2015 MFP Grand Tour Challenge - SIgnup and Discussion Thread...
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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.
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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
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http://road.cc/content/news/152714-online-tool-helps-you-make-your-own-peter-sagan-photobomb - watch he doesn't pinch your backside though...
here's a couple I made earlier...
(there's a bit of a delay between hitting "commit" and getting your email with the link to the picture, i'm guessing it's a bit busy at the moment...)
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Just an FYI to my fellow Twinkie Scoffs...I'm out of town starting Friday sans' bike (not that I want to ride any excessive amount in Phoenix at this time of year anyways) so inthe parlance, I'll be in the team car then. It's been fun! Soemtimes, regardless of what Sean Kelly says, family does come first though.
Mark - I already noted the last 3 rides as DNS and Thursday AM will be the last logged ride for the challenge (not back at the computer until 6/3 to up date so don't worry about it.)0 -
I haven't been riding the way I was last May. The weather has just conspired against me and then traveling for work. Though I did take my bike with me as I'm driving a company car. And the looks I get when pulling the bike out of the car too. I've been driving through some of the prettiest country and I keep seeing signs for a new trail that wasn't around the four years or so ago I was in this area. It looks like it would be an awesome ride.
http://www.mickelsontrailaffiliates.com/#!trail-info/c94c
And yes TBY - I know it's not Yorkshire but I sure can understand why the Tribes fought like crazy to keep this area for themselves. Its just the prettiest part of South Dakota possible. I just want to ride everywhere I've been driving. I wanted to do the same thing last week too as I drove back and kept seeing the bike lane continue along Highway 70 through many different communities and passes. I think riding over the Rockies along 70 is probably doable though most cross country riders go north through Wyoming. Some day. Retirement needs to come way sooner than later.0 -
That's my last ride for this challenge logged for Team PIE as I'm away on holiday for the last three days. Thanks for organising this Mark. It's a lot of work I'm sure and we all benefit so much. Cheers, Bram.0
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That Sagans a right scamp!
Enjoyed being part of this grand tour even though I haven't been able to go for it, the top two teams are looking close now to the final day which keeps it interesting and it's great to see all teams are above the pros distance so for those who have had life conspire against them worry not because we usually have a nutter in the team that more then makes up for it lol, it's the way of these challenges.
I hope everyone will give it a go on the next Le Tour, that way maybe Mark can seed riders based on this tours performance to create 4 equally weighted teams.
One other suggestion for the next tour would be to mix up the nationalities a bit more so one team isn't so disadvantaged by the time difference.
Good luck to all for the final sprint, it'll be more of a trot for myself.0 -
Jakess1971 wrote: »Good luck to all for the final sprint, it'll be more of a trot for myself.
checking the weather forecast, it's more likely to be a paddle
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If you want to create equally weighted teams for the next Tour you are going to have to have a 1 person team with just Veloman21 by himself!
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Bad weather here this afternoon, and evening which is the only time I was going to be able to ride, so I'm not riding today. (I'll watch the weather in case I can sneak out, but it's not looking good now). Tomorrow will be fun too.0
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