London-Edinburgh-London 2013: The thread

[Davywalnuts]

Oh Lordy. There goes Arch's dream of sailing past all and sundry whilst descending into Dalkeith. No one drops like Davy, size medium or (ahem) value.

Oh oh, is it a good down-hill??

Yes, being its not a Fnrttc where I have to adear to the rules, the speed limiters will be off.. 155mph+, not a problem! Weeeeeeeeeehheeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Well I've already entered the Glocknerkönig for this year - the sportive that's a race up Großglockner! Haven't ridden up Großglockner yet, but one my neighbours (who has done it) thinks I won't have any problems based on us riding up the Hundstein and Kitzbuhlerhorn together off-road.

I did it on a hired road bike a couple of sizes too small for me, and wasn't prepared for how cold it was at thetop. On the right bike, with the right gear, you'll blitz it if you've done alpine passes off road.

 

[Arch]

Oh oh, is it a good down-hill??

Yes, being its not a Fnrttc where I have to adear to the rules, the speed limiters will be off.. 155mph+, not a problem! Weeeeeeeeeehheeeeeeeeeeeeee

Trouble is, you'll be in Inverness before you've stopped to turn round....

Part of my reason for wanting to use the trike is the descending. I'm a real chicken on two wheels, I just don't get the benefit. On the trike, I'll brake when my ears start to shear off...

 

[Davywalnuts]

Trouble is, you'll be in Inverness before you've stopped to turn round....

Part of my reason for wanting to use the trike is the descending. I'm a real chicken on two wheels, I just don't get the benefit. On the trike, I'll brake when my ears start to shear off...

Inverness not on the route? I think too much like a Garmin 705 powerered by the 'teef!

Cooooooooooll!!

 

[Scoosh]

C'mon Scoosh! You're halfway there already

At least say you'll come see us in Dalkeith

Maybe I could use my bus pass to come to Dalkeith ....

The bigger question would be whether 'twould be better done by DF or 'bent.
- DF I already have, 'bent not (yet )
- it's further to fall off a DF (been there, done that <ouch ! smillie>
- it's easier to fall asleep on a 'bent
- arallsop was going very fast on his Furai SL II
- arallsop cheated 'cos he'd done marathons before

 

[PalmerSperry]

Maybe I could use my bus pass to come to Dalkeith ....

The bigger question would be whether 'twould be better done by DF or 'bent.
- DF I already have, 'bent not (yet )
- it's further to fall off a DF (been there, done that <ouch ! smillie>
- it's easier to fall asleep on a 'bent
- arallsop was going very fast on his Furai SL II
- arallsop cheated 'cos he'd done marathons before

Vaguely tough call ... I think the normal advice would be to use what you're used to, but in this case you've got ~3 years to get used to a 'bent!

Speaking for myself, even though my plan for this year is to use the DF I aim to be doing LEL on a 'bent. Fortunately, I already have one (a Giro 26) but Furai SL2 is not without it's appeal! Though it occurs to me that for the extra €'s I need to spend to get one, I could probably shave off a decent chunk of the extra 2kg that the Giro26 has over it. (No, I can't find 2kg on me to get rid of instead!)

Extra : Some problems you can only learn about by experience - like my discovering that the Endura cycling trousers I had chafed badly when wet! Took the 2007 Dunwich Dynamo to learn that!

 

[PalmerSperry]

The London-Edinburgh-London site has what seems like a reasonable training pattern, would anyone care to suggest how to adapt that for someone living in a country where it could be the end of February before you can get out on the roads? Assume the existence of a turbo-trainer ...

 

[Arch]

The London-Edinburgh-London site has what seems like a reasonable training pattern, would anyone care to suggest how to adapt that for someone living in a country where it could be the end of February before you can get out on the roads? Assume the existence of a turbo-trainer ...

Just take the first week of March off, and do all the Jan/Feb rides then...

 

[arallsopp]

From memory, I didn't manage any 40+ mile rides until the beginning of March, and < 40 miles is what, 3 hours on a turbo?

Something to bear in mind though, is that miles on a turbo are NOT miles on the road. They'll strengthen your legs, but not your mind. If you do need to turbo it, its possibly worth taking the turbo outside, and doing it in full rain gear / winter wear.

This is probably closer to my LEL experience...

There are, of course, plenty who are better informed than me on this, and I'm sure each situation varies.

 

[ttcycle]

Arch, as per my post elsewhere - if I can get my health on track on this then I'm up for it but can't promise at this stage.

 

[Arch]

Arch, as per my post elsewhere - if I can get my health on track on this then I'm up for it but can't promise at this stage.

There's no compulsion - three years is a long way off, who knows what'll happen? Would you like me to put you on the map anyway?

 

[Crackle]

Very tempting; I'm fifty that year. Will I be up to it?

Me too. There is no way on earth I could manage this though.

 

[Arch]

Me too. There is no way on earth I could manage this though.

Not even if we take turns to tow you?

I might need that myself!

 

[Crackle]

Not even if we take turns to tow you?

I might need that myself!

I doubt it, that would still require me to stay awake. Unless you lend me your trike.

 

[Arch]

<sees vision of CC team towing Crackle on comedy wheeled four poster bed>

Well, it would be different...