/hybrid etc for those dark winter months when no one sees you.

I guess I will have to take a road bike out for a test ride to realise what Im missing.

Slightly worried about running out of gears on those big climbs though.

Also, if you have a flash bike, all the more humiliating if you can't blow away those persistant b@stards on MTB's.

FCN would take a serious knock as well.

Sh*t. What to do?

attica

Strange one tonight, a relatively incident free ride home, but at one point I shoulder checked and I could've sworn there was somebody behind me on a black hybrid, didn't get a good look as I was mainly checking for traffic so it was only peripheral vision.

I did what any playee of the Game would do, I gradually span up intil the awesome started leaking out the back of my bike.

I couldn't resist another shoulder check 30 seconds later, for traffic obviously.
To my surprise, ther was nobody there, there were no turnings, not even a footpath during those 30 secs

Am I being chased by demons? Are they real, imaginary or were they conjured up by my own fear of scalpation?

Took a detour tonight to visit Wifey at work and absolutely stormed up Brockley Combe (a longish local hill) took my SS into new territory of momentum conservation, tapped out a great cadence up the hill without too much extra effort, I'm still benefitting from the SS experience a year in!

Dunston_checks_in

Awesome! Had a 4 mile duel with 'hot chick' on a scooter this morning. She had the advantage on the flat but I got the drop on her in traffic and on the slopes. She'd have pulled away in the first mile if it hadn't been for traffic lights but she also had an engine so I'm letting that one go for now. Much smiling and eye contact at the lights. If I wasn't married I swear I could have 'pulled'. That's right: 'pulled' by being manly on a bike.

All in all it was a real buzz and a nice scalp for the new Cervelo.

Almost made up for the grizzled-looking roadie on an Ambrosio with mudguards (mudguards!) who left me for dead on the final climb into my village the other evening... :oops:

Feltup

Attica you have a classic case of "Racers Paranoia". You live in fear of the silent scalping and hence you manifest this in imaginary visions and sounds. Now tell me about your mother..............

Eventful ride home but no one to race. How could it be eventful you ask?! Well, I decided on the hill route which meant a trip down the local highstreet to start off. Turning into the Highstreet and everything is blocked up. I was about to start the weave when I noticed the open top bus heading my way was the Olympic parade bus. So I stood and waited until it came alongside and then gave them a cheer before heading on my way.

The main hill is a 10% consistant grind on which I try to stay at 9mph or above, only managed 8mph and above last night, probably still not fully recovered from the mtn bike on Sunday night in the Brecons.

Top of the hill and a bus from a side road decides it can pull across in front of me. Cue me giving it the WTF shrug in an italian stylee. I'd made eye contact with the driver and have no idea why he suddenly thought that having let me get closer he could then still make it. Oh well just another one of those incidents "forget about it".

Still no one to race but plenty to wave high to on the other side. Then coming into the village a FCN 8 was pushing his bike so stopped to see if he needed help but he only lived a short distance on and said he would work on it there.

Sorry for the long post and complete lack of racing but can say that I still managed to post my fastest average speed for the journey 19.8mph for 13miles including the brief salute to the Olympians.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Dunston_checks_in wrote:

Awesome! Had a 4 mile duel with 'hot chick' on a scooter this morning. She had the advantage on the flat but I got the drop on her in traffic and on the slopes. She'd have pulled away in the first mile if it hadn't been for traffic lights but she also had an engine so I'm letting that one go for now. Much smiling and eye contact at the lights. If I wasn't married I swear I could have 'pulled'. That's right: 'pulled' by being manly on a bike.

All in all it was a real buzz and a nice scalp for the new Cervelo.

Almost made up for the grizzled-looking roadie on an Ambrosio with mudguards (mudguards!) who left me for dead on the final climb into my village the other evening... :oops:

See - told you - a Cervelo will make you more attractive to members of the opposite sex. Tests have shown that it will also make you up to 1.75 inches taller, reduce grey hair and eliminate the signs of aging!

We'll forget that bit on the end about the grizzled creamed rice man ...

cjcp

m0scs wrote:

Snooks,glad to hear you are luving your new ride.

Better change your sign off to include your new steed.

I've been lusting after a road bike for ages. Felt/Focus/Roubaiux. Cant decide.

Moscs - the Roubaix is a different geometry to the other two as it's designed to be a sportif bike, one for the cobbles, so will probably feel a less aggressive set up. Test ride all three at the same time if possible to enable you to gauge the difference between the bikes.

cjcp

Greg66 wrote:

Dunston_checks_in wrote:

Awesome! Had a 4 mile duel with 'hot chick' on a scooter this morning. She had the advantage on the flat but I got the drop on her in traffic and on the slopes. She'd have pulled away in the first mile if it hadn't been for traffic lights but she also had an engine so I'm letting that one go for now. Much smiling and eye contact at the lights. If I wasn't married I swear I could have 'pulled'. That's right: 'pulled' by being manly on a bike.

