You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Fork steerer bung arrived and fitted, all good.
Bike needs a clean as it's been outside a bit, along with having just finished a swift race before taking this
[img] 
[/img]
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/49024993167/ ]2019-11-06_05-21-08[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url] - [url= https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariogf.flickr2BBcode ]Flickr2BBcode[/url]
H8216, undefined@4.4 mm, f2.0, 1/16s, ISO640
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49028426592_6837121809_5k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49028426592_6837121809_5k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2hGtv6S ]2019-11-07_10-57-54[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49027702623_fa67343512_5k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49027702623_fa67343512_5k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2hGpMTD ]2019-11-07_10-57-59[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Back on the 5-2 again after 10 days off with my birthday celebrations and time with Mrs Weeksy etc.
Scales are looking good, 14st 12, which is a year low for me, so the plan for Belgium is going well and we're on target to be down in the low 14s if i can keep going.
Well that was interesting today. Freezing ride at only 2 Deg with my Belgium riding mate, he was on his new/used giant cheap eBay jobbie, I was on the Parkwood.
I have to admit, there were times on flat/slight downs he just rode away from me, be that gearing, aero, tyres, geometry, I don't really know at all. But the difference wasn't what I expected.
On the times I sat in his wheel, it was obviously a lot easier, but on them particular instances, I'm not convinced I could have managed it.
But seeing his braking and cornering etc made me think how great the Parkwood was. It does them bits just like an MTB. Which with 700mm flat bars etc that's what you'd expect.
Comfort wise and psychologically from a happy place, the Parkwood is the king, no debate no doubt. But is it the best tool for 130km. Hmmm that's very much a debate.
But is it the best tool for 130km. Hmmm that’s very much a debate.
It really, really isnt!!
It really, really isnt!!
Well no, granted. But let's rephrase that then.
Is this the best tool for someone who doesn't want to train on a drop bar bike?
Would I be better just buying/renting from lbs a whatever road bike specifically for that even but not training on it? I don't greatly want to do outdoor rides on a drop bar bike, so even if I were to buy one, it wouldn't get used apart from a shakedown/fitting ride and then on the Sportive. I guess you could ask, why the heck have you chosen the Belgium Sportive then? Which is a fair question of course and the answer is, because it's an iconic ride to me.
I'm a little bit torn I have to admit.
ALmost went crazy last night and nearly bought a couple of road bikes.
One was a Felt Z85, 105 groupset, nice enough... I think if I'd been a little more enthusiastic with my bidding i'd have got it without a problem, but in all honesty i don't really think my heart was in it. I'm still in the thinking that it's arguably 'right' but still very very wrong as far as ideas go.
I think you’re massively overthinking this. I’ve ridden the tourist RVV about 5 times and P-R the same - generally the middle distance so about 160-170km.
Other people riding these events ride many different bikes including massive packs of Belgians riding 29er hardtails. They seem to get on ok and enjoy themselves.
Just get on with it 😉
I think you’re massively overthinking this.
That is what i do.... but i'm sitting waiting for a new VMware ESXi server to build, so nothing else to do other than think "Hmmmm what about if i just buy that PlanetX XLA Apex1"
That is what i do…. but i’m sitting waiting for a new VMware ESXi server to build
Ok, fair point. Enjoy the event anyway!
One was a Felt Z85, 105 groupset, nice enough… I think
Sounds good but I would heartily recommend going to a decent shop and trying road bikes before you buy, no doubt you'd get less for your money but you'd get one fitted for you which is important, or just crack on with the current plan!
By the way if you wanted to try my Diverge sometime you'd be more than welcome but I'm not sure it would fit you.
You know the way some people feel about going into a BMW dealership or similar, that's how i feel about Roadie shops... They just feel 'wrong' to me in many ways. I do get your point though, but i guess the issue with that is that i'm then going to end up spending a grand instead of £300. When the odds are VERY high that after this ride, it will end up on Ebay anyway. That's the plus side of the parkwood, it's cost me £50 in tyres and £65 for forks. But of which i'll sell for say £50 anyway after the event, so the actual outlay is minimal.
If i spend a grand on a bike, i'm looking at dropping £400 in a couple of months which does seem a bit ridiculous.
In a fit context, that's a tough one for me as i don't really know the difference between right, wrong, nearly right and really wrong. That Merida 500 felt perfect to me in the sizing context and was a 56.... but as i've learned, like with MTBs a 56 isn't just a 56, there's a bazillion variations within there that makes it different. So yes, the next bike i bought could be totally different even if the same actual size.
