Silly commuting racing

Christophe3967

cjcp wrote:

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.

Fantastic. Sounds like you had a blast. Chapeau

gtvlusso

Still not been overtaken.....Haedwind today though, so I am surprised that someone did not pass me!

Eat My Dust

This is my best scalp for a few weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUirzhOjCAk

Although he did catch up at the lights!

benno68

Eat My Dust wrote:

This is my best scalp for a few weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUirzhOjCAk

Although he did catch up at the lights!

Good effort! I felt it at 0:18 seonds in and almost shouted "go on my son" but just about held onto it (I'm in work)

What speed did you get up to?

Eat My Dust

Benno68 wrote:

Good effort! I felt it at 0:18 seonds in and almost shouted "go on my son" but just about held onto it (I'm in work)

What speed did you get up to?

On that bit of road it's usually just under 30 mph. This bit of my commute is about a mile further up the road http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p43ZxvzBRfw TBH I only see other cyclists very rarely on my commute, so have to race cars/buses/HGVs!!

nation

I nearly burst a lung trying to chase down a guy wearing hi-viz who was consistently a corner ahead of me today. I thought it was someone I see sometimes riding a Brompton with one of those big carradice saddlebags, so I was a little surprised that I was ripping the heart out of my chest and still failing to catch him up.

Then I hit the heavy traffic about a mile from home and realised it was a motorbike with a big bundle strapped to the saddle. :oops:

So, a failed scalp, but a glorious one, I think.

Bassjunkieuk

Good work nation and EMD, I also found myself giving you a "go on!" as you move over to come past :-)

Due to some road works causing all hell in my area (see my first post today) I had to change my route home to avoid a newly created one-way section. This meant I got to use the lovely cycle network from central Croydon towards Crystal Palace/Selhurst. The first bit went quite well, even tho I did have to yell at some blonde bimbo in her Focus who seemed unaware that it's generally considered good road manners to indicate when you want to turn right across someone's path..........I was far enough back to not be in any danger but I *think* she might have heard me shout at her "Your meant to indicate" - I'm damn sure the peds did :oops:

Anyhow as this commute is my shortest at just over 2 miles it's usually a balls out (proverbially) blast from end-to-end, so still on a bit of an adrenaline buzz I was flying when I hit a clearer stretch of road near home. I could see a car and a scooter ahead and set about ripping them apart..........the car was despatched at about 26mph and the scooter succumbed at around 28mph. I made a point of looking at the car driver as I went past but the scooter driver had a helmet on with dark visor.......damn shame as I'd love to have seen his face :-D Plenty of traffic as I got closer to home with all the new temp lights everywhere, not that it poses to much of an issue for someone with 2 fewer wheels :-)

biondino

I've lost count of my personal best for the commute, but tonight I managed a 51.51 for the round trip which is either my best or my second best - I tried searching BR to see what my previous record was but no luck. And considering I got no help from the wind in either direction (no hindrance either), and did a 56 mile ride yesterday, that's pretty pleasing! Thanks, school holidays

Christophe3967

Vic Embankment closed this evening for some reason - police weren't letting anybody through so pootled around to Traf Sq and up the Mall to Hyde Park and Notting Hill . Parks were pretty full but still got home in good time as everyone appears to have left London for the holidays.

@EMD - good work there. I nearly scalped a Ferrari on Friday but he spotted me just in time, though his mind appeared to be more on his passenger than the road... :oops:

DiggingDeeper

Yes the school holidays were marvellous today, didn't have to sort nipper out this am as er indoors is a teacher so just straight out and at it.

Foolishly decided to put the computer on mileage rather than time. Got to work in 39.01, aargh 2 seconds off pipping the 39 min barrier. Only done that once and that was at 9pm with no traffic and on the carbon, not me normal commuter.

Reasonable day in work and low and behold get 3 tasty geezers on the way home to battle with. It seriously sorts your time out when you get some decent opposition. The hybrid man out of Holloway was holding 21mph for ages - respect (fat tyre rusty heavy monster type, the bike not the rider!)

