What's your weakness?

Kendal Black Drop

StorckSpeed wrote:

Crisps !!

Plenty of carbs and a nice bit of salt to replace what you've sweated out. I think they are a great mid ride snack.*

*I know bugger all about nutrition.

dw300

+1 for headwinds and fast descending

alistaird

Cycling.... maybe apart from downhill in a straight line with a bit of a tailwind, them I'm ok.

A

dmclite-3.0

Battlefield 3. My son has this game, I will get bike out, dressed, bottles etc all out and just have a quick game, 3 hours later I haven't been out, still sat there zapping away, its deadly.

Nachos as well and meat and chips from the local kebab emporium.

symo

After being completed and utterly shelled out the back of the A/M run this Sunday on one of my rare visits to Devon to ride with the club, it has to be climbing. Dropped off the back of a group containing CAT1's and Pro's; so perhaps I shouldn't feel so bad about that.

It would have been nice to keep up on that first long climb rather than losing the group completely.

Frank the tank

symo wrote:

After being completed and utterly shelled out the back of the A/M run this Sunday on one of my rare visits to Devon to ride with the club, it has to be climbing. Dropped off the back of a group containing CAT1's and Pro's; so perhaps I shouldn't feel so bad about that.

It would have been nice to keep up on that first long climb rather than losing the group completely.

Go out with the "B group" then. You egomaniac.

MichaelW

Long straight roads with wind do me in.
I would have to agree that an athletic babe in lycra, cycling ahead is a motivating factor, unless she has wind as well.

Gizmo_

andy46 wrote:

Why am I not as confident going around right handed bends as opposed to left handers?

I'd also like to be able to climb a bit better (though I am getting better)

Haha, that's a good point. Same here. I think it's because if the front wheel washes out a bit on a left-hand bend you have the space to stand it up a bit, but on a left you'll hit the kerb...

Gazzaputt

Descents and chocolate.

dee4life2005

My weakness has to be pacing myself, especially on longer rides. I usually always have a section of the ride where I end up going too fast, or putting too much effort in (hills), and as a result the speed usually drops a few mph towards the end. I blame Wiggle.

I used to really struggle with headwinds, but after using the turbo trainer for a few weeks I find this has helped.

** Edit, actually right-hand bends for me too for some reason - possibly because you don't have so much run-off if you happen to take it a bit too fast ?

freddiegrubb

Weaknesses? too many to mention, but to all the jittery descenders out there you aint going to win the TDF. so stay respectful of downhills your body & bike will thank you for it.

mudcow007

put simply

Boobs

dee4life2005

Another weakness ... mysterious fatigue ... all power seems to go from my legs whenever I catch up to a nice looking woman wearing lycra ... and I can't seem to be manage to overtake for a mile or two and have to draft for a bit to get my breath back

Peddle Up!

CiB wrote:

Bunneh wrote:

Women in lycra and short, sharp climbs.

I managed to combine the two on the Blenheim 100 miler the other year, struggling up Belas Knap (nr Cheltenham if anyone knows it) with a v well formed lady cyclist just ahead of me for a few yards kept my mind off the pain and the unsuitable gearing I had then.

That's a good way to nail that climb. I thought the Belnheim 100 was a good event, BTW.

fatreg

cheese

SFT

Descending - I get to 55 and can't stop myself from braking.

dw300

Gizmo_ wrote:

andy46 wrote:

Why am I not as confident going around right handed bends as opposed to left handers?

I'd also like to be able to climb a bit better (though I am getting better)

Haha, that's a good point. Same here. I think it's because if the front wheel washes out a bit on a left-hand bend you have the space to stand it up a bit, but on a left you'll hit the kerb...

I find the same thing. I guess that if youre right handed and footed then ou are controlling the bike with your good side in a left hander. Also, being on the left side of the road in a right hand bend the road is off camber (most are crowned in the middle for drainage).

symo

Frank the tank wrote:

symo wrote:

After being completed and utterly shelled out the back of the A/M run this Sunday on one of my rare visits to Devon to ride with the club, it has to be climbing. Dropped off the back of a group containing CAT1's and Pro's; so perhaps I shouldn't feel so bad about that.