I have to admit, there were times on flat/slight downs he just rode away from me, be that gearing, aero, tyres, geometry, I don’t really know at all. But the difference wasn’t what I expected.
Just ask him to slow down a little bit. Sorted.
edit: oh and get some road tyres.
edit: oh and get some road tyres.
I did think about that, i rekon i'd get 28 or 32 Gatorskins on my rims if i have a go, but not sure they'd actually make that much of a difference. I missed a pair yesterday for buttons that would have been ideal for a test as they were only £15 for the pair (used obviously).
Gatorskins are horrible, why do people still use them?
Dunno... I'm not really a road kind of guy to know better.
Recommendations for something in a 28-32 range that i should look for then ?
I'd run 32mm GP5000 tubeless but your budget probably won't stretch to that (fair enough, posh tyres are stupid money)
Bontrager AW3s are an excellent allrounder, far nicer than gatorkins (and buy them from a bike shop and you get a 30 day guarantee - if you don't like them for any reason in that time then bring them back for a refund)
Budget as with all blokes/cyclists can be man-mathed to fudge it so anything is viable, hell, if i'm prepared to spend £700 on a Planext X bike, then you can bet your life a pair of tyres aren't going to cost that much 🙂
Havent used Gatorskins for about 15 years but then they were horrible slippy shite. I like Schwalbe Durano's.
You know the way some people feel about going into a BMW dealership or similar, that’s how i feel about Roadie shops…
True, but Banjo/Specilaized in Newbury are good and sell all sorts of bikes.
Yeah Banjo are my preferred store, although i'll use Rotec Cycles if i can out of respect. But obviously for road stuff it's Banjo/Spec store.
I pinged one of the lads who should have a set of 28s lying about i can throw on for some testing.
I was looking back at my testing back to back with the Parkwood and with a road bike on 25s. There wasn't THAT much difference in actual average speed. Only 0.6km/h overall, but what was noticable was that for that 0.6kmh faster, it was also 6bpm average lower too. So we could easily see 8/10bpm lower for the ride if doing the same pace... Which lets be honest, is a fairly significant difference.
Some financial uncertainty in the Monk household means I might be in the same boat Weeksy, either modifying my Trek Superfly or my Charge Plug for the Paris-Roubaix rather than getting a new bike.
I already know the Trek can feel pretty quick on the road, but have never been able to replicate the position of drop handlebars, and have spent so long on drops now that flat bars just feel uncomfortable for any lengthy ride (pins and needles etc.). Obvious solution is just to get some miles in before the big day to get used to the bars. £500 gets lighter wheels and 3T rigid forks.
Other option is to take my beloved Charge Plug singlespeed and either A) Leave it singlespeed (since the P-R course is so flat) or B) Stick a 7-speed block on the rear.
Adding gears appeals to me as I'd love to see just how versatile I can make the bike (it has the makings of an awesome gravel bike, lots of tyre clearance). I also really want to build it up with some HED Belgium + rims, they're pretty spendy but good and wide and look awesome. I'd probably also stick a suspension seatpost and maybe even suspension stem on as my back is a bit delicate these days! £500 gets wheels and gears, so would need to budget more (or use cheaper rims) to get suspension seatpost and stem...
Hmm, decisions decisions!
£500 gets lighter wheels and 3T rigid forks.
The Chinese forks i bought seem really nicely made. Sadly they sent the wrong axle for them, but they're sending the 100mm one apparently, wasn't an issue though as my RS axle fits fine. They were only £67 and no import duty... Which is just crazy cheap.
As you've gathered, i'm in the opposite boat on drops/bars.
Interestingly, my mate called me earlier. We were out on Sat, his first time outdoors on drops in 20 years. (He does use a drop bike on the turbo though) and Sunday apparently he could barely move one of his arms, completely seized up on him. Better today, but far from 100% apparently.
That's one of the things about Drops that concerns me... sure, you may get used to it...But... onlyl 'may' ?
I reckon your Trek would be ace with a set of rigids on !
You will get used to it if you actually rode it yes 🤣
Which you won’t- so don’t bother getting one 🤷🏻♂️🤣
Without a power meter, any comparison testing is highly subjective to the point of being useless really.
It’s a flat course- as you saw from Bike Calculator, weight of equipment is practically irrelevant.
Even the tyres are borderline red herring territory.
