ginty001

Legs shredded thanks to run over campsie's into Lennoxtown. Would love to mate but furniture shopping tomorrow, oh joy.......

Chung pretty well gives a flavour of the soul destroying torment and perverted satisfaction of riding 170km of silky roads interspersed with 55 god foresaken kilometres of the the worst road surfacing known to man that was the norm before Mr Macadam came to be.
Why the rural north didn't adopt it we'll never know. But then I guess it would not have been a day in Hell if they had. (Not to mention a holiday)
Now that 24hrs have passed and some semblance of touch has returned to my hands I am, through a vin rouge mist, thinking that I kind of enjoyed it. Though it is a box that does not need ticking twice!!!
There is of course the usual Johnstone Fare and tales to be told of blocking roads and reversing up dual carriageways at 4:15 in the morning. As a previous "winner" this has my vote, regardless of the year remaining, for the Hamuk award!!! Mind you Coutie's unconventional use of a roof rack almost converting road side vehicles to convertibles does come a close second!
 
A great couple of days, proud to be a part of the JWCC's group finish in the Roubaix velodrome.
Well done guys!!

Well, this is morning after our Paris Roubaix & we all survived to tell the tales!
 
I just want to echo Billy's comment, indeed this was extremely HARD both for man & machine.
170km, 28 sectors of horrible pave which tried it's very best to throw you off the bike, but amazingly we all manage to stay up right and finished in one piece. In fact I don't think I've actually saw anyone fell off on the Pave, although Big Al Yullie had a wee incident, he clip the kerb on a road section while trying to "protect" me of some bollards ahead, what gent! :-)
We were also lucky on the mechanical front too, only one puncture, one dropped chain & a few lost bottle between the lot of us, not bad at all everything considered.
 
Personally, I think this was the hardest thing I've done on a bike!
I knew this was very hard but when having not done enough training due to my recent fight with a bollard, it wasn't ideal for me but I decided to do it anyway given the fact I paid & organized it already not to mention getting new set of wheels built for this.
It was an early 4am start to a really chilly day but weather improved as the day went on.
 
Anyway, 13 of us set off as a group eagerly waiting to hit the first sector of Pave. But when I hit the I first, boy did I feel like crying, it was nothing I've ever experienced before. I had my hands on the drops thinking if something happens I'm close to the brakes, I've been told only the either ride on the drops or top, never on the hood. While on the pave, you & bike are thrown violently from all directions with absolutely no control of the bike at all, this of course slows you right down & this just makes it much worse. I have to admit I want to quit after the first sector, I was deliberately looking out for some support vehicle or broom wagon. Luckily I got a toll from Tom & Andy (Martins Eastcoast pal) and manage to get through 6 sectors before we rejoined the group waiting at the first feed stop. By then I was still in sh*ty mood as I did not enjoy one second of it at all.
 
At this point I must say a big THANKS to all my fellow wheelers - Al, AllanM, Billy, Charlie, Greg, Iain, Mark, Martin, Paul & Tom and Martin's 2 friends Andy & Garvin for getting me through this. They waited, regroup, feed & water me along the way. I honestly think that I wouldn't have done it without you guys help.
 
As the sector came thick & fast I manage to felt a lot more comfortable on them to the point of date I say "enjoyed" them. But the 5 star "Trouee d'Arenberg" was the worst of all, big massive stones stopping every momentone of you have of going forward & it's long and straight. The sectors are graded 2-5 stars, 5 being the hardest of course and there was three 5 star ones. In a way, this wasn't a bike ride in the usual sense but more an obstacle course, as Chris Boardman said "the PR is a circus show"!
 
After a long day on the saddle, we all made it to the famous Roubaix Velodrome as one big group, riding the track & finishing altogether - pure brilliant. One fellow English PRer on the road summed it up quite well, "that's some Sunday Club run you guys are doing"!
To be honest, I got a bit emotional when I cross the finish. I honestly did not think I could make it, but again I want to thanks my team mate for getting me through this!
 
Now, we going to watch how it should be done proper!
 
Thanks for reading
 
Cheers
 
Chung

Brief report
Hard hard hard everything hurts this was brutal , it makes Flanders fell like a Largs run
I would say do it as it's an experience , but no chance I would ride this again

Free beer,it's a yes from me

Eventually settled for the following :-
 
Erskine Bridge, Stockiemuir, Killearn, Fintry, Carron Valley then the wee single track over to St Ninian (Stirling), over the Clackmannanshire Bridge, east to Dunfermline, Kingseat, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Cardenan, Kinglassie, Glenrothes, Cupar and the final destination of Carphin House... the first beer never even touched the sides on the way down..
 
