al yuille

Crank bros multi tool has 10 mm Allan key. I remember the same thing happened to Chung in Girona a few years ago ( he was on a rented bike obviously as his own is always perfectly maintained !). Must have been the only time I've seen him stumped at a mechanical.

Crank bros multi tool has 10 mm Allan key. I remember the same thing happened to Chung in Girona a few years ago ( he was on a rented bike obviously as his own is always perfectly maintained !). Must have been the only time I've seen him stumped at a mechanical.

Crank bros multi tool has 10 mm Allan key. I remember the same thing happened to Chung in Girona a few years ago ( he was on a rented bike obviously as his own is always perfectly maintained !). Must have been the only time I've seen him stumped at a mechanical.

Right then, I think I'm pretty much finished unless someone over at WeightWeenie tells me that my bar tape doesn't match or that my pedels are the wrong shade of black etc .................. 
 




 
Hopefully, I'll be riding this very soon
 
See youse out on the road
 
Cheers
 
Chung
 
 
 
 
 

Well guys a massive thank you! After 6 hours of partying which started 45 mins after I got home I just could not go to bed without saying thanks. If Carlsberg did birthdays......
Arran at its very best and team JWCC did it again. What a team,
Charlie the gent who collected me from house
Andy who gave us a laugh by living closest to ferry and missing it
Jan for his quiet leadership which got us up the Ross and String when we were all ready to succumb to coffee and cakes
Alex for making it especially memorable by making it especially hard
J Esus for sorting out a magnificent cake with the immortal map of Arran and the DA highlighted
Colin for being a stalwart and just going about the business of SA challenge
And Alan, what can I say, monster on a bike, pushed Charlie on a lot of early hills, did the lions share of the work pulling massive spells and then waited for me when I punctured 6 miles out and literally led may all the way home to complete a memorable SA,
 
Magic day
 

Too many weight sessions Billy !
No 20% on that section Mark , a bit of extra climbing on surfaces Paul L and Davie B might recognise.

A letter from Arran
Sitting in cafe at Brodick Ferry terminal waiting for the real cyclists to return.
Arran is looking beautiful. Snow capped hills and sunshine.
As for SA I had a mare. Gave up ghost on pirnmill road and did remaining 26 miles solo. Was broken man when got n to Brodick. Left calf and lower back aching so Billy taking a time out on gym.
On plus side waved bye to other guys as they headed for Ross Hill. I sauntered up the String road went to viewpoint took a couple of pics then fell asleep with sun pouring all over me. What a boast.
God bless my bike for the di2 gave in as I hit Brodick. Think it was coming out in sympathy.
Big thanks to Al for helping me up climbs and to guys for trying to keep me in bunch
happy birthday to Capt Paul McDonald. You got a fracker
Ps did I mention that I saw Andy Gumley on Ardossan Quay as our boat was pulling out. Early entry for Hamoc me thinks

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Col_de_Braus-small.jpg
 
The history of JWCC info was a really good insight into the beginnings of the club, however they missed out the mystical climb in the small commuting village of Bishopton!
 
Back in the good old days, the Scottish road race used to go over and back over this mighty climb with the race often being decided over this monster of a climb!
 
Some parts are so vertical that cyclists front wheels often lifted off the ground and the pros used to add weights to the front of their bikes!
 
I'm sure some of the older club members can share fond memories of this climb as unfortunately due to new roads, motorways, housing estates and land movements over the years it has sadly now become a small rise heading into Bishopton, the souls of cyclists past are often heard grunting and breathing heavily on foggy winter nights!

Ronde De Vlaanderen Sportive Ride 2016
 
My initial plan for this year was to do my 3rd Paris-Roubaix, but Allan's invitation back in October last year, to join him for a ride around "Flanders" was too good an opportunity to pass - so I said yes! :-)
 
With fond memories of some of the "bergs" from last year, when I visited Oudenaarde via a detour before going to Lille for Paris-Roubaix, so I had an idea of what to expect. But that was just a wee 40km loop with 3 bergs, so it was going to be slightly different with 15 of them plus 230km.
My plan was simply to get out & do as much riding over the winter month as possible & I suppose I achieved that despite sometimes the weather not being favourable for it.
 
