well fan for life

I personally use Strava and think it's absolutely excellent.

The way he dropped Sagan on that final climb was so impressive. Then because of his time-trialling expertise, as soon as it levelled off he's gone. Cancellara easy days for next weekend.

Sadly about 15 miles is the most I get time for at the minute. I'm just having to sandwich cycling in before work all the time.

Sky still can't go toe-to-toe with the big boys on the classics. Fully expecting Cancellara to rip everyone to shreds next week in Paris-Roubaix.

I do find it quite amusing the hate Team Sky get. They were a team who were always going to leave a huge mark on this sport. Think about what Sky Sports has done for football, darts, boxing etc. Sky would never have fronted up the reported £30 million start up fund if they thought they were going to build a second rate team who were there to make the numbers up. I'm not some sort of Team Sky fan boy, but I've done a fair amount of reading about the team and the amount of different areas they work on. The attention to detail is absolutely mind-boggling. Strange how everyone on here throws all these wild accusations about at Team Sky, but no one seems to point much in the way of it at the ridiculously successful GB track team who were effectively the blueprint in setting up Sky's style of training.

My pal's got a Carrera Valour with the Shimano Sora groupset. It's not exactly an S-Works Venge, but if you look after it and regularly clean and oil the chain etc. there's not a lot wrong with it. It's his winter road bike and it does the job well enough. I'd say Halfords are not bad for buying a bike, but absolutely mince for servicing.

It seems like a good way of pushing myself further on the bike. So I'll probably go and meet up with them next weekend. Went out today up to Eaglesham with a mate. Was a lovely ride until we encountered about a mile or so of this: I rode through a bit of it before nearly ending up on my arse then I got off and walked a bit of it. Even just rolling over it I could feel the back wheel stepping out. Lovely day for it otherwise. Just chilly enough to mean you're never overly warm.

HTC were far better at controlling a race than Sky are. They got so good no one else even tried. Mind when Cav won his first on the Champs Elysses by so much that him and Renshaw should probably have been given a 2 second time gap they were so far ahead. I loved that HTC squad. If OPQS can work it properly I think they could be even better.

That's what I was thinking. At least if I join a club then there is that kind of motivation to haul my arse out of bed. If I've made plans to meet people I'm going to get up and ready, as opposed to hitting snooze and thinking "I'll just give it an hour".

I would say that folk who are both saying they want a cleaner sport AND that Team Sky's race tactics are dull and boring need to pick one or the other. The fact is, using a whole team to spread the work through a stage is the only way it's feasible to win any sort of stage race now. I also would say that if Sky (and I mean the multinational corporation, not Sky Procycling) knew there was doping going on within a team bearing their name they would pull the plug instantly on sponsorship. The last thing they want is their name to be dragged through the dirt over something like that. Also, the fact that it's a lot more transparent within their team with regards to inviting journalists along to travel within the team during grand tours, training camps etc. lends weight to them being clean. You never got that with US Postal. You were never shown anything about their back ground runnings on a regular basis. I'm not saying cycling is completely clean, but I really don't think Sky could get away with anything like what T_S_A_R is suggesting for any significant length of time.

I have absolutely no idea . I sent an email to one of the guys the other night who told me they meet up at St James Retail park on Sunday mornings for a 30 mile-ish run. Been looking to take my cycling a wee bit more seriously so it's worth a go I think.

Thinking about joining up with the Glenmarnock Wheelers for a run next weekend. Dunno if anyone on here is a member.

Wheelying over the line . Sagan is an absolutely fantastic guy to watch.

That was a cracking bit of breakaway work. Didn't look over his shoulder to see where everyone else was, just focussed on the road in front of him and kept going. He's maintained his lead well, so far.

Sky are showing they can't stick it with the big boys when it comes to the cobbles. For all Boasson Hagen is their main man for the classics, he's been far eclipsed by Thomas and Stannard.

My current cycling ambitions are being beaten to death by my shifts in work.

True. He'll learn from it though. Think Boonen needs to man the f**k up. He was whining about yesterday being "inhuman" almost as soon as he retired. Big respect to the guys who toughed that out. I think yesterday proved cycling is a sport for hard men.

Milan - San Remo looked absolutely miserable. David Millar posted a couple of photos on twitter of him and his team on the bus transfer. They all had ice stuck to their glasses & helmets. Great ride from Ciolek, more or less ghosted along at the back of that group using other folk. Think Sagan showed his inexperience on the sprint by effectively leading Ciolek out.

I done about 18 miles this morning. I find overshoes do nothing to keep your feet dry, but they do keep them warm. The rain was fine today, the driving hail when I got up to Eaglesham gave my ears an absolute beating.

With his penchant for show boating, there's possibly a wee touch of Cipollini in there too.

I reckon Sagan will rip Milan-San Remo to shreds. He's a different kind of sprinter, because he can stick the climbs with the likes of Nibali etc. Something which Cavendish & Greipel can only dream of doing. He also celebrates in the most fantastic manner.

That was a cracking couple of episodes. They were very dialogue based, but actually drove the plot onwards. I feel like series 2's quieter episodes were absolutely interminable. Nothing ever happened worth noting (I know Carl got shot, but he's annoying so that doesn't count) until the last 2 episodes. This series has consistently had something to keep you intrigued. Also, I noticed that the brick archway where the pile of burnt corpses was the exact same archway they used in Lawless. I need to get out more .

It's far easier to be too warm than too cold. I'd rather be more wrapped up than try and be some sort of diddy who goes out and catches the cold every time he goes near a bike.

I got out today, done 14.4 miles. Was a nice cycle, cold but I was well wrapped up. Thermal jersey, wind proof vest, cycling jersey, arm warmers, roubaix leggings, overshoes, and my ear warmer. I find as soon as my legs and feet get overly cold they just shut down and I can barely summon the energy to turn the pedals. Plus, at least if I'm too warm I can undo the zip on my jersey and cool down a bit. Would have been a lot nicer today if I wasn't being beaten half to death by a headwind on Castlemilk bypass.

This. Exactly this.