Sorry, blame Endomondo for that… will change.

730ft of climbing in the hour. Dunno if that’s a decent amount or not.

The “loseing 20 bike lengths” thing is due to the drafting, if you’re right up his arse then keeping up is easy, as soon as youre not then you’re having to work as hard as he is, and if he’s fitter then that’ll hurt. And unlike on a trail there’s little to make a mistake on, overcook a corner or 50/50 a landing and you’ll lose 5 seconds on a trail, there’s nothign like that on a road.

16.5mph isn’t bad, it’d be the fast end of the steady club run group. The good thing about road rides is they’re measurable, unlike riding singletrack where there’s mud, puddles, leaves etc which make it faster or slower day to day, and most people could gain as much time going round corners quicker as gettign fitter, if you manage 16.5 today, then aiming for 16.6 is a target for tomorow, etc. So you can see improvements in fitness mearuably rather than subjectively.

730ft of climbing in the hour. Dunno if that’s a decent amount or not.

Quite hilly, riding in the Peaks I think I used to average 225m per 10miles, yorkshire moors slightly less, long rides averaged neaerer 125/10miles, short rides close to Peaks figures, but easily possible to do 500m in 15 miles without repeating the same hill or road from my door ifI wanted to!

if youre struggling on the hills and wendying on the descents then 16.5 isnt bad. Fitness and confidence will come with practice and so will your speed. Same rules apply for cornering on road as off (weight on outside foot, inside bar, lift vision and look ahead) but youll often be taking corners at far higher speeds so will need to look further ahead than youre used to on singletrack. Which is difficult when the alien riding position forces your head down more than on an MTB.

I do most of my road riding alone, and was stunned how quickly you go with so little effort riding in a group. As soon as you lose a wheel that benefit’s gone and youre fighting to catch a group who still have that benefit.

I took my freshly built winter road bike on its inaugural night ride tuesday night. I learnt the following

1) mudguards
2) mudguards
3) mudguards
4) 150 lumen is ineffective at road riding speeds
5) its even less effective when it rotates and points skywards every time you hit the pothole you didnt notice (see (4))
6) having a deer leap out of the hedgerow and miss your front wheel by inches will make you re-evaluate your previously measured max heart rate…

So, thought i’d write a bit of an update for people who like me are avid MTBers and debating the road side of things.

Today i was getting the MTB out when my neighbour came back covered head to toe in mud, bike covered, just everywhere. “It’s absolute hell out there….” So i got the road bike.

I’m about 250 miles in on the road bike now and it’s all running and working fine and dandy.

Riding on the road to me is pretty much as much fun as riding in the gym. It’s a tolerable rather than enjoyable. It’s a convenient way to get exercise without having to spend hours cleaning and fitting new parts to the MTB. However for me, it doesn’t give much more than that in all honesty. Out on the MTB in the hills, you’re surrounded by fields… you can see for miles…. it’s just you and the countryside. Out on the roads, it’s me and a few random cars and mile after mile of hedgerows. My vision is the 200m in front of me and the 5 yards either side. There’s no real sense of ‘alone’ in the same way as on a MTB, because it’s only a matter of seconds until the next car comes into my hearing/sight.. it could be 5 mins… it could be 10 secs, but you’re always expecting it, so you’re never really in a little world of your own.

You don’t get the excitement of the lack of traction, the lack of adhesion and the sense of the unknown, it’s just peddaling along and getting the legs racing and heart rate pounding. The closest i get to exciting is when i find another random biker on the route and then it’s a bit of chasing down and competition.

It’s nice to have the option of a 2nd bike, one that doesn’t require the same upkeep as the MTB, it helps me train, helps me keep fit and builds up the strength… but.. if i had space and a garage for a Spin bike… i don’t think i’d own a roadie. That said… i don’t have the space or the garage, so the Wilier is still here and still being pounded.

i decided that ‘tolerable’ simply isn’t enough. After a road ride on the Spearfish today, the Wilier is up for sale…. Roadie bikes just simply don’t do it for me,

SO if anyone is looking to swap a MTB or even just buy a Wilier…get over there.