Day 1
So, bike prepped & "training" done, off we set on Thursday morning on board of Allan's Flander wagon along with Peter & Alan Anderson (Coatbridge Clarion)heading towards Hull for the over night Zeebruggar ferry.
It's my 3rd consecutive crossing in as many years of the "Pride of York", it now feels like a home from home for me, especially when bumping into Garvin (honorary wheeler)on board :-) who apparently was "only" over to catch some racing & "pedal around" (he ended up doing 180miles over the course of 2 days)
As it happened, Garvin was staying in Brugge as well, which worked in our favour since he's "half Belgium" :-)
 
Day 2
The hotel we booked in was well placed with only a 3 minutes walk to the start square, which we paid a visit to after checking in.
Even though it was still 2 days before the pro race, construction of stages & barriers was already well under way with tourists wondering around enjoying the pre-event atmosphere. Brugge is a very beautiful city indeed, friendly people & a laid back atmosphere!
We then drove to Oudenaarde (the finishing town) for registration, some site seeing (Flander Museum) & leaving the car there so we can drive back to Brugge once we finished the ride on the day. Like Brugge, Oudenaarde was gearing up for the Ronde, but even more so with more barriers & lycra clad cyclist all around town :-)
We had hoped to meet up with some of the Wheelers (who was based in Oudenaarde) but we just could not manage it as different travels arrangements meant it wasn't possible.
After collecting our entry pack, we returned to Brugge via a very pleasant train ride. So an early night for us to prepare for a relatively early start the next morning!
 
Day 3 - The Ronde Ride
The Ibis hotel we stayed in was great as they prepared breakfast earlier than usual to accommodate all the riders staying there. A proper full breakfast before a ride is always welcome especially this one!
Our plan was to start early as it was going to be a long, long day on the saddle, with that in mind the four of us set off just after 7.35am unfortunately without the rest of the Wheelers as they were still coming in via the shuttle bus from Oudenaarde.
As the first 100km was pan flat, but through narrow cycle paths in amongst thousands of cyclist, it was fairly stressful indeed as you had to keep your wits about. But I must admit the general standard of riding was quite good with good early shouts & hand signals for the numerous street furniture about.
Sitting on endless available wheels made the initial 100km covered fairly easy with a few food stops thrown in. It was the first feed stops that we bumped into the rest of the Wheelers as we were just heading off.
At this point Allan had a slight problem with his Di2 front mech after a big(ger) American guy fell on top of him while trying to unclip. It wouldn't be much of a big deal had it not for the fact he could not shift the chain off the big ring and with the cobble & climbs coming in thick & fast, it wasn't ideal to say the least.
Luckily he was able to "manually" drop the chain onto the small ring before he came to the really steep ones. So, kudos to the Big man for riding some of the climbs in his big ring :-0
As well as the bergs, there were obviously stretches of cobbles which I rather "enjoy" riding over :-) But compare to the Roubaix Pave, these were much more manageable in my view.
Our strategy (I'm sure it was the same for all) was to get behind bunches on the flats & come the climbs just ride it at your own pace to regroup at the top and then for more wheel sucking :-)
Most of the bergs were ridden without major issues, they are steep cobble climbs but with the right gearing, technique & attitude, it was certainly very manageable. But we have heard the day before that the Koppenberg was wet & muddy which meant it was difficult to ride up it (even for Astana Pro riders)
The rumour was right - when we hit it, it was carnage with folks (myself included) un-clipping as it was too slippery for the wheels to grip. A few did get up but only just with wider tyres & helpful spectators pushing them on up the slope.
 
The Koppenberg was one of the feared 3 iconic climbs on Flanders, so one down & two to go. However these would not come until the very end after 200km with the Paterberg hitting over 20% maximum with an average of 13% .......... ouch!
So, I left a bit in the tank & popped a gel before these two, knowing the worse is still to come, the Oude Kwaremont was a good warm up just before the Paterberg. The Paterberg is short but the gradient is certainly not. At one point I felt my front wheel lifting & my thighs was starting to cramp because of fatigue plus the steepness, I was on the verge of un-clipping but luckily the sight to the top was enough motivation for me to keep going and crest the top for a fast decent into a headwind of the last 18km to the finish, be it with a combine effort with a few Belgiums :-)
We crossed the line after a total of 10h40m on the road (including 5 feed stops) not bad I thought!
 
Crossing the finish line was rather satisfying as you can imagine & therefore I allowed myself an annual beer for celebration on a job quite well done :-)
Well done to Allan, Peter & Alan who I believed was their longest ride to date!
 
Day 4 The Pro Race
What better way to enjoy breakfast with one of the legend of cycling sitting next to you -Sean Kelly was staying in the same hotel as us. When we asked, he obliged happily to pose with us for a wee photo, a real gent!
After breakfast, we met Garvin in the start square to soak in the pre-race carnival atmosphere & saw some wacky Sagan fans let loose in the square. As soon as we waved the riders off, we set about trying to find a good viewing point for some race action. With the knowledge of Garvin & Alan's tracking skills we eventually managed to come across a spot where the peleton just past as we pulled into a cordoned off street. We had just missed then & as they past, the fans just ran straight back to their vehicles to race to the next viewing point. We made an instant decision to follow them assuming they'll know where they're going. Speeding through narrow village streets at 100kms an hour just to keep up with them was not fun at all, but exciting nonetheless :-)
Eventually we settled on the Kruisberg (the 4th last climb in the circuit) to catch the race since our time constraints meant we could not catch it at the Kwaremont.
Sunshine, beer & hotdogs was accompanied by first the woman race coming through, then seeing the mens race with Sagan, Cancellara el tel passing was just the final gem in our weekend of Belgium cycling!
 
