Strava.com - Put your money where your mouth is

keyser__soze

Could be Vermin, he usually wears pink Lampre kit.

bigmat

Paul E wrote:

I think I did a pretty decent time on lonmdon bridge northbound this morning, I won't know until I download the track from my garmin tonight

Hopefully not too good!

SimonAH

I have Strava'd up.
Looking at the map I expect to be KOM of the entire county of Gwent.
Even if I take the unicycle :-)

mudcovered

SimonAH wrote:

I have Strava'd up.
Looking at the map I expect to be KOM of the entire county of Gwent.
Even if I take the unicycle :-)

You're lucky. Things are much tougher on the other side of the bridge. I rate myself as reasonably fast but the best I've managed on any local segment is 4th.

Mike

vermin

tetm wrote:

Oi, Vermin, pipe down.

I only got that KOM yesterday, and I wasn't after a coalition!

Oi, tetm, what was this all about???

On other matters, thanks to the tow to the park from okgo, I smashed my solo RP lap PB by almost 2 mins last night. 18.01/18.06 depending upon the chosen lap! Hurrah! Go me!

Any thoughts on whether that is fast enough to make Cat 4 a realistic proposition?

okgo

Yes, easily fast enough. Some cat 4/3 riders only just beat the hour for 3 laps.

As I said to another chap I've been riding with, having a sprint will help you more than being able to TT (or ride fast solo) will, of course having both is nice, but its possible to do next to bugger all and pop up for the sprint and get to cat 2, probably less easy to move up from there without being able to work a bit more, which is where my next issue is

dhope

okgo wrote:

Yes, easily fast enough. Some cat 4/3 riders only just beat the hour for 3 laps.

Really? Hmm, I might have a bash one day too then having snuck under the hour off commuting mileage only

vermin

Ha, good luck with that, although lapping in 16 mins shows promise!

So where do I go/what do I do if I fancy having a go at taking the race beyond the embankment?

okgo

It does and it doesn't, as said its the accelerations and what not that really test fitness. And also Eyepe0 may be a similar speed to me round the park (he's 1st cat I think) but he is FAR quicker up hill, so its always a battle, in an ideal world I'd be 70-75kg and I'd be fine at most things, but its not that simple.

You would have to get a race license, and also join British Cycling, together these things are like £50 I think, then you can enter races, some are done online, some you just turn up on the day with your £10, some you have to post a cheque. Simple stuff.

Yukirin

vermin wrote:

tetm wrote:

Oi, Vermin, pipe down.

I only got that KOM yesterday, and I wasn't after a coalition!

Oi, tetm, what was this all about???

On other matters, thanks to the tow to the park from okgo, I smashed my solo RP lap PB by almost 2 mins last night. 18.01/18.06 depending upon the chosen lap! Hurrah! Go me!

Any thoughts on whether that is fast enough to make Cat 4 a realistic proposition?

definatly. My favourite game at work is pulling up the segment and checking all the names around my times against the British cycling website. You can see their year's race history (if they race). There are people racing 3rd cat this year who are slower than me for a lap.
Then you can look at their rides on Strava and see their training sessions, and get some useful tips to help with your own training.

I had my first ever group ride yesterday with a few people I've met through work. Felt very positive after all the chain exercises. I had plenty of nerve holding the wheel and didnt feel under powered when on the front. Sprinting was a totally different ball game though! Seems I cant do random acceleration. I can catch up ok after 200 meters, its like I'm being towed by a piece of elastic!

Less flat out riding and more intervals it is, then

keyser__soze

Disclaimer: despite being 3rd Cat and living less than half a mile from RP I've yet to do a fast lap (let alone three) on Strava, and my time on there is well over a minute off my pb from last summer, and yes, my missus currently has a faster lap time on Strava than me :oops:

okgo

What I would say is that the majority of racers don't use strava. Also you could be quicker than someone round the park, but they would smash you to bits in a sprint, or on a proper hill. Its all much for much. Everyone has strengths and weakness. I probably have a better sprint than a majority of riders in category's above me, however, that is totally useless if you can't get to the end of a 120 mile race up hills at 28mph average!

