So much about crits is in the head, you need to try to stop over thinking things and allowing negative thoughts in – whether that be putting pressure on yourself to get in the points or worrying about not being fit enough or worrying about the riders beside you or worrying about your tyres grip in corners (and so on). Frankly if one steps back and thinks about it all there are alot of things to worry about and put doubt in ones mind but none of that is going to help in a race – whereas having a certain degree of confidence and assertiveness can be a huge aid.

Think of it in terms of mountain biking – when you are doing a jump the most important thing after getting the process right is committing to it, if you start to overthink or doubt yourself half way through then it becomes so much harder. A crit is the same in that respect.

Will need to go and have a look and see if any of my current bibs have that one, pretty suit i recognise the logo

I downloaded the periscope app the other day and while messing about with it started a live broadcast from the throne. Not the proudest moment of my life

Depends on how you’d fly…if it was like superman, effortless and fast then that would be good. But if it was flying at slow speed and having to flap your arms around to do so and generally getting knackered after a few minutes then it would be a bit shitter.

I suppose that is advantage, instead of worrying about water getting in it gives it somewhere for it to go out

Before heading home yesterday i rode around part of the course (missing out the Loch Rannoch section and going up Schiehallion from Tummel Bridge and then missing out the Fortingall loop) and most of the litter had been cleared up. At the top of Schiehallion there was a car with some people out picking up litter from where the feed station was, so presumably they had been around elsewhere on the course doing this.

I have no idea what is was like on Sunday after a few thousand riders had passed but now it seems alright. Still the occassional wrapper but no more litter than id expect to see had there been no event on.

I hate to see littering and will often pull someone up if i see them doing it but i was in the third group away (so about 300+ riders back from the start) and didnt see much of a problem at that point – a couple of wrappers and some banana skins (which unlike the wrappers i dont really have a problem about) over 80 miles isnt too bad. After a few thousand riders have gone past the cumulative effect will be more noticeable but early on it wasnt too bad

If i remember right there was a team in the tour de France last year that had jersey with a litter pocket at the side, not sure what brand made it though.

Well done 🙂

Was the Drumlanrig tearfund sportive (an event which i’d thoroughly recommend – good route, good cakes all the proceeds go to charity too).

They are my only 11sp wheels (i have ordered shallower ones too but they’ve not arrived yet) and my existing 10sp ones are a few years old now and not compatable. Survived ok only one scary moment, combination of an exposed section after a sheltered bit, one hand off the bars digging around in my back pocket and descending so my own fault. For similar conditions in the future i’ll go with a shallower front wheel.

Its a fairly light bike with a fairly heavy lump riding it 😀

Clerks and Clerks 2…for Randall and Dante, but mostly Jay and Silent Bob

Willy Bain has the best reputation particularly amongst roadies although im not sure if he services suspension forks.

Perhaps surprisingly i’ve had good service in the Evans store in the city centre – they sorted some persistant issues i had that a couple of other ‘proper’ bike shops couldnt. Price matched the parts needed too so it worked out reasonably cheap for the work done.

The guy that is in first place is a decent track racer, kicked my arse a few times anyway. Obviously only the best of the best can manage that 😀

great stuff!

I did a flat road race in a field of 80 at the start of March and this was fine – but I didn’t have any power to get off the front when I ended up on the front on the odd moment.

If you find yourself on the front, ease up. Unless you are ridiculously strong relative to the other racers you wont be able to ride people off your wheel and you are just wasting energy. Dont feel like you have to do your turn, save energy for when it matters.

I wanted to keep doing the crits as a way of improving my top end and they’re also normally mid-week, so its less time out of family life than at the weekend.

Continuing to race is a good idea. All the interval sessions and training programmes wont bring you on as much as racing crits. Not just in terms of gaining experience but also fitness too. Maybe i’m just weak willed in training but my max heart rate on a wattbike or turbo when doing sprint intervals is pretty similar to my average for 45-60 minutes in a crit!

It can be quite crushing to use it to view a race, particularly when zoomed in and getting to relive the elastic stretching then eventually snapping!

I keep prevaricating and just cant click buy yet. Was set for Vectors, but i use SPD-SL so changing pedal system is going to add extra expense – either changing pedals on my other bikes or getting a new pair of shoes (actually 2 pairs as i like to have a a spare pair for use when the other is wet) which adds to the expense. Power2max not really an option as i want to stick to my current crankset. Pioneer looks good and it now seems like a reasonable price but going to be a hassle as they dont have UK stockists.

Then there is Stages due to all the reliability issues i read about i was right off…however saw the Ultegra version for about £500 and its tempting me to take a risk at that price.

