Sunday 9am base ride

wilburtrump

A relatively still morning by the looks of it, still chilly with an easterly/south-easterly blowing so will head out saffron walden way for a 4-5 hour ride. Should have a bit more time on Sunday as no time constraints for me in theory.

If I'm not there it's because I haven't made it back from Leeds on Sat night and one of the other racers will look after the ride.

Yes mudguards, yes flaps, yes zone 2, no fixies, no tt bikes/tri bars.

Andy S

I will be doing a 3 hr 28 min ride on Sunday, leaving from the War Memorial at a time TBA/TBD.

Anyone is welome to join, parameters of the ride are:
-- Fixies only (brakes optional)
-- 68" gear (48x19 please, on 700c w/23mm tyres).
-- Target average cadence: 91.235 (range: 43.5543-194.7543)
-- Target wattage: 237.531 (average male 40+ sweet spot)
-- Target HR: 147.35
-- Target speed: 16.5389 (range 8.5235-24.6549)

-- No flouro (please ...)
-- No socks less than 8 inches or more than 10 inches
-- No reflectors, mud guards, carbon anything, pannier racks, saddle bags, frame pumps or saddle mounted bottles
-- Strictily NO computer sounds. If your computer beeps, it goes in the hedge, just ahead of you.
-- NO NO NO team kit, current or vintage (seriously, this isn't football).

If you are interested in this ride please whisper me your mobile number and I will text you the start time 7 minutes before we head out. Hurry, numbers are limited to two (me plus one other).

Merry Christmas!

On second thought ... I'll probably just join you guys, it sounds perfect!

brynd

Sounds great, see you guys Sunday morning

wilburtrump

Might go a bit longer if people are up for it, possibly a 100 miler, depends on weather and how people are feeling. Will make sure there are plenty of opportunities to turn off if people aren't up for the whole lot (which may include me...).

JeremyP

Aiming to join you for this. Long is good.

Stuart F

Will

if you do get stuck in Leeds come over to watch the National CX action in Bradford. Looks to be a tad muddy.

Andy_R

I can make it tomorrow, flap and all. If anyone has a route they can post I'd be delighted to give it a go on my new computer.

Andy_R

P.s. I take it my hybrid is OK? It has really effective mudguards...

JeremyP

I assume you mean your Pinnacle - that will be fine.

See you tomorrow at 9am.

wilburtrump

Road bike would be better, but as long as you can keep up. This ride won't be waiting for people, it's not the club ride.

Andy_R

Ha - should hopefully be OK. I only get dropped from group rides when phil k puts the hammer down ;-)

wilburtrump

That won't be happening... Anybody who "puts the hammer down" will be allowed to go off on a solo attack on their own! There's a time and a place for racing...

phil k

I have never put any hammers anywhere....(or any other hand tools)...I don't even have a hammer...let alone one to put down...

wilburtrump

Some lovely flaps out this morning. Jon C with his double extra long flaps, Jeremy P and Andy R with matching flaps, Adam and Lil with his and hers flaps and Tom T with his big reflective one. Bryn looking very tidy (no flap but extensive muduarding) and and Cam and Carmelo flapless but mudguarded (just about) looked tidy on the road and kept a good steady pace. Little bit on the slow side this week but it was a tad colder than last. We split around Elmdon because of various time constraints. I clocked 4 hours at 175W average and 200W NP. It's getting there!

Thanks for waiting up for my punctures. Hugely appreciated.

brynd

Unfortunately my flap disintegrated before we even made it to Steeple. Version 2 needs a more resilient material. The design was otherwise sound though.

Good ride, made the best of some pretty rubbish conditions. I look forward to a dryer edition next week.

Andy_R

Cheers all for making a grim morning's riding a bit more bearable. I'm stoked that my flap passed it's initiation test - was half expecting to be sent packing back to Stevenage!

JeremyP

The flaps made riding in a group far more bearable in the wet. Was a great lesson in how to ride properly as a group. Will does a great job of giving feedback during the ride to keep everyone together. 60-70miles on a tough Winter day but don't feel beaten up.

Learned stuff today - power meter will be ordered during the week. See you next Sunday.

Andy S

Base miles ... fact or fiction?

Mitchy

Interesting video. Interesting points.

