^^ this.
After long distance ITTs with a group start I've compared my time with those of the fast riders. Not only are they riding quicker but they aren't wasting as much time at stops, etc., not that I was being particularly slow. I used Strava which will give "total time" and "moving time".
It's worth figuring out in advance the bits where navigation might be a problem so you don't have to keep checking GPS or map.
It's not about rushing, it's about being efficient and making the best use of your time. Sometimes waiting is the best option: if you are at a cafe/shop and a shower arrives as you are about to leave then waiting five minutes for it to pass might be better than getting soaked.
If you're having to stop at the bottom and top of every hill on the SDW to screw around with chains you are in for a long miserable experience. The key is to keep on pressing on. Just stopping for every other tap and having a pee every now and again will add over an hour each way
Quite, however it would only be the exception to hills, not the rule. Don't forget, the entrance to Butser is gated, so you're stopping anyway. So is the exit, so again, you're stopping anyway.
I've ridden this before a few times, so it's not like i can't ride up 95% of the hills. I rode it on a 1x10 Commencal Meta, but we ended the ride at QECP that time.
if you are at a cafe/shop and a shower arrives as you are about to leave then waiting five minutes for it to pass might be better than getting soaked.
Get the Rain Alarm app on your phone for the "should I stay or should I go?" game.
With the gearing, you could always take the approach that if you need a lower gear, you might be just as quick walking. I did an on/off road 100 miler on the CX type thing, with 35 miles of SDW in there. Soingle ring 48T on the front and 11-36.
Walking speed up the steep stuff was 3mph, so when I couldn't push 48T beyond 3mph, I hopped off and pushed. Gives the muscles a change/break too, which might not be a bad thing with your back to back rides.
Indeed, was chatting with Yak from here last night over at QECP and the thought "Maybe you just take that one as a walk" did come into the conversation.
I've got a bit of testing to do yet as next time we're there in 2 weeks, i'll take the Parkwood and see how much easier and better it is on 2X using the granny. It may well be i find exactly that and the speed is so slow it's not worth bothering.
Think in terms of energy efficiency rather than having to clean every climb. You don't want to be going into the red, it just needs to be a constant effort that you can maintain for the duration of the ride. As your energy levels rise and fall you'll clean some climbs but not other, easier, ones. Sometimes I'll walk climbs that I know I can clean but it takes a lot of oomph to do so and I'd probably pay for it later.
All makes sense yup...
The good news is i'm going with an older, fatter, unfitter mate.. (sorry, i know you'll read this)... So most of it will be a stroll for me 🙂
Well, common sense kicked in and the Whyte is also now running 2x10
I'm not sure if I'll need the 2 in Spain in a few weeks, but if I do, I now have it.
I'm still not decided on which bike to use on this SDW double attempt, but again, now I have the option.
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I came back for Butsers revenge tonight. I was on the Parkwood this time with the granny.
I made it to the top, then down, then back up, then down, then got bored and did some other stuff.
That's a bloody tough hill that, even on a granny 24t ! Ouch!
You need a hardtail, not just any hardtail 😉
CXer for the up, DHer for the down ?
The Parkwood is a hardtail?
Well in a slightly sad turn of events the SDW double is now the SDW single. Which in itself is still very very tough to do... but not quite as tough.
Over in Spain it became apparent to Crust that 3000m+ for 2 days running will be outside of his ability. Sadly for me, Mrs Weeksy is away the weekend of this event so i couldn't get her to pick me up in Winchester if i completed the 2nd leg on my own. I do agree with Crust of course, i think for me, it would be a massive ask and i'm fitter than him, so for him to double it, would be a bonkers ask.
Either way, we'll single it, have beers, curry and fun !
We've still got the White Roads the weekend before as a tester 🙂
The single, beers and curry option sounds like a very good plan. Although a daylight finish should warrant fish n'chips by the sea surely? There's something nice about the W-E SDW in the way it is slowly pulling you towards the sea. And the seaside in summer = fish n' chips ! 🙂
That's how my food mind works anyway!
Fish and Chips and then curry and beers... 🙂
You've met me... you know how my food mind works 😉
Getting close now and thinking about how to rest and recover the legs pre event. Got 11 days to the first one which is the more road based White Roads 100 miler, then 6 days after that for the SDW. I can see me not riding at all between the 2 events, but i'm wondering now how to manage my legs etc in the last week leading up to the first one.
