We want to inspire as many people as possible to take on the Babble Ride Across Britain as possible. That’s why we’re delighted to be partnering with indoor cycling platform Rouvy to bring you the Virtual Babble Ride Across Britain.
Through this innovative collaboration, we’ll be showcasing the spectacular Babble Ride Across Britain route in all its glory via Rouvy’s state-of-the-art Augmented Reality (AR) technology.
Find out more: https://www.rideacrossbritain.com/babble-virtual-ride-across-britain/
Hello everyone pleasure to see so many people dialing in uh my name is Ed I’m here uh to uh host this call I’m a member of the threshold team and we’re going to be getting started in a few minutes as you can see uh I’m joined by another member
Of the team this is Nick tuppen CEO threshold Sports how you doing Nick hey guys all very well this is actually um Nick’s screen that we’re seeing so Nick is gonna be uh leading from the front uh today and actually um taking part in the group
Ride we’re also joined by Andy cook Andy is our root director on RAB um how you doing Andy all good thanks Ed sorry I’m not onike tonight but hopefully I’ll be able to offer some uh some words of advice and wisdom during the uh during the training ride tonight it’s great to
Have you I’m just looking through the chat let us know where you’re joining us from we’ve had people from uh from Sunny Scotland from Essex from Milton ke Northern Ireland I’ve seen in the um in the ruy sign up that we’ve got people from as farfield as uh America we’ve got
Someone from Trinidad South Africa let us know where you’re where you’re dialing in from uh with just under two minutes to go um AJ’s here from watopia that’s good to see uh with just under two ago just make sure a couple of admin checks make sure your laptop or your
IPad whatever you’re using to join today is plugged in you don’t want to drop out the ride Midway grab a bottle of water if you need one and if you’re using a fan to simulate those gleni headwinds then maybe Crank It Up to 11 um also
Joining us is Clemy Clemy is in the chat Clem’s another member of the team here at threshold so if you’ve got any issues with uh getting into ruy or anything like that um Clem is here to help you out but we are uh about a minute out from starting this countdown is pretty
Exciting Ed I saw one question pop up around etiquette yeah on Ruby and on these group rides um always good to see someone asking about etiquette rather than just disappearing off into distance it’s always a good sign um but in reality as with RAB we’ll have people
Have lots of different speeds um we’ve got a chance if you want to to stretch your legs ahead you know the ride we’ll have people of different speeds and different groups uh we’ll talk a bit about the role of the chaperon you’ll see various people with chaperon RAV
Chaperon names next to them um but really this is about getting comfortable on the platform on the ride so if you want to stretch your legs that’s fine there’ll be no prizes for first place um equally don’t feel bad if you need to stop off stretch your legs uh lots of
People will be new to this um but that’s why we’re trying to set it up in a supportive sport of environment on Babel rep absolutely um this is also a drafting legal event you can actually draft on Ruby all right here we go countdowns counting down and off we go God it’s quite
Exciting to see so many people out on the course you’ll notice that everyone is clad in our fantastic virtual Babel ride across Britain Jersey which looks absolutely brilliant on there so as we’re pedaling away I’m going to be talking talking to you guys about uh about some of the the final
Details of RAB um for those of those of the people who are joining who perhaps are new to the event perhaps haven’t ridden it before um Nick as you’re pedaling away and between snatched breaths maybe you could just give us a bit of a a Lowdown on on on what what
RAB is as we call it what the Babel R across Britain is yeah so B ride across Britain uh set up back in 2008 with the simple simple idea of how can we let more people have the experience of riding L and joh Gres um if you kind of
Grew up in the UK this kind of mythical idea of riding from one end of the country to the other is kind of cemented in your brain um at some stage of life and has this niggling habit of not disappearing which is probably why we end up with quite a few
People on the ride each year um but in its simplest form you’re riding from the very Southwestern tip of Cornwell to the northeastern tip of Scotland and babble ride across Britain was created to try and do that with more scale and more support than you can get anywhere else
So it’s it’s effectively enabling more people to have that experience of riding from end to end the country yeah and speaking of of scale and support uh we have to take a moment to thank our title sponsors Babel um Babel are a cloud computing company they’re they’re the best in the business
And like us they really believe in the power of experiences uh like the ride across Britain to to change people’s lives and to put it bluntly this event just wouldn’t happen without them so we’re super grateful to have them along um it’s probably worth taking moment Nick to explain what we’re actually
Looking at here so this is ruy Could you um in a nutshell kind of describe what what ruby is yeah so the the platform itself those those of you who are kind of even if you’re relatively new to cycling it doesn’t take long to find out about virtual cycling platforms they’ve
