Silly STRAVA Racing

[Smurfy]

Yup, 23 to date. I don't really have a plan as such. It's just that at the stage I am now fitness wise a 100+ miler day ride is just a good leg stretch for me.
Here's the map of the 23 rides (Thanks again @Andrew_Culture)

View attachment 15450

Great picture! I can understand why you wanted to see them all on one map. Having seen what you've done, I am more than a little tempted to do something similar myself, although my threshold will be a lot less than 100 miles.

I am quite curious as to how you planned those rides, and then rode them. Did you use paper maps to plan, and then transfer the final route to a GPS device for navigation purposes when out on the road? I find it difficult to plan routes on a computer screen, as I can't see enough of the map in enough detail to make the quiet roads join up with each other. My way around that is to plan on paper, and then put it on ridewithgps.com to see how far it is, and how many hills. Years ago I would've used one of those little devices with a wheel that you roll along the roads on the map, and that was the method used by a friend and I to plan our first ever imperial century. I still carry paper maps when out on the road in case I need to bailout, find a train station, etc. etc. I only use my GPS device for logging the exact route I took on the day, and the speeds/times. My method is a mix of old and new, but I'm probably not the only one to mix paper and digital.

 

[ianrauk]

@YellowTim
12 of the rides were FNRttC rides.
A few are ones that myself or others like MartinT235, RB58, Trickedem have planned.
Quite easy to plan really.
Pick a place where they serve good food about 50+ odd miles away...and Bob's your uncle... you have a ride.
I usually use BikeHike to plot the route and transfer it to a Garmin Edge 200.

 

[zizou]

Average speeds on their own dont really say anything because they are so terrain and condition dependent.

Two of the sportives i did this year - one in the Lake District in the wind and rain up Hardknot and Wrynose Pass and a few other hills, was 62 miles at 13.4 mph and the Etape Caledonia, also in the wind and rain but about 800 metres less climbing, was 82 miles at 20 mph.

(I was lighter, fitter and in better shape for the Lake District one!)

 

[Hacienda71]

Totally agree with zizou averages out of context mean little, I did two sportive/charity rides last year one my average over 62 miles was 13.5mph the other 52 miles my average was 21.4 mph. I felt much better after the faster ride.

 

[400bhp]

Was chatting about averages in sportive/charity rides vs solo with @hacienda71 a while ago. When you have a lot of cyclists around you my guess it adds about 2mph to your average.

 

[Smurfy]

Round where I live tomorrows weather forecast predicts a 20mph Southerly wind. Not that I'd be tempted to make use of it.

 

[400bhp]

The wind is allowed - it's in #The Rules, Apppendix 1 (special dispensation for daily commuters).

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Something interesting happened today and there's two way I can report it:

Version 1
My KOM stalker turned up at my workplace today and told reception he was looking for me.

Version 2
The fella who has been trying out my KOMs has been chatting with me and we've got to know each other a bit. Today he was trying a segment I set up near where I work and figured he'd knock on a door and see if I was there so he could say hullo Dave to face.

 

[Hacienda71]

Was chatting about averages in sportive/charity rides vs solo with @hacienda71 a while ago. When you have a lot of cyclists around you my guess it adds about 2mph to your average.

I think it can add more, a lot of it is down to who you are riding with. On the ride where I averaged 21.4mph I think I could have gone quite a bit quicker but the group I was riding with thinned out a bit and we were pushing some of the riders hard, people started being blown out of the back of the pack so we ended up with a much smaller group than in the middle of the ride . If all of the riders had been stronger we would have had a larger more coherent faster group to the end of the ride.

The slow ride I was struggling across the moor near the Cat and Fiddle on my own with a 25 mph cross wind in the drizzle. I could see a couple of riders about 200 yards away. The group effect merely made me finish rather than thinking sod this I'm off home. Saying that two of the guys who started with pulled up two thirds of the way around, wimps

 

[Hacienda71]

Round where I live tomorrows weather forecast predicts a 20mph Southerly wind. Not that I'd be tempted to make use of it.

I am going to try to PB on a segment tomorrow. I know I stand no chance of a KOM but It is South to North so I should do OK

 

[400bhp]

I think it can add more, a lot of it is down to who you are riding with. On the ride where I averaged 21.4mph I think I could have gone quite a bit quicker but the group I was riding with thinned out a bit and we were pushing some of the riders hard, people started being blown out of the back of the pack so we ended up with a much smaller group than in the middle of the ride . If all of the riders had been stronger we would have had a larger more coherent faster group to the end of the ride.

The slow ride I was struggling across the moor near the Cat and Fiddle on my own with a 25 mph cross wind in the drizzle. I could see a couple of riders about 200 yards away. The group effect merely made me finish rather than thinking sod this I'm off home. Saying that two of the guys who started with pulled up two thirds of the way around, wimps

That's not really what I meant Chris. There's a difference when you end up in a relatively small group (say 10 to 15) and a masse of cyclists strewn across the road (peloton). The peloton effect has more of an effect.

 

[Hacienda71]

Yep, I know what you mean, I suppose what I was trying to say was the bigger the group the bigger the tow you get, but we ended up in a smaller group which gave us less benefit, if that makes sense.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

Yeh agree with comments above regarding average speed. 50 miles East might average 20-25mph but 50 miles West might average 14-18mph, depending on the wind speed and direction.
A true average speed can be found on Garmin connect though. Ride for a year, 6 months or even a month and go have a look.

Since end of August (when i got my Garmin 500). Or 50 rides:
Av speed: 17mph
Av cadence: 80rpm
Elevation gain: 62270ft
Av heart rate: 138bpm
Distance: 1442.27 miles

I could go out and average 22-23mph over 50 miles but that wouldn't represent a true average. Might just be a good day or a day not riding in to the wind.

 

[Smurfy]

Something interesting happened today and there's two way I can report it:

Version 1
My KOM stalker turned up at my workplace today and told reception he was looking for me.

Version 2
The fella who has been trying out my KOMs has been chatting with me and we've got to know each other a bit. Today he was trying a segment I set up near where I work and figured he'd knock on a door and see if I was there so he could say hullo Dave to face.

Don't forget to check for drawing pins and tacks scattered in the road just outside work!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Don't forget to check for drawing pins and tacks scattered in the road just outside work!

No need, the next unit along is a windscreen repair place next door so there is no shortage of puncture hazards everywhere!