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Very kind CH... And sorry about your nan.
I think a few of the locals have committed to thruxton, and I'm working til 3 or 4 so will head there hopefully. And Hillingdon sounds hard....!!
No worries. I heard a whisper on the wind that Weeksy may come to Thruxton the following week so I'll switch back if he does.
I guess it depends on your strengths- bike handling is one of my few advantages so I get a little more leverage at Hillingdon. It's also a narrower course with a narrower and longer bunch.
The fact it's built for bicycles means the corners are a little more challenging than those designed to be taken at 120mph 😀
It's nice to mix things up at any rate 🙂
Agreed mate, change is good. Although after today with 2 particular corners I borked 50%+ of the time corners you can make at 120mph might do me a favour...!!
Yeah, town centre Crits look hairy!! I watched some old Boise Twighlight vids yesterday and those guys have no fear. Millimetres from the barrriers at 30-40mph!
Nice work Leigh!!
Sorry to hear about your Nan @CH!
So I've just finished my final instense "Build" week (week 7 of 8), and to be frank it's been a bit crap, really let myself down! Yesterday I was building a bike so didn't get out for the 4 hours that I had planned and this morning's ride was cut short too. On the plus side I've been commuting with my pollution mask on, if you're not familiar with this feeling then strangle yourself while cycling - it's tough! I'm convinced that it helps both my throat/lungs and gets my body using oxygen more efficiently (I'll let you decide that).
Anyway here's the chart that's stuck to the inside of my wardrobe:
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Black means that I've met or exceeded, red means a fail lol.
Annoyingly I'm down to 68kg, which is bizarre as I've been eating the same as my normal stuff but with less exercise - hope it's not turning muscle into fat! 😆
Final FTP test on Saturday!!
P.s. tested the 3rd bottle mount, it's a bit tight!!
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Also 25mm GP 4 seasons, think I could get away with 28mm? There's 4.5mm room here:
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I think you should be pleased with that block mate- well done! Can't wait to see the FTP test numbers and more importantly, the results out on track!!
Not sure about your asphyxiation fetish 😆
Off the top of my head, I would say it's not a good thing for aerobic fitness, as if you still hit your wattage targets, you will be doing so with more reliance on your anaerobic system- forcing it to run on sugar when it should be practicing churning out big fat-fuelled watts.
That could be completely wrong mind you!!
Edit- (But probably still better than choking on smog!)
Thanks!
Rather looking forward to just commuting/spinning this week (provided I can get the wrong damn BB out of my new frame) - my legs are tired!
332w to beat, 345w would see me at 5w/kg which means maintaining 365w for 20 mins 😐 So that's the target! Last FTP test I got up to the watts I wanted and the cadence and then just concentrated on the cadence number 😆 Conditional changes are the fact I've got a bigger fan now as the other fell over and blew itself up.
Is your CP60 set at a different number to your FTP just because of timing between printing it out and your test?
You definitely need to race and not waste your talent...
I raced a Nat B yesterday, missed the break but did plenty of work on the front and tried and failed in a few breaks / jumps across and wound up with AP of 250 and NP of 320 for the 3 or so hours. I'm about a stone heavier so theoretically you'd have cruised it.
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Get off the front you wally 😆
We actually did have a gap 😯
You look about as aero as a brick there CH. 😆 A bit of work on your position and you could save enough effort that the results will start to flow.
Ch what happened to the aero posing for the camera? 😆
SY I'm not sure what you mean there 😳
Racing coming up soon, CH is joining in too! 🙂
@Leigh2612 - Hard luck, city centre crits are a bit of a lottery unless you can get to the front from the start. That you were mopping up other riders through the race indicates you were riding pretty well though
For myself, didnt race on Tuesday as a) my legs were still a bit fried from the Paramount RR, and b) the weather was bad enough to put me off driving for an hour for 40 minutes of racing.
On thursday, I raced the local evening handicap league at the Sundorne track in Shrewsbury. I was in the first group of the first race (the league has 4 handicap groups, and was split into 2 races, so it was effectively a 3/4, with thesecond race effectively e/1/2/3). The first few laps were spent waining for the 2nd group to make the catch, at which point the pace jumped up a bit.