Been going for quite a few years now and there’s a whole range of different ones um zwift is the kind of the most prolific with the most people riding on it and then you’ve got other ones like movie which uses a kind of augmented reality system um and various others
Which you can pick and choose from which tend to come and go the The reason we chose Ruby and actually the reason when we started looking at doing a virtual version of uh of Babel rap the idea is that we inspire people to take on the
Actual thing because as much as it is fun riding in a shed in a virtual version of gleni and there’ll be people on this ride now who will this will be triggering memories mostly positive some emotional some difficult but there’ll be people who’ve done the ride before where
This just takes them straight back to that feeling of riding along this route and and actually this is the platform and we chose Ruby because we can recreate and give people a taste or some of that magic because you can film all sections so this section up towards Glen
Shei and we filmed all the highlights of it when the roads were clearer during um during 2020 um so we can kind of parcel up and give people a chance to ride on these different sections kind of in their bubble RB kit and hopefully that either convinces them they should do it
For real um and actually join in the whole nday experience um or if they’re already signed up it gets them better prepared so when they do hit the hills of Scotland or Devon or Cornwall or their kind of day three day four the legs are a bit tired they’ve got the
Confidence um and the fitness to kind of ride through and really enjoy it yeah speaking of Fitness you’re doing a fantastic job of holding it together as you climb I’m actually done now so we did agree that I do the first kind of couple of minutes before handing over to
Andy absolutely well let let’s turn to Andy because uh the section we’re writing today this is about a 10 km section of a route called gleni also known as the canwell pass uh it’s actually the highest Main Road in the UK it hits a height of 670 M or 2,200 ft
And at the top of it which we’ll see later on in the climb uh is gleni Ski Center which is one of the oldest ski centers in Scotland uh one of the only places you can ski in the UK um I was digging into some of the stats about
This route Andy and there’s a bit of a myth going around that it hits a 33% gradient which sounds absolutely nightmarish um I check that and it doesn’t but it does hit 177% which is still pretty challenging um so Andy as the root director for RAB you’ve ridden
You know many of the UK’s greatest climbs and I’m sure many of the greatest climbs in the world where does Glen shei kind of sit for you in terms of those highlights it’s a great question that is because it’s one of those climbs and you
And you’re seeing it in it in all its Glory right now on the screen um you know it’s it’s a beautiful climb and you get lowed into this sort of full sense when you’re riding I’ve done it a couple of times myself during rap uh and and it
Just ramps up you talked about that 17 17% bit at the top it just gets progressively tougher and then the last time we did it we had this Mighty headwind which people have been joking about on the on the chat groups but it it’s beautiful it’s a stunning part of
The world um but it’s not a climb that should be underestimated you do need to be prepared it’s a long steady gradual drag which you’re riding on at the moment there’s a couple of little digs in it just to just to get out the saddle
And get over but then you get onto the Steep bit towards the top and uh that you need to save a little bit in the tank to get that bit get that bitet I mean and speaking of preparing for the real thing one of the benefits of Ruby
Is you can obviously see that elevation profile looming out in front of you and actually we can see um compared to where Nick is you can see where various people are out on the course which is really cool um the section we’re riding today as I say it’s about 10 kilm about 6
Miles long uh and manages to pack about 350 MERS or 1100 feet into that which is steep by any standards um but if we zoom out a little bit it’s actually uh just a section from the middle of stage seven of the full Babble R across Britain uh
This is 100 12 mile stage so it’s on the longer end for RAB but uh it stretches from hopon house which is just outside Edinburgh to uh bag which sits between in vaness and abedine so you really go through the heart of Scotland um and it’s really as many of
The stages are on RAB it’s really a bucket list ride you you start the day crossing the fourth Bridge which is kind of a bucket list item in and of itself heading through the grampion mountains where we are now and into K gom’s National Park Park where of course you
Start uh climbing Glen shei uh and then on the way down you take take a view of brma Castle before you arrive n drafton um that’s kind of the the the tick list exercise of the root itself but TS having having rid and RAB yourself back
In the day where does sort of stage seven fit uh in terms of how people are feeling uh you know on their RAB Journey it I mean it varies people’s experiences RAB are very very different every year year is totally different as well depending on weather and all kinds of
Things but the it’s un it’s undeniable that the the later sections from kind of when you head north from carile those four Scottish stages the landscape tends to kind of open up and you’ve got six days under your belt and depending how you’re feeling and how you feel about
