Velo Birmingham & Midlands May 12 2019

ugo.santalucia

Slowbike wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

theboyfold wrote:

Does peer pressure not count when you are trying to get a PR or KOM in Strava or the like? If nobody had peer pressure we would all just be on sit up and beg bikes merrily going about our business.

Probably, but I've never seen someone having 168 bpm average for 4 hours, have you?

https://www.strava.com/activities/23610 ... 9665398803

The sustained level of effort that these events demand is quite unique, outside a competitive scenario

you have to look at the HR on an individual basis - I'd love to get my HR to 168bpm for 4 hours - ain't gonna happen, but then, I'm the wrong side of 30 ... (cough) - he spent 45% of the time at "Tempo" - only 32% of the time was at "Threshold"

Lots of people around the 140-150 bpm mark for 4 hours... they are probably young and fit and all, but still, I'm pretty sure those are the same numbers you would find in a race

veronese68

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

there were just over 650 riders at 20mph+

Good stats, that also means that on average, about half of sportive riders are on Strava

I'd have expected the vast majority of the quicker ones to be on Strava, and a minority of the slower/charity types.

slowbike

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Lots of people around the 140-150 bpm mark for 4 hours... they are probably young and fit and all, but still, I'm pretty sure those are the same numbers you would find in a race

My club runs rides at race pace - granted, it's only about an hour, but when I go on them I'm at the upper limits of my HR. Its still not a race though - it's just a fast club ride. They also run slower rides for those who don't want to or can't ride at that pace.
The racing goes on at a local circuit or on the road TTs - entries taken, fees paid, numbers issued, winners announced, prizes/points given.
Being the fastest one to complete a course doesn't make you the winner of a race but that won't stop people wanting to be the fastest to complete the course.

whyamihere

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

theboyfold wrote:

Does peer pressure not count when you are trying to get a PR or KOM in Strava or the like? If nobody had peer pressure we would all just be on sit up and beg bikes merrily going about our business.

Probably, but I've never seen someone having 168 bpm average for 4 hours, have you?

https://www.strava.com/activities/23610 ... 9665398803

The sustained level of effort that these events demand is quite unique, outside a competitive scenario

you have to look at the HR on an individual basis - I'd love to get my HR to 168bpm for 4 hours - ain't gonna happen, but then, I'm the wrong side of 30 ... (cough) - he spent 45% of the time at "Tempo" - only 32% of the time was at "Threshold"

Lots of people around the 140-150 bpm mark for 4 hours... they are probably young and fit and all, but still, I'm pretty sure those are the same numbers you would find in a race

Give it a rest... My HR was 140 average for the 6.5 hours I took. HR is so individual that you can ascertain nothing from a person's reading without looking at their entire history.

RossoCorso34

ugo.santalucia wrote:

theboyfold wrote:

Does peer pressure not count when you are trying to get a PR or KOM in Strava or the like? If nobody had peer pressure we would all just be on sit up and beg bikes merrily going about our business.

Probably, but I've never seen someone having 168 bpm average for 4 hours, have you?

https://www.strava.com/activities/23610 ... 9665398803

The sustained level of effort that these events demand is quite unique, outside a competitive scenario

Yes I have.

Also, there is a difference between a race, pushing yourself and then pushing yourself to death.

Heartrate, as others have said is totally individual. I can sustain a very high heart rate for a long time, others I ride with can't. To look at one individual and then leap to your conclusion is utter nonsense.

I do hope you're having fun today, you're managing to provoke a lot more responses than you'd normally get.

norvernrob

ugo.santalucia wrote:

theboyfold wrote:

Does peer pressure not count when you are trying to get a PR or KOM in Strava or the like? If nobody had peer pressure we would all just be on sit up and beg bikes merrily going about our business.

Probably, but I've never seen someone having 168 bpm average for 4 hours, have you?

https://www.strava.com/activities/23610 ... 9665398803

The sustained level of effort that these events demand is quite unique, outside a competitive scenario

I average 150+, often 160+, pretty much every time I go out. My max HR is over 200 though so I’m not even out of breath at 160bpm.

kingrollo

The horse and the vet story has had an expected revision. He was delayed by 20 minutes in which time both Horse and foal had died.

david7m

kingrollo wrote:

The horse and the vet story has had an expected revision. He was delayed by 20 minutes in which time both Horse and foal had died.

How's its changed, thought it was that all along?

lettingthedaysgoby

kingrollo wrote:

The horse and the vet story has had an expected revision. He was delayed by 20 minutes in which time both Horse and foal had died.

Have you got a link for this?

awavey

kingrollo wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

Don't understand the lure of these rides, it is already a bit iffy when you join a Sunday ride with the club and there are a couple of new riders, imagine riding with 17,000 new people! Ok, it is closed roads, but you need to pay for it, possibly get a hotel room, it just sounds like an unnecessary expense for riding my bike with an increased risk of injury and accidents! Much prefer the sense of adventure of an audax which is a lot more what cycling is about, in my opinion.

The number 1 reason people don't cycle is fear of cars - so that (rightly or wrongly) is the appeal of these events.

