Colin McPhee

Thank you both for taking the time to share your views about nutrition, and the actual food, with us. I learned a lot and got to taste some yummy food. Robbie has already devoured the doggy bag I brought back!
 
Thanks again.

Colin, Carol unfortunately cannot make it tomorrow, but I will try and be there,

Al cleared my old messages so send me mess offering to buy me a pint. Colin a pint of beetroot juice of course

I should be able to make it, ill bring the doughnuts 😀

I'll pop down for an hour. May bring Eve and Robbie.

guys, Cedric Sachet is a French student who may join the ride.   Janullrich aware.
 
I have told him 0930 at bridge by garden centre, west side, south end etc and would be grateful if you would stick to this if poss and make him welcome.
 
He's been handy in the Renfrew Bunch. Races E/1/2 in France apparently so I hope you all get a kicking.
 
Alan

Excellent! Had almost resigned myself to a super early solo blast round to Dunoon. 9.30 at the bridge it is then

Any more for this delightful saunter among the Kilsyth hills ? Happy to meet James and Darryl at bridge. Weather looks ok for Sunday. Jann are u up for it ?

Hi Paul my suggestion from what you are saying would be to take off any battery covers and leave them off overnight in a warm environment or use a hairdryer to get rid of any moisture which may have crept in to your components. If there is a battery for the rear mech it may have been subjected to some water ingress while washing it. If this doesn't work try e mailing the manufacturer to see if they can help. Sometimes removing batteries and reinserting doesn't solve the problem depending on whether or not the units are completely dried out or not - Happy troubleshooting

First chain gang for over a year for me. Just happy to be back. Everyone looking strong.

Well done to all who took part for the first week.  I get the feeling i'll be getting in the neck when i add the extra points to the spreadsheet after next thursday from those that didnt have an attempt
1. Iain Mct 25.0mi/h 1:43 (6 points)
2. Paul L 22.0mi/h 1:57 (5 points)
3. Paul Mcd 21.5mi/h 2:00 (4 points)
4. Ryan 19.5mi/h 2:12 (3 points)
5. Colin 18.9mi/h 2:16 (2 points)
6. Graham F 17.6mi/h 2:26 (1 point)
7. Ian H 17.5mi/h 2:27 (1 point)
8. Anthony T 16.0mi/h 2:41 (1 point)

It just gets better. A brisk single this morning for 5 and a new inductee to the Hall of Fame. Before that though, Jesse unfortunately took a shaky spell about 5 miles in and had to return to Brodick. Jan was a consummate gent and ensured she got back into a cafe to wait for the boat, thus giving up his chances of a single, fortunately he has quite a few SA's and a 56-50 of course.
 
Upon continuing, Andy was a tad off the pace at Blackwaterfoot as we had to increase speed a bit to make up time. Up the West coast Alex had same fate and momentarily and lost the wheel. However he then rode round the second half part with Andy and part on his own to bag an SA. Well done indeed.
 
That left 4 to ride round and record a pretty brisk SA, I think we stacked out p3-6 on Strava even after the minor delays. So that was Rookie Marc, 2 vets from the first ever SA, myself and Alan McL, and Lochranza climb leader Robbie. Well done chaps.
 
Ride of the day was Alex making the SA after losing the wheel.
Absolute gent of the day - Jan, who had been over the String and back by the time we got back to ferry,
Unfortunate of the day with health issue, Jesse
And sheer determination was Andy who also rode on round the full loop.
 
Arran for Adventures

Aw nae luck Greg, you should have shouted out as it was a big group.
Anyway the latest thinking on training is to keep your body guessing and mixing it up. Or that's my story anyway. All I can say is doing the bogs bunch in the 34 ring is most certainly a different work out. I maxed out on high oil pressure and a burst head gasket at BoW 30 sign. If you want to empty the tank completely in a short time then this is the way to do it.
On a second note please beware, if you lie your bike flat in the car the shift lever can be on and drain the battery.
 

