Tell us about your weekend ride

I don't really understand that comment ^ but it was actually the 5:53, my time perception is a bit screwed, if that's what you mean. I didn't mean to make it sound like we did the ride 11 minutes faster than we did ;)

mine was a poor joke on the time of day.

ta for route.

Obviously that would be the 'other' 5:42.

pete he means PM not AM. i.e. you didn't ride 189 miles in under 6 hours

well done both of you btw.

complacency is in full effect...

I skipped this morning's planned long group ride. Things hurt a bit after yesterday's ride (chasing a tandem) so I sacked it off and instead went out fixed up some favourite climbs.

Enjoyed hail showers...

At first I was up for it – then I got pummelled. They felt like ball bearings.

Saw a lot of green and yellow fields.

Stunning views of the rapeseed fields and storm clouds from up high today.

Fox I had no idea you literally went past my house! If I'd have known there would have been food/ drinks for you.

When you fancy some East Anglia rides please do let me know. We don't have much in the way of audax up here (bar the 400 this year) are you coming along for that?

Blue Fleet:

muddy bridleway resembling the Somme

You didn't hit Pelham Furneaux did you? Longest ford in Europe I think...

Blue Fleet:

You didn't hit Pelham Furneaux did you? Longest ford in Europe I think...

We were back on the road again by then I think, we started off roading just after Standtead Abbotts, could have been part of the same thing though, I was not doing the navigating so to be honest i never knew where the hell I was most of the time. Could have got away with it in the dry but not after the recent rain.

@Fox & Spybot, loving the early morning mist photo, reminds me of the stones ride last year. And chapeau for the fixed effort. Have you guys done a 200 mile audax already or was that your first long one? I'm looking at doing my first 200 soon as i try to cycle up to my folks in Wales and just wondering on timings for leaving. Yours was about 17 hours or so right, how much of that was riding and how much was off bike, approx?

Also wondered what the most popular saddle is amongst the audax brigade, I'm assuming some kind of Brooks? I've yet to find a saddle that i'm happy on after 150 odd miles, I'm not sure my butt will ever be happy after sitting on any saddle for so long.

solo'd to Cambridge saturday after my buddy bailed on it.

hoping he'd have a change of conviction and due to much faffing I didnt leave till ten. nearly forgot my pump but only got as far as earl's ct before realising. turned around and grabbed it.
then got lost getting out of london and managed to turn circa 60 miles into circa 70 via haverstock hill. trying to conserve battery in the phone, and not use google maps. eventually conceded but only succeeded in getting more off track.

then somewhere around sunny enfield I managed a pinch flat avoiding a bus on a particularly un-fantastic bit of road. started pishing down.
Quickly realised you need more than a pump and a spare tube to fix a tyre if it's clad with gatorskins. 5mile walk to halfords. lost my gloves somewhere.

halfords charge £7 or £8 for a set of fricken plastic tyre levers! Joke!

rode back looking for gloves after refusing to pay £16 to halfords for their crap ones. realised I wasnt going to make it in the rain/hail without them though - and couldnt find the ones I dropped. So turned back around and went to the large sporting superstore (next to Halfords).

eventually rocked into cambridge just after four. after the way the rest of the day had gone, I didnt much feel like risking an extended stint in the dark on tired legs, so bit the bullet and caught the train back.

lessons learned:
1) riding extended distances fixed on adamo saddles gets moderately uncomfortable after about 60 miles. maybe it's the fact you can't rest, maybe it's the constant localised pressure.
2) pack the night before. make a list or keep a saddlebag.
3) 3 muesli bars maketh not a lunch, even if you do have a large brekky.
4) Halfords is a ripoff, even though everything about them screams minimum service, minimum price.
5) I need to get a garmin with a route guide. or some mates. or both. probably both
6) I suspect that baby p isnt the only baby to be abused in Harringay (sp). There is probably more to report if a baby isnt beaten there.. pretty miserable place. Maybe it was just the hail.

Probably a B17 blue fleet.

^thanks, thought it would be a Brooks, or rather feared it would, which is a pain in the arse again, as that really wont 'go' with my italian bike. Seems I'm on the threshold of function overtaking form, it seems like middle age hath arrived, knee longs socks and sandles here I come, sigh

That was just a guess though. But they are good saddles I just can't be doing with the maintenance of them, I use a planet x superlight on my audax bike.

