Ride Reports

The Running Man

@ Jay dubbleU

Yes the wind was a bloody pain but compared to the day before the conditions were relatively benign. I made the decision to battle my way northwards into it so I could (theoretically) have a bit of an easier journey on the way home .......

I got home about 3.30 so would have been between Malmesbury and Cricklade around 1.30 ish.

I seemed to have black clouds all around me but for once managed to avoid them all ...

Jay dubbleU

The Running Man wrote:

@ Jay dubbleU

Yes the wind was a bloody pain but compared to the day before the conditions were relatively benign. I made the decision to battle my way northwards into it so I could (theoretically) have a bit of an easier journey on the way home .......

I got home about 3.30 so would have been between Malmesbury and Cricklade around 1.30 ish.

I seemed to have black clouds all around me but for once managed to avoid them all ...

Bit later than me then - I was home and dry(ish) by 1.00pm

benno68

Most of the club were involved in a 10TT today.

One of the guys wanted to do some training for the Dragon Ride and a number of others turned up - probably 12 in all and very mixed ability.

From Cardiff to Tonyreveil, up through Nantymoel and up the Bwlch (yippee I did it). There's an ice cream van at the top with a number of sheep around who must be used to people feeding them - I couldn;t believe how tame they were, one of which took a liking to a banana that he piched from one of the guys jersey pocket!

Then we split with 5 of us going up the Rhigos, towards Aberdare and over to Maerdy - my jaw dropped when I turned the corner to see the start of Maerdy Road - thank god it levelled out to a steady climb.

I hope the link below works showing the start of the Maerdy climb.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=maerdy&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Maerdy,+Ferndale,+Mid+Glamorgan&gl=uk&ei=TkTwS8DCDaGWOO6I8aYI&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CB8Q8gEwAA

Back through Pontypridd.

Round about 70 miles at a fairly sedate 16ish mph average. We did pick it up a bit after Maerdy but we were pretty slow on the way out.

Making it around this route has given me a bit more confidence with hill climbing, I was by no means the quickest but not the slowest either.

The Running Man

Cracking ride benno : it's a glorious route and yours truly will be sweating buckets up there in just a couple of weeks as well.

That's some good climbing - well done fella.

Just a steady 80 for me on Sunday as there were only 5 of us on the club run and it was like yours "mixed ability" which was cool. I was under instructions to play nice on the flat but I did take the opportunity to really blast up the hills from Broad Town, Hackpen and the drag past the golf club up into Marlborough, then back along the A4 and home up Bowden.

It's the club 175km Audax next Sunday which will be my last big one til the Dragon so one more tough week then start to taper down a bit. Really looking forward to it now .....

will3

Nice Ride on sunday - just shy of 55 miles, so no great distance, but I was well pleased with the av. speed of 19.3, especially given the headwind on the outbound half.

Oh and got to watchMiss Demeanourdo her stuff on the way.

Got a little caught in the rain on the way back, but TBH got wetter with what was coming off the road than I did from what was falling from the sky.

Bassjunkieuk

Had a fun ride yesterday and impressed myself that I didn't manage to get completely lost!

I set off with a rough idea of where I was going which looked like: Head south from Croydon and then take that road towards Chipstead with the nice little hill to start with. Carry on going south until I hit Reigate then point myself west. Whilst riding that way keep an eye out for the B2032 and try and find Box Hill :-) Then head home by whatever route I could be bothered to do but only once your sure your gonna crack 80 miles :-)

Well the plan went quite well until I seemed to miss Box Hill Road. I instead followed the B2032 pretty much straight up until I hit something that looked like the junction I needed and turned down there. After about 5 miles I was sure I'd missed it but was loving the rolling roads and the views! I then arrived at a main road with no sign posts!! I took a look at the bus stop on my left and it seemed to indicate that heading left down the road would lead me towards Dorking/Leatherhead and going right would take me towards Epsom!
I headed left and kept on going (again!) until I saw roundabouts/signs. I was hoping to head towards Dorking but got a little bit out of place and found myself at one of the roundabouts for Jct. 9 of the M25 :shock: Had to make sure I got the correct exit off that one!!!

