Team BKool CycleChat

[bobinski]

Had to go it alone again tonight as her in doors needed picking up from town so I kicked off well before 7.
I also concur with the deceptiveness of the profile and I felt that I was fighting myself from very early on and was pushing my self enforced 160bpm limit before halfway and constanly looking forward to the downhills.
At about 1km from the end things weren't quite feeling right with the old blood pump and I pretty much limped home for the last km and a bit.
Then I got of the bike sat down and had what felt like a mild angina attack.
Good news for you good news for Bill and LB is:
a) they beat me fair and square
b) that I'm of to Kent at the weekend to see the family and probably won't get a chance at a re-run against your ghosts as I won't be back unitl Monday afternoon.

Hey, be careful! Take it easy and get some rest and time with family

 

[Whorty]

Back playing up today and on pain killers all day so gave the ride a miss I'm afraid hope no one missed me at the back of the race Hoping to do the re-run on Saturday if my back stops playing up. Well done everyone ... I did pop in for a watch and it looked flattish but clearly from the comments it's very hard.

 

[kipster]

Cleats?!? Fans!!
Am I really the only person who has an 'amateur' set up? No fan, and cycle in my trainers ha ha

My wife has done a few rides on her step through with flat pedals, I'm hoping your setup is better than that?

 

[GuySJ]

That's a point. Guy, did you message me suggesting I slow down?

I was only trying to help

 

[Whorty]

My wife has done a few rides on her step through with flat pedals, I'm hoping your setup is better than that?

I just have normal pedals. Flat ones; no straps or anything. Never tried cycling with anything else. Always been nervous of the shoes that connect to the pedals (cleats?) in case I fell off the bike LOL

 

[theboxers]

Always been nervous of the shoes that connect to the pedals (cleats?) in case I fell off the bike LOL

btdt

 

[theboxers]

Back playing up today and on pain killers all day so gave the ride a miss I'm afraid hope no one missed me at the back of the race Hoping to do the re-run on Saturday if my back stops playing up. Well done everyone ... I did pop in for a watch and it looked flattish but clearly from the comments it's very hard.

I missed almost a month due to back problems in aug/sept . I go to an osteopath and usually get sorted in one visit, that time it took four .

 

[LBHIFI]

Yes, when I saw they postponed the start half an hour, I decided to use it as a warm-up. Very hard to control myself, kept trying not to dig too deep, but couldn't resist firing of a few sprints in well chosen places. I started 2-3 minutes late so I don't know if it will count.

Thanks for the drafting in the Chain Gang race - looks like we both benefited.
I was expecting to see you fly pass me on that last descend, but when I saw I still had 3 seconds when we reached the flat, I decided to make a break for it.

Strange, when looking at the average watt for the TDF warm-up and the Chain Gang race, there's only 20 watt between them. The Chain Gang felt A LOT harder.

(Btw, my Jan-Ulrich TDF ranking seem to have been adjusted to 15th)

 

[bridgy]

Strange, when looking at the average watt for the TDF warm-up and the Chain Gang race, there's only 20 watt between them. The Chain Gang felt A LOT harder.

(Btw, my Jan-Ulrich TDF ranking seem to have been adjusted to 15th)

Those last 20 watts are always the ones that cause the real pain though!

 

[Soarerv8]

Cleats?!? Fans!!
Am I really the only person who has an 'amateur' set up? No fan, and cycle in my trainers ha ha

Next you'll be trying to tell us you wear clothes whilst cycling.

 

[Soarerv8]

I just have normal pedals. Flat ones; no straps or anything. Never tried cycling with anything else. Always been nervous of the shoes that connect to the pedals (cleats?) in case I fell off the bike LOL

Have fallen off a couple of times in cleat related incidents. Only ever due to my stupidty at leaving it too late when coming to a stop. Last one was next to a ditch ended up falling into it in a pile of nettles with my bike on top of me. Since then I have always decleated much earlier in the stopping process.