I felt pretty good, and was finding it a lot easier than the 4th Cat only races I'd done there, despite the overall speed being the same.
Then after about 22 minutes, A Stourbridge rider about 4-5 wheels in front of me took a drink, couldnt put the bottle back in its cage, looked down and stuffed his front wheel into the rear mech of the rider next to him. Next thing I know Im upside down at 25mph. Luckily, I got away with mostly bruises (hip, back, and a black eye from headbutting the bars). Unfortunately, the rider in front of me went down face first, and was unconscious for about 10 minutes (He suffered multiple facial lacerations, a neck fracture and a small brain bleed, but the latest info is that he should recovery fully)
The racing was, rightly abandoned for the evening.
needless to say, this weekend has been a bit uncumfortable, esp the bruised hip and back
[url= https://andyw39.smugmug.com/CYCLESPORT/ROAD-RACING-2017/SOUTH-STAFFS-RR-LEAGUE-RND-10-SUNDORNE-JULY13TH/ ]Here's some pre-crash photos [/url]
JESUS!
Events like that really bring it home how much trust you're putting into the people around you.
Glad you're okay (well in comparison to the other rider!!!)!
Thanks Nath. Feeling much better today, should be able to race again on Thursday.
Looking back, its a good job I was in the drops at the time, because it helped me roll, and I didnt take my hands of the bars until I hit the deck. If I'd been on the hoods, I would have probably put my arms out to break the fall (and my collarbone)
CH up there adopting the position you use when out riding with weaker riders to give them the most shelter possible behind you 😆
Yes alright alright 😆
Lucky escape JD!! Glad you're mostly ok!!
It's why Naths tactics are actually pretty shrewd. Get fit enough to not need the bunch 😉
Right now I hate cycling!!!
I press fitted BB30 bearings into my frame, based off the sites Q&A. Only the chainset doesn't fit all the way through. Measured the BB and it's an EVO386 shell (46mm x 86.5mm).
So now I've had to buy a proper BB30 extractor chisel, a big ass hammer (because I stupidly used loctite thinking it was it for life), PF30 BB & pressfit 386EVO to shimano adapters. ALL they needed to do was quote the right bloody BB in the first place - [url= https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/miche-evo-max-bottom-bracket/ ]for £17[/url] Instead of the £90 it's actually cost me ^^^
The pit falls of self builds I guess.
I shall not be in a rush to do it again 😉
The link for TiRed and Southern Yeti-
https://m.facebook.com/bespokephotos/albums/997740840362996/
TiRed, your brakes QRs are open?!
It was definitely wetter than those pictures look!
A LOT wetter! I'm running the 23 mm Carbon clinchers on a bike normally set up with 19 mm Mavic CX33's. So the quickest way to adjust brakes is to open them. That was singularly the wettest race I have ever ridden. Might do it again tomorrow, and then vets on Wednesday.
Race bike will be back soon, but owing to an own car, rear wheel interaction (don't ask), I may be racing the TT wheels this week!!!
JD heal fast, a week off at this time of the season will see no loss of fitness. And I've been the guy who headbutts the tarmac. It's not great.
Considering I don't have the best flexibility in my hips, I'm wondering if anything jumps out fit/geometry wise to help me reach a better aero position?
I kind of feel like I need a bigger frame!?!
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Nothing jumping out in terms of fit, just looks to me like you have mahoosive arms with no elbow joints. 😆
Joking aside, look at the rider beside you in the photo above, slight bend in the elbow, makes a significant difference.
Same thing in the photo further up the page, two riders behind have a nice bend in the elbow.
Doesn't come naturally at all to some people, but well worth concentrating on, as i'll bet you are costing yourself 20+W @ 25mph.
Good time to work on it is during interval sessions, then it sort of becomes natural that when you are going hard you instinctively get aero too.
There is scant evidence to prove it I know, but I have gotten better at relaxing my shoulders and bending my elbows. In fact, I notice I actually put out slightly more Watts too when I use that position too- even indoors.
