The Fretboard Cycling Club

Teetonetal · May 2023

Struggling to find time to bike as much as I'd like, so braving a commute tomorrow... 70kms each way.

Follows the train line though, so lots of bail out options!

Let's see.

vanlooy1 · May 2023

Teetonetal said:

Struggling to find time to bike as much as I'd like, so braving a commute tomorrow... 70kms each way.

Follows the train line though, so lots of bail out options!

Let's see.

How did you get on?

Mellish · May 2023

@Teetonetal ; don't abandon unless you absolutely have to.

It provides an easy way out when it gets tough, you see, and its tough that makes us better.

Teetonetal · May 2023

@vanlooy1 I made it there and back, which was extremely pleasing. Its a decent distance, but no climbs so quite manageable.

Worst thing was the journey home which was into the wind the whole way. I got quite cold.

Need to hydrate and feed better next time as well.

vanlooy1 · May 2023

Teetonetal said:

@vanlooy1 I made it there and back, which was extremely pleasing. Its a decent distance, but no climbs so quite manageable.

Worst thing was the journey home which was into the wind the whole way. I got quite cold.

Need to hydrate and feed better next time as well.

Good on you, that’s quite a shlep! Nothing worse than grinding home into a headwind.

Nikc · May 2023

Legs are shot this morning - for some reason I thought a power test would be a good idea yesterday - ouch.

Rest today (although I'm working) ride again tomorrow

MagicPigDetective · May 2023

Another furthest yet ride today, 29 miles. I went with two others, they were fitter then me so I had to really push myself, though they did have to stop for me to catch up a few times. The ride was high up into a spectacularly remote valley in Snowdonia, some steep climbs but I made it. My mate's cousin was a farmer at the top of the valley, so we had a good chat there and a cup of tea. The return downhill was a lot of fun. A tough but hugely enjoyable ride.

Mellish · May 2023

You'll easily be ready. @MagicPigDetective.

I'm pretty sure you could do it now. You know you can do good mileage, the rest is in your head and regular rides out.

Well done, keep it up.
☺️

Jaycee · May 2023

Mellish said:

You'll easily be ready. @MagicPigDetective.

I'm pretty sure you could do it now. You know you can do good mileage, the rest is in your head and regular rides out.

Well done, keep it up.
☺️

i was about to say the same thing

sev112 · May 2023

Can’t find Giro highlights ? Anyone know which channel has it - Quest doesn’t seem to ?

MagicPigDetective · May 2023

Jaycee said:

Mellish said:

You'll easily be ready. @MagicPigDetective.

I'm pretty sure you could do it now. You know you can do good mileage, the rest is in your head and regular rides out.

Well done, keep it up.
☺️

i was about to say the same thing

Thanks both, I’ve come a long way in a month, feeling more confident and stronger. A lot is in the mind, as you say @Mellish , yesterday I pushed myself through some barriers, being with others was a help in that respect. Onwards and upwards! Shame it’s forecast to piss it down tomorrow though.

vanlooy1 · May 2023

sev112 said:

Can’t find Giro highlights ? Anyone know which channel has it - Quest doesn’t seem to ?

They did a couple of years ago but not since, it’s Eurosport for coverage. You can get it through subscription via Discovery plus assuming it’s not part of any TV package you have.
I subscribe to GCN+ (£40 a year) which has all the pro races.

sev112 · May 2023

I’ve been watching all 3 of the grand tours on Quest /ITV4/C4 for a few years now - occurs to me that somebody hasn’t made a deal this year

BlueStrat · May 2023

Great pic of the ride as always @MagicPigDetective ;
I’m looking forward to getting out on the bikes once my lad has finished his GCSEs. He loves going to Coed y Brenin, so many great rides around that area. Even the totally flat Barmouth to Dolgellau ride is a lovely day out

Picking your collective brains - I’m thinking of getting a gps that I could download routes to. How would you rate the Wahoo versus the Garmin?
i was thinking maybe even an old phone with a gps app could do the trick but not as well as a proper unit

drofluf · May 2023

BlueStrat said:

Great pic of the ride as always @MagicPigDetective
I’m looking forward to getting out on the bikes once my lad has finished his GCSEs. He loves going to Coed y Brenin, so many great rides around that area. Even the totally flat Barmouth to Dolgellau ride is a lovely day out

Picking your collective brains - I’m thinking of getting a gps that I could download routes to. How would you rate the Wahoo versus the Garmin?
i was thinking maybe even an old phone with a gps app could do the trick but not as well as a proper unit

I’d not use a phone as running a gps app really saps the battery so may be flat when you have an accident or mechanical and need to call for help. Perhaps I’m over cautious….

