Ride London 2014
Comments
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sednihp wrote:Charlie Potatoes wrote:You need to keep in mind that Leith Hill will be a fair bit more challenging than Little Baddow.
As mentioned by Omar an 11-28 cassette is probably the way to go.
For training I suggest that you try not using the 26 gear on North Hill. If you can get up there on 23t then Leith should be okay on 28t.
Good Luck.
It's hard to comprehend just how different Leith Hill is when there's absolutely nothing comparable anywhere near me to ride up.
I'll look into a 28t cassette to make life easier as well. Thanks for the training idea, I'll give it a try and see if I can make it up in a higher gear the next time I'm out.
This hill (20 mile south of Chelmsford) will give you a better Idea. It's not as high as Leith but has a similar profile.
http://www.strava.com/segments/949264
It's narrow and a Sh1te road surface, best on a dry day."You really think you can burn off sugar with exercise?" downhill paul0 -
mrfpb wrote:Stedman wrote:Last year I went up with a 38 x 23 combination quite easily . The top 1/3 ramps up on 3 to 4 occasions, however it is also worth doing a recce on this particular hill so that it does not spook you on the day.
Wow, where do I get a 38 cassette.
38 is the chainring. The cassette is the 23 bit in that gear.
You would probably have to change derailleur if you wanted bigger than about 28 and even if you could get a bigger cassette on there you would then have big jumps between sprocket sizes.
I put a 28 on in place of my 25 last year as I thought hills might be tough, but ended up not using it so actually did leith on a 24t sprocket.
Have a 12/23 this year as want to try very close ratios.
I have a compact chainset though so 23 is not too bad.
You must be able to find some hills in the next 2 months and I would just put a 27 or 28 on and do a bit of hill training.
Could you visit Leith and Box Hills themselves in that time?0 -
Cheers Charlie, I'll try and ride out to that hill in a few weeks. I've got a few weeks off the bike now thanks to a busy weekend followed by a friends wedding. I'm doing the Evans Ride It from the nuclear bunker on the 22nd as I've never done a sportive before and the 70 mile course seemed like it would be a good way to gauge how training was going in terms of making the distance.
I may be able to make it out to Surrey to ride the hills in the next few months to see what I'm up against but life is a bit hectic at the moment, it's almost a miracle I find the time to go out riding at all as it is (the joys of saving for a wedding and mortgage).0 -
I've just been eyeing up this segment as I hope to return to Gran Canaria this October...28.8 miles climbing 6,200ft. Leith Hill is about 800ft I think!!
http://app.strava.com/segments/5537532WyndyMilla Massive Attack | Rourke 953 | Condor Italia 531 Pro | Boardman CX Pro | DT Swiss RR440 Tubeless Wheels
Find me on Strava0 -
Just come back from Budapest, 6.9 miles 1540ft climbing, nearly killed!0
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went to GC the over and did half that route, my friend wasn't fit enough to get many decent rides in.
Velonutter, where did you ride in Budapest ? Off there in a few weeks but never thought about taking the racing bike with me, was always a bit worried about some of the driving standards over there.0 -
Sherer, Having ridden loads in London and Paris, Budapest is a Breeze.
Once you are out of the city then head up the Buda side toward Tokaj and then really head towards any towns.
On another day we headed down to Lake Balaton using the train on one day, had a cracking ride around part of it (It's 120 miles around) then took the ferry across. Went to Vac on another day and used the cycle paths to come back to Budapest.
Don't ignore the cycle paths, nothing like in the UK, you can hold 20mph easy with no worry about cars taking you out, we didn't use them enough but will next time we go.
Been there 3 times now and fall in love every time I go, my father came from there and I have two sisters living in the city.
BTW the woman are beautiful :-)0 -
There's only one? :shock:Velonutter wrote:BTW the woman are beautiful :-)
I did the Ditchling Devil yesterday as I don't normally manage to get out for a longer ride, I'm utterly broken now. I think I need to do a few more long rides and hills before the off. :oops:0 -
Quick question for anyone who did last years - how long do I need to allow for registration at the ExCeL on Saturday afternoon, (which is the only time I can make it) and is the exhibition worth a look?0
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ilikecycling wrote:Quick question for anyone who did last years - how long do I need to allow for registration at the ExCeL on Saturday afternoon, (which is the only time I can make it) and is the exhibition worth a look?
