If Matt brings his ego we'll have to get separate ones!

I wonder why BikeRadar didn't want him!?

Back on topic, I ride most kinds of bike and also eat most types of cake.
Don't really care too much about it, I enjoy riding my bikes but I really enjoy cake. Did have a gel once. Only once.

Well that's that sorted then – job done.

Huh? What was the 'job' to look daft!? We've clearly both accomplished that, but I seem to have encountered fewer angry people along the way!

As I said whilst this was still OT, gels are a great way to get fuel during a race situation, but I just can't really see me eating them away from that. Not cheap if nothing else! Mind you, neither is cake!

I remember having a PowerGel gel a few years ago, it was easily the most revolting thing I've ever tasted!

Seems to me that every time njee resort to insults. Funny that. I quite like the fact that surf-mat has made the same comment to njee than me.
If I wasn't skint I would gladly pay the easy jet fare for you to do the transvesubienne http://www.avalanchecup.com/raid-avalanche.html just for a laugh.

Meant to be a good event, some friends did it a few years ago. Would be interested to give it a punt sometime. I know it's meant to be rather technical.

Let me know when you want to pay for me to do it! Not quite sure what it'd achieve, you could pay for me to do the Megavalanche if you want? I know there's plenty of technical riding out there, I don't really understand why you think I don't?

I ride different types of bikes, eat any kind of cakes, and will eat gels when push comes to shove!

Speaking of which – and odd roadie habits – can I just say how impressed I was by the peleton of assorted club riders on the Midland Monster sportive yesterday who elbowed and barged the rest of us mere mortals into the hedges on a narrow country lane to get past us.

And who then all stopped to urinate at the road side – en masse – so that it was running down the edges of the road. In the middle of a pleasant country hamlet, surrounded by cottages and their residents. It's not like there wasn't 50-60 miles of isolated hedgerow they could have used. Absolute stupid muppets, making the rest of us look sooo bad to those who saw it.

But rude and ignorant people can be found riding many kinds of bikes, I guess.

Njee – I reckon you have mild ADD. I know because I have it too 😉

Oh probably, wouldn't surprise me. Some OCD going on too!

Hey – one good thing about it – you are meant to drink LOADS of caffeine to help control it… 😉

I have to say caffeine doesn't really seem to affect me! Too far gone obviously!

Hey Matt, I'm in the middle of the overweight category according to BMI. Less than 9% fat though, and I'll wager I do more exercise than you. Wanna fight? 😀 My last half marathon was 1hr29, and I'm probably a fair bit older than you, too. By admission, I'm not brilliant at the old cycling though.
I really think you belong at bikegaydar, or even the mens gayfitness forum so you can kiss your biceps with all of your mates.

I'd just like to add that I look ****' stunning in lycra.

As you were.

Tonight I span as fast as I could round 14miles on my single speed roadie thing. After the first 20mins I actually LIKED it.

I'm going to do it again tomorrow night 😀

So, what msExcel spreadsheet for middle aged wonder cyclists to handbag each other?
Will anyone wear Lycra on Sunday?

Here's the very same shorts causing massive drag and weight issues when I won an offroad tri last year

I wonder what the people up the sharp end in the longer races were wearing – the ones who were lapping quicker than you despite going considerably further.

Well baggies haves pockets

As do roadie cycling tops. With the advantage that whatever you put in them doesn't bounce up and down and get very irritating when you pedal. Have tried putting stuff in my baggies' pockets, but find I can only put very small stuff in before it gets irritating.

I've mentioned before on here how I only ever wear lycra on the MTB, yet sometimes wear baggies on a road bike (when I'm taking my son somewhere and trying to look slightly less odd when I arrive). The thing is, I reckon the baggie shorts still look dodgy – only the 3/4s are vaguely normal.

Well I'm just back from a nice evening racing fellow roadies around Milton Keynes. After the flag we didn't talk about tyres, cake or what to wear. We did however talk about trailquests, the Bucks off road sportive and the Summit series MTB races.

When I'm 60 I really do hope I'll be road riding regularly like the oldies you see. **** sitting at home looking like beach ball.

Will anyone wear Lycra on Sunday?

For the Surrey Hills ride? If I don't it'll be the first time ever!

Forget about the baggies vs lycra and the Camelback vs jersey pockets.
Time to open this can of worms again:
Riser bars or straight !?

five hundred and eighty milimetres of twenty five point four flatness.

