Ride Reports

Kieran_Burns

Well we didn't manage the 200Km but we did get the 100 miles in. 106 to be exact. We basically ran out of daylight, and knees... between the 2 of us we had one working knee left.

God that was epic. We were doing fine until we hit Ashbourne at 40 miles and went onto the Tissington Trail... 26 miles of wet mud (4 of which had this bloody awful gravel spray stuff on) killed us. We actually cycled up into the snow which kind of freaked me out, but the slog uphill was destroying us both - that and the cold which was just sapping our energy, that was the hardest ride I have ever done.

The last 20 miles was just pain, pain and more pain: every little hill had us dropping gears as our knees were screaming with agony. To be honest my energy levels weren't that bad but I physically couldn't apply any pressure on the pedals without shooting pains up the outside of the knee.

Oh, and the front wheel bearings basically died, the wheel was spinning fine but I listened to something bouncing around in there for mile after mile after mile.

However: the most astonishing thing about the ride was my mate. The longest ride he had ever done was 50 miles and that only a few weeks before. He completed 106 miles on my spare CX bike, not even his own. He just got on it and cycled over 100 miles without even adjusting it. Absolutely mind-blowing.

I wrote an original piece to celebrate our epic ride of epicness


This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Sundays shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We two, we happy two, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that rides his bike with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so mad,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their bib-shorts cheap whiles any speaks
That rode with us upon Saint Patrick's day

walkingbootweather

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Well we didn't manage the 200Km but we did get the 100 miles in. 106 to be exact. We basically ran out of daylight, and knees... between the 2 of us we had one working knee left.

God that was epic. We were doing fine until we hit Ashbourne at 40 miles and went onto the Tissington Trail... 26 miles of wet mud (4 of which had this bloody awful gravel spray stuff on) killed us. We actually cycled up into the snow which kind of freaked me out, but the slog uphill was destroying us both - that and the cold which was just sapping our energy, that was the hardest ride I have ever done.

The last 20 miles was just pain, pain and more pain: every little hill had us dropping gears as our knees were screaming with agony. To be honest my energy levels weren't that bad but I physically couldn't apply any pressure on the pedals without shooting pains up the outside of the knee.

Oh, and the front wheel bearings basically died, the wheel was spinning fine but I listened to something bouncing around in there for mile after mile after mile.

However: the most astonishing thing about the ride was my mate. The longest ride he had ever done was 50 miles and that only a few weeks before. He completed 106 miles on my spare CX bike, not even his own. He just got on it and cycled over 100 miles without even adjusting it. Absolutely mind-blowing.

I wrote an original piece to celebrate our epic ride of epicness


This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Sundays shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We two, we happy two, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that rides his bike with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so mad,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their bib-shorts cheap whiles any speaks
That rode with us upon Saint Patrick's day

Very good, but a more appropriate ditty may have been...

No need for drums or violinists
To proclaim the fact we did not finish
Our epic ride on St Paddy's Day
And so next year I'll have to say
We'll sit in the pub and just drink Guinness

FoldingJoe

Did the Mad March Hare weekend before last.

http://app.strava.com/activities/43097016

Whilst waiting at the start got talking to a chap who was also there on his own, and it was his first sportive (mind you, I'm hardly a veteran with only two under my belt) so we decided to ride together. What a difference it makes!!

My first two sportives were the Dartmoor Classic and Exmoor Beast, and riding with mates who are decent riders meant at the first sign of a semi-serious gradient they were off, so it was nice to be able to ride with somebody who wan't too fussed on his time and was happy for us to cycle together.

First half up to the feed station was through some lovely rolling countryside and villages, with little traffic. Only real climb of any consequence, Larkstoke, was the one around half way, just before the feed station. Not the greatest road to ascend on as it was pretty muddy and not very wide. There were a lot of people pushing, and then some inconsiderate person in a car decided he would turn around (after just sitting in a entrance to a field) and drive down the hill with a fair few riders still coming up. I heard a lot of disgruntled shouts behind, and too be fair, if he'd have waited just 5 minutes he'd have probably missed the majority of riders coming up at that point. Not cool, but I guess you need to expect it.

Michael, the fella I was riding with, dropped me on the climb when my back wheel spun and I had to unclip about half way up, so had to push for the remainder until I could remount nearer the top.

Caught up to him at the feed station, but then a total lack of communication meant he shot off thinking I'd gone, when I was actually in the toilet.

