Silly commuting racing

jonginge

Headhuunter wrote:

Well, after months and months of not getting involved in this SCR thing, I thought I'd have a look at what you are all on about here. As the fair weather London cyclists dust their bikes off for the summer, I find I am no longer one of the only cyclists on the road as I commute in, in fact I must be regularly passing 20 or so cyclists, mostly on hybrids or sus MTBs etc. Every now and then though I end up in an epic battle with someone lycra-d up and on some fancy road bike or a fixie. I usually manage to hold them off but it definitely gets the pulse going!

For my commute I ride a cheapo Halfords alu framed Apollo road bike with Sora shifters but all other parts are generic Shimano stuff. I carry a rucksack which weighs between 5 and 15kg depending on what I am carting about with me. I did score myself up once but I can't remember what it was. How do I work it out again?

BTW do any of you lot commute in along the Old Kent Road, cross London Bridge, through the City? I'm wondering if I have "scalped" a few of you....!

Sounds like good sh!t but doping for SCR is not cool

il_principe

cjcp wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

I nearly died holding off a geared roadie this am. 4 days off the bike and copious levels of troughing at the familial home have given my legs the power and consistency of jelly! No helped by the fact that I set off in a jacket and was boiling within 1 minute. Still, held the fecker off. Not having the bike at the weekend was so frustrating, some perfect cycling weather in Sussex over the weekend and I couldn't take advantage at all.

Good one.

Yep, nice three laps of the Park on Sunday evening, followed by two in a wonderful evening glow last night. But you didn't want to hear that, did you? :P

@CJCP

No, I didn't.

Your a Surrey Hills man, perhaps you can help? I'm Currently trying to plot another 75 miler for this weekend, can you recommend any good hills around the Ranmore area that I've not done? I've tackled Leith, box, ranmore, crocknorth, abinger, anstie and raikes. Any ideas?

cjcp

jashburnham wrote:

Your a Surrey Hills man, perhaps you can help? I'm Currently trying to plot another 75 miler for this weekend, can you recommend any good hills around the Ranmore area that I've not done? I've tackled Leith, box, ranmore, crocknorth, abinger, anstie and raikes. Any ideas?

Winterfold, Whitedown (this takes you up from Raikes to Ranmore from the A24 or A25 - the road with Abinger Tea Rooms on it - and gets up to 18%), Radnor Lane (a left turn very soon after the cafe in Peaslake - it has a sharp rise at the start followed by a mile long incline through the trees, which isn't steep by any stretch, but it's quick so you can really get the HR up), there's also one called Herncrest Hill or something. It's near Leith Hill and has a couple of kicks in it which had me frantically reaching for the 39x25 (I was a bit heavier and unfitter then, but it's testing all the same).

Is there one called Tanhurst too?

There's also Staples Lane - shortly after Ockham - which is long and takes you to the top of Coombe Bottom (the bottom of which is just before Shere). You could turn around and go back up from Coombe Bottom too if you wanted.

I'll send you the link for my club's Sunday run routes.

il_principe

cjcp wrote:

Winterfold, Whitedown (this takes you up from Raikes to Ranmore from the A24 or A25 - the road with Abinger Tea Rooms on it - and gets up to 18%), Radnor Lane (a left turn very soon after the cafe in Peaslake - it has a sharp rise at the start followed by a mile long incline through the trees, which isn't steep by any stretch, but it's quick so you can really get the HR up), there's also one called Herncrest Hill or something. It's near Leith Hill and has a couple of kicks in it which had me frantically reaching for the 39x25 (I was a bit heavier and unfitter then, but it's testing all the same).

Is there one called Tanhurst too?

There's also Staples Lane - shortly after Ockham - which is long and takes you to the top of Coombe Bottom (the bottom of which is just before Shere). You could turn around and go back up from Coombe Bottom too if you wanted.

I'll send you the link for my club's Sunday run routes.

Cheers, I did Winterfold, Whitedown the other weekend - good climb! When you say Herncrest do you mean Henhurst? That's a steep fecker:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=henhurst+cross&sll=51.168392,-0.33504&sspn=0.010602,0.027637&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=51.178374,-0.338001&spn=0.023352,0.054245&z=14&iwloc=A

I'll give Coombe/Staples a bash, that should work into a route quite easily.

cjcp

jashburnham wrote:

Cheers, I did Winterfold, Whitedown the other weekend - good climb! When you say Herncrest do you mean Henhurst? That's a steep fecker:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=henhurst+cross&sll=51.168392,-0.33504&sspn=0.010602,0.027637&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=51.178374,-0.338001&spn=0.023352,0.054245&z=14&iwloc=A

I'll give Coombe/Staples a bash, that should work into a route quite easily.

