Wasn’t someone just a few weeks ago saying this was a notoriously left wing forum?

I’m relatively new around here, but from what i’ve seen so far, it certainly gives that impression a lot of the time.

As much as it will be alien, I am going to spend 3 months doing 10 hours / week within my calculated zone 2 window. Could be a waste of time, but I want to see what happens. I may well lost all of my top end fitness that I rely on when climbing steep climbs.

1) Its good to commit to a plan up front, but don’t forget to re-evaluate progress monthly and make changes as appropriate.
2) Yes, you will lose your high end a bit, but you will need it less, and it takes less time to rebuild.
3) Assuming most of the 10hrs will be made up of 2hr commutes, you can add some intervals to the 2nd half of every 3rd homeward trip – make them HARD (z5a/b/c).
4) Pay attention to what your body and legs are telling you. HRM’s can lie to you. If it feels like z2, but your HRM says z1, then don’t fight to get HR up as your feeling is probably correct.

The AS version will be less breathable and more waterproof than the Windstopper version

Remember a few years back when we had a coalition government – lib dems were stopping stuff like this happening. Idiot electorate decided they were doing a terrible job and abandoned the lib dems giving a conservative majority = this is not a particularly unlikely outcome.

On the other hand:

Those outside the capital will be cut to £385 a week.

Many people work hard to earn £385/wk, and there are certainly places in the UK where you can live very comfortably on that amount.

I get what you are saying, but I wonder whether those that ‘suffer’ and that included me on the TD just don’t have the right endurance base in place.

Partially true. Everyone suffers at some point on the bike – especially if racing. But in a long event like this, yes, those with a lacking base will be found out quickly.

Just out of curiosity, what do pro road riders do during the grand tours. Do they too focus as much as possible at staying at a particular zone.

Difficult to focus on zones in a race – pesky opposition seem to have no regard for your HR limits!
You can find some insights by following pro riders on Strava and reading the analysis posts on Training Peaks blog.
I think you will find when they are rolling along safely in the peleton they are indeed taking it quite easy a lot of the time.

Something endurance based most likely.
Either a top 20 solo at Relentless or a 300mi 24hr road ride.
Maybe even relearn to run and swim and try for an ironman in 2018.
Need to have a think about it, as what i want most for the next 2 weeks is a rest!

Don’t calculate zones using max HR, complete waste of time.
LTHR can occur at anywhere between 75-95% max.

Why is it people are keen to follow HR based training, but can’t be bothered to do a simple 30min test?

Simon and blobby have the answer.
Avoid people, doubly so for kids as each one is a bio weapon in disguise.
Practically you can’t avoid people at all times, but you can in the few hours after hard training sessions when your immune system is compromised.

QR’s are terrible, the sooner they are all purged from existance the better.

Putting that aside though, you’ll be fine, no need to change anything.

@Chew, define better/interesting. I’d be delighted for you to tell me where in the UK i can find 2000+mi of unpaved roads and ride my bike over 3500m altitude.

How did you get on?
My pair finished up 8th/23 which we were really pleased with.
I had a great time and did 13 laps, with only 1 low spot around 4am (energy was low going up, and rain/mist/dark meant i couldn’t see on the way down).

I thought the change to the 2nd part of the loop was a vast improvement to the course, with the climb becoming enjoyable rather than dreaded.

lol, on what planet is an XR4 a cross country tyre?

When you are riding in at z2/3, what is your perceived effort on a scale of 1-10? HR can be a tad unreliable and is best used in conjunction with RPE.

Could be glycogen related, although if you ate well the previous evening, there should be plenty in the tank.

‘go out and flog it for 3 hours’
From a training perspective, thats pretty much the worst thing you can be doing, so anything would be an improvement.
Like that you are going too hard to develop your fat burning engine, and not hard enough to force muscular adaptations to make you faster.

