ginty001

That's fine will give George a chance to catch up

turned up, didn't look at post before I left. I don't like that car park on my own.

2015-05-16. 400KM SOUTHERN UPLANDS
 
ROUTE
 
STARTING MUSSELBURGH, INNERLEITHEN 27 MILES, JOHNSTONEBRIDGE 64 MILES, NEWTON STEWART 125 MILES, MAYBOLE 158 MILES, ABINGTON SERVICES 209 MILES & BACK TO MUSSELBURGH TESCO EXTRA 252 MILES.
WE STARTED FROM MUSSELBURGH AT 6. THE FORECAST WAS NOT TOO GOOD FOR THIS AS THE WIND WAS IN MY FACE FOR THE FIRST 125 MILE, BUT WE DID GET SOME SHELTER AND WE WERE FARE ENOUGH SOUTH TO MISS ALL THE RAIN THAT HAD BEEN FORECAST AND IT WAS DRY AS WE LEFT. NOT MUCH HAPPED BUT HARD WORK INTO THE WIND TILL NEWTON STEWART.
 
HALF WAY WAS NEWTON STEWART AND FROM THERE IT WAS OVER TO MAYBOLE VIA THE NICK O BALCH NIECE CLIMB AND A GOOD DESCENT TO THE CO OP IN MAYBOLE FOR FOOD. IT WAS THEN HEADING FOR ABINGTON THIS WOULD BE A STRETCH OF 51 MILES WITH NO FOOD. THE WIND HAD DROP AS WE WENT INTO THE EVENING THE ROADS WERE REAL RUFF OUT OF DALMELLINGTON TO NEW CUMNOCK THIS IS ALSO A HIGH ROAD AND THE STARS WERE OUT AS IT WAS A CLEAR NIGHT PITY YOU HAD TO WATCH THE ROAD LIKE A EYE ON IT FOR STONES AND REAL RUFF SECTIONS ONES ON THE MAIN A76 ROAD TO SANQUHAR THE ROAD WAS GOOD. LEFT TURN UP THE GLEN TO CRAWFORDJOHN AND THEN THE DROP DOWN TO THE ABINGTON SERVICES. THERE WERE SAUSAGE ROLL JUST OUT THE OVEN SO IT WAS 3 OF THEM MILK COFFEE AND COUPLE OF DOUBLE DECKER’S. THIS WAS GOING TO GET US UP THE LAST 43 MILES TO MUSSELBURGH WITH A GOOD TAIL WIND THIS WAS DONE IN 2 1/2 HOURS
GOOD TRAINING RIDE.
 
THIS WAS A X RATED RIDE AS THERE ARE NO FACILITIES PUT ON FOR THE RIDE OR AT THE START OR FINISH YOU HAVE TO FIND YOUR ON FOOD, CAFÉ STOPS ON THE WAY. SO SOME FORWARD PLANNING OF YOUR RIDE IS REQUIRED.
 
600KM IS ON 6TH JUNE THIS IS MY LAST QUALIFICATION RIDE FOR THE PBP.
 
CAMPBELL

Not a good day. It only rained during my warmup, and not during the race, but of course, the roads were soaked by then, there was a tough headwind on the out leg, seeing me to the 13 mile turn in just under 40 minutes, then turn round with the wind behind me, and back in about 30. Went off the boil a bit at the top of the climb after the turn, lost a bit of focus at about 18 miles, and got it back with 5 to go. Got passed twice inside 5 miles. Finished last in 1:09:36. Disappointing.
 
Didn't lose any bits off my bike.
 
 
On the other hand it's a good rolling course with some stunning views across the Cromarty Firth. Not that I had time to look at them during the race. It kicked off at 8am to avoid the traffic. I don't think I would liked to have started any later from the way traffic was building.
 
Good event. Recommended.

Week 3: After last weeks bombscare the riding was much better tonight. Made a harder effort to stay out of trouble, so that meant more riding at the front, although a couple of lapses in concentration had me at the back too as usual. Felt reasonable throughout and with 3 laps to go found myself on the front and ended up leading the bunch for a lap. Not ideal with a strong headwind on the back straight but i wasnt exactly going hard more just waiting for an attack which someone went for with 2 to go, i followed and aftera bit looked back to see what was happening and we had a gap of maybe 10 metres...&*%$ going to have to commit to this now, but i committed a bit much and over cooked the 180 degree corner and went onto the grass (i guess that makes me the chopper this week!), eventually get on to the guys wheel again and another couple of riders have come across, we still have a gap i come to the front to try and drive the pace but no-one else comes through and we get caught and swamped with half lap to go, recover a bit then sprint, probably about 12 back at this point, manage to make up a few places in the sprint to finish 6th or 7th. 
 
