questadventure

Scott Foil is a Strava winner

They say that it’s all in the mind and another great quote is “it’s not about the bike”. Well I don’t know about that. Last night I was dreading the ride thinking that my legs would not be up to it. I sat in for long periods and struggled to close the gaps when I…

Masochism and the joys of riding a bike

Suffering is what many cyclists want. Why enter a sportive if you don’t want to suffer? Never enter a race if you don’t want pain. But people do. Quite normal sensible people do. Why? Perhaps that in a our safe, over eating, under exercising, often desk bound and motoring lives we, occasionally and for some…

Sometimes it’s all in the mind – the social implementation of pain

I couldn’t wait for last night’s Tuesday Thrash. I hadn’t really ridden since last week’s. I had done a few runs and a short easy mountain bike ride on Sunday so I was raring to go. We set of slowly but then on The Warren and Crockhurst some loony raced up. I tried to control…

Mountain biking can be very social – but needs to be done more often

I used to ride fifty fifty road and mountain bike but, in part due to the weather, I have been almost exclusively riding on the road for the last year. One reason for this is that when you go for a road ride that is what you do. You , I, ride! So often mountain…

We are now a cycling nation and its warm too. Enjoy!

It was the 2nd of June and I went out for my first ride this year in summer gear. Prior to this I have ridden a few times with arm warmers and braved the weather but most of my rides in the last month have started with arm warmers and a wind proof gilet. But…

Strengths and weaknesses and riding in the Alps

Every rider has strengths and weaknesses. I think that I am a crappy climber. My power to weight ratio seems poor. I lack strength. I barely get over 300 watts on the B-kool trainer. I can’t win a race whatever I do. All in all I’m not much good. So what can I do? I…

Sharing the load. 3T Ergosum bar review

It was really warm as the group gathered by the pier with lots of faces that I had not seen before. It all started slow enough but then it gradually increased in speed. It was the same old bunch at the front but with some notable reinforcements. Not only were these guys strong but willing…

Check your bolts but not the weather. Garmin Edge 510 review

The forecast this weekend was pants so my buddies were debating whether to ride, and if so, what to wear for the Little Lumpy 100 mile Sportive. How wrong could the forecast be? I was riding local and left at 7:30am with a chill in the air but I only needed arm warmers for protection….

Overdoing it and the Scott Foil

I have been riding ever harder despite telling all that rest is the most important part of any training program. I can’t resist a hard ride. The feeling of riding on the limit is like a drug I give into every time that I get on the bike. Last Sunday all that I wanted to…

Obey the rules

When does a gathering become a movement? There were 27 out for an incident packed ride last night. It is incredibly social and very hard. You need to suffer to make it worthwhile. Put a lot in and you get a lot out. It was nice to hear Howard expounding the same views as me….