Xes - Message Board



Just a brief resume of the club run yesterday!



I arrived at the club hut pleased to find a small cluster of riders when I had only expected 1 or 2, and so after some debate as to whether we should have an epic tempo ride to Long Melford or a slightly ‘loopy’ ride to Ongar (so we could all get back sharp to watch the tour) we headed out on the cycle path to Writtle, destination Ongar.

We followed a straightforward route via Blackmore and Doddinghurst and then I picked out some climbs to stretch the legs so we turned right from Navestock and headed for Navestock heath via the rolling road past Dudbrook and Beacon Hill. Up to Navestock Heath then to Stapleford Abbotts and North to Passingford Bridge. A brisk climb of Theydon Mount followed where new(ish) member Steve Cross tried to put the cosh on me! What with that and the ‘whippersnapper’ Phil Hudson attacking me on the steep final climb up to Tawney Common, the captain struggled to keep control!

On to Toot Hill, through Clatterford End and Down to Ongar and the ‘Clock Tower Café’ where we met Tim Bright and Tracy Riding towards us. The Bishops Stortford riders arrived soon after and the café was thus dominated by cyclists!

We had a brief beans on toast interlude then north Via Shelley, Moreton, Little Laver, Abbess and Leaden Roding, then up to High Easter (another impertinent attack by Phil!) where Chelmsfordians headed south and the Dunmow section headed north. Phil decided he could not bear the pain of missing the tour stage live so he came back to Training Headquarters to check out the action. He had not long settled in a chair, only to be reminded by his father that he had a previous engagement so it was back on with the cycling shoes and flying south once more! He may still be out there in the lanes!



Report concluded!
 
philhudson said:
Just a brief resume of the club run yesterday!



I arrived at the club hut pleased to find a small cluster of riders when I had only expected 1 or 2, and so after some debate as to whether we should have an epic tempo ride to Long Melford or a slightly ‘loopy’ ride to Ongar (so we could all get back sharp to watch the tour) we headed out on the cycle path to Writtle, destination Ongar.

We followed a straightforward route via Blackmore and Doddinghurst and then I picked out some climbs to stretch the legs so we turned right from Navestock and headed for Navestock heath via the rolling road past Dudbrook and Beacon Hill. Up to Navestock Heath then to Stapleford Abbotts and North to Passingford Bridge. A brisk climb of Theydon Mount followed where new(ish) member Steve Cross tried to put the cosh on me! What with that and the ‘whippersnapper’ Phil Hudson attacking me on the steep final climb up to Tawney Common, the captain struggled to keep control!

On to Toot Hill, through Clatterford End and Down to Ongar and the ‘Clock Tower Café’ where we met Tim Bright and Tracy Riding towards us. The Bishops Stortford riders arrived soon after and the café was thus dominated by cyclists!

We had a brief beans on toast interlude then north Via Shelley, Moreton, Little Laver, Abbess and Leaden Roding, then up to High Easter (another impertinent attack by Phil!) where Chelmsfordians headed south and the Dunmow section headed north. Phil decided he could not bear the pain of missing the tour stage live so he came back to Training Headquarters to check out the action. He had not long settled in a chair, only to be reminded by his father that he had a previous engagement so it was back on with the cycling shoes and flying south once more! He may still be out there in the lanes!



Report concluded!

I know those roads well. Whats with the cafe stops? I hate stopping rather get it over with 'cos I stiffen up and lose interest when I stop. Its ok for a winter thing but IMHO not in the racing season. Ned to learn to eat on the bike and stay on the bike longer it makes you hard like Fred
 
philhudson said:
Just a brief resume of the club run yesterday!



I arrived at the club hut pleased to find a small cluster of riders when I had only expected 1 or 2, and so after some debate as to whether we should have an epic tempo ride to Long Melford or a slightly ‘loopy’ ride to Ongar (so we could all get back sharp to watch the tour) we headed out on the cycle path to Writtle, destination Ongar.

We followed a straightforward route via Blackmore and Doddinghurst and then I picked out some climbs to stretch the legs so we turned right from Navestock and headed for Navestock heath via the rolling road past Dudbrook and Beacon Hill. Up to Navestock Heath then to Stapleford Abbotts and North to Passingford Bridge. A brisk climb of Theydon Mount followed where new(ish) member Steve Cross tried to put the cosh on me! What with that and the ‘whippersnapper’ Phil Hudson attacking me on the steep final climb up to Tawney Common, the captain struggled to keep control!