Shame, as those last 30 or so miles would have been a lot nicer, and maybe slightly quicker, if we'd had ridden them together. Finished about 4 minutes behind him, so I think we did the same time, or I was probably slightly quicker, for the last half!!

Caught up with him at the end and had a quick chat about the last 30 or so miles over a bacon butty and a tea.

All in all a nice sportive, lovely route, and well run for it's size (about 600 participants). Will definitely put my name down for next year.

the_fuggler

Mad March Hare does look like a good ride. Must mark that on the calendar for next year.

clarkey cat

just done my first 100km + ride of the year. Hooked up with some pals at Waterloo and followed the Dulwich Paragon club ride route to Limpsfield, then across to Blethingly, up to Merstham for some Fanny Farm Shop goodness then BoxHill, Ranmore, Effingham and back to Walton on Thames.

Lovely day for it but really felt it on the hills. Never been much of a climber but was a bit embarrassing today! Still great fun.

Ian.B

Back from the Vatternrundan in Sweden, and very happy to have made it to the end . The first 100km was straight into a strong headwind which wasn't pleasant and it was very chilly overnight, and the wind faded a bit after we turned the corner, but the sun came out and by late morning it started to warm up. By half way round I was close to bonking and thought there was a good chance I wouldn't make it, but happily I did! Completely wiped out by the end, but very glad I did it!

Kieran_Burns

Notts 100 mile sportive no.2 under my belt, and this time I learned a few new things:

(please refer to last years post, the last line of which I shall not repeat)

Malt loaf with chocolate chips sandwich with blackcurrant jam is EPIC. Fact.
I need to see a Doctor about my right knee
It turns out I am not completely immune to punctures. For the first time in, what, 4 years of leisure cycling I suffered a puncture. A slow one which hit at about 70 miles. I stopped to put some more air in and limped to the next feed stop where I swapped the 'tube.
Wind. Today I learned about wind. When you're 80 miles in, got a right knee that is basically not working any more and you get blown sideways across a road because of a gap in the hedge you learn several things all at once: Yes, you can scream in that octave. Yes you can hold on to your bike with just your arse. Yes a bike can travel laterally without appaently passing through the intervening space. Alhough, admittedly, that could've been because I had my eyes closed.
You can have cold hands / feet / head / chest 2 days after MID SUMMERS DAY while out cycling. Who knew?
I need to prepare more. Although saying that, I was quicker than I thought I would be on the hills. I think the weight loss is starting to reap dividends.
You NEVER stop getting p*ssed off with pelotons of smug 'pro' roadies swishing past. Never.
There are some truly, monumentally, staggeringly mental people out there: There was this guy, looked like a reject out of ZZ Top (no, really). No bottle, no bottle cages, cycling shorts, spd-sl shoes and a cotton singlet. I was shivering in all my kit (including arm warmers under the jacket) and he's strolling 'round in a bloody singlet.
Going for a pee when it is cold, wet and windy is an amazing voyage of discovery. "Okay. Where the HELL are you hiding????"
When adjusting your camera make sure you adjust it to be POINTING FORWARD. I have 2 hours of road footage. Nothing else. Just road. Sh*t.
The organisers need to count the miles. They were always at least 1 mile behind. At one point they were 2 miles behind and miraculously the 2 miles went in a 1/2. Yeesh.

The ride was great fun (kind of, in a masochistic beating the elements way) but I will admit I almost bailed. I got to the 40 mile feed-stop (first one for me) and was sat shivering in the rain trying to get some food down and just being miserable. There were very few riders around, which is bizarre as there were meant to be a 1000 people doing the 100 mile sportive, so I was on my own. My mates were an hour behind as they left late so I had battled the bloody awful wind on some exposed stretches on my own. I was tired, truly tired and less than 1/2 way 'round. The point where you could choose the 50 mile route was 3 miles ahead. I turned right onto the 100 mile course.

There were very few groups, just pairs of riders and lots of singles... I got chatting to quite a few people and it really helped with having the miles tick by.
I got to chat to (I think it was) Nick from on here and his brother Jay, but we got split up at the next feed stop, as I was lingering waiting for my mates to catch up. Which they did at the last one. My delays and the puncture actually got the plan to work.

I'll do next year but I definitely prep much more as I was lacking this year, even though I did almost get the food and drink right this time

R0B75

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Notts 100 mile sportive no.2 under my belt, and this time I learned a few new things:.....

