Scotland : Perthshire CC Ecosse Perth Ride - Sat 3rd August

[Louch]

I joined the ride before it was put on the Belle's forum so my expectation was based on the description on the CC forum. I wasn't expecting totally flat since I had looked at the elevation on the map. The 'lump' up to Little GlenShee was a long drag and felt hillier than expected but wind resistance, a soft rear tyre and no fuel since 7am were my gremlins and maybe contributed to some tongue in check remarks & grumpiness at the top til I got some gels down me. By 'suitable for beginners' I interpreted that as someone who had been cycling for a while but was starting out on longer organised group rides. For the Belles it was clearly listed as a Blue ride for those used to doing longer rides and the fact that we all made it round (could have gone longer?) demonstrated that everyone had the stamina to go the distance just at different speeds. That I know (from former jogleading days) is when things start to get complicated as people get strung out along the course and stops for regrouping get longer and longer. So from that perspective comments about future rides with large groups of mixed ability are good suggestions.

was good to chat before i nearly directed us onto the 6th green! hope to see you on your road bike soon

 

[mr messy]

I joined the ride before it was put on the Belle's forum so my expectation was based on the description on the CC forum. I wasn't expecting totally flat since I had looked at the elevation on the map. The 'lump' up to Little GlenShee was a long drag and felt hillier than expected but wind resistance, a soft rear tyre and no fuel since 7am were my gremlins and maybe contributed to some tongue in check remarks & grumpiness at the top til I got some gels down me. By 'suitable for beginners' I interpreted that as someone who had been cycling for a while but was starting out on longer organised group rides. For the Belles it was clearly listed as a Blue ride for those used to doing longer rides and the fact that we all made it round (could have gone longer?) demonstrated that everyone had the stamina to go the distance just at different speeds. That I know (from former jogleading days) is when things start to get complicated as people get strung out along the course and stops for regrouping get longer and longer. So from that perspective comments about future rides with large groups of mixed ability are good suggestions.

Tbh my fellow cc'rs just want to issue a temporary Belle ban til we get some training in so as not to be shown up again!

 

[Deleted member 20519]

New derailleur and derailleur hanger fitted thanks to @Harry_Palmer79 - that should be me ready for the next ride

 

[scook94]

Some of the girls are training for big charity rides: it's good they had an eyeopening on what could befall them.
Other Belles (there are 245 of us to date) also ride with the Glasgow Green racing club on road bikes, and I did advertise the Perth route as a blue one (hard).
I know my "tank" bikes (the one I was on yesterday is almost 2 stone, weighted it for Strava purposes) plus my age will always put me at a disadvantage on a mixed sex ride, still great fun imo plus the chance to explore new routes.
Will put an effort to train harder on hills! Maybe on day will also have the guts to try a road bike

Some serious fibbing going here!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

@scook94 from the OP:
Terrain: mostly flat, some lumps, no real hills; cycle paths and quiet roads; excellent for new people, beginners; great for more experienced

 

[Rasmus]

New derailleur and derailleur hanger fitted thanks to @Harry_Palmer79 - that should be me ready for the next ride

Right, so we're defo doing the tak-ma-doon next time, right?

Also, I should mention that no one should be worried about "holding up" faster riders. I go to the CC Ecosse rides fully expecting a somewhat slower pace than my normal solo runs, and frequent regroupings. It is genuinely not a problem.

I also don't think it's necessary to provide "hilly optional detours" - I would prefer to keep things social and just try to be as accurate as possible in advertisement of the ride difficulty.

Maybe on day will also have the guts to try a road bike

If you're worried about drop bars - you needn't be! There's plenty of flat barred roadbikes / lightweight hybrids out there that would give you a faster more efficient ride at a very similar comfort level.

 

[Louch]

I have just managed a wee 50 Kilo-Meters (@Scoosh) in the sun, dont get what the fuss is

 

[Col5632]

@scook94 from the OP:
Terrain: mostly flat, some lumps, no real hills; cycle paths and quiet roads; excellent for new people, beginners; great for more experienced

There is a pretty big difference between mostly flat and "but flat" as far as the cc rides i have been on its defo one the flatter rides we do, I think if you are in any doubt of how hilly a ride will be and if you could make it or not should be to look at the elevation graph.