Henhurst - that's the chap. You can do a loop in that area, so, when I went out with a clubmate a couple of years ago, we did it twice. I was, ahem, in a spot of trouble second time round...

Greg T

Headhuunter wrote:

I carry a rucksack which weighs between 5 and 15kg depending on what I am carting about with me. I did score myself up once but I can't remember what it was. How do I work it out again?

15 KG?!

I think if you are carting 15kg around with you and you manage to maintain forward motion without carving a groove in the road surface and coming to a halt before sinking into the Earth - you are winning large...

I carry an additional 15 KG around with me also - however it's not a laptop its a fattop so sadly this doesn't count.

Welcome to the game and play safe - the hypermaths invloved in FCNumbering is somewhat confusing cough splutter

The Boffins at games lab HQ came up with this.


http://www.citrusskies.co.uk/fcn/

Christophe3967

JonGinge wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

Well, after months and months of not getting involved in this SCR thing, I thought I'd have a look at what you are all on about here. As the fair weather London cyclists dust their bikes off for the summer, I find I am no longer one of the only cyclists on the road as I commute in, in fact I must be regularly passing 20 or so cyclists, mostly on hybrids or sus MTBs etc. Every now and then though I end up in an epic battle with someone lycra-d up and on some fancy road bike or a fixie. I usually manage to hold them off but it definitely gets the pulse going!

For my commute I ride a cheapo Halfords alu framed Apollo road bike with Sora shifters but all other parts are generic Shimano stuff. I carry a rucksack which weighs between 5 and 15kg depending on what I am carting about with me. I did score myself up once but I can't remember what it was. How do I work it out again?

BTW do any of you lot commute in along the Old Kent Road, cross London Bridge, through the City? I'm wondering if I have "scalped" a few of you....!

Sounds like good sh!t but doping for SCR is not cool

The odd bottle of Merlot excepted

And nobody on here gets scalped. Fact.

biondino

lost_in_thought wrote:

I came in on the Tifosi this morning, left home at about 0900 as I had to take the car in for an MOT, and was hoping to see my cousin on his recumbent for some racing action. No joy, unfortunately.

In fact, no joy at all really. No prey about, one guy on a roadie spinning his little heart out was swiftly dispatched, but he was going really pretty slowly...

In other news, my Edge doesn't seem to be a very efficient measure of speed in London. As I was slowing for some lights, coasting on the flat, it showed my speed as 32.9 mph, which it certainly was not, and on my usual drag strip, bombing along, overtaking cars, 11.1mph.

Hmmmmmmmm. Sceptical face. :?

I used Nokia Sportstracker for my 34-miler yesterday and it's great, other than giving me a max speed about 10mph faster than my actual max. At least the altitude, route, distance stuff is all pretty accurate.

I was reading yesterday that "Tifosi", i.e. "fans" in Italian, comes from the Italian for "typhus", as in the fever exhibited by sufferers is similar to that demonstrated by sports supporters...

cjcp

jashburnham wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Winterfold, Whitedown (this takes you up from Raikes to Ranmore from the A24 or A25 - the road with Abinger Tea Rooms on it - and gets up to 18%), Radnor Lane (a left turn very soon after the cafe in Peaslake - it has a sharp rise at the start followed by a mile long incline through the trees, which isn't steep by any stretch, but it's quick so you can really get the HR up), there's also one called Herncrest Hill or something. It's near Leith Hill and has a couple of kicks in it which had me frantically reaching for the 39x25 (I was a bit heavier and unfitter then, but it's testing all the same).

Is there one called Tanhurst too?

There's also Staples Lane - shortly after Ockham - which is long and takes you to the top of Coombe Bottom (the bottom of which is just before Shere). You could turn around and go back up from Coombe Bottom too if you wanted.

I'll send you the link for my club's Sunday run routes.

Cheers, I did Winterfold, Whitedown the other weekend - good climb! When you say Herncrest do you mean Henhurst? That's a steep fecker:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=henhurst+cross&sll=51.168392,-0.33504&sspn=0.010602,0.027637&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=51.178374,-0.338001&spn=0.023352,0.054245&z=14&iwloc=A

I'll give Coombe/Staples a bash, that should work into a route quite easily.

P.S. Newlands Cafe does a great vegetarian breakfast.

Greg T

cjcp wrote:

P.S. Newlands Cafe does a great vegetarian breakfast.