Home was 30 seconds longer on a slighltly longer journey, so hurrah 2 x 39min rides,a personal first for me (23 mile round trip)

The last scalp was some lycra roadie who I had to catch up 300 yards or so then drafted me for about half a mile before turning off just as we start to attack Chingford Hill. Hills are not my forte but this is short but steep and I was going to fiight. I rather wished he had a go up that hill. His drafting was definitely in the personal body space zone I felt. I must have pissed him off but he either was simply bone idle or didn't have the gumption to have a go. He looked as though he should have done me.

jonginge

Christophe3967 wrote:

Vic Embankment closed this evening for some reason - police weren't letting anybody through so pootled around to Traf Sq and up the Mall to Hyde Park and Notting Hill . Parks were pretty full but still got home in good time as everyone appears to have left London for the holidays.

@EMD - good work there. I nearly scalped a Ferrari on Friday but he spotted me just in time, though his mind appeared to be more on his passenger than the road... :oops:

There was a demonstration outside parliament. The police confined it between Parliament Sq and westminster bridge. Apart from that it was a pleasant ride home. Seemed to catch virtually every red light but the weather and almost getting home in the light made up for that.

cjcp

Eat My Dust wrote:

Benno68 wrote:

Good effort! I felt it at 0:18 seonds in and almost shouted "go on my son" but just about held onto it (I'm in work)

What speed did you get up to?

On that bit of road it's usually just under 30 mph. This bit of my commute is about a mile further up the road http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p43ZxvzBRfw TBH I only see other cyclists very rarely on my commute, so have to race cars/buses/HGVs!!

Yep, you certainly seemed to be shifting! Good effort.

Bassjunkieuk

cjcp wrote:

Eat My Dust wrote:

Benno68 wrote:

Good effort! I felt it at 0:18 seonds in and almost shouted "go on my son" but just about held onto it (I'm in work)

What speed did you get up to?

On that bit of road it's usually just under 30 mph. This bit of my commute is about a mile further up the road http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p43ZxvzBRfw TBH I only see other cyclists very rarely on my commute, so have to race cars/buses/HGVs!!

Yep, you certainly seemed to be shifting! Good effort.

+1: That speed camera about 2/3 down seems to be a nice big carrot - ever managed to set it off?? I have one that I always try to activate on one of my routes home but haven't quite managed it yet ;-)
Of course it's all for nought as I don't have my address printed on my bag

Christophe3967

Quiet run in again this morning - Vic Embankment still closed so a possible PB ruined - thanks for nuffin, protestors. Just the one scalp - a Mercedes CLK 270 along Birdcage Walk. The speed bump half way along there is quite useful

Greg T

I got my arms out for the first time last night - luckily I had thought that the weather may finally allow it so had shaved them over the weekend..

The Embankment was stacked with bikes this morning -seriously hundreds. The Protests at HoP must have created some kind of two wheeled wave effect as it was bike city from Hop all the way to Blackfriars underpass where I broke free in a one man breakaway and sprinted for Tower Hill.

Lights!

Argh

I had to destroy and reap the soul of a guy on Tower Hill who nipped ahead of me from the off as I was overcoming my clipping in yips - It sounds like ripping apart two very broad velcro strips using shire horses.

I also put on a firepower display for a guy closer to home who had a fixed with itsy bitsy bars and mud guards - I thought they were mutually exclusive?

Anyhoo he was making the point of getting ahead of me at three sets of lights after I'd done him so I had to go berserker down Queens Ride using the Bolan Death Bridge as a sling shot.

gtvlusso

Only the 3 this morning - nice ride in......thats it!

cjcp

Lots of bikes this morning, but still in recovery, so not really engaging the enemy.

Also had a visit from the fairy this morning in RP. Went flat in seconds. Looks like I didn't fit the tube properly when fitting the tyres last night. Double :x

I've noticed that despite the heavy police presence, they don't seem to have any officers dedicated to directing traffic, leaving traffic (inc. HGVs and coaches) from all directions to block up the junction. :?

lost_in_thought

There was not a great deal about this morning, was there?

