[andy_e]

Who was it that turned up to Curbar on a road bike today? I bet it was one of you lot...

[fatdoc]

not me...

working my arse off, looking at awesome weather... bollocks.

got out to burb y'day though, great fun!!

have you seen the forecast?? fuck riding, the conditions of the year are upon us!!!

[fatdoc]

HEADS UP

 the first local (ish) sportive of 08 is taking application forms... the cheshire cat via www.kilotogo.com

safari browser cannt get me there 

but i'm entering asap, probs the shortest / medium distance (it is my 1st one!!)

see you there???

[Percy B]

Good call, that one. I'm up for doing that one providing I haven't found myself elsewhere (it does fall right slap bang in the middle of the school holidays!). I did one of the Kilotogo sportives last summer - very well organised and a great days ride. However, I really feel I should strongly recommend you don't go for the short option - you'll really miss out on the fun. The long routes are normally fine even if you aren't super fit - I did the British Etape last year with very little extra training, as in I was not doing long training rides in preparation (the furthest I managed to ride in one go in training was 60 miles, due to time constraints, etc.). I still managed to get round the 127 mile course in six and a half hours - and that was my first sportive. You'll find that if you get into a good group where everybody is working together you'll drag each other around the course in no time. 
Looking at the profile for the Cheshire Cat its not too bad - a couple of hard climbs toward the end, but they are reasonably short lived and worth it for the descents! And a crack at doing Mow Cop in a oner is too good an opportunity to pass up, surely! Come on, Fatdoc, be a man and go big!
And I've officially joined the 'Fuck the turbo' club - back to the Velodrome last night for their Structured Quality Training sessions (my first one) and all I can say is it was an awesome workout. 2 hours riding with 39 monsters who basically gave me a sound beasting (and I stayed upright this time!). Very sore legs today, but a good way of getting a lot of miles into your legs during the winter evenings. It is also initially completely terrifying riding in such a big and fast pace line! Riding the best part of 50 miles in 2 hours is much better for you that sitting on a turbo in the garage getting bored. I'm converted!

[Percy B]

Need a nice second hand bike, anybody?

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZtailwindsportscorp

[Fatleg]

Fatdoc I couldn't get in either with safari or mozilla so guess its not up and running yet. Percy ever thought of training on rollers suppose to be better than a turbo.

[fatdoc]

it is up and running, the direct link to the application form is on cyclosportive.org   fourm- sorry cant get to it from work...

i'll go middle distance, 50 miles i think.

[Percy B]

  Fatdoc

Cmon, you know you want the 100 mile tick

[fatdoc]

hmmm.... it's the big hill at the end that's got me a bit concerned!

[Falling Down]

Fatdoc, let me know when you find out how to get to the forms as I'm up for doing it.  I'm doing the Houston to Auston MS150 as part of a team from work in April so this would be great prep.

[Percy B]

Big hill at the end? You have a compact chainset don't you? It should be fine. Its idiots like me with the 53-39 chainsets who'll be walking, not the compact crew. I did the Kilotogo Ridgeway Rumble sportive last year, and even with the endless crossing and re-crossing of the Ridgeway (a spicy climb if even I saw one) the 100 mile option was still OK. Admitedly, I did see a couple of folks in the hedgerow throwing up after trying to ride some of the climbs out of the saddle all the way, but if you go steady it'll be well within your capabilities, and will probably encourage you to train a bit if you commit now...

[fatdoc]

Fatdoc, let me know when you find out how to get to the forms as I'm up for doing it.  I'm doing the Houston to Auston MS150 as part of a team from work in April so this would be great prep.

http://www.kilotogo.com/enter.html

there you go!

right, you have to enter the distance on application, i've gone for the 95Km... yes yes yes... I know 

[fatdoc]

HEADS UP

The legbreaker is open.

July 20th.

I'll be on the short course.

This one gets full v quick lads, and is meant to be utterly desperate, with the long course akin to an etape in terms of ascent.

www.legbreaker.co.uk

BTW, you can order online!


see you there 

[webbo]

the short one. you tart
swannys missus got round the short one.it was the first time she'd ridden a bike that moved.

[fatdoc]

I'll be on the longer ones once I'm comfy with the short courses... maybe it's transference from freeriding... dont ever move up a level until you're fully sure you can achieve. I dont want to just blindly suffer, the point of the excersise is too actually enjoy the day!

Also, I got a lot of other bike fun to fit in, was in wharncliffe  this am... 8 inches of travel front and back on a 45lb bike felt just soo good!!

[Percy B]

Entries are open for this one today, too.

www.tourofwessex.com

3 day sportive, anybody?!?

[webbo]

i think it would be a case of bye,bye climbing to get fit enough for that,which was how this thread started.i.e. can you do both to a reasonably high level.

[Percy B]

I think its possible to climb and ride to a high level, but very difficult to achieve due to insane ammount of time you would need to devote to training. I think (hope) its easier to take up road racing/time trialing/track racing/sportive riding if you are a climber as you can get good pretty quick if you are prepared to put in the time on the bike. Getting good at climbing (particularly on rock as apposed to plastic) can potentially take a bit longer (in my experience...) as it is a bit more involved than riding a bike.

Getting good at a sport seems to be directly related by how obsessed you get by it! It is very hard to be totally devoted to 2 totally different and unrelated sports and still have a life of any description. I'm quite happy to punter around at both climbing and cycling - in an obsessive way, obviously!

What's a high level for both, anyway? Font 8a for climbing and a sub 20 minute 10 mile time trial would be impressive! Any takers?

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Friend of mine did the Kona SITS last year (Sleepless in the Saddle) 24hr off-road race. Came 13th. Over 200miles all offroad.

[lagerstarfish]

climbing...is a bit more involved than riding a bike.

Word

[fatdoc]

there's a group of us on here that are going for a 4 man 24hr XC event soon

 

i'm one of them

[lagerstarfish]

there's a group of us on here that are going for a 4 man 24hr XC event soon

 

i'm one of them

My arse hurts just thinking about 24 hrs on a bike. Does antihydral cream help? Good luck 

[fatdoc]

it's a staggered team event, probs 2 hrs on each session... its up to the others to decide the roster!!

[Norton Sharley]

roadies, you Fatdoc, get to do the long night session whilst we get pissed  , then we'll do a couple of laps to burn of the alcohol while you have a well earned rest 

you'll be out training with us tonight then mate?

[fatdoc]

ran in the morning ( abeit fuck all distance BUT my foot was Ok!!!!  fuckin ace!!!, that spack foot injury near as consigned to the depths of history), then board tonight. not goin out in this weather, i'm not a total iediott. you'd be better off spending some time on a turbo IMO