not sure if they are still made but I had a toeclip and strap attached to a cleat that you clipped in not sure if it was look or shimano tho, think I still have tho

the wattbikes in the gym i go to have pedals like that. There are also ones which have a look keo on one side and an spd on the other. They are wellgo but dont know the model number.

If you have a suitable laptop or phone to run it then would recommend zwift

I usually keep my zwift rides private for a couple of days then make them public to avoid cluttering up peoples feed, mostly because seeing multiple zwift rides used to annoy me before i was on zwift myself!

Couldnt even log in so did a sufferfest instead. Feels like old tech in comparision now but still a good workout and beats staring into space.

Great day out, would love to do a bmx taster like that.

Had my first go on a velodrome about 4 years ago and been a regular since, the racing can get sort of addictive.

(does your start depend on your internet speed, I wonder, though can’t see why. I was spinning fairly hard 5 seconds before the start and strava says I was at least 400w at the beginning of the ride)

I join the race about 10 minutes before the start so i get a position near the front. When it countdown to about 3 seconds to go im pedalling pretty hard, not quite a sprint but not far off. That usually gets me out the blocks fast then can ease back a bit as the lead group forms and there are people to draft. Still pretty full on for the next bit though.

3 and a half hours on zwift for me this afternoon. Longest turbo session ive ever done and it didnt make me want to give up cycling and life afterwards either!

Looking at yesterdays numbers though I know one thing, I wasted a TON of energy! My best 20 min segment was at 25.9mph 353W maxed out at 1,298W (est by strava

Looks like the guy that won did it on a NP of 238 watts and didnt break 900 for the sprint. So next time get on his wheel and do whatever he is doing!

If your goal is to place in the top 10 and you also feel like you have the power to attack and ride off the front of the bunch then it is sensible to save it all for late on rather than going for a lap when everyone is fresh. In that case going hard and early on the final lap (unless it is a strong headwind) is the way to go. If nothing else doing that is going to thin things out. A big proportion of the those left are hanging on and just happy to make it to the final lap, another large proportion cant sprint but have delusions that they can. These are the riders that are going to get in your way and turn a potential top 5 place into a top 20. A smaller proportion can actually sprint, but being sprinters most of them are lazy bastards who want a tow to the finishing straight. They are not wanting to burn any matches and jeapordise their chances by closing anything down themself. If you time it right you can take all these riders out the equation and in effect the race becomes you v a handful of others who have the power to respond and the willingness to bury themselves knowing if it comes back together they will be out of contention for the sprint.

The likelihood is that one or more of these guys are going to get on your wheel and then get you on the line but it can be a successful way of collecting some points and placings at 3/4 level.

Today was my first time outside Watopia too. Looked a bit grey and it was raining, i want a virtual world to get away from that!

It might be because im on an ipad rather than a bigger screen but i had difficulty with the gradient at times – kept going along bits (in the central london part not box hill) that were about 4% or 5% and it didnt look like a climb only felt the resistance change which kept catching me unaware, unlike on watopia where you see the climbs easier in advance so can get ready to shift down without getting bogged down in too big a gear.

Im really enjoying it so far. Finding it difficult to resist going on for the 3rd time today!

The racing is tough, although more like a TT effort than a normal bunch race as there aren’t really any lulls and big accelerations in pace around corners etc. Think it is going to be ideal for threshold work, something that i’ve always struggled with mentally.

Had my first shot this morning, think i’m going to enjoy this!

As for racing / group rides – when you are on the course do you still need to choose the direction (when the arrows come up every so often) or is it automatically selected as part of the race? I can’t quite reach my ipad from the bike so need to stop to touch the screen

Managed to finish it off today. The first 3 days were bloody hard due to the weather and i was wondering what the hell i was doing for a little cloth patch but the last 3 day have been great and couldnt really have asked for better weather for late December. Strangely my legs feel pretty good, managed a few PBs up climbs i do regularly and i dont think it is all wind assisted!

i had an issue with pairing and it was due to an app conflict rather than it being proprietary software – after deleting the app that i had been using previously and turned the phone on and off again it then paired ok.

