Winnersaint

Not sure the Dutch job is the one he really hankers after. Maybe his sights are further south and west of St Mary's.

BKOOL ordered.

I find the Garmin useful to keep the effort within Z2, but I keep forgetting to disable live segments. I have grown to ignore them, but the wind conditions yesterday on that segment were unusual. The vast majority of time there is a headwind along that stretch of road, and even if there isn't it is rare that you get a tailwind. It wasn't that windy but it was enough to assist. The seconds I lost due to traffic at a right turn probably cost me a PB. I agree about riding slowly and I prefer to ride without having to think about knocking the effort back. I think the main worry is that by riding endurance pace I will somehow get stuck there in the future. My base pace stuff on the turbo is rather a misnomer as it is a tempo session, which can stray into sweet spot territory quite easily so I cant envisage what endurance stuff would look or feel like like. I am going to use the turbo for lower cadence, strength work though. I might treat myself to a BKOOL Pro if I can get the internet into the garage to make this more interesting.

I've just put a Z2 ride up on Strava and I was almost reluctant to do so. I think there might be a few things going on here. Strava itself for starters, competitiveness, and whatever cycling obsession needs satisfying. Take Strava for example, those of us who upload to it do so for a purpose, but our riding is out there for others to see, personally there is a reluctance to upload what on the surface might look like a poor ride. This links to competitiveness, our strive to improve segment times, overall times and to show what you can do compared to others on a bike. This in turn links to the obsession part of it and it afflicts every cyclist I know. Whether it's power, gradient, distance or average speed for example, it is easy to get hung things which look quite good but don't necessarily make you a better bike rider. There are always articles this time of year about leaving the Garmin switched off and forgetting Strava and there may be something in it. Take my ride today, within the last ten minutes or so of is a segment which is getting on for 4 kilometres long. The Garmin beeps and tells me the segment is just about to start and I hit it at about 35kph, for much of the next 3.7K I am around 5 - 10 seconds shy of my PB, which was perhaps a little too far to make up but seeing it made me go for it to see how close I could get to the PB. To do this I've immediately gone outside Z2, probably into Z3/4 thus defeating the object of the ride

Greece - Olympiakos. Met them on the way to Cyprus for UCL match in old Athens Airport. I was wearing a Saints shirt so almost got invited with them. Mrs Winnersaint wanted to go home as did Miss Winnersaint. Made the wait home very entertaining though. Spain - Athletic Bilbao. Germany - Eintracht Frankfurt Netherlands - Feyenoord and have done for many years, I think with them and Bilbao it's the port city link.

He was one of those who didn't have raw 100m pace, Wallace more so but he was 4m quick running off the shoulder of the defender. John Sydenham was quick as was Mick Channon especially in the earlier part of his career.

Danny Wallace? Steve Moran was no mug either, both had pace, and that's the determining factor which makes Mane stand out in this era. Agree that he scares defenders absolutely ****less though.

Of all those that left over the last two summers I can genuinely only see Schneiderlin and possibly Clyne as capable of forcing a start in that team yesterday.

Before I forget, not sure if anyone is interested but I got this little bargain in the week. http://www.merlincycles.com/pair-continental-gp4000-s-ii-folding-tyres-with-2-free-inner-tubes-700c-71989.html Excellent tyres at full price but at this it had to be a bit of a no-brainer. Free tubes don't look up to much mind!

Cheers, washsaint as you can see, I've not been riding it recently, but it gave me a great ride last weekend with a little more climbing than normal I seemed quicker than my normal rides out in the direction of Henley.

Been off the bike for a week now. Out last Sunday spinning up a few climbs when I should have rested and the result was an inevitable dose of man flu! Going to spin on the turbo this pm and hopefully out again on road tomorrow. Seriously though it tends to suit me to take a short break off the bike, and the cold provided me with a good excuse to do it now. We haven't been away so far this year so kept on going throughout August when I'd normally been on hols for part of it, so a rest was due. Off to Gran Canaria in 4 weeks and taking cycling gear. Mrs Winnersaint has given me a pass, so looking to hire a bike and do a bit out there.

On duty at school gate yesterday and matey we chucked out a few years ago turns up wearing what appeared to be a pair of jeggings. He was joined a few minutes after by one of ours who'd changed on site and was wearing his sister's leggings! Wtf?

He belongs here. https://twitter.com/getinthesea?lang=en-gb

Happy new bike washsaint, hope you enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying mine!

For those with longer memories you could add Steve Williams and Danny Wallace to that list. Rod Wallace bucked the trend however at Leeds and Rangers where he continued to score goals and win titles.

is Schweinsteiger playing? United probably don't need both him and Schneiderlin in the same team.

Just under 40 years ago in the months following the FA Cup win I began my degree course training to be a teacher in Worcester. I can't really remember how many students were present within the then college of higher education but it wasn't huge. Most students were accommodated on site in halls of residence, a few lived out, usually because they were local and some came in daily from Birmingham and the Black Country, but they were very much in the minority. The student population made up a tiny proportion of the city's population and was self contained within the campus in St John's. Venturing outside involved going to local pubs, and that was about it. We as students in economic and social terms were an irrelevance. Fast forward to this time last year and we took our daughter to Worcester to begin life as a student there. It was an odd experience going back. In the intervening years via various name changes and amalgamations with other higher education institutions well in excess of 10000 students now attend the university. It is one of the fastest growing in the country, bucking the trend, with 20% more applications this year than in our daughter's year. The student population now represents around 15% of the city's total, and as such is now longer an economic and social irrelevance. Non more so in the residential lettings sector of the local economy. A drive towards the campus from St Johns, which in the late seventies was just simply a residential street is full of student accommodation. Our daughter shares a house with 5 others on the street. Each pays a bit over £100 a week in rent. Between now and when the lease is up at the end of June my daughter and her housemates will have paid in excess of £37000 in rent to the landlord. Buy to let is a growing business in Worcester.

Take that Sherwood you Skate ****!

Got the R3 on Tuesday and on my first ride that afternoon I found that Di2 isn't idiot proof and doesn't necessarily work straight out of the box. Got it sorted yesterday so had the first opportunity to really put it through its paces today. Di2 is fantastic and not one change was missed. Love the idea of keeping you finger on the paddle/button to take it from the middle to the top in short order. Haven't tried the opposite way yet. It has come with a pro compact chainset, that is 52/36 as opposed to 50/34 I am used to. I have a 11-28 out back and there is a bit of a compromise in the middle range gears especially in the big ring, but I'll get used to it. The combination of the wheelset and frame means that it accelerates like hot snot and particularly on the flat or flattish sections holds the speed once up there, maybe "Squoval" tubes do provide the aero saving Cervelo claim. All in all I am mightily impressed with it. The most significant thing I noticed was the fact that when I was done on both rides I just didn't feel the levels of fatigue as I had on my Ridley. Now that's not a porker weight wise but is around a kilo heavier than the R3 and has comparatively thick seat and chain stays., so I have to conclude that the more compliant rear triangle on the Cervelo leaves me less beaten up.

Any player filling the shirt like that would be in for some serious stick.

Interesting that 5 of the 3rd Division teams playing that day are now in the Prem with 3 thriving, and 3 others there, Reading, Poopey and QPR, within the last 5 years.

That'll bring the window lickers out in force.... oh they're already out in force.

Must remember to remove the bar code sticker from the stem when I collect it.

New bike fitted yesterday. Pick it up after the Bank Holiday. Happy days!

But if he doesn't come here it won't be yawn Viking, this place will be an absolute hoot, with Alps exploding and reducing Austria to a pile of smouldering rubble and mountains.