[Other Sport] Cycling geeks

[banjo]

Where/ what time do you guys ride from?
I have a Ditchling route planned tomorrow but my riding partner is 50/50 now waiting to hear news on a potential job.
Was planning a solo Arundel loop if he bails.

Meeting at the Body shop roundabout at 9.30. The route is on Stats ride discussion from Monday.

 

[Stat Brother]

Hey [MENTION=12665]TrickyOne[/MENTION] I slowly overtook you on the Body Shop roundabout today.

When I realised he (you) was riding a Merida I thought it must be you.

 

[Stat Brother]

Meeting at the Body shop roundabout at 9.30. The route is on Stats ride discussion from Monday.

I'm going to mix the route up a little, basically we'll 'finish' at Rackham near Storrington.
From there we'll have homeward options depending on time and legs etc.

But it'll still be north of 50 miles and 3,000ft of climbing, so nothing out of the ordinary.


So there's no confusion, even though I'm sure everyone knows where me and [MENTION=22214]banjo[/MENTION] will be.
But just in case anyone wakes up tomorrow thinking 'actually why not', we'll be heading off from
BN17 6LS @ 9:30am.

That's the big roundabout in front of The Body Shop HQ, Littlehampton.
The A259 and B2187 feed it.
The Body Shop also shares the junction with Littlehampton cemetery, Travel Lodge, and a Shell garage.
I will be on the grass verge by the garage at the B2187 junction.


Oh and anyone wanting to take the edge off the time/miles by getting the train over.
Angmering station is considerably better than Littlehampton.

 

[TrickyOne]

Hey [MENTION=12665]TrickyOne[/MENTION] I slowly overtook you on the Body Shop roundabout today.

When I realised he (you) was riding a Merida I thought it must be you.

Ah, been racking me ol'swede trying to remember where it was! Thank you sir for your kind road manner!

 

[banjo]

P

I'm going to mix the route up a little, basically we'll 'finish' at Rackham near Storrington.
From there we'll have homeward options depending on time and legs etc.

But it'll still be north of 50 miles and 3,000ft of climbing, so nothing out of the ordinary.

That's fine Stat.

 

[Stat Brother]

As it's come up on my NSC advertising banner what do the geeks make of personalised name and flag stickers for your top tube, a la:-
http://pegatin.com/?gclid=CPPqhdGQ4MUCFUbJtAodOHsAxw

I noticed a couple of SouthDowns Velo chaps had them.
I can't make up my mind if they are cool or a little twatty.

 

[Motogull]

Wow. What a stage. Bertie on fire.

 

[1066familyman]

What a stage indeed. Just finished watching back all of Mortirolo footage and the last 13 km of the stage as well. Best I could get without going to Rai for full on demand that always seems to have a spoiler. Wish I was at home today to watch the entire stage.

Can't really blame Astana and Katusha for dong what they did to be honest. Didn't work for Astana in terms of Aru but at least let them put the real team leader situation to bed, and Landa got another really good stage win.

Good outcome for Katusha as Trofimov has another really good day.

Really chuffed for Kruijswijk. He has indeed shown that he's getting stronger and stronger this Giro. He's been on my radar for a long while and I used to put him in my fantasy team now and again until I finally wrote him off as a Gesink MkII, so pleased to see him finally fulfilling the potential he always seemed to have. Given a better start to this Giro he'd have been in serious contention for riding himself onto the podium by now. There's no way anyone could have predicted that at the start of this race.

Finally, have to say chapeau to Bert! Majestic seeing him dance up Mortirolo clawing the Aru group back as rider after rider went backwards as he sailed by.

 

[manintheblackpajamas]

Meeting at the Body shop roundabout at 9.30. The route is on Stats ride discussion from Monday.

Great. Thanks for the info.
I've just got in from an evening ride, so will see how I feel in the morning.

If you don't see a stranger hanging around by 9:30am, then obviously just press on...

 

[Pogue Mahone]

As it's come up on my NSC advertising banner what do the geeks make of personalised name and flag stickers for your top tube, a la:-
http://pegatin.com/?gclid=CPPqhdGQ4MUCFUbJtAodOHsAxw

I noticed a couple of SouthDowns Velo chaps had them.
I can't make up my mind if they are cool or a little twatty.

I think that they are more than a little twatty.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Great. Thanks for the info.
I've just got in from an evening ride, so will see how I feel in the morning.

If you don't see a stranger hanging around by 9:30am, then obviously just press on...

Are you on In the NSC Geeks Strava club? If not, join!

Are you doing l'etape again this year. I am not, wish I was. Thanks for 'inspiring' me to do it last year - it was a truly brilliant experience and a great memory.

 

[manintheblackpajamas]

Are you on In the NSC Geeks Strava club? If not, join!

Are you doing l'etape again this year. I am not, wish I was. Thanks for 'inspiring' me to do it last year - it was a truly brilliant experience and a great memory.

