Hi, All.
Not totally OT, I did do it myself...
Just completed a 300Km ( 187 mile ) bike ride, with over 4000M ( 13000 ft ) of climb. Took my group of 3 riders 16 hours 10 mins.
Photos of me early on, at the top of the first big climb:
In article , Ron Lowe writes
Daft bugger :-)
That's well beyond my limits even at my peak of fitness.
With the state of the roads these days I stick to the mountain bike but it limits the distance I can go.
What sort of tyre and rim widths do you use in the balance between rolling resistance and resistance to damage?
never considered actually cycling up'n'over Glenshee like that. Twas bad enough by car through the July snow.
JGH
Just normal road bike 700 x 23c tyres.
I put on new Michelin Pro 3 tyres 2 weeks before, and they do have very low rolling resistance, but they did get pretty chewed up.
After finishing the event, and sleeping overnight, and driving home, my back tyre was flat. The tyre had a series of cuts, one had gone through to the tube. Glad it held up to the finish.
I'm going to change the rear tyre and it's only got 800 miles on it.
Glenshee is actually not that bad. It's just a 9 mile drag up from Braemar, at something like 6%. Stiffens up a bit for the last half mile.
The main dragons are the Cairn O'Mount from the Fettercairn side, 2 hours in, and then the Lecht from the Tomintoul side at 120 miles in.
Could be worse: the Lecht from Crogarff side is harder.
Useful to know ta, thought they looked wider than that in the photo. I've still got skinny 20s on mine from days gone by riding on dual carriageways in southern jessie land but I'm scared of wrecking those and the rims on current west of scotland roads. I'm sure the rims would take 23s though, might give that a go.
Tyres doing 800m? My son is into mountain biking and breaks thornproof tyres, handlebars, Float 32 forks etc with monotonous regularity. And I thought cars were expensive to run.
That bit scares me in a car! First time I did it was in the driving rain. Second time I did it was on a clear day, I was shocked at what I'd blithely been driving along without being able to see it previously ;)
JGH
Did that in thick mist, so 'missed' most of the scenery.
Especially at night when the headlight is barely shining on the road, due to low speed, and it's so dark that there's no reference point for balance.
yup.
Very good time for a 300 of that nature. Whilst I do envy you the tyres and, presumably, light bike, I need heavier stuff. Just finished a new front wheel for the Thorn Audax: Rigida Sputnik rim, XT hub, 36 spokes, Michelin City 28mm tyre. I did the Snow Roads on a tourer with 28mm World Tour, so took about 17.5 hours. Started at 13:00h, got back just after the butcher's shop had opened, had 2 Scotch pies, then the cafe opened so it was breakfast time :-))
Glenshee AND The Lecht? Seriously impressive :-)
Rob, you were almost close enough to pop in for a cup of tea!
In message , Ron Lowe writes
Ascent? As in 'going up'?
Surely the highest point in the British Isles is 'only' 4409' asl?
There are a number of slopes in both directions on the route given. Down slopes on a bike are the fun bit that pays back for the climbs. I'd have to climb about 200 feet going to work, which is about 25 feet below where I live.
Does he pay for the parts? Fox forks are seriously expensive.
Yes he does! Works for a car & bike bits chain whose "rubbish" he wouldn't touch. £500 was mentioned for the forks. Tries hard not to fall off Welsh and Scottish mountains and enters competitions. Pity he didn't get the back protector before he dropped some feet on to rocks.
He doesn't live with us and I don't know how much he spends on his bikes. He occasionally mentions the odd component and its price and I swallow hard.
Sounds like a fine evening's ride!
I've just been looing at the Thorn, it looks like a well engineered product.
At the moment, I don't have a bike specifically for Audax events, I just use my regular road bike. ( A Cube entry-level bike ). But I can see lots of reasons for getting such a bike.
I just re-built my own front wheel, a Mavic Aksium, which goes out-of-true just for looking at it. It was no longer true, and no longer round. I've not been impressed, and so I've torn it down and started from scratch. It's now round and true, we'll have to see how it lasts.
For longer events, I can see I'd want a dynohub, as my existing light ( Exposure Spark ) is great, but battery powered.
I'm to be found rock-climbing at the Pass of Ballater many weekends in the summer. I live in Culter, on the outskirts of Aberdeen.
Not been there this year yet, tho.
Ron, not Rob. Sorry!
I'm not a climber in any sense of the word, but do enjoy walking around and on the hills around here - Craigendarroch, Loch Muick, Scarbuie etc. Amazing how much my exercise has improved since acquiring a dog last year. Nothing can beat the peace and tranquility of walking the dog around the hills early(ish) on a bright Sunday morning.
Thorns are very good - the frame designer (Andy Blance) does a lot of hard trekking on one of his own designs that's fitted with the Rohloff hub.
A little more ruggedness is well worth it. I've ridden the LEL 1300km on World Tour tyres at about 65 psi - much slower than the 25 or even 23mm others were on but they and the wheels were no trouble.
I gave up on Mavics, especially after a lot of riders had rims split open.
Try
Ron - can you explain why this is so? I'm a newbie to biking (my runner's knees having given out a coupla years ago), and I fancy using things like mapometer to check my own rides .... but I'm dismayed to see your throwaway line that the total ascent is - like - 6000' out!
I'm also dismayed to see what you get up to: I just did the northern bit of the Pennine Cycleway: 120 miles in TWO DAYS, and I was COMPLETELY shagged out. 187 in one day seems, er, excessive!
John
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