al yuille

Results ? Privacy is theft. My last result was 235 which was disappointing but it was under SKY protocols on a watt bike as opposed to an a $2000 ego meter !

Recovery ! https://www.strava.com/athletes/1800401

Beat me to it Paul !

https://www.strava.com/activities/405790502#kudos Double Mt Wellington - 20km climb. Beautiful day at last after coldest winter in 50 years in Tasmania ! Paul, will be in Pyrenees in July anyway but will probably not be able to resist.

Largs !

Ah , thought it was a typo .

Epic effort !

Touche George - and you will finish one place higher !

I will bow out. Will be in the Alps/Pyrenees one way or the other anyway. Sportives will never make you happy. You will always finish behind me (Billy, Charlie, Darryl ?) . Learn to enjoy going slowly. To travel hopefully is better than to arrive.

Has anyone looked at the title of this thread ? I remember that no one ( P.McD excepted ) wanted to ride much before the NC. A week with no sportive means riding every day. Chalets a good idea. Chamonix valley only 1 hr transfer from Geneva, Easyjet from Edinburgh. La Chambre ,Ossians another hour. Plenty of companies dealing with cycling hols. Riding Tour colls every day with few other riders, stopping for coffee, enjoying the views , taking a few photos or a one off head down, smashfest , dodging the crashes ( or not !) and no real idea where you went. Save it for Arran, much cheaper. We seem to be rushing off at a tangent and when one person books up the rest will be scrabbling around a la Liege. 4/5 days just to ride the sportive is what we've done the last couple of years , I would rather spend more time riding. May be that a week is too much time for some so could be room for separate trips.

Nice ride Richard. Must be those Aussie wheels Chung told me about !

Good luck guys ! Did I mention I finished in front of Marianne Voss last year. Charlie had a "puncture".

Looks like there is an appetite for the big Tour climbs next year - Billy can hardly wait. I guess most people will be 3\4 days as usual but a week would be nice. If we got organised early then we might avoid the trains, planes, automobiles ( and taxis ) LBL scenario. Should go with someone who can do access, transfers, catering etc. Might look more expensive but an all in price up front lets everyone know whats involved. Prob want to be in the Maurienne for the Alps or Luchon for the Pyrenees. Late June at the earliest I guess or could go as late as September. Plenty of time for someone to organise ! http://www.cyclingascents.com/bedandbreakfast.html#.Vbl1uXir1AY http://bikelodging.com/chalet/allemont-vaujany/vaujany-catered-chalet http://www.alpinecadence.com/accommodation.php http://www.villaportillon.com/Summer%20Rates.htm

Sorry George, the people have spoken ! Will open new tread.

Been there, got the T-shirt. Alps or Pyrenees for a week next year George.

Week in the Alps next year then ?

Richard has been in the Pain Cave ! He has also obviously been turboing. Get him on a long run.

Epic day out Paul !

Anyone for Largs ?

OCD no better Kenny ! Trip off or just an excuse to build another bike ?

It's getting tedious Chung ! Never mind, off to the west coast of Eire on Wednesday - what could possibly go wrong

Myself, Simon Simpson and a guest from GMBC were up in Stonehaven this weekend for this event. Sunny on the drive up on Friday but drove into sea fog about 4 miles from Stonehaven. Visibility down to 100 m and the last we were to see of the sun till we were off the bikes. Camping overnight and ,on cue , the rain started 10 mins before our 6 am alarm. A couple of spoonfulls of porridge and off to sign on in the rain. Only 10 starters - should have thought better of it as Ronnie Chard was there but not riding. Getting soft after his Corsican trip ! Slow start but we were sure the guy with the PBP plate knew what he was doing - 400 is a long way. All other riders had packs, saddle bags , mud guards etc , we were on the usual set up. Rain got constantly heavier and by the time we reached the summit of Cairn O Mount everyone was getting cold ( I had 4 layers on). Organiser was waiting with his cold toddlers and welcome Mars bars and Snickers. Fairly subdued descent due to conditions but would still have taken a minute out of you Darryl ! Long stretch rising slowly along the Dee to Ballater where we upped the pace , to get some heat going and in anticipation of the cafe, and dropped the boys with the muddies. Rain at this point torrential. Into the first cafe where we proceeded to flood the place as water sluiced off of us. Simon pretty cold ( only 2 layers ! ) and talking about heading back. We agreed to ride on towards the Lecht and see if we were feeling any more optimistic. As we rode off Simons Garmin packed in. He was riding with a dyno hub and was attempting to use some adapter to charge it as we rode - probably not wise given the conditions. He told me later that the instructions said not to use it in the wet. Those of you who have been around enough to remember Simon will not be surprised by any of this. With not even the thought of the kudos of posting a 400 on Strava to spur him on he was a broken man. We plodded on another 7/8 miles to the foot of the next climb and then made the call to head back. We were only about 90 km in and still about 110 to the turn in Inverness with no sign of any change in the weather. Once the decision was made we made faster progress heading back into the headwind than we had on the way out. Another cafe stop was needed at the foot of Cairn O Mount before the last brisk run into a still fog bound Stonehaven. Oh, did I mention that the ford at the cafe had become unpassable since we rode through on the way out. About 180 km all up, all except 5 mins in rain of varying degrees and in very poor visibility. I have been colder but not wetter. We will be back at some point though as the route looks like a good one. You are all welcome next time.

Old A74 good - not track , just old road. Rode it from A70 to Blackwood on Dennis's run a couple of weeks ago.

Make sure to visit Squire Christie ( and ER's) favourite tweed weaver.

Just heard from Al about his accident. Not sure if others were aware. Looks like it was a close one but driver charged and Al getting back on the bike. Hope to catch him on the road soon. Seems a bit extreme to get out of our planned 400 !