Silly commuting racing

Jen J

Attica wrote:

There is however an upside - I'll be finishing said course on Friday afternoon and have time to kill on Friday evening, I can't think of anywhere I'd rather go than the Morpeth Arms to meet up with you lot. That is assuming that any of you will be there...


...you can make it?...


...can't you?

Hoping to see some of you there.

Attica

See you there

Clever Pun

Running 30 minutes late today but there was nothing on the road other than lollighaggers and timewasters... and probably people who are scared of the wind.

Binned what I thought was a fakenger (a good one mind, a bag and everything) but while I stopped for the lights they went past with a nonchelance and skill of a proper messenger... binned him again and again as he kept skipping lights

Wrath Rob

At last! Work has relented and I'm back on BikeRadar during the day

All has been reasonably quiet on the roads of late, a few sniffs of interest here and there but nothing that has really got my pain generators rocking. The ride in this morning more than made up for last nights poor conditions. 26 along the Embankment and 2 mins of my normal time. I think I might be paying the price on the way home though...

One downside today was that I did have 2 cyclists try and cut me up at some lights this morning though. I was at the white line waiting to go when one appeared on the left about 3 feet over the line and then another on the right at the same position. As the lights change they decided to converge in front of me!

Remembering the recent track cycling coverage and the MTFU mantra, plus they were on hybrids so lower in the chain, I got the elbows out and powered through to reclaim my rightful place at the front of the pack. No physical contact but it was close. Pair of tw@ts they were.

Bassjunkieuk

damage36 wrote:

Disaster, utter and total disaster!

The bike ride, was lovely... but I got to my office to get changed and over the course of the last half hour have realised I've forgotten the following...

My lunch
My wallet
My shoes!

My boxers :shock:

Going commando. Nice.

:shock: I forgot my lock once, from now on if I set off and think "hmm bag feels a bit light today" I'm gonna stop and check what's missing!

damage36

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

damage36 wrote:

Disaster, utter and total disaster!

The bike ride, was lovely... but I got to my office to get changed and over the course of the last half hour have realised I've forgotten the following...

My lunch
My wallet
My shoes!

My boxers :shock:

Going commando. Nice.

:shock: I forgot my lock once, from now on if I set off and think "hmm bag feels a bit light today" I'm gonna stop and check what's missing!

Good news, I DO have my wallet, so apart from being scantily under-clad and having to walk around in my cycling shoes I will be able to eat! My lock stays at work, locked to the bikerack.

m0scs

Went for a ride last night in full combat wet weather gear. Looked like a storm trooper.

All was going fine and wet being kept at bay till I shot down a hill in a narrow and very dark lane to be confronted by a huge flood about a foot deep. Unable to stop I plowed straight through it getting a total soaking. It was quite funny really. Teach me to take more care in future.

Even with this, the only part of my combat outfit that leaked water was through my noeprene overshoes.

Leggings and jacket remained water tight, Montaine Event jacket and Altura Night vision legging did the job nicely, although I only wear them when the weathers really bad due to the boil in the bag effect.

Didnt see another cyclist at all.

jonginge

Tis the season for drafting fairies. Picked one up just after putney bridge on the way home, Passed a guy going pretty easy gave him a wave and a cheery 'evening'. I got nothing. Hey, ho. No worries I don't need a response so I just carry on through the chicanes of lower putney, shoulder checking for traffic a few times: nothing on the radar. Coming up to the mini roundabout I do a much longer check before moving across to take the right hand exit and there he is, hiding in my bum bubble on my near side! Cheek

This morning was great with the cross/tailwind but picked up a RLJing LD drafting fairy. He'd jumped the RL on chelsea embankment just before the hospital;I caught him fairly easily but by that time he was drafting a fast hybrid. Oh, the shame. I breezed on by and sure enough the LD latched on until the vauxhall br. lights

Millbank was great. A whole peloton of cyclists and mopeds to pass. And they've almost finished the roadworks so the traffic could move. yay

I hit a new flat road max cadence of 147 going through blackfriars tunnel

Feltup

I nearly set off with out my shoes this morning but had that spidey sense telling me I was about to be an idiot. No one to scalp this morning again apart from a pair of old boys on mtn bikes wearing all their clothes and cycling along the pavement.

