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• #4052
Scorching day though and even though I kept a steady supply of fluids going in all day, none came out until after the second post ride beer at about 8pm.
Wasn't it though!!! I took on three bidons, and two lucozade sports and a shed of water on arrival and just didn't need a piss til hours after the ride.
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• #4053
it was moby dickulous.
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• #4054
Spent last week in Saint du Blaise bois, 20 miles outside Grenoble. Cycled a bit via crappy mountain bikes to find La Piscine etc. Not much mileage but shit the hills ! (alps) Hats well and truly off to the TDF boys. My butt feels a little more steel like this week.
Also walked up one of these on Saturday, took 3 hours up and 3 down (22k);
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartreuse_Mountains
I have never had so much pain in the lower half of my body.... I literally can just about walk, my thighs, butt and calves feel like they've been pumelled. Plus temperature was 36c !Now walking like
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• #4055
Wasn't it though!!! I took on three bidons, and two lucozade sports and a shed of water on arrival and just didn't need a piss til hours after the ride.
Drank 800ml while stuck in traffic getting to race. 500ml during.
500ml diet coke and 500ml lemon something afterwards and then a couple of beers and helped with 3 bottles of vodka for Polish birthday.
Dehydrated much? I think I finally had a piss Sunday night after a couple of beers and lots of soft drink in the park. -
• #4056
pretty sure that was the hottest weekend of cycling i've ever done.
what a weekend to decide to ride from london to paris!
paris was 38 degrees as we cycled in and i've never consumed to much water.
me and mate followed the donald hirsh route which goes from dieppe into paris following the avenue verte, an old railway which is now paved, and some amazingly quiet and beautiful roads. it routes into paris through the forests which is well away from the traffic full roads.
we cycled from london down to newhaven on saturday to catch the overnight ferry. no problem on the english leg save only being able to get 2 hours sleep on the ferry, not quite what you need for a 130 miles the next day.
once we'd arrived we set off along the avenue verte having not really thought about how dark it might be in rural france at 0400 in the morning. turns out it's pretty dark. our blinky blinky lights were next to useless in illuminating the way but did highlight the edges of the path and a couple of metres in front of us. luckily the path is superbly smooth and there was nought about save us and lots of rabbits. it's also pancake flat and real easy riding.
as the sun came up and we started to follow the roads it was very obvious that no-one seems to be about on a sunday morning. traffic was minimal, the odd car an hour for parts of the early hours. we rode some beautiful roads, the tarmac is always so so smooth.
our only problem seemed to be food. france doesn't really do sundays in the commercial sense so upon hitting any of the towns we rode through the only option for sustenance was from the boulangerie. we ate a lot of croissant but seeing as the only sell bread and not butter that wasn't an option either.
the route is long, 129 miles, but well though out and takes in some great roads. safe to say it was a lot lot hiller than i was expecting but my choice to take the gears paid its dividends. there are some great climbs and absolutely super descents.
we arrived in paris for the glory shot of the eiffel tower and then booted up the train station to sort the bikes for the train, wash and eat and then pass out on the train.
25 hours from brixton to paris ain't bad going and with a grand total of zero mechanicals made it one of my best rides to date.
routes:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1444263
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1444435
http://www.donaldhirsch.com/dieppeparis.html -
• #4057
^^^^^Wrong Cog vs Ditchling
You paint a brilliant picture of your suffering. I'm feeling for you, buddy.
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• #4058
Shame you didn't pinch a route I took, 'cog, as it sticks two pert fingers up at Ditchling, like all unfamiliar with hill related glory are obliged to.
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• #4059
Dammitall where did I find that then? I'll know next time. If Swine says non then stay away!
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• #4060
saw a columbian paraympic cyclist with a couple of support riders today in that grubby bit of town between clapton and the north circular roundabout (walthamstow?).
was pretty amazing, he only had one leg and no prosthetics, was just powering away on a normal bike one-legged, must have been going about 20mph
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• #4061
This might be a long one...
This weekend, like hats above and many others, I rode the Exmouth Exodus. Unlike many, and as I did last year, I rode on after Exmouth to Poole (on the A35, as above), and then from Poole on to London.
Unlike previous years, however, I also rode to the start of the Exmouth Exodus (Bristol) on Saturday afternoon, from Budleigh Salterton. It was also different from previous years in that this riding was being done on a loaded tandem with the forum's own tricitybendix providing the push.
To make things harder, on Thursday we had ridden to Budleigh Salterton through Dartmoor from Plymouth, which is not particularly flat at the best of times, and felt decidedly less so carrying 40kgs+ of camping equipment and clothes.
How did we end up in Plymouth? Well, with a bit of backtracking and plotting, it looks a little bit like this.
Day One
Nunhead -> Newhaven -> Dieppe -> JumiègesWe pointed our laden wheels southwards 5am on the 18th of July (tb's birthday. I couldn't help but feel there were better ways to celebrate such things but this is how we found ourselves). We inched our way towards Newhaven in the morning gloom, fighting off the cold and hoping the weather would hold out. By Layhams Lane we had got to grips with the handling of the bike under load, and by Titsey we'd had an unplanned waterbottle jettison and a thrown chain. Both issues resolved we merrily rolled with surprising speed towards the coast, being caught out by (and shamefully walking up) one steep hill and passing through a few light showers. By the ferry terminal I had managed to rack up a surprising slug deathtoll and the wind was howling. "It's always like this down here" said the passport man, "even if it's still and shining everywhere else."
