Silly commuting racing

itboffin

And the stages are reduced to 10 miles, then yes we'd clean up

redvee

Had a single finger salute today on the way home from a tincan inhabitant . As I approached a junction I could see a failed attempt at a left hook from the TCI and the near victim. As the car managed to complete the turn I caught his vision and shook my head and was rewarded with the single finger salute :x . The girl on the bike explained what happened and I couldn't offer anything other than 'I know, it happens far too often', apart from wasting some adrenalin and shortening the lifespan of her brake pads she escaped unharmed.

DiggingDeeper

Greg T wrote:

and have a full view of the living room.....
Where I'd parked my bike

GregT you are a criminal.

Obviously not for parking your steed indoors,
..........................but getting caught, unforgivable


I have endless discussions with her indoors about my bike being indoors (it's in the shed tonight!)

Christophe3967

Greg T wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

including a lycra-ed roadie puffing along at a good speed on his drops, who looked at me with the horror of a man who's just realised he's middle-aged

I must look like that all the time....

Personally I don't think it's a laughing matter.

On a sadder note I have to inform the bretheren (what's the burd equiv?) of a domestic situation that means that I'm going to be living on my own for a while.

Mrs T and daughter Bianchi have had an extended stay in Aus whilst I came home to you know - work and stuff.

Anyway - I took the opportunity to do one or two things that I shouldn't and I've been caught out.

I blame Skype - that clever tinterweb video calling thingy - I thought I'd cleaned up all the evidence and was diligent in getting rid of anything that would have given my transgressions away - however I forgot about the mirror on the wall and the fact that you can see into it via the web cam and have a full view of the living room.....



Where I'd parked my bike

I'm now in the merde big style and have had to banish the bike to the garage where I just know it's not as warm and comfy.

Don't worry I'll make sure I break the news to it gently.

Wimmin need to understand a few things. When they're away what 's wrong with a little company for goodness sake ?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35118936@N ... 407121113/

Bassjunkieuk

I took my planned diversion in this evening on the drive home and boy was I glad I did! For those who missed my earlier post I was determined to see what Titsey Hill near Warlingham is like as its one that is included in the upcoming King of the Downs sportives and used as a club hill climb challenge, it's also within a reasonable distance from where I live!

Having already eye-balled a route from the M25 (I'm in the car this week...........don't burn me!!) I asked the shat-nav to work it's magic and take me there.......I duly followed and it managed to lead me to the top of the hill! It wasn't all bad tho as I'd taken in some great roads and the route it took me on was fairly staight forward so I carried on along Clarks Lane (practically flat) until I saw a road that went off the right that appeared to join Titsey Hill (White Lane I latter discovering on Google Maps). GOD DAMN! That would be a rather nice little climb on the bike, I had to ride the brakes in the car to get down there safely :-)
I turned right and picked up Titsey Hill at what appears to be the half way point and then followed a fairly straight forward route back to some roads I recognized!
A quick check on TFL map no. 13 (I think) and I could re-trace the route I took, which is good as I'm usually terrible with routes until I see them on a map proper!

Next step is going to be getting down there on a bike! I was also rather jealous of the old roadie I saw heading down towards the hill on my way home, it was such a lovely evening I really didn't want to be in the car!!!

biondino

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

I(I'm in the car this week...........don't burn me!!)

You're a good looking chap but I don't want to bum you.

cjcp

Right, off to Belgium for some weekend SCR action with the crazy Belgies. (It's an early season SCR training camp for life on the Embankment.) And to drink much Belgian beer.:-)

Will post some pics on Monday, which will hopefully include some shots of the pro race on Sunday.

Good w/e all.

gb155

cjcp wrote:

Right, off to Belgium for some weekend SCR action with the crazy Belgies. (It's an early season SCR training camp for life on the Embankment.) And to drink much Belgian beer.:-)

Will post some pics on Monday, which will hopefully include some shots of the pro race on Sunday.

Good w/e all.

Sounds cool, Have a good one mate.

Got scalped last night by a roadie, Actually it was hard going, nice and warm and bright but everytime I hit 14mph I got a hell of a head wind, I was buggered when I got back

Looks much colder this morning though :?

Bassjunkieuk

biondino wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

I(I'm in the car this week...........don't burn me!!)

You're a good looking chap but I don't want to bum you.

Ya know I actually had to re-read what I typed *just* to make sure I had actually put burn........but i guess yes in a custom numberplate stylee of writing the "r" and "n" so close together could be mistaken for an "m"
On the subject of custom plates and as it is Friday, here's something to raise a smile.......



Only in America........

lost_in_thought

Well the drinkin' I did last night had a negative impact on the cyclin' I did this morning!