Some of these some of these more dramatic days you you have have people who really begin to enjoy the ride in those stages and kind of embrace the challenges and the kind of the weather and the scale of it and often people think of day seven
And day eight as these real focal points for their training and strangely even though they’re the days that often people people kind of worry about potentially or kind of fixate upon it’s often when we have some of the best riding the best camaraderie the best kind of atmosphere
In base camp at the Finish because it’s often one of these moments where people have been thinking about it so when you do climb over Glen she you go past Bal moral you’re over the straft on or you know we’ve got the elect and stuff like
This which we can we can set up or we are setting up on um on Ruby those last few days feel like big strides towards the Finish Line um so I’d say the majority of people they’re pretty Monumental experiences on the bike um some people sail through and kind of
Ride into shape some people are digging really really deep on these stages but yeah they’re um the kind of experience matches the landscape in terms of the sense of achievement yeah 100% bill bill in the chat says he was feeling pretty drained on day seven back in 2019 which I think
Is probably putting it mildly yeah I mean I was I haven’t taken part in R myself but I I was lucky enough to ride L to Jonah gos uh in 2017 just on my own and it is interesting the the dis the Discord you pointed out between the The
Climb that’s coming up in your head or the day that’s coming up in your head and then the reality of actually conquering it and it’s usually the case that the former is is scarier than the the latter the reality of it is yeah it’s what’s that phrase It’s a hill get
Over it and often you find that people do yeah yeah and Andy you’ve seen your you know you’ve ridden RAB countless times in your team of chaperon you know your your chaperon get a kind of inside view on the on the journey that people go on like what days or
Stages or phases do you think people go through yeah I think yeah I think I think you’re bang on TS with what you’ve just described but but I also think the chaperon role is is kind of three-fold there’s there’s kind of the guys who want to just uh
Bash on at the front so they’re they’re there to sort of make sure that’s discipline riding and and doesn’t sort of cause us any any un undue worries in terms of you know making sure that we’re we’re riding in accordance with the highway code Etc but but the most
Important aspect of their job is is to look after people and to encourage people and so there’ll be there’ll be a significant number and there’s a few here today that that are riding that’ll be riding at the back uh so the first couple of days as I’ve said many times
When we’re in Cornwall completely different terrain to what you’re looking at on the screen now short sharp climbing people have to get settled in but as you rightly point out by the time we get to Scotland and you know you you can kind of kind of feel that you’re
Going to make it to the finish uh however tired you might be so there’s a real sort of sense of achievement when you’re getting over these these massive climbs they’re just a steadier uh steadier climb so the chaperon job really at this point is is very much
About uh encouragement but not just the chaperons because what you tend to find is that as you said earlier the camaraderie amongst Riders to help each other and to make sure that everybody’s you know everybody’s looking out it’s not a bike race we’re not in a bike race
We you know we’re many people completing it for charity uh and and it’s kind of that real sort of team spirit that that’s fostered on this ride and I think that’s you know I mean that’s I’ve done every single one as you know and and for me it’s that’s the biggest bonus for
This ride and the way that you pull everyone together and you know we all get back and have a beer in the evening and everyone’s everyone’s euphoric generally from what they’ve achieved during the day and these these climbs and what you’re doing up in Scotland is
Just the icing on the cake for me big shout out to Nathan for uh calling out that car before it uh before it came appreciate that yeah good chaperon skills absolutely yeah um do Let us know in the comments if you’ve ridden Glenn shei yourself in person and and uh
Taking it on either as part of RAB or or or on your own they’ll be far more technologically advanced than me than if they’re able to text whilst climbing up a lodge yeah this mountain with various screens Plugged In Hats Off to any one who’s remotely able to do
That um Andy you touched on I mean we’re having perfect Blue Sky weather here today um but you’ve touched on the the challenges that this particular day has posed weatherwise more broadly um with with right across Britain you know taking place in September how much is
Weather a factor on the course and uh what should people be thinking about when it comes to getting through the weather yeah it’s it’s a great question Ed the thing is we’re riding in Great Britain it’s not renowned for being being particularly dry at all times
Having said that we have had some great we have had some great rabs where we we haven’t had to get our rain capes out but you should always always be prepared um you know we you talked about the height we’re going to is 600 and something meters I mean that’s pretty
High uh and if you’re not dressed accordingly you can really suffer and and what you need to be is as prepared as possible you know you wouldn’t go and climb you know I don’t know Everest if you hadn’t trained or or prepared or were wearing the right kit and it’s
