your daily bicycle log

Is that allowed?

I ignored common sense and did the race this morning. Fortunately the rain held off and I didn't feel ill (though I did suffer pre-race insomnia and didn't get much sleep last night). I managed to stay in the bunch for about 19 miles then started to cramp up a little bit and sunk off the back - I don't know how it's possible to get cramp after less than an hour. The pace wasn't too fast (I was averaging 23.1mph when I was dropped, but that includes the neutralised zone) but I just haven't got the speed to go with the surges - I was dropped on a flat section and couldn't chase back on on a descent even getting out of the saddle and sprinting. Went for a ride afterwards to get some miles in, did 38 miles at 20.2mph (including the race).

Is that allowed?

weeeeeeeeeellllll probably not. We never got told to get off the course by a policeman though.....

We were well ahead of the race - set off before they started closing the roads at 7am, but by the end some marshalls were getting a little more nervous. We did end up sprinting (as much as I can) down an empty embankment and Mall (spectators already there cheering us), including crossing the actual marathon finish line.

We were waiting for the 6th member of our group (turns out he got sent off course by a marshall in a military uniform..) when a nice lady came up and asked "erm, how did you get here in this footprint [footprint? what?] as it's my job to ensure this is a sterile area - we do have visitors here including royalty" to which fellow rider Andrij replied "well, we started in Blackheath a couple of hours ago" and Jurek made things a lot worse with "all your marshals were very friendly and accommodating..."

"Please guys, go up that road and get out the area" OK, bye......

on 'training ride' (lol) at the boulie. relaxed pace on first lap, turn it up a bit on last climb. loop round for lap two, first long climb and i can hear someone puffing pretty hard. he creeps past with no ackno ohwledgement. it's on! i latch onto his wheel ande off a couple of times to avoid half-wheeling. i roll off the pace on the downhill 'bike lane' section (there's been some head-ons here in rhe past; i think it's prudent) and he gets a gap. over last rise, stop to clip on tail-light at halfway point, and the chase begins. sight him on second downhill, rail through fast dipping left-hander that's been freshly resurfaced, stomp past on the next rise on the big ring. not troubled by my pursuer for the rest of the lap. satisfaction!

Eye infection came back. Endless rain fell endlessly. Yesterday was my day off. Sat inside waiting for the rain to stop. The rain didn't stop. Went out in the afternoon (wearing glasses again as contact lenses are impossible at the moment). Got very wet and muddy. Took my frustration out by doing hill reps. Chain inexplicably fell off just quarter of a mile from home. Got very oily. Today sat inside and watched the endless rain falling endlessly.

Respect.

big tailwind allowed me my best time up the canyon in like 3 years. i know it's all a lie, but i felt so fast.

Took my frustration out by doing hill reps.

Pervert.

Four thousand fixed-gear miles in four months completed today!

Pervert

Went and watched the Steel City Showdown Crit this afternoon. Also back on the bike properly after a couple of months of excuses (travel, illness, gf moving to Australia).

Nothing much to report, was running the pressure in the tyres a little lower than previously due to a series of Lennard Zinn articles. Definitely feels better.

you're mental, alex, but i admire your tenacity.

up and down some bergs

rested yesterday after the above on friday, then out this morning with friend on the usual loop. clanging headache was interfering for a while, but then i notched up new PB on the hard section of the loop - 30 seconds under! was it the extra motivation from trying to chase someone, or am i coming into some semblance of form? only time will tell...

i did a long ride on a trail system that has had some restricted access for a couple of years. it seems to have made some locals pretty bold:

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/May5ride.jpg

there were actually two groups of males, i got within about 15 yards at one point. i forgot 1) how big this dudes are and 2)how intimidating too. as the second group that i saw descended a very steep grade to a field a couple of the sheep turned to face off, and lowered their horns-- i thought there was gonna be action, but no.

I rode to Brighton today, it was a bit damp. It was also a lot faster than I normally go - felt alright though, and managed to get over the south downs without walking for the first time - not at Ditchling, but it was still a bit of a bugger (Carlton hill?)

Do you know what your route was?

I've had an eventful time of it. As usual I got pre-race insomnia - I'd told my wife I'd sleep on the sofa so I didn't wake her up in the morning, but for some reason I couldn't get to sleep at all. At about 3am I tried sleeping on the floor instead - this worked, but my alarm clock got me up again at 6am. My clubmate arrived and drove us for an hour to the race HQ. When I went to sign on I realised that I'd lost my race licence. For a while I was facing an extremely anti-climactic few hours sitting in a village hall waiting for my clubmate to finish, but I managed to negotiate my way in by buying a day licence.

We were on a 12-mile circuit with two racing taking place simultaneously. The E/1/2/3s went off ten minutes before us (and were doing 6 or 7 laps instead of 5) then we followed. It was ridiculously cold for the time of year - I had to wear leg warmers and three tops - and the course was full of nightmarish potholes. About 15 riders dropped out of my race in total - a lot of them due to instant punctures caused by hitting massive potholes at high speed. The first couple of laps I felt OK (apart from losing one of my water bottles through clumsiness) and managed to move up every now and then, but then my legs started to feel it. After 37 miles (at 23.7mph) we were suddenly brought to a halt - the road ahead was closed due to an accident in the other race. We thought it was all over, but surprisingly we got started again after five or ten minutes. There was blood in the road, an ambulance at the side and a helicopter coming in to land to airlift one rider to hospital - not good at all.

