your daily bicycle log

140km. started flat, then major climb of the day, then big descent, then rolling countryside, then flat with some unsealed path thrown in. one puncture, one magpie attack; massive hunger flat about 8km from home made the flat bike path harder than the 8km climb.

yay finally got back out on the bike today after it being in the shop and recent inclement weather

quick 18 miles with some hill repeats in the middle. ow ow ow

found a hill that takes roughly just over 1 min to go up, with 1 mile spinning at the top and roughly just under 1 min to go down and did it 5 times

am I doing it right?

a hill that takes roughly just over 1 min to go up [...]and roughly just under 1 min to go down

Are you sure that's not flat + wind?

signed up to a 150k sportive in a month. ack. i hate training. also it's a hilly route, taking in leith hill & pitch hill.

xp
shut up

it's a short hill, only about 400 metres at 7%

Cozen - it kind of depends what you're trying to get from it. Are you trying to get fitter, or to prepare for racing, or to get really good at climbing hills, or...?

get fitter and better at climbing hills and just generally be able to stay with the fast riders on the hills

I've kinda given up the idea of racing atm

I'm no expert, but a climb that only takes a minute might be a bit too short to be useful training for what you want (assuming the climbs on your clubruns are much longer than that). I'm sure it will make you fitter, and probably make you better at climbing in short bursts, but you'll probably need to work on something longer than that to get better going up the kind of hills that you can't just punch your way up.

So, mark and I are doing the midnight ride to whitstable tonight. 72 miles (plus 8 or so to get to the start) may not sound a lot to the mile munchers, but hell, it'll be my distance Pb by about 30 miles or so..... Fortunately it's stopped pissing it down and it's brightening up. Big load of carbs for lunch methinks.

ace! was that the profile you sent to me via fb? looks great if so, jealous!

That's the feller, only around 1500ft of climbing in that distance which suits me as last week highlighted my need to lose around 6 stone to help get up hills.

Why is it at night?

Apparently some people think night riding is the business! I am a bit nervous about this as well, as by and large I like my sleep. The only night riding I've done was my relay race last year and that was 45 minute chunks - which were fine, as I was basically time trialling away with but one focus, whereas tonight it'll be more relaxed but much much longer. I'm concerned about the cold most of all - fine while riding (I assume) but whenever we stop for any reason 10 degrees is going to feel really chilly.

Chris, carbs AND protein, don't forget!

Good luck tonight, you two

It's even looking nice out! Simpsons sky over Soho. Thanks Jamie :)

Bib tights, sportwool jersey (ugh don't wanna be a Rapha ponce but it's the most comfy/flexible jersey I have) and some kind of jacket, as yet undecided. I don't own a waterproof, apart from a ridiculously waterproof boil in the bag jacket I bought from a camping shop, but I'm not wearing that. Big question is whether to carry civvies around in my rucksack for 80 miles so that I can return to London on the train not wearing sweaty bibs.

3/4 here with baggies, still undecided over what to wear up top, could rapha it up too but am going to boil in any jackets over that.

Now considering scrambled eggs on fat toast vs pasta

both I'd say

steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar imtho

bananas

Went with the eggs on wholegrain and a third banana for the day.

Wish I'd thought of the oatmeal though, we have some in the cupboard too.

plus fried eggs on toast then pasta

80 miles is what 5 hours? never too late to pop that oatmeal

had my first energy gel the other day

absolutely boggin

They are indeed, for emergencies only.

holy shit dudes i snapped my bottom bracket spindle wednesday
stocking up on tools now yo: lockring wrench, pin spanner, crank puller (also chain tool and bench vise)

I don't mind energy gels. I mean, I wouldn't eat a load of them for dinner, but they're useful on a bike ride. I use the Torq ones.

They're rank - though the last one i had was slightly less rank. They serve a purpose, I'll give them that.

Saw a nasty nasty crash on my club ride today. I think it started when I guy put his wheel in a parallel crack between concrete and asphalt and got sideways, taking 4 people with him. The dude behind him who did an endo into a total faceplant was laid out on the road with his glasses shattered, and his face all cut up from the broken lenses / asphalt. Got taken away in the ambulance on a back-board and neck brace. That ride really really needs to be more selective with riders. Too many people just barely hanging on and then making up gaps at stoplights / downhills and causing chaos in the pack. That's club rides for ya, I guess.

here's the profile of the ride Mark and I did last night, in the space of 5 days my distance pb has gone from a previous of 40 mile, to 50 mile and now to 80 mile (rode 10 mile to start of this).

Now just to lose 6 stone or so...

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/94652

keep that up and it'll fly off in no time, maybe don't follow any of my dietary advice :)

xp

that sounds like a nightmare, slp, take it you were unscathed?

hey folks.

sorry for my non-attendence over the last few weeks. Work has been crazy busy (also I have been slightly embarrassed by the slow work rate on my fat mantis graphic designer thingy). Anyway I am back now for two reasons:

1) Vuelta
2) My surly was stolen over the weekend whilst I was in chicago. I blame me and my complacent attitude to Pittsburgh. Appears to have been boosted with a biro. Fucked off, checking CL, eBay etc.

Seriously bummed out.

holy shit ed i saw a surly cross check where i lock my bike during my dayjob on monday! was it black with an easton front rim? it wasn't there today tho

mine is green and has salsa rims.

funny, i was in chicago this weekend. and i just got a new surly

just kidding about the surly, but i'm thinking about getting a pacer

This really is a bad week, someone boosted E's saddle last night.

somewhat appropriate first ride in rapha belgium jersey - drizzle within a minute of leaving the house. windy, too! packed it in after half an hour.

Did 50 miles solo in the hills today. Absolutely no clouds, and I got a late start, so I was pretty cooked by the last 15 miles. From that point it was mostly flat, into a pretty stiff headwind, I was out of water, and I had Eddie Amador's 'Rise' ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5vsWhSaZpc ) stuck in my head on a loop. Torture.

also a colleague had his bike nicked. Also I didn't even notice they had the shopping baskets off E's bike.

nice gentle 46miles today to test out new shutt jersey and bibs. very comfortable chamois and the jersey does all that 'regulate yr temperature' nonsense very well

went up the crow and didn't stop at the car park, for the first time (yay me!) and decided to extend my run to take in the tak ma doon for the first time. it was a piece of piss tbh but that's because I went up the 'wrong' side. going down the other side was terrifying - very steep, and unceasing. dunno if I want to tackle climbing it from that side o_O

dunno if these'll show up
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/4971317108_9307658d15.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/4971320568_c504f4136f.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/4971318718_577d2a1e30.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/4971310038_f8bfe5ed2f.jpg

wow beautiful

Cozen, what are you food/snack options on these roads? Fuel my fantasy por favore.

total noob mistake... left the house w/no nutrition whatsoever. eep. didn't plan on going so far but it was so glorious a day I didn't want to turn back. stopped in at a petrol station eventually and scored

1x
http://candybarlab.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/starbar_wr.jpg

plus a can of coke. not very nutrition nazi but I'd be riding 3 hours by that point; I'll allow it

coke is legit

i love to eat garbage when i'm on the bike. it's maybe the only time your body can do anything productive with all that sugar.

i was imagining some sort of mystical pub or tavern along that route that specialized in something regional and worth the journey.

place looks gorgeous, it's insanely lush looking to me here in colorado. the forests on the northside are planted, aren't they? the trees are like, in rows. (google earth)

i generally don't eat garbage on bike, but if in need the hierarchy generally goes coke, fig newtons, snackwells, grandmas choco cookies, what do you have?!?!?