- This is from a few weeks ago - Sunday 29th Sep. James & I had been planning on joining the Lincoln Wheelers for a trip into the peak district for a few weeks. It would his first time cycling there and my second after the Rapha Condor JLT day although a bit further north this time.Just after I'd packed both bikes in the car about 7am James rang me to say he didn't want to come because he was 'ill'. Then just as I was about to unpack the car (and go back to bed) he rang again to say "feck it" and that he would come.We got to the meeting point safely and all set off in one big group. At the first set of traffic lights we lost half the group then regrouped further down the road. Turned the corner and and there was a piss stop (less than 2 miles in), and as I stopped my tyre decided to randomly deflate completely - tube failure, not sure why! So changed that tube over and got on our way... (tube count: 1)After about 10miles we split into the short group but we missed our turning so had to get called back, but then 2 other guys went another mile or so down the road, up a big hill before realising they'd lost us! Oops. The next 10 miles or so was fairly uneventful... lots of lovely hills though. Then we had a truely epic decent for about 3 miles. I happened to be leading the group at the time and used the empty roads to my full advantage. I don't think my speed down there was insane but easily hit 30mph for a sustained period of time. Possibly the most fun I've ever had on a bike! But then James had a blow out, a BANG and the seam of his inner tube failed. So we swapped that over and discovered that the tyre is a tad too big for the wheel (don't know how..) but anyway was a pain and used both of the tubes I had with me. (tube count: 2)Then we had lunch which was nice.. I had a scone and choc milkshake but most others had a full meal! I didn't think we really deserved a full meal as we'd only done 24miles with about 2000ft of climbing. After lunch we went straight into this huge Cat 3 climb, it was brutal but I loved it. The road just went on and on and then there was this switchback which was awesome. I lead up the climb the whole way and even unzipped my jersey for the cooling effect/to look like a pro. Eventually the others came over the top but we waited for ages for James... he finally comes over the ridge carrying his bike on his shoulders looking like a true hero! I thought he just couldn't make the hill but turns out he had another blowout! (tube count: 3)So we take the tyre off to discover that the inner wall/beading has come away and is popping all his inner tubes! Tried to cover the tyre wall with an energy bar wrapper but when pumped up another huge lump popped out... so had to leave James at the top of this hill on his own with a broken bike. Luckily it was a nice cark park with sun and shade and an ice cream man! Felt guilty leaving him but there was really nothing we could do...So we carried on, and actually had some brilliant descents but also at least 2 brutal hills - one felt like 10-12% for about a mile.. haven't checked it out on strava but it was HARD! Then going up another hill later on I got a 2nd puncture!! (tube count: 4) Again in my front wheel! - it was so annoying. So that was 4x those cheap Giant inner tubes which popped in one day... don't think I'll be buying them again!Then after that it was fairly okay - lots of hills, which I really enjoyed... I beat everyone to the top on every hill ;) felt quite strong and it was nice to get into a rhythm and get up to the top. The final road into Bolsover (where we were parked) was a big hill as well - a Cat 4 climb I believe! So was pretty tough but finally got to the car park, had to google a postcode for this random car park at the top of the hill and set off to find James!! Got myself an ice cream for my troubles and came home. Whew. Crazy, crazy day.We were out for over 6 hours for the 50miles (4:30 moving time) but I had a really great day - not sure if James enjoyed the experience quite so much! Will defiantly be doing the route again though as I really enjoyed it!Thanks for reading - this was an edited version of what I sent my friend straight after we got home so it was fresh in my mind. Here is a link to the strava.
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
Prendas Waterproof Cap Review
The comments were very, very good so off I popped to check out the website.
As I don't have too much spare cash (although I was very tempted) I opted for something fairly low price, the Prendas Waterproof Cap. I'm rather partial to a nice cotton cap so this was something slightly different. It cost £7.50 and included free delivery.
I came home today (2nd Oct) to find the cap from Prendas on my mat. Talk about quick delivery, wow! Already impressed with the cap I opened it up and put it straight on as I was heading out for a ride anyway.
First off the cap feels a little odd as it is a nylon exterior with a slight foam padding to the interior so it's nice and comfortable. It says Prendas on the peak and Ciclismo on the inside of the peak, in a very pleasing font.
