Getting into cycling

ThePrettyDamned

littlegreenman said:

Coast to Coast done! Albeit the "easy way".

216.9 Kms and 3279 m of climbing. The Pro's in Le Tour would do that in 6 hours or so!!! My riding time was just over 14 hours over 5 days, like I said, "easy".

I did finally figure out how to do climbs over 12% though, the answer being "very slowly"...

Holy cow, well done!

ThePrettyDamned

Another 20k for me today, bringing my total this week to 53km.

Chuffed! Feel absolutely exhausted right now, but I certainly did the first 10k into town today much more comfortably. I didn't eat or rest in town either, just wandered for an hour and came back. Feeling knackered! 

littlegreenman

This was a bit hard!

joneve

littlegreenman said:

This was a bit hard!

Chapeau sir! 

crunchman

Ride London tomorrow.  Weather forecast is good, althugh 25C by midday is going to be quite warm.

joneve

crunchman said:

Ride London tomorrow.  Weather forecast is good, althugh 25C by midday is going to be quite warm.

Bit late now, but I’ve just discovered Tailwind Nutrition, which seems to be the best drink for endurance rides 

ThePrettyDamned

littlegreenman said:

This was a bit hard!

Yeah but mate I did 20km in Cambridgeshire. 

A whole 24m of elevation. And I felt every damn centimetre... I hope I can one day be half as fit as you must be! 

Jaycee

I did  78 miles last week with my brother in law. I hadn't fueled up for it so it was a bit of a struggle. Just over 5,000 feet of elevation.

I like to eat well for the two preceeding days, have a reaqsonable breakfast and take a few Bananas and a few gels as well as electrolyte tabs in my waterbottles and a few extra in the bag.

ewal

I had planned to go out today for my usual weekend 50 miles or so, but woke up fairly steady rain. Nowadays that's enough to put me off - I've grown soft with age...

I don't really do any pre-ride fuelling, just take a banana and a couple of cereal bars with me. I think your body slowly adjusts over the years.

ThePrettyDamned

My legs ache today. I'm so unfit. But hey, it's all part of the journey... Hopefully I'll be well enough to do another 22km tomorrow. 

crunchman

Back from RideLondon.  46 miles in 2h 43m.  Better than I thought I would do.  Now I'm having mad thoughts about having a go at the 100 mile one next year.

drofluf

25 miles with close to 2200’ climbing before breakfast for me today. Doubt I’ll be able to walk tomorrow. 

ewal

I did go out in the end and did a 45 mile loop. I actually found the rain quite refreshing. 

Johnnyseven

crunchman said:

Back from RideLondon.  46 miles in 2h 43m.  Better than I thought I would do.  Now I'm having mad thoughts about having a go at the 100 mile one next year.

Do it!

We only managed 86 miles due to both Leith and Box Hill being closed when we got there. We were there in time too but apparently a tree came down on Leith Hill and both hills had accidents causing big tail backs. My wife was quite relieved, she was strughling a bit by that point. A good day though but a bit hot, as you rightly said before.

joneve said:

crunchman said:

Ride London tomorrow.  Weather forecast is good, althugh 25C by midday is going to be quite warm.

Bit late now, but I’ve just discovered Tailwind Nutrition, which seems to be the best drink for endurance rides 

My wife uses this stuff for running, she swears by it!

drofluf

25 miles with close to 2200’ climbing before breakfast for me today. Doubt I’ll be able to walk tomorrow. 

crunchman

Johnnyseven said:

crunchman said:

Back from RideLondon.  46 miles in 2h 43m.  Better than I thought I would do.  Now I'm having mad thoughts about having a go at the 100 mile one next year.

Do it!

We only managed 86 miles due to both Leith and Box Hill being closed when we got there. We were there in time too but apparently a tree came down on Leith Hill and both hills had accidents causing big tail backs. My wife was quite relieved, she was strughling a bit by that point. A good day though but a bit hot, as you rightly said before.