It’s difficult to put a figure on training miles/hours, but for your goal of 67mi/day on a mtb, i’d suggest 10-15hrs per week. For 100+mi days then 15+hrs.
You want to be in a position where you can go out and ride a steady pace for 6-8hrs (longer for 100mi days) and get back feeling mildly tired rather than exhausted.

Edit: I used the word ‘Nutrition’ loosely. Shovelling in calories in a form you can digest fairly easily is the name of the game whilst moving. Quite often your body will helpfully provide you with cravings to tell you what it wants.

Northwave scorpius 2 plus

@scud, what’s wrong with a flying pig?! Hours of entertainment right there 😀

In a ziplock back in jersey pocket along with emergency £5. I still find it very strange that MTB tops don’t have pockets.

40/40/20, Training/Nutrition/Genetics.

Regarding TD finishers heart rate, it’ll come out overwhelmingly in Z2 as once you are completely utterly gubbed, thats about as high as your HR will go.
And by keeping HR down before then it prolongs how long you last before reaching that condition.

Nutrition is something you need to work out for yourself, but over such a long trip, you can’t afford to ever let the tank run dry.

Training – have a read up on how ultra racers (RAAM for example) train. They start with a big base, then add speed work, and finally combine the two.
The basic thing you need is a huge engine thats optimised for fat burning = many many hours of z1/z2 riding. After that adding a little speed work to the mix will increase your cruising speed.

Yes, a Ron on the rear would be perfect.

Only one section that could really be described as technical, and you could walk it in ~30s if needed, so not worth taking into account as far as tyres/bike concerned.

For the rest, probably ‘tricky’ is a better description than technical, lots of narrow, sloping, rooty singletrack on the descents.

@speedstar, any bike would be suitable.
100mm XC bike (HT or FS) will be the fastest, and probably worth several minutes per lap, but if you are mostly in it for fun a ‘bigger’ bike will certainly make the descents more enjoyable.

Similar to bikes, tyres are mostly a faster is better scenario, but if not bone dry can make the descents quite sketchy. Your Nic on the front with something faster on the rear would be a sensible choice.

Foil blanket, whistle and mini first aid kit.
Large elastic bands to wrap map and checkpoint descriptions round forearms.

Bit off-topic, but i totally recommend mountain bike orienteering to anyone that likes natural XC style riding.

Sorry, don’t understand the need for an 11 speed mech when all the bits are 10 speed. I’d be more inclined to check for a bent hanger.

It’s a worrying feeling though as you can’t quite gauge the outcome!

Indeed, its psychological.
It can be done, but almost certainly not worth the risk.

Good news for those taking the risk is a chamois should make a passable nappy.
The bad news is those £180 Rapha bib shorts make expensive nappies.

Sorry what was the question?

Can you really not get jockey wheels for less than £30?
The question was more: Do i need to panic and get replacements right now or should I trust my masterful mechanicing and get replacements later.
And when I do replace is it perhaps worth changing whole mech to get a clutch?

The answer seems to be no panic and no mech.

Certainly no problem paying £30, and the Hope’s are really very pretty and have good reviews.

Alas, I would need 4 seconds to demolish my local KOM so totally not worth it for me if they only give 3. 😀

If your default is to buy online to save a few £s, bear in mind that at some point in the future options (A) and (B) may not be open to you since the LBS will have closed down…

TBH, they’ve got far bigger problems than me buying jockey wheels online.
Took a friend in a few weeks back looking to buy his first road bike. He wanted to sit on a Giant Defy (common bike) in a medium (common size) to see how geometry was. No mediums in stock or display…..
Cost themselves £1k right there.

The added value of going to the LBS is that you could take the thing in and get an actual expert (assuming your LBS is any good of course) to look at it and advise you how ferked they are and whether they’ll survive the weekend?

They have a busy workshop, cant expect them to drop everything to look at my problem immediately, and even if they did, they’d be perfectly within their rights to charge a labour cost to do so.

^ that hardly sounds onerous.

Taking the wheels off, removing outer plates and oiling seals EVERY wet or muddy ride is not onerous?
Thats ~3x wk for 10 months of the year. F* that!

