Old Git On A Bike battles with the wind (2000 miles ridden)

tonyrees68

good on you
bty no wheels on a surf board

tonyrees68

ignor me too that was uncalled for

CK

Good luck with the exercise and more to the point enjoy getting out and about.

Ive just started training again for the summer so i can ride my new bike up the hills as well as down, and after hitting the running track for the first time in 3 months (my fitness was not great beforehand) i felt like giving up. Two days later i went back and knocked 3 mins off my previous time. I'm not looking forward to the next run tomorrow but i'm not dreading it now as it does get easier but the point i'm trying to make is stick with it. Start off with a little, get used to it then do a little more.

You can do it.

Good Luck

pittpony

CK wrote:

Good luck with the exercise and more to the point enjoy getting out and about.

Ive just started training again for the summer so i can ride my new bike up the hills as well as down, and after hitting the running track for the first time in 3 months (my fitness was not great beforehand) i felt like giving up. Two days later i went back and knocked 3 mins off my previous time. I'm not looking forward to the next run tomorrow but i'm not dreading it now as it does get easier but the point i'm trying to make is stick with it. Start off with a little, get used to it then do a little more.

You can do it.

Good Luck

I couldn't agree more CK. I've been 'working out' on and off for about 8 years now, but until about a year ago i'd kill myself, then have no motivation and have a month or two off. Nowadays i make sure that i ENJOY whatever it is i'm doing, be it football, circuits, running, or best of all riding :P I've had absolutely no inclination for a break in the last year. It's a tough balance to push yourself hard enough but not to overdo it and make it unenjoyable, but i really do look forward to exercise now

ride_whenever

or you can just be CRAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZYYYYY and go mental and lever let yourself stop until you are the T1000

Old Git On A Bike

@ Matteeboy, no worries mate, just think yourself lucky that I don't take up surfing, then there would be a lot of mad questions

I thought I might have a problem with the bike, the gear trigger shifters didn't look or feel right, and I have never seen a bike with trigger shifters before, so I assumed the shifters must be on the right way that they were already fitted to the handlebar when the bike arrived, which was with the triggers on top of the handlebar above the break levers, I spent ages tonight looking through Google for bikes with close up photos of handlebars with these X-5 shifters on them, I finally found one showing a Carrera Fury with them fitted, that has the triggers on the underside of the handlebar, it then dawned on me that I might have put the handlebar on upside down, the big clues might have been when I saw that the gear indicator numbers were upside down, and the writing which says SRAM X-5, was underneath facing the downwards, I'll try turning the handlebar up the other way in the morning and see if that makes any difference :roll:, what a friggin numpty :oops:

@ Ride_whenever, what's a T1000? I did Google it and got results for the Terminator film, didn't see anything about cycling, though.

@ Others, thanks for the encouragement, no doubt I will try to do more than I am capable of doing, and cause myself an injury which will mean I have to stay off the bike for a bit, I must remind myself that I'm not a fit youngster any more, like CK said, start off with a little, get used to it then do a little more.

On a flat tarmac cycle path, what sort of time should I set myself to be covering each mile in?

FatBurt

I average 15 miles an hour on my FSR XC and I'm really unfit.

15 mile an hour is a mile every 4 mins approx and I personally consider that good going on the flat for a fat heiffer such as myself.


I'm getting a dedicated road bike soon purely for the commute to work as I'm currently doing a 14 mile round trip when I can be bothered (in this weather thats rarely) but I'm moving soon and I'll be looking at a 30 mile round trip then and I feel a more suitable bike for distance travelling is in order and leave the FSR for when I go looking for some decent trails up north Manchester

Old Git On A Bike

FatBurt wrote:

15 mile an hour is a mile every 4 mins approx and I personally consider that good going on the flat for a fat heiffer such as myself.

Cheers Burt, that seems a reasonable time per mile for me to aim at, considering that you can do it and you say you are fat and unfit like me

I put the handlebar on the right way up today, now it's much better 8)

woodywmb

Upside down handlebars? Brake levers in the wrong position? Brand names and numbering hidden out of sight? Welcome to the world of MTB-ing. We've all been here and done what you've done. Google searches eventually come up with the answer. You're on your way ...Old Git.

MadMike2007

Somewhere back in the thread someone said something about hardtails being unsuitable for rough trails. I use mine on everything. I do downhill on a hardtail.

