Haha spotted that earlier and accepted, dont tend to use strava that much as a social thing more so I can compare things – some useful bits for TTs like the comparisons so you can see where your lose/ gain time!

Marcin Bialoblocki has just smashed the 10 mile Comp Record on the V718 with a time of 16.35.
Yes, that’s not a typo – 16.35! Mental.

And latest news is that Marcin has taken the 25 record today with a 44:04 in the Port Talbot Wheelers event. Two comp records in one weekend.

[edit] Beaten to it by dirtyrider. That’s what happens when your Internet Packets arrive on the back of a pony.

What kind of wattage are we talking for going sub-21? And I’m not talking a fast course, like Levens supposedly is.

Well??? ❓

Anyone got entries in for HC events yet?

I’ve finally got round to entering Catford this year. It’s been on my bucket list for years, but the only time I previously sent off an entry it got stuck in a postal strike. Hopefully they let me in, as I don’t have any open hill climb results in the last 3 years.

I’ve also entered the ECCA HC champs again (was 2nd last time I rode it by only 0.5 seconds over combined time for 2 runs. grrr. 😡 ), and I have a place on the Urban Hill Climb event on 1st October – http://www.urbanhillclimb.com/. If anyone has some spare time on that afternoon, it’s quite a good thing to watch.

Last TT of the year done and dusted for me, thought I’d done loads but 4 x 10s 2 X 25 1×50 and 1 x100 isn’t a lot! Been nice to do pbs at 10 and 25 this year, particularly the ten as it’s probably the first time I’ve got a good day on a fast course and got everything right.

Couple of weeks on the track then holiday time!

How did you get on?

Although I got a PB 21:09 (knocking 20sec off my previous best) it was a bit of a catalogue of disasters! I was hoping to sneak under the 21mark using his Avenger. Tried it out on his turbo trainer on the Friday when I picked it up and it felt OK fit wise, took it out on the road Saturday and it was a different story. It didn’t feel good at all, just couldn’t get it to fit right. This probably more to do with me getting used to the position rather than the bike though. Anyway Sunday morning I turned up, did a warm up then set off to the start line. I underestimated how long it would take me to get there and ended up sprinting to the start so my legs were on fire before I’d even started, schoolboy error!! Anyway once I’d finished I also noticed my seatpost had dropped 20mm. If everything had gone smoothly I’m pretty certain I’d of gotten my sub 21 but hay ho, these things happen ! I’ll live and learn that’s for certain 🙂
Got one more ride on it next Sunday (a 25 near where I live) so I’ll get out on it this week to make some more adjustments.

Really hoping to Matts ! In fact I’m looking forward to my mid week winter turbo workouts this year, hoping to hit the ground running come spring.
Bit of a wright up on my last event this year that I did last Sunday, the NLTTA 25. Unfortunately due to roadworks it was reduced to a 10, bit of a bummer because I’ve only done the one 25 and was looking forward to doing another, especially on the Avenger I was lent (see my previous post). I mentioned that I couldn’t seem to get the fit just right to its owner so I called round to his house to tweek things a little, raising the arm rests, changing over bars to ski bars, moving the saddle forward slightly and changing the front wheel to a tri spoke.

Had to say it made a massive difference, felt much more comfortable.
How did I do ? Well once again I made a couple of stupid errors. Set off really well then about halfway in for some stupid reason I convinced myself I’d missed a turn and nearly came to a stop to turn round, realised I hadn’t and set off again 😳 Then my saddle slipped due to me not tightening it up enough. Arrgghh ! You can see how bad it was on this picture someone took whilst I was sprinting out of a corner :

Anyway I did a 22:38 in pretty horrible, wet and sketchy conditions. Coming 10th out of 99 riders. Comparing my strava times to others on the day I lost 12-15 seconds “getting lost” and gawd knows how much due to the saddle issue (I was continually having to move my fat arse back for the last 4miles) Mad at myself because it was all my own doing. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail as they say !

Anyone riding the Urban Hill Climb on Saturday?

Home

See you there. Though I’ve just had 12 days off the bike and I’ve lost absolutely all my top end so just getting to the top will be an achievement.

Yeah definitely. Fixed is good for this, my gear will be a bit too low at the start which helps you keep a lid on things.

How was it? I was planning to stick around and say hi, but I got orders from the boss to get back asap to look after the sprogs or the afternoon.

Mixed feelings from my side, I thought I rode OK considering I’ve had a horrid cold all week. I set a new 2 minute power PB, with a slight negative split. But I was pretty disappointed with my time. At the UHC last week there were a big bunch of us within a couple of seconds including Ewan Tuohy, Bill Bell, Will Adams, and Sonny Parker. This week, they all beat me easily.

Saturday was a right balls up. The ECCA course includes a small downhill and some tight corners. I didn’t go hard enough on the first section, and ended up with a rubbish average power. When riding back to HQ I reached down for a drink and.. yes, I had a full bottle in the cage! Pissed off, I went off to warm down, packed the car, then went in to say thanks to everyone. Astonishingly, I was second by less than a second. The second time I’ve ridden it, and the second time I’ve been second by that margin. Gutting. But let that be a lesson to myself in preparing properly.

Next year, Vets.

It went as well as it could have gone, I’ve been on holiday and had 12 days off the bike so lost all my form. Got a cool picture though:

Trust me, it’s steep at that point!

Just been looking at position on my TT bike and a few (well lots) photos on the web. It seems that most people have their elbows well in front of the headtube when they are on the arm rests, or up to 3cm in front depending if they’re strictly adhering to CTT rules.

My elbows are in line with the centre of the headtube or might even be behind it if I tweak some more.

I’ve ridden it a couple of times like that as I’ve looked to make my position more sustainable, and indeed I did a PB (both time and power) with the altered set up. Should I be looking to get further forward like it seems 99% of other people are or if it works for me should I even worry?

Tony Martin is limited by UCI regulations.

There’s a reason people break the 3cm rule, and it’s not making them slower. Saddle to pad drop isn’t the be all and end all.

Maybe.

For you, I presume you’re doing Chung testing to dial in your position. But even this relies on the assumption that you hold the position for the duration of the TT. There’s no point in having a great static position if it can’t be held when you start to tire. You have experience, and spend a lot of time on the bike.

And the rest of us are limited by our legs. 😆