It varies quite a bit.

Racing i often see 190 bpm+ (196 the biggest this year)

Just general riding and giving what feels like maximum effort then 185 bpm

Turbo…a hard interval is about 10 less than that. Actually average heart rate in a 40 lap scratch race (about 12-14 minutes) is often higher than the max heart rate i can get on the turbo for about 20 seconds before i need to ease off.

good stuff

Far easier to find coverage and news of other current events than it is to avoid the whining about the coverage of Mandelas death.

Sahara

Bit of an Indiana Jones rip off with Matthew Mcconaughey in it so it should be shite… but somehow its awesome

+1 for a wattbike

awesome 😀

And rightly so, Clarks ‘lions led by donkeys’ rubbish has scarred the teaching and in many cases the interpretation of the Great War for generations. The supposed donkeys quote attribution to Hoffman turned out to have probably been made up by Clark himself.

Clark’s work has been rubbished by just about every military historian of note since it was first published in the 60s

I dont disagree, i was just pointing out that I found the arrogance that came across in Corrigans writing to be really annoying. The dismissal of Clark and the resultant inference that his work therefore had more validity was just a case in point. The reality is that both authors are looked down upon by “serious” historians.

RIP

The news has been coming for a a while now but it is still so sad

if you’ve not read a copy of ‘Mud, Blood and Poppycock’ – get it, its a fantastic insight into the way that the great war has been subject to a huge amount of revisionist propaganda thanks to war poetry and films like ‘oh what a lovely war’ and blackadder .

It’s not a fantastic insight it is just a series of dismissals of straw men theories by a writer who comes across as an arrogant, irritating tit. One thing that really stood out for me is how critical he was of Alan Clark and how he dismissed his writings on the great war as not worth reading because he wasn’t even a historian (perhaps a fair enough criticism)…but the thing is Corrigan isn’t one either!

Better off reading something like ‘First World War A New History’ by Hew Strachan – you’ll get the challenging of a few myths but in a reasoned war backed up by research not just polemic and apologia.

I dont have experience of 3rd party chest mounts but the gopro one is good. Their other mounts are not up to much though for bar or saddle mounts then the K-Edge ones are really good, they are pretty expensive so there is probably a cheaper option which will be an improvement on the gopro ones.

Think that is GGCC. Theyve not been around for long and have done a really good job attracting new cyclists into the fold but the downside of this is that they are not (or were not) that many experienced riders to provide guidance. I dont particularly like being next to their riders when racing but to be fair i can say that of a few other more established clubs too!

Of course it might not be them!

Looks like it will be on again tomorrow at 11am

You can get the British Cycling 10% off on top of that too

I’ll be doing it – one of my favourite days of the year. In terms of atmosphere and big event feel its more like the big continental sportives than most in the UK and while expensive i never feel like its been a waste of money.

The standard of riding isnt IME that bad either. Last couple of years i’ve been in the A and B waves and the riding has been better than the average 3rd and 4th cat race.

I got one too, seems a fairly good deal.

Had been holding off to get the 3+ but figured i was only going to be getting that if i saw it for about £300, which is still pretty expensive. And decided to be frugal and save £70 instead.

Of course to do this i still had to spend £230 so my money saving logic isn’t without its flaws 😀

I use the 1:50 maps on my garmin and have no problems.

Maybe worthwhile holding off on a purchase atm as the last couple of years wiggle have had pre Christmas offers from round about the start of december (like £40 off if you spend over £200)

I was going to suggest the ones that Stephen Roche is involved with but on googling it seems his packages are based out of Mallorca now.

Maybe this http://cyclecotedazur.com/ though?

No idea if they are good or not

I dont think ex-pats living abroad do have a vote?

This is the criteria i think.

-British citizens resident in Scotland.
-Qualifying Commonwealth citizens resident in Scotland.
-Citizens of EU countries resident in Scotland.
-Members of the House of Lords resident in Scotland.
-Service/Crown personnel serving in the UK or overseas in the Armed Forces or with Her Majesty’s Government who are registered to vote in Scotland.