About five miles later a guy came past with no race number and wearing full Sky kit. I assumed it was just some poser. He then launched himself right past our bunch and attacked off the front causing people who were actually in the race to give chase. He then eased right off and smiled at everyone as we came past - it was Alex Dowsett (the Sky pro who lives somewhere in Essex) on a training ride infiltrating the race. He then left us, but his 'attack' had livened things up and I was having to dig deep to stay in contact. Both my legs were cramping up now. For about the 8th time in the race there was a shout of 'Hole!' followed by a rider puncturing - I had to swerve to avoid him and as I did so I heard a shout behind me and immediately felt contact as my rear wheel hit someone's front wheel and he came crashing down. About five minutes after that (after 47 miles) I finally lost contact with the bunch. I wanted to stop then, but I needed to complete the race to pick up points for my club in a championship, so I had to grind my round the final 13 miles, first of all alone and then in the company of another dropped rider - we got passed by the elite race and Alex Dowsett again before we finished.

jeez NBS you're having a ruff time of it lately!

the dowsett thing is p. hilarious though. i got passed by jez hunt on my way to work in december, he spends the northern winter in melbourne. effortlessly darting through the traffic and rolling along 10km/h quicker than every other bike.

Dowsett tweeted about that yesterday, it was his first fast ride after having the pins out of his broken elbow.... On Wednesday...

I'll dig out the route NBS, we zoomed out of town on the a23 which is not all that but post gatwick we were on the old London-Brighton road which went through some cracking villages.

Yeah, I know lot of the roads in the Horsham-Crawley-Hayward's Heath-Brighton-Worthing area as my parents live round there - some great cycling and scenery.

Just seen this posted (elsewhere) by another rider (from yesterday's races):
There were a couple of crashes*, one bringing down a single rider who broke his collar bone, and the second taking down two when the first hit a big pothole on the sweepy s-bend just before the church. It was a pretty big impact at 30mph and he sustained a nasty bash to his face. Fortunately no teeth broken though he was air-ambulanced off to Addenbrookes no doubt for a head scan and further patching up - hope he is OK.
The potholes were a bit of a nightmare - some really big and deep and it was a struggle to avoid them all - I managed to snap my handlebars after going down a smaller one. I certainly wouldn't want to ride the course again until the majority have been filled in.

*in the elite race, not my one

Snapping handlebars is not cool, where was the race?

Oh, our route followed this:
http://www.hcvs.co.uk/page1-events_results/L-B%20Route%20Map%202012/New%20London%20to%20Brighton%20Route.jpg

We followed a whole load of old buses and stuff, really helped as the roundabouts were marshalled in Places

where was the race?
The middle of nowhere - northern Essex, west of Saffron Walden, in/near these villages: Radwinter, Wimbish, Thaxted, Great Sampford.

our route followed this
The A23 down past Gatwick and through Crawley can't have been that much fun. Handcross/Staplefield is my old stamping ground - I had a 10-mile training loop which went up a long hill that you would have gone down.

Just found Clayton Hill on the map - can't believe you were on the A23 for the stretch from there to the outskirts of Brighton - that's practically a motorway!

The a23 was ok, it was pretty early on a Sunday morning and rather quiet. But the final approach to Brighton was interesting, tailwind whipped us along and we were quicker than most of the bank holiday traffic tbh. Clayton hill was worth doing, easier than ditchling, which I never do well on and yeah, handcross etc were the highlights. I don't doubt the hill you mean was the one I was pitying poor buggers at the foot of going the other way...

Four of us set out intending to do 50 miles at 1:30pm. I was the only one who made it back, and I only managed 35 miles. Peter pulled out only 4 miles in with a twinge in his knee (he had run 10km this morning, to be fair), Alex was bonking hard after some serious hills 15 miles in, and Steve stacked it on a 25% gradient zig-zagging descent after 20 miles and ended up embedded in a hedge; Alex burst his front tyre braking as Steve crashed. I was at the bottom of the hill waiting for the, round a bend and out of site of Steve's crash. After a couple of minutes I reasoned they weren't just hanging on the brakes, and started walking back up the hill, to see Steve and Alex walking round the corner, Steve with his bike on his right shoulder, and his left side covered in scratches and blood and grass stains. Alone, I did the direct route home as fast as I could, 15 miles in about 39 minutes. Quite an afternoon!

At least you were OK. I hate steep descents - a burst tyre on a 25% zigzag is something I'd be very keen to avoid. No cycling this weekend for me (kids birthday stuff + a cold). I did go out on Friday afternoon, though, and did 53 miles despite having a cold - not actually a wise decision, but the problem with racing is that you feel compelled to keep your fitness up at the expense of common sense.

