Hire. See you there (if it’s dry)

Sorry to hear that – I’d have bailed at that point myself! No way I would want to do some of those descents with a wonky wheel!

A couple of points though – one tube on SDW solo is crazy and talking about a few more attempts sounds a bit defeated before you start.

I’ve had my ride today so I’m a bit less uptight. I do however hate trespass who ever does it whatever they ride.

I love Chilterns riding but it’s not exactly Tunnel Hill/Porridgepot. I do know of bits of single track but you generally have to generate quite a bit of speed to make them ‘technical’. Grims Ditch is great but being elevated and with walkers about I give it a fair bit of respect.

I certainly don’t recognise it as being flat

But what do they offer over a Ralph which can brake and steer?

[I’m near Wallingford. It’s a great area and I love the riding esp for training without traffic but I don’t recognise there being ‘loads of singletrack’. I’d say 99% is double track and non technical.

I really hate the phrase ‘cheeky’. There is enough bridleway in South Oxfordshire that to ride on footpaths is selfish and idiotic.

Dear Road CC – I’ve gravitated towards mtb. Me and my mates enter the odd endurance race but find that fitter roady types overtake us on the fire roads before holding us up on the singletrack. Can you think of……..

Sorry couldn’t resist that! Torq in your Sleep is a great event on the August BH. Also Erlestoke 12 which has a 6hr. FWIW what you just talked about is why I haven’t tried road racing.

Boutique uber lightness does seem to have some longevity compromise if the net (mtbr) is to be believed on AX seatposts and Tune hubs etc.

I was thankful for big wheels and my 24t granny when I did Amberly to Eastbourne and back.

I don’t know what your legs are like but I like to be able to spin up long steep hills and to change gear without massive cadence drop. I’d prioritise that over tarmac speed or pushing on slight descents.

was still rough at 11pm sitting on the sofa! Stats reveal 97% at HR threshold or anaerobic.

Well done but you should try 6hrs at 85% – I’m feeling it a week later. Did grace a podium though! 😀

sharp loose gravel down approach-up out LH bend

I don’t understand this was it down or up before or after?

As well as tyre pressure you could look to see if you could get more of your weight over the front and if running your fork more compliant (and your shock less so) would help too. However if the gravel is moving I doubt anthying’s going to make much odds compared to line.

You racing your Anthem now – still have your Enigma?

I’m not sure the bars on the Tallboy are wide enough

I don’t think you’re measuring like with like? To be consistent you need to measure on the same course with the same regime.

Other things conspire to change HR data. The straps can be unreliable (especially ‘soft’ luxury straps, static/cold weather can cause mayhem and you may be tired, hot, dehydrated etc which will all elevate HR.

25th and 26th July – you want my torchbearer place? 😀

Well done. No excuse not to race longer now! Any psychologicaly weak moments?

Before you commit to the end to end have a look at the manx 100 which takes in better terrain, is very well run and a brilliant experience.

But 72degree head angle 😯

Alternatively park mid way (Amberly), ride to Eastbourne and back getting a double dose of the lumpiest bit. That’s what I did to save on the accommodation/train costs.

lol! Not that much training really,

Yup – only 234hours and 53,000m so far this year. Pretty lightweight really especially given he only has 9 KOMs – as in 9 pages.

You deserved it – I’d only have caught you by virtue of the puncture. I was a tiny bit disappointed to work so hard to hit the cut off and give up 20minutes from the end. I need to work on mental toughness when empty. 6hrs average 85% or Z4.2.

Felt like a WC venue – arms hurt more than my legs! . I gave up going for the 10th lap with 20minutes to go – could barely hold the bars. 9 laps in 6hr 58s gave me 3rd in the 6hr Vets. An extra lap would have been 2nd but I’d still be there now – nothing left in the tank at all!

Love my Whyte 29C – stiff, comfortable and confidence inspiring. The Trek looks good for tall people with lots of sizes, long and sub 70HA.

Tapering is a waste of time – do a hard session of intervals the day before. See you on the start line 😉

Hmmm we are definately talking different things. I took it to mean the lactate blood test that is done at 10w intervals to determine the point at which Z2 starts. Great to quantify gains and aerobic fitness but hardly much use in determining pacing.

