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Post by beatnik69 on Jul 5, 2014 19:32:45 GMT
As it says on the tin, I did my first sportive today. It was a 60 mile charity ride along the Antrim coast from Larne to Cushendun and back (a stretch of the Giro back in May). I had been rather nervous about it as I'd never ridden further than 30 miles before and also about nutrition. I needn't have been. We got to Cushendun with no problems other than a bit of cramp in my left foot. Soup and a roll with a Mars Bar and a banana was provided along with water, tea coffee etc. The weather had been wonderful the whole way up. Whilst we were stopped for lunch there was a rain shower for around ten minutes. After a quick lunch it was back in the saddle and back to Larne. Once again the sun was out and it made for a much more pleasant ride than the Giro riders got - if you've never been to this part of the world try it some time. I was expecting to be knackered but on the approach to Larne there was a bit of a climb which I powered up no problem. Back home I'm feeling a bit tired but looking forward to my next sportive, the 140Km Lap the Lough at the end of August.
Gary
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2014 19:55:05 GMT
Well done. Lovely stretch of road.
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Post by beatnik69 on Jul 5, 2014 21:16:03 GMT
Cheers. It really was a lovely ride, apart from almost getting wiped by a couple of close pass drivers.
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Post by baz on Jul 5, 2014 21:27:41 GMT
Glens of Antrim, nice scenery !!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2014 23:19:21 GMT
Lucky lad, Gary. A beautiful stretch of coastline. Well done, mate.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2014 3:30:38 GMT
WELL DONE Gary
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Post by beatnik69 on Jul 6, 2014 8:52:50 GMT
I think I may need to raise my saddle a little as my knees were quite sore last night - not so bad this morning thankfully. Unfortunately my frame is probably a bit big for me. I'm 6' and ride a 60cm. It's the old story of naΓ―ve customer goes into shop and buys bike. I was able to straddle the frame with plenty of clearance but didn't know about reach etc. I suppose 6' would be the very lower limit for that size of frame. When I get n+1 I'll go for something slightly smaller
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2014 9:00:31 GMT
Hey very well done my friend, and I am really envious of you and you must have had a brilliant time, I bet you cant wait get back in the saddle, best wishes Brian.
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Post by beatnik69 on Jul 6, 2014 9:11:00 GMT
Hey very well done my friend, and I am really envious of you and you must have had a brilliant time, I bet you cant wait get back in the saddle, best wishes Brian. Cheers Brian. If I can get away with it I might go out for a spin this evening. If not it'll be the commute to work on Tuesday.
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Post by derekv4 on Jul 6, 2014 16:06:26 GMT
Fair play lad. I didn't find out about that sportive until late last night otherwise it would have been my first, though I would have opted for the single leg of it having done no longer than 30 miles at a time since a bought the bike a few weeks ago.
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Post by beatnik69 on Jul 7, 2014 9:53:39 GMT
Fair play lad. I didn't find out about that sportive until late last night otherwise it would have been my first, though I would have opted for the single leg of it having done no longer than 30 miles at a time since a bought the bike a few weeks ago. Derek, if you've been doing 30 miles you could have done the 60 no problem. There was a lunch stop at Cushendun so a wee break and refuel helps no end for the return leg.
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Post by captslog on Jul 7, 2014 10:37:05 GMT
^ what he said. 'They' reckon that most people can manage about 3 times their average ride distance quite easily.
I don't tend to ride long distances due to time restraints more than fitness, so i don't often spend more than an hour out. When i have done though, it's felt rather odd. There seems to be a threshold that I go through after about 25-30 miles and what was knackering suddenly becomes possible with a sort of strange calm, "hill? so what?". I'm always tired the next day though, so it's coming from somewhere not usually tapped.
But well done OP, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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Post by stevo on Jul 7, 2014 11:48:23 GMT
I think I may need to raise my saddle a little as my knees were quite sore last night - not so bad this morning thankfully. Unfortunately my frame is probably a bit big for me. I'm 6' and ride a 60cm. It's the old story of naΓ―ve customer goes into shop and buys bike. I was able to straddle the frame with plenty of clearance but didn't know about reach etc. I suppose 6' would be the very lower limit for that size of frame. When I get n+1 I'll go for something slightly smaller Have you tried an 80mm stem?
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Post by beatnik69 on Jul 10, 2014 13:08:59 GMT
I think I may need to raise my saddle a little as my knees were quite sore last night - not so bad this morning thankfully. Unfortunately my frame is probably a bit big for me. I'm 6' and ride a 60cm. It's the old story of naΓ―ve customer goes into shop and buys bike. I was able to straddle the frame with plenty of clearance but didn't know about reach etc. I suppose 6' would be the very lower limit for that size of frame. When I get n+1 I'll go for something slightly smaller Have you tried an 80mm stem? Thanks Stevo, I hadn't thought of that (because I'm a bit of a noob and didn't really know you could do that). You may have just saved me from shelling out for a new bike (though I quite fancied getting a new one ). I had a look on Decathlon's website but they don't have much in the way of stems so I was looking at this one www.chainreactioncycles.com/pz-racing-cr2-3-stem/rp-prod94787 I don't want to shell out too much in case it doesn't work out.
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Post by lowey on Jul 10, 2014 20:31:52 GMT
A few on here have gone for Deda stems. Available from most online site, link below to a Deda Zero stem from Wiggle who offer a range of sizes. www.wiggle.co.uk/deda-zero-1-2014I have an 80mm stem on my T3 (last years model).
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