First sub-20 min lap round Richmond Park

beams87

Chadders81 wrote:

There's one long drag of about 1.5-2% and a couple of sharp climbs but plenty of places where you can hit 30 no problems.

One day a few months ago, when it was scorching, I did an evening lap and nudged 40.2 mph on the steep decent, anti-clockwise. Hard to time it so that you don't get stuck behind a "relatively" slow car...

dhope

beams87 wrote:

If you're riding that Dogma I am not surprised you are breaking sub - 17 on the reg! That is a mean bike sir!! Good work!

Wouldn't attribute too much to that, I'd need a lot more than a Dogma to be breaking 17 :oops:

Paul E

Unless they comes with extra "assistance" built in for mamils with an extra tyre

vermin

It's not about the bike.

*The use of this quote is not intended to imply that Il P employs any illicit means of achieving fast RP lap times.

pangolin

Yesss! 19:30, first time in over a year I've managed sub 20

chadders81

Well done. I'm going early on Sat. The last fortnight has involved no cycling other than commuting and a lot of boozing and smoking.

KateF

Rick Chasey wrote:

Chadders81 wrote:

Thanks guys. My girlfriend doesn't seem impressed. I made the mistake of telling her how fast David Millar did it.

Here's the proof anyway.

http://app.strava.com/rides/14641743

Girlfriends are never impressed when it comes to speed or laptimes.

Definitely impressed that my lap time is faster than any that @Keyser_Soze has recorded on Strava (although only because he's not done a proper lap in decent conditions yet, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts )

Monkeypump

Haven't been over to RP for ages. Slightly intimidated by it as I'm seriously out of shape at the moment (and my excuse is that it's too far away).

Don't remember my first sub-20 lap, but remember my first sub-60 for 3 laps - was very chuffed!

Well done you, and thanks for reminding me that I need to get back to that pace!

pangolin

Just managed 58:12 for three laps. Extremely chuffed with that!

cjcp

Nice one!

(Think I saw you. I was on the path.)

chadders81

There was some sort of ridiculous fun run on this morning which seemed to shut most of the park for about an hour.

Why can't they do their fun run somewhere that nobody wants to cycle? Like Canary Wharf.

Only managed two laps before some jobsworth in a hi-viz jacket told me it was closing. Neither was sub-20. Not even close. Some days I just don't feel it and end up dawdling.

Pangolin - mad props.

okgo

Was that parkrun?

pangolin

okgo wrote:

Was that parkrun?

It was this, I saw lots of banners up for it while cycling home last night. http://humanrace.co.uk/events/women-only/womenonly-run

Cheer CJ & Chadders! Didn't spot you if it was me you saw I'm afraid CJ. Was wearing a red top and quickstep cap, on the dolan. Depending on which lap it was, I may not have been a pretty sight

prj45

Lawbreakers!

willhub

I went to Richmond Park today, was there around 1-2pm, now I know why people who want to get in a decent run go early.. It's so stop and start because it's rammed full of cars, not only that cars don't overtake properly. I did one lap ACW and one lap CW.

veronese68

Glad you made it Will, Now imagine the chaos on a nice sunny day.

willhub

It'd drive me insane, I wanted to have a go at some KOM's but no chance today, I'm pretty happy with a 20mph avg lap considering the traffic. Have to admit, RP is harder than I thought, can't imagine managing to do 25-30mph up some of them drags.

Wrath Rob

I've had a change in tack recently for 3 lap challenges. Instead of trying to smash it up the hills, spiking your heart rate and then recovering at the top, I've done the opposite. I've tried to keep my heart rate to a reasonable level, e.g. 90% of max, which means that once you hit the top of the hill you can push on much more quickly. I tend to find that any time I've lost on the way up is more than compensated for on the flat bits. Think how a pro would approach a time trial.

For a single lap its just all out the entire time, heart rate be damned!

okgo

Given 3 laps for most people is an hour or so, the quickest way to do it is at threshold, I think its quite obvious when you look at someones quick time that you can see they are not quick up dark hill etc, but soon back to 25 mph when over the top so 340 on the flat, 340 up the hills is quicker than smashing it up dark hill with 450w but taking 20 secs to recover on the top.

vermin

okgo wrote:

Given 3 laps for most people is an hour or so, the quickest way to do it is at threshold, I think its quite obvious when you look at someones quick time that you can see they are not quick up dark hill etc, but soon back to 25 mph when over the top so 340 on the flat, 340 up the hills is quicker than smashing it up dark hill with 450w but taking 20 secs to recover on the top.

