Your best ride ever?

nick hanson

red dragon wrote:

Best ride ever, easy. Thirteen months ago little local loop (only 13 miles). Half way round had heart attack - I said "I a`nt leaving my bike here, and i am not dying alone" a quick prayer and I cycled home. Thats my best ride ever - I made it round and back and am still here to tell the tale.




Winter miles - Summer smiles.

Did you get it diagnosed on a blood test,& sure it wasn't a pulse meter going potty? :shock:
Seriously,take care & all the best!

red dragon

Well i got home, sat around at home and said to the good lady that I thought I had a heart attack. Luckily half a mile away is the local hospital. Ended up in there on the cardiac ward. Whilst there I felt the symptoms again - from this they tried the spray under the tongue, an atropine injection, morphine and oxygen. Following day I went by ambullance (blue light) to a hospital on Teesside which is a centre of excellence for coronary problems (cannot thank them enough). I was stented and am now back home. Enjoying my cycling even more. I do feel the effects of have mild (lv) damage, but they good points outway the disadvantages. I`m still here and smiling and cycling - life is good.

tonywar

cyclingfury wrote:

I know this is not entirely in the spirit of this thread's title, but my best ride is always the one I've just done. This is because for yet another day I have woken up, found myself alive and have been fit enough to ride my bike! Amen!!

Amen to that one.

oldwelshman

red dragon wrote:

Well i got home, sat around at home and said to the good lady that I thought I had a heart attack. Luckily half a mile away is the local hospital. Ended up in there on the cardiac ward. Whilst there I felt the symptoms again - from this they tried the spray under the tongue, an atropine injection, morphine and oxygen. Following day I went by ambullance (blue light) to a hospital on Teesside which is a centre of excellence for coronary problems (cannot thank them enough). I was stented and am now back home. Enjoying my cycling even more. I do feel the effects of have mild (lv) damage, but they good points outway the disadvantages. I`m still here and smiling and cycling - life is good.

Just curious, were you a smoker before? Pesume you had stent for hardened/damaged arteries?

oldwelshman

I could say the best ride was last years Cymru SUper Gran Fondo, but as it was freezing and raining I will not
I would say Gran Fondo Pinarello last year.
It was my first year back after 23 years and the route was fantastic, well organised, very hot and I managed to do it in 6 hours 33 mins and finished 330th which is not bad considerring how many top amateurs and druggies do them 8)

red dragon

oldwelshman
With ref to your post - I did smoke giving up was ever so easy. But there was also a bit of family history. I work with achap who has had Angioplasty resulting in three stents, he is a non smoker (never smoked) ate healthily and as far as I know has exercised very regularly mainly gym and cycle.
On my cardio rehab phase there were people who had never smoked and were vegetarians - you just do`nt know. I always put a few pence in the tin for research. Hopefully this year I can do a good sponsored ride as well.
Anyway from a young Welshman (just 60). Take care.

cabledonuts

I had a mad few days of rides when I last went to Mallorca in 1999. Was on a 2 week training camp and one day I was on a rest day but I was getting a little restless and by about 2pm I decided to go for a 'potter'. We'd been staying in Cala Bona which was about as far away from the mountains as you can get and I love riding in mountains - was the main reason I use to love going to Mallorca. All the rides we were doing on the training camp had been flat rides and I was sick of it. So on this little potter I rode over to Alcudia. Got to Alcudia and thought may as well go to Pollenca while I'm here. Got to Pollenca and thought may as well go up to the monastery at Lluc while I'm here. Ended up riding further up from there then riding back to Cala Bona via the middle of the island. It had gone dark well before I got back and having not planned this had no lights with me. Best training ride ever as I was keen to get back before it went dark so I rode like crazyness although failed to get back before it went dark. Funny thing was not a single car driver pipped me/leaned out of window and shouted at me to get lights on etc like drivers here would have. Got back to the hotel in Cala Bona having totalled 110 miles. Not bad for a rest day potter! Next day just a little 40 miles jaunt. Then the day after that I went for a ride by myself instead of going out with the group (I was on one of those Ideal Travel training camps that were popular in the 90's). I'd planned this one though and went out through the middle of the island over towards (I think) Bunyola and Valldemossa etc. Up Soller, Puig Major, Lluc etc and back again through the middle of the island. Ride totalled 130 miles when I got back. By far my most favourite rides I've ever done all within a few days of each other. Not sure whether it was just because I was by myself or the fact that on all the flat rides we'd previously done I could see those mountains calling me over so was itching to do the ride!

