Too fat to be a cyclist. Too skinny to be a weightlifter.

[downhillingdemon]

No training as such to add, I just wanted to record that yesterday's commute home after finishing work at 1:00am was the first night ride in shorts this year.
Summer's nearly here.

THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT!!!!!

[bob_summers]

I thought he wore shorts all year round?

[Big Good Wolf]

Not quite, although we're well in to general wear shorts season now.
Cycling shorts season started a couple of weeks before that, but as I finish work at 1:00am when I'm on late shift, I normally take a pair of tights and an extra jersey for the ride home.
The weather's warming up now though, so even if I take the scenic route home and don't get back till 2:30am it's still warm enough in shorts.

I should go over 2000km for this year on my way home tomorrow, with more than half of that on a single speed.
I'm doing HONC on Sunday on the single speed too. I did the 100km route in about 5:45 last year on the Rohloff. I'll be aiming for sub 6 hours this year, although I probably won't make it.

[Big Good Wolf]

Hell Of the North Cotswolds reliability trial.
I intended to do the 100km route.
Everyone set off together in a mass start of 1200 bikes.
After a few km we split for the long and short routes. We then converged, so there was a lot of overtaking as two bunches of riders travelling at different speeds merged.
After the mid way food & drink stop, the two routes diverged again, except that I missed the signs and simply followed the riders in front without realising they were doing the short route.
I was almost back in Winchcombe before I guessed something was wrong. I checked the map and decided it would be better to carry on to the finish than try to make my way against the flow along narrow tracks to get back to where I should be.
I got back to the finish, having done 64km, and carried on past to rejoin the 100km course by another route. I then rode back to the finish again by the proper route.
I still did 100km altogether with 1800m of climbing in 4:51.
I surprised myself by averaging over 20km/h for 100km on a single speed.
I surprised a few other people as well by overtaking them down hill.
I can only reach about 30km/h for short bursts by pedalling at 120rpm.
By sprinting over the brow of a hill, then tucking my arms in, Graeme Obree style, by holding the 'bars inboard of the brake levers, I was able to use my weight to reach speeds of up to 60km/h and freewheel past riders with gears.

My improvised route.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78601540



I'm now seriously considering doing Bristol Bike Fest 12 hour solo on the single speed.

Edit to add;
The trains are running every day on the Severn Valley Railway now.
With only a small diversion on the way home, I can get pictures like this.



I also get to ride through stuff like this.



It's a footpath across an overgrown spoil tip between a golf course and the athletics track at Stourport.
Urban wasteland turned to a blossom lined avenue by a few straggly hawthorn bushes.

[Big Good Wolf]

Wiggle Enduro 6.
Six hour mountain bike race at Catton Park, Derbyshire on a single speed.

Mrs BGW, The Rose of Shropshire, should have been racing at this one, but after going over the 'bars in the Wyre Forest two weekends ago and cracking a rib, she didn't want to risk aggravating the injury, so she was on camera duty instead.

We've been thinking about getting a better tent for weekends away, so on the way up on Saturday we detoured to an army surplus dealer and bought this, a 12'x12' ex-army tent that's designed to fit on the back of a Land Rover.



It weighs 110kg and it's huge.



I did a practice lap on Saturday afternoon in 32 minutes. Not quite flat out, but faster than I could sustain for 6 hours.
The rules for this event are that you finish the lap you're on when the six hours is up.
I would need to lap in about 32:45 to have time to go out for a 12th lap. This was not a realistic goal.
If I could lap in 36 minutes, I would get 11 laps in. I made this my target.
As a fall back plan, sub 40 minute laps would get me 10 laps.

The first lap started with a run and took 38 minutes. Only 2 minutes behind schedule and I'd spent longer than that running to the start line, so not too bad.
After 3 hours and 5 laps I was 8 minutes ahead of schedule, it was looking like I would do 11 laps.
By my 8th lap I was walking a couple of the short steep hills that I had been riding earlier.
I was stopping after every 3 laps for a water bottle change.
I'd noticed a creaking getting worse throughout the race and worked out it was my handlebars. On the 9th lap I noticed they had moved slightly.
I thought they would last the distance, so I went out for my 10th lap anyway with 40 minutes to go.
It soon became obvious the 'bars were loose, so I had to stop and tighten them with my multitool.
I never made up the time lost and got back at 6:01:12, so that was it, 10 laps.

