Colin McPhee

Good route hope to make it

Hi All,
 
I'm planning on a Club Run for the above date, here's what I have in mind.
 
9.00am Clubroom Start
 
Johnstone - GT Road - Bridge - Dumbarton - Bonhill - Cycle Route 7 - Croftamie - A809 to Dryman - "Pipe Track" - Gartmore - Aberfoyle - A81 > Port of Menteith - Right Turn onto B8034 > Arnprior - Kippen - Fintry - Crow Road - Lennoxtown - Strathblane - Milngavie - Bridge - Johnstone
 
This is a shorter version of the route I posted previously in "George's LBL training RM Sportive" suggestion, which will make it a lot more manageable for all.
 
I recon it'll be approx. 70-ish miles door to door (sorry, I'm not good with Map-thingy, I would be grateful if some techie folks can sort this out ) Obviously, there'll be a cafe stop for sure either at Aberfolye but most likely Lennoxtown, can decide on the day or depending on arrival time :-)
 
There'll be a few long climbs involve but all very manageable on quietist roads :-)
  There are bail out options along the route for anyone who don't fancy doing the whole thing.
 
It would be great to have a few wheels to follow, so ALL are welcome & we'll ride as a "Bunch"!
 
Cheers
 
Chung
 

Just had a bike fitting from a life member of JWCC - Drew Wilson (Visual Bike Fit). It's a mobile service so he comes to your home. Took just over 2.5 hours and bike feels much nicer than previously, though out on the road will let me know the difference for sure. Good one to one, personal service.
 
Cleat positioning, stem length, height, bar rotation, lever positioning, seat post height and saddle position all changed. Thankfully he didn't suggest stabilisers...
 
Not sure the rules on contacts etc, so left them off this post, but he was asking after you all.

Some advance notice of a date for your diary if you can make it.
Sunday 10th May, 10am. I'm planning to run the Jim Daly memorial race as normal on the Barmill circuit.
More details to follow with a few weeks.
As always any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
I will give advance notice of when it will go live on entrycentral.
 
 

Another fun but tough wednesday night. First up 40 lap points - bridged to a solo break after 20 laps then overtook and managed to hold on to win the sprint at 16, recovered a bit then contested the final one - ended up getting caught by a few riders on the line. However got enough points for a 3rd, so pleased with that as it was quite unexpected! Next was a 16 lap scratch. Couple of us found ourselves off the front early on so tried to push on and worked hard for a few laps but eventually we were caught, could only hang on to the back of the bunch after that. Last was a 32 lap scratch, a couple of riders attacked on the gun and i went with them - on reflection a bit of a daft move but i thought 3 working together might have a chance. However the 3 became 2 after about 20 seconds. We were caught after dangling off the front for a bit but was still feeling ok but was behind the wrong rider at the wrong time as the sprint started.

At the pumped up speed of the bunch yesterday I was joking that the Barrhead road would be a wind down instead of a habble.
However, it wasn't. The sprint though was a bit of a fly and die affair with lots of shredded legs.
It's all good. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger ( or closer to insanity )
#uonlyliveonce

Have you checked the leaderboard for the Renfrew Winter bunch KOM yet Richie ?

Have you checked the leaderboard for the Renfrew Winter bunch KOM yet Richie ?

Have you checked the leaderboard for the Renfrew Winter bunch KOM yet Richie ?

One of the couriers (not sure his name) mentioned to me that he had read about our intended plans for the finish
 
Maybe an idea for later on in the season (when the racing starts) to have the road race viewable by members only?

Well done all! Gritty 2-up indeed and 10th place on Strava segment between greenock and inverkip gives a measure of work ethic. I was busted though by largs. I'm still shaking off lurgy but chapeau to Chas for a monumental effort getting around after that. Alex hope you're okay. Sounded nasty to say the least.
 
I have to say even leaving renfrew there was a smell of blood in the air. The couriers were all looking kitted up and determined. I think there was a plan to mash it up.
 
Heading out tomorrow for easier miles but no reliability for me.
 
Andy

😕 feeling bad now lol. Could probably manage tomorrow but my thinking is take it easy get rid of this cold so It doesn't set me back for longer. Just hope my plan works. 😷

I'm up for 0945
Andy, I'm taking car to Johnstone as road still got quite a lot of slush which will freeze tonight.
Is route still up the wall at Port G as it might be better to go up the whin to avoid the wee back road which might well be ice and slush

I see in the calendar there is a race at Straiton 28th March for 3/4. Entry opens 25th Jan.
There is also a WOSCA race provisionally 29th March for 2,3,4 - not on BC yet.
Having ridden the 2,3,4 last year I would recommend the Straiton race to be much more viable.
The 2,3,4 was a bit beyond me, Andy and Colin last year.
However the conundrum is that 6 JWCC are guaranteed entry to the 2,3,4 as its a WOSCA. Not so the Straiton which will prioritise Ayrshire club riders.
If you feel flush and fit enter both.
I plan to enter the Straiton and if I don't get in I'm sure I'll dream up an Arran type challenge that weekend

Thawing out nicely after a lovely coast run with Colin, Alan and Greg. Roads clear, but pretty cold on the outward stretch. Never been happier to stop at the BB! 62 cold miles all in. Westferry not a bad meeting spot should ice be an issue again, although seeing 4 or 5 cars in addition to ours on our return each with a single male occupant makes you wonder...

