your daily bicycle log

my biggest day ever yesterday! 100.7 miles, 7,600 feet of climb. three people out of five dropped out. i may have kept some people waiting on some hilltops, but i finished, feeling fine. good day.

Resolved to do 70 mi and 7k of climbing, I did 5k of climbing and feeling great- rear flat in rain storm. Fix it, went .5 miles front flatted. Sitting on the side of the road, waiting for a lift. (used my spare tube, patch didn't happen 4 me, out of co2 anyway). May I should start carrying a pump again, I hear having a heavy bike will make my training better.)

Six thousand fixed-gear miles in six months!

Did reckon with the Pittsburgh regatta when out today. Not entirely sure what it is but it seems to consist of a bunch of partially clothed drunks floating in the river and lolling in parking lots that culminates with a Kenny Chesney concert.

Damned hot again today.

two flats on saturday - think something's up with the sidewall of the back tyre. was going to get some new GP4000s anyway so no biggie i guess, plus it's raining all week up to saturday so they should be here by then!

two flats on saturday - think something's up with the sidewall of the back tyre.

had this recently. took me an embarrassingly long time to work out what it was tho.

Got drenched yesterday. Didn't learn my lesson. Set off again today when the eternal rain had eased a bit. Roads flooded all over the place. At one point I was 'riding' through at least 18 inches of water. I tried to escape this by going onto a main road instead of country lanes, only to find this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXH9R0E-1v8&feature=youtu.be
It took me quite a few diversions and a bit of walking off road to get home. The heavens opened to give me a torrential downpour for the last five minutes, just to make my day. When I finally got in I discovered squashed bits of slug smeered all down the sides of my cycling shoes. What a summer.

(I can't see anything above where I posted a youtube clip, try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXH9R0E-1v8&feature=youtu.be)

Can't even see my link now? In formatting hell, one last try: View this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXH9R0E-1v8

not cycling weather imo

72 miles and 7300 ft of vert feelin like total shit in the cold, fog, and rain. at 5:45 AM. outcome- 14mph avg! *hits mental erase button*

Went out for a brief 30k on my way back was wing mirrored by an E350 box truck. Not too bad some minor bruising but the driver who did at least stop wasn't very apologetic and initially wouldn't give his details without the police being there but then relented when I said I was happy to wait.

Asked me if I was a Christian as if it would be OK to run me over if I had another life to move onto.

Wing mirrored as in clipped by a car coming from behind you? yuck

exactly. At least it was high up and caught a fleshy part. (of which I have many)

lol

the commuter is in getting a service so i've been running errands in the rain this morning on a loaner - this sikkkk rig. 'cept it's orange! quite stately form of progress i must say.

That gearing wouldn't disgrace an SS 29er

does the suspension seatpost help smooth the bumps?

it just feels a bit bouncy really, i didn't like it. that and the squidgy seat are the main drawbacks.

having said that i didn't seek out any five-star sectors to give it a REAL test...

Went on a group ride from local coffee shop. A little shambolic. Advertised as a no drop but appears to have morphed into dual drop and no-drop rides. Given I was able to keep with the front group it wasn't too hot a pace. Made it up the only significant climb paced by a girl on a fixie, I tried to take a turn and couldn't. All went well till I punctured before the last kick up of the day.

Fun ride.

rode out to the CX race, stood at the mud pit, clanked the cowbell, got draaank

70 miles today with a hangover and minimal sleep

I did some of the dc-pittsburgh ride with friends this weekend. Wasn't meant to be back today but something cause my rear mech to get sucked into my spokes on the climb of the day (and the route really) It ripped the mech and hanger off. I made the bike a single speed and finished the day. I had to abandon and ride back down. The frame may well be trashed which sucks

Now I've got the Garmin I've signed up to Strava. Did a short (20-mile) ride today with a couple of all-out efforts on the climbs to how I'd rank on those segments. There were two versions of the first climb (depending on whether you start measuring from the start of the uphill section or the start of the steepest section) - I managed to get King of the Mountains for one version and second best time on the other version (out of 105 riders)! I also managed to get 3rd out of 71 on the final climb.
http://app.strava.com/rides/13827539#254547543
http://app.strava.com/rides/13827539#254547557
http://app.strava.com/rides/13827539#254547541
On that last climb I'm ranked between someone with a power output of 432w and someone with 375w - can I safely assume mine was somewhere in between?

After a spirited night out yesterday, I woke up too late to head to Arran walking with my mum & sister this morning, so decided that I would cycle out to Ardrossan to meet them off the ferry back, as a surprise. I got soaked on the way there and, after huddling in an abandoned cow shed in East Ayrshire for half an hour unsuccessfully waiting for the deluge to cease, I only just made it, shooting down the A-road hill to the coast as the ferry pulled in, then got lost around Irvine on the way back and ended up nudging 80 miles (solo, fixed gear) on one dextro tablet, a really dreadful cup of coffee from the cafe in Ardrossan Asda and a whole heap of water.

I loved it!

