Tour of Cambridgeshire

[Whorty]

Anyone else doing this (the 100 miler) on a Single Speed or Fixie this year? If so, what gearing you looking at riding, and what is your target time to complete?

 

[CXRAndy]

Good luck Carl,

Dont go full bore early on, If you get an early start group(try and leave before other CC-ers). Try tag onto groups of geared riders then drop off until you find a group which you can maintain a comfortable cadence without blowing up. Have you been out on the SS to see how your legs and cardio feel over climbs which are 2 to 3 mins in length at a decent pace? That's what the climbs are like

 

[Whorty]

Good luck Carl,

Dont go full bore early on, If you get an early start group(try and leave before other CC-ers). Try tag onto groups of geared riders then drop off until you find a group which you can maintain a comfortable cadence without blowing up. Have you been out on the SS to see how your legs and cardio feel over climbs which are 2 to 3 mins in length at a decent pace? That's what the climbs are like

You're reading my mind @CXRAndy I did a rw ride last week that was 60km in length, with 730 mtrs of elevation (as compared to 950 in ToC) so a good test for the legs. I was above my target average speed and this was despite raod works, traffic lights, junctions and no one to draft so this gave me some confidence. My ride also include some pretty steep sections; 3.32km at 2% average, 1.5km at 5% average which took me 6 minutes, and 1.91km at 4% which took 7.5 mins so hopefully all good practice for ToC.

On the flatter sections I was able to spin nicely, so I'm looking forward to getting the benefit of sitting in a group Just need to remember it's not a race

 

[mangid]

I ride around that area quite often on my Burls 48x18, there's no really steep or long drags, maybe a mile at 2.5%. The fens are far more likely to be the problem, if there's a good breeze blowing find a large group and stay at the back ;-)

 

[Whorty]

I ride around that area quite often on my Burls 48x18, there's no really steep or long drags, maybe a mile at 2.5%. The fens are far more likely to be the problem, if there's a good breeze blowing find a large group and stay at the back ;-)

Your gearing is about the same as mine, so good to know it's a suitable gear for the area 2.5% over a mile is fine. It's the short, very sharp climbs that will get me doing the walk of shame (anything over 10% for more than a few hundred metres).

 

[CXRAndy]

anything over 10% for more than a few hundred metres

No 10% climbs some are 5-7% but not huge in length