Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
Unless you are regularly
Unless you are regularly spending several hours a day in cycling kit, and are sufficiently hairy for it to poke through for the horrifying ‘furry lycra’ look, I just don’t see why anyone wouldn’t rather be doing something else.I didn’t like the spoon, the
I didn’t like the spoon, the stitching seemed to chafe.Agree with bikeboy, just ride
Agree with bikeboy, just ride first and rediscover why you enjoy it. Maybe it would be a good idea to do an easy turbo spin first just to confirm that the injury doesn’t immediately make itself known again.No probs, PM your email
No probs, PM your email address and I’ll send the GPX file. (Guessing I can’t attach it to a PM)Fair enough, I suppose people
Fair enough, I suppose people put efforts in where they aren’t being watched.Bedfordshire Clanger
Did you end up selling your Baracchi? What was it that you didn’t get on with? I quite fancy getting one myself one day.+1, I so wanted to buy that blue and yellow Baracchi off you, but wrong timing.
Thanks! Well I can’t convey
Thanks! Well I can’t convey how brilliant Saturday’s route was, and I reckon that without all the organization etc that we put into it, you could just park in pateley bridge and do a loop that took in all the best bits of day 1, maybe 110 miles. Let me know if you want the route details.700c wrote:Why on earth would
Why on earth would you want to cycle in an area apparently so overcrowded with slow cyclists and with an enforced 20mph limit?! :OGlad I don’t live in London if this is what passes for a decent cycling route..
+99, I’d rather sit on the turbo and that’s saying something!
Well it was actually a 2-day
Well it was actually a 2-day event for the club, loosely based on routes for next year’s Tour de France.Stage 1, Saturday. Otley-York
(No-one wanted to start in Leeds city centre, and there were less logistics to sort if we didn’t need a taxi transfer from the Harrogate TdF finish to York, hence Otley-York)
129 miles, 6,408ft climbing, via Skipton, Grassington, Aysgarth, Askrigg, Buttertubs, Grinton, up then eastwards next to the river Swale, down through Leyburn, Spennithorne Wood, Masham, across the A1M roundabout, Tollerton, Shipton, onto the cycle path and into York.Stop in a hostel overnight, large bowls of pasta/sauce and a couple of beers, massive beakfast, then:
Stage 2
78 miles, 6,577ft climbing, via Wetherby, Otley, Menston, Bingley, Hayworth, Hebden Bridge, Cragg Vale, Rishworth, Saddleworth Rd, Slaithwaite, Meltham, Upperthong, Holmfirth. We heard afterwards about the snow sliding down onto the road in mini-avalanches. Basically, most of us had had enough by then and we had just one hour before the minibus would turn up to ferry our knackered bodies home, so this was cut short from the planned 98 miles.Stunning scenery that could have been many an Alp (certainly on Saturday anyway), sunshine, no rain, only 2 punctures between 12 of us, and a funny sight of baby lambs in orange high-vis jackets.
Bikes were transferred from home (Manchester) in the van, and people in a minibus. We had a non-riding driver who cheerily followed us and was on hand with drinks, spares, a track pump/tools, chamois cream, lunches and more flapjacks, bars, gels and nutri-grains than you’ve ever seen, in addition to his presence making drivers think a little (must have looked very pro in all matching kit and two lines in front of the van) about how to overtake us rather than just charging past six inches away. We got less aggro throughout the weekend than a usual early Sunday club run on quieter roads.
No-one needed to use it as a broomwagon, and we had the best weekend ever. It cost £70 per head including all transport, hostel, fuel, evening meal, breakfast and a couple of bottles of whisky for non-riding helpers. (Puts the more expensive sportives into perspective)
In case you’re wondering, my legs still ache! 😀
Sorry for waffling…
Not familiar with the place,
Not familiar with the place, but is RP worth riding round? I’ve got this (possibly completely wrong) image in my head of wannabes with high-end kit tootling round a park at 13mph.A sash?! You’d look like
A sash?! You’d look like you’d just come from working in the clothes section at Next! :& 😀How about a little flasher on the back of your helmet, a couple of fibre flares on the seatstays and a jacket with some 3m reflective bits?
You could opt for a Campag or Castelli jacket, some of those are reasonably colourful.
Look on the bright side, at least you’ve got budget approval for new kit!
There are a few silver/grey jackets about, and I think they more or less disappear in rain/spray, so probably best avoided.
I went with carbon for first
I went with carbon for first bike, and less than 2 years later am hankering after something really swish that is precisely what I’m looking for, rather than the current one which is merely ‘fine’. I should have:1. Gone for alu so I could keep this as a winter bike.
2. Kept the budget at maybe £800, letting the missus know that I would be spending more in time.
3. Good aluminium is better than cheap carbon, and that’s the space you’re in at under £1.2k-ish.
4. Over the coming 12-24 months you will change. Flexibility, riding position, riding style, body weight, pedaling style, joining a club, getting faster, going further, preferences of stiffness/comfort and how they are affected by slight changes in components/clothing/position, discovering you can/can’t climb/sprint/descend/power along on the flat. Or even (heaven forbid) deciding that you’re not that keen after all (burn the witch! 😀 ) All these will affect what kind of bike you *really* want.All this is before you’ve ended up buying clothing and kit for different weather. Summer base layers/jersey/ shorts/socks/gloves, winter base layers/jersey/jacket/gilet/tights/socks/overshoes/gloves/liner gloves, pedals, shoes, eyewear, helmet, helmet liner, track pump, little saddle bag with tools, home toolkit, turbo trainer, sufferfest videos, workstand, GPS device, diamond ring to keep the death stare off the wife’s face… you get the idea!
Oh and don’t forget you’ll also have maintenance costs. Maybe twice a year I end up with new tyres/tubes/bar tape/more cleaning products etc, plus at least an annual service off the club mechanic.
Above all, though, have fun. The freedom and the scenery, and the combination of sociable clubmates, fitness, fresh air, techie kit and gadgets can’t be beat!
A few cyclists did climb over
😀 A few cyclists did climb over them apparently, but I think we’d done enough by then, so I don’t feel like we missed anything.FatDadOnABike
I’m supposed to be going up there on Sunday. We’ve got a support vehicle as well, so the roads need to be officially open. I’ll keep an eye on this.Thanks for posting.
No problem, it looks crazy up there
Ended up cutting this one out, and heard afterwards that there had been a couple of small avalanches on Friday/Saturday, so probably just as well.
In this order, I would:
Join
In this order, I would:Join a club and get on some group rides – don’t know what your group riding skills are like. If you want to enter road/crit races then join the chaingang session.
Sign up for some TTs.
Feel free to do the odd sportive. Not sure it would help you with racing, but you can latch onto a group of similar pace and challenge yourself to set a fast time.
If you can keep up with the chaingang, then discuss with them whether you are race fit.
Good luck!
