Tell us about your weekend ride

I was marshalling at the ECCA 10 just north of Six Mile Bottom (race was planned for the E2 which is dual carriageway along the A11, but changed coz of roadworks to the E33 which is single carriageway - and a nicer course in my opinion).

Did a loop down through Helions Bumpstead to Finchingfield, up through Steeple Bumpstead, Birdbrook, Wrattings, Westley Waterless (where the race HQ was) to my perch at the Swaffham Bulbeck turn.

Stupidly I didn't have enough layers on for standing around in the strong headwind (only an extra waterproof jacket) and froze my bits off marshalling for an hour. Then rode very stiffly back home 13 miles into the headwind.

Approx 45 miles in total and had to have a bath to warm up again when I got home.

moral of the weekend story?
weather never does what we want,
but bikes do,
the most energy efficient machine ever invented

ftfy

Energy efficient you say...

Horses which lead to many 'oh shit' moments on the descents as I remember, especially at night on a heavy touring bike.

None of them moved or showed me any interest. Riding in RP with the deer and rabbits and stuff was far more harrowing.

Many years ago, I did a road race on a circuit in Nomansland. Danny Axford got away early on and my team mate and I spent most of the rest of the race trying to bring him back. I went so hard up the climb on the penultimate lap that I was sick all over myself.
Danny won by 3 minutes I think.
/csb

I've come second to Danny in a 25. I think he beat David Millar as a junior so we can now say we're almost as fast as Millar, right?

Have 20 man points for being sick on yourself during a race too.

#htfu

80 odd miles into a head wind. Should have been 100, but by the time I got to Northampton I had concluded that I hated cycling; hated my bike; hated my aching, seizing-up back; hated the wind and hated Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and parts of Northamptonshire.

Aw, seeing that reminds me of stopping to buy milk at Balclutha before turning southwards to camp at Curio Bay, and getting stuck behind about a thousand muddy cows being moved along the road.

Yup, it's a stereotype for a reason. The first few times I didn't know what to do, now I just drive/ride straight into them and they get out of the way pretty sharpish. Unlike horses...

None of them moved or showed me any interest.

My recurring experience with them was always a bit like when you're walking along and someone is walking directly towards you, and you both turn in the same direction to avoid each other, then turn again, then end up almost walking into each other before saying 'sorry' and working something out, except that the other person is a trotting horse and you're on a very fast-moving bicycle.

Horses which lead to many 'oh shit' moments on the descents as I remember, especially at night on a heavy touring bike.

Just spent two days riding easy gravel paths along the Clutha River in New Zealand. There-and-back route of 160km (100 miles) and camped at the turnaround point. The start is only an hour's drive from my house so I'm quite spoiled.

Dunedin?

Yup.

Sure is some lovely country down there. Never spent much time in those parts not being a mainlander but a mate of mine who used to surf down in the Caitlins was always banging on how beautiful it was there.

Is that 12h worth of food? Surly not.

ftfy

Energy efficient you say...

[IMG]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BjXMzgDIMAEfYlq.jpg[/MG]

Well, I could eat it in about 10mins.

What answer are you expecting?

No!

Do you use all that when doing 12 ride like at weekend? Or is that just a picture of your stash.

Did the Richardson rumble on Sunday.. cycled to the start on the crab0n and in summer gear (dick!), I was cold, it was windy and it started to rain just before the off! so cycled home got changed in to Arctic clothing and jumped on the SS. Some b@stard nicked the signs at Sawtry so that added a few miles too, 90 miles or so in all and about 80 on the SS. Gear is a little large for headwinds and hills so my knees hurt a bit yesterday but all good again today..

Is that 12h worth of food? Surly not.

Well, I could eat it in about 10mins.

What answer are you expecting?

nowhere near enough caffeine on that pile

No!
Do you use all that when doing 12 ride like at weekend? Or is that just a picture of your stash.

12hrs - 10 bars, 8 gels and 9 sachets of powder

nowhere near enough caffeine on that pile

There were only two caffeine gels in that.

I buy caffeine powder separately.

#likeaboss

I buy caffeine powder separately.

ah yeah, taps nose

Don't snort it.

12hrs - 10 bars, 8 gels and 9 sachets of powder

Feck.

I'm about as efficient as a Humvee With a leaky petrol tank.

For tommorrows 6 hr ride I'll have pretty exactly half that plus some cake stops, and I'll just be pootling.

I Wonder how much it would cost to have a cement truck as a team car. Churning glucose, caffiene, and water. With a big fecking Straw handging out the back.

I wouldn't normally have that much unless I was racing or maybe doing race pace training but I was testing the Torq stuff.

i like the torq stuff .

Yeah thought it seemed a lot. Racing is different.

Yesterday on 6h with 2h worth of efforts.
I had 3 bananas, 3 protein balls 9g and 1 flapjack. And 2litre water + 2 litre downed before i left home.

That's like. 150g carbs. 27g protein. And maybe 80g fat.

I run on bodyfat! I'm efficient.

I'd eat a load more racing.

I plan to do 160km tommorrow. I was thinking of carrying.....

2 x 2nd Surge gels.
1 x bag of Power shots
5 x clif bars.
2ltr nuun in water.

The 2nd surge gels are a test really. Havent used gels for an age, and certainly not riding. The powershots are pretty nice in that you can just Munch them without gluing Your mouth together or constantly needing water. I love clif bars. I would very much like to eat more than 1 an hour.

Why use Nuun + food if you're in need of carbs? I find drinking a CHO beverage is the easiest way to stay fueled.

Yeah we were given cliff bars once. I ate them all within an hour of leaving. Too good to have.