[Other Sport] Cycling geeks

[Glanders]

Thanks folks. To anyone in two minds over a choice of pursuit for next year's Father's Day, I definitely wouldn't recommend that! Without doubt the hardest day I've had on the bike, but absolutely overjoyed with my (provisional) distance of 288. Not sure I'll ever top that, and not sure I'll ever want to try either.

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

Thanks folks. To anyone in two minds over a choice of pursuit for next year's Father's Day, I definitely wouldn't recommend that! Without doubt the hardest day I've had on the bike, but absolutely overjoyed with my (provisional) distance of 288. Not sure I'll ever top that, and not sure I'll ever want to try either.

No chance I'd get anywhere near it!

Just wondering, glanders, what the preparation was? Just that you don't seem to do many miles according to Strava - are you sneaking extra miles in or just banking on getting through it on the day?

Edit: I should say many miles when preparing to ride nearly 300 in a day!

 

[Glanders]

No, that really is it - no sneaky extra miles! I guess pretty much all the miles I do are balls out - certainly at 80% or above, so maybe I'm just used to turning myself inside out? I did the 24hr a few years ago and I think the longest ride I'd done in the six months previously was 60 miles! At least this time I'd ridden a pretty quick 100 beforehand (as well as 20-30 shorter TTs from 10 to 40 miles). As I'm sure you know, these daft endurance things are mostly about your head and I know I'm blessed/cursed with a very stubborn streak and a fairly high tolerance for discomfort, so I think that's at least as much to do with it as the legs. The downside of doing fewer miles than I'd imagine most of the others do (and in contrast to what I said earlier) is that I'm plagued with self doubts for the first few hours over whether or not I'll last the course, but once the 200 rolls up it kind of feels like you've turned the corner! There is something quite magical about finishing an event like that and the whole bizarre psychological journey of peaks and troughs, which I guess is why I keep coming back.

 

[Stat Brother]

The thought of doing 288 miles** in the car leaves me cold.
Its just mentals thinking about doing it on a bike, add to that doing it on the same road, is just too much.


** There's me being all Billy big bollox about the Geeks Saturday milage.
Then Glanders comes along and does the distance + on his own.

 

[Stat Brother]

No, that really is it - no sneaky extra miles! I guess pretty much all the miles I do are balls out - certainly at 80% or above, so maybe I'm just used to turning myself inside out? I did the 24hr a few years ago and I think the longest ride I'd done in the six months previously was 60 miles! At least this time I'd ridden a pretty quick 100 beforehand (as well as 20-30 shorter TTs from 10 to 40 miles). As I'm sure you know, these daft endurance things are mostly about your head and I know I'm blessed/cursed with a very stubborn streak and a fairly high tolerance for discomfort, so I think that's at least as much to do with it as the legs. The downside of doing fewer miles than I'd imagine most of the others do (and in contrast to what I said earlier) is that I'm plagued with self doubts for the first few hours over whether or not I'll last the course, but once the 200 rolls up it kind of feels like you've turned the corner! There is something quite magical about finishing an event like that and the whole bizarre psychological journey of peaks and troughs, which I guess is why I keep coming back.

What do you eat, before, during and after?

Any ride I do ends with me emptying the house of food, and craving all manner of fast food.

 

[Glanders]

What do you eat, before, during and after?

Any ride I do ends with me emptying the house of food, and craving all manner of fast food.

Yeah,that's a really difficult one to get right. I've done a few of these now (four 12s, a 24, L-E-L and several long audaxes), so I have a fairly good idea of what works for me and what doesn't. I am pretty strict with my diet these days (no gluten or crap), but abandoned some of that the day before and gorged myself on rice and flapjacks. Energy drinks (SIS,High5 or whatever) are a great way of getting calories in during the ride, but get a bit sickly, so I alternate them with electrolyte solution (nuun tabs or similar), plain water and cranberry juice. Eating is basically a matter of what I can grab on the fly (no stops yesterday), cram in and then keep down, so I have a bag of nuts, dried fruit and jelly babies on my top tube that I top up periodically and was then handed up more flapjack and bananas. I have flirted with peanut butter sandwiches, but they're a bit cloying and need a lot of washing down. And you just need to be disciplined enough to keep eating and drinking before your body tells you that you need to - a lot trickier in practice than it sounds!

Oh, and the support of a good woman (or man) is essential if you want to race it - my wife and kids 'volunteered' their services at the last minute and I'd have been knackered without them.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Well I tackled Ditchling Beacon for the first time today.

