another newbie hi

bazza59

Hi chaps and chapesses
Another newbie saying hi, I have been learning loads from the forum for the last few months and thought it was way past time to introduce myself.
6' 2", 48 and 11/12's years, 16 stones. Sports history has been mainly (field) hockey, 5 years of "soccer" in the US, a few years of rugby and indoor rowing. Commuted (25 mles round trip) on a 5 speed two summers when a student 28 years ago and apart from that had no bike history.
Stumbled into buying an new old stock adult size bike for 50 quid (Townsend Marathon :oops: ) in mid July to avoid the A/C in the gym and loved it. Now that I know a little more I know that this adult size is way too small (54 cm) and am waiting for my ebay 2003 carrera vanquish to arrive next week.
Managed to put 1000 miles on the marathon since mid july. When I first started an average of 13 mph was good, have now managed to get that up to 17mph on pretty flat routes.

baz

ademort

Well done Baz, i am 44 years old and have cycled for thirty years, at 48 you still have thousands of miles left in those legs of yours, so when you get your new carrera vanquish take the time to adjust everything to suit your measurements, and go out and give it a blast,many happy cycling miles mate, and good luck Ademort

ash68

hi Bazza, pleased you've decided to join us. Another fellow enjoying the benefits and joys of cycling. The more the merrier.

feel

Welcome aboard Bazza, there are plenty of newbies here - me included

Shadowduck

Welcome to the forum!

I still want to know how people get these average speeds... It's not exactly flat round here but even so, I'm still overjoyed to average 15mph!

rwintle

I'm new here too...a mere 30 years of age and, relative to Baz, a bit of a short ass! I've always done some cycling but last year started commuting 8 miles a day on a cheap Raleigh Hybrid with a few training runs here and there. I moved house recently and am down to 6.5 miles a day but fitness is on the up. My best ride so far was 34 miles in 2 hours 5 mins (which is around 17 mph) - an undulating (I'll hesitate to use "hilly") ride but it was downhill overall.

I found that my average actually goes UP with longer distances. After the first hour something kicks in and makes me faster somehow. I think it depends a lot on your bike, the weather, riding position, your load (my commute with paniers is much harder!).

I'm soon getting a proper road bike and I reckon it should get me a good few extra miles an hour through being lighter, better equipped, and...well, all sorts of things.

Top tips for extra speed would be:
- good riding position - especially in wind, get down lower and add a few MPH. The riding position on my bike isn't great (I didn't expect to still be riding a year later) and adjusting my position can really improve speed.
- clipless pedals - get some decent shoes and pedals, put effort in to the whole pedalling action - makes a HUGE difference on hills and in wind.
- warm up properly - take those first few miles easy and you'll reap the benefits later on.

Hope that helps and thanks for having me!

R

bazza59

thanks all for the warm welcome...

certainly warmer than my ears were this morning. I did 17 miles in 64 minutes, 6 C with 10 mph wind had the earlobes tingling. Need to get myself a beanie.

baz

rwintle

I'm sure all cyclists will keep on about technical clothing. Really, I started out in t-shirts and normal sports bottoms but if you're serious about cycling it's worth investing in some decent gear.

And so I note that you can get thin stretchy, fleecy headbands and skullcaps that fit under a helmet. I bought a headband last year and it's an essential part of my winter riding kit now - DEFINITELY worth a few quid.

R

Shadowduck

rwintle wrote:

Top tips for extra speed would be:
- good riding position - especially in wind, get down lower and add a few MPH. The riding position on my bike isn't great (I didn't expect to still be riding a year later) and adjusting my position can really improve speed.
- clipless pedals - get some decent shoes and pedals, put effort in to the whole pedalling action - makes a HUGE difference on hills and in wind.
- warm up properly - take those first few miles easy and you'll reap the benefits later on.

I'll agree that riding position makes a difference - I have two bikes, a hybrid and an old drop-bar tourer, which I use about equally. In good weather it's a fairly random choice just to keep them both ticking over and roadworthy (one is a backup to the other for commuting, I don't have a car) but in winter the tourer always gets the nod if it's windy!

Clipless pedals - yup. Only recently switched over but I love 'em and I'm hitting the 15mph average more and more often as I get used to them.

Warm up - meh. It takes me a couple of minutes to get out of the nadgery of side streets and onto the open road, that's generally my warm up!

I think the main things holding me back are my fitness & strength, which are getting better all the time, and the fact that I spin out at around 20mph on both bikes with plenty of steam left in the legs. I'm seriously thinking about bigger chainrings on both of 'em, difficult to get the average speed up too far with such a low top speed!

rwintle wrote:

I'm sure all cyclists will keep on about technical clothing. Really, I started out in t-shirts and normal sports bottoms but if you're serious about cycling it's worth investing in some decent gear.

And so I note that you can get thin stretchy, fleecy headbands and skullcaps that fit under a helmet. I bought a headband last year and it's an essential part of my winter riding kit now - DEFINITELY worth a few quid.

I ride in street clothes most of the time. When I'm riding I'm generally going somewhere, not just out for a trundle - I'd feel a little self-conscious pushing a trolley round B&Q in lycra! For under-helmet headgear I strongly recommend a Polar Buff - it covers pretty much any eventuality!