I pretty much had a tailwind all the way apart from the Kincardine to Dunfermline stretch, the last bit from Glenrothes to Cupar when the wind had really picked up and goes between pan flat and slightly downhill was a hoot at 27-33mph for about 13 miles without working very hard...103.1 miles in total
 
the first part of the journey to Stirling was very scenic, i love that wee singe track from Carron Valley Dam into St Ninian's, not the best surface, but I like the remoteness and the views from the top are awesome... cycling through Fife didn't give me the same fuzzy feeling though, quite a few really inconsiderate drivers en route, and it is such a shame to see some of the mining villages that I assume were once bustling with energy and character now looking really tired and lifeless places..
 
I then proceeded to completely overindulge in food and bevvy for 2 days, undoing any good i might have done on the trip through..
 

Eventually settled for the following :-
 
Erskine Bridge, Stockiemuir, Killearn, Fintry, Carron Valley then the wee single track over to St Ninian (Stirling), over the Clackmannanshire Bridge, east to Dunfermline, Kingseat, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Cardenan, Kinglassie, Glenrothes, Cupar and the final destination of Carphin House... the first beer never even touched the sides on the way down..
 
I pretty much had a tailwind all the way apart from the Kincardine to Dunfermline stretch, the last bit from Glenrothes to Cupar when the wind had really picked up and goes between pan flat and slightly downhill was a hoot at 27-33mph for about 13 miles without working very hard...103.1 miles in total
 
the first part of the journey to Stirling was very scenic, i love that wee singe track from Carron Valley Dam into St Ninian's, not the best surface, but I like the remoteness and the views from the top are awesome... cycling through Fife didn't give me the same fuzzy feeling though, quite a few really inconsiderate drivers en route, and it is such a shame to see some of the mining villages that I assume were once bustling with energy and character now looking really tired and lifeless places..
 
I then proceeded to completely overindulge in food and bevvy for 2 days, undoing any good i might have done on the trip through..
 

Eventually settled for the following :-
 
Erskine Bridge, Stockiemuir, Killearn, Fintry, Carron Valley then the wee single track over to St Ninian (Stirling), over the Clackmannanshire Bridge, east to Dunfermline, Kingseat, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Cardenan, Kinglassie, Glenrothes, Cupar and the final destination of Carphin House... the first beer never even touched the sides on the way down..
 
I pretty much had a tailwind all the way apart from the Kincardine to Dunfermline stretch, the last bit from Glenrothes to Cupar when the wind had really picked up and goes between pan flat and slightly downhill was a hoot at 27-33mph for about 13 miles without working very hard...103.1 miles in total
 
the first part of the journey to Stirling was very scenic, i love that wee singe track from Carron Valley Dam into St Ninian's, not the best surface, but I like the remoteness and the views from the top are awesome... cycling through Fife didn't give me the same fuzzy feeling though, quite a few really inconsiderate drivers en route, and it is such a shame to see some of the mining villages that I assume were once bustling with energy and character now looking really tired and lifeless places..
 
I then proceeded to completely overindulge in food and bevvy for 2 days, undoing any good i might have done on the trip through..
 

Eventually settled for the following :-
 
Erskine Bridge, Stockiemuir, Killearn, Fintry, Carron Valley then the wee single track over to St Ninian (Stirling), over the Clackmannanshire Bridge, east to Dunfermline, Kingseat, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Cardenan, Kinglassie, Glenrothes, Cupar and the final destination of Carphin House... the first beer never even touched the sides on the way down..
 
I pretty much had a tailwind all the way apart from the Kincardine to Dunfermline stretch, the last bit from Glenrothes to Cupar when the wind had really picked up and goes between pan flat and slightly downhill was a hoot at 27-33mph for about 13 miles without working very hard...103.1 miles in total
 
the first part of the journey to Stirling was very scenic, i love that wee singe track from Carron Valley Dam into St Ninian's, not the best surface, but I like the remoteness and the views from the top are awesome... cycling through Fife didn't give me the same fuzzy feeling though, quite a few really inconsiderate drivers en route, and it is such a shame to see some of the mining villages that I assume were once bustling with energy and character now looking really tired and lifeless places..
 
I then proceeded to completely overindulge in food and bevvy for 2 days, undoing any good i might have done on the trip through..
 

Hi Allan,
 
I think that was just the minimum required to make the kit avialable to order, but i see the ladies tops and shorts are on the order page, so she should be able to go ahead and order for herself...
 
Cheers
Ian McGinty

I teed that one up for you Richard!

Easy to lose them when you're cycling round in endless circles.
 
Well done, everyone!

