Silly commuting racing

greg66_tri_v2.0

jashburnham wrote:

What really amazed me though is how slow some people are, you don't really notice pootlers at normal speed, but when one is inching past you, (spinning madly in what looks like 32/34) it does draw the attention somewhat. :shock:

It is incredible, I agree. When I was riding when I shouln't've been, I remember grimacing along in 39x17, and not at a high cadence, and still sometimes creeping past people. For the most part other riders were swarming past me, but occasionally you find someone who's racing the tectonic plates. It's truly a sight to behold.

Greg T

Shoulder of Orion wrote:

god it was milkmans this morning.

It was Baltic....

Looked outside the window this morning and thought - Short sleeved jersey - first time this year!

Opened the front door and my knackers retracted so fast they bounced off the inside of my skull.

Jaysus - I'm considering buying some lightweight overshoes as my neoprene gimp kit full winter overshoes will make people laugh at me.....

Also I recognise that my bum bubble comment may have produced a fair amount of Finar Saunders style Gnurking. Good.

Now - did I get home last night or am I lying by the side of the road in a hypothermic coma dreaming I'm sitting at my desk arsing around on the interweb drinking coffee? I don't know if was the headwind or my wife's knickers cutting off the circulation to my legs but I was ploughing big time by the time I got home. A steady trickle of "must catch" targets with flat bars didn't help either. If I am having pre death dreams I'd wish I'd gone for a Keira / Cameron Diaz ten years ago sort of affair rather than me being at work

Look! bright lights.

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

Ch1st last night was depressing. The missus was sloooooooooooow especially with the wind, I think we were overtaken by every cyclist in London. I got very cold as well - I'm used to moving at pace and was not wearing the right kit for our pootling speeds. Think it took about an hour to do a ride I can nail in 30 mins or so. Still chapeau to her for completing her first day. She's taking the rest of the week off as it's getting cold again and the forecast is bad.

I experimented with a different route in from hers today, avoiding edgware and then heading into the city via Oxford st and Holborn. Much slower I think and far more fiddly. Little action to report although I did bag a couple of roadies and a Bowery.

@CJ - How many reps of Broomfield did you and JG get in? I imagine RP was busy last weekend? Aside from Box hill, my Surrey loop was quieter than expected. Pity this weekend is looking miserable, it was great being able to get out for a decent ride in the sun.

I hate the Oxford St/Holborn area full stop. Good skills though that she's on the bike.

Went up it five times (five c'wise laps). Was gripping the handlebars with my teeth the final time. Plus a detour to Prologue on the way home (it's actually in the completely opposite direction to my house and didn't even get what I went in there for I was so distracted by other goodies :roll: ). There were a some hold ups on the downhill stretch from Richmond to Sheen Gates because some people have never seen deer before and don't realise that you can just stop in the road, and some up to Pembroke Lodge. There were more bikes going a/c'wise though.

Plenty of goodies in Prologue to be sure. Must keep away from the place
Chris was setting the pace up Broomfield on sat, and probably driven on by the power values I was telling him on each ascent (550watts last time, 480 this... faster, faster )

This AM CJ was really travelling along embankment towards Blackfriars. Was hanging on before getting a second wind through the tunnel. Not sure I'm as fast as CJ thinks I am, flattering to deceive a bit.

Petromyzon

Plenty of goodies in Prologue to be sure. Must keep away from the place
Chris was setting the pace up Broomfield on sat, and probably driven on by the power values I was telling him on each ascent (550watts last time, 480 this... faster, faster )

This AM CJ was really travelling along embankment towards Blackfriars. Was hanging on before getting a second wind through the tunnel. Not sure I'm as fast as CJ thinks I am, flattering to deceive a bit.

I wish I did Embankment more often, would be great to put faces to names and have a little ding-dong!
Sorry to drag this off topic a little, but I'll strike whilst people are posting. Do Prologue stock Castelli, and how are Castelli bibs for the taller, skinnier gentleman?

jonginge

Petromyzon wrote:

Plenty of goodies in Prologue to be sure. Must keep away from the place
Chris was setting the pace up Broomfield on sat, and probably driven on by the power values I was telling him on each ascent (550watts last time, 480 this... faster, faster )

This AM CJ was really travelling along embankment towards Blackfriars. Was hanging on before getting a second wind through the tunnel. Not sure I'm as fast as CJ thinks I am, flattering to deceive a bit.