Exactly the same here we have had people turn up in the past who are not you know not wearing bass layers haven’t got gloves haven’t got armorers gilets you know rain jackets uh and you need to be able to have access to those sorts of things just in case we will um every
Evening I I normally do a safety brief for the following day ride uh and we’ll always give a a weather warning but as you know we’re in the we’re in the highlands here it can change so quickly so it’s always important to make sure you are prepared and of course training
You know training going out in the winter there there are people that a new to cycling that assume that it’s always going to be bright and sunny um that’s why riding in the winter outside can prepare you for these sorts of conditions so yeah make sure you you’re
Out in the cold and the wet and the miserable and hopefully when you get to the the summer in September we’re going to have an Indian summer and it’ll be beautiful blue skies just like you’re seeing on the screen today I think you’re you’re right that idea of virtual training
Complimenting training in in the real world I mean there are people who kind of fall in with uh virtual training and never really kind of dust off their their actual bike again um which is great because there are some amazing platforms that this you can ride
All over the world on Ruby if you if you so choose but I think this is a complement to those skills you get dodging potholes having actual cars that you have to go around understanding what a headwind feels like understanding that train covers a slippery you know all these
Things you you learn with miles on the road so this kind of this is very much in combination with the real life riding which you know everyone needs to to get out there and experience and also enjoy you know you don’t have one of the things I enjoyed when I was riding in
2017 is I explored more routs all over the UK in preparation whether it be kind of near where I lived or if I was going away for the weekend I’d kind of pack the bike get dropped off 30 40 50 miles away from where you went up and kind of
Ride all these different sections so you learn the ride itself you see load of the country but actually the preparation you see even more of it even more of it um in the in the training months which is yeah probably reason it was you know it lures people back
In yeah I think I think to back that up tops I think you know it’s it’s very important I mean it’s without a doubt without a doubt training indoors gives you much more bang for your for your buck in terms of um Improvement and and and you especially if you’re doing
Specific workouts um but as you’ve just rightly pointed out there’s no substitute for getting out on the road you know we organize quite a lot of bike races and and recent years there’s been lots of people that are very very very strong you know massive power outputs
But they can’t ride a bitee for toffee because they can’t go around corners or as you’ve just pointed out you know the drain covers slippery or something something Dar like that so it is absolutely something that needs to be considered uh and make sure that it does complement the getting out and riding
Your bike and and the outside as much as you can well speaking of that Andy you put together our our training plans which people can find on the rder Forum on our website if they’re thinking of preparing for RAB training for an event that’s you know nine days long and just
Under a thousand miles kind of takes a long time so for people who are taking on RAB next year or thinking about it what should they be sort of focusing on around now at the darkest point of winter here in 2023 yeah it’s a it’s a it’s a great question Ed the big
What we what we tend to find is that you know there’s there’s riders that take part in this event that perhaps have very limited cycling experience but they might well have you know a very well um developed engine as we as we call it you the heart and lungs so their
Cardiovascular system from from perhaps another endurance sport so it might be running it might be rowing it might be swimming uh and so it’s about technique for those sorts of people so there’s this balance and those those plans are obviously very very generic um because you know if people want specific
Training then they they perhaps need to get a a personal coach but they’re generic for a reason so the main focus is on going out and getting some miles in the under your belt because you build up a base you know it’s it’s fairly straightforward if you think about a
Pyramid you’re talking about building up a a big load of mileage in the winter and then in the spring time you can start to do some specific efforts to build strength and speed um that’s a very very basic premise to to training adaptation you need to make sure you’re
You’re recovering you mustn’t you mustn’t if you miss sessions you mustn’t then try and catch up and overdo it there’s a lot of a lot of sort of advice out there and lots of other training plans and programs that people will follow but generally they will be following that similar sort of advice
The opportunity to practice your nutritional um strategies as well uh try out your equipment try your care there there’s so many things that you can do to get yourself ready for for what is you know a pretty phenomenal challenge as as tups alluded to at the start the
Key thing is if you’re prepared you’ll enjoy it and I use the phrase often you know enjoy rather than endure um and another phrase I I use quite frequently is to ride a pace a consistent Pace when you’re when you’re training and when you’re on the ride itself that’s