I haven’t used a modern Garmin but find the Wahoo really easy to use: setup was simple and it easily syncs routes from Strava or RideWithGPS. Probably other sites as well but I haven’t tried. Also very easy to connect to hrm, cadence etc. if you want to do that. You do need a smart phone to set up but it sounds as if you have one so that shouldn’t be an issue for you?

I may be upgrading my ELEMNT to a colour screen version in the near future.

EDIT …so may be selling my old ELEMNT if anyone is interested

hawk_eye · May 2023

sev112 said:

Can’t find Giro highlights ? Anyone know which channel has it - Quest doesn’t seem to ?

It looks like Discovery have moved them from Quest to DMAX, so they’re still available on Freeview. It’s on channel 38 for me, 7-8pm.

vanlooy1 · May 2023

BlueStrat said:

Great pic of the ride as always @MagicPigDetective
I’m looking forward to getting out on the bikes once my lad has finished his GCSEs. He loves going to Coed y Brenin, so many great rides around that area. Even the totally flat Barmouth to Dolgellau ride is a lovely day out

Picking your collective brains - I’m thinking of getting a gps that I could download routes to. How would you rate the Wahoo versus the Garmin?
i was thinking maybe even an old phone with a gps app could do the trick but not as well as a proper unit

I’ve got a Garmin 530 and the GPS navigation is really good, definitely worth the money.

The battery life is more like 12 hrs compared to the claimed 20 and it has an annoying habit of unpairing with my phone but apart from that….

Mellish · May 2023

@hawk_eye ; yep, DMAX.

And, as you say, available on Freeview. Good spot!

sev112 · May 2023

hawk_eye said:

sev112 said:

Can’t find Giro highlights ? Anyone know which channel has it - Quest doesn’t seem to ?

It looks like Discovery have moved them from Quest to DMAX, so they’re still available on Freeview. It’s on channel 38 for me, 7-8pm.

Bravo ! Thanks

Nikc · May 2023

vanlooy1 said:

BlueStrat said:

Great pic of the ride as always @MagicPigDetective
I’m looking forward to getting out on the bikes once my lad has finished his GCSEs. He loves going to Coed y Brenin, so many great rides around that area. Even the totally flat Barmouth to Dolgellau ride is a lovely day out

Picking your collective brains - I’m thinking of getting a gps that I could download routes to. How would you rate the Wahoo versus the Garmin?
i was thinking maybe even an old phone with a gps app could do the trick but not as well as a proper unit

I’ve got a Garmin 530 and the GPS navigation is really good, definitely worth the money.

The battery life is more like 12 hrs compared to the claimed 20 and it has an annoying habit of unpairing with my phone but apart from that….

I've always used Polar just a hang over from `hr monitoring days - ``i now use a `polar `vantage watch rather than a bike computer - I use to record what I've done I don't ever seem to need navigation I always have a good idea of where `i'm going

A good friend of mine who owns a bike shop really rates `Wahoo and is not keen on `Garmin if that helps.

vanlooy1 · May 2023

Nikc said:

vanlooy1 said:

BlueStrat said:

Great pic of the ride as always @MagicPigDetective
I’m looking forward to getting out on the bikes once my lad has finished his GCSEs. He loves going to Coed y Brenin, so many great rides around that area. Even the totally flat Barmouth to Dolgellau ride is a lovely day out

Picking your collective brains - I’m thinking of getting a gps that I could download routes to. How would you rate the Wahoo versus the Garmin?
i was thinking maybe even an old phone with a gps app could do the trick but not as well as a proper unit

I’ve got a Garmin 530 and the GPS navigation is really good, definitely worth the money.

The battery life is more like 12 hrs compared to the claimed 20 and it has an annoying habit of unpairing with my phone but apart from that….

I've always used Polar just a hang over from `hr monitoring days - ``i now use a `polar `vantage watch rather than a bike computer - I use to record what I've done I don't ever seem to need navigation I always have a good idea of where `i'm going

A good friend of mine who owns a bike shop really rates `Wahoo and is not keen on `Garmin if that helps.

