Most of us have cameras- and thanks to me complaining about a lack of Photo's- we are now getting more of them. All of them are very nice and make me envious of some of the rides that you do. Some of my offroad shots show the Countryside around where I live and it is so varied that you can see Why Road riding will not be my only form of cycling in the future.

I do not expect many of you take in the Type of Offroading that I do- but to be honest- most of that is on the wide Chalk tracks with the only real interest being the Surrounding scenery and the Severity of the hills. There is a lot of technical stuff in the winter when the Chalk go "Green" with a fine film of algae growing over it that turns it into something more akin to Ice- and ruts appear in the Paths on the uphills that mean you have to pick your route very carefully -or start walking when you fall off- Or just take the edge off your downhill speed to make certain you miss the deep ruts and the football sized flints that seem to Grow in the winter. There is a certain amount of Single track in the forest but that gets tame after you have done them a dozen or so times. What I enjoy though is winter riding in the Mud. I have a few years experience of setting up the bikes for conditions so I Have Mud tyres that work- Can read the terrain to be able to get up that gentle 5% slope that the others fail on, and for some reason- I do not have the Mud collecting on the bike that can put 10lbs on the bike and act as the best Drag brake you have ever come across.

Now I am New to Road riding and have to start learning how to get that advantage over the other riders that I will be going out with.

So what tips can you lot pass over to me - to enable me to get a bit of advantage over the younger- fitter riders that are going to whoop my a**

In the words of the immortal Fausto Coppi (except he's dead so he's not really immortal, I suppose): "Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill".

In other words: cheat and play dirty. Bicycle pump to the opponents wheel. Fill their innertubes with water. Give them Carters Pills and tell them its a mood-enhancer.

Whatever works to give the Turks a proper thrashing.

...
DELETE all the ugly off-road expletive... :)
... So what tips can you lot pass over to me - to enable me to get a bit of advantage over the younger- fitter riders that are going to whoop my a**

develop the fine art of being a tenacious wheel-suckin leech!

None...as you have posed the question, if they are fitter, you are going to get a whoopping. There is no treachery, that you would ever consider using, that is going to help. Since you are wiser, I am sure you will get this. I propose sucking up to the younger riders and acceptance of your fate. If you suck up, they may go easy on you and by accepting your fate, you will feel better about yourself after the whoopping.

Noooooowwww...if you want training advice, that is a different matter.:D

You might find this helpful in many ways or you may just take your whoopin like a man.

This page has so much information that I have only been looking at a little at a time. The whoopins are getting fewer and farther between but they will never end completely. As for them taking it easy, there may be some that does but there will be many that have no mercy.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

http://www.cptips.com/toc.htm#trntips (http://www.cptips.com/toc.htm#trntips)

I think the reality is that you will have some strength carryover from mountain biking and you are in better shape for some things. When I was mountain biking, I got good at attacking steep climbs and shifting my weight forward to keep front wheel traction. So your peak power for shorter steep stuff should be very good. It will be the sustained long climbs on the 7% grades for miles that will kill you. What you need are long Lactate Threshold intervals i.e. 2X20 or 3X15 climbing with complete recovery between and lots of zone 2 work. Now, as I remember, you are not a techie heart rate kind of guy and do not care what your HR, LT or speed are. So, prepare for your whoopin.;)

See Tom Bombadil's thread about the pumpless pump is the first thought that comes to mind.

The second thought is to get a supply of Carter's Little Pills from TWL and spike the buns you pass around pre-ride.

I can't think of anything else really helpful right now.

Hire jppe as your personal trainer. :D