The hairpin of doom(think damp rutted asphalt on a 1:6 slope) was safely negotiated but then I left my braking a bit late for the 90 left and only just made it round, doh!

My man flu feels even worse now; so much for burning it out. Headwind for the ride home too but I shall MTFU and press on regardless! (can you all hear Land of Hope and Glory playing in your ears?)

lost_in_thought

Bassjunkie, love the 'turned a car into a convertible'!!

Took me a while to get what you meant... chapeau!

And funny to forget things. With me it's usually pants. I now keep spares in my desk.

My word it was windy this morning, I think it was trying to be a tailwind, which was nice of it, but it was actually attacking me from side on in places, which made life very interesting.

Although, on the stretch of road where I refuse to be overtaken, including by cars, I managed to get to an almost unbelieveable (for me) 28.1mph! On the flat! With one gear! My legs were a blur, I tell you, a blur! Thanks tailwind...

Needless to say, the guy on the focus who ghosted past me at all the lights had no chance. However, he did manage to find a sneaky shortcut somewhere around and appeared on HSK in front of me... might follow him tomorrow if he's there - been looking for a good way round my current route for a while.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Yoo hoo. Remember me?

Update from the trenches.

Beautiful day this morning. Couldn't help but think that if it had been 20 degrees cooler this would have been an awesome powder day (cue: snowboarders smell, skiers are Gods, etc).

Anyway... I'm still a member of the rolling wounded. Shoes & socks are a bit of a challenge still. Sitting down is a real killer. Weirdly, cycling is not uncomfortable, but produces large pain + big discomfort as an after effect, directly proportionate to effort expended on the ride.

So I've been rolling along in the 17 and and 19 for a change, spectating. Make no mistake, it hurts to have people come by me, but it hurts a fcuk of a lot more at the moment to put any power down. Spectating is quite good fun. You get to see these frantic flatbar riders killing themselves to catch roadies. And riders who use low gears but don't have the power to pull away quickly even in low gear, and don't have the power to shift up and push a bigger gear. It's hilarious.

My target? Being sufficiently better to be able to manhandle the Xmas tree into position without ending up flat on my back over Xmas. Simple pleasures...

damage36

Greg66 wrote:

Yoo hoo. Remember me?

Update from the trenches.

Beautiful day this morning. Couldn't help but think that if it had been 20 degrees cooler this would have been an awesome powder day (cue: snowboarders smell, skiers are Gods, etc).

Anyway... I'm still a member of the rolling wounded. Shoes & socks are a bit of a challenge still. Sitting down is a real killer. Weirdly, cycling is not uncomfortable, but produces large pain + big discomfort as an after effect, directly proportionate to effort expended on the ride.

So I've been rolling along in the 17 and and 19 for a change, spectating. Make no mistake, it hurts to have people come by me, but it hurts a fcuk of a lot more at the moment to put any power down. Spectating is quite good fun. You get to see these frantic flatbar riders killing themselves to catch roadies. And riders who use low gears but don't have the power to pull away quickly even in low gear, and don't have the power to shift up and push a bigger gear. It's hilarious.

My target? Being sufficiently better to be able to manhandle the Xmas tree into position without ending up flat on my back over Xmas. Simple pleasures...

You have TWO cervelos. I hate you! What groupset (esp cranks) are you running on those?

Feltup

Have you had your back checked properly yet?

Don't make me send LiT round to slap you!

itboffin

But Greg surely your butler handles the Christmas preparations...?

greg66_tri_v2.0

damage36 wrote:

You have TWO cervelos. I hate you! What groupset (esp cranks) are you running on those?

Thanks. I get that a lot.

The R3SL is all Chorus carbon.

The Soloist is a Centaur/Chorus mix. Centaur ergos, rear mech. Chorus calipers, carbon cranks, front mech.

Standard square taper old-style Campy cranks on Ergomos. Can't be doing with the new-fangled UT stuff. Yet. 8)

lost_in_thought

Feltup wrote:

Don't make me send LiT round to slap you!

heeheehee slap-o-gram...

Different to a slapper-gram. And various other 'o-grams.

