Unscientific answer from me: I would (if possible) try and do 65% of the total ride distance and elevation in a ride next week and then commit the next week to logistical prep, resting as per the post above.

Edit- just seen you say you can’t really ride a anyway. In that case, lots of stretching I guess? At least you might be able to make yourself more comfortable on the day that way.

I would (of course) check the T&C’s of your original booking before speaking to them re: compensation and then it can inform you of what profile to adopt when speaking to them.

I.e. have they breached their own terms in an outrageous way or just a little bit (or at all).

Assuming you haven’t had covid I absolutely think that its simply riding with your mate that is the difference.

I can push myself way harder when riding outside for seemingly less effort compared to when on the turbo trainer and even more so if riding with others. I guess the operative word here is that it feels like less effort, but not necessarily is.

As an extreme example, I have hit my max heart rate when cycling outside with others and not even really noticed in any substantial way until I glance down at my Garmin. You’d probably have to put a gun to my head to get me to achieve max heart rate on my turbo trainer in the spare room.

UPDATE: I did it! Managed to complete the whole thing including the final run leg without walking, though the last run was very slow. I managed to pick a few people off there still though.

The last bit of the bike leg was super lonely- I had 2 laps to do rather than 1 like people doing the standard distance so by the 2nd one the fast guys had disappeared and loads of others had finished their 1 lap so I was just battling a really warm head wind by myself along a never ending B road for what seemed like an eternity.

Also weirdly at that point my SPD shoes were killing me- felt like really hot, painful pressure points on my feet. I’ve cycled miles in them and never had any problems so wonder if my feel expanded on the first run leg and/or I did my SPDs up too tight in the heat of the moment.

All in all was good fun though and a great atmosphere. Was the Castle Race series and very well organised.

Intrigued to see how this goes and good luck. I’m no expert but is running really going to help?

If the objective is solely to increase FTP (and maybe upper body strength) I personally would ditch running.

I say that as someone who actually really likes it and I do both but I’ve never felt running will really help with FTP (though there are plenty other benefits).

Yep just aiming to finish so happy to take my time at transition and eat there- I didn’t know if this is something I can do but if I can have flapjack or a banana or something when transitioning I think I’ll do that.

First aim is to finish, second aim is not to walk any of it and third I guess would be to put in an effort in the last run leg if I’m feeling OK (hugely unlikely).

The venue is a really nice kind of castle/stately home and I have seen the bike leg gpx today which looks like it takes in some scenic areas so if the weather’s good hopefully it’ll be a good day out.

My wife now has to work in London so I’ll have to pat myself on the back if/when I cross the line. Hopefully not on a stretcher.

Cheers All! Yeah that is a good point on the gels- I know what works on the bike but running definitely has an effect on bowel movements in my experience so I’ll try and eat some gels and run this week to see how it goes. Deffo no caffiene gels for me.

Yeah I think the cycling will be my stronger leg but tbh potentially not by a massive amount. I do think I’m going have to reign myself in a fair bit on the cycle leg just to make it through the last run.

Good idea on spinning the last few KMs on the bike- I was goosed when I practised a 13k run after a 70k ride but I was pushing quite hard on the bike so I’m hoping if I ease off on the bike a little I can make the last 10.5k run leg on the day.

I suggested opening the loft hatch but my wife won’t let me in case “spiders come down”. If there are spiders that are so big they need the loft hatch opening to travel downstairs then I’m moving out anyway

I’d say they would want it complete, in the box and unused if its not faulty. Lets face it though, it can’t hurt to ask?

I think its at their discretion end of the day though.

Cheers Mogrim. I’ve done a couple of brick workouts but not as many as I should have to be honest. I’ve done enough to know that the last run leg is going to feel like running through treacle.

I won’t be in a tri-suit but have ordered some tri-specific shorts with a thin chamois and a cheap DHB “Tri-top” (which seems just be a cycling jersey with one less pocket than normal).

I also bought a race belt as whilst I don’t usually bother with nutrition even on long runs I figure a couple of gels might not do any harm and I can also quickly spin my race number around when I swap from bike/run.

The event I entered is open to all but also doubles up as the European 2023 Duathlon Championship Qualifier (or something) so I’m beginning to have anxiety dreams about there being 40 professional athletes on the starting line….and then me.

Manchester here. Seems its going to max-out at 36degrees today and tomorrow. I ran my hill-repeats today at 7am before work rather than later on at 5pm, though I would potentially have done them at 5pm if I hadn’t had any choice.

For me personally I don’t think anything else will change in my routine, will be back to normal temperatures on Thursday but I am quite lucky that the back of our house in the extension is generally very cool (though not so lucky with the heating bill in winter).