However, I have a sad tale to tell... Going along, decent speed, stopped at a long-ish light in Acton. Was a bit off the ball, heard a car go, and realised light was green. 'Ah,' I thought, 'best be off then', and a guy on a flat bar roadie (genesis something-or-other) goes past!

Noooooooo!

Technically, he's higher up the food chain than I am: no luggage, lycra, gears; but I still don't like being passed, even when I am stopped at a set of lights.

So off I went in pursuit of my scalp (sort of). Reeled him back in, then passed him at about 23mph. Red light, he barely pauses, and goes straight through it. Mutter mutter. So I reel him back in again, pass him again, then a green ahead which has just changed, cars everywhere changing lanes and things.

It's an annoying light, to make it through the traffic to the front before it changes is often a challenge, especially as cars can turn left and right but there are only 2 lanes you have to be careful.

Well, I do. One of my hobbies is having intact bones.

He clearly had no interest in skeletal wellbeing, as he shot through, being narrowly missed left, right and centre, causing lots of beeping and stopping. The bad filtering fairy has waved her wand at me, and the light is red by the time I get to the front of the queue.

Damn it. Scalp for him? I think not. But he still got away. :x

Greg T

lost_in_thought wrote:

Damn it. Scalp for him? I think not. But he still got away. :x

I sense anger and frustration in you since your return from far off places....

I suggest some quiet contemplation followed by some killer high gear hill reps. Try staying off red meat for a while and listening to whale song and eating green vegetables.

Other Greg swears by the Spa at the Dorchester (they do nails too - so he tells me) to balance his karma.

lost_in_thought

Greg T wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Damn it. Scalp for him? I think not. But he still got away. :x

I sense anger and frustration in you since your return from far off places....

I suggest some quiet contemplation followed by some killer high gear hill reps. Try staying off red meat for a while and listening to whale song and eating green vegetables.

Other Greg swears by the Spa at the Dorchester (they do nails too - so he tells me) to balance his karma.

Ahhhhhh so that's where he is. Gone all karmic and given up on the game... you start with Pilates and it's a slippery slope from there.

I was trying to dish out some vigilante justice for the RLJ-ing, you see... war on bad cycling, hence the anger!

il_principe

Wow, some activity this morning, perhaps peeps taking a detour thanks to bridge closures. Scalped 2 roadies and 3 ss'ers. No one put up much of a fight though, well, one bloke tried to get on my tail but I implemented my "Seated Sprint"tm and left him for dead.

Going to Sussex for the weekend and it looks like there's no way of getting the bike down there (short of coughing up over £200 fir a hire car). Not happy at all.

DonDaddyD

After a cassette change and the original Alex DA22 rear wheel back on my bike - the Fulcrums freewheel hubs tendancy to spin both ways was becoming too dangerous to ride in traffic - I felt the thunder for the first time in a good long while.

With a proper working hub and a clean cassette the low 20mph were easily in reach as I dispatched many a cyclist.

Also I've finally been able to figure out the middle three gear inches I've been riding the most (LiT don't laugh):

53x21t = 66.3inches (the one I ride the most)
53x19t= 73.3inches (the one I scalp with)
53x17t = 81.9inches (Cog of Ultimate Doom)

Is the above good or bad? I have no concept of gear inches.

I've got a further 15t, 13t and 12t cogs on the back but I can usually get close to the middle/uppers of 20mph on the 17 and that's fine for me.

biondino

Not even close to being scalped, LiT. A victory on points for you if anything.

Another chapeau from me, to the chap from Richmond on the hefty black commuter with red panniers and a rubber frog attached to them (!).

