Cycling chat

[big jim]

Bit gutted this morning, I was watching the forecast for the area to see what to do about the sportive and at 11pm last night it said 90% chance of rain so I decided not to do it 

 

woke up this morning at 8 and it was bone dry and the forecast had turned to 0% chance of rain, unfortunately it was too late to get the bike loaded up and head off for registration, sure enough it’s not rained all day until about 10 minutes ago, what made it even more gutting was I had to drive into Carlisle this morning and when we came back in the afternoon some of the competitors passed me on the final leg back toward Kirkbride, extra upset I didn’t set my alarm first thing or I’d have entered 

 

anyway made up for it by going out for a ride this afternoon, slightly different route to the usual circuit, did a bit upto high laws that I’d done with @BR traction instructor last month then dropped down toward Allonby, had a 20mph headwind for the southbound run, one strava segment on that bit I was over 1:30 slower than yesterday but I made up for it on the northbound run by taking 2 minutes off a couple of segment times thanks to the tailwind! 

 

we went to Gretna green this morning while Sarah was waiting for an emergency doctors appointment and a car pulled up at the toll bar cafe we were having breakfast in with a bike on the roof , got chatting to one of the guys and they are support for a woman who is doing a lands end to John O groats ride, he said she’d left lands end yesterday and at the time we spoke was just passing Lockerbie, on track to beat the current record by the looks of it 

 

https://twitter.com/2137lejog?s=21&t=p8N4v9mjMEwoPPHHmkpYgA

 

and I didnt want to do a 36 mile ride in case I got a bit wet! 

 

 

[BR traction instructor]

Its always time for fish & chips by the sea…esp. after a 40 mile ride to the pub & back…

 

BeRTIe

Edited July 26, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[BR traction instructor]

One for Big Jim, re our cycle routes from Silloth…the Lowther Arms at Mawbray has been sold from its community run pub status to the owners of the Fairy Dust emporium (cake shop etc Silloth) and is still temporarily closed whilst they adapt it for their business…aiming to continue the country pub, good food & ale theme. Also, the Silloth to Aspatria road is open again, the main road through Abbeytown due to close for two weeks from tomorrow.

 

BeRTIe

Edited July 31, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[big jim]

I can’t believe they are closing the road to silloth during tourist season, was talking to the entertainment guy last night about it 

 

im up here now for 10 days so we can get a few rides out in, going to go out later maybe to maryport and back 

[kernowtim]

Damp and misty morning here but managed 14 miles with more rain than sun, fitness definitely not back to pre-covid level though! 

Does anyone else check realtimetrains before setting off, or is it just me? 

 

[Nearholmer]

I will sometime check for feright trains on the branch near where I live, but I seem to see more trains on that line when I'm not looking for them than when I am!

 

How long on from Covid are you now? It seems to take 4-6 weeks to get back to anywhere near pre-covid mileage, and I'm convinced that it subtly depletes the stamina that you need for multi-day rides well beyond that.

[kernowtim]

38 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

How long on from Covid are you now? It seems to take 4-6 weeks to get back to anywhere near pre-covid mileage, and I'm convinced that it subtly depletes the stamina that you need for multi-day rides well beyond that.

It was 4 weeks yesterday (2nd July) that I took a test and had a positive result, felt ok earlier that day, 10 days later before I had a negative test. 

I may have contracted it doing a spin bike session at the local leisure centre 3 days earlier! 

Edited July 31, 2022 by kernowtim

[big jim]

Nice trip out this afternoon, I’d already decided to go a bit further than my usual Allonby circuit so went down to Workington instead.

 

I took a wrong turning on the cycle path on the way back and ended up on the old trackbed heading toward cockermouth so I carried on up the hill toward broughton moor then dropped back down into maryport from there and back to Allonby and along the coast to silloth 

 

 

 

i wasn’t out to break any records but wanted to get back into doing some long rides after a few weeks of just short commutes, I wanted to break the 50 mile mark today but I must admit by about 40 miles i felt myself starting to really slow down and was struggling a bit so called it a day and headed back to the caravan for a few litres of water and some food! 
 

hopefully get back out again tomorrow 

[Nearholmer]

4 hours ago, kernowtim said:

10 days later before I had a negative test. 