Yeah I usually know where I’m going too but since he was asking about the gps…

thermionic · May 2023

vanlooy1 said:

BlueStrat said:

Great pic of the ride as always @MagicPigDetective
I’m looking forward to getting out on the bikes once my lad has finished his GCSEs. He loves going to Coed y Brenin, so many great rides around that area. Even the totally flat Barmouth to Dolgellau ride is a lovely day out

Picking your collective brains - I’m thinking of getting a gps that I could download routes to. How would you rate the Wahoo versus the Garmin?
i was thinking maybe even an old phone with a gps app could do the trick but not as well as a proper unit

I’ve got a Garmin 530 and the GPS navigation is really good, definitely worth the money.

The battery life is more like 12 hrs compared to the claimed 20 and it has an annoying habit of unpairing with my phone but apart from that….

Garmin have just released the 540, which looks like a decent improvement on the 530. I’d guess the 530 is now discontinued but you might find some on sale at a reduced price for this reason. I have an old 520 Plus, but I don’t bother with routes.

BlueStrat · May 2023

I have such a crap sense of direction I’d defo need the gps functions out in the hills. I’m hoping to get a bit more adventurous this summer and branch out from llandegla and Brenin so would need as much help as possible

The wahoo boot and roam look great, I’ll check these out in person. The old versions have been reduced by a fair bit of cash too

littlegreenman · May 2023

I have the older Wahoo Elmnt Bolt, now delegated to commuting duties. Great little thing, although lack of intelligent rerouting can be a pain.

Now use a Hammerhead Karoo 2. All the bells and whistles and would highly recommend, although it is on the spendy side but not that bad compared to a Garmin, which I've never used.

Useful, huh?

thermionic · May 2023

BlueStrat said:

I have such a crap sense of direction I’d defo need the gps functions out in the hills. I’m hoping to get a bit more adventurous this summer and branch out from llandegla and Brenin so would need as much help as possible

The Garmins can run the Trailforks app which is a database of off-road routes. I was going to suggest that you check if it’s available on the Wahoo, but it looks like they’ve recently added it.

drofluf · May 2023

drofluf said:

BlueStrat said:

Great pic of the ride as always @MagicPigDetective
I’m looking forward to getting out on the bikes once my lad has finished his GCSEs. He loves going to Coed y Brenin, so many great rides around that area. Even the totally flat Barmouth to Dolgellau ride is a lovely day out

Picking your collective brains - I’m thinking of getting a gps that I could download routes to. How would you rate the Wahoo versus the Garmin?
i was thinking maybe even an old phone with a gps app could do the trick but not as well as a proper unit

I’d not use a phone as running a gps app really saps the battery so may be flat when you have an accident or mechanical and need to call for help. Perhaps I’m over cautious….

I haven’t used a modern Garmin but find the Wahoo really easy to use: setup was simple and it easily syncs routes from Strava or RideWithGPS. Probably other sites as well but I haven’t tried. Also very easy to connect to hrm, cadence etc. if you want to do that. You do need a smart phone to set up but it sounds as if you have one so that shouldn’t be an issue for you?

I may be upgrading my ELEMNT to a colour screen version in the near future.

EDIT …so may be selling my old ELEMNT if anyone is interested

ELEMNT now listed in misc classifieds.

Jaycee · May 2023

Finally got the road bike out today, after using the Gravel for the winter. Tad over 36 miles with legs almost cramping on the last climb.

I put it down to different geometry, faster ride (until I changed direction into the wind) not been on the bike for three weeks and i'm an old git

. Weather was lovely tho'

MagicPigDetective · May 2023

Went back to Coed y Brenin yesterday. Did the same route a month ago, and back then it was a killer, stamina wise. Yesterday after a month of regular cycling, I was amazed how much fitter and stronger I was on the climbs. Still on the blue trail… had a look at a red one and don’t feel quite confident enough..

Also wore five tens and knee pads for the first time. The sun was out and the place was almost deserted…. heavenly out on the trails.

thermionic · May 2023

Very annoyed with myself today for forgetting that our club rides have switched to 9am for the summer, and I (an idiot) turned up at 9:20. Determined not to waste such a nice day I put my head down and hammered 80km at 25.7km/h!

MagicPigDetective · May 2023

thermionic said:

Very annoyed with myself today for forgetting that our club rides have switched to 9am for the summer, and I (an idiot) turned up at 9:20. Determined not to waste such a nice day I put my head down and hammered 80km at 25.7km/h!

Good going! Whereabouts did you go, the vale or the valleys?

I finally cracked the 50km barrier today. It's incredible how much I'm improving from where I was two months ago, I did a host of PB's on segments today. Also tackled a climb I've been avoiding for years, it was nowhere near as bad as my mind had made it. Loving it!

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

The Fretboard Cycling Club

Comments