Anyway really enjoyed tonight, all the bad stuff from last week is forgotten!

Got the start sheet through today. Going off at 38 in a field of 40, so I should not get passed more than twice

Mainland Spain. Grenada ?

Thanks to Mike, Billy & Alan.
 
A hard night & not the time I'd hoped for but good fun.
 
Pity I forgot my bike was still leaning against my car as I drove off. Heard a loud bang as it fell but only a wee scrape to the bars & brake lever. What a diddy.

ALL
 
THE START WAS FROM CORSTORPHINE OLD PARISH CHURCH AT 21:00
 
THE ROUTE WAS CORSTORPHINE 21:00 FRIDAY 8TH , GRANGEMOUTH, BRIDGE OF ALLAN, BRACO, COMRIE AT 59 MILE AT 01:00 SATURDAY 9TH  THIS WAS A FEED POINT WITH FORFAR BRIDE & BEANS, PERTH – 83 MILES, BRECHIN – 123 MILES , EDZELL 128 – MILES AND BREAKFASTED 07:00, BLAIRGOWRIE 160 MILES, GLENEAGLES 191 MILES, DUNBLANE 206 MILES THEN ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF THE FORTH THROUGH THE FAMOUS TOWN OF CROMBIE OVER FORTH ROAD BRIDGE AND BACK TO CORSTORPHINE 252 MILES BUY 19:45.
NOT A BAD RUN AFTER A DAYS WORK ON THE FRIDAY.
THERE WAS ONE REAL DOWNER ON THE RIDE FOR ME AS AT EDZELL I WAS NOT GOING THAT WELL AND HAVING TROUBLE EATING IT WAS DEHYDRATION AND TOOK ME A FEW HOURS TO GET MY SELF RIGHT. BUT THIS APART I LEFT MY BAG IN EDZELL AT THE HOTEL WE HAD BREAKFAST IN, SO ROBERT HOW WAS FAST CYCLING KINDLY WENT BACK FOR IT AS I TRIED TO SORT MY SELF OUT WITH SOME FOOD AND WATER THIS HELD US UP BY AROUND 2 HOURS WE THINK. WE WERE AMING TO FINISH BETWEEN 17:00 & 19:00 SO 45 MINUTES OUT OF TIME WAS NOT TOO BAD. MANY THANKS MUST GO TO ROBERT. IT HAD RAINED ON AND OF OVER NIGHT BUT ON THE SATURDAY THE SUN DID COME OUT FOR US. BUT WE DID HAVE A HAL STONE SHOWER AS WE PASSED GLENEAGLES. IT WAS A REST DAY ON THE SUNDAY BUT BACK ON THE BIKE TODAY.
 
WELL THAT’S THE 3RD QUALIFIER FOR PBP.
ANOTHER 400KM RIDE NEXT WEEK JUST A TRAINING RIDE NOW 600KM FIRST WEEKEND IN JUNE WILL LET YOU KNOW HOW I GET ON.
 
CAMPBELL

Don't blame Cameron for the rain. It's my fault for taking the day off. 

Daryl,
Al spoke to me about this.
If it's still a day ride why not ride from the pub in Troutbeck; starts with a dual carriageway drag, through Keswick, has kirkstone as the last big one and a drag over 'whatever it's called edge'. Saves driving all the way into coniston thereby saving you 1/2. Hr or more driving each way at least. Maybe more?
I'm probably coming along with Al if the Tories of Englandshire haven't executed all the public service workers by then and sold off their teeth and hair. I hear they are opening a smelting plant in Renfrewshire for the fillings. Oh, and a rendering plant for Glasgow City...

Good to hear Alex :-)

report from the first race: pumped A wee bit of help.
 
Slightly longer. Got held up in traffic so by the time i'd signed in i didnt have time for a proper warm up. Fast early on and i was feeling awful but still hanging on in the front bunch until after the prime lap, i didnt go for that as i was struggling but the increase in pace had me off the back then into the headwind...gap grew to 10 metres...then 20. Pegged it at that for a bit but then it started going out again and i had to ease off.  An ERC rider came round and we worked together for the rest of the race...he was doing most of the work, i contributed what i could but not much.  There was the front group (im not sure how many were in it - maybe about 12-15) then there were us 2 and then another fairly large group who were lapped by the front group and we were catching them too so thats not too bad. Then some other stragglers. So not great but hopefully can improve in the coming weeks.
 
wheelsucked the whole of the last lap then shamelessly came round to take the sprint. I did apologise afterwards!