 

It took the same for me to test negative. That day I cycled one mile, and each day I cycled a mile more, until I got back to thirty miles, then dropped back to cycling every two or three days, and about a week later did fifty without problem. Clearly, we're all different, but on that sort of path you'd have a week or two to go yet. I was cycling yesterday with someone who got clear of it about three weeks ago, and although she's c20 years younger than I am, and usually cycles a lot, she seems to be on a smilar path - until this week she felt stuck at 10-15 miles.

 

This "five day cold" meme is by no means true for everyone!

 

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Nearholmer

[BR traction instructor]

18 hours ago, big jim said:

I can’t believe they are closing the road to silloth during tourist season, was talking to the entertainment guy last night about it 

 

im up here now for 10 days so we can get a few rides out in, going to go out later maybe to maryport and back 

 

…we’re having issues with the electric car charger Jim…electricians coming to fit a voltage optimiser. Once they confirm time/day I can arrange a ride with you. Evenings looking better this week.

 

BeRTIe

[Mark Forrest]

Spent today watching the Commonwealth Games XC racing at Cannock Chase.  Really good day out and great to see Evie Richards take the win in this afternoon’s race.

 

[Classsix T]

Great pictures Mark.

 

C6T.

[08221]

Fab photos Mark, it was amazing to see the place I lived until recently and rode around almost daily being used for such a prestigious event.

[Nearholmer]

I took a wrong turning on a bridleway in the woods today, and accidentally found myself on one of the local MTB black runs. Bloody terrifying!

 

So, now I am in even greater awe of these athletes.

[Mark Forrest]

9 hours ago, 08221 said:

Fab photos Mark, it was amazing to see the place I lived until recently and rode around almost daily being used for such a prestigious event.

I thought the TV coverage made the Chase look really good, I hardly recognised it 😀

 

There has been a lot of talk among locals about how the trails built for the games are a bit tame and are a missed opportunity; everybody wants big jumps and rock features as the legacy of the games, rather than a blue graded family trail.  From what we saw yesterday the course seemed to be about the right level for the races.  While the riders at the sharp end made the technical features look effortless, there were others towards the back of the pack who were clearly finding some of the features challenging.

The only slight negative of an otherwise brilliant day out was that there were so few entrants in the races, particularly the women’s race which was down to 8 starters.  Sadly the timing of the games in the week between the US and Canadian rounds of the UCI XC World Cup won’t have helped with that. A shame that Wales weren’t represented in either race (or that Scotland and England didn’t include more riders) - I suppose it’s all about budgets though.

[Bernard Lamb]

1 hour ago, Mark Forrest said:

I thought the TV coverage made the Chase look really good, I hardly recognised it 😀

 

There has been a lot of talk among locals about how the trails built for the games are a bit tame and are a missed opportunity; everybody wants big jumps and rock features as the legacy of the games, rather than a blue graded family trail.  From what we saw yesterday the course seemed to be about the right level for the races.  While the riders at the sharp end made the technical features look effortless, there were others towards the back of the pack who were clearly finding some of the features challenging.

The only slight negative of an otherwise brilliant day out was that there were so few entrants in the races, particularly the women’s race which was down to 8 starters.  Sadly the timing of the games in the week between the US and Canadian rounds of the UCI XC World Cup won’t have helped with that. A shame that Wales weren’t represented in either race (or that Scotland and England didn’t include more riders) - I suppose it’s all about budgets though.

Cycling is fast becoming a 1st World sport. With bike prices having gone up by around 400% in the last 10 years many riders with great potential are being priced out of the sport. A current top end road bike is currently around £12k. However these bikes have a waiting list so the manufactures continue to produce them. Trot out the rather dubious claims of how much faster they are and people seem to be willing to buy them. I was talking the other day with local riders about the more expensive the bike the less miles it did. Certainly far less miles per £1 spent, with most of them being used by cafe racers for posing.  