The cap fitted well and looked good under my helmet and got some good attention from my ride buddy tonight. It kept my head nice and dry amid the evening showers and kept the sweat from my hair away from my helmet foam pads. Being a little thicker than cotton it is promising for those colder autumn and spring rides and I'm looking forward to showing it off more in the future.
Thanks to Prendas who can be found here. And the cap which can be found here.
Monday, 30 September 2013
Ready For Winter Part One
Back in April my sister in law and her boyfriend sent me Wiggle vouchers for my birthday. Well, I've finally got round to spending the money on a pair of Crud Roadracers Mk II! (Linky)
I had heard that they were a bit tricky to fit, and being quite an impractical person I set aside a few hours on Sunday afternoon after the World's Road Race to fit them onto my Bianchi so I can think about using it throughout Autumn and Winter as the roads get wetter.
From this experience I have concluded that tricky is an understatement! I found the instructions hard to understand and interpret and felt the explanations didn't really match up with the diagrams. Because of this I got off to quite a slow start and struggled to get going.
Once I'd figured out how to attach the lugs (is this a common word? Doesn't explain what they are..) and the other bits it came together fairly easily. Lots of dropping out the back wheel to fit and then popping it back into to check there's enough room but overall I was pleased with the result.
The front wheel was easier but also fits less well. The way I've fitted it has made it wonky and even with tonnes of fiddling I can't quite get it to sit straight. This results in a tiny rub which is a bit annoying but hopefully after a few rides I'll be able to adjust it and get it just right!
This is how the bike looks with the mudguards fully fitted. You can see that the back goes really far down to protect you and any riders behind you. They are both held on by a cable tie through the guard and over the brake. The front also has good coverage and I look forward to stepping off the bike without the tell tale mud streak up my back.
My two favourite features of the Roadracers are certainly the ease of which you can raise or lower the mudguard to give a closer fit and also how the rear one protects the drive chain from muck as well as the saddle post/your arse.
Annoyingly as I was wheeling the bike back into the house the rear tail bit got stuck on the floor and snapped off where it was attached to the middle section of the mudguard. The damage isn't too bad and I'm hoping I can duck tape it back together but if not Crud helpfully do a bunch of spares for the roadracer. I can pick up a new middle section for a reasonable(ish) price of £6.50. Roadracer spares can be found here.
You may notice that the title of this post is Part One... Part Two of my winter conversion is twofold.
i) I am going to finally succumb to the fact that white bar tape doesn't stay white and going to purchase some black bar tape for the Bianchi.
ii) Not sure how sound this reasoning is but I plan on picking up some 25mm tyres for the Bianchi to give some extra stability on wet/slippy roads across winter time.
Overall I think the Crud Roadracer MkII look great, performed great on my short test ride but are a pain in the arse to fit and to adjust! Set aside major time to fit these, try not to lose too many of the tiny pieces and stay calm ;)
I had heard that they were a bit tricky to fit, and being quite an impractical person I set aside a few hours on Sunday afternoon after the World's Road Race to fit them onto my Bianchi so I can think about using it throughout Autumn and Winter as the roads get wetter.
From this experience I have concluded that tricky is an understatement! I found the instructions hard to understand and interpret and felt the explanations didn't really match up with the diagrams. Because of this I got off to quite a slow start and struggled to get going.
Once I'd figured out how to attach the lugs (is this a common word? Doesn't explain what they are..) and the other bits it came together fairly easily. Lots of dropping out the back wheel to fit and then popping it back into to check there's enough room but overall I was pleased with the result.
The front wheel was easier but also fits less well. The way I've fitted it has made it wonky and even with tonnes of fiddling I can't quite get it to sit straight. This results in a tiny rub which is a bit annoying but hopefully after a few rides I'll be able to adjust it and get it just right!
This is how the bike looks with the mudguards fully fitted. You can see that the back goes really far down to protect you and any riders behind you. They are both held on by a cable tie through the guard and over the brake. The front also has good coverage and I look forward to stepping off the bike without the tell tale mud streak up my back.
My two favourite features of the Roadracers are certainly the ease of which you can raise or lower the mudguard to give a closer fit and also how the rear one protects the drive chain from muck as well as the saddle post/your arse.
