I’m entered into the K100. I think I need to panic.

Did the Thetford summer enduro yesterday and after a mere 4 hours I was ready to quit. And I did. Went home. Tail ‘twixt legs, just couldn’t do it anymore.

I’m an old duffer at the best of times, but last year I could at least ride for 12 hours without giving up. I’ve spent the last few months working a lot more than cycling and I think it has caught up with me now.

Options seem to be:

1. Sell my ticket. Then the bikes. With the proceeds buy a nice pair of slippers and a pipe.

2. Do a lot more riding, and somehow work less. Ignore the deadline pressures and the urgent conference calls. Quit trying to help out the slackers at work who expect me to do their job for them.

3. Somehow arrange to be bitten by a radioactive spider.

Any other ideas?

EDIT: or I’m just past it?

EPO?

I’ve emailed them for a refund as there is no way I would manage it this year. Done no training due to a car accident in March so there is no point in even thinking about making it.

EPO would do the trick! That, or 8 weeks of solid training 😉 Kielder is a completely different sort of event (90% fire road) and as it is a single loop, less temptation to drop out.

Don’t know what it was, but that Thetford event was a toughy!

A rare but full yjustified time for use of the phrase:

MTFU.

/THREAD CLOSED/

Go, ride and see how you do and enjoy anyway.

Struggling to get the time off now to be a dogs body, still working on it.

What’s the K100? Can’t be that hard

What’s the K100? Can’t be that hard

Kielder 100 enter it can’t be that hard.

Go on, do it, then maybe I won’t be last 😀

If it’s any consolation, it’s only 2 weeks til the Hope Endurance Downhill and I think the only way I’m going to do well in that is if I get bionic arms fitted.

🙂

**** it, I’m going for a ride tomorrow!

No meetings, so probably no-one will notice. I’ll tell everyone I’m in the test lab.

That is depressing. Turns out I have to do some interviewing. So much for today then 🙁

The longest training ride i did was 6 hours (very hilly 50 mile Dark Peak route); and i managed to finish. You can do it!

Set off steady, eat and drink regularly and you’ll be fine.

Put some nice stuff in your drop bag too – esp savoury stuff. Oh and some clean socks; I found these were a nice bonus half way round.

Good luck

It’ll be right.

Managed to get out for a couple of quick 20 mile local rides this week and 50 miles yesterday (though mostly on road). That means I’ve done 4 rides in 2011 now; really motoring!

The 50 yesterday was up to Hamsterlay, a lap of the Black and then home again. Felt really good at the end, despite the rains, which bodes well.

Really need to get lots of rides in before we go on holiday next week, as that’s ten days with no riding…

– http://www.mactually.co.uk/

How’s it going then?

In 4 weeks from now, we’ll all be home. Unless we die.

More importantly, are you selling the bikes and what are they?

I’m aiming for 1000 miles this month, followed by a week of doing **** all.

What can possibly go wrong?

Did the swear filter just edit out “****”?

If 4 weeks from now I am still going I will consider that a result! Have actually started doing some rides in earnest and this morning I, well… I am a bit ashamed to say it, but I had a go on a borrowed turbo trainer. That was an easy way to get knackered! So my training is starting to come together nicely now. 6 months late maybe, but coming together all the same 🙂
(yes, I know I am deluded if I think I can make much difference in 4 weeks, but at least it keeps me busy)

I’m aiming for 1000 miles this month

I’m currently on 812 miles for the year.

Quick question – do you have to book into the campsite or can you just turn up? Not for me, you understand. I’d never be that disorganised…

Chris you useless git, you’ll be better off booking but sometimes there’s space on one the sites. I’ve got the Saturday, Sunday off now got to find a a volunteer to work the Friday for me so I can get there either Thursday afternoon/evening or Friday morning.

You had to book it last year, but there’ll just be the boggy, midge infested field left now

Have a look on the event page, there’s contact details there

Come to think of it there’s more entries this year so yeah I’d book if I was you.

I’ve finally started to get my act together. Been doing some 2-3 hour road rides and managed a 4 hour off-road ride on Sunday (ok, it’s Cambridgeshire, there’s not a lot of hills but I did go up pretty much every hill I could find, even the Col de la Chapelle).

Managed a cheeky 90 minutes this morning, coming back along the Cambridge Guided Bus, which is a lot of fun with the wonderful tarmac bridleway. Absolutely flying along!

