Ride Reports

Feltup

Out and about last night on a random way home when I saw a fellow cyclist in distress so I stopped to see if I could offer any assistance. It turns out that some motor vehicle had hit his bike and bent the rear derailleur, wheel rim and broken a spoke or two. He was gutted and also was having to carrying the bike because of the buckled wheel. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do with that much damage so had to leave him to his walk.

Hope you got home OK.

On a more positive note I saw my first Badger of the year and managed to cruise Aston Hill on the big ring (legs felt knackered this a.m. )

itboffin

Yet another near death cycling journey, zig zagging up the two beast of hills (mountains) and eventually reaching the summit with a waterfall of sweat pouring from every pore, I managed to grab a couple of snaps, posted to NST http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/work ... ?id=813222

Shame they don't really show just how high up these hills are, max 294m - 44mph downhill pity I was on the SS that ones def has +60mph potential :shock:

Feltup

Sounds good! Which descent are you talking about? May be one day I will cycle over for a wee go!

Edit: just spotted it!

itboffin

Feltup wrote:

Sounds good! Which descent are you talking about? May be one day I will cycle over for a wee go!

Edit: just spotted it!

That photo of the muck spreading tractor had just finished spreading muck all over the road at the bottom of the hill which was a nice wake up call.

itboffin

For a change today I tried to go the same speed for the whole ride, which is surprisingly difficult to do, I was aiming for 15mph but the hazy sunshine got the better of me a couple of times, there was still the odd gust but nothing by Windshire standards.

I managed a respectable 17mph avg over 17 miles which would have been quicker if the Silver Van Man hadn't driven sub 20mph the whole length of the high street :evil:

Perhaps I should have let him draft me

itboffin

Lessons learnt today

Eat properly before I ride :oops:
One bottle of water is NOT enough for a 40 mile ride :oops:
Cycling into 30mph gusts hurts :oops:
Not taking anything to eat is plain stupid :oops:
Next time grease the hell out of new jockey wheels :oops:
Pumping my tyres to there max PSI was not very clever :oops:

STOP using the BIG/BIG ring combo :evil:

Very tired now :roll:

Rich158

Feltup wrote:

Out and about last night on a random way home when I saw a fellow cyclist in distress so I stopped to see if I could offer any assistance. It turns out that some motor vehicle had hit his bike and bent the rear derailleur, wheel rim and broken a spoke or two. He was gutted and also was having to carrying the bike because of the buckled wheel. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do with that much damage so had to leave him to his walk.

Hope you got home OK.

On a more positive note I saw my first Badger of the year and managed to cruise Aston Hill on the big ring (legs felt knackered this a.m. )

Is that the hill up past Wendover Woods? Chapeau to you if is , that's always struck me as a fairly steep bugger. Only ever driven up it though on my way to DH fun

itboffin

Well tiz the end of the week (195 miles) and the start of the next phase of my Dragon ride training plan, weather permitting this coming week I should be putting in a couple of solid 5+ hour rides, just hope it's not to wet & windy.

lost_in_thought

The Triax, in oz. The top of that hill is 787m above sea level... not quite that far above the town, obv, but the air was not as oxygenated as it could have been! Oh and I really appreciate having integrated shifters, again. Never take those for granted. Nor gears that actually work. Stupid K-Mart. It doesn't seem THAT high in the photo, damn it all!

lost_in_thought

The mountain 'ridge' road along which I came... again doesn't look as bad!

roger_merriman

pah call that a hill! ;-)

i've never of made it far too hot, i could just about manage a slow ride around a veldrome when i was out in Melborne

but then i'm much like Detritus priity much a dead loss much over 20'c to be honest....

itboffin

lost_in_thought wrote:

The mountain 'ridge' road along which I came... again doesn't look as bad!

Where's the rest of the road? :shock:

I should be going to Perth later this year, any tips on hiding a bike in my luggage? :P

il_principe

Good ride on Saturday, sun came out and it almost felt like summer. Tackled four Surrey hills including a couple of 20% climbs, back is still playing up a bit though, but not bad going for April I think.

Time: 04:22:17
Distance: 75.89 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,512 m
Avg Speed: 17.4 mph
Max Speed: 38.9 mph

_Brun_

Blimey Jash that's a fair effort. What software is that from?

I've been in work all weekend but riding home at 7.30 last night was so pleasant that I carried on straight past the house and went on a 10 miles single-speed saunter up and down Highgate, Hampstead etc. Came very close to rear-ending a big Merc I was following down one hill when he stopped in an unexpected fashion. Managed a big sideways skid but saved meself from further embarrassment.

il_principe

_Brun_ wrote:

Blimey Jash that's a fair effort. What software is that from?

