planetf1.com

1/2 mile from one of the busiest motorways in England…………ahhhh biking bliss.

Lol looks lovely.

Nice, flat bars, platform pedals, lovely. It will look sexier without the rear fender, you don't need it in the summer!

I'm about to embark on my little adventure. I will write back in about a month's time, when we reach the interwebs again! So go out and enjoy guys and girls, lovely time of the year for cycling

SchumieRules wrote:Nice, flat bars, platform pedals, lovely. It will look sexier without the rear fender, you don't need it in the summer!

I'm about to embark on my little adventure. I will write back in about a month's time, when we reach the interwebs again! So go out and enjoy guys and girls, lovely time of the year for cycling

Have a fab time. want to read lots about it upon your return. Heading to the Alpes again myself this summer. Can't wait.

Best of luck.

What a stunningly beautiful opening stage of the TDF. Real shame about the crash at the end. Surely Cav won't make tomorrow's start.

Tweets coming in, including one from the BBC saying that Cav hasn't broken anything and could well start tomorrow. Fingers crossed....

Asphalt_World wrote:Tweets coming in, including one from the BBC saying that Cav hasn't broken anything and could well start tomorrow. Fingers crossed....

He is out.

sultanofhyd wrote:

Asphalt_World wrote:Tweets coming in, including one from the BBC saying that Cav hasn't broken anything and could well start tomorrow. Fingers crossed....

He is out.

dislocated shoulder apparently.

So much on today - British GP, tour stage going through my home town and county, Wimbledon finals. I'll be flicking between channels a lot this afternoon! Already watched the tour and convoys set off past my front door with my daughter and about to flick over to BBC for F1 until the tour gets to Blubberhouses and Skipton, which will be the best part to watch today I think.

Froome out.

sultanofhyd wrote:Froome out.

Wiggins out for no reason too.

dizlexik wrote:

sultanofhyd wrote:Froome out.

Wiggins out for no reason too.

I'm pretty sure Team Sky's decision not to take Wiggins was made for them. Nothing I have read this year has given me the slightest confidence that Wiggins would have genuinely supported Froome so they simply couldn't have taken him. Porte is not a bad rider and has brilliant climbing abilities. Just don't think he's good enough to outride Nibali.

It's just been one of those races so far. What happened to Froome could have happened to any rider.

Asphalt_World wrote:

dizlexik wrote:

sultanofhyd wrote:Froome out.

Wiggins out for no reason too.

I'm pretty sure Team Sky's decision not to take Wiggins was made for them. Nothing I have read this year has given me the slightest confidence that Wiggins would have genuinely supported Froome so they simply couldn't have taken him. Porte is not a bad rider and has brilliant climbing abilities. Just don't think he's good enough to outride Nibali.

It's just been one of those races so far. What happened to Froome could have happened to any rider.

Maybe you are right. Anyway I can't see Nibali winning. I can't see him surviving in mountains, but he proved me wrong yesterday, so who knows.

dizlexik wrote:

Asphalt_World wrote:

dizlexik wrote:

sultanofhyd wrote:Froome out.

Wiggins out for no reason too.

I'm pretty sure Team Sky's decision not to take Wiggins was made for them. Nothing I have read this year has given me the slightest confidence that Wiggins would have genuinely supported Froome so they simply couldn't have taken him. Porte is not a bad rider and has brilliant climbing abilities. Just don't think he's good enough to outride Nibali.

It's just been one of those races so far. What happened to Froome could have happened to any rider.

Maybe you are right. Anyway I can't see Nibali winning. I can't see him surviving in mountains, but he proved me wrong yesterday, so who knows.

He was awesome in the mountains last year.

Asphalt_World wrote:

dizlexik wrote:

Asphalt_World wrote:

dizlexik wrote:

sultanofhyd wrote:Froome out.

Wiggins out for no reason too.

I'm pretty sure Team Sky's decision not to take Wiggins was made for them. Nothing I have read this year has given me the slightest confidence that Wiggins would have genuinely supported Froome so they simply couldn't have taken him. Porte is not a bad rider and has brilliant climbing abilities. Just don't think he's good enough to outride Nibali.

It's just been one of those races so far. What happened to Froome could have happened to any rider.

Maybe you are right. Anyway I can't see Nibali winning. I can't see him surviving in mountains, but he proved me wrong yesterday, so who knows.

He was awesome in the mountains last year.

Yes his Grio was awesome in 2013, especially that stage in mountains where only finish was shown. First rider that was shown had pink jersey. Anyway I had feeling that someone like Contador or Porte (I made mistake, Sky after all had plan B) will drop Nibali. Nibali may be in top2 or 3 but I have a lot of doubts about him. Just my silly opinion anyway.

So Froome, Schleck and now Conatador are out. All past winners are out.

Great couple of stages these past two days. My god I hope Nibali is clean.

