Road Cycling

Associate
Joined
26 Oct 2002
Posts
1,063
Location
Lincoln
Well done! It’s a big achievement to tick off your first metric 100. I did the exactly the same in terms of buying the new bike before my first century and had only done 45 miles as my longest. What’s next then?!

Not sure yet. One thing is sure whatever I do can’t be too hilly......
I don’t have the strength/stamina yet for long steepish gradients( 10% and more)
Will look to see what other sportif’s are Around this area and look to do the 50-70 milers.
Also need to keep losing the weight. Done a stone and a half since I got back on my bike back in March/April and will hopefully do the same again in the second half of the year. That would get me down to 15 1/2 which will help a lot with speed/averages/everything really
Might even fit into normal sized cycling clothes:eek:
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,420
Location
Hereford
Just seen him set off on the stream. Good luck, Thomas!
Well done @Thomas. PLease. ! Was great fun to see you several times on the stream when many others they only showed their starts. Fantastic experience for you and a tough course in even tougher hot conditions!

Not sure what happened to Gruff Lewis and Chris Lawless as both DNF with a couple of others. Andy Turner (one of my local riders) finished in 55:45. I'd consider him an incredible TT'er and very much an E123 solo breakaway kinda rider, so for me, Thomas putting in a 57:07 is pretty incredible considering the rolling course! Well done buddy, great exposure for Paceline RT too! :)

Will put more of my thoughts/comments into the Pro Cycling discussion thread ;)

Note: wore my welsh jersey to work today :D

Hard Bundy tonight, 31c and no wind.

Everyone was in bits. One bottle per 10 miles seemed to be the going rate.
Brutal in that heat, saw your comments on Strava. Too warm for efforts like that! :p

So, did my first Sportif yesterday and also my first imperial 100
C2C2C 106miles which was nearly 60 miles more than I ever cycled before.
Great riding! Brutal in the heat so glad there was good support. Time to concentrate on some climbing? ;)

Might even fit into normal sized cycling clothes:eek:
There's no such thing as a 'normal' size in cycling clothes. I think that's why so many guys get upset they're an XL!

Saw someone selling an XXXXXL Sky jersey on eBay. 5 X's! WTF! :o
 
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Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,632
Location
Notts
So, did my first Sportif yesterday and also my first imperial 100
C2C2C 106miles which was nearly 60 miles more than I ever cycled before.
Was with a load from work who were similar experienced riders to me(I.E. under trained and slow)
Took us an absolute age but that didn’t worry me at all and was well impressed with the organisation and feed stations of it all. If that is the norm for these I shall do more though not that distance.
I had always decided that if I finished it I would treat myself to a new bike but as I got closer to the day I thought if I didn’t finish I wouldn’t have said bike so decided to order it beforehand just in case:D
Went with the defy advanced pro 1 in the end which is a nice step up from my old ally defy from 2014
JB

Good work on your progress.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,420
Location
Hereford
Went with the defy advanced pro 1 in the end which is a nice step up from my old ally defy from 2014
Good choice, the carbon disc defy's are meant to ride very well. One of the guys at my LBS was rating them as a great alternative to the Specialized Diverge I'm riding. Basically the 2016 version I have of the Diverge is very much a 'fast gravel bike for the road' - semi-compact, wide enough tyre clearance and sacrifices very little speed with the geometry almost the same as the Tarmac. It's not really aimed at fully 'off road', whereas the 2017 and onwards Diverge is more of a 'pure gravel bike' with much lower gearing aimed at off road, single chainrings and rough tyres.

The Roubaix is now more the 'fast gravel bike for the road' but even the 2018 hasn't got the tyre clearance of the 2016 Diverge (up to 40mm!).

Tell me about it - my Drops team jersey is 4XL and I'm wearing a medium size T-shirt today!
Haha, I'm always in 'medium' normal clothing now, but when visiting the States 2 years ago I was buying everything in Small and Extra Small! :o

I find myself generally in 'slim fit' shirts and skinny style upper body, very on trend for current fashon. But then having to hunt down the 'boot cut' and non-skinny stuff for below the waist. In current fashion trends I'm generally wearing a size larger than I should be with a belt, just to get enough room for my thighs! A 30-32" waist line with thighs of 34-36" trouser would fit me perfectly! :/

Have a great weekend all! :cool:

Next range of Tarmac colour options could be very interesting.
 
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Tea Drinker
Don
Joined
13 Apr 2010
Posts
18,416
Location
Sunny Sussex
Help help I need ocuk advice.

I've cycling London to Cambridge on Sunday and I've just cleaned my bike to discover the rear wheel sounds like a washing machine with bricks in it. I changed the cassette last week from a compact to a 11-32 as well.

I need to find a wheel tomorrow :eek: I eat rear wheels yearly so something robust would be good.

Bike is a specialised crux so it has a hydraulic brake, Shimano cassette with 6 bolt disc and tubed tyres.

Any suggestions from Evans in stock at Gatwick would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

https://www.evanscycles.com/bike-components/wheels_c
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Sep 2006
Posts
14,349
How does everyone choose a new helmet? Mine (Kask Mojito in GB colours to honour Ian Stannard being National champ that year) is 5+ years old so I fancy a change / should replace. You can spend a lot of money on them and I don’t think aero really makes any difference at my paltry speeds. Just looks? They all pass the same EU safety tests it seems

Price primarily then comfort, cooling & aesthetics. In that order. There will probably be some compromise over one or all 4 of those factors.

What do we think lifetime of Continental Grand Sport Race tyres will be (25mm)?

Depends what you're riding them over, what pressure you're running them at and what you weigh...
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Oct 2006
Posts
5,386
Soldato
Joined
9 Nov 2005
Posts
8,617
Location
Southampton
I don't want to disappoint.... so...

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
@Roady chickened out of riding his 100 mile sportive and took the short option...
Excuses included: no one else turning up (yet somehow riding mostly solo), limited water supplies and heat, heavy workshop-saddle-bag.

:D

But he did better than me, I woke up groggy as hell at 0530 and by the time I was vaguely prepared to get changed and go out for 60+ mile ride around 1000, it was already ~23C outdoors and Met Office had extended the thunder warnings east from Bournemouth to Worthing (not that any rain has happened all day).

Still horrid here now, don't think I'm going out again after my pootke earlier to the corner shop, it feels far worse than when I did my ~77 mile ride on Friday morning.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Oct 2006
Posts
5,386
Stopping at any junction/traffic light was pretty rough in the heat but it was okay when moving. One stop earlier turned into a water fight between mates - that was pretty refreshing!
 
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