[Closed] So I want to try road racing + build a bike specifically for this

Lol! I'd guilt-shamed you into not attacking and blowing me out the back door so probably for the best I wasn't there 😀
It actually helped smooth out other plans with mrs Crosshair too which was a bonus.

I'm going to switch another spacer over later- although the plan is to do as little time on the Triban as possible this week and do either MTBing or road riding on my CX bike.

Then hit 'the Plan' next week 🙂

Going lower?

Yes! Stem is still sloping uphill mind you 😉

Going to hacksaw mine later.

Dropping it 15mm and chopping off circa 10mm 🙂

You'll look like that guy from the vid I linked earlier 😀

Haha.

Well I've got a 15mm spacer above the stem, which is ridiculous. So after I've chopped off some steerer I'll leave enough for a 5mm spacer above the current stem in it's current position should I find the position too extreme!

Hey I've just been reviewing my strava stats: https://www.strava.com/activities/862680444

I was using a 52/36 & 11-23 cassette, cadence = 94!! 😆
High cadence commutes in low gears has helped it seems!

P.s. Guy who crashed badly last week:

Paul Scrase: I got taken out last week - a broken collarbone, 5 broken ribs and a punctured lung! Going to be out for a while!

😯

Awesome! That's a nice rpm. Mine was back one to 86 but when dealing with surges, I was careful to spin and it really helped. 115 max.

Poor guy!! There's no safe way to crash at 28mph I guess!

Nath, you were riding with Alex Randall. He is young, fast and tore my legs off on Tuesday. Needs one point to go up to third. Your gearing and cadence were spot on. As were your tactics.

@CH - yeah legs felt much better for it too! Made sure I dropped 2 gears for the uphill section. Even after dropping a couple passed the clubhouse to get up the hill in the wind.

The straight was amazing though yesterday, pushing close to 32mph on my own @ circa 250w and crossed the line at 38mph. Wind behind us.

@tired - Thank you! Just a shame it didn't stick. I wasn't so sure about gearing choice, but once I got stuck in I realised I had chosen the perfect ratios for me at Hillingdon. Just been chatting to Alex on strava.

Not sure what cassette I'm going to bring to Abingdon 12/25 or 11/23?! It's going to be interesting revisiting the tactics book on a new course.

Steerer chopped by 10mm - which means I can just about return to the old position if I hate it.

Still have scope though judging by the commuter (closest)...

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Racing bike has 20mm of spacers, trying it for a few miles on Saturday then will reduce by 5mm and retry on Sunday.

Another -5g for the weight spreadsheet too 😉

It's carrying about 1kg of Hillingdon mud still at the moment 😆

Trying to work on Aerodynamics for Abingdon by the sounds of it!

As I say, 260w in an upright position gave me 12mph upwind on my solo warmup lap 😀
It was cool at the top straight though where everyone stayed in a double line wheel-wheel and you could literally soft pedal down the side of them in complete shelter! (Well soft pedal relatively I guess 😉 )

They do mix and match the loops though apparently.....

I bet they loved you for that 😆

There's nothing I can do, apart from changing stem/bars to carbon ones (wouldn't ever do) to reduce weight on my bike. Could have bought a lighter carbon wheelset but I prefer the longevity factor of the hopes.

Keeping yours the same?

Yep 🙂 I will keep tweaking the bars as I force my myself into riding more aero but there's no upgrades planned. I think the weight is even less relevant at Abingdon.

Been following this thread for ages - trying to get some motivation for TLI races later this year! Keep up the good work 😀

@CH Aero wheels? 8)

@velocipede - not heard of TLI races before, guessing you need a seperate licence and no BC points?

@TiRed - made a comment for you:

Costs a bit more but have either of you thought about narrower bars? Adam Hansen rocks a set of 38cms!

Nah, I think my money is definitely better spent on race entry fees at this stage. More time out of the wind and a good wheel to follow with two laps to go should see me in the top half next round I hope....

Does anyone want to join me at Hillingdon circuit next week on Tuesday afternoon (21st) ? Was thinking 16:00 until dark.....

Might be tempted to take a 1/2 day for that.

Jesper might want in too!

On a side note, found this earlier (my frame has the identical geo): http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Cervelo/R5-Ultegra-Road-Bike-2017/8G92

On the link there's a "Find your size" tool. Says I should have my saddle at 785mm, also says it's a race fit only on the frame 😆

@CH - Up for this? https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/154659/Westerley-Spring-Crits

Cool. I think Weeksy is coming to. I want to try and go weekly for one of my 'S' workout sessions 🙂

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I should have just took my glasses off I think 😀

I think they're trying to take themselves off!