But then the main thing holding me back on that is the possibility of a Shimano one sometime soon.

1994 stands up pretty good. I dont think its just looking back with rose tinted specs either as i was a bit young to fully appreciate most of this at the time.

Nas – Illmatic
Jeff Buckley – Grace
Manic Street Preachers – Holy Bible
Oasis – Definitely Maybe
Nirvana – MTV unplugged
Johnny Cash – American 1
Biggie – Ready to Die
Beastie Boys – Ill Communication
The Prodigy – Jilted Generation
Portishead – Dummy
Greenday – Dookie
Beck – Mellow Gold
Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral

I dont think the Pioneer one is available in the UK (you need to send your crankset off for them to fit it).

How does their sizing compare to the likes of castelli, santini etc?

Yeah Crit on the Campus, at the time it felt quite pro just slapping the numbers on. They dont have to clean their own kit afterwards though!

Well done on the 4th place, not bad going at all with 2 current national crit champs in the race.

Seem to be automated now rather than a form https://strava.zendesk.com/entries/33281044-Segment-leaderboards-not-listing-all-efforts

Ive had it happen a couple of times, it is a glitch and there is a form you can fill in that so they can manually refresh the leaderboard

Ive no idea how they compare in a wind tunnel to a proper disc but you can get a disc cover for a standard wheel for about £150-200, a clubmate has one (raltech i think are the brand) and it seems to work for him

Dont overlook the CAAD10 just because its alloy, i’d pick that over most cheaper carbon frames for crit racing.

Interesting article….although worth reading the comments under it too as they are quite informative (not often that can be said about comments on an article on a news website!)

Blue and black.

I just cant see how so many are getting white and gold from! Admittedly i am colour blind so this perplexion can be quite a common occurence for me 😀

I had a look at the Chinese options last week but i was a bit overwhelmed with the choice, just dont know where to start! What sites would you recommend?

The two events are not really comparable as the rugby world cup is a fairly new invention, with only limited appeal with interest split between a handful of nations in the northern and southern hemispheres.

The football world cup on the other hand is a global event with a much longer history and tradition – all that history is based around the tournament being in the summer in the northern hemisphere, much like how the summer Olympics are that time of year regardless of what hemisphere they are being held.

What i don’t get is why they have granted the WC to a nation with an unsuitable climate AND THEN decide that they need to change the timing of it because it is unsuitable. It’s like they only found out about the 40-50′ Summers the other day.

The FIFA technical report before the bidding recognised all this, Qatar was ranked the worst place to host it and the unsuitability of the climate was a big part of that. The technical committee only provides recommendations though it was the member states that voted for it and thats where the bribery comes in.

If going down the shimano clincher route then the RS81 C35 have the same rims with Ultegra level hubs so a bit heavier. But much, much cheaper.

I recently had the same choice and went with Ultegra Di2. Ive not got the bike yet to comment on whether it was the correct choice or not yet though 😀

Dont feel too despondent, it is only February.

Traditionally this (and it is still the case for many racers) is the time of year for things like reliability rides rather than road racing, a bit of rest now could do you good a few months down the line.

That is what i was thinking too, guess i can see how the normal shifting goes and if i feel im missing out its easy enough to add at a later date.

I didnt bothered updating the software after ios 5 (if that was the last one with the ad free youtube and google maps) – email, videos, internet, music etc all still running fine. The latest versions of apps and games dont work (and cant be downloaded) but i dont really need them.

My reluctance to update was due to being bitten in the past with apples planned obsolescence – it got to the point where my old iphone couldnt do anything apart from make phone calls – despite email, apps, internet browsing etc working fine prior to the final OS update.

Specialized Evade – no way of quantifying if its actually faster but its really comfortable and there is much less wind noise than with my normal helmet

Its not pizza but West Brewery at Glasgow Green ( about a 20 minute walk) is worth a visit

On the mtb when you blast down hill you will be relaxed and not thinking about it so being in that frame of my mind makes the descending easier, whereas on the road bike it is a vicious circle as being nervous and worrying will mean you are gripping the bars too tight and tensing up which leads to over correcting your line / braking too much and so on.

I wouldnt beat yourself up about it, what feels twitchy now will gradually start to feel responsive and agile and your confidence will grow naturally. How long this takes i dont know though. Worth remembering also that this time of year is a bit harder due to wet roads, stronger winds, potential frost and ice etc so even experienced roadies will be more cautious than during the summer months.

Its funny the first time played but i found it got boring pretty quickly once the initial shock value wears off.

I got an item dispatched email / tracking number this morning so if you havent heard anything yet then you might still be ok.