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The Para's have been outstanding.
Bad news. Batman Golbarnezhad of Iran died in the road race. Tragic.
No idea what happened but IMO the Olympic Road course was dangerous. Just ask Annemiek van Vleuten & Geraint Thomas As was the marathon course which forced runners around very tight bends on slippy surfaces. Rio really should have sorted out these courses
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/37398333

Hopes for Vuelta belter, not ramp squid.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37273803
Forest fires close to Friday's TT course.

Really enjoyed following Steve on his year attempt/s.
I've cut and pasted from another forum Steve's recent announcement. ( hope that's ok Steve )
Day 1 A respectable 485.9km ( triple ton ) https://www.strava.com/activities/698034917

" I'm off very early tomorrow morning aiming for the UMCA HAMR Month Record.
The current record stands at 6679 miles and was established earlier this year by Adze Briscoe-Frieze in California.
I will be going for 7000 miles in the 30 consecutve days. That's 233 miles a day average.
This will decide whether I go for the year again as well as being part of my training and preparation for another go at the year. If I fail, then I will probably call an end to the Year Record, depending on why I fail.
If I succeed I will continue with training ready for another go at the Year, probably early next year.
Very much the same as before for the 1YTT. I'll be wearing the Milltag kit and riding the Raleigh bikes. I now have a new red "go faster" helmet as the old one seems a little battered (I only had it just over a year!)
I don't anticipate needing much support for the month. The 3 Raleighs are running but I only expect to need 1. Plus the spare wheels are all ready for when my tyres wear out.
I chose September because I find that the winds tend to be lighter but it's still warm, not scorching hot (less time spent filling bottles) and there's still a good number of daylight hours. (October is often very good too)
I have been training with a coach using a power meter since April and have got close to my PBs at 12 and 24 hour TTs this year as part of my training. My fitness has improved since the Mersey 24 in July.
Here's the link to my live tracker page
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0xphW4GIkuk1vBUF3WeNCy1puogaR4PDv

Everyone is welcome to come and ride with me etc. If you're thinking of giving me a back wheel, then I would be grateful, though it never seemed to work out last time. Everyone who tried was too fast up the hills and slowed me down on the way down.
I expect to be mostly doing my 9am start, strong tailwind through the Fens, weaker headwind through the forests and back home for 11pm but not on the first few days.

I'll be carrying a movie camera. Whether we get anything out of it depends on whether I am any good at using it and if we can get it uploaded very quickly."

Froome didn't need a power metre to beat Quintana in the final sprint.

Orbital.

"My plan to tame the climbs involved gears: 34 on the front and 42 on the back giving me a 21 inch bottom gear" Really 42 on the back?

Can they please get round to the Garmin 1000 replacement? Long over due.

Andy Boyd & James Standard 15th overall and first pair!!! ( & first Dulwich Paragon riders ) Charles Batho and Jayne Wadsworth ( 2nd claim ) on their way through.

#didn'tdoSkinnyanyharm coming back from scratching last year. Go Alex Wright!

James is one of a number of Dulwich Paragon riders there.

He's worked with Sky and Froome in particular throughout the Tour. #JohnTerry will only come into play if he sneaks into a Team Sky/ Froome glass of champagne shot tomorrow ; )

Zakarin? Russian and 'ex doper' wins today...

Stopped @ j/w Borough Road / Newington Causeway. 2 riders in Red Hook Crit skin suits and shinny gold cycling shoes breeze past and RLJ. Tutt tutt

Careful with the pepper spray. It's classified as s5 firearm in the UK and subject to a 5 years custodial sentence. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27

I went past just after it happened emergency services giving CPR to the man on the floor, cement lorry stopped in the junction. Horrible.
The lorry was travelling south on BPR.

Had a series of new followers this week.
Someone needs to tell her it's too cold for summer kit. Oh and Chamois cream, she'll need some.

Looks like you found another riding partner. Shanel Yannatos is now following you on Strava.

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so that will be way less than 60 mins riding time?

Not the first time I've seen fly tipping there. Also last time I went down there there was so much gravel at the bottom that I almost stopped. The ascent wasn't much better with all sorts of rocks and mud that had been washed onto the road. I normally avoid it at this time of year.

Just before 9am appears to be a rider down on the East bound A4 just under the M4 junction 1. Lotos of emergency services. Road closed. Hope it's not as bad as it looked.

