Tour of Britain starts this weekend, so I’m making the journey from the mountains of Snowdonia to the flatlands of East Anglia to visit my family in Norfolk and watch the opening stage.

Looking forward to seeing Mister’s Wiggins and Cavendish in action on Sunday, and have entered the TourRide sportive on the Saturday. Anyone else doing it? Just seen the route profile … what a contrast to the Wild Wales! Any tips for adjusting from slow, leg-burning mountain cycling to fast flat terrain riding???

(PS – number 632. Say hi if you see me 🙂 )

Hey,

I am a Norfolk boy 😉 Not doing the route, but ride the roads all the time. The best way to do it is to work on how hard it feels. Road riders around here tend to work around “sprints” a lot, but the secret is to keep the legs muscles from going into the red too much, or you will suffer later in the ride. Try to keep it as consistent as possible.

There are the occasionally little hill, which usually has a slight run in, so make the most of them and try to carry as much speed through as possible.

Whilst it may be flat, the head winds off the North Sea are brutal. Keep low on the drops and as aero as possible. Where possible, draft other riders and chat lots 🙂 Plenty of my club mates are going to be doing it, and they’re really, really approachable – look out for Iceni Velo jerseys and get chatting!

When people from hilly areas ride and race around Norfolk, they complain that they have to keep on the gas all the time, as they don’t get time to recover on the descents. Let me know how you do and have fun.

Just keep pedalling! Seriously though, try and maintain a steady level of exertion, keep an eye on your cadence and heart rate and remember to eat and drink plenty. That last loop inland through Norfolk will be tough, tired legs and probably picking up a headwind, so make sure you’ve got something left in the tank.

Most of the “hills” around here are just short ramps that you can punch up with a short anaerobic effort, but doing that repeatedly is pretty tiring so it’s a fine line to judge.

I will be in that Norfolk, this coming W/E.

Slight hijack.

Might be in Suffolk on Sunday, where would be good to see the race?

Cheers for the advice! Ah, yes, flat terrain means no “free miles” on the descents 🙁 Looking forward to riding somewhere very different from usual, and hoping for no headwind and finding a ‘larger than me’ person to draft 🙂

Then I get to watch the pro’s ride it properly the next day!

The wind !, its the wind I tell ya. Riding those Norfolk back roads for hours on a sunday in the middle of winter. With a dark grey sky overhead and the never ceasing headwind. It can be grim, gritty. I love it.
🙂

Its a mind a game.

hoping for no headwind

I hope for no climbs in Wales, but they’re always there 😉

Checkout the wind for Saturday on http://www.xcweather.co.uk/GB/forecast – it seems to change direction every few hours!

Not so much concerned about the wind – have you seen how hot it will be?!? 26 degrees! Us Welsh mountain folks are never exposed to such perilous cycling temperatures 🙂 (have just attached extra water bottle cage to my bike to ward off imminent dehydration …)

Yup, looks like a warm one. The wind should be pretty benign, but might help take the edge off the heat a little bit. Good excuse for an ice-cream on Southwold pier!

Not so much concerned about the wind – have you seen how hot it will be?!? 26 degrees! Us Welsh mountain folks are never exposed to such perilous cycling temperatures (have just attached extra water bottle cage to my bike to ward off imminent dehydration …)

If you’re riding in Norfolk, the wind will get you. It gets a huge run at you from miles of flat fields. So while it won’t blow you off your bike. On a bad day it will blow at you constantly, which can be, err, challenging, ime.
🙂

As for the heat, when I did the BHF Norwich 100 in 06, the temp reached 31C and the wind whipped down the back lanes blowing hot air and grit into your face. Oh !, the joys of the road.

But on a good day, its a great place to knock a few hours in on the bike. I’m taking the TCR.
😀