Turbo Club - Meet Ups / Events

[bridgy]

tried jersey on - who would have thought i was a small !
to all those who did the toc - i know there is all the "being aware" going on (being in a big group ) but did it compare for effort in zwift ? just to give me an idea of what to aim for
i done a similar ride yesterday - but shorter , very flat , but even though wind was behind me i dont think i could get 23 mph for 100

You can't compare solo rides with the ToC - the big groups of riders means you get a big drafting affect which really increases your average speed (plus closed roads means no stopping/slowing for juctions etc which must add up).

By comparison, I did a 31 mile solo ride last night with an average speed of 21.5mph, which required MUCH more effort than my average speed of 24mph for the first 31 miles of ToC.

 

[CXRAndy]

I came 162th out of 412 or something. it's amazing just a few minutes difference and I could of been knocking on the door of the top 100

 

[<Tommy>]

I came 162th out of 412 or something. it's amazing just a few minutes difference and I could of been knocking on the door of the top 100

I think a few of us expected to be sitting on your wheel Andy. I know I was! . Do you think you were caught off guard by the early pace when we hit the lumps?

 

[bridgy]

I've just been reading comments on the ToC facebook page and it seems the very badly worded explanation about qualification for UCI worlds next year means this - I think:

In 2019 there will be a race, a Gran Fondo and a Sportive. You can only qualify for the UCI worlds via the race or the Gran Fondo (not the sportive). Each age category in both the race and the Gran Fondo will be limited to 100 entrants (100 for the race, and 100 for the Gran Fondo in each age group). Presumably the sportive will still have loads of riders and places available though.

So if anyone really does want to qualify for the UCI worlds you'd have to either enter the race, or the Gran Fondo and be quick about it as there's only 100 places in each age group available.

I'll just do the sportive! Shame that little incentive/target to aim for has gone though

 

[bridgy]

Photos from ToC are up! I haven't trawled through all of them, but the 5 of us who did the Gran Fondo appear on this page if you scroll down - https://www.sportograf.com/en/shop/search/4939/t/9941?page=4 ( I don't want to get Cyclechat in any copyright trouble by posting copies on here)

 

[bridgy]

Some pics from 1.8 miles in where we were all together (scroll down) - https://www.sportograf.com/en/shop/search/4939/t/58935?page=11

 

[CXRAndy]

I think a few of us expected to be sitting on your wheel Andy. I know I was! . Do you think you were caught off guard by the early pace when we hit the lumps?

I'm not good at hills compared to rest of you, especially anything that requires a few gear .changes, so I had to work hard to get over the lumpy bits. I lost the faster groups you were in and had to tag onto others once the terrain leveled off. I did catch upto Bob and Martin so was comfortable with the pace until a long last drag before the fens appeared, lost Bobs wheel.

In fact I think Bob had overcooked himself and was all on his own when I caught him. He tagged onto me and the group I was with. Martin paced himself much better coming back to me and Bob a little later. It was the lumps that broke my chance to stay with Bob. Martin and I rode together upto the 2nd food stop, he probably didn't know I was only a bike or so behind him. We were in a biggish group and if I had stayed in the pack instead of going for water, my time I'm sure would of been better. Bad decisions!

The climbs in Zwift where you know it's only for a period of time I can go deeper to try and stay with riders, still I do lose time in Zwift on the hills against Bob too. I'm just near enough usually to catch him later-mostly. The Tour of Watopia was a great example of multi type courses where I would gain time on Bob on flatter short hills and he would take back time on longer sustained climbs.

It's the usual, lose some more weight, keep my power.

I would say my forte has always been mid distance short rolling terrain. Distance, hills and weight not the best combination.

Plus gotta pick my targets carefully, no point to try and out race the likes of Paul and you, just a bit too quick

Gosh long post

 

[CXRAndy]

Some pics from 1.8 miles in where we were all together (scroll down) - https://www.sportograf.com/en/shop/search/4939/t/58935?page=11

I dont think I'll be buying those photos, I looked like I'm about to die
I rrreal need to learn to breath through my gritted teeth as I'm smiling whilst dying

 

[bridgy]

I dont think I'll be buying those photos, I looked like I'm about to die
I rrreal need to learn to breath through my gritted teeth as I'm smiling whilst dying

Well all the photos of me appear to have been replaced with those of an old man

 

[<Tommy>]

I'm not good at hills compared to rest of you, especially anything that requires a few gear .changes, so I had to work hard to get over the lumpy bits. I lost the faster groups you were in and had to tag onto others once the terrain leveled off. I did catch upto Bob and Martin so was comfortable with the pace until a long last drag before the fens appeared, lost Bobs wheel.

In fact I think Bob had overcooked himself and was all on his own when I caught him. He tagged onto me and the group I was with. Martin paced himself much better coming back to me and Bob a little later. It was the lumps that broke my chance to stay with Bob. Martin and I rode together upto the 2nd food stop, he probably didn't know I was only a bike or so behind him. We were in a biggish group and if I had stayed in the pack instead of going for water, my time I'm sure would of been better. Bad decisions!

The climbs in Zwift where you know it's only for a period of time I can go deeper to try and stay with riders, still I do lose time in Zwift on the hills against Bob too. I'm just near enough usually to catch him later-mostly. The Tour of Watopia was a great example of multi type courses where I would gain time on Bob on flatter short hills and he would take back time on longer sustained climbs.

It's the usual, lose some more weight, keep my power.

I would say my forte has always been mid distance short rolling terrain. Distance, hills and weight not the best combination.

Plus gotta pick my targets carefully, no point to try and out race the likes of Paul and you, just a bit too quick

Gosh long post

Makes sense. I think the hills being so near the start can make you a little bit weary of going too deep. I wouldn’t of pushed so hard if not for Paul who was slipping away from me. I didn’t think they were particularly long hills which helped. Next year...

 

[<Tommy>]

I dont think I'll be buying those photos, I looked like I'm about to die
I rrreal need to learn to breath through my gritted teeth as I'm smiling whilst dying

Well all the photos of me appear to have been replaced with those of an old man

I don’t think I’ll look at the pictures. I can already picture the looks on our faces as it is!

 

[bridgy]

In other exciting news, I've just seen that the Tour of Britain route will be coming through Cheddar again this year - up Cheddar Gorge, and right past my office

 

[CXRAndy]

I didn’t think they were particularly long hills which helped. Next year...

True, they weren't particularly long, just enough to get a gap and with lots of riders forming packs over the crest, it was extremely difficult if not impossible to bridge the gap, so you had to join another group, this could lead to greater time gaps.

This happened to me with Martin, he got in a group in front of me, I got into a bigger group behind and over the next 5 mins my group paced back upto his forming a nice large group. Next year-more hills

 

[Whorty]

Yeah, but I am p’d off now. That is just one of my 3 stops
Oh well, fired up for next year and just need to hold Tommy and Paul’s wheels

Bob - I'll happily get as fit as I can and play domestique for you next year. You can sit on my wheel at a fast pace until I pop. But once I've gone, you'll be on your own and need to follow another wheel for the remaining 99.5 miles

 

[bobinski]

I'm not good at hills compared to rest of you, especially anything that requires a few gear .changes, so I had to work hard to get over the lumpy bits. I lost the faster groups you were in and had to tag onto others once the terrain leveled off. I did catch upto Bob and Martin so was comfortable with the pace until a long last drag before the fens appeared, lost Bobs wheel.

In fact I think Bob had overcooked himself and was all on his own when I caught him.

Overcooked myself? after 10 miles? cheeky fecker


I say bring on the hills next year, lots of them