I guess it's just the first thing that slips when I'm tired. The rain didn't help mind you 😀
How are the hoods positioned on your bars? Are they flat to the ground? That may be what is twisting your wrist 'forward' and locking out your elbows. See the guy next to you has his wrists at an angle such that his elbows bend.
whats the codes for what the sessions are nathb? and where is it from?
Originally, the levers were installed flush to a ruler held along the flat bottom of the drops and then angled so they were upright. The only thing I've changed is to shorten the reach which has brought the levers in slightly from the vertical.
I may have a fiddle with the Allen key...
Also, I'm wondering about your weight distribution on the bike. If you ride along at an easy pace, can you take your hands off the bars without altering the position of your torso? I'm wondering if you lock-out trying to support your weight on your hands?
Not easily no. I have to push myself backwards to take both hands off of the bars.
JD, sounds messy, heal up!
NathB has inspired me to sign back ylup to trainerroad for an FTP test. Just trying to work out when it would fit in....!!
Made a few changes. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
My schedule is different this week so have a tough mornings work beforehand.
If it's dry, it'll likely be faster so probably won't get the chance to do much other than hang and try and move up for the sprint.
Still, maintaining a better position is a good enough goal to be going on with.
dirtyrider -
whats the codes for what the sessions are nathb? and where is it from?
Sorry ❓
CH were the same height riding the same frame - it's not the frame. Roll your bars up a little bit. You should be able to support the position with just lightly resting on your wrists. Took me a while to get this right as you saw/read ^^ lol
Commuter is finished!! 8.2kg all in, which I'm pretty happy about! Lost the small cable pin out of my 105 front mech, any idea if I can just buy one rather than the entire mech?!
We're not quite the same shape though 😉
I've stuck that freebie 110mm stem on there too to see if it helps. Rotating the bars a touch definitely helped too. It's all very well having it optimised for the drops but if I'm there less then the hoods then....
With JD’s Crash experience ringing in my ears, I said goodbye to the wife and that it would be so cool if I got my first point in a 3 / 4 race. To which she replied that it would be even cooler to be in a fit state for work tomorrow!
I pre-enter a few days before hand each week and I was excited about this race anyhow so I had no excuse for being ill prepared. Of course, life isn’t always as neat as I hope and the change in my work schedule for the funeral yesterday, meant having to do my heavy morning’s lifting today.
It was a hot and muggy one too and as much as I tried to speed things along so I could get a quick cheat-sleep in after dinner, I didn’t get home to do the dogs until 3:30 and had to leave at 4:00 to have time to check the Partridge chicks on the way.
So I arrived having tried my hardest to dose myself with sugar to liven me up. I didn’t even attempt the SIS Caffeine tablets this week as they stopped me sleeping until 2am last week!
I jokingly text Nath and said to bang the roof of my car when he arrived to wake me up but it was semi-serious as I drifted in and out whilst I waited to warm up.
After a last-minute tweak to the new stem, I set out with 30minutes to go to do a slow and steady warm up. The wind was pretty tough! In fact, it felt like two thirds of the course was a headwind. I pootled around day dreaming about how lively and snappy I’ve felt in races lately and what a difference tonight was!
As start time approached, I was joined by Johnny and Pete (from Cowley Condors) and we started wishfully discussing breakaways. Which in hindsight is literally laugh out loud!
I’ve felt pretty at ease and even arrogant in the last few races but I felt completely alien at this point. Awkward, detached and nervous. There were a lot of guys! As I rolled down the start straight, they were already lining up and I initially just joined the back. But whilst the Comm was doing his thing, I thought better of it and leap frogged around a few. I reckon there were close to 60 starters
We set off and the pace at the front felt instantly high. Interestingly, it was almost all down to RPE and my mindset as actually, the power was pretty tame at 230w average and 257w weighted.
And there developed the pattern for the first half of the race. I would see the group ahead slowing, ease off to avoid braking at which point several guys from behind would accelerate into the tiny gap, then have to brake. Meanwhile, I would come back past with loads more momentum and we’d soon be back in the order we started in.
My legs were doing as they asked but certainly not egging me on or coming up with any bright ideas. I felt firmly stuck where I was.
