Gerard Deeley

Cheers for a good night, enjoyed it a lot apart from waking up with my knee black and blue

Really enjoyed that, very informative and fun... a rare combination. Thanks to all the presenters and cake bringers!

Route 2 for me. I will be at Pullman at 8:00

I enjoyed this evening, interesting talks from all.

Splendid evening folks. We should do this more often!

Very enjoyable and interesting presentations, well done to all involved.

Thanks to Paul for organising this, lovely evening with drinks & cakes, thanks to all for a very enjoyable time indeed!
 
Cheers
 
Chung

I've been doing a little planning for this trip, here's a schedule for the outbound trip:
 
Cycle to Ayr: 08:45 depart (say from) Johnstone ~39 miles 3hr 15 min from Miller St. to The Rozelle Tearooms (650 ft of assent) Coffee Stop (30 mins) Kilmaurs? 12:30 Arrive @ cafe   Train to Ayr:  11:18 depart Johnstone 12:05 arrive Ayr 12:15 cycle to Cafe - 1.6 miles, 10 min cycle from Ayr Station.   12:30 Rendezvous at The Rozelle Tearooms, Ayr, KA7 4NQ 13:30 Depart tearoom Tea Stop (30 mins) (location TBC) 17:00 Arrive St John's Town of Dalry 33 miles, 3 Hrs to St John's Town of Dalry (1,400 ft of assent)   That should work and leave plenty of time for breaks.   Jane tells me that any bags left at our house in Kilmacolm the day before (Fri 29th) will be at the hotel to meet us!

Thanks, that sounds good, I am in Bridge Of Weir.
 
Graham keep an eye on the post tomorrow i'll confirm, but the plan is to meet you at the Pullman at 08:00., I'll be coming along the cycle path from BOW

Cherry and Almond cake cooling in kitchen, will try not to forget it and the Kit!
Jane

Not nice weather, but once your head is down it does not matter, so decent times. My only aim is to not get passed. Thank you to Iain for timekeeping, hope you feel better soon.

Lucia (j)                              22.53
Charlie (j)                           19.10
Gerard (deffo not jet)          18.31
Allan (deffo deffo not jet)    18.11
 
windy damp night.
£9 to club

0815 it is then

Gerard, it should be about 15 mins from the Pullman, so that makes it 08:15 (perhaps 08:20) at Ferguson's roundabout. I suggest meeting in the bus stop about 200 yds the Greenock side of the roundabout as we can get off the road there.

I plan to do route 2, Loch Tarzan and Glendaruel, at intermediate pace.
 
Getting the 09:00 ferry, I'll be cycling to the ferry from Kilmacolm leaving the Pulman at 08:00.
 
Company welcome from either Kilmacolm or meet at the ferry.

A few of us have been talking about taking a trip up North to climb Bealach na Bà(UK's longest road climb) http://cyclinguphill.com/100-climbs/bealach-na-ba/ and decided to go on Saturday 30th of July. I have mentioned it to a few Wheelers while out on runs and there is alot of interest in coming along. Everyone is more than welcome to join us! 30 milers/Medium/Bunch as there are different routes we can take(but all would include at least one ascent of Bealach na Bà) The climb is 9.1km Avg Grade 7% Elvation 626m.It is a stunning climb and a beautiful part of the world, a must ride before your time on this rock is complete. 
 
Our itinerary is as follow. 
 
 
Leave Saturday 30th of July  5-6am with 4-5 hour drive (car share) to Applecross campsite
 
Applecross campsite £55-65 for 3-4 Adults sharing - Heated Cabin 
Book here - http://applecross.uk.com/campsite/ lots left book asap
Quick Bite - i.e bacon rolls and get bikes ready.
 
Start run in Applecross est 11am
 
4 routes (The routes suggested are open to change if anyone has a better or more interesting ideas). We can plan on Coffee stops one we have numbers and routes decided, not the best place once you leave Applecross to find a cake. Pretty barren/beautiful but the food in Applecross is excellent!
 
I plan to do the Long Loop with the one Ascent, but the Triple Ascent is interesting as shorter similar climbing and you get to climb/descent West to East something I haven't done yet.
 
30 Milers suggested route
Bealach na Bà One Ascent 
Distance - 68.5km
Elevation Gain - 1,389m
Est. Moving Time 3:30
https://www.strava.com/routes/4636312
 
Intermediates or Members wanting to Climb Bealach na Bà from both sides
Bealach na Bà Two Ascents
Distance 85.8km
Elevation Gain 1,996m
Est. Moving Time 4:30
https://www.strava.com/routes/4636321
 
Fast Bunch Long loop one Climb Bealach na Bà
Bealach na Bà Two Ascents
Distance 143.6km
Elevation Gain 2,180m
Est. Moving Time 5:30
https://www.strava.com/routes/4636810
 
There is also an option to do the climb three times at the end that way you get to experience the westerly and easterly climbs and descents. 
 
Triple Climb of Bealach na Bà
https://www.strava.com/routes/4636944

Bealach na Bà Triple Ascent
Distance 105.8km
Elevation Gain 2,633m
Est. Moving Time 5:00
Created on April 12, 2016

 
 
Dinner/Night out in Applecross Inn(5mins from campsite) or if weather is good Barbecue on Campsite
 
 
Return home Sunday morning, home for late afternoon 
 
 
Hopefully you can make it for what I think is one of the finest road climbs in the world!
 
Cheers
 
Paul
 
(book a cabin asap if staying they are heated and will fit 4 people)

Sticking bar tape on your gloves instead of the bars will save weight. Top tip.

Sticking bar tape on your gloves instead of the bars will save weight. Top tip.

Gerard, you should have seem the one Iain67 took but deleted after :-)

Gerard don't listen mate, would i do that?

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=257997911207578&id=100009921120845&substory_index=1
 
Hope the link works, best captions win a prize.
 
Great day out with the lads.

Seven set off this morning, Bill, Anthony, Boyd, Graham, Ken (flying visit) Dave & Carol. Extended advertised route to Kilmaurs and cafe stop at Rendezvous cafe which is most accommodating for cyclists. Good quick and friendly service and offer to fill water bottles on departure. Bill had a rare puncture before Kilmaurs. Last one was just after the war. Left cafe refreshed and took farm roads to Auchentiber, Barmill and back down Bowfield hill. Good run in good company and dry weather. Dave 

I can make this one, I shall be at the South side of Erskine bridge for 0930.

Results from last night.
 
Lewis S - DNF
Carol Cowan - 21:35 pd
Emma MacLaren - 19:38 pd
Eric Lymburn - 20:33 pd
David - 18:51 pd
Alan T - 18:03 
Iain McGinty - 17:48 pd
Charlie McLeod - 18:51
Paul Leavy - 17:39 pd
 
Well done to all on their efforts
 
See you next week

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