Seems fair enough. An English person choosing to live in Scotland ought to have a greater say in the direction the country goes than a Scot who has chosen to live elsewhere, either in England or overseas. That doesnt make them lesser Scots just that voting rights should be based on residency rather than ethnicity.

On a vaguelly related point i notice the velodrome introduction sessions are being priced at £30 for an hour. Its £10 in Glasgow and Manchester!

And riders with accreditation and racing experience from Manchester, Newport and Glasgow have got to go through all the lessons again to ride in London (normally if you are qualified to ride one of these you are allowed on the others)…whereas those who have riden at Herne Hill can skip the first two lessons. That is going to be a recipe for mayhem!

I looked into it a couple of weeks ago and ebay was the cheapest (by about £50). They were presumably US stock sold via a UK shop however from what i read the serial number stickers has been removed so didnt fancy taking a chance incase of warranty issues.

I used it last week and it worked ok

I enjoyed it – dont expect a 2001 or Solaris (or even an Apollo 13) but it was a decent way to spend a couple of hours at the cinema.

I normally dislike 3d films too – this it the first one ive seen that has made me think it can be a worthwhile method of filming rather than an overpriced, over rated gimmick.

I sometimes do the sufferfest videos on the bike in the gym using my ipad or phone. Ive got a waterproof case for it and its just a matter of attaching it onto the aero bars. Works pretty well although i do feel a bit of a tool using a tablet to the gym 😳

The programme tonight was pretty poor despite having some good archive footage – it was just so disjointed and lacking substance.

Conti 4 seasons are good in the wet although the black chilli compound on that and the 4000s is a bit prone to punctures in the wet IME

Durano plus are a bit more reliable – surprisingly decent weight and ride for the protection they have

was a road ride around cowal – glasgow to gourock then over the ferry along to tignabruich up past loch fyne strachur, ardentinny and ferry and back to glasgow again

About 120 miles in total, a baking hot day of about 28 degrees with clear blue skies and no wind. Quiet roads deserted for the most part and fantastic scenary. Was solo and at times felt quite meditative just soaking everything in, days like that i think back to when having to clean the bike down after a winters ride!

the look 566 looks decent value with the extra 15% off…although have other bike purchasing priorities at the moment

My record in races is something like 1 win in 47 😳

Ive hovered over the buy button a couple of times in the last month or so however i was put off a bit by a club mate getting one and having a few issues with the build. Maybe its just bad luck but that sort of stuff puts me off buying online.

Had a look in Evans today and they dont have the 2014 in stock yet and the 2013 they had wasnt my size

Have noticed Halfords have the CX Team back on their website, presumably the problems have been sorted so will check that out (10% off this weekend apparently)

quite like the look of that 1×10 one

are pinnacle evans own brand?

Hopefully means the Milles will be going on their discount site soon!

As well as the price i dont particularly like the placement of the bib straps – one of the reasons i prefer Assos over Castelli is that the straps are/were closer together

I use a Romin Evo it has a narrower nose than the regular Romin (which for some people seems to rub their shorts)

know the words to ice ice baby…and if i hear it on the radio (fortunately not a regular occurence) i stop what im doing and rap along. Have been known to throw in the dance too 😳

Taking a while to rank up online and earn money – going to take ages to be able to afford apartments, garages and decent weeapons. Looks a bit too skewed towards those that want to pay to get the extra money.

Battlefield has the right balance – lots of weapons / extras to unlock but you still start off with decent weapons that dont put you at much of a disadvantage compared to those with better ones

I try not to look at it when racing but still wear the hr strap and look at it afterwards…if you need to dig in deep to get over a climb and avoid being dropped from your group or push hard to stick on a wheel then you just need to try and do it, knowing your heart rate isnt going to help because you are not just pacing yourself but racing against others.