Any idea what the start time window is for the White Roads event? Can't see anything on the website and it interests me but would be a fair drive to get there. Good luck for both events btw.
On the entry page on the entry fee section
Date Start Distance Est. Field Size
Sun 09/07/17 09:00 161km ---
Read more at https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/153098/The-Lapierre-White-Roads-Classic-2017#yGyRXYCXTdy860Fx.99
I'm OK with that as it's only 20 mins from home, depending on the weather etc i may even cycle over there to save messing about taking the car.
I wouldn't do nothing. Probably carry on at a similar amount of hours to what you've been doing but do them all on your bike of choice at slightly less than your predicted event pace.
If you are going to race the hills rather than pace them then do a couple of hill repeat sessions perhaps Friday
or Saturday this week and Wednesday next week.
I'd not Rest the day before but perhaps have a day off the day before that.
The week in between, I'd definitely do a recovery ride the day after White Roads, with plenty of good food and sleep.
Then perhaps rest Tuesday and another short hill repeat/interval session on Wednesday, rest Thursday and Friday, recovery spin Saturday, smash Sunday 🙂
LOL there's no smashing hills or crushing times, i'm out with Crust on both events, so it's a nice pootle type day out for me and certainly on the White roads being his Domestique and keeping him out of the wind mostly.
One of these days i'll do a long event and be able to wallop along at the best pace i can... but neither of these days are that i'm afraid.
Ok, well still do the hill repeat days, just do them at Crusts pace. Not as a fitness-adding smashfest but just a primer to get your body used to what it's about to face.
Not sure what to say really. I failed.
I set off early and cycled over for event and met up with crust. Sign on was done quickly so we thought, its not a race, let's get on with it and left early.
2 hours in, we'd averaged just under 12mph and to be honest I think it got worse from there for a while, we then hit Dragon Hill up at the White Horse, Huffington, that was some hill I tell you!
Next up was feed stop, I was feeling great! Crust not so much. About 10km later after another climb he tells me he's bailing out. Fair enough, can't argue.
So I cracked on alone and I think this was where it all went wrong, next section of ridgeway I was over 14mph then down to Lambourne I was chasing 2 guys and did them in the end, but I'm guessing I'd used up all I had.
We then had the hardest hill I've ever ridden, 24 front, 36 rear and struggling to get up it. I stopped and grabbed food and felt better. My thighs though were destroyed by then. Ah well, we'll keep going, sort of. It was getting harder and harder, a long road climb out of Lambourne was telling as the 2 boys I passed earlier came past me.
Eventually I reached the food stop, about a mile outside Wantage, I was done, I called the wife and told her to come collect me.
5 mins later, I couldn't face the decision like that and, sod it, I was going again. Down into Wantage, the thighs screaming at me again I came to chain hill, this is a killer roadie hill out of Wantage, hill flat, hill, hill, flat, hill. I was gutted but it was there and then I bailed out and took the Ridgeway back home, it was in theory the easy route, but by heck it was hard today!
I bimbled home, went to collapse and cramped, screaming like a girl, I decided the best course of action, beer and feet up.
So that was 6 hours 50 and 19kmh average, not bad in some ways, but I'm struggling to find the words for how upset I am with myself. Close to tears honestly.
130km is a long ride, especially with gravel as well as road, but it was supposed to be 160, not 130.
Sigh
What a spanner, the road section after crust bailed I was chasing 2 lads, I averaged 18.2mph for the 5km section.
Wtf made me think that was a bright idea on a HT running xc tyres. Not quite a flat section but close enough that 18+ was bloody stupid!
Some days are like that.
Did you enjoy the scenery? On the gravel, did you enjoy that more than the tarmac ? It looked hot out there today, so did you drink enough.
No worries though, I think you did rather well TBH.
Not 100% sure beers the answer just yet, I'd be rehydrating until about 6pm then hit the beer.
It was mostly stuff I know and ride regularly so didn't come into play. The whole day was a training rather more than anything.
19kmh is not bad at all for a mixed surface ride.
And its a lesson learned, sometimes you need to blow up in order to find where your limits are.