The biggest thing you can do is use the training hours you’re already doing to best effect to raise your ftp and your endurance at a high percentage of it.
The second biggest is to refine your outdoor position on whatever bike you choose. This will take time and fettling but you’ll likely be able to make some good improvements if you want to. Narrower bars and longer stem would help for example.
And the third biggest is to get some tight kit.
In the same way as dropping body weight and raising power is a gradual process of weeks and months- think of applying the same process to aero. Start off doing short intervals on the turbo with lots of recovery, then gradually up the duration and intensity until you can do large portions of a Zwift race in a tucked position.
Even if you don’t want to use tri bars out on the road, they are awesome for turbo training in a much more beneficial body position.
And the third biggest is to get some tight kit.
Can't do it... I'm just not that kind of boy. Whilst i may be happy with a jersey/jacket that's along the tightish sort of fit, i'm not a full-on lycra boy and especially not in Belgium in March that's for sure.
Stem is already longer, bars are 720ish. The problem comes when you start messing with things like that you're getting into it being a completely different bike to the one you actually set up to ride, the things you like about it end up being the things you;ve changed.
Hence why it’s a process. Little and often tweaks until you get somewhere handy.
Well i've got a pair of Vittoria somethings in a 28 arriving from a local mate. So i'm going to give them a try in my unscientific way and see what results we get. I don't know how much difference they'll make over the CX rubber, but interesting to try and see anyhow.
You’ve still got some 28mm GP4000’s too haven’t you 🤔🤣🤣
Nah, they went with the bike when i sold it on. Unless i chucked them in the loft... Assuming that's what we're talking about ? lol.
eek. They're 25s.
Rubino.
Fitted and it goes on/up etc but I'm thinking bid prefer grip, comfort and tread, along with tubeless of the WTB Cross boss
I thought you had my 28’s with the shiny side wall strips still?
There's a question, I dunno mate. I've got bike parts and tyres and stuff all over the loft, but honestly can't recall seeing them recently.
No worries if not- they don’t fit my race bike anyhow. Would be a good choice if you went 28mm road tyre that’s all..
Well, they answered my questions.
Comfort/speed, that's the question really and within 1/2 a mile I knew what the answer for me will be. I'll sacrifice speed for the increased comfort of the 35c cross boss rubber. I don't know how you guys can ride on skinny rubber, it turns it into a rattly, bumpy, feel every grain of dirt on the road torture rack.
So we're settled, the bike is ready, as long as I don't care about mismatched colours of grips, pedals and decals lol.
I'll simply have to accept in parts I either need to work harder, hide better or even just tell my mate to slow down.
Interesting experiment today, thought I'd see the difference in speed average when taking it easy. Usual route, usual hills etc.
I didn't have the HR monitor fitted so was purely using effort and breathing to gauge, if it felt like I was getting out of breath, that was too hard.
Anyway, the average speed was 21.4kph, compared to 25.2kph which I seemed to put in a lot more effort for when doing bike tests. Sure it's 4kph difference which over a days ride is an hours difference I guess, but that could be the difference between having legs and getting a train
25mm tyres are very narrow imo, 28mm are my minimum for pure road, this was confirmed this summer by using 25's on a second hand bike I bought, bloody terrifying a small difference with these sizes really does show jp in a big way. If I was doing a cobbled ride I'd use 30-34mm tyres but slicks. For example I did the White Roads Sportive on 28mm slicks one year using a roadbike and this year I used 30mm slicks on my Diverge this year.
What I'm trying to say is going from 38mm or whatever to 25mm you were always going to find them too flighty.
I just bought some 30-32mm Roubaix something like that may work better.
the CX tyres are 35s.... I may consider something 'faster' in 35s but i'm not sure it would be night and day quicker than what i have on there now in the WTB Cross Boss. It may give me 0.5kph average more, or 3-4bpm if we consider it that way, but i can't see it being the difference between cruising along and flogging my guts out.
but i can’t see it being the difference between cruising along and flogging my guts out.
Having done group road rides on the same bile with 38mmm G one all rounds and 30mm slicks I can tell you the difference is huge.
Hmmm hmmm hmmm.
Did a Zwift ride with my riding mate today, 90 mins, fairly climby.
Both on same turbos, but obviously without wind resistance and without tyre rolling stuff as both on Tacx turbo tyres.
He's older than me, so his HR tops out mid 160s. Mine is mid 180s at highest.
