The Ouzo

it all depends on what you're looking for in a tyre, for me I'd rather sacrifice rolling resistance for puncture protection

an alternative to the GP500s that everyone is suggesting is the Pirelli Cinturato Velo. Excellent puncture resistance and wet and dry performance.

been watching Lioness, its decent enough to keep us entertained and coming back for more.

there was another small get together of cyclists to raise awareness some 45 odd years ago that some how evolved over the years into the largest timed cycling event in the world.

its possible they could have been available in blue, the ones I used to have were black. looks like a more modern version of what I used to use

now if you could get the cleats for those pedals it would be a winner

look, cycling is my lifestyle, like NSBB said earlier, its not just about the physical fitness, but mental too. If I'm off the bike for to many days I get grumpy. The motivation I speak of is for those off days, the waking up early morning and the weather is rubbish or like in my case you've had insomnia that night and you just dont feel like going out. These are the days where having a measurable time based goal helps to push you out the door. For most of the other days the only motivation that is needed is being on the bike. Heck this morning we had a minor crash, a lady that punctured and we had to stop 3 times for, cut the route short because of time constraints with all the stops and still it was a great time on the bike

water is HARD at high speeds, I got battered a bruised a number of time, fortunately only the one broken rib though.

I do lover my early morning rides, preferably in silence though. even with our group rides, you'll often find me tucked in in the middle in dead silence whilst everyone around is socializing.

very much so, and I do prefer it to later in the day, but when you suffer from a bit of insomnia it does start to take its toll

it helps that he doesnt HAVE to get up at 4am to go ride before work

An interesting perspective, thanks for this.

hence me starting the thread. I'd love to do DC, but at this point I'm selling off things just to fund a quick trip to Cape Town for the CTCT, with family commitments and other nonsense happening this year, setting DC as a goal is not feasible. But without any targets / goals I know I'm just going to skip to many training sessions. Not directed at you Dexter-Morgan This is a discussion forum, maybe your ideas/thought dont work for me, but they might work for someone reading this thread. I'd also like to see some input from the likes or @'Dale as I'm sure this touches on his skill set.

I get what you're saying, but does a goal have to be an improvement of previous goals ? Does it need to be a challenge ? Can maintaining current form be a goal ?

I do feel like I did a lot of "junk miles" last year in order to hit the number, I'm going to try and put a little more structure into it this year, but I'm not disciplined enough to follow a strict training plan, although I do have a rough plan. (I put junk miles in quotations, because I believe there are no such thing, they may not be the most efficient way to get stronger/fitter, but they do count towards that)

goals / targets same same, I ride for fun, I just need something to aim for to keep me going. Last year the aim was to hit a mileage and elevation number.

How do you guys go about setting new goals for the year and keeping motivation going? I achieved my goals set out last year, I’m pretty stoked about it, don’t want to lose the fitness I’ve gained, but bloody hell it took a lot of effort and motivation. I don’t really mind not hitting the 10k km mark this year, but I know without a goal there will be many mornings like today where I just decide to sleep in rather than ride. im thinking of cutting back slightly on the frequency of rides, but join the longer group ride on a weekend to keep the mileage up. This year will be my 21st CTCT and 947, but my only goal for both is to finish comfortably this year.

I joke, but I wish I had just a little of the appetite for risk that someone like you has, I tend to chicken out way to quickly, even on the road. I've only ever broken a wrist (cycling) and a rib (water skiing).

have you considered taking up chess instead of cycling. 🤣 Bloody hell man, thats a long list of mishaps.

Make sure all the fittings of your bleed kit are tightened properly before bleeding brakes. Bike has done close to 35 000km, in this time I've never serviced bearings or bled / changed brake fluid. Decided last week, that since I'm taking a few days off the bike, and I'm on leave, I'd take my time, strip the bike down and service what has been neglected. When it came to the brake bleeding, I started with the front, I could not figure out why there is so much air in the system since they have been working 100% fine. Decided to check the fittings and realised the one fitting was not screwed in tight. Luckily its the front brake, so hose is not long and it was quick enough to get all air out the system after that.

Well done for doing it on a SS, that’s takes some doing

100% done. and now I’m taking a good few days off the bike. The body is sore. 4 solo laps around ORT today, much quicker than I thought I was going to ride.

Rapha Challenge : 80% done Legs : 100% done if it was easy it wouldn’t be a challenge. There are some strong boys in our club, pushing the pace up front just fast enough that it uncomfortable. Tomorrow I’ll do my own thing at a nice easy pace.

Km 304 of 500 Just what was needed, a gentle recovery ride.

50% done It’s proving to be a challenge I think I’ll skip the long one tomorrow and do a shorter “recovery” ride instead