P McDonald

Enjoy it Mark, as it turns out I'm heading to Amstel the week before

Great wee APR this morning in fantastic weather with Murray showing the old guys how its done with a fine win, chapeau to him

Lots of great new surfaces round the Admiralty but still a couple of craters ! Ideal for this sort of thing 😁

Just posting a follow up to the Whatsapp message - there is an informal APR planned for the Barmill circuit on Saturday, I will be at clubrooms 9.30am to ride along track to Glengarnock for anyone who wants to join. Everyone is welcome and there will be generous time gaps to encourage an early group to stay away !

Good response so far with about 10 confirmed.

Look forward to seeing more on Saturday morning if you can make it.

Emma and I have entered the mighty Ronde van Vlanderen 2022 and really hope we are able to go ! Not booking any travel or accommodation until we see how things pan out, if it is on then we will be there for the full bhoona route.

sold

Hi Ramsay

Myself and daughter Emma thinking about it if we can get an entry. Entries not open yet but keeping an eye on it, I guess it could end up full with carry overs ! My plan would likely be to fly to Amsterdam, hire car etc with Emma getting train from London where she lives.

Keeping a watching brief

Just a heads up that 8 of us are heading to Torrevieja area from Thus 24th Feb to Wed 2nd March. If anyone else interested please get in touch with me, Darryl or Billy. Transport for up to twelve is sorted by Billy with a mini bus and trailer for bikes. 4 of us still to book accommodation so would be good to know by next weekend and we can book a bigger villa.

Cheers

I have a pair of Roval C38 wheels for sale, bought in 2019 and used in the summer. Condition is excellent, the bearings are all super smooth and the freehub regularly stripped, cleaned and lubed. They are true as the day I got them. They are tubeless ready and I will dig out the tubeless valves if needed although I've never used them (hope I can find them!) as only run with tubes, will come with rotors (which will need replaced soon) and lockrings but not cassette. 

Best I can see online is £1,100.

Sell for £600.

Did re accred last night, not sure I'll be there first few weeks

Thought it worth mentioning another astoundingly brilliant day on Arran where 5 of the 7 riders were JWCC members (although one missed the memo to wear the jersey😀)

3 new inductees to the Hall of Fame were Sean Delaney, John McGivern and Mark Cushley who are all regular Saturday bunchers, repeaters in the Hall of Fame were David Archibald, Richie Provan, Garry Dunn and myself so chapeau to all,

5 of our number finished a bit ahead and took the Island Loop KOM by a chunky margin on a near perfect day with virtually no wind. The weather was so brilliant it was a shame all we could really view was a 700x25 GP5000 and a rear hub !!

The legend grows and I see another double taking shape in my crystal ball. Get training hard because you know you want to,

Forza Arran Forever !

Just to add to the colourful debate  - it was Jan who dreamt up this one a good few years ago - big day out. As you can see on his Strava link we did the Mennock pass from the South which I reckon is best as psychologically you are a bit closer to home after the descent. Café stop at top of Mennock was very nice. I reckon when you get to Dungavel returning via Galston is best bet (don't listen to Archibald and his Eaglesham ) for simple reason roads are known and by that time you are thinking shortest way home !

Second café stop in Muirkirk always an option at the Greasy Spoon - home of the chicken burger. When we did it we didn't have a 2nd stop but did raid a supermarket in Darvel for as much chocolate and biscuits as we could eat.

Have fun

Hi Kenny

Yes for me for any slots that become available

thanks

Yes for me Kenny - very late to this thread !

Sorry, no, that sounds like a tricky one. I'm sure you've checked out google for solutions

Just saw this, great memories, also made me think just how many decades I have been habbling down the Westferry 😁

Hello Ramsay, hope all good with you both

I have used Espresso's for a few years now, would recommend them, they are very good. I reckon go for the first one in the range which has the metal wear plate - last time I bought a pair it was the Espresso 4.  

Only small downside is cleats wear out a bit quicker than others. 

cheers

Would be heading to Calpe in summer Billy as I have a villa booking transferred from July 20 to July 21. The thought of the silky smooth mountain roads and sunshine is what is keeping me going. And trying to beat my PB on the Col de Rates 🌞 

Update on this thread and the banter on the WhatsApp thread,

Been time limited this week but investigating RGT it looks like you need to subscribe in order to upload a route. I thought I would suss out the free version first to see how it works.

On the subject of a UA, basically the established 20mph challenge for the SA and DA is the exact same for a TA or QA, ie you need to average 20mph from when you get off the boat to get back on. I reckon 2 challenges might qualify for a UA,

1) Just doing 4 laps in a day regardless of time, you would need to stay overnight as if you don't average 20mph for the 224 miles then you can't do the ferry thing in a day.

2) Perhaps a better one would be a 50TA, this would be 3 laps of 50 miles over the Ross so 150 miles and the target speed to catch the ferry would be 18mph. I reckon this would work out harder than a DA.

So there you go George, if you are looking for an Ultra Arran the scene is set ….

Of course, I really hope to get a trip in the summer as well  

Guys

Just wondered if anyone has any experience of RGT platform which is a competitor to Zwift. Reason for asking is I read that you can upload a route and by 'chance' I thought of Arran and we could add a new category to the Hall of Fame - the VA Virtual Arran - time limit would be about 2h45m

Just as a reminder of better times and challenges to come the current categories are,

SA - Single Arran

SSA - Solo Single Arran

WA - Winter Arran

56+50 - Double Arran with 'minor' shortcut over the Ross

The mythical DA - Double Arran

cheers

Here's some more Davie

Hey Davie

I think its great that you did post this message especially if it helps you come to terms with your reality. Please do fight it head on and make the very most of whatever time you have which may be longer than you think. Seeing the pictures from our Roubaix trip ( with the other crazy Paul! ) really brought it all back. Seem to remember going to bar for a 'coffee' late morning beside the velodrome and ending up spending the whole day watching the big screen - I'll see if I have some other pictures. Also remember getting up about 3am to ride 1 hour to the bus down to the start ?!

Perhaps you can be the Derny pacer for a cyclo cross / gravel ride when you get the new steed,

All the best

Got a loan one sorted, thanks Richie

Would anyone have a Di2 rear mech I could borrow to use on my Zwift bike for a few weeks until I get a warranty replacement, the one I have has broke at a very awkward time !

Realistically it could be late January before I get the replacement with holidays etc

cheers

Paul

Was expecting this one, we'll just need to be more inventive with Zwift