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fuck that. you've already got a target for next year, anyway.

(and so have I)

(you shouldn't have hung around for my puncture faff)

Curse that puncture your bad vibes caused me, 6pt (actually payback for feeling secretly smug when I caught up with you and skinny when you got your's) . I'd have been 5th or 6th on that segment without it - not the stuff of dreams, but then I'm easily pleased... Top three next year.

^^Jago claims to have spotted you on Greenwich park hill tonight - I was away with the fairies

Dratt! How very inconvenient of work to get in the way of a civilised weekday ride, and how unusual too. Otherwise, I would have been very much up for that - maybe even fitting in the whole route this time...

Fine by me (could be tricky if it gets much later, as I have to catch a plane).

Hope you got some sleep...

Social is good for me! Just sent you a message via Strava - which you can now ignore...

I'm planning on going out tomorrow morning - would like to check out the ROFL... Okay if I tag along?

I'm always too much of an optimist! You're right 6pt doable is a more accurate word. I rode the route (or something very close to it) a little while ago and averaged just under 19mph on my own, I'm guessing that being in a group would give an up-lift to that if everyone is working hard.

Entered into this, longer routes what 100km with 4000ft?

Morning spin.

Agreed, it's quite gentle and quite short. I've looked at the route and the climbs are mostly low gradient. Should be easy to average 20+mph in a small group.

I'm planning on doing this*

*the using and spitting thing - not the ride**

**am really doing the ride, and up for pushing quite hard...

Just re-read this and realised how wrong it sounds...

I'm after some people to hammer it with*...

*use up and spit out

I'm planning on doing this*

*the using and spitting thing - not the ride**

**am really doing the ride, and up for pushing quite hard...

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...

@wrongcog- True say. I thought you might be understating your ginger cakage. You are the man who eats 15 roast potatoes the night before to prep for a 70 mile ride...

Brilliant riding around there, not just Ventoux, although that should be done...

I would say go with gears or it might be a bit of a slog. There is some great cycling around the Gorge d'Ardeche. Might be a bit of a schlep from Aix though.

Looks like Wiggins might beat Froome's time...

Froome=podium?

Good to see Wiggins pull away from Nibali in the last meters too.

Wow!
I think Froome is a star in the making

Wrongers, you've done yourself a disservice dude! Believe it or not, you were faster than the Brompton of Insanity - so go on, bump yourself up the hit parade.

It was breezy today and probably not the best day for it. Let me know if you want to head over there another time, I wouldn't mind having a crack at it...

What? Piss Twitching?

Read carefully and it is worse even than that: Twitching, pissing and bonking all at the same time. There's probably a new niche porn market in there somewhere...

Glad the Tandem is working out Tom. It looks awesome - I miss mine, but then my partner was never very keen on the whole stoker thing.

Have the two of you got the synergy thing sorted yet? First couple of rides we did on ours had a few dodgy moments when Olivia suddenly stopped pedalling and tried to lean into corners before we needed to start turning. It was amazing how small shifts in the weight of the stoker can throw out your line. Having said that our tandem had well twitchy handling anyway.
Anyway, great stuff, I look forward to reading about the epic expeditions you'll no doubt make.

Headed out into Kent/Surrey with Benj. We were planning to get a hilly century in, the sun was (almost) shining, the wind was a bit temperamental but still, all was good in the world. After a couple of meaty climbs - including Chalk Pit Lane - and a way better than Disney encounter with a lost fawn, we headed on to Pilgrims Way. Flying along with the wind at our tails, a kamikaze butterfly foolishly head-butted me in the torso. Unfortunately for my metamorphosing foe, my porridge filled belly was more than a match for its paper thin structure. As I wiped what was left of poor pappilion from my belly, my rear tyre popped with what can only be described as a terminal cough. Now, I'm no expert on chaos theory....

The tyre was a write off, as was the century, as was the butterfly. Trundled back to the nearest train station with a five pound note acting as tyre wall (thanks for the tip wrongcog) and commuted home.

IMHO that butterfly seriously needed to HTFU.

After dropping BPB at the station I had another crack at Gangers Hill and then resumed the blast along the Pilgrim's Way and out into Kent proper.
Not that much to report - century attained with a reasonable average speed - plenty of upping and downing - tacky Tuna and sweetcorn sarnie on a greasy petrol station forecourt. Usual stuff.

Beautiful moment descending Bowers Lane into Eyensford when I stopped for a pee and saw/heard a pair of skylarks larking around over a scrubby field which was densely poppied and looked stupidly picturesque in the sunlight. I was a bit bonky at the time but that moment reminded me why I love this hobby so much.