Garmin Connect - uploaded from my Edge 705.

_Brun_

Cheers. I'd always assumed Garmin's own software was a bit wank, will have to give it another look.

il_principe

_Brun_ wrote:

Cheers. I'd always assumed Garmin's own software was a bit wank, will have to give it another look.

Well it's not that great, to be honest. I use MotionBased as well (which is better) but they're closing that and migrating everything over to Garmin connect.

jonginge

jashburnham wrote:

_Brun_ wrote:

Cheers. I'd always assumed Garmin's own software was a bit wank, will have to give it another look.

Well it's not that great, to be honest. I use MotionBased as well (which is better) but they're closing that and migrating everything over to Garmin connect.

+1 Thinking about purchasing (shock, horror) TrainingPeaks WKO+. Garmin connect doesn't do any analysis only plots some graphs, not all that useful. Also some of my 705 data doesn't upload into connect. Very frustrating.

itboffin

_Brun_ do you work 7 days a week???

Feltup

Rich158 wrote:

Feltup wrote:

Out and about last night on a random way home when I saw a fellow cyclist in distress so I stopped to see if I could offer any assistance. It turns out that some motor vehicle had hit his bike and bent the rear derailleur, wheel rim and broken a spoke or two. He was gutted and also was having to carrying the bike because of the buckled wheel. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do with that much damage so had to leave him to his walk.

Hope you got home OK.

On a more positive note I saw my first Badger of the year and managed to cruise Aston Hill on the big ring (legs felt knackered this a.m. )

Is that the hill up past Wendover Woods? Chapeau to you if is , that's always struck me as a fairly steep bugger. Only ever driven up it though on my way to DH fun

No a different one which isn't quite as steep! I would be happy about the FW if I could cruise that hill on the big ring!

Feltup

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=5912

Really nice day for this ride on Sunday. Highlights were managing to stay upright through Butterton ford. If anyone is doing the long course on the Bikeradar Sportive then my advice would be to use the elevated footpath and bridge rather than risk the slime covered cobbles which have road bike tyre sized gaps in between them! I got through by the skin of my teeth but it isn't worth risking nice wheel on.

Edit: just checked the Bikeradar sportive course and it no longer goes through Butterton, they must have had second thoughts after their reccy ride!

The descent in to Bakewell was fast and sweeping and great fun. I had to filter the whole way from Matlock to Cromford as the A6 was gridlocked.

In the end I averaged 15.1 mph and according to my gadgets ascended 2620m or 8600ft over 85 miles. Quite pleased that most of the hills felt fine and I was using my 11-23 cassette and not my 12-27.

I also salute the two fixie riders I saw at the top of the hill in Stanton in Peak, kudos on get up that hill!

girv73

https://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/wor ... id=824069#
(you'll need a Sports Tracker account)

Got out for a good spin yesterday. 54 miles - that's the furthest I've ever gone on a bike, ever. Mostly cruising on decent tarmac and cycle paths at 16-18mph but it did include a fair bit of bimbling about so the average speed isn't great at 12.8mph. Wind played it's part too, a stiff headwind on the long haul from Bangor to Belfast was unwelcome, especially with 30+ miles already done.

The BeOne seems very at home on good tarmac and fairly munched the miles. I even managed to crank it to 30mph+ a couple of times

Feltup

Nice one Girv73! 54 miles is a good effort and head winds can make that feel a lot longer!

girv73

The wind did turn around to help me up the final 5 mile homeward leg climb, which my legs were definitely NOT complaining about

Little bit stiff and sore today, but no chance of a recovery spin as the weather has turned sucky again. Boo!

biondino

Here's the route of yesterday's ride, which I did with the two mates with whom I cycled to Paris last year. All three of us have lost much fitness over the winter due to broken rib, broken wrist and sheer unadulterated laziness respectively, and it was the first long ride we've done together for 6 or 7 months.

56 miles, just under three and a half hours rolling time, average speed just under 16mph. The route is almost entirely flat, and the wind wasn't an issue at all. It was my first ride of the year with only a short-sleeved top, too (which was nippy when the sun went in, but fine) - the Castelli jersey that everyone on the commuting thread is required by law to own did a super job.

Little to report in terms of action, other than a people carrier almost left-hooking me in a classic move. He conveniently slowed to a halt a few yards later, so I went and had a word. First of all, "but I was indicating" - still doesn't give you the right to overtake THREE fast-moving bikes and then cut across the front one when he hasn't even had time to see your indicator! When I pointed out I had as much right to be on the road as he did he used the old "but you don't pay road tax" line, at which point I gleefully recited the fact that council tax pays for roads and "road tax" pays for pollution "but I don't want to pay for pollution", he said. LOL. He also said "well why do you pay your council tax". He wasn't very bright, I don't think. Anyway, I feel more complete now that I have had an absolute textbook numpty encounter, and thankfully didn't have to come off the bike to fully enjoy it.

il_principe

biondino wrote:

Here's the route of yesterday's ride, which I did with the two mates with whom I cycled to Paris last year. All three of us have lost much fitness over the winter due to broken rib, broken wrist and sheer unadulterated laziness respectively, and it was the first long ride we've done together for 6 or 7 months.