Where I was, kind of rotated around the rear third of the bunch. Pete was doing the same in the middle and Johnny was doing the same at the front. It’s like there were three races going on behind each other.
A few breaks went off the front but half a lap of full gas from the main teams would soon shut things down. I loved these moments as whilst I was even further from the front, it at least kept the numpties in check.
Anyway, apart from feeling rubbish, nothing really happened until 32minutes when panic overtook me and I realised I had driven all this way, wasted fuel and entry fee for a pretty hairy procession.
So as we came down the hill, I accelerated through the bottom corner, surfed my way past the clubhouse, switched line through an open gap and found myself in the wind on the right of the start/finish straight. Luckily, another rider had the same thought and I jumped on his wheel as we cruised to the front. The guy right on the front was wary and looked back at us and accelerated before we even reached him.
I had brought Johnny and another guy with me in my draft and they launched over the top of me at this point to try a move.
I wanted to go with, well- a tiny bit of me did, but despite having power and HR to spare, I just tried to follow wheels in the front of the bunch instead but this was another level. They were having none of it despite my best sneaky efforts.
By this time, the rear of the bunch had responded and I slowly drifted back once more to resume my rightful place as tailgunner in chief.
Trying to find a tiny positive- I at least knew I could move up if I really wanted to.
Another lap went by and I spotted some guy in a gimp mask making his way to the Start/finish line so I shouted “Nice Bike!” at him! Nath was here. Better jump-to and try and look like I’m not rubbish!
The next time around however, I noticed the 2 to go sign. That was quick! The pace ramped up and my spidey senses hit red alert. Literally every lap for the past five laps, there had been a ‘Woah, woah woah!!!’ moment. With everyone still together, I couldn’t see how things were going to improve. The extra intensity was just going to add problems.
With the front already jostling for their last lap position, it seemed un-assailable but what choice did I have but to try?
Moving up through the middle of the bunch, I realised (and I honestly thought this live during the race) that the Coggan w/kg chart kind of made sense. These guys at the back were (almost certainly) Cat 4’s which meant I had a similar ftp/kg. But I also knew I have much better short duration numbers than most of them.
So even though they could and were hanging in there- they were maxed out. So, I started to ramp up the Watts and pick them off. As I was about to tip into Brian’s, a Thames-Velo guy crashed on the outside and I virtually stopped to avoid him. Sprinting like mad, I was back on by the top of the climb and I wasn’t knackered either! (With hind sight of course, this was because it had been a relatively easy pace thus far even if it didn’t feel like it).
Through the pinch point and at least three guys went on the grass. This was carnage. Right, focus, sprint back on again.
Last lap then and the pace climbed to another level. I was a long way back still so had nothing to lose and decided to attack the climb. Everyone stayed upright and I dropped ten guys with 1200w and felt like I had made a split.
I was still probably at the rear of the second group though. Down the hill and huge gaps were appearing in this bunch, so I just rode through them making up places.
Sprinting even before the apex of the final corner, I felt strong and with lots to give. Pete was there, a little in front but I was gaining and psyching myself up to unleash.
At this point, I was fairly sure top ten was in reach- I am not for one minute suggesting I could have got there, but in my mind at least, the sprint wasn’t futile. The front group wasn’t pulling away as I expected either. The head wind seemed to be holding them back.
Right as I was about to explode, the front group did instead! Shouts, scraping bikes and tearing clothes filled the air as loads of people went down to the right.
I was so lucky! Firstly, to be in piss poor position but also to be surfing through on the line that I was. I had come off of Pete’s wheel and was heading to the left through a massive gap.
Still, experience told me I wasn’t out of the woods and sure enough bikes began bouncing my way. I was super impressed with my sub-conscious braking! With the rear wheel locked but barely touching the floor thanks to the controlled power I had jammed into the front, I lost 10mph in an instant and was able to come off the brakes soon after and steer around all the mess.
I half-heartedly sprinted again for 17th place or so but I was just glad to have missed that!
A sorry end to a slightly melancholy evening all round.
