Competitive Cycling - Fast is Fun, and we have the most fun

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Competitive Cycling - Fast is Fun, and we have the most fun

Loving Africa Chaps: Dec 3, 2007; We had not left it yet, but when I would wake in the night, I would lie, listening, homesick for it already.

e.pilot posted:

Copperopolis M35+ Cat5 42mi Death March to Victory:

It was hot.
It was bumpy.
I semi-inadvertently went for an early break trying to latch on to a work truck that had passed us (and failed miserably) a couple of miles before the big hill on the course. One other guy managed to hang on with me, and beat me up pretty good going up the hill, but fortunately that was all he had, he was pretty hopeless on the flats and descent, so I was able to rest a bit. Ripping down gravel hills around town prepared me well for the pavement adjacent road surface today, and I was able to break away hard and put a good gap between me and the other guy on the descent, unfortunately he managed to group up with a couple of juniors and caught back up to me midway up the hill on the second lap, then unfortunately for him he got a flat halfway up and I broke away again and got a huge lead and was able to get a much needed breather. Then somewhere around the flat back half where the pavement was okay at best the lead P12 group caught up to me and I was able to hide in their draft for a bit giving me an even bigger lead, until they dropped me like I wasn't moving on the little hill before the descent. I was extremely thankful for that lead towards the finish, as on the last 3mi or so of the last lap I started cramping up really bad, to the point I had to get off the bike for a few seconds and stretch things out, and I was able to take it much easier on the second lap's descent. I painfully grimaced my way through the last 1km across the line, my only remaining opponents the heat and my rapidly fading mental fortitude, for what will surely be an epic pain face in the photos from the finish line photographer.

I won't do this race again on a road bike, if I do it again at all.

e:
this is the better writeup tbh

Nice work!!

# ¿ Jun 6, 2021 09:38

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 06:45

Loving Africa Chaps: Dec 3, 2007; We had not left it yet, but when I would wake in the night, I would lie, listening, homesick for it already.

serious gaylord posted:

https://twitter.com/JoeLavo/status/1563993818499715072

Thought this was an interesting thread about the British 10m TT national champs and what it takes to win it.

Its also interesting because nationally the scene is dying on its arse. We've had nearly 5 years of less and less riders taking part and the arms race described in the twitter thread is one of the direct causes. The other most notables are the number of deaths (racing on fast, busy open roads) that have put midpack' people from turning up and the frankly ridiculous cost to just enter events now.

The TT scene over here is going through a painful change right now and I'm not sure where its going to end up. For me to race my closest 'fast' course its a 100 mile round trip and a £25 entry fee for 25 minutes of riding. Unless you're at the top end people just aren't bothering now, which means events are barely half full and don't cover the organisers costs. A lot of the race track events that people were switching to due to safety fears are stopping because they need 100+ fields just to pay for the circuit and were barely scratching 80 riders over the summer so theres a double impact to losing those events.

I'm really keen to give a TT a go but in London my only option is the Hillingdon circuit where it's a pain to find out how to enter or pack up the car and drive miles outside to get nearly hit by increasingly hostile drivers.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2022 18:28

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