(I didnt connect it up using bluetooth menu but from within the app itself)

So far it has been hard work. Normally when the weather is dreadful i’ll still see a few other people out on bikes and you’ll nod to each other with a look of grim satisfaction and for a while it lifts your spirits because someone else is out feeling the same. But i’ve only seen 1 other person out on a bike, ive never known it to be so quiet.

Listen to your heart 🙂

Last year i got a new bike and got 58mm race wheels and shallow climbing wheels (about 1100 grams). I like the deep sections so much i rarely use the other wheels. Its free speed and make a nice noise, handling wise they are not too bad in the wind, much better than i was expecting before i got them

Ive stocked up on cassettes, some good savings there

Oh and you can use spd-sl

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/garmin-vector-shimano-ultegra-pedal-cartridges/?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&sku=5360763726&kpid=5360763726&utm_source=google&utm_term&utm_campaign=UK_PLA_Garmin&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid%7CsPor6Ua9D_dm%7Cpcrid%7C73654519502%7Cpkw%7C%7Cpmt%7C%7Cprd%7C5360763726uk

Good option to have, will give the Keo a go first and if i dont get on with them will try that.

Made a bit of an impulse buy yesterday with Canyons sale on theVector 2. Do you still need a torque wrench to install?

Have resisted them for so long as i didnt want to move from SPD-SL, but its the cheapest way to get power on my track bike so i’ll learn to live with the Keo cleats!

There is usually some street parking on the road which has the entrance to the sports centre (not the palace of art gym the one next the running / cycling track)

Just before the clips starts Cueff was on the cote d’azur going round the corner (she wasn’t on it to pass riders she had been on the black line then had been squeezed there on the back straight). At the speed they are going she wont be able to get around the bend without grounding a pedal however if you join the banking at that speed you will immediately get pushed up track a little. When this happens it looks like she hooked bars so very little control over what is happening. You just try and ride it out and hope the rider you are hooked with doesnt panic and try and yank their bars and swing up (or down) to get free.

So like others have said racing incident with no-one really at fault with a great save from van Riessen.

love this photo 😀

Missed this last night as i changed stream at the finish of the game but pretty special celebration from Fiji! https://streamable.com/egw2

6am Blue for me too.

Can anyone advise in what size rucksack will fit into the kit bag they give you? I need something that will fit some shoes, casual shorts, T-shirt, fleece etc.

The bag is pretty big, will take shoes, shorts, tshirt, fleece etc no problem.

I’ve just noticed that there is a Gel Point at 95 miles ! Hardly seems worth it for just 5 miles !

If it is like previous years the volunteers hold out gels for riders to grab at that one as they ride by, only 5 miles to go but a welcome little boost for the finale

If someone can’t be arsed going to a polling station to vote or arranging a postal vote in advance then i dont want their vote to count the same as mine!

Bontrager XXX Shut up legs edition. No fluo just mirrored silver and they look awesome!

terrible news 🙁

Rapha pro team long sleeve.

I like arm warmers for the versatility but find this a bit more comfortable, aero fit though so not a very forgiving look!

The others record zeros too but perhaps strava counts it differently

Is it normal to have the power numbers on Strava to be considerably lower than on Garmin Connect or Training Peaks?

My average power is usually about 30-40 watts less than is recorded elsewhere using the same data (Likewise weighted average compared to normalised) and segment power seems down on what i expect it should be. Not a big deal but as the figures are public i’d prefer it to be inflated rather than deflated 😀

The Americans run a very simple Olymlic selection system, they have a trial.

They’ve only won something like 5 medals on the track since the LA games in 1984 whereas GB winning “only” 5 medals in Rio will be considered a failure now (realistically they’ll be doing extremely well to win 5)

I think it’s a bit poor that the only success criteria is medals at the Olympics.

What’s wrong with being the best in GB and a spirited 5th in the World? I’d be quite pleased with myself for that.

Being forced to watch it at home because someone thinks you won’t get at least a bronze is missing the whole point of competitive sport.