Nonetheless, I scalped one of my regulars on a Langster, but speeds seemed less than impressive. I say seemed, because in my near catatonic state I forgot to put the comp on.

I also forgot to check the outdoor temperature before I get dressed, it's not really short-sleeved jersey weather... but I WTFU'd. Take note, pansies.

londonlivvy

I overtook both cyclists I saw this morning (a fast hybrid and a tourer) but as I was on my race bike I don't think either count as a scalp?

Tis a shame there are so few cyclists on my route as this SCR malarky definitely makes me try harder. Maybe I'll have to try a long detour into work via the Embankment just to perk up my cycling mojo...

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

Right, off to Belgium for some weekend SCR action with the crazy Belgies. (It's an early season SCR training camp for life on the Embankment.) And to drink much Belgian beer.:-)

Will post some pics on Monday, which will hopefully include some shots of the pro race on Sunday.

Good w/e all.

Happy Ronde-ing.

Christophe3967

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

I took my planned diversion in this evening on the drive home and boy was I glad I did! For those who missed my earlier post I was determined to see what Titsey Hill near Warlingham is like as its one that is included in the upcoming King of the Downs sportives and used as a club hill climb challenge, it's also within a reasonable distance from where I live!

Having already eye-balled a route from the M25 (I'm in the car this week...........don't burn me!!) I asked the shat-nav to work it's magic and take me there.......I duly followed and it managed to lead me to the top of the hill! It wasn't all bad tho as I'd taken in some great roads and the route it took me on was fairly staight forward so I carried on along Clarks Lane (practically flat) until I saw a road that went off the right that appeared to join Titsey Hill (White Lane I latter discovering on Google Maps). GOD DAMN! That would be a rather nice little climb on the bike, I had to ride the brakes in the car to get down there safely :-)
I turned right and picked up Titsey Hill at what appears to be the half way point and then followed a fairly straight forward route back to some roads I recognized!
A quick check on TFL map no. 13 (I think) and I could re-trace the route I took, which is good as I'm usually terrible with routes until I see them on a map proper!

Next step is going to be getting down there on a bike! I was also rather jealous of the old roadie I saw heading down towards the hill on my way home, it was such a lovely evening I really didn't want to be in the car!!!

Hmm, not sure whether I should be worried or not as I'm doing that as well.

After LiT's disparaging remarks on the subject of , erm older people, had to go to battle stations twice this morning, neither one in the first flush of youth. At the lights at Hyde Park Corner I sensed something behind me and a quick glance was enough to realise my worse fears. The hairs on the back of my neck were up, my blood ran cold and my throat went dry. It was a recumbent - I’ve seen this guy before and he’s quick. :evil:

The lights change and I’m off but we hit a red at the top of Constitution Hill and he takes a better line round a dozy police car and is away down the hill. I just about manage to nose in front of him at Buck House, where fortunately our paths diverged. The next one was on Victoria Embankment, which is new terrain for me, so still sussing out the lie of the land. A messenger with thighs of Hoy, on a Bianchi fixie, took a better line through some slow moving traffic and was away at a steady 38 kph. Foolishly, I rose to the bait but he was waiting for me and switched on the afterburners. I tucked in behind him as we clicked up past 45. I was relieved when he swung off before the underpass, grinning broadly at me as if to say he had more in the tank.

Now, I like a fight as much as the next man, but I don’t understand why they seem to be harder when there’s grey hair involved. :?

@CJCP - good luck in Flanders!

gtvlusso

Can I have extra points for a scalping a dude on a full carbon Pinarello in team kit? I was on an old fixie, in my shorts and trainers! It was on a hill too!

He got me back, eventually, but then I got him again at a round-a-bout and did not see him after that!

I felt like a king - just for a couple of minutes!

Bassjunkieuk

gtvlusso wrote:

Can I have extra points for a scalping a dude on a full carbon Pinarello in team kit? I was on an old fixie, in my shorts and trainers! It was on a hill too!

He got me back, eventually, but then I got him again at a round-a-bout and did not see him after that!

I felt like a king - just for a couple of minutes!

Chapeau! Even if your on a recovery ride on a bike like that you must have some pride!!

@C3967 - Do u mean your doing that sportive or just hunting out hills? I don't think I'm quite up to the standard for that ride yet as doing the half ride just isn't an option really but I don't think I've got the time to put in training for a 100+ mile slog through the hills - maybe next year if they run it again!

Christophe3967

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

Can I have extra points for a scalping a dude on a full carbon Pinarello in team kit? I was on an old fixie, in my shorts and trainers! It was on a hill too!

He got me back, eventually, but then I got him again at a round-a-bout and did not see him after that!

I felt like a king - just for a couple of minutes!

Chapeau! Even if your on a recovery ride on a bike like that you must have some pride!!