It would have been nice to keep up on that first long climb rather than losing the group completely.

Go out with the "B group" then. You egomaniac.

LOL, wasn't allowed. B run with a hangover is great fun.

I should say an area I do struggle with as do many others, is my diet. I can use riding to get my weight down. The problem comes when I have to be off the bike owing to my job. Just limiting junk is hard enough, but being such a fussy eater screws it up.

nevman

Training-no one seems to have mentioned this but my issue is that I dont,train.I dont know why,I know I should,but for me it seems a waste of time when I could be erm,just riding my bike.That is the point isnt it,we enjoy riding?Anyone else feel the same or is it just me then?

negativelycra

Steep climbs. Anything over 10% canes. Strange, i can do 5% all day, but even a short 10 or 15 leaves me in tatters...

KHodge

Thanks for all the responses! Has anyone got any suggestions for getting over their weaknesses? Were you rubbish at something, and now thanks to a certain type of training, you're good at it?

kieranb

well I found skiing good for getting over the steepness of (downhill) slopes but snow is softer than tarmac so cornering is still a worry.

Anonymous

Getting more comfy in the drops has helped - also working on pedalling technique - keeping a smooth power output (can I say that?) so it feels like a more constant effort.

Also, squats. *ducks*

nweststeyn

freddiegrubb wrote:

Weaknesses? too many to mention, but to all the jittery descenders out there you aint going to win the TDF. so stay respectful of downhills your body & bike will thank you for it.

I used to be the best descender I know.

This goes hand in hand with confidence, which some say is down to bravery, and others would say is down to stupidity.

The best advice I received all this year was from a riding buddy who reminded me of two things. First, it's not a race. Two, going downhill like a maniac doesn't make you any fitter, or stronger.

I've since slowed down a bit on the downhills, after some very close calls.

nweststeyn

KHodge wrote:

Thanks for all the responses! Has anyone got any suggestions for getting over their weaknesses? Were you rubbish at something, and now thanks to a certain type of training, you're good at it?

I spent most of 2012 so far working on building my endurance, doing long rides at low to medium intensity. When it came to riding five days of 100+ miles in a row, it was not a problem.

I'm now starting from scratch and trying to build my speed using high intensity interval training... and my times over short distances show that it's working!

I don't think I'll ever be a good climber - at 6ft 4 and 90kg I'm happy if I can just get up them.

john_kline

KHodge wrote:

Thanks for all the responses! Has anyone got any suggestions for getting over their weaknesses? Were you rubbish at something, and now thanks to a certain type of training, you're good at it?

1. lose weight
2. Lose weight
3. lose weight

thegreatdivide

nweststeyn wrote:

I used to be the best descender I know.

This goes hand in hand with confidence, which some say is down to bravery, and others would say is down to stupidity.

The best advice I received all this year was from a riding buddy who reminded me of two things. First, it's not a race. Two, going downhill like a maniac doesn't make you any fitter, or stronger.

I've since slowed down a bit on the downhills, after some very close calls.

Two words...Rait and nutter ;-) No idea how you got that time. Did you get mates to close the road?

Laser man

I'm great at climbing, average on the flat but really suck whenever I have to turn...

rick_chasey

For cycling, I notice on club runs I'm blowing really quite hard on the way out towards the hills.

I'm usually amongst the top on the hills themselves, and am fine going down.

When it gets racey on the way back on false downhill I get blown out the pretty sharpish.

So classic little man syndrome.

nweststeyn

thegreatdivide wrote:

nweststeyn wrote:

I used to be the best descender I know.

This goes hand in hand with confidence, which some say is down to bravery, and others would say is down to stupidity.

The best advice I received all this year was from a riding buddy who reminded me of two things. First, it's not a race. Two, going downhill like a maniac doesn't make you any fitter, or stronger.

I've since slowed down a bit on the downhills, after some very close calls.

Two words...Rait and nutter ;-) No idea how you got that time. Did you get mates to close the road?

I had a time of 2:47 but it disappeared... I assume it was flagged by someone (my nemesis perhaps - interestingly one of 'their guys' now holds the record at 2:55). Passing cars on that road going the other way is scary and not particularly sensible.