56 miles, just under three and a half hours rolling time, average speed just under 16mph. The route is almost entirely flat, and the wind wasn't an issue at all. It was my first ride of the year with only a short-sleeved top, too (which was nippy when the sun went in, but fine) - the Castelli jersey that everyone on the commuting thread is required by law to own did a super job.

Mmmm, I've been looking at plotting a route out to Windsor - for days when I just want a flat road blast, so that looks of interesting. What was the road surface like on the whole?

itboffin

biondino wrote:

Here's the route of yesterday's ride, which I did with the two mates with whom I cycled to Paris last year. All three of us have lost much fitness over the winter due to broken rib, broken wrist and sheer unadulterated laziness respectively, and it was the first long ride we've done together for 6 or 7 months.

56 miles, just under three and a half hours rolling time, average speed just under 16mph. The route is almost entirely flat, and the wind wasn't an issue at all. It was my first ride of the year with only a short-sleeved top, too (which was nippy when the sun went in, but fine) - the Castelli jersey that everyone on the commuting thread is required by law to own did a super job.

Little to report in terms of action, other than a people carrier almost left-hooking me in a classic move. He conveniently slowed to a halt a few yards later, so I went and had a word. First of all, "but I was indicating" - still doesn't give you the right to overtake THREE fast-moving bikes and then cut across the front one when he hasn't even had time to see your indicator! When I pointed out I had as much right to be on the road as he did he used the old "but you don't pay road tax" line, at which point I gleefully recited the fact that council tax pays for roads and "road tax" pays for pollution "but I don't want to pay for pollution", he said. LOL. He also said "well why do you pay your council tax". He wasn't very bright, I don't think. Anyway, I feel more complete now that I have had an absolute textbook numpty encounter, and thankfully didn't have to come off the bike to fully enjoy it.

Very nice was this on the fixed?

biondino

Lol no ITB! 10 miles on the fixed almost broke me!

Jash - the roads are okay - pretty much exactly the mix you'd expect, from amazing fresh-laid tarmac to nasty teeth-chattering asphalt. It hasn't done too badly from the splurge of new potholes, but there's a fair bit of gutter riding that's not much fun. There are only 2 very short dual carriageway sections. The slog through Staines on the way back wasn't much fun - there's an argument to be had for doing the main loop anti-clockwise as the southerly section is a fair bit prettier.

I'm sure there are better-paved 50-mile rides, but I would say this one probably hits the average mix and while there are a few bits that aren't much fun, overall it's decent enough.

roger_merriman

jashburnham wrote:

biondino wrote:

Here's the route of yesterday's ride, which I did with the two mates with whom I cycled to Paris last year. All three of us have lost much fitness over the winter due to broken rib, broken wrist and sheer unadulterated laziness respectively, and it was the first long ride we've done together for 6 or 7 months.

56 miles, just under three and a half hours rolling time, average speed just under 16mph. The route is almost entirely flat, and the wind wasn't an issue at all. It was my first ride of the year with only a short-sleeved top, too (which was nippy when the sun went in, but fine) - the Castelli jersey that everyone on the commuting thread is required by law to own did a super job.

Mmmm, I've been looking at plotting a route out to Windsor - for days when I just want a flat road blast, so that looks of interesting. What was the road surface like on the whole?

i live hampton most of the roads are fine, certinaly much better than surrey lanes get a few low drains but as long your not a gutter hugger your fine, fairly busy roads, i normally go upper halford way rather than going to the roundabout, as that road tends to more busy and also clogged, at times.

roger_merriman

biondino wrote:

Lol no ITB! 10 miles on the fixed almost broke me!

Jash - the roads are okay - pretty much exactly the mix you'd expect, from amazing fresh-laid tarmac to nasty teeth-chattering asphalt. It hasn't done too badly from the splurge of new potholes, but there's a fair bit of gutter riding that's not much fun. There are only 2 very short dual carriageway sections. The slog through Staines on the way back wasn't much fun - there's an argument to be had for doing the main loop anti-clockwise as the southerly section is a fair bit prettier.

I'm sure there are better-paved 50-mile rides, but I would say this one probably hits the average mix and while there are a few bits that aren't much fun, overall it's decent enough.

take the shared path by the thames? or kingston rd and then worble rd?