Iain C requested I let you know how things went.
 
Op done. Very sore, but the painkillers are magic!
 
The six weeks off a bike are reduced to at least two and I've to judge by my body's reaction to cycling. If the body says ouch! I've to stop.
 
Fingers crossed I'll be out for some easy solo rides in two weeks or so and maybe jump in with the inter group to see how I cope in a Bunch. Summer ain't looking so bad after all.
 
Enjoy the sunshine folks!

Richard class act. Mcginty looking good for this season. As for statler & Waldorf u 2 need to get back on the bevvy cos this diet malarkey is making u both grumpy

MERSE & MOORS 300 18TH APRIL 2015
 
THIS STARTED IN MUSSLEBURGH AT 06.00 & WE HEADED UP THE A7 THEN TURNING ON TO THE B7007 TO INNERLEITHEN – WHICH WAS FIRST CHECK POINT QUICK SNACK AS THE NEXT SECTION WOULD TAKE US TO ELSDON IN ENGLAND VIA CARTER BAR AT 418M SO GOOD VIEW FROM HEAR THEN A NICE DESCENT TO ELSDON FOR SOME BEANS ON TOAST SOUP & TEA THIS WAS 88 MILES IN. THEN FROM THERE IT WAS WEST TO ALNWICK ITS IS A SHORT SECTION OF 23 MILES BUT THERE ARE SEVERAL STEEP & LONG CLIMBS ON THIS STAGE WHICH TOOK IT TOLL ON MY LEGS BUT AFTER SOME FOOD FROM GREGGS IN ALNWICK AND THE ROLLING ROADS UP TO COLDSTREAM SO THE LEGS RECOVER WELL. FROM COLDSTREAM TO DUNBAR  THE ROADS ARE ROLLING TILL YOU GET TO DUNNS & THEN THERE MORE LUMPY GETTING TO DUNBAR AS THE SUN START TO SET. ITS THEN THE DRAG RACE ALONG THE OLD A1 RENUMBERED THE A199 TO MUSSLEBURGH GETTING TO THE FINISH FOR 21.10  . THE RIDE WAS 196 MILES WITH 13700 FT OF CLIMBING SO I WAS PLEASED WITH MY DAY RUN. SECOND PBP QUALIFIER DONE NEXT IS 400KM STARTING FRIDAY 8TH MAY
 
CAMPBELL

Ginty
I will tell him that the pint he owes u is for me

Absolutely great day with the JWCC, great company, great weather and scenery, and a nice new cafe for future runs..... All the best to the LBL'rs for next weekend, hope all goes well... tell big Phil i was asking for him...

Miller st 8am. Richard I will bring the sun cream

Excellent read Chung, but you're not exactly selling it very well

Hi All,
 
Some of you might know that I had planned on doing the Paris-Roubaix Challenge again this year, since I "enjoyed" it so much last year & thought I must go back to put myself through this again. So, I thought I would write a wee report on my trip with my friend Stevie from the Velo.
 
The travelling schedule was bikes on cars with everyone travelling to Hull on Thursday for a over night ferry crossing arriving Friday morning in Zeebrugga.
This time, without the police chasing us, we had time to spare before our journey to Lille, a short drive to Oudenaarde to visit the "Flanders Museum" & have lunch/beer under the gaze of Merckx & Martens etc.
We even manage to get the bikes out & cycled 3 of the iconic climbs of the Tour of Flanders - Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg & the Koppenberg. It was a fantastic wee detour!
 
Driving through even a small part of Belgium, I could not help but enjoy/admire this beautiful country. All the houses seems to be well designed & looked after, the roads are clean & the people are so relaxed & friendly. It'll be a place that I would love to go back to with my family for sure!
 
Now, its a well known fact that movie sequels are always s**ter than the original one. Well, in my Paris Roubaix Part 2, it was definitely the case in terms of the weather
 
The extremely early coach trip to the start village of Busigny was never very pleasant, but to be met by weather of rain & strong wind just about made me want to jump back onto the coach again (especially as I decided NOT to pack a rain jacket, I comforted myself by seeing a LOT of riders making the same mistake)
We arrived fairly early which meant it was very busy, so we held back a bit before starting so that the roads won't be busy especially going into the Pave sectour, it's bad enough when it was dry but the wet stones was going to be a different ball game altogether. Having ridden it last year, I kind of knew what was coming (the others had the previous day experience of the Flander climbs too) but on the wet .............. it'll be "tricky"!
 