I eventually found another sign for Box Hill so headed back towards that and after arriving back at the same main road I'd already ridden down I backtracked a bit and followed part of the Surrey Cycleway Link (route 22) back up Headley Lane which was lovely - reminded me of a mini version of Gospel Pass (from the SCR Wales trip) as it wound gently up the hill! After one more guessed turn as I spotted a road sign I recognized from earlier (Tot Hill!) I got back to the B2032 and decided that I'd rather do that descent the risk getting lost (there was a nice steep section which came seemingly out of nowhere for the ride up, proper bottom gear action!)

I got back to the A25 and stopped for a quick energy bar (SiS Go-Bar - a bit better then I expected!) before setting up due west again to see what the road to Dorking was like. Lumpy and busy are the two words I'd use, once I got to the roundabout I did an about turn and then followed the A25 back through Reigate, Redhill and on towards Westerham.

There was a cycle event of some sort going on so I had to give up on nodding to cyclist coming the other way on the Redhill-Westerham stretch, I was starting to feel like the Churchill dog! It was along here that a little incident occurred that really shocked me.
As I was riding along a car has come past and I've heard someone yelling out of it. I look up to see the person doing the yelling was a little kid who couldn't have been much more then 10-12 years old. I didn't quite catch what he said (I was going about 25mph so quite a bit of wind noise) but it certainly sounded like it included some colorful language and he finished it off with a single finger salute :shock: What are this kids parents doing that makes him think it's acceptable to behave like that towards other people??

Anyhow as they speed off I used it as a good little chance to get a bit of speed up and had a go at chasing them down, unfortunately they turned off at the next roundabout but the sprint was good fun :-)

As I had plenty of thinking time I thought that Titsey Hill followed by Westerham Hill would be a nice bit of fun, especially as this was most likely gonna be my longest ride pre-Magnificat so I wanted to see how me and my legs would hold up to some tougher hills, as well as give me some extra miles towards the target. Titsey Hill was a proper slog. Bottom gear, doing about 6mph. Bearing in mind I was about 1-2 miles short of my previous best for a single ride I was feeling rather good that I hadn't collapsed at the bottom or felt any cramps! I found that concentrating on my breathing and pedalling technique made it easier so that's what I did. Long, deep breathes and a steady cadence and eventually it started to level out and I could go up a gear or 2!

Then followed a great ride down towards Westerham before a brief stint heading east and then Westerham Hill. On the approach I stuffed a Torq energy gel down my throat. Very nice consistency (more melted ice cream and not pasty & sticky like the Zipvit one). I think I may have consumed it a little to close to the hill for it to help on there as it seemed like a really long way up, even tho I tried to do it whilst standing in 42*25 before switching to granny gearing about 2/3 way up. I can however safely say that the gel kicked in once I was on the road towards Biggin Hill. I got down on the drops and don't remember coming up off them for pretty much the whole stretch and just pounded along at about 25mph feeling fresh as a daisy, it was just awesome!

Once I got back towards Bromley I then went back to my parents house via Keston Village and Elmers End (for fear of not hitting my mileage target!) and with one last ride round the block I ended the day on 81.19 miles - a new personal best by about 20 miles for a single ride with an average of 17.4mph :-)

It's given me a massive confidence boast for the Magnificat, as I approximately made it past the first 2 stages (distance wise) and to the final big feedstation. I know it may not be directly comparable climbs wise but as I did this solo I figure working in a group should make things a bit easier! I was certainly hungry at the end but didn't feel like I couldn't ride anymore and was sure if I had a small snack/energy bar or more energy gels I could have kept on going!

flamite

North wales on saturday, first 100 miler, absolutely loved it, stunning scenery!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33352874

Bassjunkieuk

I've just managed to map out what I can remember of the ride I described in my last epic (sorry for that!) post :-)

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/gb/croyd ... 1332823747

It's got about 4 miles missing, but I do remember doing quite a bit of riding around in effectively largish circles near Leatherhead but don't know what roads I used :-D

il_principe

Oh dear, you practically circled Box Hill eh! The main road down from there (B2032) can be a hairy descent, caught me by surprise the first time I came across it.