Alan, you nearly got georgetown records, all flying tonight. very happy
 
See second post above. Every spring I do the same stupid thing. I take my stupid gas pipe shopping bike out on stupid fast rides and get pumped. I then assume my riding career has finished and it's pipe and slippers time.
 
Then I remember that I do have a summer bike  which cost a packet, is stupid light with nice wheels and guess what? 7kg carbon race bikes with aero wheels really do work. You CAN buy speed and be flattered by expensive kit.
 
Then I post here and everyone else thinks: well, duh.
 
I realise this cannot last but for the meantime it is fun. I'm off to the shops.

Happy birthday greg off on holiday unfortunately have a good day

Started out in group 2 with James the only other wheeler in group 1. Unfortunately he came off when riders in front touched wheels not long after the start. Spoke to him after and a bit sore but bike ok and probably a bit of bruising and small bit of road rash otherwise ok. Group 2 going well but fairly small so more of a chain gang effort for 1st lap anyway. Some old heads in the group helped and the riding was nice and smooth for the best part. Started to feel it on the 2nd lap so strategically sat in to recover a bit before upping it again across Flanders moss was comfortable in the group but were caught by Greg O's group going over the top of Flanders moss. Held on to the increase in pace until about the last 5 k when unfortunately took a bit of cramp so lesson there ! Andy Gumley won the booby prize for group 2. (Drawn at random) Was going to collect it for u Andy but they quickly gave it to someone else as you didn't make it Good luck to guys at Fenwick on Sunday

Started out in group 2 with James the only other wheeler in group 1. Unfortunately he came off when riders in front touched wheels not long after the start. Spoke to him after and a bit sore but bike ok and probably a bit of bruising and small bit of road rash otherwise ok. Group 2 going well but fairly small so more of a chain gang effort for 1st lap anyway. Some old heads in the group helped and the riding was nice and smooth for the best part. Started to feel it on the 2nd lap so strategically sat in to recover a bit before upping it again across Flanders moss was comfortable in the group but were caught by Greg O's group going over the top of Flanders moss. Held on to the increase in pace until about the last 5 k when unfortunately took a bit of cramp so lesson there ! Andy Gumley won the booby prize for group 2. (Drawn at random) Was going to collect it for u Andy but they quickly gave it to someone else as you didn't make it Good luck to guys at Fenwick on Sunday

Started out in group 2 with James the only other wheeler in group 1. Unfortunately he came off when riders in front touched wheels not long after the start. Spoke to him after and a bit sore but bike ok and probably a bit of bruising and small bit of road rash otherwise ok. Group 2 going well but fairly small so more of a chain gang effort for 1st lap anyway. Some old heads in the group helped and the riding was nice and smooth for the best part. Started to feel it on the 2nd lap so strategically sat in to recover a bit before upping it again across Flanders moss was comfortable in the group but were caught by Greg O's group going over the top of Flanders moss. Held on to the increase in pace until about the last 5 k when unfortunately took a bit of cramp so lesson there ! Andy Gumley won the booby prize for group 2. (Drawn at random) Was going to collect it for u Andy but they quickly gave it to someone else as you didn't make it Good luck to guys at Fenwick on Sunday

Unusually benign pace without the young guns to liven things up at the front today. Was almost tempted into going for a break until crash no 1 which I just managed to avoid. Had to make a big effort to regain contact with the bunch after 1/4 of a lap. Luckily upon exiting the last turn I took an inside line to try to move up to the front and that was when crash no 2 went off in right and in front. The bunch was tightly packed at this point and think it was a touch of wheels which set things in motion.! Saw a back wheel on the deck and just managed to slow enough to avoid it finishing mid bunch. Never mind the weather made up for it and good training.