Annoyingly as I was wheeling the bike back into the house the rear tail bit got stuck on the floor and snapped off where it was attached to the middle section of the mudguard. The damage isn't too bad and I'm hoping I can duck tape it back together but if not Crud helpfully do a bunch of spares for the roadracer. I can pick up a new middle section for a reasonable(ish) price of £6.50. Roadracer spares can be found here.
You may notice that the title of this post is Part One... Part Two of my winter conversion is twofold.
i) I am going to finally succumb to the fact that white bar tape doesn't stay white and going to purchase some black bar tape for the Bianchi.
ii) Not sure how sound this reasoning is but I plan on picking up some 25mm tyres for the Bianchi to give some extra stability on wet/slippy roads across winter time.
Overall I think the Crud Roadracer MkII look great, performed great on my short test ride but are a pain in the arse to fit and to adjust! Set aside major time to fit these, try not to lose too many of the tiny pieces and stay calm ;)
Sunday, 1 September 2013
Sunday Club Ride....
...where the club was Continental team Rapha Condor JLT!
I saw on twitter on Friday that Rapha Condor JLT were hosting a team weekend in the Peak District were they were inviting fans to come and join them for breakfast, a ride, lunch and then a Q&A session. Obviously, I had to go!
So after a quick tweet to find their was still places left I persuaded my pal Alex to sign up with me and started making plans for the day.
Alex picked me up just after 7am and we piled the two bikes into his little Yaris and set off for the peaks. When we got to the pub (The Bull i' th' Thorn - can you get more Yorkshire?!) the car park was already packed full of riders and the Rapha Condor JLT transit van/mechanics mobile office. We put our bikes back together and left them by the car. As an aside, I hit a pothole yesterday on a ride and totalled my front wheel. Snapped 3 spokes and the wheel is in for repair :( Luckily I could use the Bianchi front wheel.
We went inside and had croissants & coffee (mmm!) as we prepared for the ride. The weather conditions weren't ideal, cold and windy and I'd only packed a short sleeve jersey and bibs - nightmare! I had some leg warmers but I'd just need to man up and embrace the cold on my top half. After standing next to an Olympic Gold Medallist (Ed Clancy) and ex-National Road Race Champ (Kristian House) they called us outside to get into groups after a quick briefing.
Alex and I set off in the third group led by Milk Race winner Felix English and new-Senior rider Hugh Carthy who has just been chosen to ride The Tour of Britain! The ride started off with a fairly epic descent on lovely quiet roads and moved quickly into the first Category 4 climb of the day. Alex got dropped on the first climb, caught up on the descent and then got dropped again on the 2nd climb. I didn't see him again after that.. I tried to feel a bit guilty but I was having too much fun!
The roads were quiet, the pace was quick enough and the Pro's were nice to talk to so I was having a whale of a time. One or two descents were a bit sketchy, one especially was on an awful road that was narrow, full of potholes and covered in slippy hay! Glad I got through it upright, I was a lot more nervous of the descents because of my off yesterday but didn't lose too much time.
There were two climbs of note, both around 16% one short which ended in a carpark with a tempting ice-cream van... and the other around 2miles long but did peter out near the top to around 7 or 8%. It was good to test my legs and I finished in the first 4 out of a group of 15ish on the climbs so although the pace wasn't particularly high on the flats everyone was giving it their all on the climbs (except the Pro's I guess..) so it was nice to confirm that I'm not absolutely awful. I did feel like I would need an extra gear on anything steeper (this was a Category 3 climb) so I think a 11-28T cassette might be on my Christmas list!
After a final lengthy descent and a long but shallow climb upwards we were back at the pub! Got myself a nice hot coffee and had a well deserved rest! Lunch was served soon after (pasta & spag bowl along with garlic bread) and I waited (and waited..) for Alex to get back. He turned up after about 45minutes having got a bit lost and tacked on 2 and a bit extra miles to his ride.
There was a clothing sale on too with 10% off Rapha Condor gear but I couldn't justify their prices (£22.50 for a cap, £9 for a water bottle!) and they even brought out some kit from a few seasons ago at highly discounted prices (£50 for a jersey and £70 for bibshorts) and although they look classy and probably very comfortable those prices are a bit ludicrous for someone like me.