Comfortably hard not hardly comfortable and that would be the sort of intensity that you can maintain pretty much hopefully all day long I think this is I mean it’s one of the reasons why we chose this uh this route as an intro to Virtual Ram you know this first section we’re going
Along you have a m a few moments where if you’re on a a kind of smart turbo train it starts getting a little bit tougher as you go up and down then you free will for a bit but you can see the uh the road beginning to yeah rump up in
The distance um and it’s idea of there will be bits where you unless you’re one of the chaperon or an exceptional athlete you’re never going to chat all the way up there I’m just giving you some for warning I’m just going to really go got a couple of very difficult questions for
You they’re difficult I can think about them for a while um think about the answer um but you know those bits where they’re flattish you don’t want to go hammering long on those you know use those bits to go steady and just clock up some miles without without feeling
Broken because you will have to stretch the legs a bit on some of the CLS and so that understanding that getting used to that you know not being afraid of the the Steep bits but just understanding what they’re like um and that you can recover you know you get up them you go
Slowly you can have a break halfway up you know all that is absolutely fine you’ll see people walking up some of the climbs as well yeah abely whatever it takes there’s no there’s no fixed way of doing the route yeah and it will suit if you’re a heavier Rider you know you will
Bum along those flatter stages pretty comfortably and you’ll probably have a train of six seven eight people tucked in behind you but you know those those men and women will find it harder on some of the CLS and some of the smaller Riders will zip up the climbs um but you
Know they can get your they can get your a cup of tea ready when you get into base camp if you’ve towed them around some of the headwind stages and ultimately if you’re out there for longer you’re ultimately getting more experience for your money aren’t you
Yeah abolutely yeah uh we had a question just come in around whether where the cuto off date is to enter the full full road across Britain uh the cut of date is is later on next year but uh it is worth saying that there will uh we will
There will be a price rise on February 1 so if you’re thinking about entering we would encourage you to enter yeah in January similar if there’s a cut off for entering is there is there a cut off really Andy for training for this I mean
We’ve had a few people say it is now too late to start training if they’re not if they’re not already training so as I alluded to a minute ago so much will depend on on the you know the sporting background that that person’s got uh and also what’s you know how how strong
Willed someone is you I I’ll give a silly example we had a we had a young lady who who who did the tour to France with us a couple of years ago who I didn’t give a prayer um and I told her to her face but she managed to get
Around that um and that was more on sheer sheer willpower I wouldn’t advise that for one minute I did say a minute ago that if you prepare properly then you’ll enjoy the ride and that’s the key thing here so yeah the answer to the question is no
It’s it’s not too late but you know I would advise anybody to to get out as soon as they can and start and start getting the miles in and you know you’re not this isn’t a this isn’t a performance challenge per se you know I
Talked a minute ago it’s not a bike race so you don’t have to become completely monk likee in your existence to to succeed but but just to start to take on that sort of idea that you know eating and drinking and and making sure you’re just a little bit more careful perhaps
Doesn’t mean you’ve got to as to say become sort of abstain from from you know having a good time but you just gotta got to think about it in the round and make sure that you’re you’re you’re considering it right the way through from now to to when the events on yeah
Absolutely and with the holiday season as soon upon us there’s obviously perhaps more time with VI’s calendars to be getting out for rides but equally um you know athletes and and cyclists and people like that they can t sometimes be a bit tough on themselves when it comes
To uh enjoying and feasting and and drinking or whatever else they’re doing so do you have any tips for people who maybe taking on RAB next year and maybe feeling a bit anxious about the upcoming holidays I mean equally I’m sure many cyclists have no issues in terms of
Letting loose yeah I yeah exactly I mean I think I think the key thing is is that it’s got to be fun you’ve really you’ve got to enjoy what you’re doing and that’s you know if it if it becomes a chore then you know why you doing it in
The first place so couple of ways you know people people riding indoors you should never go out if it’s icy I mean that’s the first thing to say if if there’s ice on the road then stay indoors um because you don’t want to break a collar bone or or or worse by
Sliding off on the road so that’s the first the first top tip but but then the other thing I would say is try and try and find a group if you can I mean the the Forum that you guys run is excellent you know try and Buddy up with a few
Riders because if you know that you’re committed or a local Cycling Club local cycling clubs are full of people that should have experience and knowledge they ought to be I I I choose my words carefully they ought to be welcoming they’re not always I appreciate um and