On to Toot Hill, through Clatterford End and Down to Ongar and the ‘Clock Tower Café’ where we met Tim Bright and Tracy Riding towards us. The Bishops Stortford riders arrived soon after and the café was thus dominated by cyclists!

We had a brief beans on toast interlude then north Via Shelley, Moreton, Little Laver, Abbess and Leaden Roding, then up to High Easter (another impertinent attack by Phil!) where Chelmsfordians headed south and the Dunmow section headed north. Phil decided he could not bear the pain of missing the tour stage live so he came back to Training Headquarters to check out the action. He had not long settled in a chair, only to be reminded by his father that he had a previous engagement so it was back on with the cycling shoes and flying south once more! He may still be out there in the lanes!



Report concluded!


Those locations ring a bell with me : Bishops Stortford : I was heading to Sicily in April via Stansted Airport : had a few hours to kill and pedalled from
Stansted Airport to Bishops Stortford and back.

Theydon Mount ?
Anything to do with Theydon Bois on the Central Line.
 
limerickman said:
Those locations ring a bell with me : Bishops Stortford : I was heading to Sicily in April via Stansted Airport : had a few hours to kill and pedalled from
Stansted Airport to Bishops Stortford and back.

Theydon Mount ?
Anything to do with Theydon Bois on the Central Line.
looks like that phill hudson is a great rider, attacking the club run captain and jumping up the road on a hill... what i do not understand is,, what F>>>>>>>>>>>>g hell is his dad doing in the club house... and why did he forget such an important redezvous,, stinks to me.... ps its hot in the pyrenees, 37c in the shade today... over the weekend HOTTER.. bon courage.
 
bikeriderfrance said:
looks like that phill hudson is a great rider, attacking the club run captain and jumping up the road on a hill... what i do not understand is,, what F>>>>>>>>>>>>g hell is his dad doing in the club house... and why did he forget such an important redezvous,, stinks to me.... ps its hot in the pyrenees, 37c in the shade today... over the weekend HOTTER.. bon courage.

Hi Biker,

Yeah, the weather here has been great - very warm last weekend when I did 206mile round trip.
I was in a state afterward : 30c and very humid, no liquid.

Managed to get out today for a couple of hours this afternoon : 38 miles : nothing.
Not even sweating : all these miles make cycling a piece of ****.
Fitness levels are great and I am close to my racing weight when I finished racing 15 years ago.

So much so that my mate in Dublin asked me to consider taking out a licence for veteran races (over 35yo : you're a vet).
I told my mate that as good as I am going, the thought of trying to move to racing level doesn't appeal.
I pedal away for 17-19mph no problem all day : I would be in serious diffiiculty trying to race at 20-22mph for more than 2 hours.
It's only a difference of a couple of miles per hour but I can't bridge it : it's not there.
I am tempted though : part of me wants to see can I do it : I'm not talking about winning, just holding my own.

Have you been watching LeTour ?
McEwan is playing a stormer : what a win today !
LA has it won : the others have to come along and take it away from him.

Any races this weekend ? Is this the Etape weekend ?
Keep pedalling !
 
The training base (or whatever) is not the club, but Anthony's houses' nickname, and he wasn't there.

Sorry I haven't been able to get on here much recently, have been tied up.

Sat - 68 miles

Sun - 78 miles
 
Very sorry Fred, I have not been posting. I have been putting in the usual 175+ a week. I uh, chopped my knee w/ a machete while clearing some vines at my farm, left a nasty gash. 3 stitches, in quite a precarious spot I might say. No riding till’ next Thursday. However I will be going to Alaska tomorrow so I would have had the week off anyway. Good news, won two races, new Jr. State champion. Been averaging 23 @ the group rides Talk to you next week.



-Ryan





Cheers
 
ryan_velo. said:
Very sorry Fred, I have not been posting. I have been putting in the usual 175+ a week. I uh, chopped my knee w/ a machete while clearing some vines at my farm, left a nasty gash. 3 stitches, in quite a precarious spot I might say. No riding till’ next Thursday. However I will be going to Alaska tomorrow so I would have had the week off anyway. Good news, won two races, new Jr. State champion. Been averaging 23 @ the group rides Talk to you next week.