Good write up. I lol'ed. I can relate to a lot of that today. You're right, there were very few proper groups. After I left you it took me another 20 miles on my own to find a group (a proper one, i.e. more than 3 or 4 people) to ride with but that came to an end at the 40 mile feed station. The slightly irritating thing was that only 1 or 2 others were taking turns at the front, everyone else was just getting a tow. In all I must have ridden 75 miles completely alone and let me tell you, it is quite lonely when you're freezing cold and tired from fighting the wind and rain. I reckon the organisers were just trolling us with the distance markers being pretty much 2 miles out. Grrr! Good day overall though.

smidsy

Yep 102.7 miles on my Bryton.

Go that wind was tuff on the back section!

DerbyshirePoolie

My GPS logged 102.7 exactly as well. Who are they trying to kid

Kieran_Burns

Well that was one of my more stupid decisions.

I set up a 110 mile route with an 80 (ish) mile bailout option (depending on my right knee condition)

I casually watched the temperature rise from 20C going through 25C fairly early on and peaking at a held 29C. I was melting in the saddle and simply couldn't drink quickly enough to keep myself hydrated. In the end I had to keep stopping in shaded parts to cool down enough to carry on. Seriously... I also had to force myself to slow down as I run hot at the best of times and the amount of heat I was producing was causing me genuine problems.

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/212557201/1500261

...for the route (75 in the end as I took an alternate quicker road route and ended up in the middle of a bloody time trial)

Oh, at one point when I was hiding from the sun my bike was in full sunlight and the bike comp showed 34C :shock:

I had a great chat with a lady while resting under another tree (at the end of her drive: HUGE house) and she was talking about her Doctor Son who is doing the Chester - Liverpool - Chester ride and saying how she can't understand why he has more than one bike and one of them costs over £2000!!! . I looked a bit sheepish and pointed to my bike and said "that's one of three and is worth about £2500 to replace"

Another one for the "battling the elements to win out" score sheet.

I REALLY need to see a Doctor about my knee.

itboffin

I rode L'Alp D'Heuz on Thursday then rode it again on Saturday after having ridden 160 ish km first over three HC cols in 40C heat which was nice.

msmancunia

itboffin wrote:

I rode L'Alp D'Heuz on Thursday then rode it again on Saturday after having ridden 160 ish km first over three HC cols in 40C heat which was nice.

Are you retired or something? Are you EVER in the country doing an actual job?

I went up Cragg Vale today which was a bit silly given the heat, but given that this time next week I will be cycling through the Alps, I thought I should at least try to get a head start on the heat.

Ride was slightly brightened up by a v handsome man running down as I was struggling up, who said hiya and then gave me a rather saucy wink. Said hello back, and as I did so, inadvertently blew what I can only describe as a hay fever induced bubble of snot out of my nose.

It goes without saying that I was so embarrassed that I am never riding up there again.

Kieran_Burns

itboffin wrote:

I rode L'Alp D'Heuz on Thursday then rode it again on Saturday after having ridden 160 ish km first over three HC cols in 40C heat which was nice.

FFS. Will you lot STOP doing this to me?

I post up some small achievement and then one of you smug bastards comes along with a "oh I did a 130 mile ride" or "I rode up the bloody Alp de bloody De bloody Huez!".

TWICE.

I hope the fleas of a thousand camels infest your bottoms.

grump.....

Agent57

Kieran_Burns wrote:

itboffin wrote:

I rode L'Alp D'Heuz on Thursday then rode it again on Saturday after having ridden 160 ish km first over three HC cols in 40C heat which was nice.

FFS. Will you lot STOP doing this to me?

I post up some small achievement and then one of you smug bastards comes along with a "oh I did a 130 mile ride" or "I rode up the bloody Alp de bloody De bloody Huez!".

TWICE.

I hope the fleas of a thousand camels infest your bottoms.

grump.....

Heheh, my mate did that to me yesterday. I was pleaded at averaging more than 17mph for my 35 miles yesterday, then he weighs in with "I rode the Marmotte". And he beat my PB for highest attained speed, with his 58mph. The git.

itboffin

Yep marmotte it was and guess was I also broke my downhill pb alas my garmin signal was weak in these high mountains so only recorded 91.65 km p/hr.

hegyestomi

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Well that was one of my more stupid decisions.

I REALLY need to see a Doctor about my knee.