He averaged 125bpm for the ride, I averaged 108. Was hilly so we get a low number because of rolling downhill. But I was specifically watching his HR on the way up, him at 135 while I'm at 112 for example.
The reason I'm pointing this out is because when we did our road ride, I felt it was harder than today In a relative context of me to him. But I didn't have my HR monitor fitted.
Out on the roads I did lead a chunk of it, but is he really saving that much just by sitting on 1 persons wheel? I'm big but I'm not a double decker bus!
This really leads to 'get a road bike for it' doesn't it. Lol
I did lead a chunk of it, but is he really saving that much just by sitting on 1 persons wheel?
Yep.
Ok, interesting there too then. Bit of experimenting needed
Off the top of my head, I think the ballpark figure at ~15mph+ is rider drafting can do ~150W less for the same speed.
but is he really saving that much just by sitting on 1 persons wheel?
Yup, absolutely loads.
Off the top of my head, I think the ballpark figure at ~15mph+ is rider drafting can do ~150W less for the same speed
get the flock out of here ! Seriously ! That's a massive massive figure...
I'll be sending him out in front more often next time for it then.
Thanks all.
Not a chance!! It’s about 30% difference in a peloton. A single rider will give significantly less protection than that.
If you can get really really small, tucked into the most aero position known to man then you might save 30 watts while your man in the wind may be doing about 200. But always weather, road, bike setup differences to be factored in.
I do regular group rides with a power meter as do my riding buddies and no way on earth does the power drop by 150 watts by moving off the front.
This really leads to ‘get a road bike for it’ doesn’t it. Lol
I just think if you want to do road rides a road bike will make it more fun but you have to open your mind to it being different and not just for for a cheap planet x bargain but a bike that fits.
There's no reason the P/X bike can't fit just as well is there ? But realistically it's not going to be embraced, it will be bought, used, sold... within a fortnight. There's no world for me currently where road bikes are a thing and will be used often. It's not road riding i don't like, i have no issues with that at all, i enjoy riding on the road. It's the riding position, the stiff harsh ride, the narrow tyres etc, they all add up to a big pile of meh for me. Once you add in the fact that after a road bike ride my shoulder/neck are in bits.... Then, no, it won't open my mind i'm afraid.
Right, i'm off out to the Liverpool Palace game 🙂 thanks all.
No idea if this has been updated since, but here's an FFT vid on drafting from 2018, my ~150W saving was optimistic unless the lead rider is putting out something north of ~400W!
But even when the lead rider if two on road bikes puts out ~250W, the lead rider saves ~3W and the rider behind saves ~50W... On less aerodynamic bikes like rigid mountain bikes, I'd expect there to be more benefits for the drafting rider.
There’s no reason the P/X bike can’t fit just as well is there ? But realistically it’s not going to be embraced, it will be bought, used, sold… within a fortnight.
No reason why it cant no, but you need experience to get them set up and chosen right.
It’s the riding position, the stiff harsh ride, the narrow tyres etc, they all add up to a big pile of meh for me.
These are the things that make it fun, mtb's with slicks are shite on the road.
Once you add in the fact that after a road bike ride my shoulder/neck are in bits
See my first point and your point about harsh ride and narrow tyres etc, you sound like you are a little tense to say the least its likely to be that making you sore, once you learn to appreciate the differences and relax I'm sure itvwould get better.
you sound like you are a little tense to say the least
I think that's a reasonable assumption yes.
As a recentish (in the last 18 months) roadie, I can appreciate how awkward it can feel to begin with on a road bike. It took me several months of road riding for the neck/shoulder pain to go away. And that was with a lot of spacers under my stem!
18 months on my flexibility has massively improved (as has my fitness!) and my stem is about 4cm lower with no neck/shoulder pain. Worth persevering with in my opinion. I used to commute on an MTB with slicks, and there is no comparison to the speed, acceleration and agility of a proper road bike.
You should listen to me, I know the right bike to ride cobbles on!!
Well that was most interesting again today. Another cold one on the roads but at least it was dry mostly. Road surfaces far from dry but the sky was dry anyway.
Today we were both using Garmin's and HR data for some comparisons.
Here's a few things we picked up on today.
My recovery is both a greater chunk than his, along with being quicker.
Our climbing HR are not as different as you'd think at times
His HR sitting in my slipstream is almost identical to mine out front.
Sometimes your HR us a lot different to how it feels.
