[Yossarian]

One or two members of this community have alluded to their fondness for, or at least their participation in a spot of road racing. I think Falling Down also suggested that one or two Wad Emeriti indulge from time to time.  Now, climbing and cycling are fairly complimentary, in the sense that they don't interfere with each other to any great extent, and you can (if you so wish) train for and/or take part in both on the same day/consecutive days, etc, etc without any particular problems.  What I don't get is how anyone could combine proper climbing and proper (ie - Cat 2 and above) road racing without either being a physiological freak or trust-funded full-timer.

Then again, there are plenty of things that I don't get that probably have perfectly rational explanations. It just strikes me that, based on my own experiences of road racing (which sadly consist of getting systematically dropped as soon as anyone decides to go extra fast up a hill) you can't let anything as ridiculous as trying to climb a bit of rock now and again get in the way of lycra-clad bum on saddle...

On a related subject, as I was trundling along this morning it struck me that if had an altercation with Carlos Sastre halfway up a hill and, in a fit of rage, cut one of his legs off with a chainsaw (making sure to cauterise the blood vessels, tie off the femoral artery, etc) he would still be able to ride up the hill considerably faster than me.

[webbo]

i was a proud owner of a cat 2 licience when i started climbing again.sadly as the climbing improved instead of being able make moves, get in breaks etc..i was barely able to hang on the back of the bunch and as cycle racing is all about suffering who wants to spend two hours in pain just to make up the numbers.


i miss not shaving my legs tho.

[Dolly]

As has been noted you just can't do both - especially to Cat 2 level. The difference between a bit of MTBing with your mates and a Cat 2 racer must be huge. One aspect which is complimentary is the weight lost thro' a lot of riding.
Maybe now is a good time to out fatdoc as a recent purchaser of a beautiful Italian road machine. Next weekend marks the start of his descent into shavingdom

[webbo]

i have entered this www.legbreaker.co.uk on july 22nd.81 very hilly miles and i'm led to belive quite a few old school rock athletes are doing it.so i'm trying to get some fitness so i don't get my ass kicked.
however last weeks sessions of interval training resulted in the fitness gain of a chest infection.

[fatdoc]

you b8tard....

it's true indeed... i'm v excited!!!

although i would i need to make it clear that this will not detract from my main summer sport of freeriding. (aka goin to hospital once a month for stitches, xrays, CT scans, emergancy operations etc...)

i need some more fitness and a well dodgy foot prevents me from running, no excuses though - i'm looking at roadie lycra shorts at the mo... God, they've got a huge pad in!!!


 and for this outing dolly has NO choice but to attend a sunday morning jump session at wharncliffe woods.... between us we'll have spare armour etc.... this is a rite of passage to the dark side for him... after all it's a small price to pay for a lycra bum partner over the summer months int it!!

[Bubba]

Freaks!

[Yossarian]

after a prolonged bout of mountain biking i went through a stage of roadie denial, during which time i cultivated a kind of baggy short urban chic look. however, such costumes usually lead to much derision from the club cyclist fraternity, and it wasn't long before i had slipped back into the stretchy stuff... in fact, judging by my reaction to some poor guy yesterday (i saw his podgy silhouette in the distance, piddling up a hill on a very shiny merckx / full record combo, wearing big baggy shorts and, shock horror, a yellow jersey - this combination of crimes against cycling warranted a severe punishment. so, despite a dodgy knee and near total exhaustion at the hands of some skinny-armed sadists i had made the mistake of keeping up with all morning, i put both feet down and overtook him at such a rate that he may well have mistaken me for carl fogarty) i may have in fact become an upholder of tradition myself.

that legbreaker thing sounds tough...

[webbo]

as i have mentioned several times before the major crime in cycling fashion is long socks.

[Yossarian]

there is a guy locally with the wonderful name of granville bantick. he is in his 70s and rides the local time trials in a pair of knee length red and black striped socks...

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

I've dabbled being a roadie, on old school 'racers', never gone the whole distance and bought a modern road bike and shaved my legs (I suspect it will be something I do more in my later years (next year I recon  )  Yet I have been known to go on a few on road 'training rides' on my big heavy Kona.

