rattlesnake

A Batch for 70........ Epic fail on goodie bags though!!!! 1x nasty looking USN energy drink called "spike"....

I'm a miserable S.O.B if I dont get at least one long ride in on the weekend.... so amazingly enough, my wife LOVES it when I get my long ride in!!!

Great work guys!

Lol, well as a newbie to the whole process and the amount of research my Mrs put in front of me, technical seemed like an understatement! Anyways thanks for the great advice and congrats on the little one!

Sorry to hear man. I have read smoking, drinking etc has a big impact, as does stress. Luckily I dont smoke and Im not a big drinker, so I'm hoping that its not a long process for us; my wife wont be able to go the IVF route either due to a pre existing blood clotting condition. I just see how many people battle these days, but I think it has more to do with life's other pollutants then cycling.

Come on lads I need more posts!!!!, I only need about another million positive responses for my wife to agree that I dont need to cut back....

Sage like advice, the problem is, this future daddy is GRUMPY when he doesnt get to ride.... and the cross training - I do some of that already and quite honestly couldnt stomach one more hour inside the gym then I already do spend... I need the wind in my hair!

Is there a dislike button? ....

So.... the Mrs and I have decided to not, not try for kids.... The Mrs has done LOTS of research and has decided to cut back on her own training so as to improve her chances of falling pregnant. There is a quid pro quo though..... she thinks I need to cut back too My question is, how many of you hubbers, that take their cycling a little more seriously (i.e. 10 hrs - 15 hrs a week) have actually had a problem. I.e. you were told to back it off for a while in order to have kids? Or asked differently, how many of said more serious cyclists had no problems and carried on riding as normal? PS - I do have wider, cut away saddles on all my bikes (spez ones)

Race results dont lie. If you top 5-10% in a large competitive field then you fast. 10-20% above average and so forth Sorry, i see you havent raced yet (EDIT) 22Km/hr training should put you in top 10-15% of field

they had some decent staff at that store up until recently, it seems like there was a mass exodus of sort....

Thanks will do that!

I think that the only thing that the Specialised Concept Store in Melrose Arch specialises in is bad service! I went in there last week with a colleague of mine looking for a soft tail bike. The sales guys there (Ricky) said that they didnt have stock of a particular bike and that he would check at other stores for us and call me to let me know. One week passes - no call. My colleague went and bought a Scott from one of the more competent LBS' out there. I went into the concept store today and the same sales guy was there'; 1. When I asked why he didnt call me about the bike, he said "I was supposed to call you?" Äbout what" - this after I took the time to fill out my name etc on a piece of paper for him to get back to me. 2. The guy was completely unapologetic 3. His breath smelt like something died in his mouth, seriously, move inside a 1m radius of this guy at your own perril. 4. The store is extremely poorl;y stocked. And this is not the first time I have been in there and they havent had some of the basics. Bottom line, I will not shop there again and if I were you, I wouldnt either. If I ever need anything with a specialised brand name again, it wont be from the Melrose Arch store.

Doing my first one this year, can't wait!

surprised the front brake calipers are in front of the fork and not behind..... so much drag.....

http://cyclingfitness.hubpages.com/hub/Muscles-groups-used-while-cycling Check out this link - it contains a diagram of the specific muscles recruited during the pedal stroke and at which point of the pedal stroke. Idea would be to train those muscles in pedal stroke specific movements. I.e. break down the pedal stroke into smaller parts and do exercises that mimic those movements. For better climbing you need to increase power to weight ratio. Although climbing is a slow twitch muscle fibre intensive exercise, so focus on higher repititions.

A race for madmen - story of the Tour de france from its inception, couldnt put it down

So I can eat prawn flavoured Woolies chips.... and salt and vinegar pringles without remorse!

okay... I enjoyed this event when I did it in 2010, so consider me in!

BLIKSEM!!!! I have no more expletives to help articulate how much power it would take to achieve this. My wife pedals and its still hard on the tandem!!!

Its a combination of things that makes me never want to quit cycling; - the feeling of being completely buggered after a long ride and resigned to the couch for the rest of the day - all the food tastes sweeter (not to mention I can eat more) - the air smells fresher - my mood is better - the sense of pushing boundaries and breaking through new ones - surprising yourself - satisfaction from hanging in when your body was screaming out for you to STOP! - The occasional satisfaction of having the perfect race, where you the amateur had the pleasure of handing it to some of the elites..... it validates your training, your lifestyle and renews your motivation.

+1

I think one should focus on training smart, not just hard. Fixation on hours should not be the focus. I monitor my hours, but I use the total hours per week to break it down into the different training modes; - Endurance - Tempo - Speed - Recovery I spend 60-65% of hours in endurance zone and then do 1-2 focused tempo / speed / climbing sessions of 60-120 minutes, the type depending on how far away I am from my target event and the characteristics of the route. Oh, and I take 2 days out of every 7 off my legs completely. i.e. no weights training or cycling I always follow a tempo session up with a recovery ride the next day.

I think you are right, yesterday was as good as game set and match wiggins. I dont think Cadel is a good enough climber to make the 3-4 minutes he would need on wiggo to win the tour (to make up for the time he will likely lose in the 2nd TT). And Cadel just doesnt have a strong enough team, he was all alone on the smaller climbs on Sat & Sun, so no chance he will have anyone supporting him through the Alps. What is surprising for me though is that a serious tour contender like evans didnt put more thought into building a strong enough team. When you see how much work Sky and Wiggo have put into the tour, from training at altitude and the small little details on the bikes (olyptical chainrings, aero dynamic brake calipers etc etc) and the skin suits, they deserve to win the tour.

See a physio and DON'T try train through the pain! I did and I developed a tear in the tendon. Left me off the bike for 6 weeks. And it's still not 100%. See to it now before it becomes chronic