86 miles is still a long way.  I passed a few of the early starters from the100 mile route in the later stages after the routes joined back together.  Some of them were really struggling.  Say well done to your wife.

joneve

Johnnyseven said:

crunchman said:

Back from RideLondon.  46 miles in 2h 43m.  Better than I thought I would do.  Now I'm having mad thoughts about having a go at the 100 mile one next year.

Do it!

We only managed 86 miles due to both Leith and Box Hill being closed when we got there. We were there in time too but apparently a tree came down on Leith Hill and both hills had accidents causing big tail backs. My wife was quite relieved, she was strughling a bit by that point. A good day though but a bit hot, as you rightly said before.

joneve said:

crunchman said:

Ride London tomorrow.  Weather forecast is good, althugh 25C by midday is going to be quite warm.

Bit late now, but I’ve just discovered Tailwind Nutrition, which seems to be the best drink for endurance rides 

My wife uses this stuff for running, she swears by it!

FFS. EVERY single year there are multiple bad accidents at RideLondon  

And yea, I used it for the first time on Saturday. Was lethargic anyway as I'd been woken up super early by our little boy...so didn't feel like I had anything all day, but still maintained an OK pace and never felt weak from lack of food. 

Hopefully will help me through IM Copenhagen in a few weeks! 

crunchman

joneve said:

Johnnyseven said:

crunchman said:

Back from RideLondon.  46 miles in 2h 43m.  Better than I thought I would do.  Now I'm having mad thoughts about having a go at the 100 mile one next year.

Do it!

We only managed 86 miles due to both Leith and Box Hill being closed when we got there. We were there in time too but apparently a tree came down on Leith Hill and both hills had accidents causing big tail backs. My wife was quite relieved, she was strughling a bit by that point. A good day though but a bit hot, as you rightly said before.

joneve said:

crunchman said:

Ride London tomorrow.  Weather forecast is good, althugh 25C by midday is going to be quite warm.

Bit late now, but I’ve just discovered Tailwind Nutrition, which seems to be the best drink for endurance rides 

My wife uses this stuff for running, she swears by it!

FFS. EVERY single year there are multiple bad accidents at RideLondon  

And yea, I used it for the first time on Saturday. Was lethargic anyway as I'd been woken up super early by our little boy...so didn't feel like I had anything all day, but still maintained an OK pace and never felt weak from lack of food. 

Hopefully will help me through IM Copenhagen in a few weeks! 

The roads are very crowded.

On the 46 mile version, there were a lot of inexperienced slow cyclists you who veered all over the place.  I was in one of the later waves, so I didn't really get clear of them until somewhere around Kingston.  Even then, I had someone pretty much come to a stop in front of me on Wimbledon Hill.

The first 10 miles were especially bad, as you have the slow people from the earlier waves, and some fast nutters trying to force their way through, and the rest of us somewhere in between.

I imagine the 100 mile version might be a bit better, as you won't have as many of those really slow people, but  I wonder if they might be better off have if they have 10% less people in each wave, and spread it out over an hour or so extra..

benecol

drofluf said:

25 miles with close to 2200’ climbing before breakfast for me today. Doubt I’ll be able to walk tomorrow. 

Blimey that's a short sharp shock. We're staying down in Cornwall, and I did 2600ft across 36 miles yesterday. And I thought it was hilly where I live.

(also, working in feet and miles is difficult).

Johnnyseven

I usually aim to do the 100 in 6 hours which means I start a lot earlier than I did yesterday as I was riding with my wife, you definitely get less slow people in those waves. This year we were stuck in stand stills numerous times on narrow roads which only seemed to be due to innocuous features such as bridges. I the 3 previous times I have done the ride I have never been brought to a standstill or been diverted away from the hills, even in the shitty rain of last year. There were, what seemed like, a lot more less experienced and slow riders in the waves I was cycling with yesterday, which is fine, but they shouldn't cram so many people on the course in those waves. The inexperienced don't seem to do sensible things, like keeping to the left, and are more likely to get off and push up hills - which causes issues for everyone else.