your daily bicycle log

One of the most beautiful rides of my life.

60 of us rode from San Francisco to Santa Cruz which is 92 miles over mostly rollers with 4 major climbs (~6500 feet of total elevation gain). I averaged 19.1mph which is definitely my biggest effort to date for a ride of this caliber. the ride was casual but there were 3 competitive segments:
a 1.2 mile uphill "sprint"
a 3.3 mile climb over a mountain pass (1300 feet ascent @ 7.5% grade)
a 7.2 mile rolling, twisty and technical "GC" stage

I placed 3rd in the sprint (24.7mph), 12th in the climb (8.6mph) and 2nd in the GC stage (23.9mph). I won a cool computer bag, a winter beanie, and a cookbook. :o)

Not that it counted but I finished 3rd overall. I felt insanely great until about 85 miles and then my legs just started aching and I eased up which may have cost me my 20mph average trip speed.

We ended up at a gastropub in Santa Cruz with gourmet burgers and pitchers of beer in the sun... Then we loaded our bikes into a truck fitted for bike transport and boarded a bus back to the city.

Good times but I will sleep very deeply tonight.

― ✌.✰|ʘ‿ʘ|✰.✌ (Steve Shasta), Saturday, March 13, 2010 9:43 PM (1 year ago)

Doing this ride again tomorrow, but this time it's forecasted to pour rain the entire way down. Although.... they forecasted the same thing today and it's pretty amazing outside so there's that.

SLP, call your frame's manufacturer and ask about crash replacements. If you are racing in SoCal, it may be worth investing in a cheap stiff alum/steel frame as crits make up the bulk of racing down there. One of the 1s on my team rides a 2001 Guru Classic (Colombus Zonal tubing) frame specifically in crits that's put him on the podium about 20 times over the past couple seasons.

Sorry that was mashed together:

(1) Ask about crash replacements on your carbon frame.
(2) Look for a cheap metal frame for crits. Even entertain the idea of a crit bike with a cheapish gruppo (Ultegra 6600), decent wheels... But something that you won't be devastated about after crashing in a race (which is going to happen again sooner or later).

Yeah, I already asked. Can get a repl acement Giant TCR frame for under 800 from shop I bought it from. My team gets deals on cannondales from another shop so I may price out a CAAD frame. A crit bike was always part of my future plans, just didn't think it'd be so soon.

sucks so bad, sorry slp.

also any racing bike should be basically disposable or indestructible until someone else is paying imo.

lol tubulars. i made it to whopping 70 miles before i flatted. glasslike nugget imbedded in tread, it got through despite my regular hand sweeps during two rides.

i was setting up to do a shakedown on the tt bike yesterday and found the wheel flat. i pulled the core, poured in 1.5 oz of stans, put the core back, put it to 130 lbs, spun it a few times. no problems. then i did 26 miles on it, didn't lose any pressure at all. YAY STANS!

do i dare race tts on that?

i mean, if anything, i may be _less_ likely to flat with that stans in there.

I flatted on Sunday, hit a pot hole, then discovered I hadn't checked my jacket for my flat kit before leaving. A mile's walk of shame to the LBS.

Not sure what it is but the last few times I've been out I've cramped up in my right leg at the top of the calf. Don't think its electrolytes, well hydrated etc. I did just change my cleats but put them back in the same position as before and they are the same grey look ones so the float is the same. I do set the right cleat a little further back than the left one (originally in response to knee pain in that one).

I guess I should dick around with the cleat position until I find something that works.

Finally I did a fun ride! Only 40 miles, the London Classic's twin raison d'etre is to try and squeeze in as many sections of pavé as possible (we did 26, though even the longest ones weren't too punishing), and a few short sharp climbs for fun (of which there were 7, with the most challenging being the 700m, 17% Canobie Street). So although it didn't feel like a proper sportive, it was great, entirely non-competitive, relaxed fun on a gorgeous day.

i did my own classics-type ride on saturday - some on gravel, but mostly your ardennes-style bergs. pulled around this one hairpin and the road just went up like a wall! have worked out from strava comparisons that i have been living the fat mantis lifestyle a little too large!

Mark - can you link to the route for that?

I'm not sure I can! Let me see... Just found this on lfgss, hope it's useful!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78544902

I put our route on GPSies, I'll link to it when I get my computer back. Nb, I wussed out of the last hill as I was completely fuxored.

here you go - minus the first lovely descent into Dulwich from Crystal Palace. (not the nicest descent on the route though - that goes to Shooters Hill down into Lewisham, nice and steep, smooooth road surface.

http://www.gpsies.com/images/linkus.png

hmm that doesn't seem to work

http://www.gpsies.com/images/linkus.png

does this?

http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=ymnsjenrxxtvngvw

fucking thing, try this. Failing that, search user ceepeebee on GPSies - there's only two routes of mine.

I think I recognise a stretch of cobbles near Shadwell on that route

doing this at midnight tonight

http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=yjemjvkwowawpmyf

I'm totally at Hyde park corner, hopped up on caffeine laden jelly beans.