Not in 'the club' as yet, no. Probably a suitable Groucho Marx quote here!

Yes, we're off to the alps for our third L'etape. Might be the last for a while but is a beast of a stage this time, so would be a suitable finale (for now).

I'm glad you found the time to get out there in the end and enjoyed it so much. It is pretty special when all the crowds come out despite last year's weather.

 

[banjo]

Great ride today, massive thanks for the loan of the money to buy a new chain Armchair, thanks for the route and your invaluable local knowledge (where the nearest bike shop is) Stat and thanks Manintheblack PJ's nice to meet you.

 

[Stat Brother]

It certainly was a very enjoyable ride.

Chasing [MENTION=5362]manintheblackpajamas[/MENTION] up Houghton Hill got me a PB, iced the cake of a great ride.

 

[JoePrecious]

As it's come up on my NSC advertising banner what do the geeks make of personalised name and flag stickers for your top tube, a la:-
http://pegatin.com/?gclid=CPPqhdGQ4MUCFUbJtAodOHsAxw

I noticed a couple of SouthDowns Velo chaps had them.
I can't make up my mind if they are cool or a little twatty.

I've got some. although I do think they are little, erm, 'pretetious'!

The main reason I got them was for when I'm doing one of those things that isn't a bike ride. Just makes it a bit easier to spot my bike as some of the transition areas can be huge.

 

[JoePrecious]

What a stage indeed. Just finished watching back all of Mortirolo footage and the last 13 km of the stage as well. Best I could get without going to Rai for full on demand that always seems to have a spoiler. Wish I was at home today to watch the entire stage.

Can't really blame Astana and Katusha for dong what they did to be honest. Didn't work for Astana in terms of Aru but at least let them put the real team leader situation to bed, and Landa got another really good stage win.

Good outcome for Katusha as Trofimov has another really good day.

Really chuffed for Kruijswijk. He has indeed shown that he's getting stronger and stronger this Giro. He's been on my radar for a long while and I used to put him in my fantasy team now and again until I finally wrote him off as a Gesink MkII, so pleased to see him finally fulfilling the potential he always seemed to have. Given a better start to this Giro he'd have been in serious contention for riding himself onto the podium by now. There's no way anyone could have predicted that at the start of this race.

Finally, have to say chapeau to Bert! Majestic seeing him dance up Mortirolo clawing the Aru group back as rider after rider went backwards as he sailed by.

I'm really enjoying the Giro this year. However, not sure if it is just me but I do feel a little uncomfortable about the number of Astana riders that always seem to be at the front given everything that went on earlier in the season with regards to their license. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I just find it difficult not to be suspicious.

 

[Stat Brother]

I'm really enjoying the Giro this year. However, not sure if it is just me but I do feel a little uncomfortable about the number of Astana riders that always seem to be at the front given everything that went on earlier in the season with regards to their license. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I just find it difficult not to be suspicious.

As I'm always keen to give the benefit of the doubt, I'll hold back on that until after the Tour.
At the moment it might just be as simple as the team targeted the Giro. (perhaps thinking they might not have lasted much longer!!)
Although clearly lining up behind Aru was a mistake.

But if they put the Tour field to the sword, it'll be raising plenty of eyebrows.

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

I'm really enjoying the Giro this year. However, not sure if it is just me but I do feel a little uncomfortable about the number of Astana riders that always seem to be at the front given everything that went on earlier in the season with regards to their license. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I just find it difficult not to be suspicious.

As I'm always keen to give the benefit of the doubt, I'll hold back on that until after the Tour.
At the moment it might just be as simple as the team targeted the Giro. (perhaps thinking they might not have lasted much longer!!)
Although clearly lining up behind Aru was a mistake.

But if they put the Tour field to the sword, it'll be raising plenty of eyebrows.

I'm with Stat on this one. Beyond Bertie, I think the field in this Giro is actually pretty poor - Contador has arrived way undercooked, fallen off several times and had little team support but is winning easily.

Aru is not the finished article yet, whilst Kangert has been up there as a top domestique for a few years now. Cataldo is a quality rider who was held back a bit by being at QS and then Sky. Landa is young, improving and (apparently) off to Sky next year.

Basically to Tour is so big now, and the Giro so tough, that most big guys just don't want to risk Italy.

 

[JoePrecious]

Thanks - that all makes sense and certainly makes me watch a little more comfortably!

 

[manintheblackpajamas]

Great ride today, massive thanks for the loan of the money to buy a new chain Armchair, thanks for the route and your invaluable local knowledge (where the nearest bike shop is) Stat and thanks Manintheblack PJ's nice to meet you.

Good to meet you too. Bad luck on the chain, but always great to hang out in Midhurst, right?!

It certainly was a very enjoyable ride.

Chasing [MENTION=5362]manintheblackpajamas[/MENTION] up Houghton Hill got me a PB, iced the cake of a great ride.

Good work on the PB. I'm currently undoing all the good work in an Arundel beer garden. Desperate to upload the ride though!