Great
Vegetarian
Breakfast

I've googled that term and only you have ever posted those three words in the entire history of the interweb

Not surprising though.

Tofu munching beef avoiding burger dodger. Shudder

cjcp

Headhuunter wrote:

I carry a rucksack which weighs between 5 and 15kg depending on what I am carting about with me.

Sweet baby Moses! :shock: Royal Marines carry more, but only because they have very big guns. Mine is around 6kg most of the time.

BTW do any of you lot commute in along the Old Kent Road, cross London Bridge, through the City?

Embankment into Fenchurch Street.

I'm wondering if I have "scalped" a few of you....!

A cat in hell's chance.

Welcome to The Game.

lost_in_thought

biondino wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

I came in on the Tifosi this morning, left home at about 0900 as I had to take the car in for an MOT, and was hoping to see my cousin on his recumbent for some racing action. No joy, unfortunately.

In fact, no joy at all really. No prey about, one guy on a roadie spinning his little heart out was swiftly dispatched, but he was going really pretty slowly...

In other news, my Edge doesn't seem to be a very efficient measure of speed in London. As I was slowing for some lights, coasting on the flat, it showed my speed as 32.9 mph, which it certainly was not, and on my usual drag strip, bombing along, overtaking cars, 11.1mph.

Hmmmmmmmm. Sceptical face. :?

I used Nokia Sportstracker for my 34-miler yesterday and it's great, other than giving me a max speed about 10mph faster than my actual max. At least the altitude, route, distance stuff is all pretty accurate.

I was reading yesterday that "Tifosi", i.e. "fans" in Italian, comes from the Italian for "typhus", as in the fever exhibited by sufferers is similar to that demonstrated by sports supporters...

Love the linguistic trivia!

I'm wondering with the edge whether it's to do with the fact that I have the autopause feature on, but can't see how that could possibly be the case.

My typhoid-bke and I will check that theory out this evening...

il_principe

Nah the Edge seems to throw a few googlies every ride. Told me I went 60mph on the flat the other day, now I know I'm fast but...

Wierdly enough the high speeds don't seem to show at the time, only when I upload them to Garmin connect - which is nowhere near as good as MotionBased.

lost_in_thought

Based on what JonGinge said about the speed reading being based on satellite data, I wonder if there's a way to make it read from the wheel magnet only... like a traditional comp? That would be more accurate more of the time, I reckon...

il_principe

lost_in_thought wrote:

Based on what JonGinge said about the speed reading being based on satellite data, I wonder if there's a way to make it read from the wheel magnet only... like a traditional comp? That would be more accurate more of the time, I reckon...

I wouldn't worry - it's most likely teething issues and I'm sure Garmin will update and fix. My 305 didn't pop up with errors like this very often and overall the 705 seems to be fine.

jonginge

jashburnham wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Based on what JonGinge said about the speed reading being based on satellite data, I wonder if there's a way to make it read from the wheel magnet only... like a traditional comp? That would be more accurate more of the time, I reckon...

I wouldn't worry - it's most likely teething issues and I'm sure Garmin will update and fix. My 305 didn't pop up with errors like this very often and overall the 705 seems to be fine.

Make sure you've got the webupdater and check for firmware updates occasionally:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/store/downl ... &pID=10885

Also, just to clarify, if I understand the manuals correctly, so long as the GSC10 sensor is paired* and the magnets in range it should be the primary source of speed data, with the GPS being the fallback. As far as I can remember I've only had odd data when it's been in GPS mode.

* Green/Red LED flashes on each pass of the magnet for the speed/cadence, respectively, for a short while after the pairing button is pressed (may be the other way round with the colours)

gb155

YAY Scapled 2 peeps this morning, Was FLYING, 6 miles in 20 mins and felt totally refreshed, Everything just clicked, loved every second.

Tonight had a head wind and there was no one to be seen, was home in 30 mins though so not all bad

Bring on tomorrow where I hit 1900 miles DROOOOOL

lost_in_thought

JonGinge wrote:

Also, just to clarify, if I understand the manuals correctly, so long as the GSC10 sensor is paired* and the magnets in range it should be the primary source of speed data, with the GPS being the fallback. As far as I can remember I've only had odd data when it's been in GPS mode.