@C3967 - Do u mean your doing that sportive or just hunting out hills? I don't think I'm quite up to the standard for that ride yet as doing the half ride just isn't an option really but I don't think I've got the time to put in training for a 100+ mile slog through the hills - maybe next year if they run it again!

I'm doing the sportive as a rehearsal for the Dragon Ride - fingers crossed.

DonDaddyD

Dondaddyd wrote:

There is no greater pleasure than scalping a person on the same bike as yourself. With all things equal taking their scalp means you are better than them. It is glorious.

The above happened yesterday Morning so yesterday evening you can't imagine the glee on my face as I encountered the same guy (bearded dude) on a '08 Giant SCR 3, he has an AS Roma sticker over the top tube.

Balham to Tooting drag strip (which was amazingly clear) and beardy and I are stopped at the lights. I look at him and smile, he clearly ignores me. There are other cyclists around but they don't matter, its just me and him.

Green

He pelts off, everyone is going fairly fast and I sprint to chase him down. I remind myself about the Good scalping speed thread and think to myself 'this guy is clearly trying'. I look down to check the cycle computer and am startled to find that we are around the 27 - 28mph mark and still going. He'd constantly looking down at his computer to check his speed.

Cars are indicating either side of the road so I stop pedalling to negotiate this and then once past this I'm back on the power and take him at 28.4mph. I pretend not to look and not to be bothered. I pull up at the lights and even though I'm happy I still had this underlying thought of "you Pr!ck" about myself.

Still I scalped him good.

Bassjunkieuk

@DDD I think I've only ever found 2 other people on the same SCR model as mine but have seen quite a few on the SCR 2.0 from the same year as mine and it's rather satisfying to dump them! I guess the best analogy to this is touring car racing where each driver has a car that is approximately the same and the winning comes down to the individual drivers skills in eeking that little bit of extra speed out of the same equipment as the guy behind you!

cjcp

Oh my good golly God, it's better out here than I remember! :-)

Done the last two cobbled climbs - the Muur and Bosberg - this pm. Had a 30 mile pootle to and from registration. Sun is shining, but not sure what the weather's like tomorrow. HR got up to 187 on the Muur. Got some shots, but better ones tomorrow hopefully.

Cheers Christophe, GB155 and JG.:-)

lost_in_thought

Hope the thing with the cobbles was good CJ!

Weird ride in this morning, was up at 6 driving back to London from Essex, then hopped on the bike. Just seemed to be a bit dead-legged, barely got above 23mph the whole way in.

Luckily, everyone else I saw seemed to be having the same problem, so their speed was proportionally lessened, which meant I wasn't scalped.

Phew. :oops:

itboffin

Yesterday towards the end of my ride I pulled in to a side turning to check my speed/distance and to my surprise another cyclist (rare) was just coming up the lane :shock: this is rare! hello's exchanged then he turns left onto the main road, my direction home, I put my phone away and watch him disappearing into the distance, I waited until he just gone out of sight then jumped back on the bike and storm off after him, quickly spinning up to the low 20's (single speed) it's not long before he's back in sight and i'm gaining ground very quickly :twisted: - some things wrong here i'm gaining way too quickly before I know it I'm on his tail, his scalp held in my left hand ready to be ripped from his dome and what does he do???

He stops dead and takes out a map :evil: :evil: :evil:

Foiled

Christophe3967

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hope the thing with the cobbles was good CJ!

Weird ride in this morning, was up at 6 driving back to London from Essex, then hopped on the bike. Just seemed to be a bit dead-legged, barely got above 23mph the whole way in.

Luckily, everyone else I saw seemed to be having the same problem, so their speed was proportionally lessened, which meant I wasn't scalped.

Phew. :oops:

Clearly a general affliction - I put my problem down to a weekend spent moving trees (I know, they're bound to die, but I don't make these decisions). This left me almost embarrassed by a dude on a MTB wearing jeans. Some consolation later provided by a rather nice Seven. Somewhat taken aback to discover I'd made it in in 48.38, almost 3 minutes below par. :?

Bassjunkieuk

God this morning couldn't have come quick enough! Due to a rather unfortunate accident after the wife slipped down the stairs on Friday she has been having some bad back problems so my hopes of nipping out on Sundat morning where thwarted, meaning this morning was my first chance for a blast on the bike!

Got outside and found all the roadworks signs up and remembered that they are doing gas mains works that should last 5 MONTHS on the main road near me.........great fun!
I took my usual route round to the main road and joined up near one of the new sets of temporary lights and saw a rather quick looking cyclist disappearing off down the road that I want to head down. My lights are red so I wait patiently for my time to pounce!

