[chappers]

Anybody got helmet suggestions.

Catlike Whisper Plus. not seen one in the flesh, but they look bad ass.

[Simon S]

Road rage Mario Cipollini style



I really wish I could speak italian!

[Fatleg]

This is amusing
 
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/humour-leg-shaving-advice-for-cyclists-14792

[Percy B]

I am the only rider in the 30-odd group of folks who train at the velodrome on tuesday mornings who has hairy legs - I feel a bit like a leper, but am resisting the urge to depilate. No good will come of it, you mark my words... Shaving is the beginning of the end - once you've gone through the horrific itchy hell of letting it grow back, its even thicker, darker and denser. This wisdom comes not of my own experience, but of a close friend and fellow climber who once shaved his nuts for a laugh. He wasn't laughing for long..... Being driven on a motorway by a driver who has the worlds itchiest testicles is a terrifying experience - constant swerving and braking as he flailed at himself in a frenzied way. Not a good idea

[Fatleg]

I'm sticking with the hairy look too.

[webbo]

I am the only rider in the 30-odd group of folks who train at the velodrome on tuesday mornings who has hairy legs - I feel a bit like a leper, but am resisting the urge to depilate. No good will come of it, you mark my words... Shaving is the beginning of the end - once you've gone through the horrific itchy hell of letting it grow back, its even thicker, darker and denser. This wisdom comes not of my own experience, but of a close friend and fellow climber who once shaved his nuts for a laugh. He wasn't laughing for long..... Being driven on a motorway by a driver who has the worlds itchiest testicles is a terrifying experience - constant swerving and braking as he flailed at himself in a frenzied way. Not a good idea

not to mention all the zits you get on your legs caused by the irritation of the stubble rubbing on your trousers.

[Percy B]

Was just about to whinge about training this morniong in thick drizzle and miserable headwinds - and then I remembered this



which puts a more rosy complexion on things! The clip is from the infamous climb of the Gavia in the 1988 Giro - completed in a very unpleasant snowstorm. In italian, but doesn't really need translating! Old school

[Percy B]

1000 metres of climbing this morning, Fatdoc! Now I need calories, pronto.....

[tlr]

Anybody trying to ride at the weekend? Saturday looks crap and windy, Sunday slightly less so.

Is the 9am Beauchief ride going to try again on Sunday?

Tim

[fatdoc]

really  

I feel OK... ish

Wow!, i'm getting fitter.. really keen to do the same on sunday with the foray into Litton? Was only 60km on my computa and few more km wouldnt go amiss. Ran out of time today... need a few hrs of even worse pain and suffering to get the papers for my annual appraisal in by the end of the day  

BTW, Nearly lost it on the descent after stanage "oh shit, i'm off" actually went through my mind.... that's the bit you were ahead doing in excess of 70kph!!

damn fine route mate, thanks!

It's Sunday for Perc and me Tim, meet either Beauchief at 9 a.am of where abbey lane meets hathersage road at 9:15. weather dependant - today was OK (well, ridable anyway)

[runt]

One for the users of lightweight roadie bits:

I've had an ITM mantis ahead stem on a ribble bike for 4 years, just touched the rear bolts with an allen key and the rear of the stem fractured.
First time I've had ahead on a road bike, but do these things have a lifespan? work hardening through flexing and vibration etc?
None of my mtb stems have done this, and the offending itm article looks of similar construction.
I've had the bike through one swedish winter, down to -20 ish, but it hasn't done millions of miles or anything, should I be worried about the rest of the components/frame??

[Fatleg]

Percy that youtube looks like proper suffering, and I thought I was feeling the cold recently.

[Percy B]

Aye. Nobodies had to lift me off a bike and carry me into a waiting vehicle recently!

[tlr]

Gents

It's Sunday for Perc and me Tim, meet either Beauchief at 9 a.am of where abbey lane meets hathersage road at 9:15. weather dependant - today was OK (well, ridable anyway)

I'll be at the Abbey Lane/Hathersage Rd junction then just after 9. Its nearer my house than Beauchief.

Just have to take it easy at Milanos the night before, and lay off the Blue Nun.

Tim

[fatdoc]

whats the sp on milanos?

heard good reports..... ?

[tlr]

I really like Milanos, probably my favourite place now 543 has disappeared. Good food and a non-stuffy atmosphere (relatively). Its just a shame that they have started doing 'sittings' so you can eat at 7 or 9.

Tim

[Percy B]

Milanos is worth a trip - very nice food. Bearing in mind the preposterous ammount of wind I had the day after the last time I ate there, bags not riding behind Tim on Sunday morning....

[Bubba]

Aye, Milanos is good, surprised you've not been Fatdoc coz it's only down the road.

[Fatleg]

Milano's is top, well worth the price, which can't be said of some top end eating joints in Sheffield. Its regularly mentioned in things like the Observer food guide and regarded as one of the top Italians in the UK outside London.

[fatdoc]

i hate fixed sittings.

one too early, one too late.

forecast is good for ricding tomorrow, bit cold - not windy. despite the rain lashing the windows at the mo!

9 at beauchief, bit later further on up the road where abbey lane meets hathersage road then, cool.

so far it's perc, tim, my mate dave and me... if anyone else interested post your intentions so if you're a few mins late we can wait for you.

i'll be keen to repeat percy's last ride - with a loop round litton thrown in. really varied and interesting - once the climb to stanage is done it's really good rolling. be a bout 65 km... i'll break off to owler bar  / holmesfield once over froggatt hill... if you're on the other side of sheff we could split and so you get to descend home on the hathersage road.

[Yossarian]

fatdoc, you are skating dangerously close to the point at which you will have to revoke all claims of being a punter and instead speak with great authority about all things bicycle.

i failed to get out today (miserable greasy drizzle down here) but will try and do so tomorrow. however, i doubt i'll do more than 30 miles...

i have new-found respect for all you peak riders. i drove from macclesfield to buxton the other day (passing nicole cooke twice - at least i think it was her - not terribly hot chick in british cycling gear going quite fast up a hill) and it was like a bloody roller-coaster. if / when i make it up for one of these weekend rides then i think some liposuction might be in order beforehand.

[Percy B]

How about this tomorrow?

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/112265

..or a version of. The Bikely mapping thing is awesome - all it needs to have is some contours on the maps to make it truly amazing (and maybe a way of working out total metres climbed for the route).

[Percy B]

Sorry - just worked it out. Click on show and then elevation profile for the lumpiness of the ride. Looks good, no? Now I'm of to try and find a ride that looks like a pair of tits, and then one that looks like a cock and balls, and then.........

[fatdoc]

wont load up right on my browser  ???

as long as we *collect* everyone on the way out I'm up for whatever (xcept winnats)

tim and dave at top road, perc and me 1st at the beauchief is the plan

[Percy B]

Cool. No Winnats - don't panic..... The weather looks ok too, so shold be good. Manyana...