Would the black b17 match the bike or not?

Also wondered what the most popular saddle is amongst the audax brigade, I'm assuming some kind of Brooks? I've yet to find a saddle that i'm happy on after 150 odd miles, I'm not sure my butt will ever be happy after sitting on any saddle for so long.

I'm not a member of the 'audax brigade' but managed to get a few 200/300 mile+ rides in last summer and was perfectly happy with a good pair of bibs on a specialized toupe. but saddles are such a personal thing, as you'll see by the circular discussions in the saddle thread.

audaxers dont have arses, just wizened peaches that resist the vibrations of thousands of road miles

I'll make an attempt to learn how to do multi-quotes one day but until then:

@ Spency, I'm with you on that, i'm fit a forget merchant so any saddle requiring a maintenance regime is not one for me, I will invariably not do it until its too late. Also the Brooks ones seem to be the most stolen saddles around, I assume in part due to the awesome comfort but probably more likely due to their high cost.

@6pt, you do mega mileage so your opinion is definately welcomed, I expect the audaxers are bit too scruffy and slow for you right? (Spybot and Fox exlcluded of course as they are very dapper). I know I've just got to try them and see, I'm slowly working my way through the recommendations I've seen on here. Funnily enough a Toupe is one of the first I tried and I really did'nt get along with the cut out, it felt like I was being cut in two, so that got sold. Also tried and rejected a Rolls, some Selle Italia one, not an slr and one of the Charge ones. My current favourite is an old style Concor which is comfier than the new version, but when funds allow I think I'll try a flite or a turbo as they seem to get plenty of love on here, also maybe a romin of the newer breeds.

@*m.f, haha, exactly, I imagine going up to one of those gandalfs of the road and asking for recommendations for saddles for my aching behind, only to be met with quizzical looks before finally they announce they're maybe not the best people to ask as they've not felt anything down there since about 1976.

Anyway thanks all, enough about my sore arse and back to the rides.

Hoefla/Si - sorry, being dim. Blame tiredness.

Fox I had no idea you literally went past my house! If I'd have known there would have been food/ drinks for you.

When you fancy some East Anglia rides please do let me know. We don't have much in the way of audax up here (bar the 400 this year) are you coming along for that?

That's the plan. It does indeed seem less daunting now I've done a 300, although I'm not sure my right knee would agree. You don't rent out rooms do you? ;)

Have you guys done a 200 mile audax already or was that your first long one? (snip) Yours was about 17 hours or so right, how much of that was riding and how much was off bike, approx?

We took 17.5 hours all together, I think about 13 of that was moving. This seems to be about typical from what I've gathered. I'm sure we could have done it faster if I was on gears too.

Also wondered what the most popular saddle is amongst the audax brigade, I'm assuming some kind of Brooks?

Seems to be yes, a B17 seems spot on. I don't think you need a Brooks though, just whatever suits you. Getting it set up right is critical, unforunately mine doesn't seem to be at the moment, so I was hurting a bit by the end, without going into too much detail. I'm not even sure my problems are saddle related though, I'm trying to get to the bottom of them at the moment, if you pardon the pun.

I do most 100-200m fixed rides on a crappy 15 quid fizik I got as an emergency saddle after my arione got nicked. The only saddle I ever notice any discomfort with on long rides now is my brooks. If that helps with your style issue.

hello

meant to post this last week as thats when it happened but forgot so here it is.

just come back from a cracking cycling weekend in belgium. the ultimate destination for hassle free riding mecca!
here is how to do it if you fancy doing something amazing

car to ramsgate to catch the ferry to oostende. (no foot passengers allowed)
61 quid 5 hour journey. cabin available for 20 quid (highly recommended) and nowhere near as bad as you would think
if you catch the 6:30pm ferry you must come back on the 8:30pm ferry on the sunday to take advantage of the cheap price
cheap hotel in oostende friday night as you dont arrive till gone midnight belgium time
heres the route we did: http://g.co/maps/2969v
amazing canalside roads flat as a pancake, no cars, hardly any people just an absolute pleasure.
any cars at junctions no matter how fast they are going will always stop for passing cyclists.
its actually quite surreal compared to spiteful taxi drivers etc in london.

a sample of the riding surface.
anyway for a cheap weeekend ride and 200 miles under your belt this will take some beating

Brickman = pro grass tarck bosse

crude drawing of 1st grass track experience with 1st grass track crash on its way to draw your collisions thread soon.