A big thanks to AllanM, Peter Graham, Alan Anderson & Garvin for their great company & organisation for the trip. It was a real shame that we could not met up with the rest before or after the ride, well at least we tried & got to meet briefly at the various feed stops!
 
So, here's a few photos for youse to enjoy:
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/55693145@N05/albums/72157664481621673
 
Thanks for reading, until next time!
 
Cheers
 
Chung

What a great day out on the bike with the Wheelers, Alex covered most of it. I not sure how Alex stay upright as he caught his hand in some plastic fencing, I saw his front wheel go sideways and I braced myself for eating some concrete. Great skills shown to stay upright and moving forward although I think his darts game may have taken a hit. Highlights for me were "Trying" to smash some of the cobble sections, burning matches by the box load in the first 150km. Hanging on the Alex's wheel jumping after groups, riding echelons in the wind and generally stomping by people saving themselves for the climbs, I did do a few turns here and there The descents were beautiful and fast, except the cobbled ones... I know the previous wheelers that went to Flanders did these cobbled descents in the wet... all I can say is Chapeau for staying upright. 
 
I nearly made it up the koppenberg, I don't think I have ever sweared or shouted/pushed so much but it was just a stramash of clip clopping cyclist trying to scramble up slipping cobbles. Ran into the back of some chap walking right up the middle with his two mates side by side, I wont repeat what I called him... But It makes me laugh everytime I think about it, I think he took it in good spirits I did manage to remount on the koppenberg #crossskills paying off and ride over the top. Fair play to Alex for making it up, a show of both physical and verbal strength. Porto made a resurgence on the later climbs motoring passed me a one point shouting something about "being back in the game!" I think he paid for it later as we had to drag him away from the Red Bull girls on top of the Karnemelkbeekstraat. Iain and his Brother John looked strong on the final climbs, Richie joined up with Chung, Alan M, Peter and another Alan(pity we never got to have that beer afterwards, Next time!). I felt I was running on empty over the last few climbs but a happy empty as I could almost taste the Belgian beer in Oudenaarde!  
 
 
Overall the first 40km are a bit of a mess, but it was so well organised(I only missed a turn twice, not the organisers fault). Great company and laughs. Lots of healthy Belgian beer and food! Would I go back again?? Yes please
 
**Richie cross did manage to stop the Legend Eric Zabel and shake his hand... Nice, which I reckon is a sign to do to Milan–San Remo... But it looks like the call of cobbles may be too strong?

Martin,
 
AllanM, Peter Graham, Alan (Coatbridge Clarion) & myself have boarded the ferry in Hull.
Guess who we bumped into? Your mate Garvin from the East coast :-) don't worry, he's got a valid passport this time :-) ......... haha!
 
Cheers
 
Chung

All the best guys. Torque everything.....remember JD lost all his chainring bolts !

We knew that today of all days u would rise again

Mark, if you can't manage a hilly route with billy then it's time to chuck it & take up darts

Love the moto cross !

New bike ordered for Easter hols!
 
Yedoo Too Too
Way below UCI legal weight
Steel frame
Upgraded Tyres

New crosser ordered. After thinking a bit more about it I decided to go for this:
Viner Prestige Carbon
Hydraulic brakes
Rival 1x11 speed
 
Great deal until Tuesday. rrp £1500 discounted by 35% ~ £976
Order on cycle to work scheme and save another £300.
Bargain

New bike - just like the old bike but better !
 
 
Full SRAM 22
Carbon Rims
Zipp stem/bar
Fizik Arione
Carbon seat post
Sub UCI weight
 
1750 GBP  - you can't beat Halfords.
 
This years price 4K

very nice Al, clun runs with look resplendent this year with all the new bikes on show. Just purchased the new Trek Madone 9.2, Ultergra Di2, can't wait for the better weather. 

This bike is destined for DA immortality

New bike - just like the old bike but better !
 
 
Full SRAM 22
Carbon Rims
Zipp stem/bar
Fizik Arione
Carbon seat post
Sub UCI weight
 
1750 GBP  - you can't beat Halfords.
 
This years price 4K

New bike - just like the old bike but better !
 
 
Full SRAM 22
Carbon Rims
Zipp stem/bar
Fizik Arione
Carbon seat post
Sub UCI weight
 
1750 GBP  - you can't beat Halfords.
 
This years price 4K

New bike - just like the old bike but better !
 
 
Full SRAM 22
Carbon Rims
Zipp stem/bar
Fizik Arione
Carbon seat post
Sub UCI weight
 
1750 GBP  - you can't beat Halfords.
 
This years price 4K

New bike - just like the old bike but better !
 
 
Full SRAM 22
Carbon Rims
Zipp stem/bar
Fizik Arione
Carbon seat post
Sub UCI weight
 
1750 GBP  - you can't beat Halfords.
 
This years price 4K

Oh -and everything matches !