On Friday I’m off to TorqFitness where I’ll meet my coach and we’ll do all sorts of testing, including a 20min test. That test will be done on a Wattbike.

1. congrats on biting the bullet – you won’t be disappointed

2. I’m surprised – I’ve always done the test outside with them – 30minutes up the local hill which goes on forever! Nearest I’ve ever come to throwing up, truly hideous…

29er on 32:18 lets me do 83m over 600m which is an average of 14% and an average cadence of 41. Slower than gears as the lower cadence hurts power even though I’m closer to throwing up than with gears.

Lupine Rotlicht.

Lunched mine in the rear wheel. Photo of loose bit to importer, new one in the post.

Really bright and really good.

Riding inches from trees at speed and max HR with a mild concussion…… I’d say you did the right thing.

I haz a Curtis XC9 and a Niner MCR9 (forebear of the SIR9 but without the EBB)

Both are brilliant. The MCR has better rear mud clearance but the rather old skool steep HA makes it a bit more ‘playful’.

If I was doing it again I’d go for the Onzo Payoff – not ridden one but looks really good and very cheap.

I’d not touch an On One – geo rarely matches tables on website, issues with quality control, customer service etc

Well believe it or not, Giant make bicycles designed to be used in more places around the world than in UK mud.
Write to them and maybe they’ll do a custom UK model with no lockout and extra mud clearance

Did you really mean to sound such a git?

The more important the issue the more detailed you need to be. Case in point.

Me – ‘I’m a bit concerned about rear mud clearance’

Builder -‘We’ve never had any complaints’

It turns out everyone appeared to be happy riding 2.1s in the dry…….

Be specific, don’t be fobbed off.

They all have pro mechanics and aren’t racing/training in UK mud… I’ve found suspension lock outs to be a royal PITA. Then again I don’t sprint.

Look good but wonder why with such an efficient platform they feel the need for rear shock remotes.

They’ve moved on from being a budget default with heaps of scope for improvement that’s for sure. Also wonder why 90mm rear – surely a marketing gimmick?

Will I really want to build up a new wheel with slicks for the turbo, or for occasional use will it be okay?

Just get your wife to do some chain sawing while you’re training so the noise isn’t so noticeable.

Yes it’s that bad – forget about TV even with headphones on max

I bought the cheapest shimano wheel and don’t bother with a disc.

it does seem strange that they’ve not been caught on camera.

Or shot. Enough people foxing/stalking that I, personally, don’t believe it.

Comfort is king. 29er and big (tough) tyres!

Put an offset bushing in my 26″ Turner Flux. Hated it – made it feel low at the back and sit up and beg at the front. It’s an XC bike so I want my weight over a less twitchy front. It didn’t work and I took it out after the first ride.

Might have to get an 11sp Shimano group while I can. Boost and a new Shimano hub standard are 2 standards too far for me.

SS record is a tough ask. Pedalhead is up there on just about every hill KOM in the area!

Think that’s standard. As the pain recedes the ‘what ifs’ start…

Well done! As for stopping 2hrs isn’t bad considering you shopped for food etc. I took 50odd minutes just weeing and filling 4 bottles (separately I might add)

Sorry if I sounded a killjoy didn’t meant to but it took a lot of willpower for me to keep on going. If I hadn’t arranged a greeting party from Pedalhead (who runs the site and designed the route) I would have bailed.

Time was 14:49. If things go well and I can get some distance in over the winter/spring I may retry to see if I can improve.

I did quite a bit of riding there last year and was surprised at how easy but satisfying it was.
Eastern bit, not sure – it looks like more short sharp climbs, which is energy sapping. However there aren’t too many of those it seems

You will notice them – the climb out of Wendover, the climb up from Whiteleaf (walk if you’re sensible), the hideous long drag in the wooded ditch which isn’t that steep but has a surface of leaves, loose dust and large rocks/branches, Barbury Castle, the climb up from the curry restaurant etc.

Add in the mileage and the pounding you get from dried hoove prints and I’d suggest you don’t enter it too lightly. I’d done a lot of miles, trained specifically for it and was on a short travel FS – it was still hard!

Taps I used were

Aston Rowant – nature reserve
Wendover Church
Sparsholt (I think) it’s on the left just at the end of a track with a racing trainer advert
House – just by an A road crossing on the W end

Eat on the go – 17 gels, 6 bars, 5L drink.and a coupe of bannanas.

Even pee breaks and bottles only meant 50minutes stopped!

Enjoy it – it’s a great route. Watch the chalk in the damp – lethal.

