Turbo Club - Meet Ups / Events

[CXRAndy]

Weather looked great yesterday, but the heat and wind made me feel like a dried out prune at half way for me. I chose the 67 with my brother in law. Glad it's over and wisely chosen the shorter route, I was cramping, struggling with food intake and regurgitating gels

Mighty Martin qualified and looked fresh as a daisy when I arrived for a welcome beer or two

 

[Norry1]

The conditions seemed to really knock a lot of people about. I was lucky in that it didn't seem to bother me. I like riding in the heat. The wind was brutal, but the group I was riding in worked well together and we were in echelons quite a lot.

To my great surprise, I managed to qualify for the World Championships which is in Poznan, Poland on 1st September.

I came 14th in my age group (55-59) out of 107 in a time of 4:35:59 (chip time).

It was really good to meet a few CC'ers, some for the first time, although @Whorty is so skinny I almost didn't see him

@bobinski it was a real shame you couldn't do the event. I think you'd have done well.

 

[CXRAndy]

Martin I know another rider who qualified too. Hes about 40, I think his time was about 4hr20. So not a lot of difference to the younger groups

 

[CXRAndy]

According to my Wahoo it was 81F yesterday!

 

[Norry1]

According to my Wahoo it was 81F yesterday!

Yep, my Garmin said 82F max.

 

[bobinski]

The conditions seemed to really knock a lot of people about. I was lucky in that it didn't seem to bother me. I like riding in the heat. The wind was brutal, but the group I was riding in worked well together and we were in echelons quite a lot.

To my great surprise, I managed to qualify for the World Championships which is in Poznan, Poland on 1st September.

I came 14th in my age group (55-59) out of 107 in a time of 4:35:59 (chip time).

It was really good to meet a few CC'ers, some for the first time, although @Whorty is so skinny I almost didn't see him

@bobinski it was a real shame you couldn't do the event. I think you'd have done well.

Bloody well done Martin Nice to come across a post with no wingeing as well

Seriously, well done all who took part.

 

[Whorty]

The conditions seemed to really knock a lot of people about. I was lucky in that it didn't seem to bother me. I like riding in the heat. The wind was brutal, but the group I was riding in worked well together and we were in echelons quite a lot.

To my great surprise, I managed to qualify for the World Championships which is in Poznan, Poland on 1st September.

I came 14th in my age group (55-59) out of 107 in a time of 4:35:59 (chip time).

It was really good to meet a few CC'ers, some for the first time, although @Whorty is so skinny I almost didn't see him

@bobinski it was a real shame you couldn't do the event. I think you'd have done well.

That is an amazing time Martin. Even with the group working together that is still some mega effort Great to meet you too - now I know what the person who constantly beats me looks like

 

[CXRAndy]

Nice to come across a post with no wingeing as well

We could of died out there, it was carnage

 

[CXRAndy]

Yep, my Garmin said 82F max.

I'll take that 82f (27.6c).

 

[Whorty]

Lost my FIT file on the Elemnt Bolt, so can't upload to Strava. Really annoying as can't see splits etc Oh well, could be worse, I could be forced to spend time with Trump the Idiot today

To add my thoughts on the day.
It was warm
It was, at times, a smidge windy, but also there were sections where you could fly so probably evened out over the course
It was so much fun passing people who were riding multi thousand pounds bikes whilst I'm on a £225 SS
I don't think anyone went passed me on a single incline; whilst everyone else was dropping down gears and spinning, I was punching over the top. I was having to stay on the right hand side and flying over the hills.
Downside though, was quite literally the downside; I couldn't spin any faster than 36kph, so on the downs the geared bikes had the advantage.
On fast flats I was unable to hold wheels sometimes as I could spin fast enough. Had I geared bike I could have knocked more time off the course, but may not have been as much fun
Loved the crowds watching. I did milk it. Also nice to have the photography bike riding around, made you feel like a pro
Didn't see the same issues others had at food stops. Everyone I went to had plenty food and water but can imagine if you get there later and there was nothing left that this could be a stress.
No cramps for me, and still felt good at the end. I was still chasing riders right up to the line
All the hard work on Zwift really paid off. I was able to push on at times, knowing I could recover in wheels, then attack again later.
Rarely during the day did I soft pedal. It felt like a race at all times. Zwift has 'broken' me ... I was constantly trying to chase on, race past to next group, rinse and repeat

Yep, I had a great day. So glad I put the effort in to get there and we managed to get one of our friends up from London to look after HID for the day

 

[bridgy]

Well done to all my fellow TOC riders yesterday. Special mention to @Norry1 for an awesome ride and qualification for the worlds Gran Fondo (although seriously we could do with you not showing us up quite so much and making it look easy when we all suffered so much!!). Also to @Whorty for doing a great time on his singlespeed, and @theboxers for an awesome effort which while it just fell short of the full 100, was a mammoth ride all the same. We go at different paces but full respect for the sheer amount of time you stuck at it - over 8 hours!

