I got some GP4000’s this week 🙂

I’ve never felt tyres as sticky as GP4000s before.

I’m gutted mine cut so easily (glued) and punctured!

Got mine from here: http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/continental-grand-prix-4000-sii-700×25-tyres-pair-for-48-96-delivered-je-james-cycles-2577629

That’s cheap! I paid £58 for my pair.

Did you stick with 28s?

I’ve just stocked up on tubes too: http://www.shopto.net/cycling/continental/0181791-continental-inner-tube-race-28-700c-60mm
@£2.71 a tube I ain’t bothering repairing any going forward other than to get me home!

Yes, 28’s. Just for the ability to run slightly lower pressure really for a bit more confidence in the corners.

Fair enough!

Okay so two things, my resting HR is back under control:

and I’ve put together a VERY simple plan, with room to do more if I’m feeling it:

4th Feb is under negotiation 🙄

How long are the BRS TT’s mate?

Don’t race what you can’t replace! I started on a used Giant TCR. £400 and a superb bike that was and six years old. When I made it to third cat, i moved the parts onto a Propel frame. My nice bike is too nice to crash. When I smashed the Propel into a Mercedes, it was replaced with a new Propel SL. This is my race bike. I’m not precious about it. It’s a tool for a job. And it’s been crashed hard on two occasions. And had a few soft bumps too.

I crashed the original Propel in its first race; a 3/4, where I was brought down by a chopper.

I would always recommend upgrading to some lighter stiffer wheels. But they need to be rebuildable not boutique.

CH, stay ahead of me on Saturday. If you see the YGA, get pedalling back up the bunch and find some shelter.

Thanks TiRed- It sounds so easy 😀 When I start seeing north of 180bpm, I know the elastic is getting tight and I’m running out of time. If that coincides with a surge then I’m toast!

I was thinking of just TTing off the front with Nath- until the bottom of the hill 😀

I’m sure the wind is going to make positioning a little bit more subtle but I was basically going to try and do what I started off doing last time- only a few places further forward. And try and make up places if it bunches up rather than braking!
I didn’t feel confident enough to do much other than sit there once I was lapped last time but I intend to be more pro-active in maintaining my position in the first instance this week.
Can’t wait!

What does YGA stand for?

I’m insured via these guys: https://bikmo.com £20 a month for £4,500 worth of bikes (4) isn’t too bad – when I had a run in with an Ocado van they were very quick in getting things ready and my side of the story incase Ocado decided to pursue. Word of warning though, I smashed up a Mavic Aksium front wheel – because it can be purchased singularly for less than £100 they didn’t pay out. So from then on I made sure everything was (or could only be found in pairs) lol.

I’m not TT’ing tomorrow, in fact I’m going to try and be as lazy as possible unless someone strong goes for it – and I’ll go try and help. My sole aim tomorrow is to stay at least 1/3 in the bunch without slowly making my back to TiRed on one of the edges as per usual. If I can do that then I’ll see what the last 10-15 mins brings 😆

Year 1 = getting battered
Year 2 = Holding position in the pack and getting to grips
Year 3 = Competing

Geometry will matter, weight won’t until you are ‘elite’ anyway.

Yeah I need to lower my bars & cut some steerer off – but I daren’t play around with anything until after Imperial series is over. 😆

I have however just acquired a 12-25 cassette, tempted to try this instead of the 11-28 I currently use. Or build my own hybrid…
Also contemplating swapping to 52/36 from 50/34.

YGA is yellow gilet of authority 😉

And you may want to mark and work with one of our riders tomorrow. That’s all I’m saying. He’ll be riding my aero wheels too, after ripping my legs off on Tuesday evening

The 12-25 is a perfect combination for a semi-compact 52/36. It’s unlikely you have been troubling the 11T, and the closeness of gears makes for very smooth spinning.

My favourite is a compact 50 and 11-23, which has even closer spacing and the same top gear for my risible sprinting! Just do the lock ring up nice and tight.

Noted on YGA and the rider 😆

Yeah – I barely use the 28 even when climbing – I’ll swap it tonight, even with 50/34 it’ll make it smoother like you say.

Forgot to say 11-23 was 10 speed. Your 11-25 will have the same ratios. It’s a lot nicer to race on with a compact.

Worst case I increase my cadence 😆

Something I need to do anyway, currently averaging 91 at Hillingdon.

Bag packed, clothes set out and the rocket science that is pinning a number to a jersey done.

New cassette fitted – feels good & more natural.

Just been out doing some standing starts after a warmup – making sure the legs work, the casettte copes and to see what power I could get up to (1,060w lol).

Now for some sleep!

That’s a bit keen 🙂
My new tyre scuppered me a bit- it’s quite a bit taller than the Gatorskins in the same size so fouled the frame slightly. So I have a GP4000 front and Gatorskin rear 🙂

I’m also running 11-25 and 50 up front. I’ve tried higher cadences during speed drills but my average never seems to lift above 80. (82 at the last race I did)

That’s annoying! Are you getting 25s instead?
They feel like glue compared to other tyres don’t they!

My average used to be around 85, but I’ve upped it to 92.

Hopefully today will be my first race in the dry 😆

I’ve got something here that may be better CH? You’re welcome to try it today. Edit. Tyre that is…

Thanks for the offer but the Gators were fine last time so should be ‘reet.

App is still saying cold and sunny so fingers crossed. I’m probably going to race with some leg warmer thingies and long sleeve jersey on this week just to see if it makes a difference…..
I do have a smaller TFC jersey coming too as the one I have been wearing is a bit baggy.

Christ @crosshair – I’ll be in thermals again. Like the last two races haha. Tighter jersey definitely helps!

So this is grim!!!

Was looking forward to a dry race!!!

