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Racing / Re: RATN 2024.
« Last post by Lightning Phil on Today at 05:10:59 pm »I think it’s one and same. When returning from Easter Arrow, sat next to him on train. Lee Killestein also riding.
Recent Posts
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Further and Faster / Re: New bike for Audax from Halfords.
« Last post by Kim on Today at 05:10:38 pm »There is a massive difference between 1-1.5 mile rides and even the shortest Audax ride. Build up slowly, enjoy riding your bike, develop strength and resilience. Don't launch into buying a new bike until you know a bit more about what you want from it.
This.
I'd suggest that, irrespective of how fast you actually go, there's a point at around 2 hours in where it stops being about stamina and more about things like ergonomics, hydration and digestion.
On that basis, I'd suggest that you need to be confident doing >2 hour rides before making informed decisions about bike ergonomics, as most people can ride anything that vaguely fits for an hour or two.
Going faster is another kettle of fish entirely...
(FWIW, I find that riding on tracks like Cyclopark[1] is very different to road riding. Speeds are much higher, even though that bottom corner is a bastard, as you don't have to deal with poor surfaces and motor traffic. The real world has more Scenery[2] too.)
[1] As occasionally visited by the BHPC.
[2] May be a euphemism for 'hills'.
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Further and Faster / Re: New bike for Audax from Halfords.
« Last post by citoyen on Today at 05:07:03 pm »...I shall ride 25 Km in the cyclo park first...
Another 2p. As a training goal you could see if you can eventually build up do 25km in 1hour. Not that I've done an Audax at an average speed of 25km/h before, but over 25km - if have reasonable potential fitness, may be a challenge to try. Training on the same track could be 'boring' though, so after a while perhaps take it to a decent handful of diff routes...
Varying the routes isn't just a nice thing to do to make training less boring - as per previous post, experience of road riding is essential.
There's too much well-meant-but-misguided positivity in this thread, and focusing on daft stuff like inner tubes instead of what actually matters. As an organiser, I wouldn't be happy about accepting an entry from the OP - for their own safety.
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The Knowledge / Re: Bikepacking Bags - what's your favourite/hated and why?
« Last post by vorsprung on Today at 05:06:20 pm »I have a Restrap framebag and a Restrap saddlebag
The framebag is not absolutely audaxing-in-wales-waterproof but it is waterproof enough that I have not actually had any problems with damp stuff in it. Despite riding in the rain in it. It must be more than 4 years old now and it is still in excellent working order
The "saddlebag" isn't a Carradice idea of a saddlebag. It is a holder for a tapered dry bag which is attached to the saddle. The holder is very good, light and quick and secure to fit. It is slightly newer than the framebag but again it is a few years old and still good to go, no signs of wear
Prior to this I had various homemade dry bag based things
I still have a large double ended dry bag that I can strap to the handlebars, that worked as a thing
I did at one point try using an Alpkit Stem cell but it wasn't a success. It got in the way and didn't shut effectively. Alpkit don't make them now so i guess i wasn't the only one not using them
One of my mates has a Apidura saddle bag (same design as described above) and this seems to be reliable etc
The framebag is not absolutely audaxing-in-wales-waterproof but it is waterproof enough that I have not actually had any problems with damp stuff in it. Despite riding in the rain in it. It must be more than 4 years old now and it is still in excellent working order
The "saddlebag" isn't a Carradice idea of a saddlebag. It is a holder for a tapered dry bag which is attached to the saddle. The holder is very good, light and quick and secure to fit. It is slightly newer than the framebag but again it is a few years old and still good to go, no signs of wear
Prior to this I had various homemade dry bag based things
I still have a large double ended dry bag that I can strap to the handlebars, that worked as a thing
I did at one point try using an Alpkit Stem cell but it wasn't a success. It got in the way and didn't shut effectively. Alpkit don't make them now so i guess i wasn't the only one not using them
One of my mates has a Apidura saddle bag (same design as described above) and this seems to be reliable etc
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The Pub / Re: Confessions of a tool junkie
« Last post by Mrs Pingu on Today at 04:53:44 pm »I'm on the Niwaki website...
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Health & Fitness / Re: Prescription glasses
« Last post by Kim on Today at 04:52:36 pm »I need glasses anyway and the tinted lenses anyway so they only pay a proportion towards the lenses. My boss isn't daft, so she wouldn't fall for a blag either.
Possibly if you had a computer-use-specific prescription, which in your case you have not got.
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Racing / Re: RATN 2024.
« Last post by Frank9755 on Today at 04:49:42 pm »Good luck Jonah!
I've just eyeballed the rider list and the only guy I think I know in real life is Jan-Willem Bobbink, who I met in Australia on IndyPac. He injured himself and couldn't walk but could ride reasonably ok. I recall he told me that he had to crawl across the floor, dragging his bike, in a deserted hotel with a 24-hour automatic checkin!
Is the Tom Jackson who is riding the org from the Oasts and Coasts?
I've just eyeballed the rider list and the only guy I think I know in real life is Jan-Willem Bobbink, who I met in Australia on IndyPac. He injured himself and couldn't walk but could ride reasonably ok. I recall he told me that he had to crawl across the floor, dragging his bike, in a deserted hotel with a 24-hour automatic checkin!
Is the Tom Jackson who is riding the org from the Oasts and Coasts?
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The Knowledge / Re: Bikepacking Bags - what's your favourite/hated and why?
« Last post by Kim on Today at 04:48:17 pm »Thanks for the warning about the straps! I like the Tailfin rack but I don't like their bag as I would rather trade waterproofness for ease of access. I will try to see if I can fit a different bag on to it, one with a zip. I'm not a fan of Ortleib as they seem to be obsessed with roll-tops.
Agreed about zips being superior for ease of access. My usual going-for-a-bike-ride rack bag is an old Carradice model with zipped compartments, which I prefer to the flap-closure type. Obviously it's a trade-off for longevity. Never had a frame bag or bar bag (I've always filled my DF bike frames with water bottles, and had limited room on the bars), but they seem like the best option for ease of access[1].
Roll-tops are reliable, but they're a faff. In fairness to Ortlieb, it's their roll-top touring panniers (which, like you say, you mostly access at the end of the day) that they're famous for, and most of their luggage seems to be a variation on that theme. Great for kitchen-sink touring.
[1] Honourable mention to the back pockets of Brompton bags, which aren't very bikepacky, but are certainly clever non-traditional bike luggage.
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Racing / Re: RATN 2024.
« Last post by quixoticgeek on Today at 04:39:45 pm »Any predictions for the winners? In the women's category I guess that Nicole van Batenburg is the favorite, but to be honest none of the other names are familiar to me.
Having had a good chat with her today, and seen her bike. I agree.
I think Wendy is another to look out for.
J
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The Pub / Re: Grammar that makes you cringe
« Last post by Kim on Today at 04:33:56 pm »'So' at the start of the sentence is certainly a filler, like 'Um...' or 'Right.' It can be a useful preamble, but overuse makes the speaker look uncertain or thoughtful.
I think the valley girl 'like' is used more as a kind of, like, emphasis.
Obviously the wrongness of such grammatical constructions is proportional to how a) young and b) USAnian the speaker is perceived to be.
I think the valley girl 'like' is used more as a kind of, like, emphasis.
Obviously the wrongness of such grammatical constructions is proportional to how a) young and b) USAnian the speaker is perceived to be.