If anyone needs any advice then then by all means get in touch and I’m more than happy to to try and Ste people in the right direction but if you know you’ve got a group ride going out and you know that there’s that helps motivation
Hugely um so I think that would be the thing I would be saying to people find find groups you know be that be that virtual groups like we’re doing here which I think is brilliant and I’m and I’m a convert now to to this I’m I’m
Amazed at the the graphics um um and I’ve never been a big fan of indoor riding but this is this is amazing so that’s the first bit in terms of a community aspect but do the same thing out on the road to clubs groups informal groups uh buddying up with people uh and
Making sure I know that sh one of the chaperon Steve Gregory is is Northwest base and he regularly organizes rides for for riders in that area in the lakes and stuff and and I think that just helps steer people other events as well so the Forum is a great place for people
To Buddy up yeah absolutely and we’ll drop a link to the uh the RAB Rider Forum in the chat for anyone who wants to jump in and connect with some like-minded cyclists I can see the gradients kicking up there Nick so now might be a good time to ask
You to recite the Lord’s Prayer if that’sit me it yeah it is it is kicking to gear we might we might touch upon that 177% gradient soon luckily you’re riding with a pretty decent looking pack there so he a bit of drafting um whilst tops is huffing away
Maybe and we can touch on other aspects of training through the winter just in terms of kit uh you know the roads can be a bit icier potential for a bit of cold out there do you have any top kit recommendations for how to how to keep
Going through the winter yeah I mean it’s all it’s all about layering um you know I I personally would always be wearing the legs covered at this time of year um for sure I mean there’s an old Pro sort of saying that and I’m not so sure i’ necessarily agree with this bit
But if it’s if it’s less than 20 degrees your legs should be covered that seems a little extreme but you generally assuming that’s Fahrenheit 20° uh warm you know warm muscles are much more efficient muscle so don’t don’t go out you know with your with your bare legs in the winter make sure
You got arm warmers or or a good a good jacket at least U make sure you’ve got layers you know a buff around your neck uh a rain jacket if you stopped because you punctured or you’ve had a mechanical you know it’s very if it’s been wet and
You’re you’re wet you’re going to you’re going to get cold very quickly and those are those are the sorts of things over shoes for your shoes you know um cap under your helmet um there’s there’s a plethora of things that you can do to wear but if you know people people
People assume that waterproof means it is waterproof that you’re never going to be completely waterproof on a bike because thee you put something on like a you know a plastic cover you’ll you’ll perspire ridiculously underneath it so you need a breathable um membrane at least and and trying to keep water out
From from going up cuffs and down your neck and and stuff is is n on impossible so staying warm and dry is the best way bikes I mean lots of people these days have one bike which they use for everything but I would be uh I would I
Would I would I’m old school I would always have a winter bike which he got set mug guards on it it’s much much more um sociable with your mates if you’re not spraying their faces with with water um but I’m we find people that ride RAB
Ride with mards you know I I’ve chosen the route specifically and and been over it so many times it’s it’s not real but it’s chosen because we got this many riders we don’t want to be on the on the big a roads obviously but equally we you
Know we’re choosing some of the quieter roads where a heavier bike is is sometimes much more beneficial and and bigger does um so getting used to riding your equipment through the winter in the harsh extremes means that you you you should be well placed should we get bad
Weather in the it feels like the kind of cycling world has has kind of provided more suitable kit and equipment for RAB as well like back in 2012 it was all about Bradley Wiggins winning the tour you know get your saddle as high as possible the wheels as thin as possible
The lightweight as possible and deeply uncomfortable whereas now the kits a little bit baggier the bikes are a bit comfier people aren’t embarrassed to ride with a handlebar bag saddle bags with waterproof kit in that whole kind of bike packing Trend coming through is great because if five six years ago on
The first day people would turn up with their super carbon deep rim bikes look very very pleased with themselves and some would turn up with an old steel bike yeah Laden with kind of old-fashioned leather attachments and stuff like that there’s one I remember how I’ve seen
Before which holds a bottle of red wine just underneath your top tube which always had a certain appeal um but after kind of the first rainstorm day three or four everyone’s envious of the more traditional more comfortable kind of sociable bike than the super light super fast uncomfortable
One so Embrace that I think yeah it’s meant to be as enjoyable as possible and there’s some good kit out there yeah I’m I’m the proud owner myself of a of a steel steel touring bik with a Brooks saddle fully laden probably weighs more
Than me but I did I did log with zero punctures and zero zero Saddles saws which is uh yeah was very welcome after the two weeks that it took me so yeah the bike that the bike what’s that phrase the bike that you have is the