Weeksy: What made you ride a HT rather than a road bike. I did this last year and IIRC the vast majority were on road bikes, yes you had to take it easy and pick your lines on the descents to avoid punctures but that aside road bike was the easier option.
yeah but how was your pint?
Apple Pie Hill had me a cramping mess, but I still managed to drop my (now ex) mate and "solo" to the finish!!
We did 140km after our mishap with missing the 110km ride turn... should have just done the whole 160km.
My arse hurts took quite a pounding with 110psi in a 27mm tyre, but I didnt puncture, unlike seemingly everyone else!!
Mossimus, the only road bike i have won't fit anything more than 25s. Plus, i'm a MTBer and this ride was preparation for the SDW on Sat coming up this weekend.
Anagalis, it didn't happen, i got off the bike and cramped my hamstring massively in the pub garden, i was a rolling mess on the floor... So i got up eventually and walked the 50m home and emptied the beer fridge into me instead 🙂
I told you Apple Pie hill was hard LOL.
I'm hoping that at least i've learned a few things about when to GO and when to ease back and cruise for the SDW anyway.
I'm also likely to take the T-130 for comfort on it as well, just need to move the double cranks over from the Parkwood to the T-130 first and i'll take that one instead.
Arse is fine, my thighs are stiff as well as my calves.
Nothing lost as long as you learn from it. You can't go deep too often, know what your comfortable threshold is* and do your damndest to stay below it. On a ride like the SDW or this one, there will be hills where you do have to exceed your limit so it's then doubly important that on the flats and downhills you don't, and chasing people down as you did has consequences.
* which is where i use a HRM and a number on it; for you it might be that you need to be able to maintain a conversation without struggling too much to breathe
and chasing people down as you did has consequences.* which is where i use a HRM and a number on it; for you it might be that you need to be able to maintain a conversation without struggling too much to breathe
I could tell the difference as i was then pouring with sweat, whereas when with my mate i was wiping my sweat every 10 mins as the odd drip came down, instead my head was pouring and my arms were soaked lol.
Good effort weeksy.
Pacing is everything on long rides, if you don't have fancy equipment (HRM/Powermeter) then close your mouth. If you can't just breathe through your nose you're going too hard. 😆
I find high cadence helps too, so on easy/downhill sections get em spinning!
I have a HRM, i just rarely use it. Due to training a fair bit i know give or take 4-5hr where i am at a given part of the ride, some of the steeper/tough hills though were always going to put me in the red, even taking it fairly easy up them.
Weeksy...come join me/us on the Brighton-London-Brighton gnarmac ride in September.....??
DrP
DrP - MemberWeeksy...come join me/us on the Brighton-London-Brighton gnarmac ride in September.....??
DrP
I assumed i needed a CDF/whatever rather than me on my MTB matey. Boing your thread, i assume you have one... I'll have a looky, i'm busy for all of Aug with family holidays, but Sept is pretty clear.
Yesterday may have been a massive day, without even turning a pedal !
I was chatting with MRs Weeksy on Monday about how tired/stiff my legs were and decided to take what for me is a big step... I got a leg massage ! Why is it a big step ? Well, it's my first ever massage and i really struggle with physical contact in that context, so it was quite an ask for me to do it. Happily we have one through work who comes into the office and is subsidised by the company... £16 for 30 mins.
Whilst i can't say i enjoyed it at the time as i was quite uncomfortable with the whole thing, the actual results are exceptional. My legs have gone from a stiff achey mess to feeling pretty great ! I thought the stiffness and tension may return after a nights sleep and everything tightens up again etc, but they feel great again. So much so, i'm struggling not to Zwift LOL.
But i'm aware riding would be a mistake so it's still a day of rest.
If that's the case a foam roller may help you.
Worth try for the sake of a tenner.
I love a massage but a foam roller gives some of the benefits but with much more convenience.
I've got one, but i've not massively used it, but yeah i think i need to use a bit more that's for sure.
Yeah, foam roller works well.
Very very gentle final road ride today, wanted to test the T-130 to make sure it was all good, plus make sure the legs worked and the knee wasn't too bad.
Enforced a limit on myself of taking it VERY gently and only on the road. Rule was "if you sweat you slow down" and i didn't have a single bit of sweat, which for me is crazy.... Was only 18kmh which is sloooooooow, but that was exactly the plan for today.
