The Cycling Ride Thread 2014

[AMCQ46]

Well I am kind of still on track after one week. I missed my 10mile ride on Wednesday as the weather was totally sh1t and I didn't fancy riding in the torrential rain in the dark.

So I have. Done 2 put of 3 of the "easy" rides staying at about 70% HR, and then I did my 2 hr long ride yesterday again trying to keep the general effort level around 70 to75, but on the hills It would have been higher. Went out a bit late and as dusk fell not only did I get overtaken by the gritting wagon and showered in salt, but as the sun disappeared it got pretty cold so I had to stop and put my thin rain top on to act as an extra insulation layer.

Felt good all the way through that ride and still finished strongly on the last hill.

Not bothering to put the strava link on here as geo and BVG already have a link to my strava page

[geodude]

Nice one Al.

Keep it up

You should join us for the London to Brighton in September

[VTRDark]

NO.... I will have to sponsor two people then.

(:-})

[BigVeeGrin]

good going Al - saw on strava

Did first club run for a long time yesterday - cold and icy in places and a gentle pace was what I needed, clocked 51 miles in total once I'd figured out the difference between Pause and Stop on the bryton gps jobby . Best bit was the espresso and huge flapjack at the cafe stop, indoors all warm. One guy still had is summer tyres on and yes, he got a puncture, i suspect the tyre pressure was too high as well.

[geodude]

Good work, the pair of you. Just seen the rides on strava. You are both making me feel lazy!!

Badminton does burn off 400 cals an hour and it's in the warm so I'll stick to it for now!!

[AMCQ46]

Andy,
I need to look into a group run at some point, it will be slightly more sociable and motivating I imagine, but that needs 2 things.
1) being available at a fixed time....at least if I ride on my own I can delay it 2hrs like I had to do on saturday.
2) knowing that I can keep the pace of the group I ride with!.

as a bit of a cheat to evaluate number 2, I copied the route for a leisurely club ride that my local bike shop did a few days earlier [they posted a Garmin file ;)] and used that for my long ride. they claimed to ride it at a 13mph average, so It looks like I was OK with a 13.9 on my own. so just need to work on locking down my schedule!.

the motorcycle trial i am doing on sunday will screw up this weekend's cycle schedule, as I am not dumb enough to try a long ride Saturday then a 7hr Trials session on sunday, I will just delay the training plan by 1 week on the milage increases.

And I just put gatorskins on my bike this weekend as I decided I was playing roulette on the puncture front. the pisser is I couldnt see any rotation marks on the side wall [all the markings are hard to read !] so after I fitted them I googled it......guess what? yup both on backwards!

[BigVeeGrin]

I had that with some tyres last year - impossible to see the rotation marks

If you have a local club they'll have various groups that go out etc - my fear was always that I'd be holding everyone up, but if they welcome 'beginners' with a no-drop policy then all should be good, and bike shops typically have v mixed groups from what I gather. The great thing is the motivation - yesterday there was a drag toward the end of about 2 mile or so and the group started to break up, so I decided to hold the wheel of the guy in front or die, and felt wombles but great afterwards.

EDIT: just re-read above. Don't forget in a group unless you're at the front then it's a lot easier (Guy and the truck!) so you're well in the game there

Saw the note about GPS - I got a 'used once' Bryton Rider50 off ebay. well reviewed etc etc


Basically like a Garmin, just cheaper (esp second hand) and comes with OS maps as well as navteq ones. The phone app was messing about too much, and to upload a three hour or so ride would take 45 minutes, which was plain crazy

[AMCQ46]

the GPS looks interesting, especially if the 2nd hand proce is good. it has lots more functions than the bottom spec Garmin 200 that I bought, but for £70 I was very pleased with what it can do and I am able to follow other peoples routes without mistake even though it hasnt got maps.

[Jamoi]

Wow you guys are into this in a big way eh! I really must find some people to ride with and maybe introduce some 'technology' into my rides.

I can do about 65 - 75miles comfortably on my mtb, anything near 80+ and I really feel it the day after, the day after!

What sort of time would you whippets be aiming for on a 70mile run? Mixed road, woods and tracks.

Also what tyres do you run?

[AMCQ46]

What sort of time would you whippets be aiming for on a 70mile run? Mixed road, woods and tracks.

about 3 days

[Jamoi]

BVG mentioned doing a 106 mile run out and you mentioned breaking the 100 mark, so was wondering how quickly you'd anticipate completing it.

I must quit smoking and replace it with more cycling

[VTRDark]

No you keep smoking and then cycle to counteract the damage of smoking.

(:-})

[AMCQ46]

jamie,
my riding data is on a road bike with thin wheels, so I am cheeting compared to Geo. And my MTB is in bits with the bottom bracket bearings seized and waiting for some replacements.

the best I have ever done was an 85mile day on mostly road and some hardback cycle tracks [but into a serious headwind and with basic overnight kit!] when I did the coast to Coast ride a good few yrs ago.
that was on a hardtail mountain bike with some faster rolling hybrid tyres

since then my bike fitness has vanished and once you get past 50 [yrs not miles] it takes a lot more work to get it back

[BigVeeGrin]

since then my bike fitness has vanished and once you get past 50 [yrs not miles] it takes a lot more work to get it back

bang on! However, it's exponential and each incremental mile or hour is easier than the previous. Although I think it was Greg LeMond who said "it never gets easier, it just gets faster"

Once a level of base fitness is there then a big ride at an average of +16mph (depending on terrain) is well in the zone.

Off bike fitness at our age (I can't believe this conversation!!) is important, and my back can get bad. Here's some stuff I found and copied and pasted in terms of exercises (basically to sort the core out i think).And best £50 or so I ever spent was to get the bike fitted properly, includes the cleat position etc etc

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lbh ... sp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vZp ... sp=sharing

[AMCQ46]

some good links there Andy I do a few of them already, and just started Tai Chi as well to work on the inner core