* Green/Red LED flashes on each pass of the magnet for the speed/cadence, respectively, for a short while after the pairing button is pressed (may be the other way round with the colours)

Hmmmmmm, that would be logical, but I have a working GSC10 on the Typhoidsi.. maybe it didn't link for some reason, I forgot to check. I will see if the two are talking and try re-pairing if not.

attica

gb155 wrote:

On a Mission to loose 20 stone, As of 01.04.09 I have lost 15.13 stone and Cycled 1807 Miles

Just had a quick peek at your blog, You are starting to look - well - thin!
It's fantastic what you're doing Gaz, but I have to say I don't think cutting all your hair off will have that much affect on your overall weight

When is the Blackpool ride?

gb155

Attica wrote:

gb155 wrote:

On a Mission to loose 20 stone, As of 01.04.09 I have lost 15.13 stone and Cycled 1807 Miles

Just had a quick peek at your blog, You are starting to look - well - thin!
It's fantastic what you're doing Gaz, but I have to say I don't think cutting all your hair off will have that much affect on your overall weight

When is the Blackpool ride?

Your kidding mate, Its gonna be good for at least 3 lbs by the time I weigh in at the weekend LOL

Thanks for the support and of course your kind donation (unless there are 2 Attica's, Should that be the case where is your donation lol) it really is appreciated.

The Blackpool ride is July 12th, I have my number now and I have been asked by obesity help to do an interview and they want me to pose wearing my number and with my GT so keep an eye out for that when I update the blog.

People at work are asking for posters too so will look to find someone who is artisitic to know some together once I have the picture done for obesity help

The crzy thing is that now its no longer all about weight loss, I love cycling so much now that if I dont loose weight one week then it doesnt matter, Im doing what I love and im doing it for me, It puts me in a good mood before before work and a good mood before I get home, Infact I couldnt ever think about driving to work again

Tomorrow I hit 1900 miles cycled since last June/July, Then its the countdown to the big 2k

Gaz

Jay dubbleU

Well done Gaz - seriously impressed mate

gb155

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Well done Gaz - seriously impressed mate

Thanks mate, Much appreciated

Bassjunkieuk

Had a fun little foray on a bike today.....whilst it isn't strictly commuting I wanted to post it here as I have a request for an FCN estimate as I think I have something of a monster one here :-)

Having been to the Hornimans Museum in the morning with the family we decided to visit Dulwich Park afterwards so the kids could have a play on the toys. Once we parked up and headed in the biggest and next one down (1 & 2 from now on.......) noticed that they do cycle hire - and not just normal bikes :-) The hire company is called London Recumbants so that should give you an indication on the type of bikes on offer :-D

Ended up coming away with 3 machines, one "banana" bike for the eldest which was a rather nippy (and fun as I found out after my go!) tri-wheeled recumbent. No brakes so back pedalling required to stop which took no. 1 a few minutes to master but she was soon carving up the park nicely!

No. 2 got a 3 wheeler to but this was a traditional upright type, with 2 wheels in the front connected to a steering wheel as opposed to traditional handlebars!

This of course just leaves me..........having resisted the urge to get an adult recumbent I went for this:



I'm thinking something in the 20's?

And what great fun I had! Asides from the front left wheel being a bit under-inflated and the saddle having a nasty tendency to turn sideways if I took a corner fast it was hugely enjoyable! I spotted one guy on a SS but was laden down with 3 & 4 (as in the pic!) and still working out how the hub geared SRAM bit worked - got it eventually, seems you have to stop pedalling!! I also figured out a few more tricks, including how to get the back end out in corners :-D

No chance of creeping up on un-suspecting prey tho as the kids seem to laugh and scream as I get up any decent speed! I managed to take a couple of other riders on similar bikes and a few of the 2-up tandem recumbent (do they count as 2 scalps?)

So if any of you are in the South London area and want a good day with some fun bikes i'd highly recommend it! Check out the London Recumbants site here:

http://www.londonrecumbents.co.uk/

Christophe3967

That sounds like great fun, and as I received a lecture about making plans for the weekend on my way out of the house this morning, this could be just the ticket.

After my ride home last night and in this morning, I think I need something like that bike so that I can pootle around without worrying about preserving my scalp, its been exhausting this week. Last night I had to keep the hammer down virtually all the way from Shepherds Bush to Ealing and this morning was the same story. Average speed in was almost 29kph and the computer is showing a top speed of 45kph, which it felt like for most of Victoria Embankment.