Women's cycling is so beautiful. Armistead was awesome got the gold and I think I'm in love!:

I half expected to see something on the Commonwealth Games cycling here. Just wanted to mention a great finish by the England duo in the womens' road race for a 1-2. And a big shout for Scotland's young Katie Archibald, hung in there for ages and a creditable 7th place.

Soooo, I'm back in town!

Been back in the UK for a while actually, but so many things to sort out. Ride was awesome, took 18 days to reach Ancona (change of plans). We did around 120 miles in one day, marvellous.

How was the Alps Asphalt?

Hi,

Glad you had a good time. Do post some details if possible.

Alps was excellent although we started with a week in the Belgian Ardennes so I did part of the Leige Bastogne Leige including riding on pave. Damn hard work!!!

Climbed the Telegraph plus the Col du Chaussy. Below is a picture of the first 2 miles of the Chaussy. My eldest son rode the first part with me. Total climb was about 11 miles I think and over 1000m in altitude.

Wow, that looks great.

We crossed through Modane, up the Col du Mont Cenis, the final ascend being about 10km length starting at 6% and getting to 10% I think. Our legs were jelly, I wanted to do it in one go, but there was no way. The trick is to get a good rhythm, but didn't matter how much I fuelled myself, I got tired and had to stop a couple of times. I mean we did have all the extra weight on the bikes with all our stuff, so it was different than the other cyclists that were doing the same route. We must have had about 5-6 cereal bars each while going up, got sick of them! I am happy that we did it though. The change of scenery was amazing, so much cold, wind, rain, even clouds up there, about 10 degrees C. Then when we dropped to the Italian side (Susa) the weather was in the 30's again! My hands hurt from breaking, the Italian side was so much steeper than the French side, so I felt for the riders coming from Italy. I literally burned my disc brakes!

France was amazing, the French people respect the cyclists a lot. They were brilliant with us. Fantastic roads, nice cyclepaths. The Italian drivers were cannibals; trying to kill us with every chance! No wonder that the roads were littered with memorials to kids killed there by road accidents. Literally tens of them, every few miles you'd see another one. There were cyclepaths that ended after 20 meters, then you had to go on the fast road with the lorries. Some of them full of potholes. Maybe we got treated well in France and we had way too high standards I suppose. But the food and the scenery was great in both countries. I'd do it again. Camped a lot, stopped at Monza (I couldn't get in the track, I took a couple of pics but couldn't see much), had proper pizza and GELATO!!!!

Italy was very flat (we chose the road that runs parallel to Pau) so we tried slipstreaming and changing the leader every 10 minutes. Made such a difference.

One thing I'd suggest to anyone that is thinking of doing something similar is that we bought the Michelin maps. Brilliant, they were fantastic. All the routes, scenic, cycling, anything you want. Made the difference when we were getting lost!

Now getting ready for London to Brighton. I'll upload some pics after lunch

So here's the bike with the Alps as a background:




Here's a nice view from the final ascend:




And this is from, well, no need to introduce!

Col du Mont Cenis. That's on my list. I'll probably cycle it next time although I don't think I'll be back there for a few years. Other places to explore. I've driven it a couple of times including this year. Over to Susa in Italy. It's got that stunning blue lake near the top.

Very impressed with your efforts.

Thanks, although by your picture that looks far more challenging!

Col du Mont Cenis, 2080m. The lead to it from France is a couple of days ride, slowly through the valley but gradually reaching the top with that final ascend. The Italian side just drops to Susa to about 300m elevation (check my Strava) within 50' of downhill (we were going so fast that the cars were slowing us on the way down)! Seriously, the riders coming from Italy to France have some serious brass balls!!!

The lake was very beautiful, although it was a rainy day full of clouds (on our feet!), so many tourists with caravans up there. There's also a museum, but we didn't have the time nor the mood to go sightseeing. The air was a bit thinner and one of my mates went lightheaded from the effort, wanted to puke.




There was also papa-Terminator. He was an older chap, easily in his 70's, with an old (Surly I think) steel bike, full of stuff, rear and front panniers. We passed him on the way up, then when we stopped he passed us, then the same thing again. He didn't have a bite nor a single drop of water, freaking Terminator he was. Seriously impressed with him, we saw his bike at Susa later on that day, but couldn't see him to shake his hand.

Now the weird thing is that I can't ride now. The bike feels so different without all this weight, almost a new ride. It took me a few times on it to get used to it again. Plus I discovered a bug chip underneath it, but luckily it is not the carbon fibre, just the paint.

Oh, this is as close as I could get to Monza:



What a historical track

Oh yes. Tickets booked for the Saturday evening finals session of the UCI Track World Cup in London, December. Can't wait!!!!!!!



Not many better views or atmosphere at a sporting event. You don't miss a thing.

Wow nice trip Schumie, looks great.

Personally I've been really bad haven't cycled much in the last 3 months, and I find my butt hurts too much when I do. New seat you reckon or just much better shorts?

Who's going to the cycle show next week btw?

Asphalt, that looks cool, I'm kinda waiting for the velodrome in Derbyshire to be completed so that I can suggest it to my colleagues to go have a go on it lol.