I’ve been to both (Majorca again a few weeks ago, Kotor a couple of years ago) and they are both really great places for a holiday.

Majorca is fantastic for road cycling which I am sure you already knew- though Cala d’Or is kind of in the wrong part if you wanted to cycle Sa Calobra and Cap Formentor etc. There is a really nice climb called San Salvador near Cala d’Or though and you’ll still be able to get out to ride. I’ve never been to Port Pollensa but I know loads of people base their cycling holidays there. If you do go, I would say definitely hire a bike in advance as I’ve struggled before when I’ve tried on the day and it transpired there was some sort of event on and there were very few left.

I really like Kotor and it’s beautiful. You do get cruise ships disgorging tonnes of passengers into the town for like a day at a time though. For cycling, I’ve no idea if it’s possible to hire a bike there and/or whether the roads are nice to ride or not. I couldn’t say for sure but I’m sure it would be plenty hot there in October.

Yeah I’ll take the wheel out first to protect rims. Definitely not working as intended- the calipers don’t move at all when the caliper QR is released and the front caliper (which is working fine) QR moves through 180degrees.

It’s totally rideable as the calipers move freely when the brake lever is applied so I can use my rear brake but it does mean if I puncture (or need to remove the wheel for any reaosn) I’ll need to totally release the cable from the clamp, repair puncture or whatever and then clamp cable back again.

Thanks all. Have to say I am not sure what type of Ultegra the calipers are other than they come on a 2019 Giant TCR.

Yeah the lever comes to a hard stop rather than a gradual or spongy stop. Tried forcing it (up to a point) but no luck.

It looks like my next question has already been answered as I was going to ask how difficult they are to disassemble, clean, lube and reassemble but sounds like it’s feasible to do so guess that will be option 2 after I douse it in GT85!

Cheers, Duggan

Are Ned and Dave commentating from adjoining toilet cubicles?

I was about to write exactly this! Except I thought they were broadcasting from one of those large steel wheely bins. Glad to know it’s not just my TV.

ITV4 for me, its way better than GCN imo.

I’m in. I usually watch the highlights in the evening but as it’s a prologue I’ll have the TV on live this afternoon whilst I, um, work.

Yes, the music is good but how many people are priced right out of it now? I used to get in every year for free (working the car parks) and whilst it’s better than some of the other festivals (T in the Park was a disaster by the end) it’s just not the same.

If you worked the car-parks you weren’t really getting in for free were you. Plus, you can still do that now.

I don’t really know what people expect in this regard. It would hardly have been able to carry on as a festival through the 2000’s/10’s and 2020’s as an annual event that exceeds its legal capacity each year when everybody gate-crashes it. I get it’s doubtless not the same vibe as it was in the 1980’s (for better or worse) but its clear they had no choice but to either build a wall and charge for tickets or stop completely.

Love the glastonbury coverage on TV and its much better now that you can use the red-button or whatever to watch acts that aren’t just the headliners on the Pyramid Stage which can be pretty bland.

I’ve never been to Notting Hill carnival but assume that covering it live on TV would be a whole different ball game from a logistical/operational perspective.

40 is really no age at all, I would stop fixating on that for a start. You’re pretty young and unless you were planning on becoming an elite athlete most things are just as achievable as any age really.

Those budget shimano spd-sl pedals seem to last forever, I’ve had a pair on my old/winter bike since 2012 I think and never touched them at all and they work fine

Jelly Babies and different varieties of soreen for me

Flew from Manchester to Majorca last Thursday. 2hr queue for customs, another 50min wait apparently if you’re bag is siphoned off by the X-ray machine so make sure you’ve definitely taken out everything that needs to be for the scanning bit.

Thought it’d be worse tbh, but still got to get back on Saturday!

Scheduled to fly to Majorca so probably spending the entire weekend in Manchester airport

I’m no expert but I assume that they are also worried that if they just go crazy recruiting right now they will have maximum staff just in time for a winter downturn coupled with a cost of living crisis and (probably) higher Covid rates again, meaning they will have the exact opposite problem of their current one, come November.

I plan by time, not by task. E.g I don’t tell myself I’ll clean the house until it’s totally clean. I just say to myself that I’ll do some cleaning for say 1.5hrs tonight and then I’ll stop, whatever the state of the house is at that point.

That way, I always know what I’m letting myself in for and can see and end point if that makes sense.

Same with admin tasks, I’ll just block out like an hour to catch up on it and then finish.

I also use a to-do list app called Todoist which really helps.

