pubrunner
Legendary Member
Today I did my first event - the 55 mile Cambrian Challenge organised by North Shropshire Wheelers.
I'm very much an occasional cyclist; I go out 2 or 3 times a month for about 10 miles (Spring & Summer only) on a hybrid bike with a tag-along.
My road bike is about 30 years old; it has 6 gears at the back ranging from 12 to 28 teeth. My cycle helmet is about 25 years old - it looks rather like a motorbike helmet which has no chin protection and it has no vents. I do not have any cycling wear apart from some baggy shorts and some shoes from Lidl. For the Challenge, I wore an old long sleeved Helly Hansen with a short sleeved T-shirt over it. I was very comfortable the entire ride.
The day before the ride, I bought some cheap and cheerful SPD pedals to replace my toeclips; they are brilliant !!! Everyone should use them - I'm a convert !!! On the small amount of flat that there was on the route, I appeared to be going about 5mph faster than with toeclips- with no extra effort.
Thus prepared, I set off on the ride. I cycled in isolation for about 18 miles, with no-one to be seen either behind or in front. Eventually, I caught two cyclists, one of whom was a little older than myself - probably in his early 50s. The other looked to be in his late 30s. It was immediately apparent to me that these were two very experienced cyclists. The older guy was walking on some of the steeper climbs; the younger guy seemed to be a rider of no mean ability, his bike looked to be rather highly geared (for the event) yet he still managed to pull away on the climbs.
They looked at my clothing and my bike and I could tell that they were not impressed. We came to a steep descent where they shot away from me. As a newbie, I have to admit the I find steep descents to be a considerable challenge to both my nerves and my brakes. I caught them on the next climb, 'cos the older guy was struggling a bit.
"I haven't got the bottle to descend like you guys" said I - it was intended as a back-handed compliment.
"You'll never descend well on those crap old sidepulls" said the younger one, whom I named Mr Snide. "You need dual pivot brakes like ours" - 'very encouraging' I thought.
"My bike cost me £4,700" said the older one, "the handlebars alone cost £450, it's all carbon fibre . . . etc.".
We stopped at a junction to check the route, Mr Snide just to my right. "You need a new chain" he said, "I can see daylight through it". I have to confess that I didn't know what he was talking about. He then told me that he worked in a bike shop in Stafford , so he 'knew all about bikes'.
The route (which is very hilly anyway) has the option of an extra 2 -3 mile loop down into Llangollen, and then back up a very steep hill. "Are you doing the Llangollen loop" I asked, "No" they replied. "Well I'm going to have a go at it" says I.
"You'll never do it" said the older one, "you need a triple to get up there".
Thus encouraged, I set off on the extra loop. Patrick Stevens very kindly described the course in considerable detail. I now believe that he is a master of the understatement. I was determined to conquer the hill up Blaen Bache and I just managed it without walking. My speedo told me that for a considerable part of the climb, I was doing no more 3.5 mph. I was weaving all over the road. A couple of times, my front wheel lifted, and my back wheel was spinning through lack of grip. When I got home, I measured the climb on Memory Map; for the worst bit, I climbed 542ft in 3/4 of a mile (how does that compare with Mow Cop ?) I don't know the gradient, but it seemed very, very tough - for me, at any rate. I have to state that the climb had a detrimental effect on subsequent hills, my legs never really recovered for the rest of the ride.
At about 35 miles, I stopped at a refreshment point, manned by a guy (who organised the route) from North Shropshire Wheelers and a lady from Shrewsbury CTC. They were very encouraging (what a newbie needs) and they deserve a great deal of praise for standing in the middle of nowhere for many hours.
I asked the organiser if he knew what the phrase 'light through the chain' meant. "Of course" he said. He then provided an explanation and inspected my chain - "It's in excellent condition". Actually, I then realised that Mr Snide wouldn't have been able to see light through my chain, 'cos I was always on the inner chainwheel and he cycled on my right.
My legs felt worse after the stop and the rest of the ride was hard work. I finished the 55 miles in 4 hours and 28 minutes (I didn't stop my watch at the food stop).
"How did you find it ?" said the official who was handing out the finishers certificates. " A very tough first event, but I just managed to get up the hill out of Llangollen".
"I'm not bloody surprised" said a voice from a nearby table (Mr Snide), "anyone could get up there with mountain bike gears like yours on the back".
I set off on the short ride home feeling rather dejected, and I'd been so pleased to have cycled all the way without having to walk any of it. Had I 'cheated' for having 'mountain bike' gears on the back ? When I had a new cassette fitted a year or two back, I was told that the largest number of teeth that would fit on my back wheel was 28 - because it is so old. I had it fitted 'cos I live in a very hilly area, so from a practical point of view, it makes sense. I must say that I was very pleased with how my bike went, which is a big 'plus'.
I'm not sure whether or not to have a go at the Cheshire Cat next year; my main sport for the past 25 years is running, and I've never experienced such sporting 'snobbery'. I didn't realise that my bike, the gears it has or my attire would be so 'important' to others; people seem to look at what you are wearing/riding and that is what they 'value' you by. Has anyone else experienced this ? My son goes to a nursery and it costs a small fortune to send him there - about £25,000 for 4 years. It wouldn't make financial sense for an occasional cyclist such as myself to buy a new bike. I couldn't justify it.
The adverts that I've seen for the Cheshire Cat (and similar events) show cyclists clad in the latest gear on the latest bikes - just like Mr Snide & his pal. I'm not sure I'd 'fit in' on my 30 year old steel framed 'relic'.
I passed quite a few cyclists going the other way - they were on the Mountain Bike route. I would smile and say "Hi". Not one responded. They all looked so grim and serious. Again, I've never experienced this in running circles.