Double post!

Get top quality shorts. A new seat may help but shorts vary dramatically.

Hmm I'll look for some next week at the cycle show. I'm kinda reluctant to change my seat as my bike won't look as racey then...

I just got a Carbon Seat Post for my Aluminium frame. Drastically cuts vibration. I ride cobbles a lot and oh boy, did my rump need a break.

On another point……

I do a 20 mile loop, off road, four times a week. I can't help but notice the amount of middle-aged riders (like myself) have bought themselves a mountain bike and do the same, in fact the majority of riders that I pass. Quite refreshing. The benefits of riding and blowing away the cob webs on the mud, under the trees and on the canal paths can't be underestimated for well being.

Enjoy your cycling boys !!

f1madman wrote:Hmm I'll look for some next week at the cycle show. I'm kinda reluctant to change my seat as my bike won't look as racey then...

The saddle I currently use is very racy looking. Made by Specialized and has a gap down the middle. It is is no way a wide fat padded saddle. Saddle comfort is not really to do with having a wider one with a thick foam cover. They all vary in shape, as do we!!! It's finding a shape that fits your behind. My friend has been through a number of saddles to find one that fits him. The one I have was his and he couldn't ride very far on it at all, however I've done many many miles on it and love it. (Reminds me, I still need to pay him for it!!!)

Some decent bike shops will allow you to hire a saddle for a small fee - often knocked off the price if you end buying one. This allows you to have it for a weekend and do a couple of long rides to see how it is. This, combined with decent shorts should do the trick for you, finances allowing of course.

I'm about to order an entry level Boardman CX bike for some winter fun and for my eldest son to ride. Can't wait, should be fun both on and off road and have the added safety in winter of disc brakes and wider tyres, plus still be pretty quick on the road as it's not that much heavier than a road bike and still has a road bike geometry, drop handlebars etc. Halfords staff are worse than useless, but my trusty Boardman road bike that I use when the weathers not that good and I don't want to use my better bike, has never put a foot wrong. Looks and rides really nicely and seems to be built really well.

Looks like a pretty cool bike cross bikes seem to be gaining popularity, I guess they make good sense in this country. I'll look for some bike seats too

CX bikes have become popular commuter bikes as well. They are nearly as quick and light as a road bike, but they cope well with drain covers, pot holes etc.

f1madman, thanks.

Seat could be down to a few reasons. If the same seat suddenly hurts, then maybe you need to see if the riding position is the same: we just did London to Brighton on Saturday and my mate's seat started slipping down half way through the distance, so the change of riding position did mess him up a lot. Ended up with a massive cramp on his quad and couldn't continue, until he spotted that the seat was lowered than his normal position. Also, as Asphalt said, padded shorts.

Finally, regarding the looks, it depends. I felt the same, but I had to go for a better seat at the end. I also saw another chap on a MTB with a Brook's saddle, just to be comfy!


CX are getting very popular, saw a few people with them on the L2B. I'm looking at fixie's now, just for the daily small commute. Some sexy (and relatively cheap) designs I was looking recently:

http://shop.single-speed.co.uk/

I dont get the single gear stuff, its it purely for the simplicity that attracts people? I know in Holland and stuff they make pretty decent sense.

One of my cycling buddies just picked up a nearly new single speed off eBay for a couple of hundred, down from around three hundred or so I think. They are great in terms of minimal mechanics, so I guess good for just getting out of the shed and not having to worry about much for a quick spin. They also make hills a struggle which is good for fitness!

I'm yet to be convinced but I'll have a few rides on my mates sometime and see how it goes.

I partly think there popularity has a lot to do with British track cycling success over the past decade, and these are the road version of a track bike. Just don't get a fixed wheel for the road, death trap imo. Got to be able to freewheel or else you could be knackered on a sharp corner if you go in a little fast.

Single gears are what Asphalt described, plus a little lighter as you don't have all the derailers, shifters etc. I got to try my mate's, not bad when riding. The only restrictions that I annoyed me is that you are starting in a higher gear obviously, so you need more power and then the top speed is limited also. But no worries about anything else, lovely to ride. You can try and leave your bike at a similar gear and ride it for a week I suppose, without shifting gears, just to see how it feels.

Fixie's are the devil's instruments. I tried one at the gym and nearly twisted my knees and ankles, being used in freewheeling. It's like walking with you shoe laces tied together, why on earth would you do that?

Congratulations dizlexik! Michal Kwiatkowski is the new world champion!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHMLMKE1tOk

Haha, police stops a guy on the cycle path, mistakenly.... Love the comments, too.

Guys just a question about cycle maintenance. I find that on these damp roads with remnants of grit my white bike is getting very dirty.

Is it OK to hose it down after a bike ride? Or will that make things rust and do I need to oil everything up after the bike dries each time?

Also my saddle hurts the area just under my sit bones. I think the saddle is wide enough for me but not sure what the issue could be. Has anyone had a similar problem?