I didnt need to queue at all, just went up and collected my pack. The exhibition was alright as far as these things go - a wiggle shop, various other shops / stalls, a rollapallooza challenge, a bikeradar bike of the year display. I think there was also a bmx stunt show although that wasnt on when i was there.0 -
thanks omar0
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Guessing it could be a little different this year as there are more people doing it.
The pick up is pretty big (lots of positions) and it does not take long for each person to get their pack so should not take that long even if busy.
I thought the 'show' was very poor, but it might be better this year and you have to go there to get pack anyway.0 -
Carbonator wrote:mrfpb wrote:Stedman wrote:Last year I went up with a 38 x 23 combination quite easily . The top 1/3 ramps up on 3 to 4 occasions, however it is also worth doing a recce on this particular hill so that it does not spook you on the day.
Wow, where do I get a 38 cassette.
38 is the chainring. The cassette is the 23 bit in that gear.
You would probably have to change derailleur if you wanted bigger than about 28 and even if you could get a bigger cassette on there you would then have big jumps between sprocket sizes.
I put a 28 on in place of my 25 last year as I thought hills might be tough, but ended up not using it so actually did leith on a 24t sprocket.
Have a 12/23 this year as want to try very close ratios.
I have a compact chainset though so 23 is not too bad.
You must be able to find some hills in the next 2 months and I would just put a 27 or 28 on and do a bit of hill training.
Could you visit Leith and Box Hills themselves in that time?
You joke about the 38t cassette, but I can actually get close to that - my tourer has a 34t REAR and a 28t FRONT. Pretty sure I could climb walls with that if the tyres were sticky enough!
Regarding gearing choices for RL, I did it last year on a compact with a 12-23 cassette (so, 34-23 bottom gear) and that was pretty perfect. Just low enough for Leith hill, comfortable on Box hill and the rest and gave me the perfect gears for the flats that make up the rest of the course.2010 Cannondale CAAD9 Tiagra0 -
don't think that actually works when you have a bigger gear on the back than the front as the rear has to do too many revolutions to go round once on the front.
I'm bad at hills and am very much a spinner up hills so I have a 28T on my front and 27T on the rear of my racer. Shows how bad I am but can at least get up most hills now. The real problem is the fact I just don't have enough power in my legs0 -
Mr Will wrote:
You joke about the 38t cassette, but I can actually get close to that - my tourer has a 34t REAR and a 28t FRONT. Pretty sure I could climb walls with that if the tyres were sticky enough!
Regarding gearing choices for RL, I did it last year on a compact with a 12-23 cassette (so, 34-23 bottom gear) and that was pretty perfect. Just low enough for Leith hill, comfortable on Box hill and the rest and gave me the perfect gears for the flats that make up the rest of the course.
I think I had 28 front and 34 rear on my hybrid when I first got it (it now has 30/30). I never used the very bottom gear, even when carrying lots of shopping, though I'm sure I went less than a 1:1 ratio occasionally. I've just got a CX with Compact and 11-30 and find I'm using the bottom gear a lot! However I'm not well and I've deferred my place until next year, so I might use the bottom gear less on hills when I'm well again.0 -
Did my first sportive at the weekend, an Evans Ride It event in Essex and it was great, until 45 miles in when I couldn't put any weight/pressure through my right knee. Luckily (?!) I was only 10km or so from home so I abandoned the ride, cycled home and got a lift to pick my car up from the start. Gutted I didn't get to complete it as I was having a blast - the route was brilliant, there were loads of people out doing the ride, the weather was amazing, everything was going well and then my knee gave up on me.