Is it normally like this ?
I'm very much an occasional cyclist; I go out 2 or 3 times a month for about 10 miles (Spring & Summer only) on a hybrid bike with a tag-along.
My road bike is about 30 years old; it has 6 gears at the back ranging from 12 to 28 teeth. My cycle helmet is about 25 years old - it looks rather like a motorbike helmet which has no chin protection and it has no vents. I do not have any cycling wear apart from some baggy shorts and some shoes from Lidl. For the Challenge, I wore an old long sleeved Helly Hansen with a short sleeved T-shirt over it. I was very comfortable the entire ride.
The day before the ride, I bought some cheap and cheerful SPD pedals to replace my toeclips; they are brilliant !!! Everyone should use them - I'm a convert !!! On the small amount of flat that there was on the route, I appeared to be going about 5mph faster than with toeclips- with no extra effort.
Thus prepared, I set off on the ride. I cycled in isolation for about 18 miles, with no-one to be seen either behind or in front. Eventually, I caught two cyclists, one of whom was a little older than myself - probably in his early 50s. The other looked to be in his late 30s. It was immediately apparent to me that these were two very experienced cyclists. The older guy was walking on some of the steeper climbs; the younger guy seemed to be a rider of no mean ability, his bike looked to be rather highly geared (for the event) yet he still managed to pull away on the climbs.
They looked at my clothing and my bike and I could tell that they were not impressed. We came to a steep descent where they shot away from me. As a newbie, I have to admit the I find steep descents to be a considerable challenge to both my nerves and my brakes. I caught them on the next climb, 'cos the older guy was struggling a bit.
"I haven't got the bottle to descend like you guys" said I - it was intended as a back-handed compliment.
"You'll never descend well on those crap old sidepulls" said the younger one, whom I named Mr Snide. "You need dual pivot brakes like ours" - 'very encouraging' I thought.
"My bike cost me £4,700" said the older one, "the handlebars alone cost £450, it's all carbon fibre . . . etc.".
We stopped at a junction to check the route, Mr Snide just to my right. "You need a new chain" he said, "I can see daylight through it". I have to confess that I didn't know what he was talking about. He then told me that he worked in a bike shop in Stafford , so he 'knew all about bikes'.
The route (which is very hilly anyway) has the option of an extra 2 -3 mile loop down into Llangollen, and then back up a very steep hill. "Are you doing the Llangollen loop" I asked, "No" they replied. "Well I'm going to have a go at it" says I.
"You'll never do it" said the older one, "you need a triple to get up there".
Thus encouraged, I set off on the extra loop. Patrick Stevens very kindly described the course in considerable detail. I now believe that he is a master of the understatement. I was determined to conquer the hill up Blaen Bache and I just managed it without walking. My speedo told me that for a considerable part of the climb, I was doing no more 3.5 mph. I was weaving all over the road. A couple of times, my front wheel lifted, and my back wheel was spinning through lack of grip. When I got home, I measured the climb on Memory Map; for the worst bit, I climbed 542ft in 3/4 of a mile (how does that compare with Mow Cop ?) I don't know the gradient, but it seemed very, very tough - for me, at any rate. I have to state that the climb had a detrimental effect on subsequent hills, my legs never really recovered for the rest of the ride.
At about 35 miles, I stopped at a refreshment point, manned by a guy (who organised the route) from North Shropshire Wheelers and a lady from Shrewsbury CTC. They were very encouraging (what a newbie needs) and they deserve a great deal of praise for standing in the middle of nowhere for many hours.
I asked the organiser if he knew what the phrase 'light through the chain' meant. "Of course" he said. He then provided an explanation and inspected my chain - "It's in excellent condition". Actually, I then realised that Mr Snide wouldn't have been able to see light through my chain, 'cos I was always on the inner chainwheel and he cycled on my right.
My legs felt worse after the stop and the rest of the ride was hard work. I finished the 55 miles in 4 hours and 28 minutes (I didn't stop my watch at the food stop).
"How did you find it ?" said the official who was handing out the finishers certificates. " A very tough first event, but I just managed to get up the hill out of Llangollen".
"I'm not bloody surprised" said a voice from a nearby table (Mr Snide), "anyone could get up there with mountain bike gears like yours on the back".
I set off on the short ride home feeling rather dejected, and I'd been so pleased to have cycled all the way without having to walk any of it. Had I 'cheated' for having 'mountain bike' gears on the back ? When I had a new cassette fitted a year or two back, I was told that the largest number of teeth that would fit on my back wheel was 28 - because it is so old. I had it fitted 'cos I live in a very hilly area, so from a practical point of view, it makes sense. I must say that I was very pleased with how my bike went, which is a big 'plus'.
I'm not sure whether or not to have a go at the Cheshire Cat next year; my main sport for the past 25 years is running, and I've never experienced such sporting 'snobbery'. I didn't realise that my bike, the gears it has or my attire would be so 'important' to others; people seem to look at what you are wearing/riding and that is what they 'value' you by. Has anyone else experienced this ? My son goes to a nursery and it costs a small fortune to send him there - about £25,000 for 4 years. It wouldn't make financial sense for an occasional cyclist such as myself to buy a new bike. I couldn't justify it.
The adverts that I've seen for the Cheshire Cat (and similar events) show cyclists clad in the latest gear on the latest bikes - just like Mr Snide & his pal. I'm not sure I'd 'fit in' on my 30 year old steel framed 'relic'.
I passed quite a few cyclists going the other way - they were on the Mountain Bike route. I would smile and say "Hi". Not one responded. They all looked so grim and serious. Again, I've never experienced this in running circles.
Is it normally like this ?