Best one to start with basically the one you’ve got yeah obviously the number of bikes you need is always one more than you have AJ has already already uh completed this ride by the way he’s he’s left a review for us saying that was memorably horrid which is a lovely
Description thanks AJ appreciate that and Mark on on the kit question Marcus said a few good quality items are well worth it more comfortable than last longer so buy buying investing that bit more in a bit more expensive but ultimately longer lasting kit yeah I think that’s I think that’s that’s a
Great shout um you know whatever the brand is but the Quality quality is is definitely going to make a difference particularly um you know in the shorts area so making sure you got a good quality Shamy um and and that needs to be worn next to your skin lots of people
That are new to it don’t understand that and and we’re underwear underneath um and of course that creates problems in itself so practicing with your care as well is vitally important but good quality shorts is is a must I would say and so that’s a great um great tip from
From on the Riders there for sure yeah I think it is quite a good time to shop around for that stuff you know January sales and also there’s a lot of overstocking in the cycle industry at the moment so worth having a dig dig around in the Bargain Bin and top up for
The top up of the Season by saying no no expenses spared on our virtual jerseys these are premium B kit yeah Nathan’s asking if the cafe at the top is open we’ll let you know um and grab the upsides of your cycling in your shed is
You can just walk into your kitchen and it’s all not quite the same is it bit more washing up though yeah um briefly let’s touch upon Hills given that tups is uh pretty much in the in the depths of the worst bit of of the climb obviously
Today’s route is very much defined by a singular Hill but Rab in general there are a few lumpy bits along the way what would be sort of your best advice any just for preparing for those I guess obviously physically getting out and riding them but also just psychologically as we touched upon they
Can be a source of anxiety for people taking on the rout 100% right 100% right so so you know the first first couple of days it’s it’s it’s just up and down all the time so they’re just short sharp climbs uh and so it’s it’s really important in those situations to uh be
Able to to pace yourself up those those CLS that might be getting out the saddle and what they call honking you know we from side to side get on top of the gear um but but but generally there’s there’s a perception now that you know sitting
In a sitting in the saddle and having spinning a lighter gear is more efficient yeah and that about from last sort of I know last Armstrong era but but basically that’s that’s kind of much much more um Akin for the these longer sort of climbs that you’re going to get
Later on in this in the stages the first two days I say a tough short sharp things all day long uh the best way is to go out and practice onlies obviously and it’s more about the psychology of of that than anything else here’s the 17% bit I think
Is kicking up yeah but it’s it’s really important that you uh are mentally um you the psychological aspect of this is is that you know you can complete a 17% clim for example so going out and R it’s a bit like riding 100 miles you know if you know you can
Ride 100 miles you’ve done it once you you know you’ll do it again um and it’s the same with climbing I would always say say though and and people get bored of hearing me particularly TPS you know some of the best climbers in the world come from from Holland uh and that’s not
Renowned for being particularly hilly so that then is you know goes back to indoor training and and and riding at intense levels when you’re doing some of those interval sessions so you can replicate the effort that you’d be putting in but of course you’re you’re not going up a hill yourself so there’s
A for me it’s a it’s a combination of getting a really good base to to build the heart and lungs then to start doing some some strong interal work sort of from end of March through to April and May uh and getting out on the road and
Practicing on some of these climes and just getting used to riding climbs that’ be that’ be my top tips is it worth talking a bit about the some of the functionality on Ruby because we’re talking about workouts and stuff like that yeah absolutely yeah um just just briefly though on on training
In in the flat we’ve had a couple of people commenting that they’re in from suffk and so hopefully they’ll find find it reassuring that some of the best words in the world from just across the water um yeah I mean as as tups is approaching the top of this climb let’s
Let’s just quickly cover what’s in the pipeline for for the rest of the virtual Babel ride across Britain this is very much uh kicking things off so we’re going to have a couple more uh group Prides and we’re going to touch touch on some of the areas that um have been
Raised so the next one’s going to be on the 10th of January uh and it’s going to be on a section of the route going through bodman Mo so right from day one in cornall a chance to get a taste for a very different kind of riding um the
Very crinkly uh steep up and downs of Cornwall um and then two weeks after that January 24th we’re going to be looking at a section from day nine so completely the other end of the country uh in Strath naava Valley which is in the far north of Scotland and really a
