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Hi all. Not the best week for me this week. Some cycling successes though and the heat doesnot seem to be stopping most of us at least getting some mileage in. Great to see .

Ride ReportsFriday 16 th July 2010. Golf Club / Terminator rides.

No report from the regular Terminator or Golf Club rides today. With Terminator onholiday and the temperature right up there in the 40s I guess everyone did thesensible thing and stayed in bed.

From Ben van LiemtThe temperature was higher but the humidity was much, much better this weekendand this Friday morning there was no wind at all. Riding to GC parking I foundThomas and Bo. Bo had a brand new bike, Kuota. Great bike. We road up to Lusail.

No wind thus riding against our own wind. There we met some other riders as usuallyand we did 3 laps. Bo went back before we finished the three laps. On the way back there was a little bit of wind in our back. And although it was not that humid, we lostlots of sweat. The shirts were not saturated with wet sweat but with dry salt this time.Back home I had 70+ km's and used 2.5 litre of water.

Friday 16 th July 2010. Scott and Ollies 100Mile double challenge I went shopping for supplies this morning and the lady at the checkout gave me anunusual stare as a container load of drinks went through the checkout. She must have

thought I had some kind of fetish! I picked up Luke and met a couple of vehicles at AlRayyan Sports Club and we drove en convoy to the start. By the time I had got readya few others had arrived and it was Hugo, Said, Luke, Ollie, David, Scott, Gavin Tonyand Allan that set off on the ride.

At 44C it was hotter than last week butthe humidity was much lower so itactually felt more comfortable setting off with a dry brow. We rode as a group for the first lap with and took it steady. MyHR was up there after 20 mins and there

was little to be gained from pushing the pace and having to drop out. I hungaround the back talking with David,Scott and Said. Better to pace this onewith the heat and push a bit when the sunhad gone down. The locals

and workers on the road were all coming past and pipping their horns, probably indisbelief that we were cycling in such heat! Unfortunately the seismic cables were outright at the start of the ride for the first couple of KMs and were a real pain. Still we

pushed on and after the first 50km loop pulled up for new bottles and drinks to cooldown. My stats were looking pretty poor with about 2/3rds my usual power outputagainst my HR curve. Not that I was worried, this was about getting some miles intothe legs and not bothering about the pace too much. A few of us pulled out after the

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first loop finding the heat just too much and the remainder of the group set off on thesecond loop. It was good to see Said had made it anyway and I think we will beseeing a bit more of Dukhan in the next few months. It was still around 40C at this

point and silly hot to be riding after we had already managed 50km. My legs did notfeel brilliant I have to say. Just after the start of the loop Allans phone rang and hewent to answer it. As he pulled it out of his back pocket his wheel hit something andhe went down. It looked like a real nasty crash and we all headed back to pick him up.He had gone down head first and rolled a couple of times and I was kind of expectingthe worst. Images of an ambulance and broken collar bones started running throughmy mind until Allan stood up, dusted himself down and got back on the bike as if nothing had happened! I could not believe it! Hence forth Allan shall be known asbullet proof Allan. I noticed the camels were out on this loop and then somethingreally weird. As the sun went down you could look across the desert and it was as if you were looking onto the sea front. One side of the fence looked like sand and road,the other side just reminded me of the sea but without the noise. We got to the turnround point and I had to cool down. I was really dying out there. We called into thecorner shop and I stood at the fridge for a few minutes. Instantly I felt great! Thereturn leg was into the wind but feeling cooler and with reduced numbers we managedto push on with a bit of pace this time. There were a few head down sections andeveryone seemed to be picking up now things were cooling down a little. Even thewind felt a little cooler at the top of the Jebeles. Down the last hill on the flat section

back to base and we were bouncing over the seismic cables again. I went for a bottle,hit a cats eye and touched Gavins back wheel. No big worries, I got control then

bang into a seismic cable cover and I went down like a sack of spuds. Split helmet,

bump on the head and road rash I could not believe it! 2 crashes in 1 night thiswas getting like the Tour de France. I straightened my handlebars, and got to the endof the loop very gingerly. Luke was feeling the heat at this point and decided to sit thenext loop out, with Tony and bullet proof Allan calling it a day. It was me Gavinand Ollie that set off on the third loop. Shorter at 30km I was feeling a bit of pain butdetermined to give this one a crack. Temperature down to around 34C at this pointwe pushed a little and found it much easier going now the sun had gone down. Gavindid not seem too happy about turning around so soon but I knew his game! Trainingfor his Spanish trip next week he was going to kill us all tonight! Steady over theseismic cables this time we found a rejuvenated Luke ready for the final loop. Sittingin the car with the AC on full had cooled him down and hey presto he feels great