-Ryan
Cheers
Well done Ryan on your wins. I wondered where you had got to, thought that you might have fell by the wayside. You see Ryan, now you know our method works if you stick with it. Never mind all the other coaching ********. You've got the best men on here with over 1500 victories in the bag. Don't go telling people because we don't want this section cluttered up with assholes. Leave the training as it is 200 a week, and try and bag a few more victories before the end of the season. Of course being State Champ will make you a marked man so think your way through it during the race, tell me, do you race with lads from your club in these events?
 
philhudson said:
The training base (or whatever) is not the club, but Anthony's houses' nickname, and he wasn't there.

Sorry I haven't been able to get on here much recently, have been tied up.

Sat - 68 miles

Sun - 78 miles
Who tied you up? Your Mumsy. Right this week I want you down on that Industrial Estate for 2 one hour sessions, float into the corners, and give it plenty of welly on the way out of them. Make it hurt. Good practice for your crits.
Look at Ryan, he's done as he was told, same age as you, and is now State Champ.
 
limerickman said:
Hi Biker,

Yeah, the weather here has been great - very warm last weekend when I did 206mile round trip.
I was in a state afterward : 30c and very humid, no liquid.

Managed to get out today for a couple of hours this afternoon : 38 miles : nothing.
Not even sweating : all these miles make cycling a piece of ****.
Fitness levels are great and I am close to my racing weight when I finished racing 15 years ago.

So much so that my mate in Dublin asked me to consider taking out a licence for veteran races (over 35yo : you're a vet).
I told my mate that as good as I am going, the thought of trying to move to racing level doesn't appeal.
I pedal away for 17-19mph no problem all day : I would be in serious diffiiculty trying to race at 20-22mph for more than 2 hours.
It's only a difference of a couple of miles per hour but I can't bridge it : it's not there.
I am tempted though : part of me wants to see can I do it : I'm not talking about winning, just holding my own.

Have you been watching LeTour ?
McEwan is playing a stormer : what a win today !
LA has it won : the others have to come along and take it away from him.

Any races this weekend ? Is this the Etape weekend ?
Keep pedalling !
I must say Lim that your mileage this year is very impressive, and you had that horrendous crash. We must stick with 'The Method' strategy, I'm finding it bloody difficult over here to convince people. It's all the fault of those bloody testers (again). A good example to work is the thrutching method of Ullrich and compare it with the high revving of Armstrong. When they both get dropped off Ullrich stays off the pace while Armstrong just revs up and bridges the gap without much of a problem.
Keep chipping away.
 
bikeriderfrance said:
looks like that phill hudson is a great rider, attacking the club run captain and jumping up the road on a hill... what i do not understand is,, what F>>>>>>>>>>>>g hell is his dad doing in the club house... and why did he forget such an important redezvous,, stinks to me.... ps its hot in the pyrenees, 37c in the shade today... over the weekend HOTTER.. bon courage.
How are you doing? Any racing last week. Did you go and B&B to watch the TDF in the Pyranees. Watched the Montpellier stage, It's all changed with the new roads. Nice seeing Agde and region again. Best time on L'Etape du Tour was 5hrs 22mins. Seems a bit short to me.
It seems to me that Brit riders think that they can go and get a place on a French trade team, they haven't a bloody clue what's going on with high inflation and companies cutting back.
Anyway one good young lad has been offered a place on the TMOB development squad, and I'm going to recommend that he takes it. What do you think?
 
FredC said:
I must say Lim that your mileage this year is very impressive, and you had that horrendous crash. We must stick with 'The Method' strategy, I'm finding it bloody difficult over here to convince people. It's all the fault of those bloody testers (again). A good example to work is the thrutching method of Ullrich and compare it with the high revving of Armstrong. When they both get dropped off Ullrich stays off the pace while Armstrong just revs up and bridges the gap without much of a problem.
Keep chipping away.

Thanks Fred : yeah the miles are "easier" with good mileage in the legs.

I think you've hit on the problem as to why the heavy gear stuff is so popular : ITT.
These days it appears the ITT is more prevalent than road racing.
I knew that this was the case in GB but the trend has set in over here as well.
When people refer to roadracing - more and more it means ITT'ing.
Whereas to people like me roadracing is doing a two day/three day/four day/week stage race totaling 75-100miles per day.

I don't think the youngsters these days are prepared to do the work on the road.
I told them about the 206 mile round trip the other weekend (and even 206 isn't a massive distance) and they couldn't believe it.
When I was a youngster, some of the seniors were doing 200miles in one day at the weekends.
(I can clearly remember PatMcQuaid and/or Crinnion doing Dublin:Cork:Dublin over two days, when they were training us).

