Alan McLean

Very sorry I cannot join you.
 
On that Sunday I will be going for a ride on billiard table smooth roads by Alcudia then off to Tollo's bar in Puerto Pollensa by 3pm to catch the last hour of the race.
 
Have fun.
 
Alan

Bit off topic but yes, if you can ski 55 deg boiler plate.

Got half a lap ahead in a break of three in the points race but not strong enough to stay away. At least I have abandoned futile solo attacks.
 
Faded in the last two laps of scratch races when speed went up.
 
Need to either improve sprint or endurance or tactics or all three.
 
Will do squats all week.

Just noticed I put a question mark? at the end of that sentence? as if I've been talking to teenagers all the time? and I'm not even joking?

Online entry closed. Anyone know if they will accept eol for youths? Don't want to email organiser (yet).

Could be fun.
 
Our local friendly track commissaires report that it takes about 25 years to get enough UCI brownie points to referee at TdF/olympics etc
 
Apply now for red Skoda hovercar glory in 2040.

...the bunch that put the WC in JWCC
...most convenient public training in WoS
 
 
I hope to join on Sat 23rd, weather permitting,

Could be fun.
 
Our local friendly track commissaires report that it takes about 25 years to get enough UCI brownie points to referee at TdF/olympics etc
 
Apply now for red Skoda hovercar glory in 2040.

Iain McGinty and me, two up from Bishopton to Govan. Tailwind, lovely start to the day.

Iain McGinty and me, two up from Bishopton to Govan. Tailwind, lovely start to the day.

I saw it in a pawnshop in Paisley. Very new and completely out of place amongst the other tat.
 
It still had a bike computer on the bars which was very odd.
 
Anyone not checked their garage for a while?
 
Alan

Darryl wondered where I found the time to prepare pseudo papers....
 
http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/scigen/

http://app.strava.com/segments/1815431
 
How could I forget this?

I thought it might be helpful to expand on Darryl's philosophy work a little.
 
Andy Gumley is a pretty bright uni guy too so we threw together this quick paper. We've included some references to our previous work for context.
 
Hope you sell the bike.
 
Alan
jwcc citation.pdf

I am still coughing after more stupid attacks. Next week, new tactics...
 
Lewis M gets red jersey for A devil performance. He crossed the line second but the "winner" had taken a wee shortcut on the blue.

Thanks Billy, lots of good advice for safe riding.
 
Some other ideas on comfortable fast riding to cover big distances. (These do not apply on weeknight bonkers hard man training sessions.)
 
The riders on the front have a responsibilty to set a steady pace, not blow the bunch to pieces when they are feeling good. Do not accelerate when you get to the front. If you are feeling strong then do longer spells and be prepared to sit at the front to pull everyone back from Milngavie when they're all blown. People will love you for it.
 
Watch any pro break on telly, short spells on the front with smooth changes in a tight group are the key to eating miles. Splintered bunches feel rubbish, look rubbish and ride slow.
 
Leaders needs to ease up going uphill because otherwise the bunch will always split due to slinky effect. Don't worry if it feels slower, it HAS to be slower for the same power, that's what your gears are for, durr.
 
If someone wants to have a go they can overtake the leaders on a hill but please don't make every hill a race because the steady circulation is disrupted, ultimately slowing the bunch.
 
Please listen to Mark and do not half-wheel at the front (riding twelve inches ahead of the other rider.) This has three effects: 1) the paired rider feels they have to accelerate to keep up which is incredibly tedious as the half-wheeler always pulls away again, 2) both lines are now out of sync and the twelve inch overlap at the front becomes a whole bike length further back so no-one can speak to their mates and 3) everybody wishes you had joined another club. Preferably in Tayside.
 
As Billy says the leader always pedals downhill unless very steep. If the leaders freewheel on descents then the riders in the draft will have to brake.
 
If you need to slow down on descents then sit up in the wind, try to leave brake levers alone.
 
Only stand to pedal on a hill if no-one is right behind you. Your back wheel shoots back 6 inches on standing and could take someone down.
 
Learn how to replace an inner tube in under 5 minutes and carry gas. Canisters are <50p each online which is a bargain on a cold day with twenty riders waiting for you to try to get to 120 psi with a useless biro sized pocket pump.
 
Alan

Fantastic racing from our younger riders with several podiums.
 
Danny Mulholland, 3rd in B boys, Sarah Bradford 2nd and Katie McLean 3rd in A girls. :banana
 
Luisa Steele just missed out, 4th in the bunch in B girls and Lewis Mulholland held on in a ferocious final lap for 6th in A boys.
 
Alan
 
Some people went back for the Sunday meet, report awaited

Thanks Billy, lots of good advice for safe riding.
 
