Silly commuting racing

il_principe

itboffin wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Oh and I like this 20 mile 11 pub plan Boffo. I like it a lot.

I know, I know!

pubs + countryside + cycling + BBQ at the end whats not to like, engage super pootle & chat mode

I'm in - although getting home may be a challenge!

cjcp

Oh dear God. That was hard. TGOTB wasn't lying about the headwind. Didn't make out of the 39 at any point. I dreamt of having bacon, egg and sausage baps for lunch last night, too.

Clever Pun

Il Principe wrote:

itboffin wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Oh and I like this 20 mile 11 pub plan Boffo. I like it a lot.

I know, I know!

pubs + countryside + cycling + BBQ at the end whats not to like, engage super pootle & chat mode

I'm in - although getting home may be a challenge!

damnit do I need to read this thread to find that now?

Edit it looks like a 70 miler back to mine... that's doable after a nights kip certainly

Roastie

itboffin wrote:

Given you live so close to Thruxton, you should take a bash at the crit races they run there on Sundays.

Roastie

cjcp wrote:

Roastie wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Roastie - was the Pearson guy on a carbon Trek? And did he look young?

Sounds like him ... you know him? Friendly guy. Said to him his speed was impressive - just shrugged and said "no point in hanging around"

A young chap - about 21 - in my club has been snapped up by Pearson to race for them. He's a 2nd Cat. Think he won, or came 2nd, the Dynamo Hill Climb on Leith Hill last autumn, Yeah, he's really quick if it's the same guy.

I'd have said he was at least a 2nd (def on his way to 1st or even E). Must be the same guy, how many stupidly fast Pearson kit wearing Trek riders can there be?

rjsterry

cjcp wrote:

Oh dear God. That was hard. TGOTB wasn't lying about the headwind. Didn't make out of the 39 at any point. I dreamt of having bacon, egg and sausage baps for lunch last night, too.

Glad it's not just me. Tried the big ring this morning, but it just meant that I was using the granny cogs to compensate

Dav3m

Swapped my road bike for my MTB today (with knobbly tyres) to adjust myself back to MTB cleats for some weekend riding. Made a nice change and potholes and speed bumps suddenly became fun

Robstar24

quite enjoyed today's ride in, despite the wind. had a good head to head with a chap heading up from deptford to london bridge, and managed to scalp a young chap on a Trek who had overtaken me as I was moving away from the lights on Lower Thames Street, regained my honour when I went over the top of him in the Blackfriars tunnel.

hoping this weekend will bring some better weather than last, spend 7 hours out in the rain last sunday, i saw 2 other cyclists all that time.

Robstar24

quite enjoyed today's ride in, despite the wind. had a good head to head with a chap heading up from deptford to london bridge, and managed to scalp a young chap on a Trek who had overtaken me as I was moving away from the lights on Lower Thames Street, regained my honour when I went over the top of him in the Blackfriars tunnel.

hoping this weekend will bring some better weather than last, spend 7 hours out in the rain last sunday, i saw 2 other cyclists all that time.

Clever Pun

Robstar24 wrote:

quite enjoyed today's ride in, despite the wind. had a good head to head with a chap heading up from deptford to london bridge, and managed to scalp a young chap on a Trek who had overtaken me as I was moving away from the lights on Lower Thames Street, regained my honour when I went over the top of him in the Blackfriars tunnel.

hoping this weekend will bring some better weather than last, spend 7 hours out in the rain last sunday, i saw 2 other cyclists all that time.

ohh that's pretty much my route... what are you riding?

Robstar24

blue slightly old school Trek 1200

Clever Pun

Robstar24 wrote:

blue slightly old school Trek 1200

uh huh and what sort of time would I be looking to scalp you?

Robstar24

i tend to roll through that area between 8 and 8.30...tell me what to look out for!

Clever Pun

Robstar24 wrote:

i tend to roll through that area between 8 and 8.30...tell me what to look out for!

you might be a little early for me... I'm either on a Red Condor Squadra, Black Condor Pista(fixed), Baby blue AF Mills track bike or if you're really unlucky a raw lacquered brompton

hmm must put pics in the sig

Bassjunkieuk

Headed into work later then normal today as I'm on a half day and bl00dy hell was it hard work! Heading along Clapham Common I was the only thing going past there so had no shelter from the wind and barely got it past 20! Still I didn't need to change gears through sheer determination that i was going to make it so did it in 52x14, so only really have myself to blame for the burning legs!!

Absolutely squat in the way of SCR competition asides from a SS as I headed up Vauxhall Bridge Road but I was happy with teh 16.5mph average :-)

itboffin

I have a solution to headwinds...

Sit upright, drop your gears and engage pootle mode, save it for another day.

Although you townies don't know what a headwind is, you should see it out west that wind can strip the bark off trees

Bassjunkieuk

itboffin wrote:

I have a solution to headwinds...

Sit upright, drop your gears and engage pootle mode, save it for another day.