How was it on the pun^^ure front?

I had to lower them to see where I was going although they did still stop a bit lol

About 3 or 4 I think. The mighty hardshells were fine luckily 😀

It's a good reason to take a Turbo as whilst they swept the track, I doubt they did all the places people warm up.

Re Westerley Crit- sounds good but a little far ahead to plan a weekend,

Trying to fix image hosting....

I'll let you know about the 21st later, would you be okay with leaving my bag in your car (if I come straight from work)?

Just spotted this too, sounds interesting: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/159395/London-Nocturne
http://www.londonnocturne.com/

Yes of course mate! No probs.

Cool, I'll let you know by the end of the week.

Purposely moving stuff around in work diary as we speak 😆

Sounds good! Not even going to think about the weather yet 😀

Come on results page, update already 😆

Where's the link to Abingdons results page?

There are provisional ones on FB-
https://m.facebook.com/pg/outdoortradersraceteam/posts/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=1

They only do the top ten 🙁

Ah that sucks, I'm sure if you ask though you'll get your official result? At least it should be posted on your BC account? https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/dashboard#my_results

Nearly time to be put out of my misery, I'm thinking 9th.

I think that was one of Imperials efforts to keep new riders keen by providing full results.
I don't think they have to beyond points? But I may be wrong....

They don't usually bother posting outside the top ten unless you're using transponders IME. I guess it can be a lot of effort deciding places for 30-40 riders who aren't even going to get points.

That's a shame, always interesting to know if you're progressing up the field or not.

It's really difficult to gauge from pics and memory 😆

Are there photographers are Abingdon? Gutted the regular photographers didn't capture my greatest attack to date 🙁

Yeah, there's normally a photographer or two. I think for the winter series they've been using a friend of the club and they just post all of the photos to the Facebook page, so you can get them for free. At least they did for round 1.

Ah that's cool, thanks for confirming @rawka

They're keeping me in suspense for the results, I'm going to crash their servers if I refresh the page any more haha

I feel your pain! At least Zwiftpower don't run them 😀

Wohooo!!

Well happy with this:

1st Rufus Greenway Twickenham CC
2nd Neil Ashton Wycombe Cycling Club
3rd Darren Marshall Kingston Wheelers
4th Edward Flight London Dynamo
5th Philip Bellingham Welwyn Wheelers
[b]6th Nathan B unattached[/b]
7th Alex Randall Twickenham CC
8th Craig Cole SD Racing
9th Simon Pearce Berkhamsted CC
10th Andrew Knott Welwyn Wheelers CC

Takes my total points up to 8 🙂

The 4th cat race started with a reduced field of 43 riders but the racing was brisk with the first serious attack from Johnathan Sargeant, then later by Matty Earles (Lovelo Cinelli RT). Alex Randell (Twickenham CC) made a serious move off the front with 5 km to go and Nathan Bond and Robbie Collison (Cranleigh CC) moving across. Meti Gashi (Watford Velosport) led at the bell, but on the line Rufus Greenway (Twickenham CC) claimed the victory from Neil Ashton (Wycombe CC) with Darren Marshall (Kingston Wheelers) in third place. Greenway has made impressive progress throughout the series and with many of his clubmates having cut their teeth in these races it was apt that he should conclude it with a win.

Not sure I agree with the write up, Alex followed my wheel. But hey ho.

Congratulations. Four points to go. And of course TCC is always mentioned in write ups 😉 . You know where to come... I even have a spare jersey or two.

I'm racing the Singlespeed Cyclocross in Brighton this weekend, just been bumped out of the hugely oversubscribed Spring Chicken, and the Surrey League has of course sold out! Still awaiting their calendar.

You might like to spend two Saturdays doing the Surrey League Race Training. There will be sessions at Cyclopark and Hillingdon. They are very good and mandated to race in Surrey League and SERRL races. The best road races for 4th cats are the Thursday Handicap series, set off in groups around a road circuit depending on category. These are Thursday evenings, and run throughout the summer. The 4th cats won the first one last year, despite me chasing ridiculously hard in the second group!

They don't usually bother posting outside the top ten unless you're using transponders IME

Awesome job Nath- well done! What a great end to the series for you 🙂

I reckon you can get your remaining points at Abingdon if you follow the right move.....