I thought my favourite pink top might have been upsetting people last night, but that can't have been it, as there were just as many chancers around this morning. The summer is going to be painful

jonginge

Bumped (not literally) into Chris 'motorbike' Jenkins on the commute this morning. Cue a fast pace along Chelsea embankment, DSC and all the way to Blackfriars, picking up and casually discarding a few dossards along the way. CJ did most of the work much to my chagrin. He's not going too shabbily post-Flanders.

gtvlusso

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Had a fun little foray on a bike today.....whilst it isn't strictly commuting I wanted to post it here as I have a request for an FCN estimate as I think I have something of a monster one here :-)

Having been to the Hornimans Museum in the morning with the family we decided to visit Dulwich Park afterwards so the kids could have a play on the toys. Once we parked up and headed in the biggest and next one down (1 & 2 from now on.......) noticed that they do cycle hire - and not just normal bikes :-) The hire company is called London Recumbants so that should give you an indication on the type of bikes on offer :-D

Ended up coming away with 3 machines, one "banana" bike for the eldest which was a rather nippy (and fun as I found out after my go!) tri-wheeled recumbent. No brakes so back pedalling required to stop which took no. 1 a few minutes to master but she was soon carving up the park nicely!

No. 2 got a 3 wheeler to but this was a traditional upright type, with 2 wheels in the front connected to a steering wheel as opposed to traditional handlebars!

This of course just leaves me..........having resisted the urge to get an adult recumbent I went for this:



I'm thinking something in the 20's?

And what great fun I had! Asides from the front left wheel being a bit under-inflated and the saddle having a nasty tendency to turn sideways if I took a corner fast it was hugely enjoyable! I spotted one guy on a SS but was laden down with 3 & 4 (as in the pic!) and still working out how the hub geared SRAM bit worked - got it eventually, seems you have to stop pedalling!! I also figured out a few more tricks, including how to get the back end out in corners :-D

No chance of creeping up on un-suspecting prey tho as the kids seem to laugh and scream as I get up any decent speed! I managed to take a couple of other riders on similar bikes and a few of the 2-up tandem recumbent (do they count as 2 scalps?)

So if any of you are in the South London area and want a good day with some fun bikes i'd highly recommend it! Check out the London Recumbants site here:

http://www.londonrecumbents.co.uk/

FCN 176 - This includes the kid factor of +100, but excludes the the fun factor of -56. This leaves you with a cool FCN of 20.....I
I am now off to find one in Brizzle for the weekend - do you think I could get a dog in their too?
Superb!!

As for "The Game" just 6 this morning....all easy, although a stiff headwind impacted progress and made me sweat more.....

Mickey Eye

Spring has come to Oslo over the past few weeks, and with it a sudden influx of really fast roadbikes. My mtb, once the king of winter and ice with its spikes and discs has to face the truth of the matter and get used to it I guess.

Yes I'm quite jealous. Maybe next year I'll look at a cheap roady.

cjcp

JonGinge wrote:

Bumped (not literally) into Chris 'motorbike' Jenkins on the commute this morning. Cue a fast pace along Chelsea embankment, DSC and all the way to Blackfriars, picking up and casually discarding a few dossards along the way. CJ did most of the work much to my chagrin. He's not going too shabbily post-Flanders.

(It must be the training sessions in RP ).

And I think you're doing yourself down more than a little! That fast chap who was with us clearly saw you as the faster wheel to follow so ditched me on Millbank when I accelerated away from VB lights slower than an asthamtic hippo and I had to dig reasonably deep to pass him (although without drafting him ).

Sun's coming out, and there should be a favourable wind direction for the commute home.

cjcp

Christophe3967 wrote:

That sounds like great fun, and as I received a lecture about making plans for the weekend on my way out of the house this morning, this could be just the ticket.

After my ride home last night and in this morning, I think I need something like that bike so that I can pootle around without worrying about preserving my scalp, its been exhausting this week. Last night I had to keep the hammer down virtually all the way from Shepherds Bush to Ealing and this morning was the same story. Average speed in was almost 29kph and the computer is showing a top speed of 45kph, which it felt like for most of Victoria Embankment.

I thought my favourite pink top might have been upsetting people last night, but that can't have been it, as there were just as many chancers around this morning. The summer is going to be painful

Dawned on me this morning that I don't recall my rear light flashing on your SCR footage. It's been on the blink - I've been told that there's a problem with the contacts after Duracell batteries are installed into Cateye lights. Anyhoo, humble apologies all. :oops:

cjcp

Mickey Eye wrote:

Spring has come to Oslo over the past few weeks, and with it a sudden influx of really fast roadbikes. My mtb, once the king of winter and ice with its spikes and discs has to face the truth of the matter and get used to it I guess.

Yes I'm quite jealous. Maybe next year I'll look at a cheap roady.

Mickey - what do you use? Those Nokion (sp.?) tyres?