Pulling out some good news though, the lowest power I hit up the climb was 700w but most laps were close to 1000. 20x 900w hill repeats is good going I think!
Mentally, I’m not sure where the standard of riding there tonight leaves me really. I think I actually suddenly want my Cat3 !!!! I’d rather get dropped by a load of Pro’s in the E1,2,3 than wiped out by my Cat4 peers!!
Pollution mask 😆
The flag Marshall and I predicted that crash, the com wasn't pulling people out of the race - you had people who had been lapped twice or had punctured earlier right at the front of the pack with 2/3 laps to go... mental! It's all about the points it seems, at the cost of skin, bones and bikes.
Nice to see you, TiRed and Jonny though 🙂
Loving my new commuter too, it's so much quicker at accelerating and the steering feels like my racing bike.
Nice write up and a touch of survivor's guilt after the carnage? E123 lined up for a fast one tonight, but was cancelled. Rode home with my first cat friend for the Tour hilights. Vets tomorrow.
No, not guilt. More anger that people are so oblivious and helpless at having to ride next to them.
Of course accidents happen- but this was blatantly on the cards tonight.
I even came up with a new one-liner for in the bunch "Come on guys- the course hasn't changed!!!" 😆
Obviously didn't shout it loudly enough 😉
Crosshair...thanks for making any write up I do look shite!
My first sunny ride at thruxton didn't happen- started raining after I had handed over my crisp £20 note!
Felt a bit drowsy in the front passenger seat, felt better soon after getting out the car and sorting bike etc.
Nice easy 15 mins warm up, with a few 10s baby sprints at the end (I think!).
First 2 laps were surprisingly slow, I mostly surfed the back third here getting a feel for corners etc etc.
By the 3rd lap I had decided "it" was on, spending a lot of time in the front 10ish.
Around this time, on a gentle right, a space opened up in the middle and the chap crosshair has mentioned previously was next to me before I fired into the space, he said where the F do you think you're going, or something like that, which fired me up for a bit! Where do you think I'm going???
I drifted back and forwards a bit and shot up the outside to the front group when I wanted. Bridged a couple of small breakaways with other front boys, quite liked that! We went from 3 laps to go to bell lap due to hail and strong wind. I was surprised it didn't come earlier.
On what was now the final lap I pushed forward on the outside on the left. In hindsight I think everyone was being cagey rather than tired as I sat on the tip of the spear for a minute or so before the kick up the hill, then boom, dropped 15+ places in a couple of seconds!
Made a couple back up through the chicane and a few more on the finish straight. I even managed a bike push to pip one more...! Hopefully a top 20 would be ace, expecting low to mid 20s though.
I think a breakaway of 2 made it away today too....
That's certainly not my intention- I enjoy everyone else's write ups loads 🙂
I sometimes wish my brain didn't think so much 😆
They lull you into a false sense of progress don't they 😉 It's all about the chicane and the sprint....
Avoiding the rain was the only good thing about choosing Hillingdon I think.
Back to Thruxton next week for the earlier start time....
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Sorry guys, despite some concerted efforts, there's no photo evidence of much aero improvement 😆
Just heard from a mate of mine, he was one of the ones involved in the crash at Hillingdon.
Not sure of the details but he's pretty pissed off to be spending a night in hospital after someone else wiped him out!
No doubt I'll catch up,with him this week and find out what happened.
I think there were at least four seriously injured and another few who went down.
Nath said the Marshal had predicted a crash! Which kind of begs the question WTF are the Comms there for!?!
The tight schedule doesn't help. They don't really have time to neutralise the race and bollock everyone because the E1,2,3's would be up in arms (instead of just warming up during our last lap like they usually do 😆 ).
Crosshair
Sorry guys, despite some concerted efforts, there's no photo evidence of much aero improvement
Don't lock your arms out straight, horizontal forearms would drop your head about 6 inches. Look at pictures of pre-tri bar time trialists. Might take some getting used to using your core a bit more, but not long.
Crosshair. The good news is I think you've got tonnes of potential to be more aero. Get strengthening your core over winter and I reckon you could lose a couple of spacers off that steerer. There's no better place to experiment than Zwift.