Plenty of other great rides done since I started cycling - French Alps, Australia, etc (even Philippines!). But, usually those ones where you're out for 6 hours in winter where the rain is on the verge of turning into hail/snow as it's that cold. P*ss wet through. Frozen. Riding along thinking why the F do I do this. Get home, in a nice warm bath thinking that was the best ride ever! Why!??

chopper1

Thruxton last week, because it was the first race i won, also, riding along the brendon hills on a nice sunny day coming off of exmoor with a light tail wind as you sweep down the nice smooth quiet twisting roads with great views of the bristol channel!

pugwashcp

Last years Wild Wales Challenge.

Had a fantastic day in the company of like-minded people hauling my overweight ass around a killer of a loop through some outstanding scenery. Felt really good at the end because I knew I'd really pushed myself. That was the day I stopped being a mountain biker who dabbled with the dark side and emerged as a roadie with a dirt(y) habit.

I've shed two and a half stone since then and lined up the Gran Fondo Cymru, Dave Lloyd mega-challenge, a week in the alps and another Wild Wales for this summer....who knows, one of them could be my next best ride ever.

Roger_This

Would have to be a toss-up between a one-week tour of the west of Scotland with SYHA twenty years ago, (Oban - Mull - Ardnamurchan - Skye - Raasay - Mallaig) and my first 'Century Challenge' with Edinburgh Bike, about twelve years ago.

I had a kind of spiritual moment thingy on the first, stopped somewhere on the coast, looking out to the islands, and thinking 'yeah, feels nice being a part of this...'.

Both of these, by the way, I had considered well out of my league before I gave them a try. Must've been a lot fitter back then...

mercsport

Late May through to August 1992 , an age ago it seems now .
I was 45 then and I jacked in toiling for money and got on the bike and legged it to Italy - which I'd adopted as my spiritual home - to see the sights . Primarily I wanted to walk the 'Alta Via Uno' , a sort of Pennine way of the Dolomites , but arrived a wee bit early and after a few days of adventures in the snow , I gave up at Passo Falzareggo , returned to where I'd left the bike and set off to 'bottom Italy' which I did in the succeeding weeks . Did a Tirrenno-Adriatico a couple of times , a couple of the islands , and made the mighty discovery that the hills/mountains in the south seemed as tough as those in the north .
Returned straight up the middle of Italy and resumed my 'Alta Via' walk from where I'd left off and a few days later descended the south face of the Schiara and walked into Belluno , job done near enough . Getting back on the bike at Brunico I managed to see off the Brenner pass - I had to stop at some traffic lights in Innsbruck - and Fern Pass in Austria before stopping for the night this side of Kempten in Germany in a very electric thunderstorm . That day I clocked 250k - with very loaded panniers - which is still the most I've ever done in a day . Unlikely now to surpass that , I'd suppose that is what I'd call the best day out on the bike I've had . Yet the whole trip was the best thing I'd ever done . Everyday on the bike then was a hundred miler plus .
I've done a few other trips since in similar vein but a little less manic , yet the adventure element - having done it once - seemed to be missing . Almost like ' another day at the office' .
I really admire those that post to these forums that manage to leg it around the world or into the back of beyond . Not sure how they manage to do it really . What I did was 'easy street' in Europe .