I’m trying to get something in every couple of days, even if it’s only an hour, and I think it is starting to work.

I also had a cunning plan to lose some weight. So far though I think I’ve lost a grand total of about 8oz; so much for that idea. I can’t see myself losing much more in the next few weeks unless I can engineer a bout of acute diarrhoea.

(My children have told me that actually I’m converting fat into muscle which is denser. But I know they’re lying).

I’m not going to try single speeding it this year. 1×9 I think. Unless it rains, in which case I might reconsider.

So, starting to look forward to it.

I am signed up an after 35 hard miles on Exmoor this weekend feel a little under prepared.

Is it (Kielder) really 90% fire road?

Black Chrome – yep there is alot of fire road.Don’t let it put you off.
After 75 miles you’ll be loving the fire road – If they use the same route as last year you can at least look
forward to a red descent after 99.75 miles 😀

Oldandpastit – you’ll be right .If you can do 50, you can do 100.I broke the ride into blocks divided by the food staitons.For what it’s worth – I had the same worries last year and again this.I’m still going formore punishment -the sense of achievment at the end is worth it. Best of luck to you.

That climb to the top of lonesome pine nearly broke me. Whe we were going round the lake and my clock was showing 95+ miles I though it was a flat run in. Evil to make you do that at the end. This year I know it’s there, not that it’ll help much.

I was suprised how technical fire road can be when your exhausted after 10 hours on the bike.

My “training” seems to have stopped. Not done a long ride since the selkirk marathon and that was only 5 hours. Planning on getting out this weekend to Kielder if the weather is ok. Riding partner has abandoned me so it’s a solo ride.

I was more worried that I wouuldn’t manage 100 miles of singletrack!

I love an old school day out in the woods with fire road!

That climb to the top of lonesome pine nearly broke me

+1.

Oldnpastit, where abouts are you based? Good hills to rep include Chapel Hill, Littlebury-M11, Linton past Hadstock to the top.

BTW the climb to Lonesome pine still looks like a builder has emptied a load of rubble onto it.

panic. i think it’s time to cry.

entered the race 3rd november. get knocked off my bike commuting 8th november. take 4 months off the bike. upped the training since the beginning of july. treat myself to a massage last week – torn a hamstring. 🙁

still hoping to race ride

Panic??? Erm yup 😀 I am going on my first MTB distance ride this Fri 😀 I have mainly been on the road bike.

Oldnpastit, where abouts are you based? Good hills to rep include Chapel Hill, Littlebury-M11, Linton past Hadstock to the top.

Based in Cambridge. Yes, I know Chapel Hill and the Linton hills. Not tried the Littlebury hill; I’ll have to give it a go. Might see if I can do something tomorrow morning.

Good to know that lonesome pine is still as unpleasant as ever. Extra fig rolls might be required for that last stage.

If all you want to do is finish it’s not about the training, it’s about being able to ignore that little voice in your head that after 4 hours starts to question why started. That and eating/drinking enough

If all you want to do is finish it’s not about the training, it’s about being able to ignore that little voice in your head that after 4 hours starts to question why started.

Isn’t it also about staying ahead of the cut-off times?

The cut off times are probably my biggest concern, I just don’t seem able to stop myself dropping to a nice comfortable pace for me [too slow]

If I concentrate I can keep it up but as soon as my mind wanders I’m back down – and your mind does a lot of wandering at Kielder

I did about 100km today, out to Swaledale and about a bit and back again. Had a splitting headache and started with knee pain, plus lost all pressure in front brake on the way out there so had to get Stu at Dales Bike Centre to sort it out and had a bit of a natter to him.

Managed to do it in 8 hours, despite issues, so I’m going to be optimistic. But, if I feel like I did today on the day itself, I’ll not finish 🙁

The cut off times are probably my biggest concern, I just don’t seem able to stop myself dropping to a nice comfortable pace for me [too slow]

You need one of my pace bands.

You need one of my pace bands.

I need all sorts of things to remind me

My Garmin does a good job of letting me know my average, I just need to keep an eye on it
I could set it to beep at me if the average drops but I reckon that’d drive me around the bend

Plenty of miles in my legs, I just need to get my head straight, I’m off for a week before the race so I should be well rested and relaxed