Nath jinxed the weather 😀

Great race mate!! And thanks for the goodies- you’re a star 🙂

I’m gutted I went over the bars after thinking I’d avoided the crash when a body and a bike appeared from nowhere!!
At least I forward rolled into the mud 😉

call that a race report ?

your raphaesque photos of muddy shirts won’t work here lad – we expect 10,000 words by teatime or you’re fired ! <points>

Gutted you went down CH, you were doing really well – I was a few places behind you for most of it!!

No problem on the gels & TOB clothes – won’t be offended if you decide to give them to charity or bin them 😆

As for the race, something was BOUND to happen today. There was a distinct lack of discipline around the S bends again (people cutting corners) and before the crash on the last corner going into the straight there was a couple of shoulder bardges. I even shouted at a couple of riders in front – which is not like me at all as I’m normal as quiet as a mouse 😆

As for me I sat in the bunch this time until the last 5 laps were I started to get myself into a decent position. Unfortunately this meant sitting at the front for a bit, but I was probably due a turn and I made sure I kept my HR below 175 so I’d have some in the tank. The sprint finish was epic, I could have made up a few more places but I got caught up behind someone and didn’t want to risk coming off my line frankly. I’m hoping I got 7th, but I’m not quite sure – hopefully top 10 at least!

Quite the opposite- I wore the polo shirt when I got changed at home 🙂

You did great and make it look like you’re in control. It was funny when I was struggling for a lap or so at the back and you appeared next to me out of nowhere. I was sure you couldn’t have lapped us but couldn’t work out where else you’d appeared from 😀 Stealth!!!

I did chuckle when I looked up from my conversation with Joe to see you casually leading the bunch around 😀

On Strava Flybys I led a entire lap oops! I’m currently 5th on strava, but I think 7th/8th is more realistic. Will truly be gutted if I didn’t get at least one point.

Yeah, that’s the lap I decided to put some effort into it so started making up places and saw you along the way haha. I was shouting at you to drop a gear and spin up the hill, you weren’t half grinding up there! 😆

Any thoughts on the wheel(s)?

Raw power you see 😉 I did try and spin the small hill each lap but kept spinning out when I tried to do it up the big one. I managed to stay seated all bar one lap at least 😉

I’ll probably just get a Shimano one to match my rear one.

You’ll have a nail biting week waiting for the results 😉

Just been reading peoples workout names – no one has claimed 7th yet so I think it might be mine!

Haha yeah but the raw power runs out eventually!

Recommend these for £62, they’re a steal: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cosine-24mm-alloy-clincher-road-wheelset/

Had them fitted to my Felt, that was until I watched someone wheel it away today 😥

Brilliant work to both of you. !

Innocent question/observation, honest (there’ll be no bragging to follow from me; I’ve never raced in my adult life so it’s all based on assumptions – the only races I know of are those that my mate has done, mostly round car parks in his early stages):

Nath, I’d have thought you’d be strolling away from the field, with powwah!! figures like yours. Have I misunderstood, is this something different to a catD crit ?

Nath, I’d have thought you’d be strolling away from the field, with powwah!! figures like yours. Have I misunderstood, is this something different to a catD crit ?

Power and fitness means very little in crit racing – it rewards tactics and experience far more than it does raw power. You can sit on the front churning out 400W, you look back and there’ll be a line of grinning riders behind you who only have to do 250W to sit on your wheel the whole way round.

To actually get an attack going, one that works, you need to be doing 800W for a minute to get the gap and then be able to sustain 400W on your own into the wind to keep it. Meanwhile behind you, 10 people are sitting there doing 30 seconds at 500W in a purposeful chaingang to bring it all back again.

Well done on your result nathb! 🙂

The zwift cats are very kind. B may get you in the pack, A should keep you in it. Nath is quick as we’ve seen in Zwift world but whether he could boss a race still remains to be seen. Even cat 4 races are 25mph+ average speed

You could argue (and indeed i do) that BC should extend the cat system such that folks racing C and D in zwift have somewhere to race in the real world too.

Who knows, maybe zwift will show that there is an appetite for proper entry level racing.

I’ve said this for years (when I was blatantly too unfit with hindsight) that there must be a market for some industrial estate or carpark Cat5’s?
(I imagine the insurance would be prohibitive…….)

Fascinating too how hotly contested the limited places at Hillingdon are- although less so now I’ve seen how thrilling they are to ride! Are other Crits as popular?

I must say again by the way- the people are so friendly! Perhaps it’s a product of entrusting your collarbones to each other but I’ve had so many random people stop me on the way to the car and say ‘well done mate!’ and ‘stick at it it’ and such like. It’s been quite humbling for an ignorant recluse like myself 😀

Thanks @weeksy & crazy-legs

I can put a decent gap between myself and the field, the problem has always been my choice of when to attack (plus position attacking from) and more importantly sustaining it. The wind at Hillingdon is brutal on your own and my CDA is probably shocking too. Also it’s the unknown – psychologically I need to know I can sustain the numbers for the length of time required to get to the back of the group.

Today I was using a power meter, I put out 943w to get myself to very front, only to turn around and see I was pulling 4/5 others along (I think CH saw how many I was pulling). So I selfishly dropped my pace to a more sustainable one as I knew it was going to be a sprint finish and I wanted a piece of that.

Saying that my sprint was only actually 720w, I had a LOT more in me but traffic and risk (I was doing sprint drills on the way home) 😆

Interestingly though, my average HR is getting lower in the races lol:
1st Attempt
2nd Attempt
3rd Attempt

I think a 5th cat like the US, especially how many folks are interested in racing, would be an excellent idea. But I think they’re called “Come & Try Racing Events” here.

@Weeksy- make no mistake. Nath is quick! Full stop. To sit on the front for a lap is crazy in my world 🙂