Yesterday was difficult as we had all mixture of abilities and some of which i had no idea of what they were capable of, didnt want to put people in the 'slower' group to go ahead when they were clearly faster than the slower group etc

We have never had that many people turn up to one ride so that was a new challenge altogether, from what i seen yesterday everybody enjoyed themselves and managed the ride without any real problems so i think some of the comments are a little unfair,one of the belles even told me she had done 1,000 miles in 9 weeks (i havent even done that lol), if anybody wants to suggest a ride, feel free to post up the ride with a date and see how many people turn up, nothing saying we need to have a ride every month, that way we could atleast try most suggestions.

 

[Scoosh]

I have just managed a wee 50 Kilo-Meters (@Scoosh) in the sun, dont get what the fuss is

The fuss is that you've managed 50km, when we're all stuffed !

 

[Col5632]

The fuss is that you've managed 50km, when we're all stuffed !

I haven't moved today never mind do 50km

 

[Scoosh]

Also, I should mention that no one should be worried about "holding up" faster riders. I go to the CC Ecosse rides fully expecting a somewhat slower pace than my normal solo runs, and frequent regroupings. It is genuinely not a problem.

I also don't think it's necessary to provide "hilly optional detours" - I would prefer to keep things social and just try to be as accurate as possible in advertisement of the ride difficulty.

This is a key for CC Ecosse Forum Rides - they are intended to be sociable. The faster, fitter, stronger, more experienced riders get a chance to assist and encourage those who are not as fast, fit etc. It's by riding alongside and chatting that we make friends, learn more about the types of cycling we do, the experienced people pass on riding/maintenance tips [n+1 ... ] to those with less experience and we develop the CC Ecosse 'ethos' amongst the new people, so they can pass it on as they gain experience themselves etc.

I even remember Scook94's first ride - it was this same Perth one - and he didn't even have a Rapha jersey !!! He came to more rides, got the bug** hooked - and look at him now ! Matching jersey, shorts, socks and bike (Ti, of course ) . Now that is what we want - the desire for stylistic and practical perfection !




** please excuse the slightly inappropriate choice of words ...

 

[mr messy]

This is a key for CC Ecosse Forum Rides - they are intended to be sociable. The faster, fitter, stronger, more experienced riders get a chance to assist and encourage those who are not as fast, fit etc. It's by riding alongside and chatting that we make friends, learn more about the types of cycling we do, the experienced people pass on riding/maintenance tips [n+1 ... ] to those with less experience and we develop the CC Ecosse 'ethos' amongst the new people, so they can pass it on as they gain experience themselves etc.

I even remember Scook94's first ride - it was this same Perth one - and he didn't even have a Rapha jersey !!! He came to more rides, got the bug** hooked - and look at him now ! Matching jersey, shorts, socks and bike (Ti, of course ) . Now that is what we want - the desire for stylistic and practical perfection !




** please excuse the slightly inappropriate choice of words ...

Totally agree!
Bursts of speed and a little(emphasis on LITTLE) climbing are a great buzz but most important is the FUN!....well that and cake
If we were all heads down asses up when would we get to blether? We also don't want to scare off any belles now we have them in our clutches mmmwwhahahahaha!

 

[Edwardoka]

Totally agree!
Bursts of speed and a little(emphasis on LITTLE) climbing are a great buzz but most important is the FUN!....well that and cake
If we were all heads down asses up when would we get to blether? We also don't want to scare off any belles now we have them in our clutches mmmwwhahahahaha!

What about those of us whose sole speciality is being unable to stop themselves from sprinting off into the distance as soon as there's a slight decline*?

(*Which reminds me, who was it who called the opposite of an incline an "outcline" yesterday? )

 

[Rasmus]

What about those of us whose sole speciality is being unable to stop themselves from sprinting off into the distance as soon as there's a slight decline*?

(*Which reminds me, who was it who called the opposite of an incline an "outcline" yesterday? )

I believe that was @Scoosh. It is of course total nonsense...

the proper term should be "excline". It is latin, after all.

 

[Edwardoka]

I believe that was @Scoosh. It is of course total nonsense...

the proper term should be "excline". It is latin, after all.

@Scoosh can perhaps be forgiven for not knowing what the correct terminology is, given that he went so fast on that 'bent, that he probably didn't even notice the descents