Spring into the Dales

[asterix]

How is everyone today? I did lots of stretching last night and it seemed to work legs feel better than when I finished.

Not too bad. I think what helped was the generous supply of lovely food just after it finished. Well worth the pain of climbing the stairs to get at it. Hope I didn't eat more than my fair share

 

[bonj2]

Are you doing the Brian Robinson Challenge at the weekend? I'll be doing it with John Birkby if you fancy saying hello at the start. If you aren't doing it, watch out for us as we ride through your village later on!

im doing that! see you there

 

[goodspeed]

Felt pretty good this morning, but after an 8hr shift at work my legs and knees are starting to sieze up abit. No insect bites but some nice tan lines on my legs and 2 white eye sockets.
Mountain biking Wednesday at Lee Quarry, not sure if my legs are up for it but it'll be fun!

 

[trio25]

I'm hoping to get to lee quarry again this week, only managed one loop last time I was there as I ran out of time. Gave my legs the day off biking yesterday - ran out of time so just went running which felt hard hard hard!

 

[ColinJ]

Mountain biking Wednesday at Lee Quarry, not sure if my legs are up for it but it'll be fun!

I miss my mountain biking but I can't really afford to get my bike sorted out. It probably needs a new cassette, chainrings, bottom bracket and chain. It might even need new jockey wheels.

I'd never heard of Lee Quarry, but I've just done a search for it - looks interesting! I rode round those hills a few times on the Rossendale Moutain Bike challenge and thought that the old quarries looked worth developing.

 

[Blonde]

I didn't think the A road sections were busy, but then, I commute through Manchester city centre every day. Actually the worst bit of my commute is about 300m from home on a "B" road that's too narrow for the volume of traffic on it, with the "A" roads being mostly OK... but that's another story...

I couldn't find the chuffing control stamp anywhere at Rossi's cafe! Didn't stop there though, as it's too near the end to bother and I had already eaten at Dalesman. Wish it had been warmer though - I wore a short sleeve jersey thinking I'd need to roll down my arm warmers on the climbs but it didn't happen till right near the end and even then was as bit breezy. I didn't take me gilet off all day either, so it can't have been all that warm - even though some nutters were out in shorts!

I still love the first climb the best. It is really lovely. Managed to hang onto the back of the front group almost to the top this time! As usual a giant feed awaited our return which was lovely - full marks to Chris and the helpers again. The event felt much easier than the last time I did it and I didn't actually need the stop for soup at the Dalesman - must be getting fitter!

 

[ColinJ]

It didn't start getting warm until about 12:00 and Blonde was probably 3/4 of the way round by then! That might also account for the differing opinions about how busy the roads were. Keighley was pretty busy when Alun and I passed through at about 16:00.

I kept my light-weight leg-warmers on all day. They are really handy because they take the chill off the air without actually insulating that much that I overheat when the day warms up.

My arm-warmers came off after about 3 hours but I had a long-sleeved base-layer on. Again, very handy for the conditions - rolled up for the climbs and some of the flat bits, rolled down for descents.

My gilet stayed on, but the zip was up and down all day. I reckon it was about 16-17 degrees mid-afternoon. I don't really like to bare my arms and legs until it gets to about 20 degrees.

If the people wearing shorts on Sunday were nutters, what should we call the lobster-red-legged riders I saw in January riding in shorts, when there was snow and ice everywhere?

 

[trio25]

I take it Blonde is uber fast then? I took my arm warmers off by the last climb! Had knee warmers on the whole day though.

 

[ColinJ]

I take it Blonde is uber fast then?

Well, speed is relative isn't it! Relative to me - very definitely yes! Relative to a very fast man, no.

In 2006, when I was considerably lighter and fitter, I rode The Other Fleet Moss Randonee (202 km, about 2,500 m of climbing). Blonde did too. I didn't really stop long at any of the controls, pretty much just kept riding. As I remember it, Blonde stopped for a meal at one of the controls, eventually finished the ride, got changed, attacked the snacks table, had a hot drink, hung about socialising, and was finally just about to head out the door when I arrived back. I'd taken 10 hours so she must have only taken 9-and-a-bit!

 

[MSeries]

Oh, what a bugger Noodley I did nearly ask Mseries if he'd broken you on Saturday but was too shy to go and speak to him

You shouldn't have been. I wish you had said hello. Noodley told me that some folks from here were doing the ride and I was looking forward to meeting those people but sadly Noodley wasn't there to introduce me. It was nice for me to meet a few people whom I'd not seen for a very long time due to my crash and subsequent lay off, ColinJ included.

I wasn't going well on Sunday, tired from Saturday. Too hot at times, whereas on the ride out from home I was too cold !!

 

[Blonde]

I take it Blonde is uber fast then? I took my arm warmers off by the last climb! Had knee warmers on the whole day though.

Not really! Not sure exactly what time we finished, but around 2:30-2:45. We were back at HB station just after 3:00, having eaten etc. at the community centre. If I hadn't eaten at the Dalesman I guess I may have finished around 2:00, but it's not a race!

I keep riding to work in knee warmers rather than my 3/4 knicks, hoping I will just be in shorts on the way home, but it hasn't happend so far... I'm even packing them for Mallorca next week, just in case.

 

[trio25]

No not a race, but like to see how I compare. Really noticing I have got faster this year and don't seem to be dropped by everyone on the climbs. But its hard to know how I'm doing as speeds people talk about online sound so fast! Think we were back at start for 3pm.

 

[Blonde]

I used to try to compare my own overall times, or average speeds on these events, but you can't really. A lot depends on the weather, how often and for how long you stop or get held up, or whether you get lost/miss a turn etc. I also try to compare myself to how other people around me on the event seem to be doing. Not being passed at all on climbs perhaps means I am doing OK, but of course you don't know if the people around you are having a bad day or "saving" themselves or just enjoying a relaxing day out (since they're not racing), so it still doen't mean much. At the track last night (derny session) I was rather flatteringly told again that I should go in for some road racing in Cheshire this weekend and "would not get dropped". We are away anyway, but I still think I might not cope too well with the sudden changes of pace (I'm not a sprinter) despite being a decent "steady"/TT-type rider - racing is very different. I think that comparing yourself to others is little more than guess work, unless you actually race against them!

BTW - take the speeds some people talk about on-line, with a pinch of salt. Most of the people I met didn't go anything like as fast as they'd claimed they did! I think some people confuse average speed with maximum speed, or with the speed they happen to be doing when they look down at their computer! Many people also do not mention the average speed difference between a short ride and a longer one, or a flat ride and a hilly one.

 

[trio25]

I decided that about averages speeds after meeting someone at an event who on paper was a lot faster than me and then I was loads faster - my average speed that day was about 11.5 mph so I was suprised that people were slower than me. I think its part of the geek in me that likes to compare a bit. I've not bee riding for that long really so I like to know where I am in the scheme of things. YOu are right that noone was racing, I took the bit between Earby and Gargrave very easy as I was on my own and was just looking around. But I was really happy with my average speed for such a hilly route, that was comparing it with what I might have expected the year before.

I think I would be rubbish at racing as I have no change in speed, I can go at trio speed all day long but ask me to speed up and it doesn't happen. I also think all those people around me would be scary!

My OH likes riding the track, I haven't been on it for ages, I think riding behind a derny would be scary!

 

[ColinJ]

I gave up taking much notice of speeds when I got fat because the numbers became depressingly low!

When I was reasonably quick, I used to like trying to break my PBs on the local climbs. I'll do that again when I speed up.

If the weather is nice, I'm not too fussed about hurrying about, but if it's cold and damp I'd rather just get on with a ride and get it done.