Think the 42 miler was a mistake - make the minimum distance 75 miles and you introduce a bit of quality control

I dont think the fear of cars is necessary the thing that makes a closed road appeal more for these types of events, of course an open road sportive on the same route wouldnt have the exact same appeal because traffic would be a pain, but the kind of person that signs up to ride 100 miles, isnt going to be put off by cycling with a fear of traffic that much, as how else would you have put the miles in, in the first place to be able to complete such a ride.

maybe the 42miler was introduced more for the charity riders as it came sometime after the main event was announced possibly when they picked their main sponsor group charities

awavey

Slowbike wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

hah - I was going to spout on about how it's only a race if they publish a winner .... then googled "Velo Birmingham Results" - got the timings list - and a download link at the top right "download race results" .... bang .. ouch ... that's a foot ....

He's probably "the winner"...
https://www.strava.com/activities/23613 ... 9665385395

Fastest Chiptime was 04:22:09 - avg speed 22.89mph

there were just over 650 riders at 20mph+

Slowest riders seem to be ~9mph but there seem to be some results at over 15hrs - 6mph ...

remember those are elapsed times though, including stops, I dont doubt to get a 20mph+ you arent stopping at all, though the strava segment doesnt match the chip times even for the 2nd or 3rd fastest rider on Strava, oddly the first one doesnt have a chip time.

seems like about half the riders, only just under 12,000 did the 100miles, ended up on Strava,6020 so far, but it probably is tipped towards the faster riders

N0bodyOfTheGoat

That 168bpm heartrate average could simply be from a wrist monitor, in my experience they often give elevated figures.

david7m

4 hours without the toilet and no additional drinks or food sounds a tall order?
We stopped 3 times which added about 15 mins.

chippyk

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

Yes, I'm sure the organisers could try sanitise the event - nobody may exceed Zmph or ride in groups of more than 4 people - but that's not easy to police and more often than not, it's unjustified...

Is it unjustified? All I read for months ahead of (and after) RL100 is people complaining about those morons whizzing by at 30 mph and scaring the hell out of people and how these people cause crashes.
Surely if you put a deterrent in place and it's well advertised, they will refrain from entering. It's the message you send out, whether that deterrent actually works on the day might be immaterial.
You apply a zero tolerance policy on bad behaviour or you don't... if you don't then don't complain if the BBC calls it a race, because at the front that's exactly what it is

hah - I was going to spout on about how it's only a race if they publish a winner .... then googled "Velo Birmingham Results" - got the timings list - and a download link at the top right "download race results" .... bang .. ouch ... that's a foot ....

He's probably "the winner"...
https://www.strava.com/activities/23613 ... 9665385395

Hang on, I ride a lot of the route frequently, some of those segments I’ve gone from like top 50 to about 1000th fastest.

chippyk

david7m wrote:

4 hours without the toilet and no additional drinks or food sounds a tall order?
We stopped 3 times which added about 15 mins.

Done the bike leg of an IM more than once without stopping for food or for the loo, gels in your pocket or taped to the bike and some flapjack in a bento box. And I’m in my lane 40s and no longer the racing snake I was.

david7m

ChippyK wrote:

david7m wrote:

4 hours without the toilet and no additional drinks or food sounds a tall order?
We stopped 3 times which added about 15 mins.

Done the bike leg of an IM more than once without stopping for food or for the loo, gels in your pocket or taped to the bike and some flapjack in a bento box. And I’m in my lane 40s and no longer the racing snake I was.

Fair play!! I needed the loo at 50 miles and again towards the end Think I'm drinking too much.....

lettingthedaysgoby

david7m wrote:

4 hours without the toilet and no additional drinks or food sounds a tall order?
We stopped 3 times which added about 15 mins.

I did 5:36 without stopping. 2 750ml bottles, couple of flapjack bars, a bit of Soreen and a pack of cliff energy chew things. It’s quite doable.

veronese68

Slowbike wrote:

Slowest riders seem to be ~9mph but there seem to be some results at over 15hrs - 6mph ...

Were the being called fat and slow? How many pub stops for those at 15 hours?

ugo.santalucia

Veronese68 wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

Slowest riders seem to be ~9mph but there seem to be some results at over 15hrs - 6mph ...

Were the being called fat and slow? How many pub stops for those at 15 hours?

I know you like your bike pub crawl... have you seen this? I'm going to make my official return to SW London just for that

http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/17-559/

gabriel959

david7m wrote:

ChippyK wrote:

david7m wrote:

4 hours without the toilet and no additional drinks or food sounds a tall order?
We stopped 3 times which added about 15 mins.

Done the bike leg of an IM more than once without stopping for food or for the loo, gels in your pocket or taped to the bike and some flapjack in a bento box. And I’m in my lane 40s and no longer the racing snake I was.

Fair play!! I needed the loo at 50 miles and again towards the end Think I'm drinking too much.....

If you sweat like a pig (like I do) then you might not even need the loo.

ugo.santalucia

gabriel959 wrote:

david7m wrote:

ChippyK wrote:

david7m wrote:

4 hours without the toilet and no additional drinks or food sounds a tall order?
We stopped 3 times which added about 15 mins.