Your fixed gear exploits genuinely terrify me

Rides like that would be better with a freewheel and gears really, but hey ho!

did group ride for local fancy shop t0tal ru$h w/ my main riding pal after much badgering. weather was good and there would have been 50+ riders in the bunch. testing but manageable pace on the way down the coast, but got caught out at a stoplight and lost the main bunch, then some others in my straggler group pulled the pin a couple of kms before the main turnaround point so I turned early and rode solo back, thinking I'd catch back on when the bunch came by. ended up making it back to the regroup point as the main bunch did; the 15 'leaders' blew by about 5km before (pace was HOT).

entertaining to an extent, but a bit miffed that some guy behind me reckoned I wasn't calling out potholes - well nobody in front of me was either pal, maybe get irate at someone in shop colours rather than me when I'm sat near the back trying to stay out of trouble. also beach rd is boring. think I'll stick to lumpy rides.

bike has developed annoying creak from around BB area during out-of-saddle efforts, which is a bit annoying.

Sunshine at last (after a summer which has broken all known records for shitness). Did my club's 25-mile time trial this morning and broke my PB (1:06:09, ten seconds quicker than my previous best a couple of years ago). Now that I've got the Garmin I can actually analyze the performance and route. As I suspected, the return leg is much harder - approx 50m of climbing and 110m of descending on the way out, the opposite on the way back - which isn't helped by the fact there's almost always a strong tailwind on the way out and headwind on the way back. This was the case again today, I averaged 25mph to the turn and a whisker under 21mph on the way back. My heart rate averaged 176 - I think there's something I'm supposed to be able to calculate now I know that, but I've forgotten what.
http://app.strava.com/rides/14125177#263658077

If you have strava premium it'll estimate your power which for that effort should be your Threshold power.

Ah - so the power figures which other riders have are mostly estimates, are they? I noticed that a minority of them have an 'electricity' symbol next them, presumably these are actual measurements from power meters and the rest are just guesses?

strava power estimates are good for longer climbs. they're not so good for tts ime if you are on aero gear.

i was extreme today according to strava. not fast, just...extreeeeme.

http://app.strava.com/rides/14168117

Today I was mainly pedalling squares. I think I need to invest in a compact crank.

INTERVENTION TIME

I'd hoped to have done 2000 miles by this point this yeah, but the weather has been so awful that I've only managed 1200. It's thoroughly depressing. Still, the summer has finally arrived, and I have tomorrow booked off with the aim of doing 100 miles in a day with my bro-in-law.

Intervene away.

dont do it, your chain line will never be right. it's a fad. youre plenty strong enough, hell, you hardly even need an inner. pedaling squares is cool. bike parts are never a good investment no matter what i told mrs hunt3r just the other day.

see?

ed, someday you're gonna neeeeeeed that 53x11 and don't come crying to me.

My summer break has started and I'm determined to make the most of this heatwave to make up for all the rides in the rain I've had to do recently. Today I rode up to Cambridge and got the train back (67 miles all in). Surprisingly hilly and very hot.

was gonna ask how you got back once you're all the way out there. how hot is "hot"?

Probably not that hot by your standards. We don't really do extremes around here. Officially it reached 28C (82F) in the shade yesterday and Garmin claims it reached 33C (91.5F) on my ride. To put it in perspective I had a six or seven week stretch of riding under grey skies with occasional torrential rain where the temperature rarely nudged 20C (68F) and was often a very unseasonal 14C (57F), so it feels like I've suddenly been plucked out of an eternal October and landed in the Sahara.

yeah, i expect it's humid as well. humidity adds like 10 deg of misery imo.

my ride to work was so pleasant this morning, 70 deg, the mountains looked crisp and beautiful, people weren't assholes.

Another 57 miles today. Even hotter this time - garmin says the average temperature was 29C, but the wind when I was riding had a cooling effect. Whenever I stopped in the sun the temperature shot right up, at one point (when I finally found a shop where I could buy more drink) it reached 40C (104F)! The tarmac was melting in some places. That's 125 miles in two days or about 160 miles in three days including a race. I'm knackered.

Felt much better yesterday evening. just 40km flat spin after work, would have done more but it was getting dark. Still only using the larger half of my block.

100 miles.

I fear I may die in my sleep tonight.

Well done. It's my target to do a 100-mile ride at some point in the next three weeks.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/crunchydog_2006/DSC01817a.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/crunchydog_2006/DSC01820a.jpg

Good coffee shop ride this evening, I beat all bar two up the final hill so compact cranks can suck it.

Couple of things I'm noticing, and I should check the data

1) Recent change of stem to put the bars out and down a little means I can spend way more time comfortably on the drops

2) I think my comfortable cadence is higher this year than last, I should check the data

Punctured again too, I need to see what is up with the whole rear wheel/tyre business.

Good stuff everyone!

I watched the BBC documentary on Victoria Pendleton the other night and recommend it - incredible pressure, I really felt for her.

It's on iPlayer until tonight: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01l1yl4/Victoria_Pendleton_Cyclings_Golden_Girl/