I'm on risers this year, and liking it. Seems to be increasingly common among the XC racing brigade.

15mm rise risers FTW.

BTW I'm an incredible hunk of man love in Lycra.

Surf Matt, your saddle is too low and bars too high.

EDIT: sorry just realised you are short, my apologies.

I wonder what the people up the sharp end in the longer races were wearing – the ones who were lapping quicker than you despite going considerably further.

Please explain – two people overtook me in the MTB, I overtook them on the run.

Blokes look dreadful in lycra – get over it. Baggies are more practical. Get over it.

immediately followed by:

And anyone trying to force "rules" and assumptions on others is a complete cretin.

!

Without wanting to return to this discussion… Surely the last thing baggies are is practical.

They're more modest perhaps, but they're far less practical. Hence they're not used in competition, by anyone!

Matt, I think aracer was alluding to the fact you won the sprint event, there's then the mid-distance one, and the enduro one, which despite being longer, were faster.

Were they? I haven't checked times since I did it. The organiser guy said my time (just under 80 mins – the only one to break 80 mins) was "very quick" so I was chuffed enough – didn't bother to analyse any further.

I came out of the water about 8th (ish), finished the MTB race about 4th and finished the run 1st.

Aracer – have you taken the time to find my real name, checked the results and then reported back? That's rather "stalkerish" activity.

oldgit – Member
Well I'm just back from a nice evening racing fellow roadies around Milton Keynes. After the flag we didn't talk about tyres, cake or what to wear. We did however talk about trailquests, the Bucks off road sportive and the Summit series MTB races.

We'll have none of your reasonable behaviour here!

To get back to the general tone of the thread, I think the folks discussing their body fat percentages and tri performances may be mistaking the rest of the STW readers for a group of people who care. 😉

As Poirot would say, this is the proof most positive that is indeed the roadies who are not how you say odd.

I blame the recentish purchase of a road bike…

I have ditched my risers (660mm Race Face Next SL's) yesterday for straight bars ( 560mm Easton EC90's).
That is a whopping 10cm narrower than I'm used to. Time will tell if I like 'em.

Definitely prefer flat bars.

Except on the road bike.

Hey sputnik they're great for going through gaps that are 100mm narrower than you could manage before 😉

I think its fair to say that anyone who is trying to be good at something is likely to appear odd to normal punters.

IME road cyclists appear to be more focused on getting fit and fast than mountain bikers so not wanting to put on weight is pretty normal behaviour really.

Folks who havn't discovered the joys of swinging both ways have not tried hard enough!

I finish work at 7pm tonight, a couple of hours untill it gets dark and no jobs to do at home. Do I take the road bike out for a couple of hours of backroads, climbs and pretty villages or do I take the mtb for a couple of hours of bridleways & cheeky descents? Tough choice, and that's before I decide what I'm going to wear 😉

Oldgit, you have a good point, hopefully it won't go horribly wrong, handlebars going through the gap and me getting stuck in it ala Whinny the Pooh style!

Hence they're not used in competition, by anyone!

Hum
That's true, steve peat, rachel gee and dan atherton, fabien barel, cedric gracia, wade simons, richie schley and many more don't wear baggies don't they.
I don't think they all ride lycra during the world cup (world champ is different matter as they need to wear the official gimp suit of their country).
And obviously any pro rider has a complete freedom of choice about what to wear, they are absolutely not force to wear what the team management told them to.
You could google for 1001 enduro tour and see what people are wearing too.
But hey njee say so, and he's such a good rider that he must be right true?

I thought they were banned from wearing tight fitting clothing under the rules? Wasn't there a big hoo-ha about it? Banned because it improved their times and was deemed unfair/uncool…

Which would sort of sum up the whole argument for/against lycra 😆

I don't think it was a banning, but more a mutual agreement between the racers IIRC.
Difference between them and us, I have yet to see any of us reaching 65km/h 😀

Nope, definitely a ban:

http://www.bikemagic.com/gear-news/uci-bans-skinsuits-for-dh/6606.html
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/uci-ban-skinsuits-and-open-face-helmets-for-mountain-bike-competition-19021

Nope, UCI banned it… deemed to be bad for the sponsorship images of the sport…

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/uci-ban-skinsuits-and-open-face-helmets-for-mountain-bike-competition-19021