An incredible landscape that’s not the landscape that’s behind us on the virtual background is it Nick Maybe Andy recognize that oh actually I think it might might be I think it might be it looks sort of dream like and yeah yeah yeah my favorite road ever in the world to ride bik on there you go yeah we’ve had had some comment saying that
Was the the best day and it’s certainly the most emotional with the Finish Line um but alongside those group rides with a couple of other things in the pipeline so we’re going to be releasing a series of workouts a package of workouts that you can do on ruy uh you can do these
Workouts on any route so you could ride uh looking at this Glen shei rout but doing a workout that isn’t tied to the elevation profile and those are all designed to help you prepare for R so whether it’s building out some endurance uh whether it’s getting in some Hill
Sessions things like that just to keep you going through the through the winter months and some of them are are mirroring the workouts suggested by Andy and his training plans which are great then in February we’re going to be unveiling uh the a full a full Babble ride across Britain virtual challenge
Now this is uh still in development but it’s going to consist of multiple stages of Babble right across Britain a bit like we’re doing today uh stretch ing from cornall up to the top of Scotland uh and if you complete all of those stages in the month of February then a
Special prize awaits for you but all that’s all that’s to come over the coming months um but the main thing is if you can come along on January 10th we’ll be visiting bodman Moore down in Cornwall which is a bit of a longer section I think Nick it’s about 25
Kilometers or so I don’t know if you’re up with that yeah yeah well see how we go uh uh yeah so we’re trying to do a mix of different ones so shorter steeper ones like the elect some long ones you settle into that kind of steady state
Pacing so yeah whole idea is give a a sample of all the different stages yeah absolutely and we’ve you’ll be I’m sure you’ll be relieved to see that you’ve crusted the top of the climb there yeah I remember the pit stop very clearly at the top here yeah we had the
Team with a full pick and mix station which Sheltering from the wind behind Vehicles stuff it was absolutely extraordinary weather up here the last time everyone is up made it with a Tailwind coming out the valley Valley behind you which is the prevailing wind yeah be absolutely amazing you press
Over the Top Got incredible ride down towards B moral yeah and am I right is that is that mountain there on the left is that the canwell or is that looking magnificent and we can see just there on the left the ski Center that’s um that’s gleni Ski Center the
Oldest Ski Center in Scotland okay well we’ve all made it and as as Nick is pretty much bringing up the rear it looks like most of the people are at the top of the clim well everyone’s been drafting me again for Sprint for the Finish should have known should have
Known back there yeah absolutely yeah massive thank you to our chaperons who’ve dialed in today to uh escort the pack up the climb and uh thank you to everyone who’s joined in have I Frozen no am I still all good I think one kind of final thing well add
On some of these um on some of the group ride elements is people going set their own ones up so you know we’ll be doing these kind of relatively regularly then we’ll have the challenge in February but this is something if people get familiar with the platform you know if you’ve got
A group of mates or maybe a team or you’re all raising for cancer research or McMillan you know it’s a great way of you just one of that group popping on the Forum setting up a WhatsApp group and putting in a few formal rides because it’s it keeps you honest on your
Training when you uh you don’t feel like it but you’ve got another group of people praying for the same thing is really helpful to get that motivation going absolutely and it’s worth mentioning that Ruby does like like other virtual platforms it does sync with straa and it does overlay the real
Route there so the route that you’ve just ridden in gleni will appear on stra as a virtual ride which obviously if it’s not on stra it doesn’t count so I’m sure a lot of people will be excited to learn that at the time so if you’re kind of
Coming up and over the ski station it can be kind of showing that you’ve running minus5 degrees and wins yeah it’s actually it’s interesting looking through our photo library and video library from the event and seeing the difference in people’s clothings from the from the start of the client to the
Top where they you know they’re a good 300 meters higher than they were and they’ve had to put on a few more layers yeah Great Looks like we’ve got everyone in the Shaun’s in at the back Andy yeah no everyone’s good I think it’s I think that’s been great some
Great comments as well people obviously enjoyed that so that’s good to see yeah thanks everyone for dialing in and uh looks like there’s a cafe there so I’m sure people will be uh enjoying some Hospitality there uh so yeah thanks so much everyone thank you Nick and Andy
For joining us today and Nick particularly for powering away and maintaining conversation M as I say we’ll have the next group ride on January 10th uh on Bob andmore but before then obviously it’s Christmas and New Year so make sure you enjoy yourselves and uh enjoy your cycling the
Holiday season but thanks everyone for dialing in thanks Ed happy Christmas everyone have a good one thanks everybody cheers hello everyone