Pete789uk

Oh she was this swedish bird I met in spain about 20 years ago god I can still remember those few days now she was down right filthy !!!

wildmoustache

clanton wrote:

Etape du Tour 2007. Because it is the hardest thing I've every done and probably the achievement I am most proud of. I went in very fit (for me but still way off most in the event!) and still only just finished. The event was simply fantastic with incredible crowd support, stunning scenery and a great vibe. Having to dig incredibly deep to get myself up first Port de Bales and then the Peyesourde and somehow managing to force myself to keep moving forwards was an experience I'll never forget - as was crossing the finish line!

Mine too. Well, maybe not my greatest ride ever, but my most emotional. I was very tired having hardly slept (due to newbie brits in the hotel getting up at 3am ?? WTF?) and very nearly decided to quit after 10miles. I'll always be glad rode on ... it was a legendary event. A true epic and really hard to top as a one day monster sportif event.

wastelander

One of two rides on a recent cycling trip to Mallorca - either the climb up Sa Colobra or a fantastic day's riding combining Orient, Soller pass and Puig Major but for very different reasons! I loved every minute of the climb up Sa Colobra and didn't find myself out of my depth at all. However, towards the last few km of Puig Major I was hurting both mentally and physically - it was a real test of strength and determination and I'm pleased to say that I feel I passed both tests 8)

dennisn

Bicycle Tour of Colorado. A week long grind up and down some of the highest passes
in the Rockies. An altitude sickness, sleep deprivation, dehydration, scorching hot days, freezing nights, long, long climbs, descents so long you actually get tired just hanging on the bike, rain, hail, & snow on occasion, and a sense of relief when it's over that, for some strange reason, leaves you planning for next year, sort of thing. I'm not going this
year but I see it in my future. My wife wants me to seek help for this obsession.

Dennis Noward

guinea

Climbing my first proper mountains - http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... p=14806113

proto

Many years ago, I had been staying with friends near St Lo, Normandy. Heading for home, left it late for the long, long drag up the penninsular to Cherbourg. Shocking headwind all the way, relentless, a real battle. Convinced I was going to miss my ferry, I dug deep, and then some more and ploughed on. Made it with literally a few minutes to spare, enormous feeling of satisfaction. But I was fecked!!

st68

lst year the telegraph an galibier rode both cols with 2 dutch riders a week after the tour went over them fantastic

attica

My first 100+ miler, Bristol to London a few years back, the hills weren't nearly as bad as they'd been made out to be (either of them!) and it was a sunny yet relatively windless day, had a 6 hour long "no chain" moment. Raised over £400 for charity in memory of my Dad. Crossing the finish line was somewhat emotional.

Also did a really short ride from Banyuls Sur Mer to Spain and back along the coast road, no great challenge, just a lovely road, great weather and an enormous sense of freedom, the Med on my left, the Pyrenees on my right, if only I could have bottled that all to short moment, then again you can't really leave your wife on her own on your honeymoon for too long and I'd already ridden Alpe D'Huez that week (another one that's up there in my all time great rides list)

biondino

First time up Box Hill.

JC.152

The Cat and Fiddle sportive 2 years ago.

It was my first 50 miler 3 weeks after I'd started road cycling. My gears broke 10 miles in and was stuck in the 18 on the back for the rest of the ride and could only change in the 30,42 and 52.

Still a really good day in the sunshine and the longest ride I'd ever done back then.

markos1963

Went out today for just a spin in the sunshine. After 6 miles I felt pretty good and thought about the road ahead, it seemed to me that the next 10 miles would be ideal for a TT, little wind, few gradients, only 2 left turns and not much in the way of traffic. So I stopped, reset the computer and off I set on my first serious attempt at a 10 mile TT.
Everything went as planned,kept down on the drops all the way,avoided all the traffic, and no problems at the left turns. When the trip on the computer clicked over the 10 mile mark I stopped. I thought that if I had done under 30 mins I would be happy but when I looked at the elapsed time I was shocked to see 26m58s!
The 10 miles to ride home should have been hard due to the effort put in but I was so elated they passed without me hardly noticing them. I am now wondering what I would do if I took off the water bottles/cages, saddlebag, flipped the stem and moved the headset spacers on top of the stem?
I can now see the attraction that people have for TT'ing.

proper_job

GranFondoColnago 2007. I did it with 3 mates who waited on top of every climb for me. I was the last man on the road to finish and we went over the line 4 abreast. It is the hardest ride I've ever done.