I'm not going to lie and claim I made it to the top without stopping, but at least I got there eventually & have set myself a mark to beat next time

It's actually slightly disappointing how little time it takes to descend back down the hill, given all the effort I put in to climb it

 

[rcf0712]

I watched that excellent documentary on Marco Pantani (Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist) on a plane home from Brisbane last Thursday. I was frankly rather ignorant of his place in the sports history and found myself equally entranced by the story and appalled by the way he was treated. What an amazing individual he was and what a sad, sad waste and loss to cycling his death was.

 

[Motogull]

[MENTION=13352]rcf0712[/MENTION] Looking forward to catching that.

 

[Stat Brother]

I watched that excellent documentary on Marco Pantani (Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist) on a plane home from Brisbane last Thursday. I was frankly rather ignorant of his place in the sports history and found myself equally entranced by the story and appalled by the way he was treated. What an amazing individual he was and what a sad, sad waste and loss to cycling his death was.

T'is based around Matt Rendall's book, which in itself is a by-word for all things Pantani and that genre of writing, and no much to my shame I still haven't read it.

Oh and ESPN have a film about 'Slaying the Badger' which is currently doing the rounds.
Plus there's another Lance documentary film out.
Not to mention the actual film about Lance, starting Matt Damon (? not sure about that) can't be too far away.

Although as yet no word has reached Stat Towers on the film I'm waiting for, The Tommy Simpson story, by Shane Meadows.

 

[Stat Brother]

Blimey Moto are we in sync?


Any hoo, my protégé Colin (T'is funny when I call him that, esp knowing the way this sentence ends) today took KoM going up Devil's Dyke from Poynings. Doing it in 9:40 averaging 13.8 mph.
He said he knew he was going well, but that's a full 20 seconds faster than the next best.


I finally got round to having 'the talk' with junior, it's a sad day in Stat Towers as his Colnago will soon be going on ebay.
Bless him though, he did say, 'but can I have one last ride out before it goes'.

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

Not to mention the actual film about Lance, starting Matt Damon (? not sure about that) can't be too far away.
.

I thought it was Ben foster (?). Didn't a newspaper accidentally use a picture of him from the film for Lance!

 

[Motogull]

Any hoo, my protégé Colin (T'is funny when I call him that, esp knowing the way this sentence ends) today took KoM going up Devil's Dyke from Poynings. Doing it in 9:40 averaging 13.8 mph.
He said he knew he was going well, but that's a full 20 seconds faster than the next best.


I finally got round to having 'the talk' with junior, it's a sad day in Stat Towers as his Colnago will soon be going on ebay.
Bless him though, he did say, 'but can I have one last ride out before it goes'.

and

That's cool.

 

[Stat Brother]

I thought it was Ben foster (?). Didn't a newspaper accidentally use a picture of him from the film for Lance!

In writing Matt Damon it didn't seem right, although it would have been a very very long time before I got to Ben Foster.

https://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/first-look-ben-foster-lance-armstrong-183457767.html

 

[Motogull]

Played Cav.

Sagan looking good too.

 

[1066familyman]

This cycling season has been so good that even the Tour de Suisse is obligingly boring compared to all other races so far so as not to distract too much from World Cup viewing.

Text book stuff from the steppers and Cav today I see.

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

In writing Matt Damon it didn't seem right, although it would have been a very very long time before I got to Ben Foster.

https://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/first-look-ben-foster-lance-armstrong-183457767.html

Chris O'Dowd as David Walsh as well - might work as I find both of them strangely unlikeable!

Also features Landry from Friday Night Lights!!

 

[Lady Whistledown]

42 miles for me today, and I stopped off at the Giant store en route. They fixed my noisy gears in ten minutes & I was off again. Can't believe what a difference it's made, very happy indeed with it now

I accidentally turned up Woodland Drive in Hove on my ride, now it's not the longest hill in the world but boy did my legs have to work hard

I know, spot the novice

 

[Pogue Mahone]

42 miles for me today, and I stopped off at the Giant store en route. They fixed my noisy gears in ten minutes & I was off again. Can't believe what a difference it's made, very happy indeed with it now

I accidentally turned up Woodland Drive in Hove on my ride, now it's not the longest hill in the world but boy did my legs have to work hard

I know, spot the novice

Chapeau, Edna! Nearly the first half century.

Have you joined the NSC Geeks club on Strava yet?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I'll probably aim for the fifty next time I have a few days off.

I'll sort the Strava thing today if you promise not to laugh at my times