Did you have a proper bike-fit? That usually sorts things like that out.

roger_merriman

Yesterday I did this http://app.strava.com/activities/65598379 A loop taking in the Gap which is a old droving road to Brecon.

rather steep (knocking on for 20% in places) muddy rocky first climb with how many gates!

Orienteering teens yee of little faith, I did make it up! ;-)

really very hot and slow mainly due to my optimism that might be some useable trails following the valley edge around so a lot of picking my way over the heather, mind you once at the top rolling down the steepish slopes to the road at the head of the valley was a hoot,drop of 500ft to the road, ramps of 25% plus on lumpy heather etc, and the Army Guy at the bottom with his feet up drink in hand waiting for the guys and gals in their full kit yomping over the valley, did amuse.



oh and some sheep...

from their just followed the Gap to the top and the Gap proper, fairly cooked at this point have to be said, and bounced down the road attempting to avoid the bigger rocks.

Kieran_Burns

Did a 55 mile run on Saturday in the baking heat - 2.25 litres of water and 2 pints of coke and I was still close to dehydrated at the end

Still, somewhat better than my mate who decided to have 2 pints of Cider rather than a soft drink. Boy, did he suffer afterwards!

Going to use that circuit as the basis for some long runs, there are some really great roads out past where I used to live.

greg66_tri_v2.0

90 miles yesterday, setting off at 10 (so about 3 hours too late). SW Lon out to Windsor, headed down to Ascot, Chobham, Woking, Dorking and then turned for home. Unfeasibly hot. Didn't seem a lot less hot than last w/end's Marmotte, but I suppose it was. All on Bike 1 in its Aero config, so no that comfy either.

bobbygloss

Can everyone stop complaining about the heat! It was 13C for my ride yesterday, with mist and rain on the high bits. Stunning scenery though. 88 miles with almost zero traffic for the first 50.

itboffin

Did the magnificat Epic route yesterday, 125 miles 7500ft of climbing in 30C+ heat and you know what ....? I really enjoyed it in fact i did a fair amount of big ring climbing and generally beasting it 8)

only averaged 17.5 mph mostly due to waiting for a friend but anyway still managed a top 50 finish :twisted:

happy days

vermin

Just completed a 360 mile trip from London, over to Birmingham, up to Sheffield, then Leeds, across to Liverpool and back to Chester. A group of four of us rode 90 miles per day for 4 days, riding between my firm's UK offices in a fund raising event for Alzheimer's Society.

What a beautiful and varied country I live in - the ride over the Pennines this morning being a particular highlight.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Damn. Almost forgot to post this.

Saturday just gone. Turbo session. 5 h 30 mins on the IMC course. Then straight into running shoes for a 45 min run.

Yeah. That was totally awesome. Watched a lot of telly. Scenery, not so much.

MonkeyMonster

L2P all done in reasonable time too. Cracking weather and legs feel sore (plus bum of course) but otherwise all good. What to do next is the question...

il_principe

Did a cheeky 111 miler out towards Marlow on Sunday. Lovely day for it. Same again planned for this Sunday. Which'll make it 3 imperial century rides for July. #RaidTraining

Greg, you are mad. 5 hours on a Turbo when we're having the best summer for 7 years? Mental.

suzyb

Well I did 30 miles on Sunday. It was only really 29.5 miles by the time I got home but I cycled down and up the street a few times to get it to the 30

Headwind on the way out was horrible, felt like I could barely pedal against it. Yet I managed the same average as my last long ride when it was windless :?

Should really do that more often, better way to spend a Sunday than sitting watching crap on TV. Even if it doesn't feel that way when you're out.

itboffin

5 30 on the turbo flipping heck why didn't you go outside?

greg66_tri_v2.0

itboffin wrote:

5 30 on the turbo flipping heck why didn't you go outside?

Il Principe wrote:

Greg, you are mad. 5 hours on a Turbo when we're having the best summer for 7 years? Mental.

Yeah, that sort of crossed my mind from time to time. The truth is that I can't replicate the course over here. I can replicate it on the turbo. I get the gradients and I get the google earth images. I wanted to test out some nutrition/hydration strategies, and see how I felt when I hit the climbs on the last 35k.

Oh, and my chronic agoraphobia, obviously.

itboffin

What you're basically saying is that court ordered ankle jewellery doesn't allow you to go further than the end of the driveway so you watched five hours of the tour whilst drinking wine and scoffing cheese.

On the nail?