Greg66 wrote:

My target? Being sufficiently better to be able to manhandle the Xmas tree into position without ending up flat on my back over Xmas. Simple pleasures...

That's a long-range target... are you really going to have the willpower to be overtaken for another month and a half?

damage36

Greg66 wrote:

damage36 wrote:

You have TWO cervelos. I hate you! What groupset (esp cranks) are you running on those?

Thanks. I get that a lot.

The R3SL is all Chorus carbon.

The Soloist is a Centaur/Chorus mix. Centaur ergos, rear mech. Chorus calipers, carbon cranks, front mech.

Standard square taper old-style Campy cranks on Ergomos. Can't be doing with the new-fangled UT stuff. Yet. 8)

You know you're going to be seduced by 11 speed soon. mmmmmmm...eleven.
You can prob get some 10 speed record/chorus cranksets for quite a bit less now. It will help you get better.

Feltup

lost_in_thought wrote:

Feltup wrote:

Don't make me send LiT round to slap you!

heeheehee slap-o-gram...

Different to a slapper-gram. And various other 'o-grams.

"Hello! Slap-o-gram! Have you had someone check your back out?"
"No"
SLAP!!!
"are you going to have someone check your back out?"
"Yes!"
"good, but here's a slap for taking too long anyway"

Sounds like a plan to me

greg66_tri_v2.0

Feltup wrote:

Have you had your back checked properly yet?

Don't make me send LiT round to slap you!

Ummm. Properly? Yes.

Well, not quite.

Not as such.

OK, no.

However...

This isn't the first time I've had this. I first had it about 6 years ago. I get it on and off about every 18-24 months.

Everyone I've ever seen has a different diagnosis. My diagnosis (and therefore a fact) is that it's a locked SI joint. I base this on (a) the fact that I found on tinternet a series of stretches and exercises for locked SI joints which work to free it up, and (b) the fact that I'm always right.

The problem I have is that the healing process is quite slow. I suspect that there may be ligament damage as well as muscle damage. And sitting puts pressure on the affected tissue. Standing or lying down doesn't, but for large parts of my working day I'm sitting. So that's not so good.

It will get better. It always does. There are some very specific things that cause it (eg scrubbing around in the garden on all fours or on my left knee, missing a pedal clip in, and booting a ball into the distance - all right leg extensions/right hip rotations).

itboffin wrote:

But Greg surely your butler handles the Christmas preparations...?

Alas, even I am not immune to the credit crunch ...

Bassjunkieuk

LiT, I was going to comment in my original post about that blasted wind this morning, it seemed much worse then yesterday! I did set out this morning without my usual weather update courtesy of the beeb as my virgin service has conked out so I had nothing to watch whilst tucking into my shreddies and 2 weetabix and supping my earl grey :-( Mind you I did pop the laptop out and catch up on the forums so all was not lost!

G66, nice to see your back even tho you are on an extended active recovery I'm sure being overtaken by a few other cyclists is much nicer then the alternatives i.e public transport

attica

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

G66, nice to see your back

Intentional typo?

Where's GregT these days?

Littigator

Greg66 wrote:

Feltup wrote:

Have you had your back checked properly yet?

Don't make me send LiT round to slap you!

Ummm. Properly? Yes.

Well, not quite.

Not as such.

OK, no.

However...

This isn't the first time I've had this. I first had it about 6 years ago. I get it on and off about every 18-24 months.

Everyone I've ever seen has a different diagnosis. My diagnosis (and therefore a fact) is that it's a locked SI joint. I base this on (a) the fact that I found on tinternet a series of stretches and exercises for locked SI joints which work to free it up, and (b) the fact that I'm always right.

The problem I have is that the healing process is quite slow. I suspect that there may be ligament damage as well as muscle damage. And sitting puts pressure on the affected tissue. Standing or lying down doesn't, but for large parts of my working day I'm sitting. So that's not so good.

It will get better. It always does. There are some very specific things that cause it (eg scrubbing around in the garden on all fours or on my left knee, missing a pedal clip in, and booting a ball into the distance - all right leg extensions/right hip rotations).

itboffin wrote:

But Greg surely your butler handles the Christmas preparations...?

Alas, even I am not immune to the credit crunch ...