Overall conclusion though was that I don't need a new bike which is good. I still really like the Parkwood and how it rides and it chugs all Ng plenty well. His road bike out descends mine, even if he's on the hoods and I'm tucked as aero as possible, but that's a short chunk of any ride, so no biggy.
His cadence and gearing mean he's turning a much bigger gear than me, just a lot lower cadence, but I'm ok with that.
As long as we don't get carried away on the day, we'll be sweet!
https://www.sportive.com/events/gent-wevelgem-cyclo-sportive/2020-03-28/5171/cycling
Entry open and completed 🙂
Did an 80km solo ride yesterday, 1110m of elevation. I struggled a bit due to first 2 hours being into a horrible headwind and dead legs from 5 days of 300+w Zwift racing. Along with a minor mishap of taking a wrong turn and going further than I thought so didn't have any food/water lol.
Overall it was fine, but got hard work at times.
Seat comfort over 4 hours was great but hands were a bit dead at times.
Still the questions of buying a road bike in my head at times, even though it would be sold the weekend after
Entry open and completed 🙂
You doing this as well as or instead of the Tour of Flanders/RVV?
Not doing the Flanders,picked the gent wevelgem instead
Get ergon gp2 grips, I use them for twentyfour12 and the like.
Extra hand positions and softer and squishier than my normal half Nelson's so much comfier on a long ride.
Very good point indeedy.
Somehow I forgot that
Just been catching up
Weeksy, did you get some bigger slick tyres ?
I've some spesh roubaix tubeless - 32mm carcass (supposedly with a 30mm tread - whatever that means) that you can try. Won't be roadying 'til spring so they're unused
Weeksy, did you get some bigger slick tyres ?
Nah, I'm running a pair of wtb cross boss 700*35
I like the comfort and feel they give for sure, but I have noticed on rides with my mate that I'm slower in comparison to him than we are on Zwift. But it's all relative, I'm never going to be a 20mph average kind of guy that's for sure.
Thanks for the offer but I don't want to be stealing your rubber, I'll happily buy a pair if that's the way I go.
Those WTB will feel awful over there. You’ll be dragged backward on every normal piece of road and sucked into the Pave. Given the distance - and with the greatest respect - your atypical ride profile being of short duration I’d be getting some wider micro pattern road tyres Which roll a bit faster if I were you.
It’s not as bad as people make out, I did it on a standard road bike with 25mm Vittoria Open Pave at 80psi and didn’t wrap my bars twice. Just sit up on the pave for real wheel traction, keep a steady cadence and keep your hands loose on the tops - I felt that MTB experience helped, it’s the pure roadies that do most of the moaning. 😉
I have 32mm G Ones on my gravel bike I’d be tempted with those at worst.
I'm more than happy for people to recommend tyre choices, it's a minefield for sure.
I did the GWV 100k Route a few weeks ago (the tourist office have fully signed the route). Very comfortable on my 32mm gravel kings. There’s actually very little pave, certainly nothing like RVV
I’m more than happy for people to recommend tyre choices, it’s a minefield for sure.
Try the Panaracer Gravel King tyres, the file tread ones rather then the SK's. They do then in 32mm, 35mm and 38mm. I've been using them as my road bike tyres for the past few months and they've been great. Don't feel any slower than 'proper' road tyres either.
I've ridden Flanders pave on 25mm GP4000s tyres. Any large volume slick tyre will be fine and more comfortable. Could get something with a puncture strip like the Schwalbe Durano?
Could get something with a puncture strip like the Schwalbe Durano?
Part of the reason I went for the Cross Boss was because they're tubeless, even if I am to go more slick, I'd ideally go tubeless still if viable. I'd just rather not get a flat when on this ride and I think tubeless is better than even the best puncture proof tyre.
As always i've been sitting here pondering...
Random thoughts of "Well, maybe just buy a road bike for the event, get back and flog it..." But there's a chunk of faffing about doing that of course, boxing, shipping, profit/loss, damage etc...
So thought to myself, "How about hiring one..."
https://www.mountain-trax.com/pages/hire/
These guys can do me a Cervelo S3 in my size for the 5 days for £20 per day... So essentially £100. Which doesn't sound unreasonable at all.