I've booked myself in to see a sports injury specialist later this week so they can help me out and I'm going to get a bike fit in the near future too. I think my right cleat isn't aligned correctly as my left knee is fine, but hopefully an expert will help to put it right. Feels a bit weird spending £50-100 on a fit when my bike is only £300 but most places give you your measurements so you can apply it to any future bikes, right?0 -
Hi sednihp.
Your measurements will be your bike when it fits you. Don't rule out tweaking things further after the fit and/or changing things on a new bike after replicating the fit of the current one.
How long was the sportive going to be?
What was your longest ride prior to doing 45 miles on the sportive?
If you had ridden 45 miles + before, what do you think caused the problem on the sportive?
Do you have road shoes/cleats (as opposed to MTB)? What cleats are they?
Sounds like you might need more float to stop pressure on knee. How much float do they have?
You should be able to sort that yourself or get cleats with more float.
I think I would spend the money on different pedals (and shoes if need be).
How about MTB ones?
Have you got the basics right? Saddle height? Saddle position over pedals.
Hope you get it sorted soon.
Not long to go now (if you are doing Ride London) and you need to be getting much longer rides in really.0 -
If you want to save some money then there are a couple of things you can try before going for a professional fit. This fit calculator is pretty comprehensive http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store ... orBike.jsp
Also if you have any friends or colleagues who are experienced cyclists then go out for a ride with them and ask them to have a look at your position - experienced riders will be able to see if there are any obvious problems with your position.0 -
Check what happened out on a recent BHF sportive unbelievable.
http://youtu.be/hE4puFkSHY80 -
anthigh wrote:Check what happened out on a recent BHF sportive unbelievable.
http://youtu.be/hE4puFkSHY8
Well thats 5 minutes of my life I will never get back :roll:
Thanks anthigh0 -
Just got my start time by email - 7.30am-ish from black. Anyone else?0
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06:12 Orange.
Have been lmao at some of the comments on this thread. Keep it coming. Was considering changing my user name to Ventoux Gimp as a result
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06.57 Black, just booked my parking. Did the ride last year and found the hills OK compared to the Chilterns. Please dont worry. :roll:0
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Start Area: Blue
Wave:G
Wave Load opening time: 05:25
Wave Load closing time:05:55
Start Time:06:25
Cant wait.0 -
Tomba wrote:06:12 Orange.
Same here. Wave D
Not liking this idea of having to be in my pen by 5:30am. AM FFS.
Luckily we're only staying over the road hehehe.
What sort of time you looking at Tomba?0 -
6.15 for me which is apparently wave A, not sure how that works if 6.12 is wave D!
Anyway pretty pleased with that should hopefully mean getting to the climbs before things get busy0 -
Yeh my mate is wave B and he reckon his start time is 05:52, although I'm not sure how that works exactly because I was under the impression the 1st start was 06:00. I think he may have confused his pen close time with his start time.
Choice now is do I wear my normal bike gear, or my "naked man" skinsuit just for lolz.
Giddy as a giddy thing now!!
Got the tour next week, then a big hilly sportive the week after, then a couple of weeks until RL. WOOP.0 -
Boo, no email for me. Was hoping it would be in my spam but just ppi and viagra type stuff.
Think I was D last year (which ever one Boris was in) so hoping to be same or higher this year as gave a better (but genuine) estimated time.0 -
ok guys, a little bit of local knowledge needed ... help appreciated
looks like the the most logical option would be to drive up from cornwall. would prefer to use train/underground/pedal power but it just looks like too much of a faff to get it organised.
Am staying at the Glorydale Inn, 135 Leytonstone road, newham E15 1LH, booked through booking.com. Seems to be a spit and sawdust kind of a place but i guess it will have to do. Would change it but there is no room at the inn!
It seems that this place has the advantage of being just around the corner so should be pretty easy on the day. Anyway, my query is that it hasnt got its own parking and there is nowt on site suggesting what i can do. Is parking locally likely to be easy/possible? Is it safe or will i find a blackened shell and no wheels? any good NCPs nearby that dont charge a fortune. If on street parking is possible and the area is reasonably safe then no worries, otherwise think again!!0