From Fulham to the Mall we kept pace with each other, sharing turns at the front (though I don't think he drafted me and I kept a couple of yards back from him for the most part), and he definitely kept me honest - two or three times I pull away at 23/24mph on a nice long bit of scalping-road, only to find he's stuck with me with apparent ease. When he gets ahead, he's doing the same speed, and it's all I can do to keep up with him. I congratulate him on his pace outside Buck House, and he puts it down to the weight of his bike!

So thanks fella - definitely kept me a couple of mph faster than I'd normally go. And he stopped at every red light and zebra crossing, too!

jonginge

Those protesters are messy, hey? Rubbish was virtually the only thing rolling along the upper end of vicky embankment.

Need a holiday. One mildy difficult ride and my cold comes back. Gah!
Anyway, enough moping, Chelsea embankment was fun this morning. There was a quite rapid chap who'd obviously got a bit annoyed by all the other bikes so the hammer was down. Slowly caught the pack of his followers on the rise up to Chelsea br and overtook on the downhill after. Their leader drafted a big van north of 32mph. I took it as a challenge to try and keep up on the inside lane out of the van's draft. Success! Leader had shot his bolt and was nowhere up millbank. Huzzah.

Now excuse me while I find some strepsils :evil:

il_principe

DonDaddyD wrote:

After a cassette change and the original Alex DA22 rear wheel back on my bike - the Fulcrums freewheel hubs tendency to spin both ways was becoming too dangerous to ride in traffic - I felt the thunder for the first time in a good long while.

Please explain!

jonginge

jashburnham wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

After a cassette change and the original Alex DA22 rear wheel back on my bike - the Fulcrums freewheel hubs tendency to spin both ways was becoming too dangerous to ride in traffic - I felt the thunder for the first time in a good long while.

Please explain!

DDD has some sticky pawls

Christophe3967

jashburnham wrote:

Wow, some activity this morning, perhaps peeps taking a detour thanks to bridge closures. Scalped 2 roadies and 3 ss'ers. No one put up much of a fight though, well, one bloke tried to get on my tail but I implemented my "Seated Sprint"tm and left him for dead.

Going to Sussex for the weekend and it looks like there's no way of getting the bike down there (short of coughing up over £200 fir a hire car). Not happy at all.

Why not cycle down in that case? I thought that you could take bikes on the train to Brighton as long as it wasn't arriving before 19.00?

il_principe

JonGinge wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

After a cassette change and the original Alex DA22 rear wheel back on my bike - the Fulcrums freewheel hubs tendency to spin both ways was becoming too dangerous to ride in traffic - I felt the thunder for the first time in a good long while.

Please explain!

DDD has some sticky pawls

Fulcrums, going wrong?

DOES NOT COMPUTE.

lost_in_thought

DonDaddyD wrote:

After a cassette change and the original Alex DA22 rear wheel back on my bike - the Fulcrums freewheel hubs tendancy to spin both ways was becoming too dangerous to ride in traffic - I felt the thunder for the first time in a good long while.

With a proper working hub and a clean cassette the low 20mph were easily in reach as I dispatched many a cyclist.

Also I've finally been able to figure out the middle three gear inches I've been riding the most (LiT don't laugh):

53x21t = 66.3inches (the one I ride the most)
53x19t= 73.3inches (the one I scalp with)
53x17t = 81.9inches (Cog of Ultimate Doom)

Is the above good or bad? I have no concept of gear inches.

I've got a further 15t, 13t and 12t cogs on the back but I can usually get close to the middle/uppers of 20mph on the 17 and that's fine for me.

DDD what are you on about with the 'spin both ways' thing? Do not get.

For the GI, much as I jest about it, there is no such thing as a 'good' or a 'bad', only what's right for you.

If you're happy with your gears, stick with them. If you want to build up strength or spin faster, modify accordingly. I am riding around in 88.7 at the minute, but am planning to vary that a bit more than I did last year.

lost_in_thought

jashburnham wrote:

Going to Sussex for the weekend and it looks like there's no way of getting the bike down there (short of coughing up over £200 fir a hire car). Not happy at all.

If you'd mentioned this sooner you could have borrowed... next time PM me!