^ Beat me to it! Nice to see you too. Just been looking at the maths geek ride thread - sounds interesting - I'm not sure that I can do it because I'm already booked in for a sportive thing in Surrey but I'd be keen otherwise.

Anyway, hope your knee gets better for it...

So good to ride in the sun, for a change, this morning.

My tour with boy.... Those tow paths aren't exactly nippy .... offroad style riding for much of it - knackered. High point: being with my son, chatting, and riding in quiet places rolling quietly along, water fowl and lots of other birds and calm country. Low point: jockey wheel cage thing falling right off when trying to change a tube. :( Kind passersby (cyclists, natch) stopping to help were dead cool though.

I remember you telling me about this trip when you came and got those Nitto bars. It sounds kind of excellent from the outside, even though I'm sure it isn't without difficulty in reality.

Anyway, I hope you and your son enjoy it. Some of my favourite ever bike rides have been with my boy.

Take that 58-year-old off his bike for 2 weeks, and he'll atrophy catastrophically. The only reason he's going well, is that he hasn't missed a week of riding since the late 80s. Any break, and he'll need 2000 basemiles to regain some semblance of form.

Really? Sounds a bit extreme, but I'm no expert.

Maybe his advise will be to establish good habits then. Don't leave it!

Quote:
Originally Posted by miro_o
I didn't get on a bike once at the weekend. Instead I went to parties and 'socialised' and things (you know like normal people). Lots of drink was drunk.
I now seem to have lost all my legs & lungs, and have forgotten how to bicycle. I just got a total kicking at the club chain gang and had to drop off. Is this what happens in your 30s?

No. HTFU.

Damn right - no substitute for that advise - go and talk to my 58 year old cycling guru about how weak and over-the-hill 30 year olds are!

Not strictly a weekend ride, but as yesterday was the last day of the academic year for the course that I teach on, it is at least a holiday ride...

http://app.strava.com/rides/9701797

I went out on my usual route into Kent with the idea of doing a few loops of the exedown climb between Wrotham and Kemsing. The combination of feeling quite good, the sun being out, and having a slight tail wind meant that I was hell-bent on chasing a few KOMs on the way out (I really should know better...).

When I came over the rise as you come into Swanley from Sidcup I could see a rider about half a mile away, climbing the rise at the end of a long straight section and I determined to catch him. I eventually caught up at the top of Wested hill and we rode together on into Eynsford. Initially, he was going to take the main road to Otford but then said that he would accompany me up Bowers lane - which for those of you that don't know it is a climb that starts off very, very steeply for about a third of a mile and then softens off but continues upwards for another couple of miles.

I had wanted to give it the beans but was glad to have some company and thought that it would mean that I could save some energy for Exedown. How wrong can you be?! NEVER, ever make assumptions about cyclists on the basis of age - the dude was an absolute boss on the bike. He is 58 years old and I can't think of that many cyclists in their thirties that are better climbers - he is beautiful on his bike - really controlled and efficient. He had a few yards on me at the top of the steep section, but then I dug deep and pushed hard over the long gentle upper section. I turned around three miles from the bottom of the climb expecting him to be out of sight and he was just 10 metres or so behind me!

If I'm half the rider he is when I'm his age I'll be seriously pleased with myself - he was a lovely chap too - pretty certain he won't be on here though - but even so... Chapeau Monsieur, chapeau!

Anyway we cracked along the Pilgrim's Way for a few miles and went our separate ways just before Wrotham. I stopped to eat a bit of a flapjack before tackling Exedown. This is a climb that has always had a bit of voodoo over me for some reason, but recently I felt like I had cracked it, but today I was absolutely slain and crawled up granny style. Realising that I had yet again failed to eat enough to keep me going (wrongcog dude, I need one of your marzipan boxes - actually I just need to listen to your advise about food - one does kind of need it!) I started to head for home.

It was a fairly uneventful ride home; the cursed traffic lights were against me and my assault on the Sidcup hill segment was thwarted by a f**king stupid driver squeezing past on a pinch point 3/4s of the way up the hill and then immediately turning left on me, I was doing 21mph and nearly went over the bars trying to avoid her car - ratfink!

The beautiful weather I was cycling in has clouded over as I type this and I think it might rain in a minute. Very glad I got out this morning...

I've just emptied my pockets and found that I have lost the £20 that I stashed in case of need - so if anyone finds it, well, it's mine innit...