Well joansin boys u missed a cracking day in saddle. 10 of us out today. 9 couriers and me. Strong headwind to largs. I took the. 30 only cos no one else challenged me cos of conditions. Met Mcginty bill and Ian cowden at largs stop. After largs tough ride to ardrossan again into wind. A few riders fell by the wayside leaving me Jim cusick Lewis Ritchie and Lindsay . By this time I had given up going thru and just hung on till just after barmill turnoff when Lindsay and I lost the wheel but to our credit kept the. 3 guys in sight till I turned off at Lugton . Very slow ride home as my thighs were burning. Brilliant day

Irn Bru with ground up paracetamol in your bottle & some pakora for munching on.
 
Man up!

Pre-contemplative as yet Ian - looking out the window I might be better off with a ski helmet!

My suggestion for Sundays pace
Start hard to the bridge go harder to Sinclair street go very hard to A82 then put the hammer down all the way to Houston then sprint to Johnstone easy
Alternatively stick Paul and Andy on the front and hang on

You haggled a bike shop down from £15 to £14.
 
Do you have ancestors from Paisley?

I actually tried to get him down to a tenner, but he wasn't having it.
 
Well done though for getting to line 11 of what is far and away THE most boring post I have ever made (and there's some pretty stiff competition among my previous offerings.) Writing it down was more about stress-relief therapy than something you all actually had to read!

Well, you've helped a bit - at least I now know who our Kinesis riders are! It's been so long since I've been out with the bunch in winter that I couldn't remember who had one.
 
As a reward for replying, I'm going to attempt to bore you with the tale of my hunt for a hanger (or What I Did Today.)
 
I called a few shops in Glasgow this morning, including the place I got the frame from, with no joy. Alpine Bikes thought they had a hanger that would work, but they wanted to see the broken original before staking their reputation on it. While I was waiting for the rain to go off, I started googling: Walkers Cycles have the Kinesis hanger in their online store. I called to see if they actually had one in stock. They weren't sure and went off to check. My patience expired before they called back. I ordered the Kinesis hanger from ChainReaction with next day delivery (£13.99 now, Alan!) then went shopping. The chain and gear cable were trashed when the hanger sheared so I bought replacements from Willy Bain, and new jockey wheels for my rear mech. On the way home, I popped in to Alpine. Amazingly, the hanger they had in stock looked pretty much identical to my broken Kinesis hanger. It was made by a third-party manufacturer (Wheels Manufacturing from the US.) They make 200 different types of mech hanger. This was model number 42. The only problem was that they didn't list it as Kinesis compatible on their website.
 
The bloke in Alpine said it was originally £22. He offered it to me for 15. After some umming and ahing, I decided to take it and haggled him down to £14 - all so I can turbo! I cycled home and fitted the hanger, new chain, gear cable and jockey wheels (the old ones were actually missing teeth.) I indexed the gears and they were shifting quite well, up till the point I tried to put it on the biggest cog. The mech cage went right into the spokes. Half an hour later, with the limit screw as tight as it would go, I could still hear the tinkle-tinkle of cage on spokes in my lowest gear. The new hanger looks pretty well aligned to me, so I suspect my rear mech was bent out of shape when the hanger snapped off last night. Or it could be that a winter of neglect and riding along the muddy canal path has deformed the cage.
 
I'll try the proper Kinesis hanger when it arrives tomorrow. Then I'll probably have to buy a new rear mech! On the plus side, my turbo wheel, with its 25-tooth biggest cog, worked without the cage hitting the spokes so I got to do my intervals in the end! The moral of this story - if anyone has actually managed to read this far - is that it's probably a good idea to have a spare hanger in your parts bin because finding one quickly is a pain the backside. And clean your bikes!

Takes years of practice Iain

A tough day in the weather indeed, but mucho fun all the same....Glad you're okay Chung, was a nasty wee tumble and well done for finishing strongly in the bunch....Chungs gymnastics apart, no mechanicals, puntures, etc for the group, looks like the 9.45 bunch got everyones share today
 
Carol, indeed the Jaffa Cakes were welcomed by the troops, they were polished off along with the soup and AlanT's delicious cakes, thanks guys. I'll try to get the 9am bunch sorted with a set of keys for the next couple of Sundays...
 
Highlight of the day for me was Darryl's throw of a full banana skin in Stewarton, at the front of the bunch going at speed a full hurl of the banana skin against a wall and straight in to a half shut wheelie bin, awesome, he could try that 100 times and never repeat the feat, jammy sod..

Did you have a lottery win Al ?

i'll bring some rolls n butter along....

I don't have change of a pound!

Sorry Iain
My advice costs money