Chapeau!

I'm gonna head out to Surrey this weekend. Only had time for a 30 miler this weekend what with traveling to Sussex for a wedding etc...

itboffin

The ribble has been attacked and badly damaged whilst parked over the weekend in my office, im not a happy bunny.

But fear not the dolan is back in service and ready for action, its going to be a struggle to get ready for the magnificat

Bassjunkieuk

Il Principe wrote:

Oh dear, you practically circled Box Hill eh! The main road down from there (B2032) can be a hairy descent, caught me by surprise the first time I came across it.

Chapeau!

Thanks! I rode up that "hairy descent" first tho so I had an idea of what to expect on the way back down :-)

It's always quite interesting the look you get from riders coming down a hill as you ride up....

Bassjunkieuk

itboffin wrote:

The ribble has been attacked and badly damaged whilst parked over the weekend in my office, im not a happy bunny.

But fear not the dolan is back in service and ready for action, its going to be a struggle to get ready for the magnificat

Sorry to hear about that, I'm guessing it's more then just a double PF visit?

Kieran_Burns

For reference (and I want to buy some) could you please recommend the best drinks / gels / energy bars / whatever you should have with you when going out for >60 mile rides?

I want to start ranging out more and more but have bonked on more than occasion due to incorrect feeding.

I keep reading on here about people having gels etc but don't actually know which ones to get

Bassjunkieuk

@KB - Now you've opened a can of worms! The best thing to do IMO would be to pop out to your local LBS and pick up a selection. SiS do a nice pack with a selection of powders, gels and energy bars (along with a free 800ml waterbottle!) - Mrs BJUK picked one up for a tenner at the local Asda but I suspect this was a one off!

As with most things what works for someone might not necessarily work for the next. Personally I get along with Clif Bars and the Clif Shotblox (which I think IP also rates!). I tried out a SiS Go-Bar on the Sunday ride along with a Torq energy gel and they both fared quite well. On Sunday I also had a couple of bottles with weak servings (should have been made with 500ml and I used 750ml) servings of SiS PSP22 in one and one of the electrolyte tablets that came with C+ a couple of months back.

I have tried some energy bars and the texture is like eating cardboard and others don't seem to have given me much of a pick-up (the Torq bar didn't seem to help although I was hammering around RP and didn't drink enough!) The gels can also be very much hit and miss, the difference in texture and consistency between the Torq and Zipvit one I'd have previously was huge, but the end effect was pretty much the same - ROCKET FUEL!

Rich158

This has been a hot topic in my club. The favoured sollution appears to be a 50/50 mix of fruit juice and water with a dash of salt which seems to work for most people. Proper food also seems to work well with boiled potatos rolled in parmesan and then wrapped in foil being a favourite. Alternatively there's nothing wrong with jam sandwiches or good old flapjacks.

Energy drinks/bars/gels are expensive and you can waste a lot of money on them imho. I use Clif bars because I like them, and I prefer the High 5 drink to the 50/50 fruit juice water mix. I would always save gels until the end of a ride, they have a tendency to make you crash and burn, once started you have to keep with them and after half a dozen or so they lose their appeal

Bassjunkieuk

Rich158 wrote:

boiled potatos rolled in parmesan and then wrapped in foil being a favourite. Alternatively there's nothing wrong with jam sandwiches or good old flapjacks.

Now they sound nice, I suspect I'll be adding those to the next shopping list :-) Also saw an interesting sounding recipe on BR mainsite for oatty cheese slices :-)

I also seem to remember someone stuffing energy gels down their throat at last summers SCR meet-up.....no wonder you lit up RP :-)

Kieran_Burns

So if you run out of water / fruit jiuce and want to top up - what additive powder / whatever would have as a standby?