20 secs? If I properly smash it up DH, I'm at Kingston Vale before I've regained my composure. Steady wins every time on a 3 lap effort.

beams87

Just ride your bike a lot, then you'll get quicker. Recovery comes with practice. I managed a 17.56 lap in July this year, that was threshold 100%. Recovery had to wait till Roehampton Gate!

chadders81

It's Sawyer's that seems to slow me down. If I manage to be quick between Roehampton and Richmond gates, it tends to set up a quick lap.

Wrath Rob

vermin wrote:

okgo wrote:

Given 3 laps for most people is an hour or so, the quickest way to do it is at threshold, I think its quite obvious when you look at someones quick time that you can see they are not quick up dark hill etc, but soon back to 25 mph when over the top so 340 on the flat, 340 up the hills is quicker than smashing it up dark hill with 450w but taking 20 secs to recover on the top.

20 secs? If I properly smash it up DH, I'm at Kingston Vale before I've regained my composure. Steady wins every time on a 3 lap effort.

This is definitely the way to go. If you've got a heart rate monitor, use that to try and keep to a constant heart rate around the lap, so you]ll end up going pretty easy up the hills but then immediately back on it on the flat/downhill sections. Having done this with a power meter is scary how slow you have to go up hill to hold yourself back and then as soon as you reach the peak, how hard you have to go to get back on the right pace.

SimonAH

What is this talk of hills and peaks in Richmond Park? As I recall (on riding a couple of laps in the summer) it is mill-pond flat. Anyone fancy coming out in this direction for a ride?

okgo

It isn't flat. Anyone can see that. Like saying Wales is millpond flat, why don't you try riding in the Alps.

mrc1

Wrath Rob wrote:

vermin wrote:

okgo wrote:

Given 3 laps for most people is an hour or so, the quickest way to do it is at threshold, I think its quite obvious when you look at someones quick time that you can see they are not quick up dark hill etc, but soon back to 25 mph when over the top so 340 on the flat, 340 up the hills is quicker than smashing it up dark hill with 450w but taking 20 secs to recover on the top.

20 secs? If I properly smash it up DH, I'm at Kingston Vale before I've regained my composure. Steady wins every time on a 3 lap effort.

This is definitely the way to go. If you've got a heart rate monitor, use that to try and keep to a constant heart rate around the lap, so you]ll end up going pretty easy up the hills but then immediately back on it on the flat/downhill sections. Having done this with a power meter is scary how slow you have to go up hill to hold yourself back and then as soon as you reach the peak, how hard you have to go to get back on the right pace.

+1 to this. Scherrit (from Bike Whisperer) told me that I'd be quicker by keeping the same power all the way around. I didn't believe him as you practically stop on the climbs but it averaged out much faster than the smash it and rest approach. Makes perfect sense from threshold for an hour angle but sounds and feels odd without the actual data.

okgo

If you're pretty fit you can afford to go over threshold as you'll probably recover very quickly over the top, but certainly no point going deep into the red!

Itching for spring so I can get back in there after work!

Wrath Rob

okgo wrote:

Itching for spring so I can get back in there after work!

And you can't get back in there now because.....?

Deer cull only starts after 8 and the best time to go for a consistent lap is when there are no cars around. Just watch out for those walking slabs of venison.

SimonAH

okgo wrote:

It isn't flat. Anyone can see that. Like saying Wales is millpond flat, why don't you try riding in the Alps.

I'm wasted here, really I am <baits another hook>

okgo

Wrath Rob wrote:

okgo wrote:

Itching for spring so I can get back in there after work!

And you can't get back in there now because.....?

Deer cull only starts after 8 and the best time to go for a consistent lap is when there are no cars around. Just watch out for those walking slabs of venison.

Coz the air is too dense, and I want to give a certain TarmacExpert something to worry about ;-) nah just not a fan of riding in the pitch black.