Lights go green and I'm off, a week in the car means I have plenty of energy to burn!! The road ahead has been made one way which means I don't have my usual fight for space (that along with the school holidays!) and I can wind up the speed nicely, cresting the railway bridge I can just see my foe ahead. The distance is reducing at a steady rate and by the time I hit the lights near halfords I've caught up enough to get a look at his stead.
Flat barred roadie :-) Technically not above me but he looked like a more dedicated rider with his lycra and toe clips. He was quickly dispatched after I let the car chomping at my rear wheel pass. Blasted the rest of the way in and got to work nice and warm, which was excellent as it was my first ride in with shorts and t-shirt!

I'm thinking of extending the route home, especially as part of the return journey is now on the new one-way stretch.........not quite sure if I could argue that I needed to divert to far tho!

lost_in_thought

Ooohhhhhhhh it's the school holidays!

I wondered where all the numpties had gone. Almost nobody tried to kill me this morning...

Bassjunkieuk

lost_in_thought wrote:

Ooohhhhhhhh it's the school holidays!

I wondered where all the numpties had gone. Almost nobody tried to kill me this morning...

I only have today and tomorrow to enjoy the quiet roads as I start my easter break on the 8th, to coincide with the mini BJUK's 1st bday :-)

vorsprung

The school hols aren't all good

I have to drop off junior to various relatives houses on the way to work. So it's car all week for me

biondino

An au pair walked her two tiny charges out in front of me this morning without bothering to look left. Thankfully I was about 15 feet away so managed to slow down shouting "watch out" (you can tell I was far enough away, otherwise it would have been more like "NOOOOOOOOOOO*crunch*"), but come on, you've got kids to look after, and they're not even your own!

I'd forgotten about school holidays, but always assumed that leaving the house at 9.20 meant I missed the school run buffoons in any case. Perhaps it takes hours for traffic to calm down after the run?

cjcp

I was scalped all over the shop this morning. Roadies (inc. one girl), hybrids, mtbers. The only consolation was that I was in no way trying, albeit through gritted teeth at one stage: I am on "active recovery" after the beating I received from the cobbles.

I managed to beat my 2007 time by around an hour I think and the two beers and two hot dogs I had after the finish were very welcome (note to self: eat more during long rides and you might not pedal squares up the last climb :? ).

I swear they added some more flat, cobbled sections in the first 15 miles - another three miles of the stuff - but they were great fun. Was much more confident over the cobbles this time around and really went for it (you should see some of the good Belgies go though on the flat cobbles. :shock: ).

I did think that Christophe's commute camera would produce some very amusing footage.

The downside was that my bike computer quite literally had the life shaken out of it: it stopped working. I got it going again, but it stopped again after another section of cobbles. Not before, however, I had clocked 40.6 mph on a straight, downhill cobbled section, but, unfortunately, before the most glorious downhill on smooth tarmac. I clocked 43.5 on shorter descent before the final climb on the ride out to registration on Friday yesterday and this longer descent felt much faster. I'd like to think that I came very close to 50 - a PB for me - but will never know. Plums.

Very pleased with the ride though. Seriously recommend this event.

jonginge

Hurrah for CJ.
Watched the last couple of hours of the Ronde on t'interweb. Fantastic stuff. Watching Boonen, Pozzato trading sprints up subsequent hellingen was amazing. And Devolder up the Muur... :shock:

Want to do the sportive next year. OK, so it doesn't quite match my characteristics* but it does look fun


* as the pros say

cjcp

JonGinge wrote:

Watched the last couple of hours of the Ronde on t'interweb. Fantastic stuff. Watching Boonen, Pozzato trading sprints up subsequent hellingen was amazing. And Devolder up the Muur... :shock:

We were in the lower part of the square, before they reach the Muur proper. The speed these guys go is something to behold. We were at the top of the Muur when Nicole Cooke went through though. She was shifting too!

My HR got up to 187 on a clear run up the Muur after doing the full stretch from the bottom on the Friday (you approach it from a different route on the sportive, although the street climb leading up to it is arguably steeper, just doesn't have the cobbles). It hit 183 on the Koppenberg, but would've been closer to 190 if I'd had a clear run - didn't have to walk though - I followed this French guy up the middle of the climb while he was politely, but assertively, requesting the walkers to get out of the way. I rolled up to him at the top and gave him a big pat on the back for "ploughing the road". That was luck of the draw though. The other side of the coin was that I fell off on the Muur because a chap in front of me just stopped and I didn't have the energy to change direction quickly enough. :oops:

Actually, now I think about it, a chap on the steep street climb up to the Muur stopped pedalling altogether - I think because his chain slipped - and the bike (and stem) rolled backwards into him. You can guess the first point of contact. :shock:

Want to do the sportive next year. OK, so it doesn't quite match my characteristics* but it does look fun

Au contraire, those steep climbs are ideally suited for someone like you. You have no excuses.