I ran into jaxon last night on an evening spin session. He is still a lycraphobe.

ha. one day...

dont make us repost forever in blue jeans

Did 26 miles before 9.30am today. Pleased with that. Set a couple of personal bests, too: 10 miles in 36 minutes, 20 kilometres in 47.

Still having trouble working out how I can cruise at 18/20 mph in the last 5 or so miles of a 75 miler when I can't do that on my commute. It was at about half 8 so it's not like the roads were empty.

group?

we were pretty strung out at that point, although I did have a target to chase, maybe that was it? That or delerium.

Map of the ride is here:
http://www.gpsies.com/mapOnly.do?fileId=mmpiabepjnojkpmq&isFullScreenLeave=true

I think I prefer hills in the dark, I can't see the top and so don't get psyched out.

Rode an easy 30 miles up and down the coast today, the first ride in 5 weeks since breaking my collarbone in a crash. So stoked.

nice, congratulations.

i rode out into a dim, chilly 45 degree, very windy, and occasionally damp day, listening to odyssey and oracle. hit some small hills for a couple of hours. totally great. seriously numb toes at the end though.

Met a couple guys at a bar Wednesday night, they invited me on a group ride. Showed up this am, rode 90 miles to Santa Cruz with 49 other people in identical kit. My first ride over 60 miles, was #20 over the three timed segments. And at the endpoint I heard a guy who finished well ahead of me describing in exaggerated, epic terms an ocean headwind segment where we traded pulls.

Oh - and what's more important, since it wasn't a fast ride really, I really enjoyed it.

90 miles is a long way, sounds great.

Haha, hi Lukas, I finished 2nd on that ride. ^___^

ha. lukas, u know steve shasta was in that ride?

ha. xpost!

lukas do you look like an edgy J-Timberlake?

I guess since the cat's out of the bag... I, too, rode 93.8 miles (+6500ft vert) from SF -> Santa Cruz today. And I have 2 races tomorrow, legs are still buzzin' eek.

ha! yeah i was the dude in the black-and-white striped shirt, pink backpack. awesome ride.

2 races

wut

i was the old fat guy wearing gray, white and neon green. good job today, that's one of my favorite rides ever.

done 170km over the last three days - think i am in 'base building' mode. two weeks of holidays aheaf of me (other than this wednesday), so think i'll just keep on riding 70k each day, hopefully should be less of a secret fattey by the time i go back to work.

cycling tips' wade blew by today on his team bike (focus w/ zipp carbon clinchers) like it weren't no thing, but i reeled in a few myself.

what's with wheelsuckers tho, i mean really. at least the weather was nice.

Just had a fantastic week down in Dorset making the most of a very un-British April heatwave. I rode six days in a row, clocking up about 175 miles. Just had three days off the bike so should be refreshed for my race tomorrow.

Drove up to the Essex/Cambs/Suffolk borderlands today to try out the course for my second 'proper' (i.e. on the open roads) road race this coming Sunday. The circuit is about 11.5 miles long and the race will be five laps of it. I'd say the chances of me finishing it are practically zero, but I'm hoping to last longer than my previous experience (where I was dropped after just four miles and gave up chasing after twenty). Did the first lap at 18.8mph and the attacked the second lap hard averaging just under 21mph. Tried doing unusual intervals: half a mile on, quarter of a mile off (so of varying lengths time-wise, depending on how uphill or downhill the roads were in those sections), managed five of these and decided that was all I could cope with. There is a hill about halfway round the circuit that probably spells doom for me, quite possibly on the first lap. I think my strategy will have to be to imagine that the race is only six miles long and sprint as hard as I can to the top of the hill (and then worry about the rest of the race after that if I'm still in it).

Did a nice 30 miles to see in-laws and parents with the wife today. She's cream-krackered but I'm up for some more. Hoping the weather doesn't turn for the weekend as is predicted so I can clock up another 20+ tomorrow and Saturday.

13.5 miles in 1hr 1min this morning; clocked my fastest ever single mile at 2:58, too. sadly I was seriously overtaken while doing that mile by three very impressively kitted roadies. The bastards.

we finally had fine weather here, so after i took a bunch of kids round the zoo, i blew off the rest of the workday and went up the canyon for a quick couple of hours. climb was pleasant, and a big tailwind on the descent had me over 50 mph (baaaarely), so nice.

Time: 01:51:41
Distance: 32.85 mi
Elevation Gain: 2,605 ft
Avg Moving Speed: 17.7 mph
Max Speed: 50.4 mph

first big ride since maybe december.
http://www.bikemap.net/route/901568
not super long but one of the hardest climbs i've ever done. went w/a big group of people i've never met. all levels. i was only a lil bit behind some roadies which felt good. 2 people ended up walking the hill :( halfway through the ride most of the people stopped to get a buger and a beer. there's no way i could ride on that so 2 other guys and i took off on our own. so much fun.

lukas, through some internet trickery, i realized that you and i have a few common friends (greg s and mical w). saw that you considered going on this ride.

nice. yeah that ride sounded great, but I had to be back early, just did paradise loop. not bored of it yet. see you next time ...

i just entered a gran fondue - http://www.amygillett.org.au/gran-fondo

course profile

hoping to light up some MAMIL asses with my grinding, 'no change of pace whatsoever' climbing technique