Tour of Cambridgeshire
Discussion
The way the wind swirls across the Fens is really quite impressive! (With nothing to channel it into a uniform direction) The Western loop from Ramsey through Benwick and up to Whittlesey was killer into the wind from the North West!
On balance, having ridden much of the route between last year and this, anything above 10mph is preferable from the North West as it seems that you spend less time exposed that way with the lie of the land etc.?!
I've just been looking at the photos from this years event... yet another set of unheroic pictures perfectly capturing my lumpy physique and weird face pulling?!
So, the plan for next year:
1. Ditch the 8kg of excess flab
2. Get quicker (this will be partially achieved with the completion of part 1)
3. Sort my face out! (I might have to grow a beard for next years event?!)
On balance, having ridden much of the route between last year and this, anything above 10mph is preferable from the North West as it seems that you spend less time exposed that way with the lie of the land etc.?!
I've just been looking at the photos from this years event... yet another set of unheroic pictures perfectly capturing my lumpy physique and weird face pulling?!
So, the plan for next year:
1. Ditch the 8kg of excess flab
2. Get quicker (this will be partially achieved with the completion of part 1)
3. Sort my face out! (I might have to grow a beard for next years event?!)
Edited by Banana Boy on Tuesday 7th June 20:23
3h22m for me. 34th in my age group and 2m55s off the winner. I'm happy with the results, considering this is a long way from what I'm training for, but it did expose my lack of racing experience. I could've made that a lot easier than I did.
More details in the blog http://wp.me/p6RY6c-1rS
More details in the blog http://wp.me/p6RY6c-1rS
Yeah - a decent group of us were there. It was my first time at the event - wind was pretty hard going! Managed to join a decent group and work at a good pace at the front of the Tubby Wobbler pen for a couple of hours until my legs gave in at the second feed stop. Choice between bonk or sausage roll - sausage roll wins every time.
Couldn't find many people to work with for the last 15 miles so rolled back in on my own. Overall time of 03:40.
Not sure if I'd do it again next year but it was enough to show me I'm fit enough to ride in a fast bunch for a couple of hours which is a bonus.
Edit to add - one thing I thought was fantastic was the level of support from the locals. Spending their day clapping on random TWs in lycra - what legends.
Couldn't find many people to work with for the last 15 miles so rolled back in on my own. Overall time of 03:40.
Not sure if I'd do it again next year but it was enough to show me I'm fit enough to ride in a fast bunch for a couple of hours which is a bonus.
Edit to add - one thing I thought was fantastic was the level of support from the locals. Spending their day clapping on random TWs in lycra - what legends.
Edited by Usget on Monday 5th June 10:47
was the 1st time for me as a slightly overweight nearly 50 year old bloke who does some pedalling was aiming for a sub 5hours.... wobbled in at 4hours 12mins.
Was doing well (for me) until about the 55mile marker when I had a sense of humour failure and dropped right off the pace which carried on until the feed station where I stopped, gave myself a "good talking to" and then got back on the bike and back up to cruising level!
Saw Gruffy at the side of the road at about the 20mile marker but nothing I could do to help apart from that saw no one I knew.
Enjoyable day and ride so possibly might do it next year even just as a benchmark from year to year!
Was doing well (for me) until about the 55mile marker when I had a sense of humour failure and dropped right off the pace which carried on until the feed station where I stopped, gave myself a "good talking to" and then got back on the bike and back up to cruising level!
Saw Gruffy at the side of the road at about the 20mile marker but nothing I could do to help apart from that saw no one I knew.
Enjoyable day and ride so possibly might do it next year even just as a benchmark from year to year!
I did it with a few mates and managed 4:10. Found it very hard work with the wind - still knackered now!
I really struggled to stay in groups. A lot of the other riders were very aggressive I thought - You'd frequently come across someone slower and then be blocked from moving out to overtake. When in a group you would often get pushed to the back.
This was my first event like this so it may be normal but it didn't really float my boat. I found the Etape more friendly tbh.
I really struggled to stay in groups. A lot of the other riders were very aggressive I thought - You'd frequently come across someone slower and then be blocked from moving out to overtake. When in a group you would often get pushed to the back.
This was my first event like this so it may be normal but it didn't really float my boat. I found the Etape more friendly tbh.
56th last year and was aiming for a top 10 this year. Wasn't to be though. I started at the back and didn't get through the sea of choppers quickly enough. Took to the verge at 22km to avoid a huge compression and ended up somersaulting. Bent hanger, dropped seat post, dropped chain and a big hit to my shin (not the fractured one, thankfully!). Data suggests I was back on the road within 30 seconds but I wasn't making ground on the bunch. 7km later and finally with a tailwind I was clawing my way back but succumbed to a slow puncture. A thorn from the verge crash.
