The Fretboard Cycling Club

TTBZ

Thanks. Currently watching a few red Lyriks on eBay which would suit it quite nicely I think!

MagicPigDetective

I mentioned in spring my goal was the Tour de Mon sportive on Anglesey, the Bach (small) 74km route. It seemed a tall order but I was given much encouragement here (thanks!), I’ve been doing a lot of cycling and today completed the event in around three and a half hours. 

It was fine until the final 10-15km which was into strong winds… I had to dig deep for the final climbs but now I’m exhausted and incredibly chuffed. Beautiful scenery, great course and an excellently organised event. Perhaps I can aim for the 124km route next year. 

I bloody love cycling. 

Teetonetal

Congrats @MagicPigDetective very nice way to spend a day and kudos on setting a goal and doing it!

Jaycee

Teetonetal said:

Congrats @MagicPigDetective very nice way to spend a day and kudos on setting a goal and doing it!

Glad you are hooked

thermionic

Had a great day out today, went to watch the final stage of the Tour of Britain. Caught the intermediate sprint at Cowbridge (not contested, a small group with a lead of 3 minutes just rolled through), then headed to the iconic Caerphilly Mountain. The atmosphere was electric there, cheering on local boys Luke Rowe and Stevie Williams - who got into a break with Rodriguez from Team Ineos but was eventually dropped.

https://i.imgur.com/Pb3Uciu.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wvuC5Kz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2jfVEDb.jpg

The last couple of times the race was here, a bunch of local racing guys from Luke Rowe’s generation wore fancy dress to cheer the riders on. Luke was racing today and I was glad to see the tradition upheld. His brother and his mates dressed up in cheerleader outfits and blonde wigs to cheer him on. On the second lap his brother handed him a botlle of beer, which he chugged as he crossed the summit! 

https://i.imgur.com/j3hP676.jpg

Jaycee

I was under the A48 just around the corner, had a gentle ride home from there as one of my spokes had broken.

I think I have ridden all of the roads on this stage except the ascent up Caerphilly mountain, did you cycle there @thermionic ;;

thermionic

We rode out to Cowbridge to watch the intermediate sprint and eventually got to the top via the Castell Coch road - possibly the easiest way up there. I have ridden up from Caerphilly many times, but will find an easier route if possible!

TTBZ

Finally had time to take the new bike out for a proper ride at Cannock yesterday! It rides great, just need to put some tokens in the shock as it bottomed out a few times on some pretty mild stuff. This ride also reminded me that I don't actually enjoy riding up or along on an MTB much at all though, it's all about the descents for me. By the end of it I was finding the trails a bit tedious tbh, maybe that's just Cannock though, always feels a bit lacking in flow to me (though I love the last 2 descents on the Monkey trail). Was just thinking if I'm covering miles I'd rather be doing it efficiently on a road/gravel bike! So now thinking about taking the build of the Sommet more in a DH/park direction since that's what I love to ride - burlier forks, maybe even singlespeed for low noise and maintenance since my drivetrain does need replacing at some point.

Must admit I was very jealous of all the people on ebikes breezing up the climbs chatting whilst I was crawling up coughing and spluttering!

BigMonka

Can I get some advice on GPS bike nav units please? It's for road cycling rather than off-road and I want to be able to send a route to it but if I miss a turning I'd like it to do a proper re-route. 
Trying to work things out online I *think* that in the Garmin world that means a 530/830/1030? Then in the Wahoo world I think its a v2 of one of the Elemnt series?
Looking to buy used and as cheap as possible!
Any suggestions?

drofluf

@BigMonka looks like the ELMNT Roam V1 also does what you need. https://uk.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-computers/elemnt-roam-buy-v1

I have one but haven’t tested that feature but overall I’m impressed with it; very easy to set up and use. The good news is it’s superseded by the V2 so Wahoo are selling them with about 30% off or you may get lucky secondhand if someone is upgrading. 

When I was looking the only thing the V2 has over it for me was USB C but that wasn’t enough to justify the extra cost. 

Teetonetal

Very proud of myself, I bookended my week with rides up the Klausen pass.. 25k 1400hm climb. A beautiful road out of my village.

Only thing is, on trip 2, I was on a road bike and my friend was on a light weight race mtb and I had to dig deep to keep up!  Made to feel extremely unfit!!

Jaycee

BigMonka said:

Can I get some advice on GPS bike nav units please? It's for road cycling rather than off-road and I want to be able to send a route to it but if I miss a turning I'd like it to do a proper re-route. 
Trying to work things out online I *think* that in the Garmin world that means a 530/830/1030? Then in the Wahoo world I think its a v2 of one of the Elemnt series?
Looking to buy used and as cheap as possible!
Any suggestions?

I have the IGP sport igs50s on my gravel and the BSC200 on my road bike.

The main reason for my change from Garmin was the battery life, so far "two years for the 50, and six months for the 200" all good.

https://www.igpsport.com/bikecomputer

littlegreenman

Woop! Sepp Kuss winning La Vuelta.

The uber-domestique wins a Tour. Plenty of drama along the way, but loving it ♥

littlegreenman

Oops, I seem to have signed up for RideLondon next year! Never done a Century before, longest ride has been 72 miles.

Wish me luck

elstoof

You’ll be alright, best of luck with training. If you can do 70 miles you can do 100, closed roads and riding in a big group will make it feel easier than your 70 miler 

Teetonetal

@littlegreenman should be a fun event! Just make sure you get your food right on the day.

drofluf

littlegreenman said:

Oops, I seem to have signed up for RideLondon next year! Never done a Century before, longest ride has been 72 miles.

Wish me luck

You’ll be fine, I did my first century 14 years ago on a singlespeed 

https://paulfulford.blogspot.com/2009/08/talkin-bear-mountain-picnic-massacre.html

Jaycee

Cav has signed on for another year, targeting the tour record,  no suprise there.

I guess he will pick the tours that he feels will get him in the best shape for the TDF hope he does it.

What do you guys think?

littlegreenman

Jaycee said:

Cav has signed on for another year, targeting the tour record,  no suprise there.

I guess he will pick the tours that he feels will get him in the best shape for the TDF hope he does it.

What do you guys think?

Collarbone break in the Prologue? lol

Just kidding. Guess he felt that, after missing out on the record due to a mechanical, he had to give it one last shot. Well that, and Peta and the kids gave him permission.

Pjon

Jaycee said:

Cav has signed on for another year, targeting the tour record,  no suprise there.

I guess he will pick the tours that he feels will get him in the best shape for the TDF hope he does it.

What do you guys think?

One of the common bits of knowledge with mountain bikers is that you always finish when you planned and never, ever say, 'Just one more run of Trail Whatever?' That leads to disaster, injury, and broken bikes every single time. If it gets asked on our rides we often head straight to the pub instead. Cav is doing exactly this, and it wouldn't surprise me if he has a huge accident in the build-up to the Tour.

He will, of course, pick races, not tours, that will get him optimally fit for the TdF, but the route hasn't been announced yet (25th Oct, iirc?) so he doesn't even know where the sprint stages are or how many mountains he'll have to get over before a chance at a stage win. Good luck to him, but the chances of him winning a stage are so slim that I don't believe he'll do it. If he did, he'd be the second oldest stage winner ever and the oldest in this century. He's already the 16th oldest stage winner!