AlanT

Cracking run this morning. Really glad I bailed after Glen Fruin with a smaller bunch back round the road. Legs are totally shredded now. Cheers for calling the run Iain.

League of 10 #2 will take place on Tuesday 18th May, same time, same place UNLESS there is a lane closure in place at Finlaystone, in which case we will go to the Georgetown road for the first ride in the Chocolate series. The second alternative would be to do the hilly TT from Langbank to Houston and back. 🤮 I will assess the road on Monday night and post up the finalised arrangements. Regardless of what is happening on the road, we will have an event on Tuesday evening. can we have a volunteer to timekeep please? That role also includes the role for co-ordinating the track and trace info.

Absolutely. Great time for any rider, never mind a youth. Well done Sam, worthy winner on the night. Well done to Paul and David too, for their first TT.

I’ll see what the weather is doing on Sunday morning.

Apparently you were three seconds faster than a man old enough to be your father.🤣🤣

Lovely night for a TT last night. Not too cold, not much wind, only downside was 18 months since the last time we did that. Well done to Sam, Dave and Paul on their first Westferry 10. You will get faster as you get used to the course.

Try giving Willie Cosh a shout. He’s got all sorts of weird things tucked away in the workshop.

I’m away this weekend, so won’t be riding.

Sorry, yes, it’s on the Westferry. Rear lights will be required for all participants.

I am pleased to advise that the first of the 2021 confined events will take place on Tuesday 11th May, first rider off at 7:00pm. The event is a 10 mile time trial, officially #2 in the league of 10, but actually the first to be held. There are some changes to the format from previous seasons, due to coronavirus restrictions. Riders will turn up, give their details and money to the timekeeper, ride the event and then go home. There will be no holders. Times will be posted on the bunch in due course. For the purpose of covid restrictions, the timekeeper will be the designated ride leader and will forward the track and trace info to Eric. It's been a long time waiting folks, so good luck to everyone who chooses to ride. I need a volunteer to timekeep. I'll be looking for a sub 30 minute ride.....

Ok, so after inviting around 65 people, nobody turned up, probably because the weather was so good today. I was quite pleased about that because it meant I could go out into the real world to play on my bike.

Try SJS cycles. You’ll find them on the internet. Alternatively, there’s eBay.

The fourth and final virtual reliability run will take place on Zwift next Sunday, rolling out at 09.15. Follow me (A.Thomson (JWCC) ) in Zwift companion to get an invitation.

Normally, we would ride to Sinclair Street for an overall distance of about 60 miles. This time round, it’s the bigger loop in Watopia for 95km, (60-ish miles, but a lot more climbing). Follow me on Zwift to get an invitation if you haven’t already had one. We’ll set off in groups, 5 minutes apart, and try to keep the pace steady. I’ll need a leader for each group. I’ll join the second group.

You need to follow me in Zwift to get an invite.

Thanks Tom. I’m not sure if that would work for multiple bunches. As for switching off the sticky draft, again, I don’t know. Maybe Iain MacT would know?

You can find the reliability routes on the club rides section. Saw your run today on strava. So I guess you’ve found those already. The TT courses, you’re already familiar with.

Yeah, the options are really limited unless everyone can ride at the same pace. We know they can’t, so we need to make an adjustment. If it’s cold in your garage, you could put a jumper and a hat on. 😂😂😂

The second reliability run on 14th Feb will be hosted by RCCK, and it's 76 km round the Big Foot Hills route in Watopia. Follow D.Hodders (RCCK) to receive an invitation if you haven't already got one.

That worked reasonably well. The ride was opened up to other clubs, so we ended up with 2 bunches, a total of about 30-ish riders. The plan was changed to a rolling start with the second group rolling at 1w/kg for 10 minutes then picking the pace up. There are some things I would change for next time round. The rolling start didn't work particularly well, and the gap probably wasn't big enough, but we'll know better for next time. As it turned out, the weather IRL today would have been almost perfect for a real reliability run, dry, but cold with a slight breeze. What a contrast to the last 2 years.

Could this work for virtual confined events? There’s some specific longer segments around that could lend themselves to TT ing, but could it be the basis for an event?

I've created the first of the experimental reliability rides for Sunday 7th Feb. It's 65 km, roughly the same distance as the normal reliability ride #1 Tour of Renfrewshire, but without the snow, ice and wind. The idea is for three groups of riders, cruising at 2, 2.5 and 3 W/KG respectively (maybe a bit higher on the uphill bits), leaving 15 minutes apart (09:15. 09:30 and 09:45), and finishing together. This is an experimental format, so I will probably have to tweak it for the following week. I've invited every club member who's following me on Zwift (and a couple of special guests), so if you want to take part, and you're not following me, you need to do that so that I can extend the invitation. Please post up to indicate which group you intend to ride with. If there's no-one from one of the groups, we'll skip that slot. I intend to ride with the middle group at 2.5 W/KG, rolling out at 09:30. I have no idea how this is going to work, so think of the fun we can have, finding out together.

For all the non zwifters out there, if you’re not on Zwift, you won’t be able to take part. Sorry, but there it is. For the zwifters, you need to follow me (Alan Thomson JWCC) on Zwift to get the invitation. I’ll set it up 7 days ahead of the event.

I’ve had an edge 1000 for a few years, mainly because I needed the bigger screen to see the numbers. There’s no point in having a computer that displays your output in real time if you can’t bloody see it. 🤔

Since we’re unlikely to get out for the February reliability runs, even if the weather is ok, I’ve put a bit of thought into how we could do these on Zwift. I’m thinking 4 runs on successive Sundays in February, 65, 80, 95 and 110km, 3 groups, cruising at 2, 2.5 and 3 W/kg, setting off 15 minutes apart. No cafe stops, bring your own post run refreshments. Happy to take on board adjustments to the format. Anyone interested?