Just had an awesome wet roll around Cheshire, using Strava for the first time. I love the contrast with London. I clipped in to my shoes outside my front gate, and clipped out again 1 hour and 15 minutes later, without having to stop once in between.

http://app.strava.com/rides/7349785

Did have one oh shit moment though - you know that video of the wildebeest or whatever it is taking out the mountain bike? Well, I was riding through Delamere Forest when a fearsome baby rabbit leapt out of the verge and tried to knock me off. Luckily, I knew that they are always more afraid of people than people are of them, so I puffed out my chest, let out a huge roar, and fortuitously it retreated before it could do me any major harm. Also saw a massive bird of prey of some description, but it was too far out of the corner of my eye to make out.

Most definately weekend now.
After a shit week of cancellations tonight got the first proper track time of the month!
Fast race drills really fun despite me knowing jack about tactics.
Sunday bhf ride cancelled so hope its not a gale 9 where you are.
Going into coma for a bit now

Lonesome roll round Kent and Surrey in the rain. Fairweather cycling buddies bailed on the morning!
Fabulous loop - beautiful scenery and some challenging climbs - Chalk Pit Lane - ouch!

Gotta go and clean the filthy wheels now after a most satisfying nap...

Strava:

http://app.strava.com/rides/7486508

95 rainy, but most enjoyable, miles around surrey.
Well done all who are braving this weekend's weather

[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/172481017[/ame]

Just did a casual 20 miler with her indoors.
I've been suffering with man flu for a week or so, and haven't ridden for 3 weeks due to ganglion issues. So I thought I'd ease myself back into some road riding.
All went well.
Sadly the missus wasn't too happy!
She's not much of a cycler, and was almost in tears on the way back, as she was exhausted.
Now I'm in the dog house, and she'll probably never go for a ride again.
Dammnit!

Raced (for the first time in a number of years) at the Cyclopark in Kent. Fantastic event set up and run through the Surrey League by LWCR. Pretty miserable conditions in the wind and the rain (Sean Kelly would have been proud), and the mud from the works around the circuit meant that there was a constant spray of grit to the face - some people go to health spas for the privilege.

Forced an early split of about 10 riders and managed to keep up a pretty reasonable pace considering the wet track (which was surprisingly grippy), but probably did too much work at the front. We were set off just infront of the E/1/2/3/4 ladies, so I was pleased not to be overtaken by any women - incredibly mysognist, I know. As we were rolling up the incline to the finish line with about 5 laps to go, the pace slowed and a few of us started chatting about the weather (what else?) and then catching us all by surprise a youth rider on restricted gears took off on a flyer. We all played silly buggers behind and there was no organised chase - even so he (Lewis, I believe his name was) was killing it off the front of the race and we didn't catch him before the line.

Slightly annoyingly, my several years of racing experience at uni have abandoned me, and I opened the sprint way to early which allowed three others to come round me for the finish - will learn for next time (and work on some sprint drills - too much hill work so far this year...). Still, had a great time despite the conditions and pretty happy to be up there at the end.

Big thanks to the organisers for sticking out the conditions (probably worse to watch in that to race), and fantastic new facility over at the Cyclopark - I hope they can get the carpark and clubhouse set up asap.

Pretty sure the wet affected my Garmin, as I don't remember doing any of the off-road sections:
[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/172524824[/ame]

Yesterday I took the car to go to the gelateria. Today I took the bike.

[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/172900489[/ame]

I did indeed duck out of Saturday's roll with Benj. Sorry dude but I'm pretty much bored of riding inside a cloud. Looked at the forecast for today (sun!) and being self employed I decided to take advantage of one the few perks this affords me and hit the road on a Monday morning. Take that 'The man'! My first ride in two weeks and I felt as weak as a kitten. An unforgiving and seemingly constant headwind didn't help, but still, I was rubbish. My legs felt like wet sponge and my lungs seemed to contract to the size of satsumas. Managed to grunt and mentally cajole my way around 70 odd miles of partially flooded Essex countryside, taking in a few hill reps along the way. Crap average speed, everything ached, I felt terrible on the bike, came home and slept for two hours in the middle of the afternoon. It was ace.