Re analogies I prefer bank account. You have an amount of money in the account. The rate at which you spend it determines how long it lasts. You can make additional depoisits but they take time to clear. The trick is to balance spending of carb reserves with depoisits such that you are empty/slightly overdrawn at the end.

GeeTee = Are we talking about the same thing? I understood lactate threshold to be the point where your baseline lactate levels jump because the system can no longer clear lactate at the rate it’s produced. It’s unlikely anyone will ever manage to compete at that level because it’s the boundary of Z1 and Z2 and RPE is pretty low.

I was going to retest but I’m facing redundancy and am examining the cost vs benefit. It would be nice to know the aerobic proportion of my power gain but I don’t actually think it will give me any performance advantage because I don’t plan on training on the boundary of Z1/Z2 and my pacing issues in 6/12hr racing is how much time to spend in Z3/4/5 not Z1/Z2.

My TDF 853 Ribble – very stiff

Ribble by adshools[/url], on Flickr][/url]

The XC9

20150214_090005 by adshools[/url], on Flickr

Neither are light, neither are porky, both ride well.

Just under 26lbs with Reba 120s, pro2/crests, XT 3×10, decent carbon post and bars, KCNC stem, Gobi kium, Hope Tech brakes and floating rotors

32er?

Split pivot – in a way the suspension seems better for what I want (long distance) as it seems even less bob prone than the Flux.

I think I’m guilty of internet perfection phobia.

I run a 80mm stem and 710mm bars on my Spearfish with 620mm ETT. The Czar ETT is 605 so with a 90mm stem and same bars I would be 5mm shorter – probably not an issue! Likewise on reach about 7mm.

Czar has shorter wheelbase but longer chainstays. I think it’s too similar to the ‘fish to run both but I am selling a lot of frames and a little devil is perched on my shoulder………

Makes you wonder how long they will be a sponsor of Erlestoke if they don’t have an XC style bike in their range.

Take care – some high pressures being quoted here which may be above the tolerance of your rim/tyre combination.

but if you know your lactate threshold measured by a blood test and know the power that correlates to then that’s hugely useful data for training.

I never quite understood why it’s so useful.

I had mine measured along with my FTP. This gave me HR and power zones to train to. As far as I could see the lactate threshold formed the upper limit of Z1/lower limit of Z2. Z1 is mega endurance or active recovery – I spend very little time in it. When I’m in Z2 I try and target the upper half of it.

Rone – out of interest how tall is the owner of the large Czar/what length stem/width bars etc.

I so want a Czar but I’m 6′ and the geo I had thought the geo I wanted was on the XL which too big for standover. Now I wonder if the large is big enough if I run a 100mm stem and wide bars (what I have on my 26″ Flux)

if I was looking at a full susser XC style machine I wouldn’t be able to get past this,

Lovely though it is (and light with good geo) it’s single pivot with a test that reported appreciable bob when pedaling unless in platform.

Much as I love my Spearfish, in no way could I describe it as a ‘flat out XC frame’. It’s not light enough and it’s not telepathic enough. It excels at mile eating in comfort and is good enough to train XC on and do longer events. A Scale it isn’t. Despite being set up with the proper G2 forks, reasonably wide bars and short stem I notice that it requires noticably more concentration on technique not to want to widen line (wheelbase?) The rear suspension is sublime.

20150419_124847 by adshools[/url], on Flickr

Gorrick 100 by adshools[/url], on Flickr]null

And a 6hr mtb race that’s really a time trial as I was by myself for most of it so the variability is mainly terrain. HR drifts slightly upwards, power slightly downwards.

My bad – I barely go over FTP even! With travel and kids thats good going. Plus tss seems overly volume oriented to me.

I’m rather ambivalent about that ^. Can’t see the intensity but even if it’s quite extreme where’s the volume? 5-6hrs and <400 TSS doesn’t seem very ‘marathon’ focussed.

I’m only training for 12hr races and I do lack top end punch but <600 and 12hrs a week with a 5hr ride feels light for me.

ps this puts some pressure on me lapping quicker than you at 24:12 (Torchbearer for me) 😯

Also is your schedule a bit busy/conflicting for best performance?

Rear QR in my case