I used to use a cordial with sugar / touch of salt added as a drink previously which worked reasonably well but wasn't really enough

Rich158

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Rich158 wrote:

boiled potatos rolled in parmesan and then wrapped in foil being a favourite. Alternatively there's nothing wrong with jam sandwiches or good old flapjacks.

Now they sound nice, I suspect I'll be adding those to the next shopping list :-) Also saw an interesting sounding recipe on BR mainsite for oatty cheese slices :-)

I also seem to remember someone stuffing energy gels down their throat at last summers SCR meet-up.....no wonder you lit up RP :-)

I've learnt my lesson since then :roll: They're good for a quick burst at the end of a sportive, or for a short race but that's about all.

KB, once out of juice I just use water and keep on going with proper food. That's all I did after the first feed stop on the Fred Whitton Challenge last year and never had a problem. If it works over 114 miles in the Lake District then it'll work anywhere.

I should add, iff energy drink's available on a sportive then I'll use it, and if I feel like I need a boost in the last hour or so of a sportive then I'll use some caffeine gels for a little boost

il_principe

Clif bars all the way. Best I've found so far. I eschew energy drinks now in favour of 1xwater and 1xNunn Kola. That PSP stuff from SiS is sticky as f*ck and I found it very hard to get down, same goes for the SiS bars which are basically impossible to eat (for me at any rate).

Like Rich I've learned by lesson as far as gels are concerned. Only ok at the end of a long ride if things are getting desperate, but the trick is not to let yourself get in that state in the first place - easier said than done of course.

cjcp

Lovely ride in RP this evening. Season's best for the 3LC, too .

andy83

cliff bars are dangerously addictive but very nice, choc chip flavour the best

I use torq gels, didnt like them too much at first and they were best of bad bunch, I find SIS ones minging. Do tend to take them as a last resort though cos as rich said you tend to crash and burn with them. I use psp22 stuff aswell and rego recovery but use the energy drinks sparingly.

A big favourite of mine though is flapjack and malt loaf. my mom (yes im 26 but she still buys them for me) buys me little flapjacks for 29p from home bargains, cant beat them

Eau Rouge

I mix the SIS powder with diluted Robinsons. I like the taste, but haven't really tried the others. Kellogs Elevenses bars to eat, they don't get all sticky/crumbly in a jersey pocket.
Someone on a thread once posted what a female friend of his had likened the texture of an energy gel to. Put me off them to this day!

This being a free weekend, something that might become rare over the summer, I decided to follow the route of the shorter Hampshire Hilly 100, the 75-ish mile route, as it passes a couple of miles from the house near it's start and I hadn't been able to do it at the time. I downloaded the course to my Edge 500 and set off in the glorious sunshine. Then, 100 meters up the road, turned back to put the heart rate monitor on.

I knew it would be the longest single ride I'd done if I finished it (The IoW run is longer but only due to 10 miles to and from an hour long ferry ride) and unlike previous long rides I wouldn't have a bail-out-early option. Needless to say I was taking it nice and gently. It was a nice route, maybe a few main roads I'd have avoided (the soul destroying stretch of rolling terrain early on for example) but otherwise lovely, and what a lovely day for it all. My time wasn't great (very much a bronze according to the website, but reasonably typical) but I was very happy just to actually do 126km.
Most of the route was unknown to me, and the 500's course feature was on the screen most of the way around. Beyond a few niggles in villages caused by it not showing the other roads at a junction it was exactly what I'd been looking for, a followable route. Having it count down the distance left was a godsend.

Some people wonder why do Sportive's at all when you can just do what I did for free. I have no idea where they are coming from. I had a great day, but I was own all day, out in the wind, with no-one else to make me raise my game. I'd happily pay to ride the Sportive next year if I'm around that weekend.

