2015 MFP Grand Tour Challenge - SIgnup and Discussion Thread...
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Reduced mileage starting tomorrow! I swear!steffenson wrote: »Sorry team Lotta Jumbos but I will need to cut back my miles for a little while; I wore the skin off one of my sits bones so now my bike seat lotta hurts!
It was a lovely sunny day so I went for a ride anyway (and likely made things worse).
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Stevenson, we are a team. No worries. We all do what we can and none of this is worth saddle sores. Soak and relax...0
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steffenson wrote: »
Reduced mileage starting tomorrow! I swear!steffenson wrote: »Sorry team Lotta Jumbos but I will need to cut back my miles for a little while; I wore the skin off one of my sits bones so now my bike seat lotta hurts!
It was a lovely sunny day so I went for a ride anyway (and likely made things worse).
Good news is that it's an official rest day today so soak and apply some cream.0 -
steffenson wrote: »
Reduced mileage starting tomorrow! I swear!steffenson wrote: »Sorry team Lotta Jumbos but I will need to cut back my miles for a little while; I wore the skin off one of my sits bones so now my bike seat lotta hurts!
It was a lovely sunny day so I went for a ride anyway (and likely made things worse).
General rule I use is if your bum starts looking like a baboons then stop!
It's good to see at this stage that every team is above the pros distance line, that is after all the main target, above all that it depends on how much of a competitive nut you are
.
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Weekend was a wash: poor weather Saturday and Sunday was my b-day and I just couldn't muster the motivation to do much of anything. Weather is turned around now so rides will be back this week.0
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Jakess1971 wrote: »
It's good to see at this stage that every team is above the pros distance line, that is after all the main target, above all that it depends on how much of a competitive nut you are.
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write up of the road.cc Guy's attempt on riding Stage 10 of this year's Giro...
http://road.cc/content/feature/148494-roadcc-italy-week-riding-route-giro-d’italia-stage-10
I love the sound of the "Turbo Doughnuts" and I can relate to The town of Forli playing hard to get. Number of times up in the Yorkshire Dales i've seen a sign saying "..... 6 miles", followed the road for 2 miles only to see a sign saying "..... 5.5 miles". The whole "chasing a town down" bit really said it allWe upped our speed a bit in order to outfox Forli – there was no way we were going to be outrun by a town – and we gradually started to catch up with it.0 -
Mark, that was funny! I had to laugh about the getting up and 5 AM and deciding you were really stupid the night before but can't back out now. And Nutella filled doughnuts? OK, I'm not sold on that one. 0
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Rant Alert
I've just woke to a complete media-sh!tstorm about the Giro stage yesterday.
For those of you who don't realise, Yesterday Richie Porte had a front wheel puncture towards the end of the stage. He was aided by a friend and fellow Ausie, Simon Clarke - who swapped wheels with him and gave him a push start off to try and catch the bunch. His Sky teammates dropped back and helped pace him back towards the peloton. While watching I thought "thats strange, there's no team cars to get onto the wheel of".
Anyhow, yesterday evening this popped up on the Giro d'Italia's facebook page...
celebrating the act of sportsmanship...
Then, a little later...
Yep - both riders were fined 200 swiss francs and (most critically) given a 2 minute time-penalty.
Further research revealed the reason for the absence of the team-cars to aid getting back on the bunch... they were held back in a "barrage" by the race commisaires.
Okay, I'm aware of the rules - and while riders are allowed to swap "small items" - like share tools, water, food etc. Mechanical assistance or swapping bikes outside of their team is specifically precluded - with penalties up to suspension from the entire race. Yep - I get that.
What I DON'T get is how they can be so two faced as to celebrate in public the act of sportsmanship, whilst then completely ruining the prospect of a 3-way competition between Beefsteak Bertie, Aru and Titchie Ritchie (assuming Mick Jagger's already out of the running...)
One also has to wonder if the same strict interpretation would have been applied had Aru swapped wheels with (for instance) someone from Vini Fantini...
Personally, what I'd LOVE to see is 5 miles after the neutralised start, the peloton come to a halt, Contador and Aru Climb off their Bikes, Swap Front Wheels and they all ride away...
Not going to happen though - Oleg would have a Thrombie...
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A case of rules over taking common sense and the two faceness is staggering to say the least.0
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Rant Alert
I've just woke to a complete media-sh!tstorm about the Giro stage yesterday.
For those of you who don't realise, Yesterday Richie Porte had a front wheel puncture towards the end of the stage. He was aided by a friend and fellow Ausie, Simon Clarke - who swapped wheels with him and gave him a push start off to try and catch the bunch. His Sky teammates dropped back and helped pace him back towards the peloton. While watching I thought "thats strange, there's no team cars to get onto the wheel of".
Anyhow, yesterday evening this popped up on the Giro d'Italia's facebook page...
celebrating the act of sportsmanship...
Then, a little later...
Yep - both riders were fined 200 swiss francs and (most critically) given a 2 minute time-penalty.
Further research revealed the reason for the absence of the team-cars to aid getting back on the bunch... they were held back in a "barrage" by the race commisaires.
Okay, I'm aware of the rules - and while riders are allowed to swap "small items" - like share tools, water, food etc. Mechanical assistance or swapping bikes outside of their team is specifically precluded - with penalties up to suspension from the entire race. Yep - I get that.
What I DON'T get is how they can be so two faced as to celebrate in public the act of sportsmanship, whilst then completely ruining the prospect of a 3-way competition between Beefsteak Bertie, Aru and Titchie Ritchie (assuming Mick Jagger's already out of the running...)
One also has to wonder if the same strict interpretation would have been applied had Aru swapped wheels with (for instance) someone from Vini Fantini...
Personally, what I'd LOVE to see is 5 miles after the neutralised start, the peloton come to a halt, Contador and Aru Climb off their Bikes, Swap Front Wheels and they all ride away...
Not going to happen though - Oleg would have a Thrombie...
Completely agree mate; otter utter bollox IMHO! Mr Cookson & the UCI should hang their collective heads in shame... Rules are rules, but FFS?! Get a grip! Two faced tw@s!0 -
And don't get me started on the Astana Domestiques riding the legs off the favourites on Sunday. Not dodgy at all!!!
UCI bottled it with this lot too0 -
Didn't see that one. They didn't show the race over here. I was pretty ticked about that. It seems like if they are going to bottle up the team cars, they should make allowances. Also, if there are neutral support cars, they support a non team person helping a team member. So if that's the case, why can't one team help out another. They do it all the time with strategy. Race directors will even make deals ahead of the race, so what's wrong with helping someone else during the race?0
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RANT ALERT 2
(twice in a day... I must change brands of Coffee...)
IF YOU RIDE TWICE OR MORE IN A DAY, PLEASE ADD THE RIDE TOTALS AND POST A SINGLE ENTRY FOR THAT DAY WITH MULTIPLE STRAVA URLS. PRETTY SURE I MENTIONED THIS BEFORE. ANY MORE DOUBLE ENTRIES, I'LL JUST BOOK THE FIRST ONE FOR THAT DAY, I DON'T HAVE TIME OR INCLINATION TO KEEP RUNNING AROUND AFTER PEOPLE UNABLE TO FOLLOW THE CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ORIGINAL SETUP POSTS.
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and yes, I am a grumpy *kitten*, and yes I am having a bad day.
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Rant Alert
I've just woke to a complete media-sh!tstorm about the Giro stage yesterday.
For those of you who don't realise, Yesterday Richie Porte had a front wheel puncture towards the end of the stage. He was aided by a friend and fellow Ausie, Simon Clarke - who swapped wheels with him and gave him a push start off to try and catch the bunch. His Sky teammates dropped back and helped pace him back towards the peloton. While watching I thought "thats strange, there's no team cars to get onto the wheel of".
Anyhow, yesterday evening this popped up on the Giro d'Italia's facebook page...
celebrating the act of sportsmanship...
Then, a little later...
Yep - both riders were fined 200 swiss francs and (most critically) given a 2 minute time-penalty.
Further research revealed the reason for the absence of the team-cars to aid getting back on the bunch... they were held back in a "barrage" by the race commisaires.
Okay, I'm aware of the rules - and while riders are allowed to swap "small items" - like share tools, water, food etc. Mechanical assistance or swapping bikes outside of their team is specifically precluded - with penalties up to suspension from the entire race. Yep - I get that.
What I DON'T get is how they can be so two faced as to celebrate in public the act of sportsmanship, whilst then completely ruining the prospect of a 3-way competition between Beefsteak Bertie, Aru and Titchie Ritchie (assuming Mick Jagger's already out of the running...)
One also has to wonder if the same strict interpretation would have been applied had Aru swapped wheels with (for instance) someone from Vini Fantini...
Personally, what I'd LOVE to see is 5 miles after the neutralised start, the peloton come to a halt, Contador and Aru Climb off their Bikes, Swap Front Wheels and they all ride away...
Not going to happen though - Oleg would have a Thrombie...
Completely agree mate; otter utter bollox IMHO! Mr Cookson & the UCI should hang their collective heads in shame... Rules are rules, but FFS?! Get a grip! Two faced tw@s!
This is one time that the rule should be waved - no one was given an unfair advantage which is what the rules are supposed to prevent. If you want to promote cycling as a top level professional sport, especially with everything that people think they know about doping, this is exactly what you want to see in a race.0 -
sufferlandrian wrote: »Didn't see that one. They didn't show the race over here. I was pretty ticked about that. It seems like if they are going to bottle up the team cars, they should make allowances. Also, if there are neutral support cars, they support a non team person helping a team member. So if that's the case, why can't one team help out another. They do it all the time with strategy. Race directors will even make deals ahead of the race, so what's wrong with helping someone else during the race?
YouTube!!! (the only place I can get the Giro)0 -
Hi Team 2!
Sorry for my absence! Struck down with illness, then I passed it to my wife so I had to look after the kids!
Back on it now though! 0 -
https://www.strava.com/athletes/141252
Go look at this Strava Athlete, Jim Knight is a friend of mine,
he could be a team unto himself. What he is doing is amazing...and he does it every year!0 -
This is my fourth Grand Tour Challenge and I'm proud to say, I've never missed a rest day. :laugh: Sometimes I crack myself up. 0
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Unfortunately for me rest days are days I can ride (meaning other commitments are generally absent) - planning on a good one for this coming Monday since it is a holiday so no work either. I hate that means I do not get to log the hours but you have to ride when you have time - right?0
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LJ - just a heads up that I don't think I will get a ride in Sunday - have to get up at 3:30am to drive 3hr out of state for work! I might get back home before dark (and be able to do a short ride) but I'm not counting on it.
I also have Monday off and wish miles ridden count towards the team total.0 -
LJ - I did what I could today - you are on your own tomorrow!0
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Since tomorrow is a rest day, I think we can handle it. 0
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phew - it's rest day at last.
Might go for a little walk this afternoon, just for a change - staying well away from the bike though - didn't think I'd manage to ride as often as I have, even if the rides have generally been short and slow.
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Hey! It's not the size. It's how you use them. Don't be talking bad about the short slow ones. :laugh:0
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If the weather doesn't improve, I'll have to take to riding in floods. <sigh> Wednesday we fly to Germany early in the morning (arriving Thursday) so no way to get more than token mile in at 5am (if it isn't raining). Thursday we hope to rent or buy bikes and be back to riding before our language classes begin. I hope. We have no idea what we are doing!0
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spent a couple of hours trying to eliminate the knocking sound from my MTB's forks... they're an awful, cheap old pair of Marzocchi's (gran fondo 3's) air sprung, oil damped things that weigh a ton and a half, but they were solid enough to cope with my weight 5 years or more ago when I built the bike up.
Stripped 'em down, cleaned the seals, replaced the fork oil with fresh correct weight stuff, buttoned everything back up and re-pressured them and... they still bloody well knock. Looks like the bushings have gone. Probably not economic to repair (if I could get the parts), so I'm going to put up with the knocking noise until I can drop on some forks to replace 'em with.
Problem is... bike's a On-One 456 mk1 frame, so it'll only take a 1 1/8" straight steerer (not a taper one), and I really don't want to get into replacing wheels/hubs (it's got a Shimano XT QR hub, so thru-axle stuff is out)...
so - anyone got recommendations for a straight 1 1/8", QR, 26" disk specific (180mm+) Air Spring fork that's not stupid money or ridiculously heavy and or fragile. Budget around £150 would be ideal...
At the moment the RockShox XC 32 TK Solo Air Forks - 9mmQR 2015 looks to be my best bet - problem is it's OOS at Chain Reaction and Merlin, Wiggle don't carry them and Planet-X only seem to have the more-upmarket ones (or the OEM jobs that they get in for their builds)
I really don't want to spend much money, because I really don't ride the MTB much (once i'm properly fit, it's likely to go in the loft until the winter... if I ride at all outdoors this year) If I get into needing to swap wheels and buy a £400+ pair of forks, I may as well just sell the Inbred as a going concern and buy myself a new 29'er.
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sufferlandrian wrote: »Hey! It's not the size. It's how you use them. Don't be talking bad about the short slow ones. :laugh:
^ This made me giggle.
I only have token rides for Friday and Saturday due to driving 8 hours each day.0 -
I'm very sorry to all of Team Pastana - I knew I'd only be able to contribute commuting km's to this challenge, however I thought I'd be able to rack up a few more commutes than I have done. Unfortunately life and everything else around me has conspired against that. I think if I'm still in a similar position for the TdF and Vuelta I'll sit them out as I hate knowing that I've let everyone down. If we're all sorted and in a new house by the Vuelta that looks like the most likely challenge for a comeback and to chuck in some proper km's.0
This discussion has been closed.