From Facebook. Steve has lost quite a few miles due a new diet. Hope it works out. 50 miles a day is a lot to catch up.

Steve Abraham
Yesterday at 10:40 ·
Steve's currently in the middle of a dietary transition to a more nutritionally balanced, fat burning, metabolic diet.
Normally this transition requires complete abstinence from exercise for 2 weeks, but Steve's had to compromise by riding fewer miles. It's mentally and physically tough for him - and he's lost 5kg in weight - in less than 2 weeks. But we believe it will be better for the long term.
Keep going Steve...

Not sure where to post this but The Times had a piece on Alley Cat races today.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4619984.ece
It's behind a pay wall so I've pasted it.

"Bike messengers risking lives with illegal ‘alleycat’ races on city streets"
A group of professional cyclists are risking their lives, and the lives of pedestrians and motorists, in illegal races on city streets, an investigation by The Times has found.
The competitions, known as alleycat races, involve a band of bicycle couriers weaving through tiny gaps in fast-moving traffic.
They run red lights, jump on to pavements and go the wrong way up one-way streets to claim victory.
Anyone who misjudges their move at a red light or while slicing through oncoming traffic could end up under the wheels of a car or crashing into a pedestrian.
Police know about the races but do not waste their time on them, the cyclists claim.
The races mirror the day jobs of the 500 couriers who work in the capital. They must weave through traffic to multiple delivery checkpoints before reaching a finishing line.
Each racer uses their knowledge of the city to decide which is the best route to take.
Robin, 42, who has the radio call sign “Super Kid”, is a veteran racer who admits that their sport is illegal and inherently dangerous.
“There are lots of crashes and injuries,” he said. “There was one where a guy followed me through a red light and got smashed into by a car.”
One former racer said that he had been forced to stop racing after being hit by a car. He broke several ribs, punctured his lung and was in a coma for four days.
The race meetings take place weekly on Friday nights, when riders gather outside a small cycle shop in central London in a haze of cannabis smoke and with cans of lager.
“To be a good racer you need speed, endurance and knowledge of the layout of London to get from one place to the other quickly,” Robin said.
“You have to constantly assess what is going on around you and look out for things that can potentially go wrong. The most unpredictable thing is other couriers.”
The highlight of the alleycat calendar is a 34-mile race through the capital visiting seven cemeteries. A £200 cash prize is claimed by the winner. The course record stands at 1hr 37min.
Alleycat races are part of an international underground scene that started in Toronto, Canada, in the early 1990s by a group of thrill-seeking bike messengers.
In the past 18 months it has enjoyed a resurgence among the couriers of London, as well as smaller groups in Manchester.
With a website promoting the races, the messengers say that the police know they are taking place but have not tried to shut them down.
Robin, who has raced in Europe, Guatemala and North America, said: “We did have a guy sniffing around here a while ago. A cycle cop was trying to make friends with people but nothing really came of it. He was aware of what was going on. He said the police just wanted to make sure it was all safe. But generally it is kind of ignored.”
“A couple of years ago the police came and tried to do stuff but it’s all died out. What can they do, we’re just hanging out.”
Carlos Osorio, 29, who has the call sign “Black Magic”, has been a courier for 14 years. Although he no longer races, he said that the loneliness of the day job led to the creation of regular race meetings.
“We spend the majority of the day on our own, so we get together,” he said. “Young people race because they are eager and want to make a name for themselves.”
Each racer pays a £5 entry fee, with the majority of the proceeds going towards the London Courier Emergency Fund, which helps injured messengers. As freelance contractors, they face months without pay if they become injured or ill.
“That is the main reason for the races,” Mr Osorio said. “There is always a party at the end and some food.”

^ Imagine that you are partially sighted / blind. Your pilot rider would let you know all there is to know. Similarly in a group, EVERTHING about the road should be shouted/signalled to you. Relax and enjoy! Worth looking up British Cycling's guides to group riding.

Ride of the falling leaves. Glorious sunshine although a bit nippy in the morning. Took lights with me after yesterday's fog reports but didn't need them. Flatted going down a big hill, must have hit some stones hidden by the dappled light through the trees. Always a great way to 'end the season.'

imagine that many cyclists will have left home with weather reports of sunshine. No reason to take lights. Cars, well if it was me I'd want to be seem in those lanes!