The lady from Condor handed out a goodie bag which was unexpected. It was a Rapha mussette containing an SIS bottle and energy bar and the Rapha Condor JLT 'Summer' booklet worth at least £15 for the goodie bag. After lunch we all stood around and their was a Q&A with the riders and team manager. There were some interesting questions asked such as favourite race this year, budget for a team like RC JLT and how they expect the young riders to develop over the next few seasons.
The surprising things I took from this are
a) Once the riders reach 23, if they haven't progressed to a team at a higher level they will probably be let go to find another 3rd tier team
b) They are scouted by being 'not quite good enough' for the British Cycling programme (that Cav, Wiggo, Kennaugh etc came through) and they all seemed fairly happy with that assessment.
c) The young riders don't get paid! They get all the gear for free and all their expenses (travel, foot etc) paid for but they don't actually earn a salary from it. One of the guys has been offered a place at Cambridge Uni but has turned it down to try and make it as a bike racer - a bit crazy!
After some final words we applauded the riders and thanked them all for coming today and agreed we all had a great time. I hope Rapha Condor JLT do this sort of thing next year because I will definitely be going along!
The day only cost £10 and I think that is truly outstanding value. Decent breakfast, ride with the pros, lunch, Q&A + a goodie bag made for a very, very worthwhile Sunday!
Strava ride can be found here: http://www.strava.com/activities/79214554
Some pictures from the day:
I saw on twitter on Friday that Rapha Condor JLT were hosting a team weekend in the Peak District were they were inviting fans to come and join them for breakfast, a ride, lunch and then a Q&A session. Obviously, I had to go!
So after a quick tweet to find their was still places left I persuaded my pal Alex to sign up with me and started making plans for the day.
Alex picked me up just after 7am and we piled the two bikes into his little Yaris and set off for the peaks. When we got to the pub (The Bull i' th' Thorn - can you get more Yorkshire?!) the car park was already packed full of riders and the Rapha Condor JLT transit van/mechanics mobile office. We put our bikes back together and left them by the car. As an aside, I hit a pothole yesterday on a ride and totalled my front wheel. Snapped 3 spokes and the wheel is in for repair :( Luckily I could use the Bianchi front wheel.
We went inside and had croissants & coffee (mmm!) as we prepared for the ride. The weather conditions weren't ideal, cold and windy and I'd only packed a short sleeve jersey and bibs - nightmare! I had some leg warmers but I'd just need to man up and embrace the cold on my top half. After standing next to an Olympic Gold Medallist (Ed Clancy) and ex-National Road Race Champ (Kristian House) they called us outside to get into groups after a quick briefing.
Alex and I set off in the third group led by Milk Race winner Felix English and new-Senior rider Hugh Carthy who has just been chosen to ride The Tour of Britain! The ride started off with a fairly epic descent on lovely quiet roads and moved quickly into the first Category 4 climb of the day. Alex got dropped on the first climb, caught up on the descent and then got dropped again on the 2nd climb. I didn't see him again after that.. I tried to feel a bit guilty but I was having too much fun!
The roads were quiet, the pace was quick enough and the Pro's were nice to talk to so I was having a whale of a time. One or two descents were a bit sketchy, one especially was on an awful road that was narrow, full of potholes and covered in slippy hay! Glad I got through it upright, I was a lot more nervous of the descents because of my off yesterday but didn't lose too much time.
There were two climbs of note, both around 16% one short which ended in a carpark with a tempting ice-cream van... and the other around 2miles long but did peter out near the top to around 7 or 8%. It was good to test my legs and I finished in the first 4 out of a group of 15ish on the climbs so although the pace wasn't particularly high on the flats everyone was giving it their all on the climbs (except the Pro's I guess..) so it was nice to confirm that I'm not absolutely awful. I did feel like I would need an extra gear on anything steeper (this was a Category 3 climb) so I think a 11-28T cassette might be on my Christmas list!
After a final lengthy descent and a long but shallow climb upwards we were back at the pub! Got myself a nice hot coffee and had a well deserved rest! Lunch was served soon after (pasta & spag bowl along with garlic bread) and I waited (and waited..) for Alex to get back. He turned up after about 45minutes having got a bit lost and tacked on 2 and a bit extra miles to his ride.