TGT made the point at the games that there were less entries for the wheelchair events as racing chairs are even more expensive than racing bikes and are way out of reach for the teams of many smaller and/or poorer countries.

Bernard

[BR traction instructor]

A ride with friends from Lamplugh to beyond Ennerdale water today. The second part will be Ennerdale water to Black Sail…

 

BeRTIe

[Nearholmer]

That is stunning.

 

I’m suffering a severe case of scenery envy now.

[BR traction instructor]

…amazingly quiet for August too, we mostly had the side road and forest trail to ourselves…the benefits of researching the route less trodden.

 

With the Podpoint 7kWh home charger installed and working it was the first opportunity to take the bikes out on the ID3 carrier.

 

The uphill on the return proved too much for the better half…

 

BeRTIe

Edited August 4, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[big jim]

Shocking week for me on the bike this week, weather has been against me, other things to do while up here 

 

managed a ride out this afternoon, a longer circuit than usual and a few more little hills, westerly wind as well, really hit my coming back north along the coast, some 4 minutes slower than my quickest time from a couple of weeks back!

 

still an enjoyable ride, I certainly needed it, was getting lazy but only 21 miles this week is poor!

 

[tractionman]

16 mph average speed I'd be happy with that!

 

My first proper ride today for ages, the southern tip of the Ards peninsula in County Down.

 

Note no sunshine here! Just cloud but better for cycling perhaps, but boy that westerly wind was a nuisance...

 

 

I did like my new rear view mirror, from Decathlon and five quid, makes all the difference on the road being able to see what's coming up from behind. 

 

cheers,

 

Keith 

 

[Nickey Line]

This, on the other hand, is now the default scene in our part of the world, snapped today near the highest point in Hertfordshire...

 

...which has resulted, unfortunately, in scenes like this...

 

 

...this is the River Beane, a once wildlife-rich chalk stream, Beane and gone...

 

Fortunately there's still upsides to getting out in the countryside...

 

 

...cream teas at Ardeley Village Hall!

[BR traction instructor]

A Lakeland fringe circuit from adj. the Lake District Wildlife park nr Bewaldeth today along bridleways & NCN route 10 for part of the way. Views towards Skiddaw, Blencathra & Bassenthwaite lake…

 

BeRTIe

Edited August 8, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[big jim]

I was going to go out for a ride last night but less than 500m from the house the brakes on the cube were making a terrible sound, almost like a clown car horn when I pulled them, if you remember they were like that when I rode it from Stratford to euston when I bought it, couldn’t ride it as it was so bad, turned round and went home to give them a clean

 

ended up cleaning the whole bike down, amazing how much grease and crud there was in the derailleur and cogs, degreased and re lubricated them as well as jet washing the brakes and cleaning the rotors and pads with brake cleaner and IPA, took it out for a spin and straight away still the same, it was obvious that the brakes were contaminated, the rotors are fairly new but the pads were the old ones off my other cube that I swapped those after my Stratford ride which cured it  

 

mentioned it to my road racer former trainee when I saw him earlier and said I didn’t want to have to fault find it by buying new pads only to discover it was the rotors or vice versa and he suggested I take the pads off, clean the rotors again but also burn the pads over the hob at home to remove any contamination, if it still made the noise after than then it would be new brakes time!  
 

low and behold I tried it and it’s cured the problem, took it for a spin down the hill by the house repeatedly pulling the brakes on and off, going from speed to a stop with a full emergency brake application as well as holding them on for a prolonged time while going down the hill and not a squeak out of them, they appear to have a bit more stopping power, probably actually gripping now not siding along the face of the rotor causing the noise

 

Whether or not running the hob for 5 minutes was any cheaper than new pads given the cost of gas I don’t know but it worked!! 
 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by big jim

[Nearholmer]

As a counterpoint to these pictures of magnificent green and pleasant land photos that BeRTIe is treating us to, and to reinforce Nickey Line’s point, here is a bit of Cambridgeshire.