I wish I did Embankment more often, would be great to put faces to names and have a little ding-dong!
Sorry to drag this off topic a little, but I'll strike whilst people are posting. Do Prologue stock Castelli, and how are Castelli bibs for the taller, skinnier gentleman?

Yes, yes they do. Also just started stocking some of the Mavic clothing range...
Castelli are euro-sized, so good for the skinnier gentleman. I'm only of medium height, though, at 5'10". I'm medium in most castelli shorts, tops, jackets and large in gloves

Christophe3967

jashburnham wrote:

I experimented with a different route in from hers today, avoiding edgware and then heading into the city via Oxford st and Holborn.

Oxford St is awful- some of the craters are big enough to swallow a whole bike and there's no room anyway. If I'm going in that way I'll go south of it around the Grosvenor Sq having scooted down Park Lane or the Hyde Park Ring, or north on the way back around Tott Ct Rd, New Cavendish St and I think its George St, straight over GPS, Baker St and Edgware Rd, around the back roads to Lancaster Gate, before picking up Bayswater Road. Actually, the Embankment is just so much easier.

il_principe

cjcp wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

Aside from Box hill, my Surrey loop was quieter than expected. Pity this weekend is looking miserable, it was great being able to get out for a decent ride in the sun.

Did you try the Box Hill Challenge?

No, forgot to hit the "lap" function on the Garmin at the bottom. Box hill was covered in Tri competitors though and they kinda got in the way! :shock:

I appreciate that the poor feckers were probably exhausted by the time I wandered past, so chapeau to them all.

sneakybear

Box Hill challenge?!? Time/Power what?

For the uninitiated please explain... sounds, er, fun

girv73

Wet, cold and very windy in Belfast yesterday, the ride home was 'orrible. I guess I probably shouldn't have taken the coastal path

I did see another cyclist though, which is unusual for me. Slicked MTB so a worthy adversary. I passed him and kept the head down for a couple or three miles along the NCN9 coastal path, looked back and couldn't even see his lights. Unless he took to swimming or hopped across the fence, motorway and lagoon on the other side, I think he counts as well scalped.

Petromyzon

Yes, yes they do. Also just started stocking some of the Mavic clothing range...
Castelli are euro-sized, so good for the skinnier gentleman. I'm only of medium height, though, at 5'10". I'm medium in most castelli shorts, tops, jackets and large in gloves

Hmmm, I'm about 30 inch waist but 6'3" so I'm usually medium waist-wise in Euro stuff but more like XL in height. May have to go and try some on but it's all a bit of a lottery as wearing underwear in the shop tends to make things feel uncomfortable anyway.

Cheers JG! The Mavic stuff looks really, really good, I have a wind jacket and it is the dogs. Not cheap though, pretty much all their bibs seem to be Assos territory.

cjcp

Petromyzon wrote:

Hmmm, I'm about 30 inch waist but 6'3"

:shock: Not that that is in any way freaky, but :shock:

+1 for the Castelli shorts. They're great.

jonginge

Petromyzon wrote:

Yes, yes they do. Also just started stocking some of the Mavic clothing range...
Castelli are euro-sized, so good for the skinnier gentleman. I'm only of medium height, though, at 5'10". I'm medium in most castelli shorts, tops, jackets and large in gloves

Hmmm, I'm about 30 inch waist but 6'3" so I'm usually medium waist-wise in Euro stuff but more like XL in height. May have to go and try some on but it's all a bit of a lottery as wearing underwear in the shop tends to make things feel uncomfortable anyway.

Cheers JG! The Mavic stuff looks really, really good, I have a wind jacket and it is the dogs. Not cheap though, pretty much all their bibs seem to be Assos territory.

Prices of everything seem to be reaching the Assos territory. Damned exchange rate! It's a bit depressing as the RRP on the mavic stuff was much more reasonable when they announced it last summer.... booo

cjcp

Chris was setting the pace up Broomfield on sat, and probably driven on by the power values I was telling him on each ascent (550watts last time, 480 this... faster, faster )

Contrary to whatever I've said before, I really, seriously, must have that gadget you've got. Must. Buy.

This AM CJ was really travelling along embankment towards Blackfriars. Was hanging on before getting a second wind through the tunnel. Not sure I'm as fast as CJ thinks I am, flattering to deceive a bit.

[/quote]

I also got spanked in the sprint to Sheen Gate. Yeah, am sure it's just beginner's luck.

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

Chris was setting the pace up Broomfield on sat, and probably driven on by the power values I was telling him on each ascent (550watts last time, 480 this... faster, faster )

Contrary to whatever I've said before, I really, seriously, must have that gadget you've got. Must. Buy.