Anyway, Old Git. I'd say that your breathlessness is to do with the smoking more than anything, but as you have cut down you should see that subside. With relevance to your weight, 14 stone is pretty good. I had this image of a 22 stone bloke. Once again your smoking habit is probably most to blame. This is the one big hurdle to get over, but if you let the cycling push you into giving up completely, then you'll be an XC racer by next year!

With relevance to the standover height, this is based on standing astride the top tube, not the seat. As your confidence and fitness level rise heighten your seat a bit. When the pedal is at it's lowermost point, your leg should be 70-85% fully extended. Not immediately though as this will most likely put you off balance and you'll do yourself a mischief!

My first bike was a Shogun Curfew, which is pretty much a CBR (same company) and that was reliable until I started pushing too hard and snapped the frame. I now ride a freeride hardtail.

George Poole

Hey Old Git,
I was 40 on 18th Jan and I'm 18 stone, never too fond of sports and a big fan of chocolate. I started going out with my 10 year old last summer on the bikes but we've fallen away over winter. Last July I went over the bars and damaged my eye(not too bad ok after a few weeks) and the wee fella fractured his shoulder but we still can't wait to get back out
After Christmas excesses it'll be hard but fun. All of this was done on a 15 year old Raleigh and I'm hoping to get a new bike soon (Hardrock, Kraken, Avalanche, dunno too much choice).
Anyway, I know it's tough vbut it's worth it, my 2 sons tell me they still want to have a Dad in another 40 years so what better incentive do I need.

Good luck, have fun and let us know how you're getting on.

Old Git On A Bike

George Poole wrote:

I went over the bars and damaged my eye(not too bad ok after a few weeks) and the wee fella fractured his shoulder

Ouch, what happened, did you clip each others wheels or something? Glad to see you will be back on your bike soon, keep on pedalling mate.

I have still not been out on my bike yet, my new trainers should be here any day now, then I can have my first short ride 8)

I have not had anything to post lately but I still read the forums, just one thing, I have lost a little weight already, I was 14 stone, now down to 13 stone 9lbs, just by cutting back on what I normally eat, and completely cutting out things like mayo, cheese and proper butter, all of which I have a lot of.

Since last Thursday, I have eaten 12 slices of toast with low fat spread, a sausage sandwich, 1.5 chicken kievs with a plate of pasta and I had a pizza today, I'll only eat toast onTuesday and have a small meal on Wednesday evening, that should more or less see me down to about 13 1/2 stone, that will be 1/2 a stone less to propel forwards on the bike

George Poole

Hey Old Git,
Our accidents were seperate but only a few weeks apart. My wife keeps reminding me I'm not the indestructable teenager I think I still am, and even feel like most of the time.
About 10 years ago I ha dto lose a stone to join SPS and en route home from the medical I bought a skipping rope from the poundshop. I started out like a typical guy on the first night managing to do 12 jumps in a row without catching the rope. Did 5 mins a night first week till I got the hang of it and upped it by 5 mins for a few weeks.

After 5 or 6 weeks of this and cutting out the crap I eat I was doing 1500 jumps in 25 mins and I'd lost almost 2 stone.

Patio was now like crazy paving however. You don't need much room, eqpt or time to do this and it's very effective. Don't mind the neighbours stares either.

woodywmb

You haven't been out on your bike yet Old Git? I couldn't sleep the night before my bike arrived - and it was ordered that same day. Waiting on trainers arriving is wasting good riding time. I can only guess that the addiction hasn't got to you yet. Keep us posted.

Panter

First off, well done, great thread I wish you the very best of luck 8)

I've been riding nearly a Year now, before I started it would literally exhaust me just walking up the stairs :oops:

Ok, so I'm no athlete now, and still very overweight but hugely fitter than I ever was. I still struggle on the mountain bike because of the physics involved in hauling my carcasse up steep hills but I ride with the intermediate group now at my club on the road bike which is one step down form the top group
I also have a resting heart rate of 55bpm and a good recovery time which isn't bad considering i must've been knocking on deaths door a Year ago.

Have you though about a hear rate monitor or at least manually noting your heart rate and recovery times?
It something I've only recently got into and I really wish I'd sone it from the start so I could put figures on just how much my fitness has moved on.
There's plenty of info on-line if you're interested, I personally look for every little bit of motivation I can find and actually measuring fitness is just another motivator for me.

