Puncheur Sportive

ouch sounds quite tough... Maybe won't be entering this one proper then

Its a lovely course. Loads of roads I've never ridden before. But lots of uphill and long downs. Combination fo that truely ruined me. I had a very bad day, props to Max for towing me home.

Gears all the way for this one.

ouch sounds quite tough... Maybe won't be entering this one proper then
lots of people ride sportives unofficially, although I'd feel a bit guilty taking stuff at the feed stations etc.

If my geared ride is up and running anytime soon (fingers crossed) i'll do this.

If not, i'll still do it later in the year so I don't feel like it has beaten me.

lots of people ride sportives unofficially, although I'd feel a bit guilty taking stuff at the feed stations etc.

I worded that weirdly, wasn't going to do it unofficially, just stay in bed instead ;)

riding toy bikes in the sun and drinking beer isnt the best form of training....
This is probably why I suffered a bit today. Route wasn't too hilly, apart from those up and down bits around Ardingly Reservoir, I was just not fit enough. First 33 miles were good, kept up with a few groups, taking turns. Hunger knocks started after 50 miles and had to eat loads. I didn't get to the top of Ditchling Beacon. I got a third of the way up and started to get cramp. Did the 68 mile in about 4:20.

I'm wondering if there's a connection between riding fixed and getting cramp on my road bike. Maybe I leave the road bike in too high a gear because it's similar to my fixed, where I should be using the bottom gears more.

nah cramp is due to loss of minerals mostly i think. dinking plenty of liquid with electrolyte in is the way to keep it at bay, should try and drink a bit every half hour.

also on a long ride like this with a rather big kick up the beacon at the end, your at the point where you are mostlikely to be running out of energy/minerals etc... thats where that extra energy gel comes in handy just before the climb!

i concur. nuun tablets in with an energy drink or by themselves is a good way of avoiding cramp towards the end of a ride. i boshed a gel just before the beacon and it made a great difference.

Cheers for the advice, I'll check out the nuun tablets. I ride fixed mostly wearing ordinary work shoes, with soft soles. I've gotten into the habit of tensing my calves when pedalling in order to get any kind of power, and carried that over to my road bike, which I think may have been a factor. Looks like I'll have to use SPDs, even though it's annoying taking a spare pair of shoes.

So I hear that some of the guys we know got a little lost on this?? Any one care to spill the beans....

yeah, pretty silly really... a group of 6 of us missed a turn and took about a twenty five min diversion. i was riding with max's friend ollie who also got cramp so we just soft-pedalled home. did an alright time considering the diversion and slow second half.

still there's always next year to get a good time!

did m-xl tell you?

Got two places for sale forthis ride on Sunday if anyone's interested? http://puncheur.co.uk/ - 2nd March, me and a mate can't make it but the organisers have said fine to transfer entry if anyone's up for it, price was £23 each but will do 2 for £25? Cheers

Anyone here taking part in this year's?