There was a clothing sale on too with 10% off Rapha Condor gear but I couldn't justify their prices (£22.50 for a cap, £9 for a water bottle!) and they even brought out some kit from a few seasons ago at highly discounted prices (£50 for a jersey and £70 for bibshorts) and although they look classy and probably very comfortable those prices are a bit ludicrous for someone like me.
The lady from Condor handed out a goodie bag which was unexpected. It was a Rapha mussette containing an SIS bottle and energy bar and the Rapha Condor JLT 'Summer' booklet worth at least £15 for the goodie bag. After lunch we all stood around and their was a Q&A with the riders and team manager. There were some interesting questions asked such as favourite race this year, budget for a team like RC JLT and how they expect the young riders to develop over the next few seasons.
The surprising things I took from this are
a) Once the riders reach 23, if they haven't progressed to a team at a higher level they will probably be let go to find another 3rd tier team
b) They are scouted by being 'not quite good enough' for the British Cycling programme (that Cav, Wiggo, Kennaugh etc came through) and they all seemed fairly happy with that assessment.
c) The young riders don't get paid! They get all the gear for free and all their expenses (travel, foot etc) paid for but they don't actually earn a salary from it. One of the guys has been offered a place at Cambridge Uni but has turned it down to try and make it as a bike racer - a bit crazy!
After some final words we applauded the riders and thanked them all for coming today and agreed we all had a great time. I hope Rapha Condor JLT do this sort of thing next year because I will definitely be going along!
The day only cost £10 and I think that is truly outstanding value. Decent breakfast, ride with the pros, lunch, Q&A + a goodie bag made for a very, very worthwhile Sunday!
Strava ride can be found here: http://www.strava.com/activities/79214554
Some pictures from the day:
Friday, 30 August 2013
Skegness & back. Ride review
Bank Holiday Monday's are literally designed for cycling. I am convinced.
This summers Bank Holiday was no different. Five of us set out to make the trip to Skegness and back with varying results.
The five of us (Me, James, Ash, Hayley & Faye) set off just after 8 from Lincoln city centre. We stayed altogether for the first 5 miles or so feeling like a pro peloton roaming the lands. Ash dropped back after a while, preferring to stick to his own steady pace whilst the four of us ploughed on.
When we turned we waited for Ash so he didn't get lost and carried on our way. We got to Horncastle uneventfully and headed through Mareham and out towards Spilsby. Somewhere on the way to Spilsby James turned off to pack in an extra hill and Ash fell behind and missed a turning. Hayley, Faye and me rejoined with James in Spilsby though we had no idea what had happened to Ash.
We carried on through some back roads and got lost a few times.. (stupid Garmin) but eventually made it to Skeg feeling hungry and rather warm! Ash turned up not long after and it transpired he followed the busy A-road to the beach and probably did a few less miles too.
After lunch we headed back through the north of Spilsby to get in a few of the climbs for the upcoming sportive. These weren't too hard and even the long drag up one hill was relatively simple once I got into my rhythm. Doing the most amount of miles on the bike recently that I can remember so relatively pleased with my progress and feeling of strength!
Ash disappeared off down the main A road again and we had a bit of a stop-start time through to Horncastle. At Horncastle Faye decided to carry on a bit slower and eventually got picked up by her mum. The last 20odd miles were just Hayley, James & me and we soon got a bit of through and off going, though once the pace was high James fell behind and we carried on towards Bardney.
We stopped for a drink and rejoined James and collectively decided to abandon plans that added a further 10 miles to our trip and included the 1/6 (16%) climb of Michaelgate. Will save that beast for another time..
Got home after a full day of cycling, being very burnt and feeling rather good about it all. Garmin stopped a couple of times so inaccurate Strava records but I think we came in at just over 100 miles for the day - my first ton!
Been off the bike this week since but very excited about this weekend. Have 85miles planned tomorrow and then something super exciting on Sunday which I hope to report on Sunday evening or early next week. Stay tuned!
Here are a few photos from Monday:
Standing on a hay bale with Hayley
Standing on it by myself
And here are my cracking tan/burn lines :)
This summers Bank Holiday was no different. Five of us set out to make the trip to Skegness and back with varying results.
The five of us (Me, James, Ash, Hayley & Faye) set off just after 8 from Lincoln city centre. We stayed altogether for the first 5 miles or so feeling like a pro peloton roaming the lands. Ash dropped back after a while, preferring to stick to his own steady pace whilst the four of us ploughed on.
