Drooper

Moderate undulations I believe....

On possible rides, I've been looking at the Action Medical Research, Trossachs Ton on 17th June: http://www.action.org.uk/trossachs_ton There are two options - a 100 mile route, and an alternative 100Km route. The routes start together and split some way in, so even if a few members of the group prefer to opt for one over the other, we'd all be riding a fair bit of the route together. AMR is a charity specifically aimed at raising funds for kids medical research etc. What I have noticed this year, however, is that there is an option to enter without committing to raise the minimum sponsorship of £30. This increases the entry fee from £28 to £50 right enough, but allows for people to either raise money for another cause (the £50 entry includes a donation to AMR in any event) or not to look for sponsorship at all. My thoughts are that if we are forming Team P&B for the ride - and hopefully a few more besides - then it would be worthwhile trying to raise a few quid, and this was how I presented the idea to Div. I'm easy as to how and for what cause we might be looking to raise money. The Trossachs Ton might sound a bit heavy duty, but after I finished the Glasgow 100 mile route this year, I got talking to a guy who had entered the Trossachs ride and found the Glasgow 100 route a good bit tougher. I managed to complete the Glasgow 100 without too much difficulty and I'm hardly Marco Pantani, so I'm sure with a bit of preparation and training we could complete one of the two routes on offer. As MonkeyBlair suggested earlier in the thread, I'll start PMing on this soon, but I'm keen to rope in as many folk as might be up for it, so I'm keeping this on the open boards for now. I'd invite any thoughts as to the Trossachs Ton, any other ride options, and other suggestions and thoughts on a more general level that you might have. Cheers Drew

Bump! Div has got back to and is more than happy for us to get together under the P&B banner. In fact, he has very kindly offered to throw in a hundred quid for post-ride 'refreshments' after we complete our sportive ride next year! A great gesture on the part of the gaffer I've read the posts from Unleash the Nade and The Master above, and can appreciate where both are coming from. I've swithered about joining a club, but I'm unlikely to in the final analysis, as I like to do things on my own terms. I can certainly see the benefits of group riding - camaraderie, safety, motivation, pushing yourself etc. - but I've never been one for joining in with anything too regimented. My personal thoughts were that we were looking to get together on a purely social basis, and the idea of Team P&B grew from a post made earlier in the thread. I see it more as a wee tag for an occasional get-together, as opposed to a club as such. I don't envisage there being any competitive element, and, for me, the very purpose of getting together is to ensure that everyone enjoys the experience and isn't excluded due to age, ability, fitness, or riding skills. As UtN says, we need to plan a route, but I don't think we need to worry too much about club riding etiquette. If we aren't looking to challenge Cav and Wiggins for a place in Team GB, then I reckon we won't need to worry about wiping each other out on the road. TBH, I'm not overly keen on tagging along on an established club ride. Again, this is my personal position. Indeed, I see the whole notion of Team P&B as a bit of a carry on, albeit one with consideration to safety very much in there. For me, it would be enough to initially meet up at a relatively central location having agreed a route of, say 40 - 50 miles. We take it easy on relatively quiet roads, and get a sense of how we function as a group. It is accepted that we're all novices and won't be trying to come out on top. Ultimately, we could aim to sign up for a sportive event later in the year, and get together having had a couple of preliminary rides for fun. We could then look at sponsorship under the Team P&B banner, and take it from there. Again, and this is very much my own thoughts for further discussion, I'm for keeping this nice and simple. I fancy getting a Team P&B jersey made up and will be looking into that, but beyond that, let's not over-complicate things. What UtN is saying makes sense, though. We need to think of safety as a paramount concern, and I'm happy to take some pointers from him on this.

Aye, me too. My late father-in-law's turbo is hanging in the shed, but i can't muster up any enthusiasm for using it. Thursday will be the day I get back on the bike....3 weeks after my spill. The knee is still smarting a bit at times, but I'm scunnered with not getting out, so I'l be riding to work. Incidentally, I've not heard back from Div regarding the use of the P&B name and logo for our cycling club. Not sure what the issue is there as he's been about on here and over on B&WA. I can hardly imagine that he'll have a problem with it, though, so the next plan is to look at a central meeting point for our first ride in the Spring. My suggestion would be that we opt for the most central location for the first meet (Stirling seems a popular option in terms of being as central as anywhere, but it would be good to hear what others think), then cast the net a bit further - possibly to take in the favourite routes of some members. If we can aim to meet 4 times over the year, including a sportive ride, that wouldn't seem too ambitious. I'm happy to travel, and can provide a lift for others in my general area if we can organise a carrier etc. I'll bump the club idea a few more times then get a PM communication option up and running. Anyone else who fancies joining us can opt in as and when.

I'd agree with this. Think of it as the equivalent of an oil and filter change on the car, as opposed to simply checking the brakes and tyre pressures etc. I reckon £65 for this level of service seems pretty reasonable.

Your loss, swot!