Have we found a consensus on good riding trousers

The consensus is there are (and can never be) such a thing as good riding trousers.

Ok so can someone please talk about why trousers aren’t good?

Always excessively baggy, don’t stretch as you move, rub you as they crease, make noises rubbing on bike, catch in the chainring, not as warm as a roubaix warmer/tight, don’t breath well if waterproof and if not waterproof then weigh a ton when wet.

That said, everyone should own an emergency pair of waterproof trousers as in the most horrific conditions, its worth the drawbacks. For example I wore mine over leg warmers descending the Tourmalet in the snow – kept me dry and warm in conditions that could have been dangerous otherwise.

Just get yourself some of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ceramicspeed-pulley-wheels/rp-prod143293

Not only that, but you also need a tame mechanic, or a lot of free time on your hands

It’s important that you properly lubricate your bearings in order to ensure optimal performance and maximum longevity. Add oil to the outside of the bearing seal, so that oil can penetrate the bearing. Do this when you lubricate your chain, or if you have washed your bike or have been riding in wet or muddy conditions.

Whats the route like?
One of the big attractions of the TD for me is its largely non-technical. Endless dirt roads so whilst you may still be suffering, no need to concentrate too hard and you can soak up the views.

Basic jockey wheels dont have proper seals, are these markedly different?

It will be the crud inside stopping them turning surely?
6 part assembly for the x0 wheels (+ bearings)
The wheel itself
The inner cylinder
Two ‘seals’ appear to be thin metal plates with a very close fit
Two outer plates

Yes, I agree it was the combination of metallic crud and no grease left that was stopping them turning. However one of the ‘seals’ on the upper wheel has a substantial area that is worn away exposing the bearings (still partly protected by the outer plate obviously).

Hasn’t the inner width remained the same but the outer width (ie the width of the plates) narrowed?

That is correct for 10/11 speed, not sure for 9/10 speed.

Good to know.
Would be a lot more confident in my rebuild if i’d not been so rushed and could have taken more time applying new grease, and if the seal on one wheel wasn’t damaged.

Sounds like they should at least last the event as long as I tell pit crew not to spray water at them.

9spd quick-links work in 11spd chains? Hallelujah, I did not know that!

Work, but not ideal.
Found some beginner trudging through the woods a few months back with a broken chain and fitted a 9 speed link to his 10 speed chain to get him back to the car.
Seemed secure, but did have some unwanted play in it – wouldn’t want it on the bike long term.

But if there was a proven safe performance booster I could get, I’d take it. Ride further and harder at the weekends, sounds like a win tbh.

There is, its called a Turbo Trainer 😛

So tell me what weird and wonderful stuff you have done with your Pi ?

Mine is sitting in my desk drawer unused.

Undoubtedly a massive success, and yet even as someone who works in Software/Electronics I just struggle to see the point.

Could you summarise that as a tweet?

The world revolves around Facebook and since you as a Facebook account holder are actively participating in this twisted reality, you deserve everything you get.

Everything you need to know about the Strength:
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/santa-cruz-bicycles-test-lab.html

Are you cold in bed? I find I tense up if I’m cold.

Sometimes, but not all the time – although for me, temperature does for sure play a part.
I do feel better when i’m on holiday soaking up 25°C every day than at home in the perpetual gloom.

💡
Having just typed out what I guess I have known for ages, I googled vitamin D deficiency and found I have a minor case of 3 of top 5 symptoms.
Fatigue
General muscle pain and weakness
Chronic pain

full scottish series

you mean that series where every second venue the only thing you see on Strava is folks complaining it was a mudbath?
Like Dunkeld in March – who’d have thought that could go wrong oh, wait…
What would you have thought if you’d done a 10hr drive from the SE to arrive and find that?

Not that I disagree that publicity in magazines is both blinkered and almost certainly for sale, but maybe other events haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory which doesn’t help.