If you do do it, I would (very respectfully) guess that your readings may not be that good to start with but you will see a marked and rapid improvement as you put the effort in.

Just a thought anyway

Best wishes

Chris


Edit: Forgot to add, don't set your sights too high to start with, even a target of 5 miles may be ambitious if you've never done it before.
The first time I ever rode since being a kid my legs were actually burning and felt like jelly after just a few hundred yards :oops:
Start small, work your way up and enjoy yourself 8)

Old Git On A Bike

Panter wrote:

Have you though about a hear rate monitor or at least manually noting your heart rate and recovery times?

Hi Panter thanks for the comments and encouragement, I have thought about heart rate monitors, but I can't afford a decent one at the moment, I should be moving to Hastings this month and funds are very low, but once I'm settled down there, I intend to get myself the Garmin Edge 305 gps monitor with the heart monitor chest strap. For now, I will simply take a note of my pulse when I get in from a ride and record it on notpad along with the recovery time, just out of interest, sitting here at rest now, my pulse is 70 beats per minute.

Some good news, my new trainers finally arrived today, tomorrow will see me out on the bike for the first time (weather permitting) 8), the bike is currently in my hallway sellotaped to a table so the cats don't knock it over, it's covered in dust from sitting there all this time, need to give it a clean up, I can't be going out on a bike that's not nice and shiny can I, also need to fit the trip computer to it some time today, if I can figure the thing out :?

thekickingmule

I hope the weather holds for you Old Git. It's been horrible this last week, not the greatest time for gettin back into cycling probably :?
I bought a bike on eBay last week and rode it home from work earlier this week (after buying locks etc) It was a 3mile trip, mainly uphill to my home and my legs were like jelly. Now i'm 24, not particularly overweight, and not in too bad health (I walk roughly 8 miles a day if not more) so don't set your sights too high. I know I will get better, I used to ride miles and miles about 6 years ago so I recon that my daily commute to work will get easier and easier, well once i've bought some waterproofs so I can actually ride to work!
After a month or two, I plan on getting a bike carrier for my car, so that I can drive up to the Yorkshire Moors and do what my bike wants to do! 8)

Good luck and keep us posted!

Old Git On A Bike

thekickingmule wrote:

I bought a bike on eBay last week and rode it home from work earlier this week (after buying locks etc) It was a 3mile trip, mainly uphill to my home and my legs were like jelly. Now i'm 24, not particularly overweight, and not in too bad health

That sounds ominous for me considering that you're young and healthy, but saying that, I hope not to be going up many hills if I can help it, although it is very hilly around here if you want to go anywhere away from the seafront area, I will have one very steep hill to climb from the bottom of the cliffs back up to where I live at the top of them, apart from that I'll be riding mostly on the flat.

I have a couple of questions if someone could advise, please. I have seen tyre pressures on here where it says they should be 40-45psi, that's presumably for riding off road? I will be riding on roads and tarmac paths, bike has nobbly 26 x 2.30 tyres which says 40 - 65psi maximum on them, but I don't have a tyre pressure guage, how should the tyre feel if I pinch the sides of it with my forefinger and thumb, pretty firm?

Second question is about my chain, it's only got the oil on it that it had when it was sent from the factory, the chain appears to be fairly dryish to the touch, giving only very slight oil on my fingers, would it be alright for me to use some vegetable oil on a rag to wipe over the chain for now, until I get some proper oil?

OllyUK

I run 50psi on the road on my mtb....a pump with a pressure guage is really useful, however you can test by pinching the sidewalls and they should fell very firm.

As for your chain, generally new bikes get oiled up at the factory, so its generally good to keep that on for a couple of rides. I'm not sure about vegetable oil, and be careful by adding to much as it will only attract grime and dirt and make your chain very messy. I'd reccomed a decent chain lube like white lightening or finish line

Old Git On A Bike

Cheers for the advice Olly, in that case, I'll leave the chain as it is for the moment, have a few rides and add some of the oil you suggested, and very firm side walls it is then.