Some other ideas on comfortable fast riding to cover big distances. (These do not apply on weeknight bonkers hard man training sessions.)
 
The riders on the front have a responsibilty to set a steady pace, not blow the bunch to pieces when they are feeling good. Do not accelerate when you get to the front. If you are feeling strong then do longer spells and be prepared to sit at the front to pull everyone back from Milngavie when they're all blown. People will love you for it.
 
Watch any pro break on telly, short spells on the front with smooth changes in a tight group are the key to eating miles. Splintered bunches feel rubbish, look rubbish and ride slow.
 
Leaders needs to ease up going uphill because otherwise the bunch will always split due to slinky effect. Don't worry if it feels slower, it HAS to be slower for the same power, that's what your gears are for, durr.
 
If someone wants to have a go they can overtake the leaders on a hill but please don't make every hill a race because the steady circulation is disrupted, ultimately slowing the bunch.
 
Please listen to Mark and do not half-wheel at the front (riding twelve inches ahead of the other rider.) This has three effects: 1) the paired rider feels they have to accelerate to keep up which is incredibly tedious as the half-wheeler always pulls away again, 2) both lines are now out of sync and the twelve inch overlap at the front becomes a whole bike length further back so no-one can speak to their mates and 3) everybody wishes you had joined another club. Preferably in Tayside.
 
As Billy says the leader always pedals downhill unless very steep. If the leaders freewheel on descents then the riders in the draft will have to brake.
 
If you need to slow down on descents then sit up in the wind, try to leave brake levers alone.
 
Only stand to pedal on a hill if no-one is right behind you. Your back wheel shoots back 6 inches on standing and could take someone down.
 
Learn how to replace an inner tube in under 5 minutes and carry gas. Canisters are <50p each online which is a bargain on a cold day with twenty riders waiting for you to try to get to 120 psi with a useless biro sized pocket pump.
 
Alan

Paul, Richard and, above all, Al dominated the B group in a great display of racing.
 
Al now has a favoured tactic in the scratch races of launching from top of track into turbo pursuit mode with 6-8 laps to go. No-one could catch him and only his team mates were close.
 
It was exciting to watch.
 
I think all three should be racing A next week.
 
Alan

Paul, Richard and, above all, Al dominated the B group in a great display of racing.
 
Al now has a favoured tactic in the scratch races of launching from top of track into turbo pursuit mode with 6-8 laps to go. No-one could catch him and only his team mates were close.
 
It was exciting to watch.
 
I think all three should be racing A next week.
 
Alan

No race report, just a huge thank you to Martin and Kenny for organising a very popular series of races in Bellahouston for young riders from all over west and central Scotland.
 
The last racing was held tonight in perfect conditions, bright sunshine in the early evening.
 
The bell lap of the final race of the final meet rang at the moment that the sun disappeared below the horizon.
 
The series winners' jerseys were awarded in front of a big crowd of riders and parents in the twilight and then we all went home.
 
Perfect ending.
 
See you all next year.
 
(Anyone for cross?)

Darryl,
 
Adam Smith or David Hume? And why not an avatar in the likeness of new super bouffant pouting rock star sprinter Marcel Kittel?

Ti's lovely but I would buy cheapo Dolan alloy frame and spend big money on a bonkers wheelset.

Rumours correct but how did you know?
 
Yes I was at the Ayr Triathlon which is held in Doonfoot, a quiet outpost of Ayr which reminds me of south Cornwall.
 
Lots of bungalows, tidy gardens and beaches.
 
A bridge over the river provided a super grandstand for spectators to watch the swim up and down the river followed by a bike out to Dunure and back.
 
It was bonkers windy but 60mm rims were ok and I could handle the tribars.
 
Third into T2, I passed one runner but was passed in turn by another so I was third overall and 1st vet.
 
http://www.ayrodynamic.co.uk/results/2013/AYR_OWTri_2013_ProvResults.pdf
 
Thought of you all in Millport. :banana
 
Alan

Lovely weather this year for the Scottish Sprint Champs based in a wee country park in Fife. Last year was drizzle and 9 degrees, this year it was sunny and 17 degrees.
 
swim in loch then 20something k road bike round Cowdenbeath with a 5k run to finish.
 
Extremely busy, about 500 athletes.
 
we started in waves which makes it difficult to know exactly where you are in a race. Anyway no-one passed me on the bike or run from my wave but I only got 4th vet so I reckon I must have been well beaten in the swim.
 
Delighted to find that ERC give wine as prizes, much more fun than a pair of inner tubes.
 
Then straight back to the velodrome for the Youth Omnium and relaxed watching our younger riders make the podium. :banana
 
Alan