 

[Goldwolfie]

Back playing up today and on pain killers all day so gave the ride a miss I'm afraid hope no one missed me at the back of the race Hoping to do the re-run on Saturday if my back stops playing up. Well done everyone ... I did pop in for a watch and it looked flattish but clearly from the comments it's very hard.

Sorry to hear about your back troubles, take it easy and don't rush back.

I, as the perennial back marker, also missed the ride last night. I was at the Wolves match and not sure whether the ride would have been more painful than watching my team struggle to defeat against Leeds.

I'll aim to have a shot at the re-run tomorrow, but if I can't make that, I'll do a solo run over the weekend.

 

[BILL S]

Sorry to hear about your back troubles, take it easy and don't rush back.

Totally agree! In fact you have a whole day before the Chaingang re-run

 

[gbrown]

I just have normal pedals. Flat ones; no straps or anything. Never tried cycling with anything else. Always been nervous of the shoes that connect to the pedals (cleats?) in case I fell off the bike LOL

I can't imagine pedalling hard without cleats!

I can really recommend giving the Shimano Multi-Release SPD cleats a try. They are thought of as mountain bike cleats but in reality they work really well with road bikes and you can get decent road pedals (e.g. A600) to take SPD cleats. The multi-release ones (SH56) with release not just with the normal twist out of the heal, but also a twist in and even if you roll your foot outwards. This last one is a life saver, as if you start to fall and panic that is exactly what you do by relfex and the cleat releases to save your embarrassment.

One major advantage of SPD cleats is that you can walk in them, as the cleats are fairly small and normally recessed into the bottom of the show. Walking is absolutely normal, unlike other road cleats where you walk in the cleat with your toes forced upwards.

My wife (and her lady cyclist friends) were all reluctant to try clipping shoes to pedals, so I started her with the Shimano Click 'R' pedals (PD-T400) which come with a multi-release cleat, are double sided and tuned to release really easily. However, they still hold you firmly to the pedal in normal pedalling actions and give great confidence that your foot will not slip off the pedal. My Wife and her friends now all use these SPD pedals and would not be without them, and not one has yet had a fall.

I have the T400 pedals on the trainer, as weight is less of an issue, but have PD-A600 single sided pedals on the fancy bike as they are very light indeed.

I have a couple of times tried switching to SL cleats, but following tumbles and damaged dérailleurs I have always gone back. A fall is often quite expensive with pricey di2 levers and dérailleurs too easy to damage!

I'll be sticking with SPD and multi-directional release cleats from now on ...

Geoff

 

[gbrown]

I also concur with the deceptiveness of the profile and I felt that I was fighting myself from very early on and was pushing my self enforced 160bpm limit before halfway and constanly looking forward to the downhills.
At about 1km from the end things weren't quite feeling right with the old blood pump and I pretty much limped home for the last km and a bit.
Then I got of the bike sat down and had what felt like a mild angina attack.

Very sensible to set a limit on your heart rate, I've been recommended by stroke consultants to keep mine down, but unfortunately to a level that would barely allow me to pedal.

From medical advice I've received, it seems that a very good, gradual, warm up is important, as it can reduce strain on the blood circulation and blood pressure. As I understand it, when you start cycling you make demands on the blood supply to deliver oxygen so the heart rate rises to provide more, but if this is done before you warm up and allow the blood vessels to dilate then forcing the extra blood down the not fully dilated vessels causes the blood pressure to rise sharply. Once you have warmed up properly, the blood pressure tends to fall back.

In April I managed to provoke a second cerebral bleed following a short flat out race with a pretty inadequate warm-up (less than 7 minutes) as I arrived only just in time. I very much regret not warming up properly. I can't be sure, but if I had warmed up for 20-30 minutes it might not have happened. I had previously done many 1 and 2 hour marathon climbs at high heart rates without any apparent effect, but they may have had a cumulative effect, I suppose.

Anyway, I just wanted to say take it easy, warm up as much as you can and stick to your guns on your HR limit. It's very hard not push flat out when in a close race, but coming second is better than damaging yourself and perhaps not being able to ride again (or worse).

I came last in the race in April anyway, so I couldn't even say it was worth it!

Geoff