All in all it was a real buzz and a nice scalp for the new Cervelo.

Almost made up for the grizzled-looking roadie on an Ambrosio with mudguards (mudguards!) who left me for dead on the final climb into my village the other evening... :oops:

See - told you - a Cervelo will make you more attractive to members of the opposite sex. Tests have shown that it will also make you up to 1.75 inches taller, reduce grey hair and eliminate the signs of aging!

We'll forget that bit on the end about the grizzled creamed rice man ...

Oh God, no. First the fixies/SSers form a Union, now we're going to have a Cervelo owners coffee morning.

cjcp

Right, if you heard a crack of thunder last night, just west of Chelsea Bridge, that was me bursting through the space time continuum. The flux capacitor was doing some serious fluxing.

Started at Prlt Square with a couple of other roadies, one of whom was extremely excitable and, as we cleared the barriers, he was off: elbows going, legs pumping. "A-ha. Not just a Gamer, but someone who is full on racing." I remained behind and out, on the tops of the bars, hands either side of the stem, the engine purring, legs ready to unleash hell.

But I was foiled! Peds and traffic at the Lambeth Bdge RD brought me to a halt and off the two roadies went. I'll get them in Death Star Canyon, I thought.

Get to Vauxhall Bdg lights. More roadies pull up. We're now six strong. This will be fun.

I let them go at the lights and hold back going through the Canyon due to heavy amounts of traffic, but as you bend round right after the turning for Claverton Street, the road cleared and the hammer went down and went by the lot, even crazy elbows guy, who must have been on a similar mission to mine the other night.

Brought to a halt at Chelsea Bridge and we're all back together. I'm toward sthe back again, as they all filter through the traffic and I stay on the inside. Lights go green and it's a cautious descent of that slope due to water on the road. I'm nearly boxed in. I've got crazy elbows guy on my outside and back a little, one a couple of yards in front, one behind and there are two others up the road making their escape. This will not do.

I therefore extricate myself in the most sparkling fashion. A quick look, and the power goes down, through the gap on the outside and I'm away. Elbows Guy tries to follow, but has no chance because I'm gone. The gap quickly closes on the roadies up ahead and I'm ahead before I know it. The power stays down and I can feel my face now beginning to morph. But the hands are still on the tops It's like I've said to the legs, "Take us home, Mr Sulu". (Oh the difference a tail wind makes eh )

All a bit in vain though as the traffic up ahead quickly reduced us to filtering and the gaming ends.

Have decided to limit myself to these intermittent efforts with all this traffic and darker nights. Also lowering the pace a little and enjoying these nice mornings while they're here, so had a nice gentle stroll in this morning.

il_principe

m0scs wrote:

Snooks,glad to hear you are luving your new ride.

Better change your sign off to include your new steed.

I've been lusting after a road bike for ages. Felt/Focus/Roubaiux. Cant decide.

I buy the Cycling Plus every month and scour through the ads, like some cheap porn mag.

Like a few on here Im riding an mtb on the road with slicks and making the best of it. Its never seen so much as a dirt track.

In a lot of ways I have a good compromise, can lock out the suspension if I want or have a soft cushioned ride.

My bike is not cheap either. I could have bought a serious carbon roady for the money I spent on my mtb, but thought that the MTB would be a better, more reliable ,all weather, all year bike; and if I wanted to go off road, just put the old tyes back on.

Also, I've always been a bit worried about brakes on a road bike, since my teenage years on my first "racing bike"with No f*cking brakes at all in the wet. I guess they are a bit better now but still not a patch on a decent hydraulic disk.

Not really the case. Roadie tires are so thin that you'll lock the brakes fairly easily. I've never had any problems - case in point, descending the Tourmalet in this years Etape in the rain - I felt very secure with my brakes, they scrub off speed very effectively even in the wet.

The answer to my problem (al a BD) and others) is to have 2 bikes, one road bike for the summer thrash/ pose and a mtb/hybrid etc for those dark winter months when no one sees you.

Yep or even better buy an MTB for MTBing and a roadie for roads. I never can understand why so many people in London commute on shiny MTB's. I think people are either scare of roadies or still have the 13 year old mentality of "I wanna mountain bike cos they're cool!"

I guess I will have to take a road bike out for a test ride to realise what Im missing.

Please do, it'll be a revelation for you.

Slightly worried about running out of gears on those big climbs though.

Well don't. Buy a compact then you can alter the cassette at the back and have a bike that'll tackle anything really - as long as you are relatively fit.

Also, if you have a flash bike, all the more humiliating if you can't blow away those persistant b@stards on MTB's.

Eh? This never happens to us roadies!

FCN would take a serious knock as well.

Who cares?

Sh*t. What to do?

MTFU and buy a roadbike. You will not regret it.