He was smiling.As we waited for boarding in a bleak holding pen we spied another tandem heading the same way - this one a recumbent with trailer piloted by a Canadian couple. They were pedalling to Turkey. 50 miles under our belt and we'd already been trumped.
On the ferry, attempts to watch the day's stage of le Tour were scuppered by snoozing, and attempts to snooze were scuppered by incredibly uncomfortable chairs, but exhaustion overcame all and one long blink later we were in foreign lands and on the wrong side of the road, but the strong coastal winds blew just the same.
From Dieppe we followed the River Scie south to Auffay on a road that gently climbed as it snaked from one bank to the other through the odd small town, stopping for lunch in a quiet churchyard in Saint Victor l'Abbaye then changing course to shadow the Cailly River through Malaunay down to the Seine where we spent our first night in a rather featureless campsite in Jumièges - a town with an impressive Abbey that loomed over us as we made our dusk approach.
this (or at least, documentation of this trip) continues in a far less articulate fashion here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=11240&v=53It's mainly photos of food rather than any insightful touring musings, and I haven't got around to doing the ridiculous 500 miles in a day and a half* or whatever it was in England, but it is what it is.
*may be hyperbole
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• #4062
My first century yesterday!
Navigated and encouraged by Benj. We rode along a lot of the Dynamo route to Woodbridge in Suffolk. 102 miles for me (more for Benj) with a wind behind us that made us feel like heroes. The heavens opened biblically 5 miles from our destination and there were a couple of occasions at the end where Benj had to wait for me to drag myself up a rise or two. But overall an 18.2mph average. Top hospitality from Benj, his wife and their friends including a big BBQ when we arrived. Then this morning I jumped back on the bike and rode the 35 miles to my parent's house near Diss. Today was a bitch! Into the wind all the way and on second hand legs. But I'm now marinating a big ol piece of pork and drinking Adnams. All is well with the world and for a 3 mile section yesterday our 30mph constant while chatting and drafting made us feel we'd dropped a pro peloton and that our breakaway would be a roaring success.
Restful nights and weary grins are made of this.
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• #4063
TourDeTandem is amazing. The ride-stitching thing is nice too, I was trying to guess where on earth you'd head next as it loads.
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• #4064
At wrongcog,
Shame to lose you today Mr. Apart from being dragged 12km running round the lanes by Olivia's marathon running friend, today has been mostly about drinking Adnams, fish and chips, crabbing and swimming in the north sea at Aldeburgh. Win.
Complete agreement from me about yesterday. Top, top ride, aptly finished off with the intense sturm und drang of the hail deluge. Riding with a following wind is the future...
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• #4065
^^^I have to collect some chilli sauce from burgate - if I'd known you lot were heading up that way...
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• #4066
Burgate is exactly where I am ! Did we know we both knew people in this tiny part of the world? Bet we had a conversation about it on that ride once? LFGSS chilli collection service advance!
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• #4067
Mind blown. It only has a population of about five. And two of those are dogs.
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• #4068
this (or at least, documentation of this trip) continues in a far less articulate fashion here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=11240&v=53It's mainly photos of food rather than any insightful touring musings, and I haven't got around to doing the ridiculous 500 miles in a day and a half* or whatever it was in England, but it is what it is.
*may be hyperbole
Kettle on, tea made, time for a read. -
• #4069
this (or at least, documentation of this trip) continues in a far less articulate fashion here:
Nice report, and quite considerably more articulate than the German translation of this:
I haven't got around to doing the ridiculous 500 miles in a day and a half* or whatever it was in England, but it is what it is.
*may be hyperbole
When you do, you'll obviously have to rename the report 'Tandemtime in Fraingland'.
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• #4070
"Thank you don't fell in the bathroom with your bike"
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• #4071
this (or at least, documentation of this trip) continues in a far less articulate fashion here:
[URL]http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=11240&v=53[/URLKettle on, tea made, time for a read.
I wanna go touring now. -
• #4072
Was gonna try and ride 6 hours. Ended up doing about 8. Another Powertap mount let go heading towards Henley and this time the little yellow computer didn't like the impact at all. Lots of missing LCD segments. Fuck.
Stopped to watch some great aerial acrobatics at Skirmett. Win!
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• #4073
this (or at least, documentation of this trip) continues in a far less articulate fashion here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=11240&v=53It's mainly photos of food rather than any insightful touring musings, and I haven't got around to doing the ridiculous 500 miles in a day and a half* or whatever it was in England, but it is what it is.
*may be hyperbole
excellent read!
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• #4074
"Thank you not fallen in the bathroom with your bike."
Fixed.
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• #4075
this (or at least, documentation of this trip) continues in a far less articulate fashion here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=11240&v=53It's mainly photos of food rather than any insightful touring musings, and I haven't got around to doing the ridiculous 500 miles in a day and a half* or whatever it was in England, but it is what it is.
*may be hyperbole
Extremely jealous. That sounds an amazing trip.
It took me a good few days to come back down to earth after just cycling London to Paris. How long did it take you guys?
I did the opposite. First "long" (for me) ride in over a year. Made possible by cyclesheme and a brand new road bike. Did 100k of hilly north Chilterns including a couple of goes up 16% Bison Hill by Whipsnade. Bit stiff today but nowhere near as bad as I was expecting given how little proper riding i've done in the lasrt 12 months.
New bike (Caad10) was great. Very pleased with the whole package and fit. Scorching day though and even though I kept a steady supply of fluids going in all day, none came out until after the second post ride beer at about 8pm. Shhhhalty.
Good to be back in the saddle.