Good to see you signing up bud! My sair knee will be but a distant memory when we are racking up that 100 in our Team P&B ride next year! Is 100 yards a bit ambitious at this stage?

But you'll be about for a Team P&B ride or two surely? Get your name down!

Good thinking that man - will sort it out once we get a few more names.

Cut and paste, and add you name to the list then ya pair of tumshies

Still off the bike I need something to aim toawards as my mojo is fading with every day that passes. What about getting organised with Team P&B? We've toyed with this idea earlier in the thread, but I reckon the down season is the time to muster up some enthusiasm and give us a goal to work towards. I'll contact Div to check out if he's cool with using the P&B tag, and I'll have a look a few rides scheduled for next late Spring. I reckon we should aim to get a meet organised for Feb/March so we can have an ice-breaker ride and suss out if we need to split the team into sub-groups based on experience etc. We should be as inclusive as possible, IMO, and look to offer something for all those who post on here and have a love of the bike. Can I suggest that we get a list together of those who are interested - only an expression of interest at this stage, mind. I'll kick things off with my name. Could anyone who is interested cut and paste the existing list when you add your name so it is easy to keep track of numbers. Here goes.... Drooper

I'm champing at the bit to get back on the bike, but I know that every day that passes will make it tougher to get back into it. I'm really not looking forward to taking the bus tomorrow. By the time I get to the bus stop, I would have been 3/4 of the way into work if taking the bike.

My knee is still playing up. I'm going to try get on the bike tomorrow to see how it feels, but I think I might be another week at least away from commuting by bike again. Pretty scunnered, and I'm already losing fitness

I was in Glasgow last night in the car. A guy was cycling up Maryhill Road, weaving in and out of traffic on hid bike with no lights or even reflectors and full black clothing. Absolute clown. If a car hit him, its not only the guy himself who would suffer. Very, very selfish.

That's a nightmare, mate. Sorry to hear that. I hope your insurance covers it.

Aye, always one of my first preferences when looking to invest in a new bit of kit. I've been quite impressed with dhb from Wiggle, also, and Altura are reliable too. Both brands offer good value for money.

I'm often guilty of buying bike kit because I like the idea/look of it, not because I really need it. If you don't have a couple of pairs of padded shorts already, then another pair won't go amiss, right enough. If I were you, I'd look at investing in a pair of bib-longs made form Roubaix material for cosiness during the cold months. I bought a dhb pair from Wiggle and they are great on colder rides. They set me back about £40 (I got a tenner off for adding a trinket to bring the total bill to £50 when the deal kicked in), and they are worth every penny. On the subject of good quality clothing, I was wearing my Endura Singletrack trousers when I came off the bike last week. Despite the fact that my knee was a bit bloodied and pulped, the knees of the breeks were unmarked. They really are bombproof, and yet another fantastic bit of kit from the Scottish-based manufacturer.

My knee was x-rayed this afternoon, and to my huge relief nothing is broken. Just a lot of swelling and bruising. Fingers crossed I'll just be out of the saddle for a week or so

Cheers pal. The Bel Air is well worth a look. If my knee doesn't sort itself out soon, I might donate mine

Aye, I'm well and truly crocked with this knee. It has blown up like a balloon, and an X-ray might be on the cards now. Nightmare You can get decent cycling specs that can take prescription lenses underneath (if that makes sense) - so all is not lost

The comfiest saddle I've used is the SDG Bel Air. I used it for the 100 mile sportive in August and didn't have the slightest bit of discomfort. It comes in plenty of colour options, and you can pick it for for £30 - £40 if you shop around online. I swear by it, whereas many other saddles simply make me swear

How did you manage that? Over tightening? Probably best to get it checked out by your local bike shop unless anyone has a better idea.

Cheers mate, but it has got bloody worse as the day has went on. My wife came to get me at work so I loaded the bike into the back of the motor. I've got history with this knee, so I'm pretty concerned at the moment. You're spot on about the age thing, though. I was just saying as much to a colleague earlier. As a wee boy, I'd have bounced straight back from a spill like this, but I'm bloody toiling here I hope you're back on the bike soon, too (no pun intended mind ).

He ended up with a bairn this year as a result, so no wonder he's wanting to lay off a bit

Dales on Dobbies Loan and Evans at Braehead are the two big outlets. The smaller shops probably don't afford quite the same opportunity for slavering over shiny beasties but I know there are a few scattered throughout the city. I came off the bike en route to work this morning. I was off the road and turning into an under-pass when the back wheel skittered away from under me and, before I could disengage from the SPDs, I came down on my knee....my dodgy knee. It was a hell of a clatter, and my knee was pretty badly bloodied (requiring some TLC from a couple of nurses in the office ), but it is the impact that will be the lasting problem. I sat with an ice-pack on my knee, but it will sieze up overnight, so I'm worried about how long it will take to shake this off. Thoroughly scunnered about this. I think the knobbly tyres on my 'courtesy' bike contributed to the spill. They really are shit for tarmac