Great new Wheeze!
Great new Wheeze!
Poacher turned game-keeper
A lovely 35 miles this morning in the Worcestershire sunshine. Notched up nearly 3000ft of climbing but lack of miles in the saddle so far this year were evident towards the end. Still great to be out in just shorts and jersey for once.
PeteS I notice it’s the Birmingham “velo 100” or whatever it’s called tomorrow.... certainly a strange title as i believe it traverses a lot of Warwickshire, not to mention Coventry too...
Out for over 5 hours today, and didn't do much more than 30 miles. Kept getting distracted; a look around Staunton Harold church, a walk round Dimminsdale nature reserve, a wander round the Ticknall lime yards and through the tramway tunnel . . . . I like my bike rides to be unplanned, just seeing whatever there is to see and exploring along any road/track that looks interesting.
A contrast to last Sunday, when I had been stuck indoors for most of the day and eventually got out just before 6pm needing to burn off some energy. 3 hours 20 minutes through the South Notts Wolds and Vale of Belvoir, still unplanned but at a somewhat higher speed than today.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
Indeed it is, rebranded as Velo Birmingham and Midlands this year. I did the inaugural one which I enjoyed immensely but didn't fancy the route this time - no disrespect to Coventry of course! I also wanted to concentrate on running this year as the last couple of years have been mostly cycling orientated. Unfortunately a couple of injuries have meant neither sport has had much focus but that's another story....Originally Posted by Travs
Have a couple of mates doing the Velo so plan to go for an early run and then do some support for them as the route passes nearby.
The girl I know who did the velo took 8.5 hours... although until a month ago she'd never rode further than 15 miles!
Clubmate (v50) of mine did 5hrs36... sounds impressive to me, although I really have no idea when it comes to cycling times.
Also just read that a chap died yesterday about 25 miles in, after a crash on a 'fast downhill section'....
Had an appalling ride yesterday, hoped to be a little more ambitious and push further afield, but felt very "off" an hour or so in, so discretion etc. and cut it short. Think I did about 20 miles of mainly off road and about 2500ft. Felt very ill last night afterwards and wiped out this morning, aching.
There was this event coming through the village https://roadcyclinguk.com/sportive/g...ches-2016.html
At 120 miles and 12,000ft, not for me and some of the riders looked like it wasn't for them either!
Terribly sad news regarding the cyclist that died. A steep downhill section with a couple of sharp bends but don't know any details.
My colleagues ranged in times from 5.30 up to 7 hours.
The route was reasonably devoid of hills (my main reason for not doing it! ) so times under 6 hours would be good.
The top riders completed in around 4 hours which is pro level pace. I missed them as I was out running but the few riders I saw come though at sub 5 hour pace were impressively quick.
Last edited by PeteS; 13-05-2019 at 01:34 PM.
I did velo Birmingham and Midlands yesterday cycled with wife as it was our 29th wedding anniversary!!. Total time 6:50 but we had a couple of 20 minute stops so cycling time for the 102 miles about 6:10 which is not too bad. not done a lot of cycling this year so felt more tiring than The Fred W which was also yesterday and I did a year ago.
I am pretty sure we went past the chap who died. I was totally gutted to hear about this last night as it completely takes the shine off the day. I have done a few closed road events (London and the previous Velo Birmingham. My view is that closed road mass participation events are more dangerous than smaller open road sportives. London was really scary last year. The problem is people forget that other cyclists are also on the roads and many participants are inexperienced and thus cycle badly or without etiquette and due care. several times yesterday the fast trains came past me without a call and without concern about other slower cyclists. there were several occasions where people cut in suddenly infront of me or puller out suddenly. Any of these actions can trigger a chain reaction. I am lucky enough to gain free entry to the big Velo events, but probably wouldn't do them otherwise due to too many cyclists in too smaller space!
PeteS. it was good route yesterday. probably not as good as 2 years ago, but much faster terrain. If it clashes next year I'd certainly choose the Fred whitton over the two.
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