Although you townies don't know what a headwind is, you should see it out west that wind can strip the bark off trees

I actually see headwinds as good resistance training, or at least that's what I kept telling myself on the way in today

Besides I'm quite well suited to riding into a wind as I'm so "compact"

MonkeyMonster

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

I actually see headwinds as good resistance training, or at least that's what I kept telling myself on the way in today

Besides I'm quite well suited to riding into a wind as I'm so "compact"

That's because you are crazy man. A compact crazy man.

Bassjunkieuk

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

I actually see headwinds as good resistance training, or at least that's what I kept telling myself on the way in today

Besides I'm quite well suited to riding into a wind as I'm so "compact"

That's because you are crazy man. A compact crazy man.

It has been commented before that I make a useless windbreak :-)

il_principe

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

I actually see headwinds as good resistance training, or at least that's what I kept telling myself on the way in today

Besides I'm quite well suited to riding into a wind as I'm so "compact"

That's because you are crazy man. A compact crazy man.

It has been commented before that I make a useless windbreak :-)

That should be your epitaph.

Bassjunkieuk

Il Principe wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

I actually see headwinds as good resistance training, or at least that's what I kept telling myself on the way in today

Besides I'm quite well suited to riding into a wind as I'm so "compact"

That's because you are crazy man. A compact crazy man.

It has been commented before that I make a useless windbreak :-)

That should be your epitaph.

On a MAHUSIVE tombstone!

itboffin

Here's a good one, the guard on this evenigs train informed my that non folding bikes are not allow on rush hour trains get this to ease the overcrowding because they're not running enough carraiges! The cheek

This is the same train I've been catching for three years and the one I took tonight!

jimmypippa

There was my regular SCR "duel" today.

Well the only person I regularly see with a bike.

What is the FCN of someone who (slowly) walks his bike for at least a couple of miles along the flat, whilst having a fag?

I have no idea what he is doing with the bike, (BSO, actually) but it takes him a long time to get anywhere.

Of course he mightn't actually walk it all that distance, it is just that when I was about 30 minutes late earlier this week, I passed him a couple of miles further on, still walking the bike.

WTF? It was the long slightly uphill section in my sig if going from right to left... Maybe he just likes freewheeling down the long descent that comes next?

cjcp

I was in pootle mood tonight nearly all the way home. Nearly...

Tonight, I saw the same drafting fairy on the Giant that I saw yesterday morning. He was drafting again. I pootled, apart from the NKR. Cheerio.

And then I let him go and he had 150 yards on me going into Queen's Ride. That was -5 yards by the top of Bolan Bridge.

I let him go ahead (but not "go") after that, but my work was done.

Bassjunkieuk

Fun ride home this evening, plenty of other roadies around and I even recognised one of them :-)

Most where RLJing so I lost a pair of quick looking chaps at Vauxhall Cross but ended up at Stockwell with a few roadies for company. Lights go green and I fumble the clip in, watching as a rather quick looking bloke rides off down the road........once I'm in I'm surrounded by roadies so try to move around the bus ahead and then spot a friendly face coming past........It's DDD :-D

A quick yell and a hello later and we're now heading up towards Balham at a decent rate of knots in chase of a Gary Fisher roadie :-D Get held up behind a bus and miss out on a prize scalp aboard a Focus who went round the right :-(

DDD suggests we work together to lay down some awesome :-) Don't think I've ever gotten past Clapham Common so quickly but I did have a carrot ahead in the form of the GF rider.....I made up a large amount of ground on him but he cleared a traffic light which I had to stop for, not bad considering the head start he had :-(

Was all a bit more sane from Clapham South to Balham as traffic was bad.
Parted ways at Waitrose and it was good fun to find a friendly face!

DonDaddyD

You are a 'Pocket Rocket of Thunder"

Seriously.

I was rocking 28mph along Clapham Common and you were pulling away like my speed didn't matter.

You are awesome. Faster (well more powerful) than ever I'd say Much fun.

Once again you've one my vote for SCR of the year.

rjsterry

cjcp wrote:

I was in pootle mood tonight nearly all the way home. Nearly...

Tonight, I saw the same drafting fairy on the Giant that I saw yesterday morning. He was drafting again. I pootled, apart from the NKR. Cheerio.

And then I let him go and he had 150 yards on me going into Queen's Ride. That was -5 yards by the top of Bolan Bridge.

I let him go ahead (but not "go") after that, but my work was done.

Knew you couldn't last a day

Canny Jock

So, I'm still liking the idea of some identifier of the players, maybe if not just for those who love it all out, but are at least for those In the know. Something colourful, dangly, hey even reflective?

rjsterry

If you have a rummage round a couple of weeks back, I think sarajoy (sorry if it was someone else) posted a link to a supplier of all sorts of reflective trim, that could be stitched or ironed on to a bag or item of clothing.

il_principe

To the rider that stacked it on black ice in Wandsworth this am: ‘I’m glad you’re ok fella,’ that could have been nasty had you been shifting.

To the lady cyclist I followed, no, ogled, no, ogled lasciviously on NKR this morning: ‘You are a cutie,’ nice bike too – a celeste Bianchi.

To the scooter I scalped on Embamkment: ‘Time to get that delimited mate,’ the look on his face was priceless.

What a glorious ride in, it was all I could do not to just keep going when I reached the office.