Still having the "Do i actually NEED anything".... discussions... I'm 100% certain i don't WANT anything, not in a long term context anyway.
missed a post out.. (I'm having this discussion on a motorbike forum too, forgot to add this)
50km road ride with the locals today, very different outcome than 3-4 weeks ago though. We started with the same 3-4 miles route but this time I didn't get dropped on the hills, but stayed at the pointy end of the group. This theme continued throughout the ride too, happy at or near the front and had plenty of turns pushing on at the front and dropping some of them. I asked after the ride if it was down to them riding winter bikes and tyres instead of summer bikes, but the lads just felt I must have been off form last time, which is possible as I'd done plenty of riding both indoor and outdoor before that one.
Whatever the reason, I came back happy today.
I was in Decathlon this morning picking up a couple of side-mount bottle cages.... wandering round i saw these Decathlon specials... 'city tyres' with puncture protection.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49444107187_81d9cde0c4_5k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49444107187_81d9cde0c4_5k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ikcYsF ]2020-01-26_01-30-26[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
They were £9.99 each, so thought, why not, i'll try them and see hey...
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49443701321_8e1df8363b_5k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49443701321_8e1df8363b_5k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ikaTNZ ]2020-01-26_12-43-57[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
On they went, easily enough.... I doubt they're even remotely tubeless, so didn't bother and picked up a couple of tubes for them.
On the road they're smooth, easy and quite... Due to being quite big in size too, they didn't feel terribly alien too.
I went out for an hours loop, but it started raining so i bailed and came back... but enough of a ride to test them out.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49443925057_a6c04b355c_5k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49443925057_a6c04b355c_5k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ikc3jv ]2020-01-26_12-43-50[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49443925737_be6b42ef91_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49443925737_be6b42ef91_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ikc3we ]2020-01-26_12-44-12[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Considering it's a section i've ridden 50+ times and on all variations of bike, i was really happy ! They're fast that's for sure.
Average for the short ride of just on 27km/h and for that particular segment it was 32.1km/h which ain't bad at all.
I can see these staying on !
Are they re-badged Voyager Hypers? Tread pattern looks similar!
Absolutely no idea mate, they were just cheap and looked decent for an experiment.
Done a few more rides now including a wet and windy 60km at the weekend and despite the PArkwood being comfortable, efficient and very effective, I still find myself thinking "Should i get something for the trip" but really need it to be a bargain, so i can sell it on. Unless of course i leave it in the garage as the turbo/zwift bike, but that then means the Parkwood goes in the loft and only ever sees the light of day if the others are broken.
Weekends ride i was more than happy with, an average HR of 117bpm compared to my riding mates of 137bpm shows that at our pace i should be more than comfortable even on the arguably slower bike. But part of me feels like i'm almost doing the event an injustice and lacking respect for it by riding something 'inappropriate' like a 29er HT.
I've still not really started the tapering, although i've threatened it lots lately... but i'm enjoying the riding at the moment a lot, so finding it hard to stay off the bike. I've got a couple of massages booked in the next few weeks, with the last one being a deep tissue massage 7 days before we head to Belgium, so before that, i'll be doing my last ride..
Overthinking things..... always 🙂
Any update from event organisers due to COVID-19?
Looking on Sportive.com and on the Ettix website who are the organisers, nothing yet.
There's a post regarding what you should or shouldn't do in the context of feed stations, which is a good idea.
Basically, me and my mate are sitting here in a bit of a quandry on this. Do we, don't we. We've trained, planned and worked hard to get to the right position to do justice to the ride. But that really doesn't matter, it's just training and fun really, so if the plug is pulled, then so be it. It would be a shame of course, but won't see us more than £200 or so each out of pocket.
I'd like to think we're still going... but with 17 days left, under the circumstances, i think we'll be riding at home in a pseudo ride of the same distance.
Similar boat except I've not trained and am riding with mates who have. Done some of it before, ahem, unofficially, and it's a close physical contact sportive in places...
Fingers crossed it all goes ahead safely, it looks like a lot of abroad plans at least could be buggered up this year.
Well the Paris Nice sportive has now been cancelled, i'm seeing it's only a matter of time before the rest are canned completely. Game set and match.
Bookings are now to be cancelled sadly 🙁
Flanders Sportive postponed until later in the year (date TBC).
Plenty more time to worry about bike choice then!
That's not the one Weeksy is riding. However it is the one I was supposed to be riding.
Ours is cancelled anyway, whether the event goes ahead or not. Mate isn't allowed due to work people etc. So we're out.
Accomodation cancelled.
Just need to work out what to do with £128 worth of credit for the Tunnel as we've already booked our August trip. It's transferable to another name 🙂 hint*