I'd been cocky and removed the saddle bag so I had no tubes, pump or levers. Blagged a pump from another victim and tied a knot in the tube. That lasted 3km and I tried again with a better knot. The pump was a bit rubbish and could only squeeze about 20psi into the tube. It was enough to hold though. The thk-thk-thk was a bit unnerving and I took my time gaining confidence in it but it held for the final 100km. That was spent solo, treating it like a training session. Brutal ride and I still managed a moving time of 3h29m (winning time was 3h04m), so I think I'd have been in the mix without the gymnastics.
Next year? Maybe. They say they'll be reducing the field a bit, which will help, but I'd still want to be right at the front to avoid the silliness. The cost is creeping up and I'd like to think I'll have my 3rd cat licence by then and be able to enter other road races with a more experienced (safer) field.
I also rode the chrono - my first TT. Very happy with my pacing and feel like I got the most from myself and the equipment I had on the day. 40:09.53 at 312W for 39.5kph over the 26.4km course. It's lower than my road power but not too bad for a TT position on a road bike. Needs a proper TT rig for better position and some time riding it to access more power.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1018743258 Chrono
https://www.strava.com/activities/1021027503 Gran Fondo
I'd been cocky and removed the saddle bag so I had no tubes, pump or levers. Blagged a pump from another victim and tied a knot in the tube. That lasted 3km and I tried again with a better knot. The pump was a bit rubbish and could only squeeze about 20psi into the tube. It was enough to hold though. The thk-thk-thk was a bit unnerving and I took my time gaining confidence in it but it held for the final 100km. That was spent solo, treating it like a training session. Brutal ride and I still managed a moving time of 3h29m (winning time was 3h04m), so I think I'd have been in the mix without the gymnastics.
Next year? Maybe. They say they'll be reducing the field a bit, which will help, but I'd still want to be right at the front to avoid the silliness. The cost is creeping up and I'd like to think I'll have my 3rd cat licence by then and be able to enter other road races with a more experienced (safer) field.
I also rode the chrono - my first TT. Very happy with my pacing and feel like I got the most from myself and the equipment I had on the day. 40:09.53 at 312W for 39.5kph over the 26.4km course. It's lower than my road power but not too bad for a TT position on a road bike. Needs a proper TT rig for better position and some time riding it to access more power.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1018743258 Chrono
https://www.strava.com/activities/1021027503 Gran Fondo
First time for me too. Moving time of 4:15 and only stopped for 10 minutes or so at the half way point feed station.
Started with Eddh, Usget, Sixpot, and Pembo. Usget shot off, the rest were just a bit too quick for me to stay on, so rode my own pace joining various groups along the way.
Fantastic support from the villages on route, high fives from the kids, cheers from those in beer gardens etc.
Finished with Pembo as he was having knee problems and had stopped about 6 miles from the end.
I also passed Gruffy, but he looked like he was sorted, so carried on. It wasn't until I read my messages at the stop I realised he wasn't and I was carrying everything that would have sorted him out...
Beer after the finish line was very welcome too.
Started with Eddh, Usget, Sixpot, and Pembo. Usget shot off, the rest were just a bit too quick for me to stay on, so rode my own pace joining various groups along the way.
Fantastic support from the villages on route, high fives from the kids, cheers from those in beer gardens etc.
Finished with Pembo as he was having knee problems and had stopped about 6 miles from the end.
I also passed Gruffy, but he looked like he was sorted, so carried on. It wasn't until I read my messages at the stop I realised he wasn't and I was carrying everything that would have sorted him out...
Beer after the finish line was very welcome too.
With a few of us all of whom were riding at around the same pace it's a shame we didn't form our own group!
With that in mind who's doing Velothon, I'm already part of a team of 24 so far but we're happy for others to join so you can be in the same pen even if you don't ride as part of the team! (they enforce the pens a bit more rigidly than yesterday)
With that in mind who's doing Velothon, I'm already part of a team of 24 so far but we're happy for others to join so you can be in the same pen even if you don't ride as part of the team! (they enforce the pens a bit more rigidly than yesterday)
CoolC said:
Beer after the finish line was very welcome too.
I find it odd that none of these events ever offer a (non-malted) recovery drink or any healthy food options at the finish. 10,000 people all with at least some interest in fitness and beer and a burger is the best we can hope for. Banana Boy said:
The way the wind swirls across the Fens is really quite impressive! (With nothing to channel it into a uniform direction) The Western loop from Ramsey through Benwick and up to Whittlesey was killer into the wind from the North West!
On balance, having ridden much of the route between last year and this, anything above 10mph is preferable from the North West as it seems that you spend less time exposed that way with the lie of the land etc.?!
I've just been looking at the photos from this years event... yet another set of unheroic pictures perfectly capturing my lumpy physique and weird face pulling?!
So, the plan for next year:
1. Ditch the 8kg of excess flab
2. Get quicker (this will be partially achieved with the completion of part 1)
3. Sort my face out! (I might have to grow a beard for next years event?!)
Ha! I'd forgotten about this thread!On balance, having ridden much of the route between last year and this, anything above 10mph is preferable from the North West as it seems that you spend less time exposed that way with the lie of the land etc.?!