Good luck

Had wanted to do it for fun but can’t make the start time – wedding in Dorset, kids at Reading etc etc

I used the sram reducer cups on my Whyte to allow me to fit a CK BSA BB.

First set started to move so cleaned, degrease and fitted second set which also started to creak and move.

I changed to a Wheels Manafacturing PF30 that threads in the middle. Very good and being ceramic spins forever.

The sram reducer cups may have worked better with Loctite but I don’t like using that in a carbon bb.

Having been out the night before I couldn’t face the wrath of wife so did hill repeats instead. Also bike was wearing very worn Ralphs – sounds like I made the right choice!

http://www.hopetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/SHIMANOshiftermounts-Issue2a.pdf

This gets confusing.

I spec B should be I spec B regardless of what shifter the I spec B is attached to.

So I have Hope Race X2s with an IspecB matchmaker mounting an IspecB XTM8000 11speed shifter. The slight wrinkle is that IspecB 11speed is very faintly different to IspecB 10 speed but nothing a very small amount of filing didn’t sort.

There is an I spec B matchmaker for an X2 non race – HBSP 263 which I have 10 speed I spec B mounted to. I can’t tell you categorically that 11speed I spec B fits but it’s worth a punt?

Confused? So am I.

Ooops – I’ve assumed entry on the day was OK.

Ooops – I’ve assumed entry on the day was OK.

Yikes – sounds horrific..

Thanks all – I’ll be there – Blue Rides on Air jersey and an XC bike of some description.

Not sure I can do 40minutes without a bottle……

Also don’t discount resistance rollers. The concentration to keep upright and in position helps take your mind off the pain which IMHO is the reason I produce more power outside.

Taking the plunge and entering my first CX at Abingdon on Thursday!

Very light rigid SS 29er geared 34:17 stupidly spinny?

I suppose it would have been more accurate to say that increasing W/kg through losing quite a lot of weight and only some power has made me feel proportionately less powerful than a faster climber.

Edit – and this neatly proves the point above^. Where’s the Nutella!

I didn’t mean ride by feel I meant look at your outside data calibrate with how much left you had in the tank and decide how many watts you want to add on to your target power or threshold.

Good luck with day 3 after days 1&2! Torqs recommendation is no more than 2 interval sessions per week. Day 3 looks VERY tough as a third day in a row.

As for turbo 20minute FTP – can’t hack the pain indoors. Tried it – doesn’t work for me.

Ill and cutting every scrap of rubbish out of my diet so yes I’m not as ‘fit’ but I can produce the same percentage of my reduced FTP over my intervals.

There maybe a caveat – I’ve not done any hill repeats and my last session at Aston was damp and on HT which seriously impacts climbing grip.

Be careful what you wish for

May 2017 – 345W and 76kg – 4.54w/kg
August 2017 – 325W and 69kg – 4.71w/kg

I’m slower – a lot slower.

I don’t see much if any difference indoors to outdoors BUT I would never ever dream of doing an FTP test on turbo/rollers.

I suggest you adjust by feel. If the session calls for 6 intervals and it was too easy outdoors then add what you think will get you to complete exhaustion by the final interval and call it done.

I’d also just do a 20minute outdoor test as a training session one of these days.

Many thanks – FS lower geared but currently ron/ralph……….

Being terminally indecisive on attendance. Head says no, heart says yes.

So conditions aren’t FS wrecking mud then?

Some conflicting priorities

1. Getting over illness/lay off – it’s longer rides that suppress the immune system more (I’m currently getting back after a 6 week complete layoff due to viral illness). Also you need to be very careful not to injure yourself with the sudden increase from nothing for a while.

To enjoy your holiday you need to be able to ride. With intelligent training you can gain some confidence in your fitness, gain a bit of fitness and still not risk everything through injury/relapse

Week 1 – some gentle pootles on the bike you’re taking interspersed with a couple of interval sessions where you establish the level of effort you can do for a full session. Depending on how you feel a longer cross country ride.

Week 2 – two quality interval sessions, a longer XC ride and depending on how you feel.

Week 3 – two very high quality interval sessions ending the last one completely spent and a couple of longer XC rides if you can without injury or feeling ill. The key here is that you haven’t overdone it in week 1 and 2 and arrive at week 3 building fatigue but able to do a really high quality week that leaves you feeling really fatigued.

Week 4 – low load – do 1 rep of each of your 2 interval sessions and a bike fettling pootle. You’re done – enjoy the holiday

I’m probably safe in stating this is the lightest so far. Brings a grin to my face every time I get on, shortly followed by a grimace as I try and get up Chilterns hills

Superfly SS