One of my finest moments of recent years was one evening last summer, on my fully ladened Kona (lights, pump, big tyres, hairy legs etc etc) doing the 15mile round trip up Ringinglow Rd, Higgar, Millstone and back into Sheff past the Foxhouse. I was gaining on these two roadies all the way up the Ringinglow Road, they took a bit back down past Higgar then I passed them resting at the house on the corner. Shaved legs, lycra a-plenty and only about £7k worth of carbon-fibre between them! They did overtake me later but I was in sight of them all the way back to Shef. They didn't look too happy about it! 

[webbo]

doing the 15mile round trip /quote]

thats not a trip thats a recovery ride.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

thats not a trip thats a recovery ride.

It's quite enough for an hour after work. 

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

On a slightly different 'super fit' tack, BigPhil and I were up at High Neb on Sunday a couple of weeks ago (a very hot one) and got chatting to a guy waiting for a group of fell runners. They were just finishing a run past all 15 trig points in the Peak. 60miles, can't remember the height climbed but it was a lot, 15hrs. On a hot day. 

[Somebody's Fool]

Those fell runners are C-R-A-Z-Y!

[Bowie]

just bought my first road bike and trying to build my 8yr old size legs into david beckham style beauties. am having on going dispute with lee 'lungs of lance amstrong' mcgill that me n lyrca do not go well together. i'm going for the baggy look. but i am wanting some padding - i think i saw baggy shorts with padding - that sounds 

One of my finest moments of recent years was one evening last summer, on my fully ladened Kona (lights, pump, big tyres, hairy legs etc etc) doing the 15mile round trip up Ringinglow Rd, Higgar, Millstone and back into Sheff past the Foxhouse.

this is my evening circuit - spot on. not been over taken by a mountain biker yet - but i'm sure it will happen.

i'm gearing up for the winnets (sp) pass attack on the thighs.
 

[Yossarian]

the leg debate in an interesting one. loads of cyclists are into doing weights, especially in the winter.  but there was a lengthy thread on cyclingforums in which noted cycling coach and sports scientist ric stern kept repeating that, unless you have a functional disability or want to be a track sprinter then time spent pushing weights with your legs is entirely a waste of time. something about it here - http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=strengthstern

that said, i'll see your beckham and raise you a hoy..

[fatdoc]

right,

this is getting so out of hand, havnt seen so much lycra talk since the catwalk in the early 90s...

(what have i got into... )

BTW, Dolly doesnt shave just his legs you know..... you'l have to ask which bit.. (not his head though)

on another note, where do i get those HUGE padded lycra shorts then??? ( you know the one's that make those thin roadies look like they've got codpieces on) as the saddle on my road beauty to be is like a fickin razor compared to a DH bike!!!

[Bowie]

on another note, where do i get those HUGE padded lycra shorts then??? ( you know the one's that make those thin roadies look like they've got codpieces on)

i think what you and i need is some White "nobody makes me bleed my own blood" Goodman, Dodgeball style blow up lyrcas... 

[Yossarian]

assos and castelli are both fairly good codpiece merchants.

the main difference you'll find on your road bike is that you actually sit down most of the time. you will also possibly discover than attempting manual wheelies is something best left to your off road machine...

[webbo]

on another note, where do i get those HUGE padded lycra shorts then??? ( you know the one's that make those thin roadies look like they've got codpieces on) as the saddle on my road beauty to be is like a fickin razor compared to a DH bike!!!

as you are new to the road game and you don't yet have a crutch which is the texture of elephant hide.you may be likely to develop saddle sores/cysts.the traditional way to deal with these is to place a veal steak down your shorts raw of course.i am reliably in formed that the steak makes a nice post ride meal being nicely tenderized.

[Bowie]

fashioned a DIY padded short through the use of a glove. didn't work to be honest. but kept the glove warm in case my hands got cold.
also progressed onto a v diff by extending my evening circuit to hathersage, baslow and then the hill of doom up past gardoms and up to owler bar.
i need reconstructive surgery on my legs. and groin.
onwards!
ab

[fatboySlimfast]

i am reliably in formed that the steak makes a nice post ride meal being nicely tenderized.

just make sure its your own steak and not someone elses eh..........
shaved roadie freaks the lot of you

[Dolly]

Assos creme is the best for preventing arse rub ( I think there may be a more technical term)

[fatdoc]

OK

due to italian and then UK bank holidays my new carbon weapon is yet to arrive... where do i get do i get the assos shorts from then???

i need all the arse protection i can get, after all i'll be riding with dolly

- i'm geting a bit scared here-

[webbo]

j.e.james in rotheram sell assos gear.i think they may have a shop in sheff as well.