And those stretches you so rightly self-presrcibed have worked because you no...longer...have.........the problem...ohhh!

So when are you going to try pilates, would it be any incentive to say that the instructors if you go one on one which you should do are generally very fit lithe young ladies?

Don Don...go and take a cold shower!

greg66_tri_v2.0

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

G66, nice to see your back even tho you are on an extended active recovery I'm sure being overtaken by a few other cyclists is much nicer then the alternatives i.e public transport

It is (even if the cost is a bit of rolling around on the floor stretching once I get in?).

Needless to say, while I'm spectating, I'm also thinking "You're gonna get skinned alive in a few weeks matey. You too. And there's a special place in hell reserved for you, you little fcuker"... etc.

I think it's important to have goals in life.

lost_in_thought

Greg66 wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

G66, nice to see your back even tho you are on an extended active recovery I'm sure being overtaken by a few other cyclists is much nicer then the alternatives i.e public transport

It is (even if the cost is a bit of rolling around on the floor stretching once I get in?).

Needless to say, while I'm spectating, I'm also thinking "You're gonna get skinned alive in a few weeks matey. You too. And there's a special place in hell reserved for you, you little fcuker"... etc.

I think it's important to have goals in life.

This is making me wonder whether the... erm... how can I put this politely... older men I regularly see on rather nice bikes as I'm zooming past them thinking how they should buy a less nice bike have actually all just thrown their back out... awwwww bless....

Is the pity worse? I think it would bother me more... Greg?

greg66_tri_v2.0

Littigator wrote:

So when are you going to try pilates, would it be any incentive to say that the instructors if you go one on one which you should do are generally very fit lithe young ladies?

Now, now Litts, we've been over pilates, and the peculiar sexual self-satisfaction it promises to grown men.

And I think we all agreed last time that it was, in fact, scientifically proven to be GAY (I'm as pc as the next man, but come on, there is a limit, you know). I am pretty sure that Top Scientists working at this moment in Game Laboratories are about to publish in the BMJ this very conclusion.

Remember: you heard it here first.

greg66_tri_v2.0

damage36 wrote:

You know you're going to be seduced by 11 speed soon. mmmmmmm...eleven.
You can prob get some 10 speed record/chorus cranksets for quite a bit less now. It will help you get better.

I've got tens at the mo, picked up just after UT came out and the old stuff was priced to shift.

Not sure about 11. Most of the time I use the same 5% of my available gears. What's the point in pushing that lower?

11's an unappealing number, as well. I'll wait for 12. 8)

greg66_tri_v2.0

lost_in_thought wrote:

This is making me wonder whether the... erm... how can I put this politely... older men I regularly see on rather nice bikes as I'm zooming past them thinking how they should buy a less nice bike have actually all just thrown their back out... awwwww bless....

Is the pity worse? I think it would bother me more... Greg?

No. They're crap. All of them. I have a legit reason to go slow. I'm the only one.

Pity... bring it on. It all goes to fuel the revenge, which simmers millimetres under the surface.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZv6VW3W ... re=related

Watch it from 2.07 onwards. That's the speed I'm looking to return to. Fuelled by pity... :twisted:

don_don

So when are you going to try pilates, would it be any incentive to say that the instructors if you go one on one which you should do are generally very fit lithe young ladies?

Don Don...go and take a cold shower!

Already had one today thanks, just after reading LiT's post:

And funny to forget things. With me it's usually pants. I now keep spares in my desk.

:oops: :oops:

damage36

Don_don, you should go to japan. They have pants vending machines to meet your needs.

Greg66, how can you not like 11, have you not seen spinal tap!?

greg66_tri_v2.0

damage36 wrote:

Greg66, how can you not like 11, have you not seen spinal tap!?

Bassjunkieuk

damage36 wrote:

Don_don, you should go to japan. They have pants vending machines to meet your needs.

Greg66, how can you not like 11, have you not seen spinal tap!?

I haven't seen the whole movie but have seen that clip :-)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=d54UU-fPIsY

On the subject of 11 speeds I did mange to have a look at an 09 Prince sporting Super Record 11 the other week, the same model G66's rich mate brought I believe, it was one amazing looking machine :-)