This AM CJ was really travelling along embankment towards Blackfriars. Was hanging on before getting a second wind through the tunnel. Not sure I'm as fast as CJ thinks I am, flattering to deceive a bit.

I also got spanked in the sprint to Sheen Gate. Yeah, am sure it's just beginner's luck.

I am a bit of a puncheur but need to work on my ability at sustained threshold efforts. Hopefully the PowerTap will help with that. The watts were all over the place while lapping RP...

Petromyzon

cjcp wrote:

Petromyzon wrote:

Hmmm, I'm about 30 inch waist but 6'3"

:shock: Not that that is in any way freaky, but :shock:

+1 for the Castelli shorts. They're great.

yes, yes, I know, skinny as surplus vertical inches don't exactly make for fast times on the flat.

Some of the high end Mavics have a very Castelli-free like bib design. I'd covinced myself that my next pair of decent shorts would have to be like that as my tummy gets a bit bloated on long rides. However, they are all £120+. Anyone have any idea when the pound is going to stop being so pathetic :roll: :roll:

cjcp

yes, yes, I know, skinny as surplus vertical inches don't exactly make for fast times on the flat.

But longer legs to get more muscle on.

Some of the high end Mavics have a very Castelli-free like bib design. I'd covinced myself that my next pair of decent shorts would have to be like that as my tummy gets a bit bloated on long rides. However, they are all £120+. Anyone have any idea when the pound is going to stop being so pathetic :roll: :roll:

[/quote]

Are you drinking too much fluid?

Christophe3967

cjcp wrote:

Want to break 54 min, but there's a certain amount of wishful thinking in that!

Where is the thread for the 3 lap times?

As next week is 'burn a banker' day, we've been told to stay away from the office on Wed and Thurs and work from home, so I'm thinking I might get out early for a quick blast round the park if the weather's kind.

cjcp

Christophe3967 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Want to break 54 min, but there's a certain amount of wishful thinking in that!

Where is the thread for the 3 lap times?

As next week is 'burn a banker' day, we've been told to stay away from the office on Wed and Thurs and work from home, so I'm thinking I might get out early for a quick blast round the park if the weather's kind.

Excellent! Another one enters the fray!

Here you go, sir:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12603098

Happy lapping!!

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

Christophe3967 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Want to break 54 min, but there's a certain amount of wishful thinking in that!

Where is the thread for the 3 lap times?

As next week is 'burn a banker' day, we've been told to stay away from the office on Wed and Thurs and work from home, so I'm thinking I might get out early for a quick blast round the park if the weather's kind.

Excellent! Another one enters the fray!

Here you go, sir:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12603098

Happy lapping!!

And last years for reference:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12556612

Christophe3967

We seem to be well represented! Thanks chaps - I see that you're both evenly matched, and that I need to start getting my excuses prepared. Nowadays of course the traffic is so bad that 3 laps without any interruptions is almost impossible...

shoulder_of_orion

I keep on meaning to take the bike out at the weekend, but at the end of the day I think I'm just a silly commuter...

cjcp

We seem to be well represented! Thanks chaps - I see that you're both evenly matched,

Not any more. At a guess, I'd say I'm now at least four minutes slower over the three laps.

and that I need to start getting my excuses prepared. Nowadays of course the traffic is so bad that 3 laps without any interruptions is almost impossible...

Traffic, wind, the wrong kind of wind, wandering deer, horses crossing, first attempt of the year, lack of fitness, coughs, man flu, malaria, fox attacks, meteor strikes. You'll find a real variety in that thread. I've used most of the above.

Petromyzon

cjcp wrote:

yes, yes, I know, skinny as surplus vertical inches don't exactly make for fast times on the flat.

But longer legs to get more muscle on.

Some of the high end Mavics have a very Castelli-free like bib design. I'd covinced myself that my next pair of decent shorts would have to be like that as my tummy gets a bit bloated on long rides. However, they are all £120+. Anyone have any idea when the pound is going to stop being so pathetic :roll: :roll:

Are you drinking too much fluid?[/quote]

I might be drinking too much, as I don't sweat as much as some, but 1.5 litres in 4 hours doesn't seem crazy, and I wasn't weeing clear and copious when I got back. Not sure really, I am a bit new to all this so I need to experiment. My other possibles were:
a) pushing reasonably hard and therefore not much blood going to gut
b) drinking pure water (fuel from food) and thus not absorbing particularly efficiently
c) eating too much "real food" that bloated me (eg Pb/jam sandwich).

Hmmm....

roger_merriman

i'm presently manfully guarding the rear, should have another go soon, it's a lot easier clockwise, at least in terms of effort, mainly darkhill which i can spin up compared to broomhill where i can feel every pound extra i have trying to pull me back....

jonginge

roger merriman wrote:

i'm presently manfully guarding the rear, should have another go soon, it's a lot easier clockwise, at least in terms of effort, mainly darkhill which i can spin up compared to broomhill where i can feel every pound extra i have trying to pull me back....

You mean anti. However, going anti-clockwise leaves you much more to the mercy of the wind direction. It's hard work if you have a headwind going up Sawyers hill (the drag between sheen and richmond gates). Tailwinds along that section lead to fast times: see wed-thurs last week on the challenge thread.

Bassjunkieuk

I know this is WAY OT, but I'm assuming weeing a lot is a sign that you've drunken to much during a ride? I only ask as I'm still learning about how I need to fuel myself - but after last years Capital to Coast ride, during which I did drink quite a bit, I was visiting the little boys room quite a bit! I think last year I had a 2 litre hydration pack and my normal drinks bottle (about 500ml? - one of the freebie Evan's ones) and I think I refilled both at the mid-ride break.

I'm thinking of getting another drinks bottle holder before the ride this year and picking up one of those SIS packs with free bottle from Evans, as I want to travel sans backpack if possible!

RM - Just noticed your also doing the C2C this year, what time are you hoping to leave Esher and are you racing down or enjoying the ride?

il_principe

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

I know this is WAY OT, but I'm assuming weeing a lot is a sign that you've drunken to much during a ride? I only ask as I'm still learning about how I need to fuel myself - but after last years Capital to Coast ride, during which I did drink quite a bit, I was visiting the little boys room quite a bit! I think last year I had a 2 litre hydration pack and my normal drinks bottle (about 500ml? - one of the freebie Evan's ones) and I think I refilled both at the mid-ride break.

I'm thinking of getting another drinks bottle holder before the ride this year and picking up one of those SIS packs with free bottle from Evans, as I want to travel sans backpack if possible!

RM - Just noticed your also doing the C2C this year, what time are you hoping to leave Esher and are you racing down or enjoying the ride?

I'd suggest that if you are p1$$1ng a lot then perhaps you could do with working harder? Sweat more p1ss less! I wouldn't recommend drinking less - if you're thirsty then drink.

What is c2c, 60 miles? I did 60 miles on sat and got through 2 500mil bottles. If it was hotter I might take 2 750's instead, but you shouldn't need much more than that. I'd suggest filling 1 bottle with electrolyte fluid (is use Nunn Kola tablets) and another with plain water (or energy drink). I certainly wouldn't ever use a hydration pack, don't want to be carrying anything on my back.

Bassjunkieuk

Cheers JA, I was expecting a few comments along the lines of "MTFU, pedal faster and you'll need that extra fluid!!!!"

Got a 750ml water bottle and an assortment of energy powders/gels/bars winging their way towards me now so I just need to grab another drinks bottle cage!
The C2C is indeed 60 miles and I'm *hoping* to get a few rides of that distance or greater completed on some weekends between now and then, I might even join you for a jaunt into the Surrey Hills if I can get a day's reprieve :-) I'll try not to slow you down too much!

il_principe

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Cheers JA, I was expecting a few comments along the lines of "MTFU, pedal faster and you'll need that extra fluid!!!!"

Got a 750ml water bottle and an assortment of energy powders/gels/bars winging their way towards me now so I just need to grab another drinks bottle cage!
The C2C is indeed 60 miles and I'm *hoping* to get a few rides of that distance or greater completed on some weekends between now and then, I might even join you for a jaunt into the Surrey Hills if I can get a day's reprieve :-) I'll try not to slow you down too much!

You'd be very welcome. Not sure you'd slow me down though! I'll be going pretty much every weekend that offers non rainy weather!

attica

+1 for Nuun Kona Cola, bought some last week and I'm addicted already.

@Bassjunkie, I tend to take a bottle of Nuun (electrolyte drink) and a bottle of SIS Go (Energy drink with electrolytes) and mix and match between the two, you need to experiment with what works for you, try lots of different combinations.

A word of warning though, only experiment during training rides, there's nothing worse than trying to be competitive whilst drinking something that is upsetting your stomach or that tastes horrible, same goes for gels and anything else you eat.