The funding model is largely to blame for that. UKSport don’t take into account being the best in GB or even being 5th in the world, the thing that matters to them is Olympic medals (and to a lesser extent Olympic finals) and if they do not qualify for the start line in the Olympics then the funding will be at serious risk of being withdrawn – it is harsh and a long way off the ‘Olympic ideal’ but it’s also the reality of elite sport and the performance programme is not run as a charity. It is also what the athletes sign up to in their contracts.

In the last 4 years she’s medalled (sorry) at all these events. Under any selection process that’s a winning athlete, no?

It’s a little misleading and sounds more impressive than it is.

The stand out results in the last couple of years are in events where the field was weak. Eg, Commonwealth games – a small field with a huge variation in ability then more recently the Hong Kong round of the world cup. The top nations sent their B teams because they had already qualified for the Olympics (which is of course what GB should have been doing and where her criticism has a lot of merit – although the team did have ample opportunity to right things before it came to a head in London, however they were just not good enough when it mattered.)

That has been the big problem – in the big events where the opposition is of the standard expected at the Olympics then the results have been pretty poor. Both in team sprint and individual events – struggling to make quarter finals and so on. The BC track squad is the most well funded and resourced team about so those sorts of performances have not been acceptable. When the team sprint team didnt make the Olympics then her role in the squad was redundant. It is harsh but that is the nature of elite sport particularly when nearly all of the funding is based on medal return.

Is there an actual objective measure? I thought the qualification points fell short…? Is there more to it than that?

Those on the podium programme are there because of their potential for Olympic medals. If they dont qualify for the Olympics it is hard to justify that funding for another cycle – unless they were progressing significantly and looked like they were on a path to medals at a future games – which i’m not sure would apply to Jess Varnish, she seems to have stagnated a bit.

I dont think anyone has ever gone from podium to the level below (senior academy) you either progress up the ladder or you are out. Harsh but just the way it is. The riders are not funded because they are the best the UK has to offer but because they either are or have the potential to be the best in the world.

I’m not up on track stuff – is there anyone in the team that’s better at her events?

bottom line is we should always try and gain qualification by using the best team at every opportunity and fill the quota with the fastest riders in the country each of whom whould be either funded or have the option to self fund if considered “less good”. To do anything else is ridiculous.

At the moment no, but in 4 years probably

The team has had issues for a while partly due to Becky James being injured who is their top sprinter but they’ve struggled more than that. Katy Marchant has transitioned from Hepthathlon and made good progress and looks a good prospect for the future, Victoria Williamson had a really bad crash at a 6 day race over the winter, Shanaze Reade seems to be targetting Tokyo in 2020. Jess Varnish was (and is still) the best ‘man 1’ out of that group, but that team isn’t good enough.

The mens team sprint actually had similar issues in the lead up to the London games – they were misfiring and went through a lot of options and riders ended up losing their funding too – they eventually managed to get Philip Hindes in from Germany and things clicked. The pool of sprint talent for UK women is not great at the moment, there are some juniors who will hopefully make the step up in the next couple of years but there is no-one in the senior academy (the level below podium). The lack of females there (there are 4 men at that level) might seem like the result of sexism favouring male athletes but the truth is the riders are just not good enough.

Totally agree with you on fielding the best team to get the points required for qualification, there are plenty of other opportunities to bring in new blood but first you’ve got to be at the games to have a chance of winning a medal!

I know a couple of others who have had issues with the newer sensors at the velodrome (the speed plot has bigger spikes than one recorded with a magnet sensor). Reckon it might be to do with the banking and the bike leaning over impacting on the accelometer

I always wondered why Japanese artists were so fond of adding pixelation to their photos, i guess that explains it.

I’m sure there is a good reason for it but the chainstay ruins the look for me. Then the bottle cage too, thats a recipe for a mouthful of shite!

Arse, only see this thread at 10:05 🙁

Arse missed it

If anyone managed to get one in medium and wants to double their money then i’d be interested 😀

Asked a clubmate a couple of weeks ago how the order for his canyon aeroad was going – he told me he cancelled it due to delays and was instead getting a Trek Mad 1 now!