10 laps/92.96km in 6:01:12
36th/149 solo males

Practice lap. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83071428
Race. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83071402

[Big Good Wolf]

The run at the start.



Through the woods.



A bright sunny day.



The hills were getting steeper towards the end.

[Big Good Wolf]

Grinding up hill on a 34x19 singlespeed.



Overtaking geared riders.

[haisuli]

We've been thinking about getting a better tent for weekends away, so on the way up on Saturday we detoured to an army surplus dealer and bought this, a 12'x12' ex-army tent that's designed to fit on the back of a Land Rover.

I don't understand much about that kind of cycling (yet), but that tent is just awesome (just like the car)! Useful, elegant +flag

[Big Good Wolf]

It looks like a small flag on my tent, but it's really a big flag on a tent behind.
I used to go to steam rallies a lot and the camp sites would be full of flags and fairy lights on poles. That idea doesn't seem to have caught on with mountain biking, so we've talked about getting a Vegan Cyclist flag made to fly at races as it would really stand out.

3 1/2 hour trailquest around Yelvertoft, Northamptonshire.

Not much to report, nothing unusual happened. I'd have probably altered my route a bit if I'd spent a bit more time planning it once I'd got the CP values, but I don't think it would have improved my score much.

My planned route.



My GPS track.



58km in 3:30. Provisional result; 11th overall.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84375832

[thestoatyone]

That is one awesome tent mate! Not bad results either although I'm claiming the title of rose of Shropshire for Mrs S-O I'm afraid...

[Big Good Wolf]

Just a quick report from last weekend's 12 hour race before I set off for another one this weekend.

Erlestoke 12. Midday to midnight last Saturday.

10th/36 solo male. http://www.timelaps.co.uk/assets/upload ... 28/05/2011
136km in 11:18

Broke another frame, so that's 4 in 13 months.

[Big Good Wolf]

After finding a two cracks in my 11 month old Lynskey titanium frame last weekend at Erlestoke, I switched classes and rode the Kona singlespeed at the Bristol Bike Fest 12 hour race on Saturday.
I did a practice lap on Friday afternoon in 38 minutes, which included a couple of stops.
If I could lap under 40 minutes, I would get 18 laps in, 35 minutes would get me 20 laps.

We started at 9:00am on Saturday morning with a short up hill run. I felt like I was somewhere near the back by the time we got to the bikes. As usual, there was a bit of a traffic jam as we left the field to go in to the woods the first time, but I was only held up a few seconds before we were moving again.

There were two hills which I rode up on my practice lap, but knew I wouldn't be able to ride up towards the end of a 12 hour race, so I walked them right from the first lap to save energy and to keep my lap times consistent.
I finished my first lap in about 32 minutes. Allowing for losing time on the run and gaining time by riding faster than my 12 hour pace to stay ahead of the traffic jams, I set myself a target of 35 minute laps.
Apart from losing about 5 minutes with a puncture, my laps varied from 31:05 to 34:54. That's the most consistently I've ever ridden.
It's also the strongest I've ever felt towards the end of a race. After 7 hours at Erlestoke, I had settled down to a steady plod. After 7 hours at Bristol, even though I had lost count of how many laps I had done, I was calculating lap times and time remaining and still confident that I could stay under 35 minutes to get as many in as possible.

In the end, I did 21 laps, about 170km, in 11:40:51. The singlespeed winner did 24, the open class winner did 25.
5th/14 single speed.
21st/87 solo male overall (Open, singlespeed and veteran combined)
http://www.timelaps.co.uk/assets/upload ... esults.pdf

I've found a new performance enhancing substance for endurance racing; licorice.
I find it almost impossible to eat solid food while racing. I can just about force fig rolls down, but each one takes about 5 minutes of chewing. Bananas are easier, but too delicate to carry, so I have to stuff them down in one go at pit stops.
I find that licorice is just the right consistency between a solid and a gel. Easy to chew, easy to swallow, no crumbs to breathe in by mistake and it feels more like proper food than fruit jellies.

[Big Good Wolf]

Bristol bike fest by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr


vegan graham by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

[kallefs]

No fun with the cracked frame

[benzilla]

Bad lack with all the cracked frames. Where are the cracks?