Cycling UK Forum

1982john wrote:A fascinating read. Much of it seems like post hoc justification for failing - not having a go this is just basic human psychology.

FasterFerret wrote:Interesting, honest review.

Perhaps I am just reading into it what I want to read, but there seems a lot of 'not respecting the record enough' (notice I didn't say disrespecting).

I've said before, clearly she has a talent at TT, good physiology, decent engine. I have massive respect for anyone who has a go at this.

But to expect to be able to crack this as a short-term project is underestimating things (even those fools that did the 'car record' said they took 6 years to plan and execute).

I read in one of the other record write-ups the term 'being hardened' I think that sums up what I was trying to say about 'miles in the legs'.

It's not just physiology, watts and FTP.

There has got to be a lot of experience that people pick-up over a lifetime of riding a bike - I have only had two speed-wobbles in my many years of cycling, one coming off the steep side of the cat and fiddle probably 25 years ago (younger and more stupid) and one coming down the back of the Lect last month, both were terrifying but I handled the second one much better than the first - experience counts. BTW I had my GoPro recording coming over the Lect and I can tell you that whilst it felt like a lifetime the video showed that it lasted seconds. A few more seconds and I would definitely have been spat off. Long speed wobbles are rare, you either catch it or it catches you...

Fair to say a lot of the lessons learned could and probably have been learned along the way (and others) through sheer bike riding experience.

Funny, don't know how I stumbled across it the other day, but found this thread on this forum:

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=21079

"Ok fine. The exact time is 6 days 17 hours. I train myself and work as a personal trainer so yes I could give advice to lots of people about training gladly.

If you have a look at http://www.benumber1.co.uk and click on the link for Robin Simpson you will see some of the world records I have done to date so I will beat this record this year.
Advice I need is about the journey not the training. I can run, cycle for ages but not any good at map reading."

Some of you will remember commenting on it and giving advice.

These are not easy records, underestimate them and they will bite you hard.

Duracellbunnyonabike wrote:I don’t know you (at least not from forum name) so I am not sure what you want to read into my blog and why. I can assure you though that I have never underestimate or not respected this record enough.
At some point I will date the details of my preparations. You will see plenty of time and thought, mental and physical training etc has gone into it.
Glad to read that somehow a second big speed wobble is easier to deal with. There is hope.

Duracellbunnyonabike wrote: ... Glad to read that somehow a second big speed wobble is easier to deal with. ...

... There is hope.

Duracellbunnyonabike wrote:

FasterFerret wrote:Interesting, honest review.



I don’t know you (at least not from forum name) so I am not sure what you want to read into my blog and why. I can assure you though that I have never underestimate or not respected this record enough.

At some point I will date the details of my preparations. You will see plenty of time and thought, mental and physical training etc has gone into it.

Glad to read that somehow a second big speed wobble is easier to deal with. There is hope.

thirdcrank wrote:Not necessarily easy to remember if the bike starts running out of control but the vibrations need to be damped and this can be done by pressing a leg against the top tube of the bike.

FasterFerret wrote:

Duracellbunnyonabike wrote:

FasterFerret wrote:Interesting, honest review.



I don’t know you (at least not from forum name) so I am not sure what you want to read into my blog and why. I can assure you though that I have never underestimate or not respected this record enough.

At some point I will date the details of my preparations. You will see plenty of time and thought, mental and physical training etc has gone into it.

Glad to read that somehow a second big speed wobble is easier to deal with. There is hope.

Hi,

I'm glad you stopped by.

If you look through the number of posts on here you will see that there are a lot of people supportive of anyone (including your good self) who has a go at this. It is a strange thing to be sitting up late in the night willing on a dot that represents a person that we don't know, other than through an online blog and a shared love of this strange end2end thing, as it crawls across the screen.

If you scroll back through (and there is a lot of it) this thread you will see a number of us trying to guess what the 'magic formula' is (probably knowing full well that one doesn't exist). You will also see a lot of support for you, Mike and Ian.

So, my working theory is one that I am struggling for a full explanation for is 'miles in the legs', the idea that some form of hardening process occurs over miles and miles and years and years in the saddle - is it mental, is it physical (can the two be separated?!). How much of it is experience? - speed wobbles get easier (?!), nutritional strategies get learned (what works for a 50m doesn't work for a 12 hour doesn't (or does) work for 48 hours), this saddle/wheel/tt bar/tyre combination works that one doesn't, my neck/butt/arms/feet will last or not... Confidence to know that you've been in this dark hole before and you got through it, so you are going to get through this one (and the next one when it appears).

So when I read through your blog (and I'm one of the ones that has read every page of your website) I readily admitted that I was probably just going to get stuck in a loop of confirmation bias - reading into it what I wanted to read - that in order to crack this particular nut, as well as needing a lot stars to align, a lot of miles on the clock are going to be necessary, not necessarily to enhance the engine but to enhance the all-around 'robustness' (for want of a better word/term).

I think that I mentioned in another post that I wish you had 'found your talent' earlier, because (to confirm my bias) if you had had an extra 5, 10, 15 years of cycling all of those miles and little things picked-up along the way might have helped, might have been the difference. Pure supposition of course, but something that is based upon watching a number of other athletes from other endurance sports trying to 'move-up' over the years. And you've got to admit that in the scheme of 'moving-up', this one is right up there?

Anyway, trust me no one on here is out to be disrespectful, least of all me - I wrote about Ian's attempt that 'in failure' he had put in a ride that most people could only dream about, the same is true of yours.

So, stick around and put us right where we are wrong - it was you that did the ride, not us, we just watched the dot - but we did it with a bizarre amount of passion and respect!

So far, I have stopped for a total of eight hours and have slept for about five or six of those. But it’s a little bit strange, because tiredness is not a problem. It’s more a question of loneliness and it’s quite scary riding down dark country roads on your own at 1 o’clock in the morning.
“One thing that could stop me finishing is the soreness, but we’ll have to see how things go

Duracellbunnyonabike wrote:
Thank you for your reply

1982john wrote:Looks like another record is about to be smashed

Pembroke to Great Yarmouth