Bassjunkieuk

Great work ER! One of the reason's I'd love a Garmin is the fact that I can explore a lot more as I do feel I'm missing out on some fantastic riding in the Kent and North Downs area as I simply don't have the maps for the area's! I only got away with last week's ride as I had a rough idea of the geography of the towns I was heading for and what main roads bounded then as as long as I found a roundabout to point me to the correct A-road I was OK :-)

Also isn't a nice feeling to nail your longest single ride :-)

cjcp

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

Great work ER!

+1. Strong chances are that you'd have gone faster if you were on the sportive. As you say, others round you would have forced you to raise your game, and you would have had the benefit of riding in a group, too.

Meanwhile, at very much the lower end of the distance scale, I did a cheeky three laps of RP again this morning. Got to the Park just before 5am - I wouldn't normally get up that early, but some peasant was riding around on his scooter just before 4am.

Nice pootle to stretch the legs after last night's exertions. And I wasn't alone either. Saw a chap in his 70s out on his hybrid and a woman of a similar age on her old stylee road bike (she's a regular in RP at that time apparently). 8)

roger_merriman

I hate heat, but I really wanted a bike ride, as i've been ill for a week or so.

the idea of sweating on the roadie didn't appeal, so to swinley forrest. last time I was there was fairly muddy today it was like dust bowl. lot cooler under the trees and a lot of bikes about but spread out quite well, I tend to head for the Labyrinth and then get nice and lost and pick up the odd trail here and there.

brakes worked which was handy after my fettling!

really must go more often, as it's a shame not to.

greg66_tri_v2.0

cjcp wrote:

Got to the Park just before 5am

HOLY CRAPORAMA!

Just before 5? So you were there, in RP, at a time in the morning that starts with a 4?

Jaysus.

You do know God only invented those hours that begin with 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to sleep through, don't you?

cjcp

Heh heh. I know - it felt very wrong, but it was soooooo lovely once I got into the Park. Took me back to my triathlon days. And why I gave that nonsense up.

The Running Man

So I was really looking forward to the club 175km audax on Sunday so I was up and out of the house by just before 8.00 to have a quiet ride over to the meet to loosen up for what was sure to be a fast one.

Got there in plenty of time and dawdled a bit through the town to arrive at 8.40 for the 9.00 kick-off. The closer it got to 9.00 and the absence of any other riders meant it slowly dawned on me that everyone must have left at 8.00 not 9.00.

I was gutted and tore off in pursuit partly following the route but also cutting big slices off to see if I could get anywhere close to them bearing in mind they would have a cake stop somewhere. I shot through Trowbridge, Westbury and Warminster but the time I got to Longleat I realised that it was a waste of time and effort and gave it up.

I just felt like turning for home but forced myself to head east out through the lanes to Urchfont, Pewsey and Burbage before coming back through Marlborough and Broad Hinton to break 100 for the day.

I checked my emails this morning to find a change to the start time had stuck in my spam filter. I'd checked the website Thursday morning but it was changed Thursday evening.

What a wally.......

benno68

Hey RTM what a PITA! Still - nice one on doing a solo ton.

We had visitors around this weekend, the club were doing a 120 miler up to Gospel Pass, not moaning about the lovely weather but that would have been a killer for me!

I got up earlyish and was out by 7:15, just did 35 odd miles along the flats in Wentloog and back by 9:30, a couple of lumps but a fairly easy couple of hours.

The Running Man

To be honest I found it really hard to motivate myself to go long on my own. I'd been looking forward to riding with the group so much that it was more tough mentally than physically even with the heat : that'll teach me :roll:

Gospel Pass : is that the hill out of Crickhowell up towards Hay?

If it is then I think the Wentloog was definitely the better call especially in that heat.

Mine was pretty flat all the way apart from a few minor drags here and there but with the temperatures I still had to make a quick pit stop and buy 2 fresh bottles of Lucozade Sport.....

Not complaining though - it really was fabby weather!!