Unusually benign pace without the young guns to liven things up at the front today. Was almost tempted into going for a break until crash no 1 which I just managed to avoid. Had to make a big effort to regain contact with the bunch after 1/4 of a lap. Luckily upon exiting the last turn I took an inside line to try to move up to the front and that was when crash no 2 went off in right and in front. The bunch was tightly packed at this point and think it was a touch of wheels which set things in motion.! Saw a back wheel on the deck and just managed to slow enough to avoid it finishing mid bunch. Never mind the weather made up for it and good training.

Unusually benign pace without the young guns to liven things up at the front today. Was almost tempted into going for a break until crash no 1 which I just managed to avoid. Had to make a big effort to regain contact with the bunch after 1/4 of a lap. Luckily upon exiting the last turn I took an inside line to try to move up to the front and that was when crash no 2 went off in right and in front. The bunch was tightly packed at this point and think it was a touch of wheels which set things in motion.! Saw a back wheel on the deck and just managed to slow enough to avoid it finishing mid bunch. Never mind the weather made up for it and good training.

Enjoyable but long afternoon at the track today. Some tough racing with Jason Roberts and David Blockley opting to ride in the younger group as well as their own one. First up was a scratch, was a wee bit far back when the sprint started so could only manage a 6th. Next was a points, 2 off the front and i tried to bridge but couldnt get on. Had about half a lap on the group at one point, the 2 managed to stay away and eventually lap the field whereas i got caught just before the 2nd last sprint so didnt get any points for my efforts. However managed to recover and sneak a 2nd on the last sprint. Not sure how that placed me overall, double points so maybe did ok.
 
Well done to Billy, 2 wins and his 3rd Cat secured in style!

Yes really good day if not a bit long, Jan looked strong in a very high class field , Alan rode a good 500 maybe a bit lighter gear might help.
Funny racin today in the Scratch was really in the wrong place at the back when Colin Sutherland and another got a gap think if they kept going they would have won but luckly Alan closed it a bit and they chucked it left me at the front with 2 and a half laps so jumped and won
Points was fun managed fourth in first sprint second sprint the race just stalled I jumped with 2 to go and nobody came with me last one was lead round Half a lap and had to fight to hold of Colin S so no longer a chipper

Some possible changes to the World Champs this year. What are your thoughts?

First. Would anyone prefer it to change to a couple of 10 week leagues? A spring - summer one and a summer - autumn one. The reason for this is if someone is injured or misses the first few weeks then it's not going to set them miles back for the rest of the year playing catch up. In between each 10 week block then there will be a couple of weeks where something different can be tried - perhaps an APR or two if there is enough interest.
 
Alternatively just stick to the one competition same as last year (which was over 23 weeks i think)

Second. Changing the course from time to time to keep things fresh. it will mostly be the usual chaingang route but as the nights get lighter then every so often this will change to the extended loop (route as normal, then back through Bishopton past the Monkey House and finish at the Houston 30) and also the Sewing Bee route to give a different sort of challenge and mix things up a bit.
 
I had thought about altering the scoring so there were more placings available (eg for the first 5 up the Clune and first 5 at the finish) but i think this might make things a bit difficult to remember so instead of this how about a weekly strava segment challenge?
 
This will run alongside the Thursday nights, and is for a virtual points jersey and will give those who cant make a Thursday a chance to take part.
Every week i'll pick a strava segment and the fastest riders on that segment over the course of that week can get points - 6 points for 1st, 5 for 2nd, 4 for 3rd and 3 for 4th, 2 for 5th. 1 Point for everyone else that completes the segment. This will run Monday to Sunday and you can have as many attempts at setting a time as you like. The scores will get added to the following weeks chaingang score. The points jersey will also be a seperate competition that runs all through the summer so you dont need to take part in the chain gang to take part in this.

Some of these segments will be climbs, some will be flat, some will be sprints and some longer efforts. I'll try to choose a stretch of road that doesnt feature on regular club runs and also try and spread it out around the area so everyone has a local one to attempt a few times when the wind conditions are just right.
 
 

Sounds good Jan. Liking the 10 week idea aswell, good for shift workers