Done the bike leg of an IM more than once without stopping for food or for the loo, gels in your pocket or taped to the bike and some flapjack in a bento box. And I’m in my lane 40s and no longer the racing snake I was.

Fair play!! I needed the loo at 50 miles and again towards the end Think I'm drinking too much.....

If you sweat like a pig (like I do) then you might not even need the loo.

You should change your avatar then... Miguelon was famous for not sweating even up the Pyrenean climbs in July

herb71

I stopped a couple of times, not pub stops, though I did think about it. Once to chat with family in Coventry and for a longer break at 65 miles to fill bottles and take in the atmosphere. Too many treating it like a race and had no regard for other participants.

If you want to race, then have the balls to enter a race. Lots of ways to compete if that's your thing, but choose an appropriate way to do it.

bigmitch41

We (team of 4 from the Isle of Man) all enjoyed the event. being the last wave to set off we had many hold ups along the way, thankfully we all made it back to the finish line together. Condolences to the rider who didn't complete the ride and sadly passed away. We had a good couple of days in Birmingham city centre and thankfully it warmed up for the event on Sunday! Back to work today!

Philip Whiteman

Now that you have done the Velo, what is your next biggest challenge?

The Kidderminster Killer may be the answer.

http://beaconrcc.org.uk/audaxes/kidderm ... to-heaven/

Philip Whiteman

Now that you have done the Velo, what is your next biggest challenge?

The Kidderminster Killer may be the answer.

http://beaconrcc.org.uk/audaxes/kidderm ... to-heaven/

slowbike

david7m wrote:

4 hours without the toilet and no additional drinks or food sounds a tall order?
We stopped 3 times which added about 15 mins.

I did my first RL100 without topping up bottles/food or having a loo stop - I did have to stop, but that was traffic ...

mbroady

Had a nice chilled day out on Sunday, was a great atmosphere through the villages, everyone was in good spirits. Got round in 6 hours taking it steady with the Mrs.

Went past the accident shortly after, saw the blood on the floor and the snapped frame at the side of the road, tragic to hear the rider has passed. Saw maybe 5 accidents altogether, 2 alone on one descent with speed bumps on the road.

Was surprised at the amount of MTBs I saw doing the route but fair play to them! Also surprised at the amount of Camelbaks and tri bottle holders on the saddle, again fair play if you can't be arsed stopping for water.

DeVlaeminck

Herb71 wrote:

I stopped a couple of times, not pub stops, though I did think about it. Once to chat with family in Coventry and for a longer break at 65 miles to fill bottles and take in the atmosphere. Too many treating it like a race and had no regard for other participants.

If you want to race, then have the balls to enter a race. Lots of ways to compete if that's your thing, but choose an appropriate way to do it.

Isn't it inevitable that a timed ride with published results is going to have people riding for a fast time?

What exactly are people doing that puts others at risk ?

awavey

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Herb71 wrote:

I stopped a couple of times, not pub stops, though I did think about it. Once to chat with family in Coventry and for a longer break at 65 miles to fill bottles and take in the atmosphere. Too many treating it like a race and had no regard for other participants.

If you want to race, then have the balls to enter a race. Lots of ways to compete if that's your thing, but choose an appropriate way to do it.

Isn't it inevitable that a timed ride with published results is going to have people riding for a fast time?

What exactly are people doing that puts others at risk ?

even if they didnt publish times, people after a time would be using Strava or something,so that wouldnt make a difference IMO, people are naturally competitive, why do marathon runners target 4hr finishes, isnt completing 26miles enough in itself for instance?

I caught up with a friend who did the ride for a chat tonight and they said the "risky" riders who werent the out and out faster riders & chain gangs fwiw who all passed on the right and made their presence known, these were generally the ones who probably just thought they were as quick, but actually werent that fast as they couldnt keep up with the really fast riders, and they just werent riding predictably for a group ride situation with that many riders on the road.

If there was a smidgen of gap they could fit a wheel into regardless of where it was, even between riders riding as a pair, theyd go for it to try and get past rather than check up their speed for a moment and move around. Or would dive bomb up the inside into corners and then veer out wide to get the fastest exit, whilst narrowly missing everyone elses front wheel who were trying to hold their lines, and they werent leaving much if any margin for error or the road conditions.

I mean there literally were crashes caused by people apparently who just rode into the back of one another, or collected each others wheels because they clearly didnt want to slow down enough, or control their speed to cope with what was actually ahead of them.

ugo.santalucia

awavey wrote:

I caught up with a friend who did the ride for a chat tonight and they said the "risky" riders who werent the out and out faster riders & chain gangs fwiw who all passed on the right and made their presence known, these were generally the ones who probably just thought they were as quick, but actually werent that fast as they couldnt keep up with the really fast riders, and they just werent riding predictably for a group ride situation with that many riders on the road.

Too fast for their ability, I've covered it above.
Obviously those who are used to racing, are more comfortable in the situation, problem is they drag others who are not.