Hi Guys
 
I'm out tomorrow but have to say I would prefer to do the route anti-clockwise due to the high probability of ice early on. Bowfield and Lochibar are highly likely to be icey especially early on.
I'll come to the club rooms for 9.30 anyway.

Recommended sessions of 1 per week from early Feb. after consultation with chief coach. Can the chief coach maybe fill in the missing figure in number 3 please. If you don't know your FTP then do number 2.
 
1. 20 min warm similar to FTP test, ie 2 mins each from effort level 3 to 7 (10 mins) Then 4 x 1 min very high cadence, low resistance with 1 min rest inbetween. Spin for 2 mins. 20 mins so far. Now the meat. 1 min substantially above FTP ( approx 20% ). Then 2 mins just over FTP. This is the critical bit and also the hardest, you cannot drop below FTP. At the end of 2 mins full gas sprint for 15 secs as if your life depended on it. So it's a 3.25 min effort. Rest for 2.75 min to make a 6 min cycle then repeat. Aim is 5 repeats.
So by way of example. If FTP=300W then the 1 min should be at 360W. And the 2 mins must not drop below 300W at any time and should average about 305W. The full gas sprint is whatever you can squeeze out. Don't worry if it feels like a damp squib after the preceding 3 mins!
In the spirit of sharing and transparency I have never managed more than 4 repeats sticking to the rules above. Recommended to have at least one rest day beforehand.
 
2. Same warm up. Then full gas sprint every minute on the minute for 6 minutes. The most important bit is full gas, this means everything you have.1st = 5s, 2nd = 10s, 3rd and 4th = 15s, 5th = 10s, 6th = 5s.
Spin inbetween. Note max power output on 3rd sprint and aim to achieve that figure for each sprint thereafter. After the 6 min block spin for 4 mins. Then repeat to make 12 sprints in total. Total session to this point 36 mins so even with warm down this is a short and effective session.
 
3. Warm up. 2 mins at power output XX% above FTP. 1 min rest. Repeat 5 times. Spin 5 mins. Repeat to make 10 x 2 min efforts in total. Power output of 3rd effort must be maintained for the remaining intervals.
 
Alan McB after injury maybe gets a bye on these until later February as you need to have a solid base to get the benefit.
 
Purpose of these is to better cope with the surges and hills in road races and the multiple little accelerations you need to stay in position.
 
Finally, there is a wonderful get out of these painful sessions if you do the track league each week as this achieves the same benefit !
 

Managed a 1 hour 30 mins on the turbo (blender) legs gubbed

Andy Gumley Doc McLean and myself were the renfra bunch today. 50 hilly miles done in challenging conditions. Thoroughly enjoyed it with a lovely stop. @ Alan's local coffee shop in Kilmalcolm

0930 clubrooms then. I will mention in bogs bunch group.

Worth a watch for the scenery alone.
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04v5hhh/the-adventure-show-20142015-episode-5

I was under the impression that aluminium frames are very difficult to repair safely, Colin. You need scrupulously clean conditions to TIG weld for a start. That's not the only problem, though.
 
When aluminium tubes are welded together, the metal in the resulting frame is not uniformly hard. Manufacturers put their frames through a specialist heat treatment process to get them to a rideable condition. When you make a repair to a frame, you heat the metal around the repair site and change its hardness, destroying the effects of the heat treatment when it was manufactured. 
 
Would I trust a non-specialist welder to make a repair? Not a chance. You'd be betting your life on their expertise.
 
I don't think I'd let anyone attempt a repair on an alloy frame. There are companies online who say they can do it, but for me the risk you'd be taking, trusting them to get it right, seems completely disproportionate to any saving you'd make over buying a new frame.
 
I did a quick search on Google and the first two or three companies in the search results say that a typical repair costs about 100-130 quid. You could get a brand new Ribble for that. For £200 you could get a Kinesis. I'd buy a new frame, personally.

Colin,
 
George probably made his suggestion in jest but tbh you could probably pick up a cheap alu winter frame for hee haw compared to the hassle of finding somebody to repair your frame.
 
D

Colin
If not already done so, perhaps ask Alan at Thomsons if he has a contact?
P

Good fun but too expensive now considering that two-thirds of the course is on empty roads anyway.
 
Loch Rannoch must have quietest roads in the country.