again! The final loop was me, Ollie and Luke. Not much conversation my head was pounding from my fall. We were all struggling a little and just wanted to get this onefinished. Eerily quiet at the turn around point under neon lights we lined out and

pushed the final 15km back to the cars. My car looked like a recycling station for bottles and cans when we got back. Once again I could not believe how much fluid Ihad drunk I was reckoning around 9 litres but can that be right? Well we had beenout there just over 5 hours so maybe I had! A long drive back to Doha at night andlooking forward to the second instalment tomorrow.

Saturday 17 th July 2010 Golf Club Ride. No report from the Golf club this morning. Cant blame them for staying in bed!

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Saturday 17 th July 2010. Scott and Ollies 100Mile double challenge (part 2) I turned up at Lusail around 15.45 and the wind was just ridiculous. It was blowingthe car door shut and straight in the direction of the long drag strip up the hill.Visibility was quite well down as well. Temperature was up at 47C this was stupid!A second trip to the supermarket to stock up on drinks had been required such was myfluid consumption on yesterdays ride. Shear madness! Ollie was next to turn up thenGavin arrived. Just the 3 of us set off on what looked like being a really tough winddriven session. I had decided to take my aero bottle and put some ice cubes in to keepthe water cool. Within a lap the water in there was so hot it was like drinking water from the hot tap! With the sun out, the wind blowing directly in our faces, 100 milesstill in the legs from yesterday and a bump on the head/road rash all over I was feeling

pretty bad I have to say! Fortunately Gavin had decided the strong headwind was likeriding the hills and was prepared to ride up front training for his trip to Spain thisweek. It was a good job as I felt pretty bad and Ollie obviously still had a few miles inhis legs from yesterday. After 3.5 laps we pulled in for a re-fill and I got rid of theaero bottle. Waste of time! The temperature had dropped to a mere 44C and I do

believe the wind was not a fierce as it was when we started the ride. Always look onthe bright side. We got going again and my legs did actually feel quitegood. We took turns up front and pushed a little but let Gavin do the work down thelong windy back straight (cheers mate!). David turned up to put some laps in thenLlando appeared on his training bike. Graham turned up and I think his mate Stuarthad a TT bike as well which was nice to see. 7.5 laps and we pull in for a refill. Gavinlooks great, Ollie is feeling the stress but enjoying himself. I feel pretty bad but planto push on. A couple of mountain bikes turn up and start circulating with some

running up and down the long straight going on as well. Nice to see its not just idiotslike me that go running in this kind of weather! We get going again and then ataround 8.5 laps I suddenly start to feel really bad like throwing up all over Lusail

bad! I let Gavin and Ollie go and push on with vastly reduced numbers. Trying tokeep everything in my belly I decide to take this lap easy then pull in for a proper cooldown pit stop. The legs feel OK but everything else feels pretty rough right now.Gavin disappears at the end of the back straight and I catch Ollie up. Gavin has felt atwinge and decided to call it a night. I pull in next time round and put myself in thecar with the AC on. Ollie is mad keen to go on and sets off on another lap on his own.I end up talking to Graham and his mate for a while. Turns out he is doing a desertmarathon next year. Forgot which one but something about 6 days running in the

desert??? You have perfect training conditions Graham that is all I can say. Let usknow the details so we can come and watch you training eh! I tackle up and tryanother lap with Ollie. The legs feel pretty good but everything else goes southrapidly. I call it a day at 100km but Mr Keen seems determined to press on. I felt

pretty bad leaving Ollie circulating on his own but needed to get back to theapartment and in a cold bath. Sooth the road rash and cool down. When I left themountain bikers were still circulating and running up and down the start/finishstraight and obviously enjoying their training. An E-mail from Ollie yesterday and hemade it!! Mr Keen did the double 2 x 100 milers in that heat is a real achievement.Well done Ollie the new Mr keen. And your prize wear it with pride .

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Up and Coming EventsFriday 23 rd July 2010Terminator Corniche Ride meet at 4.45 am outside the toilets on the Corniche.

Bike and Babble 5.00am. Departing from Doha Golf Club lower car park at 5.00amfor a steadier more social atmosphere. MTBs most welcome.

