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GOT Fitness LOG

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Did a cyclocross race at the weekend in Liverpool - Otterspool park. Loved it - course was great, a bit mountain bike-like as it was pretty tight and twisty. Came mid-pack, was the last man not to get lapped by the winner (by about 2 seconds).
V hard discipline - I was miles off the fitness needed to properly race it. It's all short sharp climbs and accelerations - basically start, ramp up to the red zone, and stay there for the next hour. Think there's another one on at Otterspool in a few weeks which I'll have another go at.
 
Black Belt Jones said:
Did a cyclocross race at the weekend in Liverpool - Otterspool park. Loved it - course was great, a bit mountain bike-like as it was pretty tight and twisty. Came mid-pack, was the last man not to get lapped by the winner (by about 2 seconds).
V hard discipline - I was miles off the fitness needed to properly race it. It's all short sharp climbs and accelerations - basically start, ramp up to the red zone, and stay there for the next hour. Think there's another one on at Otterspool in a few weeks which I'll have another go at.
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Aye, criterium style races are super tough. As you say, lots of short, sharp efforts, whether out of corners or up hills. Did a few last year and a completely different kettle of fish to long, alpine climbs. A good workout though I'd imagine. The races I've done are only an hour or so in length, so not super long, but a really hard effort.
 

In the last week done 3 cardio sessions and two all round compound weight sessions. Feeling pretty happy for getting back into it. It's all just discipline though, as motivation doesn't seem to last. Trying to improve my discipline to the point where I just do the session without even considering whether I want to do it or not.
 
Looking for some road bike buying advice. My budget is £500-1000, on average I ride 200-300km a week in the summer, winter 100km.

For the last 2 1/2 years I've been riding my aluminium frame winter/tourer all year round, its a bit heavy but does the job, nothing high spec.

Ideally im looking for a light, probably carbon framed summer/dry weather bike. I'm not much of a consumer so I don't really know where to start.
 
sbbefc said:
Looking for some road bike buying advice. My budget is £500-1000, on average I ride 200-300km a week in the summer, winter 100km.

For the last 2 1/2 years I've been riding my aluminium frame winter/tourer all year round, its a bit heavy but does the job, nothing high spec.

Ideally im looking for a light, probably carbon framed summer/dry weather bike. I'm not much of a consumer so I don't really know where to start.
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I got my Focus Cayo for £1000 a few years ago and it's been a super bike. The only real performance related upgrade has been a new wheelset but apart from that it's taken me over many of the best mountains Europe has to offer. I bought it back in 2009 (I think - thereabouts), so I'm sure you can probably get better components and all that for the price now.
 
Just an update on my progress



Evy1iI4.jpg
 

sbbefc said:
Looking for some road bike buying advice. My budget is £500-1000, on average I ride 200-300km a week in the summer, winter 100km.

For the last 2 1/2 years I've been riding my aluminium frame winter/tourer all year round, its a bit heavy but does the job, nothing high spec.

Ideally im looking for a light, probably carbon framed summer/dry weather bike. I'm not much of a consumer so I don't really know where to start.
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I don't do any pure roady-ing - but there seems to be a lot of angst atm about the introduction of disk brakes and thru-axles, which will mean a lot of upheaval in bike design and standards. The UCI are making a decision on it I believe, whether to allow disks in the peleton. This will be on the top end machines, though, so you're ok getting a bike for a grand - if you were looking to spend big it's sort of a bad time to do so until this is resolved.

Basically it sounds to me like a bogus idea, but if it gives the bike companies something to jump up and down about and sell new bike models, then it will probably happen.

Other than that do you have the cycle to work scheme at your disposal? It's not as good as it was, but still a decent saving over a year if your workplace does it.
Harder to get the bargains with a road bike as you absolutely have to sit on it first - so buying online not as versatile.
 
£1k will just about get you an entry pass into the carbon specced stuff, but that is not the be all and end all. A good alu frame like the Canondale CAAD stuff will compete well with a low-specced carbon model and often compare pretty well weight-wise too.

I would always look at last years' discounted models for best bang for your buck. Ultimately I think it's best to arrange to test-ride 2 or 3 different models and just go with whichever one you feel happiest with. That's how I selected mine..
 
Thanks for the info.

Had a look down at the local bike shop and the bloke there is pretty helpful. There's a decent deal for a 2014 merida that im considering. Might be paying a bit more but I prefer to go down that route than online.
 
sbbefc said:
Thanks for the info.

Had a look down at the local bike shop and the bloke there is pretty helpful. There's a decent deal for a 2014 merida that im considering. Might be paying a bit more but I prefer to go down that route than online.
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Probably telling you to suck eggs and all, but I'd recommend having a bike fit as well. Bikes tend to come in different geometries, so it's well worth a few hours making sure it's setup ok for you.
 

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