South Birmingham and Black Country Social Ride

[Downward]

It'll be warm, If I do make it I will have to cut short so will come up to Romsley, Belbroughton then make my way home up over clent. Had a nice ride up over Romsley today. Nice and cool at 7am

 

[lifeson]

Might pop along tomorrow if thats alright?

 

[BrumJim]

It'd be great to see you again.

 

[Philk]

It was a pleasure to meet you all.
Apologies for holding you all up, once i left the pack I slowed it down alot, just concentrated on keeping my Heart rate at 165 ish and even discovered the big ring on the way back.

on the positive side my recovery rate is getting better

So as a group you can post an official Kill

my stats for the ride were
HR max 182
ave Cadence 71
ave speed 10.8mph
distance covered 11.8 miles
walked up 3 hills
and was sick twice

I would like to thank you all for the positive encouragement and if you have no objections I would like to come along to the next one.
Perhaps ill get up those hills next time.

Philk

 

[SonofSid]

Cheers to BrumJim and McWobble for looking after the noobs. Good to meet everyone, so you on the next one. I'll keep my eye on here in case there's any midweek rides from the BV duck/yacht pond. I've got a couple of nice 20 milers out in the countryside from Kings Norton if you trust me to lead.
Thanks again
Paul

 

[BrumJim]

Err, yes, sorry Phil. I'm afraid that the pace was a bit hot (like the weather). Anyway, good bike you have there, so you need a bit more fitness, and you'll be able to keep pace. Both Lizard and I commute on our bikes every day - this is great for helping to build a base level of fitness. Then you just need to start pushing on your 16 mile jaunts.

Hope we haven't put you off.

Paul (SonofSid):
Glad you managed to join us - would be good to have an evening run or two.

Downward - sorry you couldn't make it this time. Another lovely sunny day for it. We did just the one loop - I think the second was just a bit too ambitious. Also almost ran out of water, so would have been too far for me too.

User - good job you didn't come - we had two Pauls already - one more would have been too much.

Got any official stats, SonofSid?

McWobble (quiet Scottish one). You are now the official fittest one of the lot. No embarrassing passes by you by proper roadies on you hybrid folder this time, but you just don't seem to notice hills at all.

Lifeson - good to see you again, but with your summer bike and summer body!!

 

[Philk]

Hi BrumJim,

You havnt put me off, in fact quite the opposite, your levels of fitness is where i want to be, so perhaps if im welcome what ill do is start ahead of the group at my pace, ie ill leave at 8:00 and you at 8:30.
then at some point youll catch me up and i can pitch along for a little bit.

I keep forgetting that i have only been cycling for 4 months after 20 years of doing SFA. So everything i do is a key milestone.

one thing I did notice going slower is how nice the countryside is out that way.

 

[PJ79LIZARD]

Yeah it was nice to meet up again, couldn't ask for better weather, I went through two bottles myself though! Well the stats I've got from my cycle computer considering that's from my front door about 6 mile to the meet point are as follows, 33.7 miles total, average 14.3 maximum 38.3 2hours 21 ride time. According to cylemeter on my iPhone climbed 3179 feet and burnt 2552 calories, that sounds alot to me though not sure if that's accurate! Think I'll be lazing in the sun this afternoon!

 

[SonofSid]

Stats; 32 miles on my comp, av 14.1 I think it was, one 'clipless moment' (my first, lesson learnt), 4 arses disappearing up the hills in front of me, 1 consequent bout of road bike envy (given McWobble's unhuman levels of fitness are beyond me), and, strangely, 2 real smelly armpits. I say strangely because I always sweat but I rarely smell. First time in a cycle jersey - something to do with the material? Was certainly more comfortable in terms of sweat wicking away and staying cool etc, but not sure I can live with ultra BO on LEJOG and I'm sure the rest of the camper van's occupants won't want to. Might even start a thread to explore the issue....!

 

[Downward]

Gutted I missed this one, I was going to come but woke up lateish with a stonking headache (damn hayfever)

Which route did you take ?
If it's the normal Romsley hill and Clent Hill it's about 1400 feet of climbing.

Blame Lifeson for the 1st big hill ! 1st time we all had done it was in Feb, After a few times you get up but the last bit is still a real ramp up and you have to really dig in.

Best way to attack it is the 1st bit is steep but then there is nearly 3/4 mile where it's flatish. Pick out the markers,
1. Rolls Royce Garage
2. Romsley Sign
3. Fighting Cocks pub.

From the RR Garage try to pace yourself to about 8mph upto the RR Garage, Carry this on to the Pub and hope you have enough energy to attack the final hill (Try and maintain 6mph to the top)

If you need to stand then do it when you can see the top else your legs will go.

Try and eat a big bowl of porridge with dried fruits about 1 hour 15mins before starting out and get some SIS stuff to add to your water.

It's a 470 feet climb over 2.25 miles so it's a long hill.

1st time in Feb it took us 15 minutes - Lifesons pacing us.
2nd time took us 17 1/2 minutes in March
3rd time forget to turn computer on !
4th time took us 16 minutes in April

 

[BrumJim]

No - did all but the first loop only, according to my plan, going clockwise around the loop. One McWobble style detour - went through the edge of Rubery rather than turning right for the country route. Went up Farley Hill - did tell McWobble to go another way, but he didn't listen again..

Did mean that the first hill was the back end of Egg Hill. Not as bad as some around there, but still noticeable.

I think Phil needed to remember the importance of breakfast, but with a bit more fitness will be able to keep pace.

Good job you weren't with us - we missed out Belbroughton, and I know how much you like that village!

 

[Wobblers]

Went up Farley Hill - did tell McWobble to go another way, but he didn't listen again..

Oi!! You can't blame me for that, not this time! I was tail end charlie-ing so as to make sure you'd get fingered!

Philk - I hadn't realised you've only been cycling for four months, it's no wonder you found it hard going. Believe it or not, you'll find it easier next time. There's a technique to hill climbing. Spin the pedals at a reasonably high cadence so that you can get a steady rhythm going, but don't try to push down too hard. You need to have sufficiently low gears in order to do this; if you can change to a triple the addition of a granny ring would help. Any hill can be climbed if you go slowly enough! It's just a matter of having a low enough gear to do so. The other thing that helps is practice!

I'll second BrumJim's comment about using the bike for the commute - it really does help build up the fitness. The reason I'm a good hill climber is that the commute back home is almost all up hill - it has to be done if I want to get back home!!

It would be nice to have an evening jaunt or two, SonOfSid - hopefully your navigational skills are better than mine!

 

[alci4]

hey guys sorry i missed it sounds like you had a good un,

hopefully will be able to join you on one of your future jaunts

just a pain me being on the post, more so now that i know when i am posting on a sat you lot are setting out on a ride less than 800 meters from my walk

and what cracking weather 2 jammy sods

 

[PJ79LIZARD]

I went back with lifeson went back through quarry bank high street, that was a fair climb after what we'd done, but the blast down the thorns road made up for it lol. Another scortcher today by the looks of it!

 

[Downward]

Any plans for next week ?