Geek out with veloviewer

Awesome site for anyone using Strava, heartily recommend it. More graphs than a statistics degree. Also finds your closest ‘competitors’.

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#statistics, #strava, #veloviewer

http app strava com activities 80941043

http://app.strava.com/activities/80941043

#club-run, #strava

Ahh, winter riding, how I have missed thee.

or, not.

Oh the joys:

Cold feet again today. When I remember to wear thermal socks and overshoes I’m fine, but just grabbed everyday socks this morning and regretted it. Only 6 turned up for the Sunday club run. Not sure why as the forecast was OK, but there was a lot of flooding on the roads. After climbing Watlington hill a couple of us decided to take it a bit easy – so the group split amicably. We had a good run, pushed ourselves somewhat but the other 4 are all amateur racers (one of whom won a Cat 3 the previous day) and we didn’t want to hold them back.

Sunday Steady Run on Strava.

And when I got home and checked the bike, the Chiltern Hills had left a little of themselves with me:

So, check them tyres!

My bike is now complete. I finally managed to ebay some Ultegra STIs and a derailleur so those went on along with a new KMC gold chain a week or so ago. 10 gears now (was 8 speed RX100), 12-27 and a whopping 160 grams lost (!). Of course I’m now thinking on the next bike, when and how I could possibly afford it. Cervelo S3 is the current favourite. But, I am going to have to earn it. If I can make 72Kg and stay with the Club fast group by summer, I will be looking for this frame! Some (rather consumerist I’d agree) goals at last…

Having got back in to regular training (though a bit of a blip this week, so today was hard) I  find that my legs, as previously posted, hurt. Most of the time. This is Good, as Pain is Gain. However, things can be done about it, so I have invested in a ‘foam roller’. These mimic the effect of a leg massage to help loosen the muscles and reduce tight spots. They also help with core training. So we’ll see how and if this works soon. Also thinking of a proper bike fit. A lot of people recommend these, and I still have trouble getting comfortable sometimes, so I might just try it.

Next up though, sorting out riding goals for next year. The overall goal is above – get the weight down, get fast enough to deserve a classy frame. But to get there I need objectives. Given that I don’t have the time/dedication for race training, sportives are the goal. So time to set up next year’s plan. As with 2011 and 2012, this will start with the Cheiveley Sportive in Jan. May be see you there, dear reader?

#bike, #humour, #oxfordshire, #sportive, #strava, #winter-training, #zappi

VeloViewer

VeloViewer is a  new site out there, one of the first to start using the Strava API. Early days but some good stuff already, such as seeing loads of Strava stats in graph form and a cool little ‘signature’ image of the type pioneered by SETI/BOINC:

Mike Lowndes’s Strava summary

Hmm, nice. They do need to fix the apostrophy fail though.

Much more geeky than the standard Strava widget and an image not an iFrame, so more compatible with blogging sites and forums. I can’t use the Strava widget on this blog for instance as its hosted at WordPress.

To start using VeloViewer you need your Strava ID, which is at the end of the URL for your Profile page. Then you need to import your data, which is a ‘bulk’ import done in real time – so you need to wait a little (pretty much like Strava ‘Crop Ride’ makes you wait). The maps use Open Source mapping, which is in some ways a little easier to use than the ubiquitous Google Maps, and in future they could use the ‘cycling’ map data for better off-road mapping.

Even more geeky, VeloViewer links to a segment history analyser by Johnathan O’Keeffe:

e.g. Up Bond End (in my original hometown) http://www.jonathanokeeffe.com/strava/segmentDetails.php?segmentId=1090222

Now I just need to regain some of those KOMs lost over the summer! Simples…

#kom, #strava, #veloviewer

funny old cycling year so far.

After a great January, things sort of slowed… Was ill for part of Feb, March was better but I missed the sportive Le Puncheur as it was chucking it down on the day. April – got a gum infection then a pulled shoulder muscle. Jeez.

So only in the last week or two have I got back into proper miles. Too late to be ready for the 90 mile White Horse Challenge. A bunch of clubmates did this and stormed it with a 19 mph average. Real shame I missed it, though I did a 60 miler on the day.

Latest thing I’ve become addicted to is Strava. This app/website allows anyone (with a GPS!) to set a stretch of road, and the fastest person along that stretch becomes KOM (King of the Mountain – even down hill)… But it can end up making every ride a race… I think I have a couple of KOMs left but there’s a competitive bunch of folk out there.

Next up, the Hampshire Hilly Hundred. This one is going to be tough!

#bike, #sportive, #strava