I'm a bit p!ssed off at the moment, I went to fit the Halfords 12 function computer, the gap between the sensor on the front fork and the magnet on the spoke should be no more than 1/6 of an inch, unfortunately, the gap is much bigger than that, it's about an inch or so, so I can't use the damn computer :x

OllyUK

Old Git On A Bike wrote:

I'm a bit p!ssed off at the moment, I went to fit the Halfords 12 function computer, the gap between the sensor on the front fork and the magnet on the spoke should be no more than 1/6 of an inch, unfortunately, the gap is much bigger than that, it's about an inch or so, so I can't use the damn computer :x

Normally you can nudge the sensor around the fork until it is a close as possible, then make sure the magnet is on an outermost spoke and that can also be rotated. Adjusting the height of both can also move them closer together.

Old Git On A Bike

Nah, it wont have it Olly, on the fitting diagram it shows the sensor near the upper part of the fork, but the only way I could get the sensor and magnet anywhere near close enough to each other, would be to move both of them right to the bottom of the fork, just above where you bolt your wheel on, but surely that would balls up any reading the computer makes, as the revolutions of the wheel would be smaller there, than if placed at the top of the forks.

I could try and fit it on the back back wheel, I'm not bothered about seeing the computer as I'm cycling, I just want it for recording distance etc, so it wouldn't be a problem being at the back, hmmmm.

lunaeventer

There was a thread about cycle computers & which was the best - might be worth asking there how folk position the sensors to get them to work successfully..................

obriends

It doesn't matter where on the fork / spokes the unit is for the speedo. It works on a full rotation being x length which is input into the computer, whether the sensor is at the top or bottom one rotation is still one rotation. As long as the speed registers at the top it will be fine.

I'm also failing to see why the distance at the top of the fork to the spokes will be different to the bottom as they are hopefully both straight lines.

OllyUK

Also you could try some padding under the sensor and longer zip ties if needed, for example one of those stickyback elastomer pads cut down to size, or you could just take it back to halfords for a refund and get a cateye

Old Git On A Bike

obriends wrote:

I'm also failing to see why the distance at the top of the fork to the spokes will be different to the bottom as they are hopefully both straight lines.

Yeah, you're right, I was thinking that when I posted, I just got this idea in to my head that the closer you get to the hub, the different the revolution, which is of course completely wrong :oops:, I might have been fooled by the hub appearing to go at a different speed to the outer wheel when it spins, I'll try it on the front again, only on the other side of the brake as I need it to be below the rotor to get it close enough to the magnet.

One other thing, looking on the fitting instructions, it gives a list of wheel sizes, and a number for each size to input in to the computer to set the odometer, but it doesn't give my wheel size of 26. x 2.30

The closest sizes on the chart are:

26 x 2.215
26 x 1 3/8
26 x 2 3/8 x 11/2

Any idea which of those would be best size match for mine, it's all Duch to me :?

obriends

Best thing to do it measure the circumference of the tyre. Mark a starting point on the tyre and floor, push along until you get back to the starting point on the tyre and mark off on the floor again. Measure distance and you have the size to input. Failing that go for the 26 X 2.215 measurement.

Old Git On A Bike

Well it's about 3 hours after my last post, I started fitting the computer, go it all on eventually with a couple of problems along the way, the instructions to set up the fitting and setting the computer modes are sh!te, the only thing I have got to work is the damn clock, spinning the wheel does nothing, so the sensor and magnet are probably still not close enough for it to pick up the battery spinning round, it's doing my head in now, I'm going to give it one last try tomorrow morning, and if I can't get it working, I'll rip it off and smash it with a fecking hammer, technology, I sh!t it :x

Anyone know if they still make those mileometers they had years ago, you screw it to your for fork, it has a little wheel that you place against the wheel rim, and the mileage clocks up on a counter as the wheel turns?

[edit]

Hold the friggin front page, just tweaked it again and now it works 8) , oh happy days are here again, yeeeeehaaaaaaaa

dunker

i'd try 26x2.215 and try placing the magnet as close to the hub as you can as that will mean it has less distance between the sensor, if it's a really small/weak magnet you could try getting the mavic wheel magnet maybe that'll be a bit stronger?

and i've just written that and noticed you edited it, duuhhh *rubs eyes* well i did just wake up.

gthang

obriends wrote:

I'm also failing to see why the distance at the top of the fork to the spokes will be different to the bottom as they are hopefully both straight lines.

Spokes get closer to the fork towards the bottom because the hub is normally wider then the rim.