Novgorod racing plans for 2024, tandem on the Tsar Grader and honestly about colonoscopy

Guest

Other issues with this guest

• Issue #6 · July 3, 2023 · 1 h 20 minKostya Gavrilov, "bicycle NPC": amateur racing through the eyes of someone who does not happen to be on the podium
• Issue #22 · May 12, 2024 · 1 h 34 minPalych from Vietnam: training at 4 am, bike fit and Paris — Roubaix live
• Issue #34 · April 9, 2025 · 1 h 39 minWatching the race with Palyc: Pogacar, narrow handlebars and an amateur license in Serbia

Useful from the issue

1. Winter rest is not a sentence

   The interlocutors give examples of riders who barely train in winter, start in March, and perform well. Without an indoor trainer, the season isn't lost, especially if you maintain your base in the gym.

2. A separate bike for spring

   Ilya bought a simple fix to go out into the spring mud without killing the new main bike. A separate bike for the off-season protects expensive components.

3. One rubber on gravel and cross

   With a tire tolerance of 38 mm in cyclocross, you can ride the same tires on both gravel and cross-country races.

4. A neutral start should be organized

   The motorcyclists found on the spot immediately went ahead, and there was no neutral start. Escorts need to be instructed in advance.

5. Starting pockets instead of chaos

   At the mass start, Ilya plans pockets: strong in front, weak in the back. This reduces the risk of blockages in the first minutes of the race.

6. The common cup unites the cities

   If you need four stages out of six in two cities to qualify, people start going to each other. This is how the audience of both organizers is growing.

7. Colonoscopy: Get ready to prepare

   The hardest part is to drink a few liters of solution the day before. It is worth asking about sedation in advance: without it, the procedure can be painful.

Off-season without a trainer

Both interlocutors don't want anything cycling in winter. One of them felt better after a video of a famous rider who admitted that he does anything but cycling in the off-season and can't stand even an hour on a trainer. Another acquaintance, a forty-year-old rider, according to Ilya, also barely trains in winter, rides for skill on a dual-suspension, starts in March and performs well.

Against this background, those who methodically spin the indoor trainer all winter seem like cyborgs. They also recall the opinion of an acquaintance: such riders might be greedy and don't rest, so their peak form comes at the wrong time. The conclusion of the conversation is a bet of a thousand rubles on who will be faster in the summer MTB race: the one who works hard all winter or the one who rests.

Bicycles for the new season

Ilya sold his road bike — it went to St. Petersburg, to triathlon — and, in his words, almost accidentally ordered a fixed-gear bike with wide tires. The idea is to start riding outside earlier and not go out into the spring mud with a freshly assembled main bike. This main bike is a cyclocross Specialized Crux of the latest generation with large gaps for wide tires. Ilya would change the electric group SRAM: he doesn't understand the cult around it. He's glad that in cyclocross, 38 mm tires are now allowed — one tire will suit both gravel and cross.

A lightweight frame, Ilya admits, doesn't do much at 90 kg in the off-season, so he's going to lose weight. Another plan is to assemble a Chinese carbon hardtail and ride MTB marathons at the full distance of 40 km. The guest is remodeling his old road bike for a flat bar, which means he'll ride without aerobars in 'Time Trials'.

United Cyclocross Cup

Following the example of the Leningrad Cycling Marathon Cup, where different organizers count the total points, Ilya agreed with the St. Petersburg organizers on a joint cyclocross series. There will be six stages, four will be counted, so at least one will have to pass in another city. So Novgorodians will have a reason to go to St. Petersburg, and Petersburgers will have a reason to come to Novgorod. The idea was supported quickly, and Ilya took over the tables and scoring — he likes to do this.

Novgorod stages — traditional April classic, tough course on a ski slope where lightweight riders dominate on climbs and in the park. The guest loves cyclocross the most: an hour — and you're free, no asphalt, falling isn't so painful. He admits that with age, the road scares him more and more.

The last Tour de Selishchi

Ilya repeats that 2024 will be the last year for the Tour de Selishchi in its current form: the race is on public roads without overlap, and if something happens, the prosecutor's office will come to him. Then he wants to walk around the offices and find out if it can be legalized. The alternative is the city criterion, which is also more spectacular for the public. The guest regrets: it was the Tour de Selishchi that once gave him the passion for road racing.

Changes in the regulations: only steering wheel-ram for the sake of safety in the group, categories by age, not by type of bike, normal absolute standings for men and women. Pockets will appear at the start so that the strong will stand in front. Ilya does not like medals for participation. About 150 people signed up for registration, and this time he wants to drive in a car ahead of the race with a walkie-talkie, and not sit all day at the finish line.

Tsar Grader: new route and tandem

The new Tsar Grader route is about 180 km, with a slightly larger share of asphalt and a beautiful alley, start and finish in a clearing. Ilya also thought about the 200-kilometer route from point A to point B, but decided that this was too much. The guest praises last year's track: the balance of gravel and asphalt makes it ideal for a gravel pit, and with solid gravel the chances would be MTB.

Work on mistakes is also being discussed: last year a neutral start did not work out, because the motorcyclists were found right on the spot and immediately went ahead. The guest passed the dangerous bridge on foot — he was still driving at the end of the race results and did not fight for anything, although he changed cameras twice. This time he will ride on a camera-less car, and together with Ilya they planned to drive a race on a gravel tandem, if they manage to find it for rent or buy it.

Colonoscopy through the patient's eyes

In the middle of a conversation about weight, we are talking about gastroscopy, and then about colonoscopy. One of the interlocutors went through it twice without sedation and tells without embellishment: the preparation is difficult — you need to drink several liters of solution in a limited time, which after the third liter no longer climbs. The procedure itself lasts about twenty minutes, but the bowel bends are very painful and it seems that an hour and a half has passed.

The doctor was positive and joked about sharp turns, and the nurse allowed to swear. The conclusion is simple: the sensations are individual, someone calls the procedure an adventure for twenty minutes, but if the doctor said that it is necessary, you have to go. It is worth asking in advance about sedation.

Track, coach, and doubts

Ilya recently watched the track race for the first time in St. Petersburg, and both are impressed by the speed and the points race. The interlocutors discuss the ideas of the guests for the podcast — from strong fans with incredible watts to colorful characters from deep YouTube — and Ilya's plans to record a series of issues with women. It is more difficult for a guest to listen to such releases: women's races seem to him to be a separate world.

The guest would like a coach, but not from a rigid old school that grinds everyone except the strongest, but one who would provide stable progress relative to oneself. At the same time, he honestly admits: with ten hours of work a day, it will not be possible to train seriously. Both call themselves strange cyclists — not athletes and not tourists, just people who love bikes, and Ilya, for some reason, makes races.

Timestamps

1. 00:00Meeting six months later
2. 00:48Off-season without a bike
3. 03:15New fixie and sold road bike
4. 06:30Races of 2024
5. 07:20United Cyclocross Cup
6. 09:00Tsar Grader in tandem
7. 14:35The last Tour de Selishchi
8. 19:27Who should I invite to the podcast
9. 24:16Specialized Crux
10. 25:52Gastroscopy and colonoscopy
11. 29:56Highways, "La Strada" and plans
12. 43:52Do I need a coach
13. 46:17MTB marathons and bunny hop
14. 49:31Track cycling
15. 59:15A thousand-dollar bet and a Grader's route

Mentioned in this episode

Tour de Selishchi · Tsar Grader · Time Trial · La Strada · Specialized Crux · SRAM · Strava · Zwift