The Audio-Talk Cycling thread.

[Ray P]

TdF was good viewing today - I managed to catch the end of the stage live. I'll not mention the result in case it would be a spoiler for anyone.

[Ray P]

In other news, I have another big ride tomorrow, I'm entered for the long route at the Mendips Classic Sportive - 123Km with >1400m of elevation.

Fortunately the start is at 8am so I should be finished before it gets too scorchio

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34524590

[IslandPink]

Yes that stage was a cracker, bit of a classic finish. Shocking how fresh Pogacar looked as Majka peeled off.
Thomas looking good as predicted, though, hope he can do well again.

Interesting stuff, Ray, have a good ride.
"Fortunately the start is at 8am"
Error : does not compute ...

[Ray P]

Capture.JPG (128.01 KiB) Viewed 1814 times

[IslandPink]

Goof effort, looks a bit mountainous !
Was it 17°C or 28°C ? Wahoo doesn't seem to be very clear.
I imagine it was a bit hot on some of the climbs.

I went out and did the 37.5 mile loop again ( towards Corwen then doubling back through the minor lanes) > I think I'll call this 'Route 5' now.
Did 2hrs53min with a 4min break, so that's similar to about 4 weeks ago, though I did feel rather tired in the last half hour.
Managing OK on the new Berthoud saddle, bit sore at the end ( sorry, sort-of in the middle ) but have had worse.
Weather was perfect, super clear as well as sunny. Happy Days.

[Ray P]

17°C was the temperature at the start Mark, 28°C the supposed average - seems a bit high, but it was 26°C at the finish.

The second of the three big hills was the hardest, just an unrelenting 4Km at 5.3% - it felt steeper. It's Burrington Combe though the picture below flattens the gradient.



The third of the big climbs was Cheddar Gorge, 3.7Km at around 4%. It's actually much steeper at the bottom with 1Km around 10-12% and one ramp at 28% but then it 'flattens' to around 2% for the rest of the climb, which felt relatively easy.

[IslandPink]

I've seen the road a few times on Adam Watkins' videos.

Amazing to think that it was all carved out of cheese by retreating glaciers from the Ice Age.

[Ray P]

[Ray P]

A couple of pictures from the organisers of Saturday's Mendip Sportive.

First one is the front of my bike as I was waitinng to start



and the second is of me climbing up through Cheddar Gorge

[Dave the bass]

"Fortunately the start is at 8am"
Error : does not compute ...

2nd-ed!

Top riding there team. Well done.

[Ray P]

Epic TdF stage today - TP isn't invincible after all - race defining day?

[IslandPink]

Just finished watching the live coverage ( recorded )
Epic indeed !
TP suffered from weakening team and too much enthusiasm ... but -
Amazed that commentators didn't twig that he ran out of calories on final climb.
One minute he was smiling at camera and strong ; a couple of km later he was making knife & fork sign language. Must have failed to fuel enough due to intermittent support from team. He fell off so rapidly, I'm sure it was the bonk.
More fun & games to come for everyone, tomorrow, let's see if TP has refueled.

Great ride by 'G' , steady progress ; also great to see Bardet and Quintana doing well - nostalgic ! ( Bardet seems to have wasted years of career at AG2R )

[Ray P]

It's another big stage today so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out and who recovers best.

Yes, fuelling was likely an issue for TP on that final climb but I see that more in terms of a victory for Jumbo-Visma as they seem to have had a great plan that came together - not only did they dethrone TP, they also consoldated their grip on the green jersey.

We've still got the Pyrenees too.

[IslandPink]

Yes, fuelling was likely an issue for TP on that final climb but I see that more in terms of a victory for Jumbo-Visma as they seem to have had a great plan that came together - not only did they dethrone TP, they also consoldated their grip on the green jersey.

Well yes, and they were super-strong, but I'm not sure that 'not losing three riders to Covid' can be seen as a planned tactic by Jumbo vs. UAE.

Interesting to see that Froome is out in a break today ...

[Ray P]

Yes, fuelling was likely an issue for TP on that final climb but I see that more in terms of a victory for Jumbo-Visma as they seem to have had a great plan that came together - not only did they dethrone TP, they also consoldated their grip on the green jersey.

Well yes, and they were super-strong, but I'm not sure that 'not losing three riders to Covid' can be seen as a planned tactic by Jumbo vs. UAE.

Interesting to see that Froome is out in a break today ...

Well. lady luck always plays a part...