Tell us about your weekend ride

Damn it.

Cornwall Tor sportive today: 105km of rolling, steep hills with some truly viscous winds and a sprinkling of rain here and there. Absolutely stunning scenery, though, and by all accounts a very challenging route.

http://app.strava.com/activities/134811394

Maximum elevation was about 200m; considering the total elevation gain was 1800m (after correction), that's a lot of ups and downs...

I have never cramped so fucking hard in my life. I don't understand it at all. Distance and elevation weren't too extreme for me, although the rolling, steep hills are different than I'm used to. I got a good night's sleep, had a good balanced breakfast, drank loads of water and electrolyte drink, ate fairly regularly (including a banana and some gels), but around the 50km mark I felt cramps starting in my right thigh and they didn't really let up. At 75km I stopped at a red light and my entire thigh seized up so badly that I was left straddling my bike as the light went green. desperately trying to hobble off to the side of the road, where I spent 15 minutes yelling "FUUUUUUUUUCK!" and trying to massage it out. In the end I just ate a Nuun tablet and that seemed to get it, but for the rest of the ride I was left spinning up everything because I could feel it starting to go again.

It really pissed me off, because I don't think I've ever really cramped on the bike before, and I thought I really nailed my hydration and nutrition, but it was all for nothing. Didn't even make bronze time. sigh

Is it the first time you've done a big ride like that on the BMC? Could be related to fit? Maybe? Idfk.

I cant get past the gorgeous bike. Truely my dream machine.

^^^you've might have ridden all the rolling false flat hills you've mentioned a little too hard, turning the ride in to 15-20 small intervals which you might not be used to. Or maybe it's that time of the month.

Do you stretch?

I've done the 160k route of the North Cornwall Tor and it is the hardest ride I've ever done! and that includes 200k plus days in the Alps. Maybe you are a bit like me, in that I can climb <6% ramps all day, but a reasonable amount of >10% will empty my legs in no time. There are many climbs (quite short) at 20% and greater on the N.C.T. and there is very little flat in between the climbs. My Garmin had 3900m of climbing at the end of the ride.

It is beautiful though. Chapeau for getting through it!

Go shoosh!

I would like to re-iterate this sentiment.

No, I want her to keep telling us about it. :)

I've done the 160k route of the North Cornwall Tor and it is the hardest ride I've ever done! and that includes 200k plus days in the Alps. Maybe you are a bit like me, in that I can climb <6% ramps all day, but a reasonable amount of >10% will empty my legs in no time. There are many climbs (quite short) at 20% and greater on the N.C.T. and there is very little flat in between the climbs. My Garmin had 3900m of climbing at the end of the ride.

It is beautiful though. Chapeau for getting through it!

This is a good point.

I ride a mixture of Mountains, and Coastal roads. I stick to the quieter Coastal roads, which undulate madly. The trouble With the undulating roads is that my nice average 200w endurance wattage, tends to consist of a mixture of 400w short smashes, and 0w rolls Down the other side. So never actually in endurance zone in reality. The other issue is not being in the correct gear half the time.

Means youre using your muscles poorly for what will be a long term effort.

Riding in Cornwall is odd. Only the sea is horizontal.

Plenty of pasties and fudge though.

Large pasties would be Perfect for jersey Pockets.....................

........I miss pasties :(

Is it the first time you've done a big ride like that on the BMC? Could be related to fit? Maybe? Idfk.

Yeah, it was. I had the bike fit professionally though, so that should be good. I'm actually going to email him today, to find out if the fit could have been a factor, and what he recommends.

^^^you've might have ridden all the rolling false flat hills you've mentioned a little too hard, turning the ride in to 15-20 small intervals which you might not be used to. Or maybe it's that time of the month.

No false-flats in Cornwall! It's just 10-15% grades, one after the other, over and over again. But yeah, the hills are definitely efforts. I'd do interval training on the flat... if there was any flat land around here!

I've done the 160k route of the North Cornwall Tor and it is the hardest ride I've ever done! and that includes 200k plus days in the Alps. Maybe you are a bit like me, in that I can climb <6% ramps all day, but a reasonable amount of >10% will empty my legs in no time. There are many climbs (quite short) at 20% and greater on the N.C.T. and there is very little flat in between the climbs. My Garmin had 3900m of climbing at the end of the ride.

It is beautiful though. Chapeau for getting through it!

Exactly this. The long climbs in Japan were fine, because they were at most 4-8% average, but not very rampy. You go all the way up to 500-1000m, but you can sit and spin up them to save your legs. Then you get a screaming 1000m descent and a flat bit before the next climb. The Cornish hills offer you no such luxury, do they?!

But yeah, stunning scenery. And double-chapeau for getting through the 160km one - effort!

Plenty of pasties and fudge though.

Large pasties would be Perfect for jersey Pockets.....................

........I miss pasties :(

Beautiful peppery bastards...

Due to weather conditions I rode my training bike

Bit soggy but not too bad.

Oxford. It was sunny at this point. Yay for sun.

First day of a week in Lanzarote. Did a 50 mile ride through the volcano national park. Most pleasant.

Looks shit.

#youbastard

I have never cramped so fucking hard in my life.

If it was a ride out of your comfort zone it's likely to be intensity related. Your muscles not being used to doing what you wanted them to do - protest!

Beautiful peppery bastards...

Combined bike and baked goods envy. Grrrrr.

Oxford. It was sunny at this point. Yay for sun.

I have vague memories of drunkenly crashing a motor boat into the moorings of that pub. Good times.

Some canoeists got out of their boats near there.

I was wetter than any of them.

#fml

I rode from Liege to Bastogne, and then back to Liege, via lots and lots of hills. It was ace.

http://app.strava.com/activities/134924722

Chapeau sir. That's a decent average speed too.

A friend of mine did it too, longest ride beforehand was 110 kms (him and his wife had their first child back in October) which was pretty impressive. He's a stubborn bugger on a bike though.

Cracking stuff.

Looks shit.

Yeah, 'srubbish really. Look at what we had to put up with today up on the north-east corner of the island:

Rode my first Audax at the weekend, the Oasts and Coasts 300. A bit of everything. First 55 miles or so were wet, cold, lumpy and mainly into a headwind. I have glass extremities so I lost all feeling in my feet and hands, well they were bloody painful, so not all the feeling, but they were strangely numb.

It dried up from around Battle onwards, so I threw my "waterproof" socks in the bin at the cafe and replaced them with dry ones and from that point on the whole thing was much much more fun. I rode with a friend, apart from about 45 miles where we managed to get split up. Fortunately we were apart at the time he accidentally followed through on a fart so I was spared from watching him having to use his emergency toilet kit to clean up ;-) Too many gels/energy drinks me thinks!

There were flat sections where it was effortless to bang along at 22mph+ and times where the hills felt longer and harder than they should. At times I felt weak and tired and wondered if we'd make the finish, but at other times felt like 10 bears, including the last 10 miles or so when I seemed to get second wind (fortunately without following through).

This is the furthest I've ridden in one go by some margin and the sense of achievement/satisfaction at finishing was comparable to anything I've done in cycling before. Still tired now though!

http://www.strava.com/activities/135502997

I rode with a friend, apart from about 45 miles where we managed to get split up. Fortunately we were apart at the time he accidentally followed through on a fart so I was spared from watching him having to use his emergency toilet kit to clean up ;-) Too many gels/energy drinks me thinks!
Ha!
I rode that exact route over 2 days on the last bank holiday and it's great.
That viking trail bit is super.
Great work.