So although the 3 lap challenge is a good general leveler, its useless if you are looking at someone thinking you could be a cat 2 racer because you're quicker than some cat 3's around the park.

Yukirin

okgo wrote:

What I would say is that the majority of racers don't use strava. Also you could be quicker than someone round the park, but they would smash you to bits in a sprint, or on a proper hill. Its all much for much. Everyone has strengths and weakness. I probably have a better sprint than a majority of riders in category's above me, however, that is totally useless if you can't get to the end of a 120 mile race up hills at 28mph average!

So although the 3 lap challenge is a good general leveler, its useless if you are looking at someone thinking you could be a cat 2 racer because you're quicker than some cat 3's around the park.

Oh I have no doubt I would have no hope in a 2nd cat! The thought of it makes me laugh! And was by no means what I was suggesting. I dont think I could even successfully race in a 3/4 yet! My sprint is way off the pace. I've got a lot of work to do for next year if I'm going to have a go.
Vermin was asking if it would be worth a crack based on his lap times, I reckon he has got a good starting base to try out some 4th cat based on the fact there are 3rd cats with slower times. I'm not saying he'd win, but thats a good a starting point as any, non?

okgo

Yep, as good as any other indicator!

vermin

From what I've heard, the best indicators of success at Cat 4 would be possession of rubber bones and leather skin, of which I have neither. In the circumstances, some reassurance that I might at least keep up until the sprint finish is welcome!

Cheers chaps.

keyser__soze

You should be fine keeping up and may be surprised at how easy the pace can be in the average 4s-only until the last lap or so. Go along to Hillingdon 3/4s on a Tuesday night or a 4s-only race on one of the weekends and see how it goes.

vermin

Knocked another 20 seconds off this morning to get 17.40 odd. Double hurrah! Who's going to turn up for the TT at 6am tomorrow?

okgo

Good effort.

You'll be plenty quick enough

Not sure many are doing it from here apart from Bigmat, shame it was full, I'd have like to defend my win and better my time

KateF

I'll be there tomorrow. Legs will hopefully have recovered from today's road race!

You'd be fine in a 4's race at HIllingdon, they're apparently usually only about 23-24mph and only an hour, which is a lot easier in a group.

okgo

24-25, but the difference is minimal in reality.

vermin

Hmm, a sprint finish after completing 24 miles in an hour - not wholly comfortable with that idea...

okgo

Pipped IL P by one second to the Broomfield segment for the SCR chart.

keyser__soze

okgo wrote:

24-25, but the difference is minimal in reality.

And how many Cat 4-only races have you competed in exactly? I'm talking from experience

vermin

KateF wrote:

I'll be there tomorrow. Legs will hopefully have recovered from today's road race!

Best of luck KateF

KateF

vermin wrote:

KateF wrote:

I'll be there tomorrow. Legs will hopefully have recovered from today's road race!

Best of luck KateF

Thanks You too! (Post sounds like you're riding!)

vermin

Thanks, but no - I just heard about it this morning, that's all.

willy b

Created a few new segments from today's mtb ride, on obvious hills. Managed to get KOM on them all which was good!

Other people have ridden them too

Hoping the Garmin turns up by Wednesday so I can get some French KOMs 8)

okgo

Does anyone know if there is a premium code knocking around at the minute?

il_principe

okgo wrote:

Pipped IL P by one second to the Broomfield segment for the SCR chart.

Pfft, the speed limit sign isn't the proper segment, you need to go from the roundabout for the full climb: http://app.strava.com/segments/629608

okgo

Sadly I was held up by a car and two nodders before then

Still, I was going for maximum power over a 30 sec period, didn't quite manage what I have on warm legs, but its getting there. If only I could do that at the end of 70 miles