I think a huge thing that helps mentally is not necessarily completing the task but just offloading it from your mind to somewhere else- like the app or a list. It’s easier ti sleep at night if you know there’s a depository with it all in, then trying to constantly retain it- I think having it all in your head, all the time is often the stressful bit.

130 solo miles on a road bike when I decided to ride a stage of the Tour of Britain the week before it came to the North West.

Weirdly, that was also my first century which I’d been putting off for over a year as I was worried I couldn’t do it but for some reason decided that 130 would be fine (it was).

I knew there would be some super-impressive numbers posted above though. I don’t think long rides are really my thing tbh but always immpressed by the miles some people can put away.

I’d like to be able to join in with the incredulity of the OP but not convinced that I wasn’t also that stupid when I was that age.

It does make you wince looking at it from an adult POV though.

Thanks All, that is reassuring. I’ll keep on top of the dust vents as suggested. The noise itself isn’t a problem as I have headphones on but just wanted to make sure I’m not slowly killing it.

I bought it in lockdown in case I got into gaming when bored, which I never did, but still tempted to have a go on Doom or something.

On that note actually, I don’t really do sportives normally but the crowd/spectators/locals at FW were really great. It seemed like they were really on board with it in the same way you get cheered on in a marathon or something and it made it quite special, not sure if you really get that with other cycle sportive events (well not on open roads anyway).

i watched a couple of youtube vids last night, which seemed to suggest horrendous queues at the first control. Any tips / insights? (one chap skipped the control and refuelled in Braithwaite village shop).

Do you mean feed stations? I don’t think I stopped at any and just ate loads of soreen I took with me. I started really late in the morning (mainly just because I didn’t realise it began so early and I think we were the last people to register/start) and it was surreal at first as me and my mate didn’t see anybody in front of us for some time and then eventually started to encounter loads of people. I’ve only done it once but not sure if that was better in the sense that there were lots of people to aim to catch and get a tow off, though I don’t really recall drafting anyone other than my mate tbh.

There were loads of queues at the feed stations that I saw but I did get some bottles refilled by some “spectators” who were camped at the top of Newlands (?) I think it’s called so never needed an official stop.

I nearly stalled when the guy in front of me just stopped and fell over still clipped in.

Yeah my advice for Hardknott if anyone can remember when they get there, and are planning to ride it all, is to keep an eye on the guys in front. It was packed when I went up it (I was for some reason, pretty much the last to start the event though) and people were stalling all over the place….by that point everyone is too goosed to have the presence of mind to step off the road to the side if they dismount.

Not this year, but have done it in the past, so good luck.

I’m sure you will be fine, I was lucky with the weather when I did it and seems you will be too I think?

I just treated as a long ride rather than going against the clock, I made it round all of it with a 28 on the back but for sure I don’t think I could do that now.

Now I think of it, I did double-up my bar tape at the time actually.

Yeah I’m lucky enough to have my old Planet X rt-58 setup on a dedicated turbo training room.

No excuses!

Definitely do it, especially if you use Zwift or traineroad a lot. I used to live in a flat and had to set up and break down the whole shebang every time in the kitchen so it’s great to just hop on and off now.

Seem to recall them having a slightly odd website but always been fine for me when I order stuff

Seeing the state of the potholed roads around Manchester and Cheshire on my ride yesterday I think everyone’s gonna need a Roubaix as standard soon

Turned on just in time to see the split

I felt exactly the same as you about Garmin after getting utterly sick of my 820. Declared I’d never use one again but then caved and got an 830 last month in a moment of weakness and have to say it’s tonnes better.

Still stuck with shi***y Garmin connect etc though but the touchscreen and battery are way better.

Thanks all, that is heplful to know, cheers! No problem then, I am happy to fail at a Cat A race 😀 or will do the TT efforts as n0b0dy0ftheg0at suggests.

In principle the category enforcement sounds like a good idea so pleased that they are trying to sort it but guess is always going to be tricky to pull it off.

Hi All

I haven’t used Zwift for a while and then came to do a race a couple of days ago and see that they now have adopted category enforcement in some of the races. So, it seems in these specific events you can only enter the category that the Zwift algorithm deems your correct one.

No problem with this other than it will only let me enter category A for some reason? For clarity, there is no way on earth I am a Cat A rider, or even close to it. So, it is 100% a mistake or glitch. I’m 3.15 w/per kilo and so at most could be considered very bottom of Cat B I think.

I tried entering events on both the windows software and the companion app but neither will let me. If I check Zwift Power it lists my my minimum category as “C” (which I think is correct).

Wondering if anybody else has had this problem? Or am I doing something wrong?