I think the risk of high intensity training, as talked about in the video, is mental burn out and injury, as you are stressing the body far more than long slow riding, that said I'm not a massive fan of being cold and wet.

It's about gearing your training to suit the events you are targeting. 1-2 hours per week of intense training - then expecting to handle a 100km road race - I think not!! Your body will not be used to burning fuel as it needs to for this type of event.

For a time pressed athlete like myself I love the opportunity to ride hard, but maybe lack the motivation to do so when its really cold and wet outside - I've found that entering a few winter CRITS has given me a reason to get out there, after all a CRIT is essentially an hour of repetitions with limited recovery. If I was a coach that is exactly what I'd be setting for an athlete once a week during the winter.

The reality is there are so many ways to achieve fitness, the key is finding what works for you and what your body/mind can sustain without breaking, and ideally finding this out BEFORE you permanently damage yourself!!

Time to get on the rollers now - its wet and cold outside!

Andy S

Using this???

Andy S

All very sound points Dave, but I have to ask, why do you put CRITS in all upper case? The curious writer in me has to ask!

Mitchy

Don't know. Just seems right

geoffg

thanks for this Andy. I am finding it almost impossible to get out up here in Durham. What with the winds and rain it is not possible to do the long base miles. I have reverted to rollers and interval training and these will fit in very well.

Andy S

Ah right, thanks Dave. Just seems like you're shouting CRITS, like you're excited to get racing as soon as possible.

CRITS WOO HOO!!!!

Which ones do you recommend? I might join you this year ... Just don't tell She Who Must Be Obeyed. I was banned from bunch racing in 2006 (apparently I got a 'little' obsessive). Lemme think ... I did my last criteriums (err ... criteria?) in 2001 on the old Lea Valley circuit and Crystal Palace circuit, so don't really know what's available 'round these parts.

Andy S

Those GCN boys are hilarious and useful GG! They've put a bunch of useful training sessions on their U-toob whatsit that you might find useful. Just type in "GCN turbo workout".

And wait till you see my garage next time you're down. You know me, I don't like to get wet (product of growing up in a desert, getting wet is unnatural). I've set up a 5-star indoor training facility with a nifty fluid turbo, posh Jet Black rollers, fan, TV, stereo etc. Thinking about disco lighting ...

wilburtrump

Some good and completely valid points on that clip, and as ever totally sound advice from Mitchy. Over the winter I personally like to have a bit of a rest and go out and ride how I want to ride (which is generally pretty slowly and for quite a long time) and being a freelance trumpet player I have a fair bit of time in the day to do it. It's a joy, the right clothing keeps you warm and dry for the majority of the time and it's not that bad really. As for training, I think the general view these days is that you don't have to do the base miles so much, so 5-6 hour rides in the cold and wet pootling around is very similar to 3-4 hours at a higher effort. As far as the Sunday 9am base ride is concerned, it's an opportunity to learn how to ride at a similar effort for a sustained period of time. More about riding well in a group, having a chat and not smashing it up the hills.

I'm away at the moment so won't be out till February but when I'm back I'd like to do some faster group riding. This will help aspiring racers get an idea of what it's like to ride in a bunch on the road, riding tightly at speed can be a bit scary if you've not done it before and when you're sharing the road with 70 riders and traffic you have to ride safely. To do this safely it's always important to know that the riders around you know how to ride well in a group and aren't going to switch their line to avoid potholes etc and endanger the ride when you're riding tightly at 35mph on the flat or stringing out down a hill at 45+mph still pushing hard on the pedals. That's the idea with these rides. As with the other club rides, these are social too. I do my training on my own and like to ride with the club to see friends and have a bit of a natter. Coffee and cake is an important part of training too...

JeremyP

Thanks Andy - a really good video. I think varying your riding is inevitable in a normal British winter and when we are trying to fit the bike around our busy lives. We are all different and have different pressures.

We've just had a fabulous festive holiday period with no ice. It was a joy to get out and do long rides. Back to commuting into work and trying to take advantage of that. Ice next week so will need to think about turbo or just go to the pub instead.

I was overtaken by a Brompton rider yesterday - obviously trying to take advantage of his 0.5mile commute to Stevenage railway station! Or maybe I need to speed up?

Thanks to Will and some of the other racers we have Sunday base rides on offer. A really great addition to the mix that is CCA in my view.