When we turned we waited for Ash so he didn't get lost and carried on our way. We got to Horncastle uneventfully and headed through Mareham and out towards Spilsby. Somewhere on the way to Spilsby James turned off to pack in an extra hill and Ash fell behind and missed a turning. Hayley, Faye and me rejoined with James in Spilsby though we had no idea what had happened to Ash.
We carried on through some back roads and got lost a few times.. (stupid Garmin) but eventually made it to Skeg feeling hungry and rather warm! Ash turned up not long after and it transpired he followed the busy A-road to the beach and probably did a few less miles too.
After lunch we headed back through the north of Spilsby to get in a few of the climbs for the upcoming sportive. These weren't too hard and even the long drag up one hill was relatively simple once I got into my rhythm. Doing the most amount of miles on the bike recently that I can remember so relatively pleased with my progress and feeling of strength!
Ash disappeared off down the main A road again and we had a bit of a stop-start time through to Horncastle. At Horncastle Faye decided to carry on a bit slower and eventually got picked up by her mum. The last 20odd miles were just Hayley, James & me and we soon got a bit of through and off going, though once the pace was high James fell behind and we carried on towards Bardney.
We stopped for a drink and rejoined James and collectively decided to abandon plans that added a further 10 miles to our trip and included the 1/6 (16%) climb of Michaelgate. Will save that beast for another time..
Got home after a full day of cycling, being very burnt and feeling rather good about it all. Garmin stopped a couple of times so inaccurate Strava records but I think we came in at just over 100 miles for the day - my first ton!
Been off the bike this week since but very excited about this weekend. Have 85miles planned tomorrow and then something super exciting on Sunday which I hope to report on Sunday evening or early next week. Stay tuned!
Here are a few photos from Monday:
Standing on a hay bale with Hayley
Standing on it by myself
And here are my cracking tan/burn lines :)
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Le Petit Grand Prix - Sportive Preperation
Well, I have signed up for my first sportive - Le Petit Grand Prix in Lincoln. It is the 'baby sister' of the Lincoln Grand Prix sportive held the day before the Univeristy of Lincoln Grand Prix in May each year. (Won this year by Sky rider Peter Kennaugh.)
Le Petit Grand Prix is 110 miles (176km) across the Lincolnshire Wolds and it include 5x Cat4 climbs. After my recent trip to the Isle of Wight I feel I am hopefully well equipped to tackle these hills. They shouldn't be too tough - they are Cat4 after all - but they do come fairly late on in the day. At 50km, 65km, 104km, 112km & 131km. With the first and last being the hardest of the 5. None of them are over 3% in average gradient though and the longest is just 2.78km long I'm confident they won't pose too much trouble for me.
I'm looking forward to this event - my first mass cycling event that isn't part of a triathlon. I have stepped up my training recently on my new bike, to be doing some interval stuff as well as longer rides - with the aim of my rides to be a bit more focused, rather than my usual style of a casual ride.
I'm also going to get the Bianchi on the turbo as much as I can to work on some top end power and keep the legs ticking over when it's not possible to get out on the bike for various reasons.
The event is just under 3 weeks away and in that time I plan to cycle to Skegness and back with a group of friends (100 miles/160km in one day with a break in the middle), and complete either the short or medium version of the course.
Realistically my first target for this event is to finish (!) and my second would be to come in under 7 hours. (Average about 15.7mph) Hopefully with a biggish group and/or adrenaline etc I should be okay.
Although 3 weeks isn't the longest time to get ready for an event like this I'm sure that I will be okay if I stick to my training plan (hill repeats tonight...yay.../sarcasm) and my base fitness is up a bit from when I came back from honeymoon.
Will update after Skegness ride next week with an update on training.
New Bicycle!
Well, well. After not really looking for a new bike I found one! Oops! Browsing gumtree one morning I found a fully carbon Ridley bike with Ultegra groupset (+ upgraded Dura Ace crankset and Dura Ace brake levers) at a very reasonable price.
After some quick negotiation with the DS/Wife we agreed I could purchase said bike if we went ahead and bought ourselves a dog. So now we have a new bike and a puppy on its way to our marital home.
Here are some pictures of the bike.
More can be found here
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