And you're right : LA cadence and gearing should be the format for youngsters and not the Indurain/Ullrich "heavy gear" stuff.
 
FredC said:
How are you doing? Any racing last week. Did you go and B&B to watch the TDF in the Pyranees. Watched the Montpellier stage, It's all changed with the new roads. Nice seeing Agde and region again. Best time on L'Etape du Tour was 5hrs 22mins. Seems a bit short to me.
It seems to me that Brit riders think that they can go and get a place on a French trade team, they haven't a bloody clue what's going on with high inflation and companies cutting back.
Anyway one good young lad has been offered a place on the TMOB development squad, and I'm going to recommend that he takes it. What do you think?
well err no, after the french champs the events dry up unless you travel over 500kms round trips... the police stop 90% of road events in the langudoc/roussilion area in july and august.. too much traffic and holiday makers, estimated 10 million french invade region over 8 weeks...next event is the GP de Bessan near agde,, do you know it, i was 3rd last year,, good curcuit, but its outside my usual backyard. will have to suck it and see.

i have cut down a bit on my mile eating regime,, put lots in up to the fr ch but felt a bit jaded this week... so its one big day (weds) and the rest steady riding with mrs BRF,,, next biggy is the worlds on the 26th of august, lets hope the gold plated carbon wheels do the biz.. bon courage.
 
with this big gear issue, the testers I coach have all PB'd because I have forced them to drop a sproket. I managed to persaud them to use club 10 as a training race (that took some convincing) and they did and used the smaller gears to practice racing at 110 rpm rather than 70-80rpm like they do, like I say they all improved and some now are using 14 sprokets rather than 11 or 12 which is a result, but however sometimes you get a genetic powerhouse than can push big gears and would be better off using his natuaral ability to do so. I too am a big believer for miles and I am a track sprinter! :D
 
Over the Hill said:
with this big gear issue, the testers I coach have all PB'd because I have forced them to drop a sproket. I managed to persaud them to use club 10 as a training race (that took some convincing) and they did and used the smaller gears to practice racing at 110 rpm rather than 70-80rpm like they do, like I say they all improved and some now are using 14 sprokets rather than 11 or 12 which is a result, but however sometimes you get a genetic powerhouse than can push big gears and would be better off using his natuaral ability to do so. I too am a big believer for miles and I am a track sprinter! :D
As you remember a few years ago LA knocked minutes of his ascent time of Alpe d'Huez, then the cry went up 'drug cheat'. IMO during that winter and spring he changed his method into one of pedalling, and has beat the pants of everyone else since. Ullrich has stayed the same, he can't be flexible. I rode for years with a rider (international) who sprawled all over his bike like Ullrich, a big lad who incidentally beat BRF in the Onchan Cup on the IOM.
We'll always get these powerhouse riders that can use that ability, but surely that shouldn't apply to their total attitude of riding a bike for training.
Ullrich in the TT rode 56x11 and blew up near the end because he was filled with lactic acid. He has never tried to change.
If you can get riders to get used to riding 110 rpm well and good, so that they realise that their pb's are better then they will stick with it.
Lim in Ireland has had a few barneys with accredited club coaches, who now think he's a trouble causer, but that won't bother him because he's got history. BRF in France keeps us informed as to the position in France, and he's got plenty of history.
I've had a few run-ins with Cookson and learn't nowt from the oracle regarding the state of BC qualified coaches, apart from that ' they are the finest in the world'.
Rafiki and Guy are in favour also. So get stuck in to killing the dinasours.
 
To put a bit of perspective on the gearing : I did 103 miles on Saturday and 103 miles the following day : I used a 42 chainring, with a rear sprocket cassette 13-26.
I have a 53 chainring also but I never use it).

I did the first 103 miles in 5hrs 23mins : I used 42x17, 42x16, 42x15 for the majority of the route and went in to 42x13 sparingly.
Just looking at the what I wrote in my training record : and it says rpm (on the computer) averaged 96 rpm for the entire duration.
For the return trip (the following day) same gears were used.
It took me 5hrs 31mins to complete 103 miles : rpm average 97.
Again, I didn't use 42x13 much (except for descents).

The route I took, had mainly long drags instead of climbs.
And I'm only what would be considered a tourer, these days.
5hrs odd for 100 miles isn't bad going all the same either.

There is no need for the bigger gears, I think.
56x?????? is far too heavy a gear.
Merckx used a 44 in his day, I believe.
Don't know how true that is.