Meet with Ben van Liemt at Doha Golf Club at 6am for a ride out to Lusail where youcan ride as a group or do your own thing. Everybody welcome.

Sat 24 th July 2010Doha Golf Club 5.00am ride. A good mix of riding abilities with a social atmosphere.If you fancy something easy or maybe quite taxing this is a good option with differinglength rides.

Secret Training . Secret training every day at Lusail Raceway. Map attached. Fully lit but mainly traffic free. You still need front and rear lights on an evening to be safe.The word is that Monday and Wednesday evenings are popular, so stick to Sundaysand Tuesdays for your really secretive training. (I do!)

News QCR Club Kit part II. Ben has started distributing the kit. I think he is planning on being at maybe Mondayand Wednesday evening. Get in touch with Ben if you want to pick yours up in

person.E-mail ben.keane@mercury.ie with any further queries.

I rode 200 miles in 2days in the heat..

And all they got mewas this stupid badge.

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Good luck at Ironman SwitzerlandThere are a few regulars heading out to Switzerland to do the Ironman there nextweekend. I will be glued to the Ironamn website to see how the 2 Brians and Annetteget on. All the best wish I was doing it with you! Let us all know how you get on.

QCR members eventsI know there are a few QCR riders with events coming up soon and I thought it would

be good to list them out. If there are anymore I need to add to the list please mail meand I will get them added.

GBI 800Km charity ride Prague to Dusseldorf 1 st 8 th JuneSwitzerland 70.3 Ironman June 6th

Ironman Japan June 13 th

Ironman Coeur dAlene Idaho June 27thIronman Switzerland July 25 th

Ride for the Roses (Venlo, Netherlands) September 5thRide for the Roses (Austin LIVE STRONG Challenge) 22 nd 24 th October

Abu Dhabi TriathlonI have signed up for the Abu Dhabi Triathlon and I know there are at least 4 of us thathave done so already. We are planning on making this a QCR racing weekend so if you fancy a trip out sign on here.

http://www.abudhabitriathlon.com/

So far we have all signed up to the short distance event (1.5K swim, 100K bike, 10K run) but dont let that stop you signing on for the big one if you can make it! I think Hugo is planning on doing the big one. There is also a sprint if you fancy a quick andhard event. Let me know if you are planning on making the trip and we will have theAbu Dhabi list should be a laugh .

Riding in the heat A few people have E-mailed in advice on riding in the heat. Find attached a heatstress calculator with black flag system sent to us by Geoff Sadler. I can see that there

have been a few sessions where I have been black flagging and it certainly does putyour body under a lot of stress.

From Geoff.

For interest, I have attached the Heat Stress Table on which we base our RLC heat stress warning flag system. You will see the critical temp/humidity relationship and

from experience it looks about right! Talking to our occupational hygienist, a keenscuba diver, she tells her fellow divers to try and take as much water as possibleonboard the night before a dive and not to go out if their pee is too yellow, preferably

based on the second pee of the day, which of course is normally too late for us! Youwill also see that the maximum water absorption rate for the human body is

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reckoned to be 1.5 liters / hour so horsing down fluids (we all do it!) is not recommended and might even be harmful

From an RLC work perspective, we are also encountering heat stress cases earlier thisyear than previously and we havent entered the worst period, which tends to be

August/September. That said, the normal early 2 weeks of humidity occurred in May and not June so it looks like the humidity profile has shifted 3-4 weeks forward but who knows? Also, from the records we keep at RLC, peak humidity occurs around 06.00 07.00 with a black flag warning regularly broadcast at 06.30. This could besignificant in ride terms i.e. normally on the return leg of the ride? Without statingthe obvious, the high humidity + head wind + tiredness/exertion is bang in heat stressterritory.

Regulars

Thought of the week .

Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.

Web Page. www.qatarchainreaction.org Go to the web page to find out about Qatar Chain Reaction events, contacts, items for sale and general ride information. If thereis anything that you would like to add to the web site please E-mail Ed on

edaramb@hotmail.com

Skate Shack Discount . A 20% discount on all sales over 200QAR is available atSkate Shack to QCR members presenting their Identification Cards at the time of sale.If you would like a QCR card please reply to this E-mail and one will be organizedfree of charge.

Queries. If there are any queries PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO ALL!!! Check out the contactdetails on the web page, or reply to this E-mail only.

Let us know if you have anything happening in your cycling world this week.

Happy Riding.