On the run in to the first Pave sectour, there was a lot of puncture compare to last years both on/off the road and this would be the trend through out the day. (I had a total blow out on my tubs too, but thankfully I got it fixed & resumed my ride)
 
The wet Pave is like riding on "lumpy ice" (not that I've done it before), it's just a very, very un-pleasent & a SCARY experience for me, I was slipping & sliding every where, traction was poor - definitely a new one for me. It kind of brings back some of the awful feeling I had from last year. But I manage to stay calm/focus and just took things as it comes & stay positive. There was quite a few folks crashing onto the verge of the sectors & face planting the fields & ditches, bloody awful!
 
This was a long ride, and no doubt you'll go through mixed emotions & you have good/bad times. For me, I just had to stay positive & get on with it. But those thousands of horrible stones will do it's very best to smash your wheels/bike & your body/sanity.
All around me, I saw cyclist loosing the plot as emotionally/physically, they were pushed/forced over the edge. Some were standing on the side looking lost & destroyed, but at the same time you have normal residents going about their business - it was a very surreal image indeed!
I saw on one section of the Pave - a cyclist in front of me crashed into the verge & got up, picked up his bike & flung it onto the field with disgust before kicking this fallen bottles like he was dribbling a football - bizarre (luckily I saw the same cyclist at the finish looking a lot "normal") It certainly drives people insane!
 
Luckily as the route went on, the weather got a bit better & dryer which mean some of the Pave sectors were dry at least but the Arenberg was a totally nightmare, it was wet & it was very very greasy, not to mention the famous huge stones & bigger gaps which makes it legendary. 100m in and an ambulance crew was tending to a guy that had fallen and broken his leg. Then a pile up just behind me with a Velo also going down, which meant we had to stop to check (which was very tricky indeed) to see if he was ok, luckily he was but getting going again was almost impossible.
 
Seeing how this stretch really was un-ridable, cyclist started to mount the pavement on the right hand side, a few followed & got through but the event stewarts saw this & immediately pulled the ropes back up to prevent more folks from doing that (they were only doing their job I suppose :-)) bloody murderers!
I have no idea how I manage to stay rubber side down, but thankfully I did & manage to finished the Arenberg unscathed!
 
After that, It all kind of gotten into a routine for me - road, eat, drink, Pave, road, eat, drink, Pave ......... so on..... and before I know it, we were almost into Roubaix, and by now it was sunny :-) Just the easy ride through the suburb traffic & into the Velodrome fro the final finish.
 
This year, for me it was less emotional but still just as enjoyable even though the weather was not favourable at all - what with the rain & strong head/cross wind, it certainly made the pave sections a lot harder & more demanding to ride on for sure!
 
Anyway, job done & collected my medal, but still a 15km ride back to Lille as we had to cycle into Roubaix on the morning.
 
So, this is my sequel ..................... one faces a dilemma .......... should I make another one - part 3 ............. :-) anyone for next year then?
 
Thanks for reading
 
Cheers
 
Chung

Some photos from this morning.

ALL
SHORT REPORT OF FIRST OF THE PBP QUALIFYING RIDES COMPLETED THERE ON SUNDAY 8TH MAY IT WAS A 209KM (130 MILES)
 
THE ROUTE WENT FROM DALMENY ON THE FORTH TO DOLLER IN FIFE VIA THE FORTH ROAD BRIDGE THEN OVER TO AUCHTERARDER VIA GLEN EAGLES. THEN A COASTAL RUN ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE TAY TO TAYPORT WITH SOME SUPER VIEWS ON THIS STRETCH FROM THERE TO ST ANDREWS FOR SOME FOOD, 85 MILES DONE BY THIS POINT. THEN IT WAS IN TO A HEAVY WESTERLY TO FALKLAND (105 MILES) MORE FOOD AS THERE IS A LONG CLIMB OVER THE LOMOND HILLS THEN IT WAS DOWN HILL TO THE BRIDGE AND BACK TO DALMENY. FOR SOME COFFEE (130 MILES).
 
ALAN FOX & I COMPLETED THIS RIDE WITH HEAVY LEGS BUT LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT 200KM ON SAT 28TH MARCH – MORE PASSES THAN MASTERMIND.
 IT WAS OUR LONGEST RIDE THIS YEAR SO FAR.
 
CAMPBELL

Are you trying to fit the tyre to a metal dustbin lid?
 
Made the same mistake myself.

what happened to the posting of the Sinclair st reliability ?