Why was it good? I could go on for hours about the superb organisation, the closed roads, the marshalls, the scenery, the food, the company, the apricot tart and the 3500 rider peleton at the start, but to cut a long story short it's in Italy. 'nuff said

Mark Alexander

My first 100TT. 5h 6 min on a hilly Welsh course but was averaging 21mph before cramp with 35 to go. A baptism of fire.

Bring on my second attempt!

passout

Cyling home from work on my old Mountain Bike on Friday night, via pub.

kettrinboy

One of my best recent rides was when I took my dads Raleigh Record Ace bought in 1982 for a spin , steel frame ,10 speeds thats total speeds not on one cassette and downtube shift levers, on a 14 mile loop I do I thought ho hum I,ll be lucky to ave 15mph on this relic but once I,d got used to the gears and found i could stay on the drops comfortably for miles i was flying and astonished to ave 18.6 and thats with crappy old pedals, with modern clipless pedals l,d have done 19+ no problem , by comparison on my road bike a Scott CR1 PRO my best ave so far is 19.9 so I ,m wondering if bikes really have come that far in terms of speed in 26 years hmmm

richk

Last week I did my first ever 10 TT. Was ecstatic to do 29 mins 58 sec (phew, that was close ) Think I got the ride 'just right' - didn't go off too fast, didn't blow up and was totally drained at the end. Got cramp at about 9 miles & the last mile took about 3' 18" of the 3' 20" I had left... Was surprised to only be passed by one other rider when I really was expecting for much of the field to come flooding past. So I finished 10th of 11 starters (11th is in his 80s...) but that wasn't the point - I'd done something I'd been working up to for over a year (only been cycling again 18 months) & inside the time the rest of the club had been telling me to aim for...

There's another one next week... :shock:

RichN95.

A good ride I remember fondly was on my regular commute, Cardiff to Newport.

Last year there were some roadworks which reduced traffic to a single narrow lane for about half a mile. Often it wasn't nice with cars trying to squeeze through a gap which wasn't there.

A lot of times though the car would patiently wait behind me - this was one such time. When the car eventually had the room to pass I saw that it emblazoned with "British Cycling" down the side, with spare bikes on the roof rack. I just thought - I've passed ten pedestrians who think I'm a pro.

Another one was just an amble around South Wales and around Bridgend there seemed to be some sort of race/sportive on. At the top of one climb I got a big round of applause by people who had finished there. Then on the way back to Cardiff I got caught by a bunch of about 10 racers and tagged on the back of the bunch. At the time I rode a Carrera Vanquish and one of them rather loudly said "Let's drop Halfords boy" - even though I was almost certainly older than him. The pace went up, but did they drop me? No they did not. That bloke must be overjoyed that both male and female British champs have been won on Halfords bikes.

chill888

yesterday's "La Marmotte"

8000 riders 174 kms, 5000 metres ascent (16,400 feet). By far the biggest ride of my life.

Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier - and when you are completely exhausted Alpe d'Huez (which is easier than Galibier and Croix de Fer)

Amazing.

The final hairpin up Galibier - still snow - and yet heatwave down low

Cougar

My best ride was a race in which I finished 3rd. It was the North Road 50 mile TT held on a warm sticky Saturday afternoon the weekend following the National 50 mile TT Championship 1980. The Champion was Ian Cammish and 3rd was Roger Queen both of whom had entered the North Road event.

I managed to finish 11 seconds behind Roger Queen with 1.51.48, a club record, and Roger finished 2nd to Ian who did a 1.48. Had I produced that ride the week before in the National 50 it would have got me 4th spot. In the National 25 about 4 weeks earlier both had beaten me by a few seconds.

The photo was taken about 1 mile from the start.