I've just been looking at the photos from this years event... yet another set of unheroic pictures perfectly capturing my lumpy physique and weird face pulling?!
So, the plan for next year:
1. Ditch the 8kg of excess flab
2. Get quicker (this will be partially achieved with the completion of part 1)
3. Sort my face out! (I might have to grow a beard for next years event?!)
Edited by Banana Boy on Tuesday 7th June 20:23
Still no heroic pictures from Sportograf... managed to get a good 6kgs though off which has made a noticeable difference to getting quicker but I couldn't be bothered to grow a beard so had to put up with my stupid face pulling again!
This was my third year at the ToC (the roads are local to me as I live less than 5 miles from the Showground so it'd be rude not to...) but my first year in the race pen!
Posted 3:26 in the end, the pace at the front was f
king BRUTAL! At one stage early on we were hossing along at nearly 60kph on the flat! I managed to stay with the lead group in my age category (35-39M) for nearly an hour but got fully dropped at the Alconbury Hill passing over the A1 at the south end of the circuit!It was a really good lesson for me though and I now have a better idea of what I need to work on (lots of hill repeats intervals! The ebbs and flows were fine but the hard efforts associated with the concertina effect of the peloton really took it out of me!) I've signed up for next year already with the aim of finishing in the lead group... I know that's going to be a big ask - many of those guys 20mins up the road from me can put in many more hours training and some pay for professional coaching! But with a plan, some time trialling and crits I hope to close the gap enough to cling on all the way round!
Gruffy said:
56th last year and was aiming for a top 10 this year. Wasn't to be though. I started at the back and didn't get through the sea of choppers quickly enough. Took to the verge at 22km to avoid a huge compression and ended up somersaulting. Bent hanger, dropped seat post, dropped chain and a big hit to my shin (not the fractured one, thankfully!). Data suggests I was back on the road within 30 seconds but I wasn't making ground on the bunch. 7km later and finally with a tailwind I was clawing my way back but succumbed to a slow puncture. A thorn from the verge crash.
I'd been cocky and removed the saddle bag so I had no tubes, pump or levers. Blagged a pump from another victim and tied a knot in the tube. That lasted 3km and I tried again with a better knot. The pump was a bit rubbish and could only squeeze about 20psi into the tube. It was enough to hold though. The thk-thk-thk was a bit unnerving and I took my time gaining confidence in it but it held for the final 100km. That was spent solo, treating it like a training session. Brutal ride and I still managed a moving time of 3h29m (winning time was 3h04m), so I think I'd have been in the mix without the gymnastics.
Next year? Maybe. They say they'll be reducing the field a bit, which will help, but I'd still want to be right at the front to avoid the silliness. The cost is creeping up and I'd like to think I'll have my 3rd cat licence by then and be able to enter other road races with a more experienced (safer) field.
I also rode the chrono - my first TT. Very happy with my pacing and feel like I got the most from myself and the equipment I had on the day. 40:09.53 at 312W for 39.5kph over the 26.4km course. It's lower than my road power but not too bad for a TT position on a road bike. Needs a proper TT rig for better position and some time riding it to access more power.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1018743258 Chrono
https://www.strava.com/activities/1021027503 Gran Fondo
Wow, 23mph! How do I do those speeds? I did 21mph but whenever I tried pushing from there I just got loads of wind or bad air from the groups ahead.I'd been cocky and removed the saddle bag so I had no tubes, pump or levers. Blagged a pump from another victim and tied a knot in the tube. That lasted 3km and I tried again with a better knot. The pump was a bit rubbish and could only squeeze about 20psi into the tube. It was enough to hold though. The thk-thk-thk was a bit unnerving and I took my time gaining confidence in it but it held for the final 100km. That was spent solo, treating it like a training session. Brutal ride and I still managed a moving time of 3h29m (winning time was 3h04m), so I think I'd have been in the mix without the gymnastics.
Next year? Maybe. They say they'll be reducing the field a bit, which will help, but I'd still want to be right at the front to avoid the silliness. The cost is creeping up and I'd like to think I'll have my 3rd cat licence by then and be able to enter other road races with a more experienced (safer) field.
I also rode the chrono - my first TT. Very happy with my pacing and feel like I got the most from myself and the equipment I had on the day. 40:09.53 at 312W for 39.5kph over the 26.4km course. It's lower than my road power but not too bad for a TT position on a road bike. Needs a proper TT rig for better position and some time riding it to access more power.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1018743258 Chrono
https://www.strava.com/activities/1021027503 Gran Fondo
Gruffy said:
It's just aerodynamics and power. I have a slippery bike and OK power, but flattered by being heavier on a flat course. I don't climb all that spectacularly.
The one thing i struggle with is getting my HR higher on a bike. At the TOC I averaged 125 for the entire ride. When i run, i can get this to 172 in a race, so clearly there is more potential but can not extract it. Clearly I fit into the all the gear and the no idea sect! Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff