2014 MFP LeTour Signup/Discussion Thread
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Fran,
Unless you live in an area where those kind of steep hills are a regular occurrence, they are always going to be leg-breakers. Around my local area they're few and far between - there's a couple of them that basically are all on the same geological fault line and they're stupid steep (12% - 20%) but only 100 yards long at worst... On those you can just give it everything and climb all over the bike to get it up, but it's not pleasant, and it's certainly not pretty.
As with everything in cycling, a lot of it is down to power/weight ratio - something that I get hammered on because of the weight side, and even at my fittest and lightest I was over 80kg - I'm currently a lot heavier - no make that a LOT heavier. I managed to grunt my way around a couple of the climbs from the first stage, but well - frankly, there's a part of me that wishes I'd walked more, and been able to bend my knee for the 3 days afterwards!!
But - an equal part of things is the attitude you take to climbing... I used to really hate it with a passion back in the day - partly because I knew it was the ***** in my armour as far as racing was concerned - but mainly because I was riding with lads of a completely different build and outlook to climbing... Of course, on the days when we went out into the flatlands east of Pontefract, and the wind was howling, I used to get my own back, but it didn't stop the hills from hurting.
Strangely, now I'm coming back to the sport, and actually getting a little fitter (not fit you understand, but a little fitter!) I've found that I actually don't particularly mind climbing anymore - primarily because I've given up measuring my own climbing performance against anyone else but me. On Sundays ride, I clocked up over double my normal ascent for a ride of that distance, and - on the way home - I actually found myself attacking one of the longer climbs, and amazingly I actually passed more riders going up it than passed me (and as you can imagine, there were quite a lot of people riding that route on that day...)
Basically, don't be too tough on yourself Fran - enjoy your riding, stick to the diet as much as possible, and treat your commutes as base mileage - nice steady spinning along... then have one day a week where you actually go and "give it the beans" and push yourself - it'll work, you'll move forwards and improve. And you'll enjoy yourself more than beating yourself up over things.
If I dwelt upon my speed or climbing abilities relative to what I used to be capable before my accident, I'd hang up my wheels. I don't even think of it - the only cyclist I need to try and be better than is the cyclist I was last week.
Cheers for all that, Mark - really helped to know I'm not on my own - just made me feel a bit like the fat chick on the bike that everyone looks down at. Not that people made me feel that way - I made myself feel that way, as I knew that if I weren't nearly 3 stones overweight it wouldn't be anywhere near as difficult to haul myself up the hills. It'll come in time, I can't jump from this to where I want to be overnight, has to be gradual like you say - and planning routes with Rob we both fancy. In fact, we're talking about camping again, in the Lakes maybe, and taking the mountain bike / cyclocross instead. Variety is the spice of life! I won't give up...I just need to be more realistic about where I am and not getting stuck in a rut with the same routes (outside of my commute obviously!)0 -
I have a excessive amount of work today. I dont know if I will be able to fit a ride in today team 4. I will see what I can do tho.0
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25mph winds and thunderstorms threatening all day here today. Seemed a good day for rest since there was zero way i wanted to bike in that.
Will try and be back in the saddle tomorrow for team 4.0 -
Another Short parcours today folks - it's also relatively flat, so it might not be too tough to hit the targets today.
(not going to be helped by a screaming northerly wind thats blowing here today :ohwell: )0 -
(not going to be helped by a screaming northerly wind thats blowing here today :ohwell: )
Those Northerlies are going to 'kill' my homeward commute :sad:0 -
Yea Team 2! I felt bad about not riding yesterday, but y'all had it covered! I hope to be back in the saddle today. De-stress and support the Team... Great way to redirect negative energy and turn it about... Thanks TBY for another great challenge to give me focus.0
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Legs were a bit tired this morning so I thought best to have a day off. But the carnage of the tour and an impulse buy of a new saddle had me jonesing for a quick spin round the block :-)
Hope to help out team 4 with a bit of a longer ride tomorrow :-)0 -
Team 2 - I apologise for the lack of riding. It is not through lack of wanting to however the weather in Melbourne is just not playing nice. We have had downpour, heavy winds and very cold weather.
I will definitely put in some time in on Sunday where the forecast is for more moderate conditions.0 -
Sorry folks. Problems at work limited my riding today. Hopefully my patients will do better and the referring veterinarians be less stressed so I can get in more of a ride tomorrow.0
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TBY, due to the shortening of yesterday's pavé stage. Is the Google doc going to be altered accordingly or are you keeping the distance the same?0
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Team 2 - I apologise for the lack of riding. It is not through lack of wanting to however the weather in Melbourne is just not playing nice. We have had downpour, heavy winds and very cold weather.
I will definitely put in some time in on Sunday where the forecast is for more moderate conditions.
Hey, you're riding in Winter down there mate, I think you're doing a great job. Do what you can, but stay safe :-)0 -
Sorry folks. Problems at work limited my riding today. Hopefully my patients will do better and the referring veterinarians be less stressed so I can get in more of a ride tomorrow.
Again, not a problem - real life sometimes gets in the way - I know it is doing for me at the moment - my riding time has been dealt a serious blow by unforseen problems with my work over the last few days, meaning I've been limited to a fairly short sharp spin.0 -
TBY, due to the shortening of yesterday's pavé stage. Is the Google doc going to be altered accordingly or are you keeping the distance the same?
Hadn't thought about that - I think historically (when the Giro was shortened on one stage) I stuck to the published distance, mainly because it was impossible to get a definitive figure for the modified parcours length...0 -
TBY, due to the shortening of yesterday's pavé stage. Is the Google doc going to be altered accordingly or are you keeping the distance the same?
Hadn't thought about that - I think historically (when the Giro was shortened on one stage) I stuck to the published distance, mainly because it was impossible to get a definitive figure for the modified parcours length...
Nice one... Just thought I'd ask 0 -
Team 1, very sorry, I'm out of the game until next week - had a severe allergic reaction to the sun over the weekend (I know I'm allergic but stupidly and extremely forgetfully spent the weekend camping and didn't put any suncream on). My face swelled up and the burns are very sore...can't expose it to sunlight until it's healed...5-7 days according to doc - so fingers crossed for a return either Mon/Wed next week.
Sorry again!0 -
After tomorrow, we are in the mountains Fran, so it's shorter stage lengths until after the rest day next Tuesday... We will be okay, and anyway, there's no substitutions, so even if you take a week out then come back, anything you do when you return still counts.
Take care of yourself, don't rush things, and come back when you're sure you are okay (and not before...)0 -
Everyone is riding so much and so often, even the short rides are adding up for all the teams. We are an awesome group of people - all four teams! Stay safe Kupe in the winter weather! Same for everyone riding with thunderstorms too. Better to be safe than crashed or crisped.
I've been catching the news for the races at http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stages and I like the pictures but I wouldn't mind seeing some race video footage. Does anyone have a good site for that type of coverage? I won't have anything on my DVR until this weekend. With all the crashing going on and the cobbles and such, I'd like to see some video just to have a better idea of what these guys are going through.0 -
Is there a way to edit a ride? I rode twice with my son today and even though they were only 2.15 miles each, I was wanting to add them. However, Strava called them a stationary bike ride and assigned no miles. I could tell it that it wasn't a stationary ride in the edit area but I can't figure out how to change the miles. There is even a map that shows the distance but no miles.0
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Wacky weather day but I managed to get in a nice ride. It started chucking it down for the last 20+km and although I could barely see, I had a big grin on my face. I felt really ALIVE!! :-)
After watching all the crashes on the tour yesterday I was very careful in the corners :-)0 -
Is there a way to edit a ride? I rode twice with my son today and even though they were only 2.15 miles each, I was wanting to add them. However, Strava called them a stationary bike ride and assigned no miles. I could tell it that it wasn't a stationary ride in the edit area but I can't figure out how to change the miles. There is even a map that shows the distance but no miles.
Go into "Edit Activity" (it's the little pencil icon, next to the wrench, under the overview/analysis block) and a box will pop up - there will be a flag for "Stationery Trainer" which will be "green lighted" - click it, and it should revert to a normal ride.)
I think Strava may auto-flag very short rides that are within "privacy setting" concealed areas as being trainer rides "with a bit of GPS jitter"...0 -
I caught my report up today.
I am very sad but we decided that we were not cut out for the End to End ride. It wasn't the rain or the hills that got me, it was riding through the urban areas. We just had no idea how busy the roads would be! We had done a self supported ride here many years ago and I guess we were better about staying out of the city traffic (although I do remember being stressed in Dublin). Cycling through Plymouth nearly put me over the edge. And then the next day outside of Taunton, 3 cars passed me on a dual carriageway and cut in really close and fast. I ride on urban streets at home but this was just a little too close compared to what I am used to. In general it seemed about 1/3 of each day was spent negotiating some hairy traffic situation.
As we consulted our book we saw the traffic issues were only going to increase as we got further north. So we packed it in and headed to London. Will be leaving tomorrow.
On the bright side, I loved the riding we did in Cornwall and the ride up the Dartmoor was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. Everyone was so nice, and we were not chased by one dog (common at home). I am really disappointed that we are not finishing. And I am sorry for my team that I am missing so many days. I will have to reconfigure my training schedule when I get home and try to make up starting Sunday.0 -
Epic combined distance for Team 4 yesterday (10th Jun); 468.8km's! Chapeau ladies and gentlemen!0
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Last big push stage before the distances drop for a few days folks. 233km today :-(
Not kind for a work-day.0 -
Sorry Team 2, my ride for 7/10 got bumped by family obligations... I did get a nice steak out of it though...0
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I caught my report up today.
I am very sad but we decided that we were not cut out for the End to End ride. It wasn't the rain or the hills that got me, it was riding through the urban areas. We just had no idea how busy the roads would be! We had done a self supported ride here many years ago and I guess we were better about staying out of the city traffic (although I do remember being stressed in Dublin). Cycling through Plymouth nearly put me over the edge. And then the next day outside of Taunton, 3 cars passed me on a dual carriageway and cut in really close and fast. I ride on urban streets at home but this was just a little too close compared to what I am used to. In general it seemed about 1/3 of each day was spent negotiating some hairy traffic situation.
As we consulted our book we saw the traffic issues were only going to increase as we got further north. So we packed it in and headed to London. Will be leaving tomorrow
Kerry,
That's a bummer about LEJOG :-( After your initial post I looked at the website as I thought this would be a great cycling holiday for one of my trips back home. When I saw the itinerary I was surprised by the route they had chosen. If you were worried about Taunton, then I think you made the right decision because they have you riding through Manchester which would be a bit of a mare!! Also English roads are narrower than US roads which adds to the sense of insecurity. I must say that is one of the big benefits to living here in NC, somedays I can ride 100 KM and never see another car!!
There's a reason why so many bike commuters in London have video cameras mounted to there helmets!!0 -
Way to go Team 4!! Great day yesterday. Not sure I'll be much help today as I've ridden 8 days straight but I'll be putting in a gift tomorrow.0
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This is what I feel like sometimes when I'm riding. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:0 -
This is what I feel like sometimes when I'm riding. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Can we get one of those for Chris Froome ?0 -
This is what I feel like sometimes when I'm riding. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Can we get one of those for Chris Froome ?
ROFL!!!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I'll see what I can do. :laugh: :laugh:0 -
Veloman:
Thanks for your note. Taunton itself was really quite nice once we got it. It was way outside that people were speeding like maniacs! and the passing on the dual carriageway....ay-yi-yi! (granted it was 17:30). I think Plymouth and Exeter were what put me over the edge, though. And then just as you said, we discussed that next up on the list was heading up toward Manchester/Liverpool. Having dread in the pit of my stomach is not the way I want to spend my vacation!
Interesting enough we stopped in a very nice bike shop in Taunton (Kings Cycles). The guy that worked there told us (and showed us the scars) of his total facial reconstruction that had to be done after his cycle accident in Plymouth traffic. I told him if he was trying to make me feel better about quitting he was doing a good job.
Many people do End to End and are not intimidated. The other thing in my history is that I was hit from behind very badly and spent a 10 days in the hospital in Austria 15 years ago. I really have gotten past that and am confident about riding in traffic at home, but perhaps being abroad brought back some nervousness.0
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