In San Diego for the weekend, asked an old dude for directions, we started chatting, turns out he invented Speedplay pedals. Got a fifty miles guided tour and some good stories. Apparently Peter Sagan was challenged to an arm-wrestling match by some beefy guy in a bar; Peter broke the guy's forearm.

Cool!

Steve reports via Twitter this morning: "yea I'm ok. Few tender spots but I'll survive." Which is good!

Sunshine at last! Bolted down my dinner then rode over to Hog Hill, got there after the tens (individual time trial) had started but was still in time to register and have ten minutes to get my number on and get ready before I was off. I was setting a pretty good pace and coming past people on the climb but then at about 7 miles down I completely blew up - I got a painful stitch and had to completely ease off and take deep breaths to try and feel more comfortable. I haven't checked yet, but I'm pretty sure my time (28.37) was slower than either time I did it last summer and probably slower than the times I did the summer before - despite this, I've rarely felt quite so bad immediately after a race.

Set out at 8:30 this morning under bright blue skies and did 60 miles of Devonshire hills and rivers in just over four hours. Had company for the first 40 miles until Ben's legs started turning to jelly (he's never done more than 20 miles in a go before, rugby player, though not not big like that suggests, rather than cyclist). 3,000 feet of climbing, absolutely amazing countryside and weather all the way. I did the Teign river valley, the Exe estuary, Woodbury Common, Haldon golf course, touched Dartmoor... Absolutely wonderful.

Gorgeous weather, 10.2 mile time trial in the morning, just 5 seconds off my course best.

~60mi from mpls to stillwater. perfect weather, good company, easy skankin

we must have looked an odd trio tho: I was in full kit on my shiny new (to me) carbon road bike, friend was on her long haul trucker in comfy sporty clothes, other fiend was on a janky SS wearing a ratty tshirt and bike shorts. the second leg of the trip starts out with a hill that kicks up to 13% in bits, mike was fucking crosseyed for much of the ride home

fiend = friend, but it sorta fits, dude has gone bonkers for cycling after years of inactivity, it's great

I did a 14 mile ride on a smooth dirt road with my 6 y/o and 8 y/o. The road has goes along the South Platte River up to big dam, and is closed to cars for the most part. Almost zero complaining, so it was a bit of a miracle. Plus, we saw a small herd of bighorn sheep up close, which the kids enjoyed. The ride also featured a short 8% climb side challenge, and I was bowled over by their enthusiasm and energy.

In Malibu for a wedding, got some riding in. Saturday was 55 miles of mostly canyons, 5k feet of climbing, gorgeous stuff. Stupidly, I started the ride with a big climb without warming up. Ride ended with a long headwind slog on the Pacific Coast Highway.

Next day I just head north on the PCH, which starts out with some rollers before going flat and rustic - just a plunging rock face, road and ocean. I head out fifteen miles before turning around. Felt like I had a tailwind so I'm expecting a headwind the other way - but there's no change, and now that I'm warmed up I can up the speed without really working hard. As perfect a ride as I've had.

The ride also featured a short 8% climb side challenge, and I was bowled over by their enthusiasm and energy.

Typical weight weenies.

ha, the 6 y/o had just got a new bike with 7 spds, w/ no granny, so her low gear isn't that low, but she rode up the hill until she was crying because he legs were burning so badly. then she halted, waited 30 secs, remounted, and rode the final 100m. then flopped on the grass and rubbed her legs. she really is badass in a way her brother just isn't.

noob here. have biked 15 days in a row. biked 0 days in about 10 years before that :)

good work bnw!

hunt3r that story is hilariously awesome.

thx, haitch.

bnw, i hope it is (or becomes) something you love to do.

it hurts, sometimes

You must make her brother badass. Whiny boys grow into indolent men (speaking from experience here!).

After seemingly innumerable glorious days and some great cycling (including, most memorably, a mammoth 80 mile ride with my best cycling friend up and over the Crow Road last week), it finally rained today, but it actually felt good!

Put up a new Pb in all but one of my strava sections on my ride home last night. Really pleased with that, definitely getting stronger if not thinner...

Is there any way of seeing prior performances on a strava section rather than yr current Pb? Would like to see progress.

yes, there is a tab named "my results" on the left side of the segment leaderboard.

v. useful to compare performances imo. have subdued my instincts to go too hard, too early after watching myself die near the top of hills too often.

thanks folks - hiding in plain sight, nice.

Five thousand fixed-gear miles in five months!

Did a race at Hog Hill today in very windy conditions. There were just 29 starters and the bunch was getting whittled down each time up the hill. After about 25 minutes (of an hour-long race) a big attack strung everything out and I found myself at the rear of a group of about 6 with a leading group of 12 breaking away. As the gap edged up to 50 metres it was clear they weren't coming back and I thought "it's now or never" and attacked off the front of my group. After a couple of minutes in no-man's land on my own I managed to bridge across. Nobody else made it. Unfortunately it took a bit out of me and I got dropped with 4 laps to go and soloed in to grab either 12th or 13th spot.