@TurboTommy - and I think @berty bassett too? - had a taste of the cramp I suffered with towards the end last year (painful isn't it?!) and to be honest I was on the edge of cramping up for a good few miles at the end but thankfully didn't. Was great to limp in together in the end after having split up a few times during the ride.

Also, they won't see it, but special thanks to the family by the side of the road offering to re-fill water bottles - 2 litres wasn't enough for me it turns out! With that unscheduled stop I got through about 3.5 litres and was still dehydrated.

Had an email offering an early bird entry for next year - too soon!! Need at least a few days to forget the pain before I contemplate doing that again!

Also, next time I do something like that I want to finish at a nice hotel, have a hot bath or shower, and meet my mates in the bar to share stories of our heroics while I am brought an endless supply of cold beers and pizza . (As opposed to 5 hours of uncomfortable driving and dealing with family emergencies!)

 

[berty bassett]

Well done to all my fellow TOC riders yesterday. Special mention to @Norry1 for an awesome ride and qualification for the worlds Gran Fondo (although seriously we could do with you not showing us up quite so much and making it look easy when we all suffered so much!!). Also to @Whorty for doing a great time on his singlespeed, and @theboxers for an awesome effort which while it just fell short of the full 100, was a mammoth ride all the same. We go at different paces but full respect for the sheer amount of time you stuck at it - over 8 hours!

@TurboTommy - and I think @berty bassett too? - had a taste of the cramp I suffered with towards the end last year (painful isn't it?!) and to be honest I was on the edge of cramping up for a good few miles at the end but thankfully didn't. Was great to limp in together in the end after having split up a few times during the ride.

Also, they won't see it, but special thanks to the family by the side of the road offering to re-fill water bottles - 2 litres wasn't enough for me it turns out! With that unscheduled stop I got through about 3.5 litres and was still dehydrated.

Had an email offering an early bird entry for next year - too soon!! Need at least a few days to forget the pain before I contemplate doing that again!

Also, next time I do something like that I want to finish at a nice hotel, have a hot bath or shower, and meet my mates in the bar to share stories of our heroics while I am brought an endless supply of cold beers and pizza . (As opposed to 5 hours of uncomfortable driving and dealing with family emergencies!)

What gave it away I had cramp ? Was it the frantic hopping around by the side of the road ? Oh and yes - it is mighty painful
I also had help from that family and without them I think my goose would have been well and truely cooked

 

[bridgy]

You named your Strava ride well @TurboTommy - a game of two halves! My average speed for the first - and hillier - 60 miles was 21.7mph, and the flatter last 40 with the winds was 18.8mph. Even the first half was slower than last year though - we had to gradually work our way through an awful lot of slower riders, and things really slowed up every time we hit a hill, until it eventually thinned out. I don't remember it being as crowded as that on the road at the start last year

 

[bridgy]

Lost my FIT file on the Elemnt Bolt, so can't upload to Strava. Really annoying as can't see splits etc Oh well, could be worse, I could be forced to spend time with Trump the Idiot today

To add my thoughts on the day.
It was warm
It was, at times, a smidge windy, but also there were sections where you could fly so probably evened out over the course
It was so much fun passing people who were riding multi thousand pounds bikes whilst I'm on a £225 SS
I don't think anyone went passed me on a single incline; whilst everyone else was dropping down gears and spinning, I was punching over the top. I was having to stay on the right hand side and flying over the hills.
Downside though, was quite literally the downside; I couldn't spin any faster than 36kph, so on the downs the geared bikes had the advantage.
On fast flats I was unable to hold wheels sometimes as I could spin fast enough. Had I geared bike I could have knocked more time off the course, but may not have been as much fun
Loved the crowds watching. I did milk it. Also nice to have the photography bike riding around, made you feel like a pro
Didn't see the same issues others had at food stops. Everyone I went to had plenty food and water but can imagine if you get there later and there was nothing left that this could be a stress.
No cramps for me, and still felt good at the end. I was still chasing riders right up to the line
All the hard work on Zwift really paid off. I was able to push on at times, knowing I could recover in wheels, then attack again later.
Rarely during the day did I soft pedal. It felt like a race at all times. Zwift has 'broken' me ... I was constantly trying to chase on, race past to next group, rinse and repeat

Yep, I had a great day. So glad I put the effort in to get there and we managed to get one of our friends up from London to look after HID for the day

Official times - and splits - are up on the TOC website Carl which may give you some extra info - https://resultsbase.net/event/4919/app/results?round=11571

 

[<Tommy>]

I was thinking about it last night once the blood had returned to my brain (about 23:30 )

I’ve done rides at much higher temperatures and not felt half that bad. I just went way too hard in that middle section. I think after being so bogged down with slower riders at the start, when we got a bit of clear road, we all went a little mad!

I just lost my head a bit I think. Still I’m not sure I’d do it any different next time!

Great to see you guys as always. Sorry I didn’t spend more time with some of you. Maybe we should plan a more sociable social ride