Lessons Learned On My First Day on the Road

CakeLovinBeast

So my shiny new Cube arrived on Friday. I spent Friday night fettling, with a view to spending some quality time with her on Saturday whilst the sun was shining. I learned a few lessons, some of them important:

1. Regardless of how fit you think you are, you're not... I used to mountain bike. I play football for a couple of hours a week. I run. I occasionally "play" at other sports. I *thought* I was fit. I am not That in itself is a disappointing revelation. The fact that it occurred halfway up a hill, when I was overtaken by a girl on a mountain bike, was somewhat demoralising.

2. New bike joy does not lend itself to going steady... You might think that you're going to take it easy, but try telling your head that. "Nice steady pace son, remember your spinning, keep it easy, you've got a way to g.... WHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEE! How FAST is this thing??!!".

3. Peddling is easier when you remember how to do it properly. It's difficult when you're grinding out the last hill of the day, foodless, feckless and your seat bones on fire.

4. Descending is significantly more interesting on 23mm tyres versus 2.6" knobblies.

5. It doesn't matter how good you think you're going to be; you're not. Just because you've read about people averaging 20mph over the course of their rides; it doesn't mean that you're going to.

6. It's a lot easier to MTFU if you have thicker padded shorts. I have no evidence to back this up, but it's the way that it felt to me.

7. You may fail to realise that there's anything going on, beyond your need to mentally plan your next ride.

andy46

Very true but hopefully you enjoyed it.

racingcondor

CakeLovinBeast wrote:

2. New bike joy does not lend itself to going steady... You might think that you're going to take it easy, but try telling your head that. "Nice steady pace son, remember your spinning, keep it easy, you've got a way to g.... WHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEE! How FAST is this thing??!!".

Embrace the new bike joy, one day it will wear off and you can ride sensibly. Until then enjoy going at ludicrous speed for the first 20 minutes before reality catches up with you.

fazersmart

[/quote]



Embrace the new bike joy, one day it will wear off and you can ride sensibly. Until then enjoy going at ludicrous speed for the first 20 minutes before reality catches up with you.[/quote]

I've been riding over a year & I still haven't learnt to ride sensibly! Lol

StillGoing

And no matter how much time in the saddle you get, it doesn't stop you feeling a fool when having struggled for the length of the ride you discover the rear brake has been binding all ride long.

chiark

philthy3 wrote:

And no matter how much time in the saddle you get, it doesn't stop you feeling a fool when having struggled for the length of the ride you discover the rear brake has been binding all ride long.

Cadel? is that you?

redddraggon

CakeLovinBeast wrote:

4. Descending is significantly more interesting on 23mm tyres versus 2.6" knobblies.

You mean it's easier because there's no knobblies to squirm about when you lean over at high speed?

Secteur

CakeLovinBeast wrote:

The fact that it occurred halfway up a hill, when I was overtaken by a girl on a mountain bike, was somewhat demoralising.

danowat

CakeLovinBeast wrote:

Just because you've read about people averaging 20mph over the course of their rides; it doesn't mean that you're going to.

You've also got to remember, a lot of people are full of shit

Peddle Up!

Ha! Ha! But joking aside, you may well be fit, but not "bike fit". I realised that fitness in some areas are not necessarily transferable.

If you crack the secret of descending on narrow tyres without making your own "cyclist's butter", :shock: let me know!

geoff_ss

philthy3 wrote:

And no matter how much time in the saddle you get, it doesn't stop you feeling a fool when having struggled for the length of the ride you discover the rear brake has been binding all ride long.

Yes, but think of the relief when you realise it wasn't your fault you were so slow

Certainly true that you try to go faster a new bike. I think it's mainly to try and justify the extra expense.

lifeform

Secteur wrote:

CakeLovinBeast wrote:

The fact that it occurred halfway up a hill, when I was overtaken by a girl on a mountain bike, was somewhat demoralising.

I've had worse.

On my roadified H/T Mountain Bike (well, slicks and locked out fronts), coming back along the seafront, winter, into a hellish headwind. Chin on the stem. Decent clothing. Doing about 10mph. In a world pain.

When who should literally whistle past me?

Some 40-something-Mod-wannabe numpty in a (fully inflated) Parka, on a sit-up & beg Dutch-style town bike.

With a kiddie seat on the back.

And panniers.

And partially inflated rear tyre.

I tried drafting him, but he just accelerated away.

Whilst I tried convincing myself that I'd done 10 miles already into that wind, and he'd probably just stepped out of his front door, that really was the beginning of the end for me and mountain bikes.

CakeLovinBeast

Don't get me wrong, she wasn't the only one to drop me - it was just the worst occasion. Lower down the hill, two guys had sauntered past on road bikes whilst I was standing eating my 'nana. We exchanged nods and "alright"s as they passed and I thought nothing of it. However, they did that evil trick of remaining *just* in sight all the way up the hill - tantalisingly close enough that I wanted to catch up and draft them, even if just for a minute. My competitive streak wouldn't let me stop until I pulled up, trying to expirate a lung, about 1/3 of the way up. They were about as reachable as the ghost car used to be in super mario!

That's roughly when the mountain biking girl trundled past me so provocatively. I chased after her for a good 15 minutes or so, just wanting the hollow victory of overtaking her, rather than being dumped off her back wheel. It wasn't to be: I got to within maybe 15 feet, clawing back distance in inches, right before the cheeky sod turned off onto a bridleway - totally gutted.

Finally, not far from the top of that one, I saw another mountain biking fella just up ahead. He made the same turn as me, onto a gentle descent down towards the coast. I selected my gear, pulled past with a cheery "alright fella?", and peddled like the proverbial til I was well past. I thought that I'd finally claimed my first decent overtaking maneuver, only for him to catch me 5 minutes down the road. We had a decent natter, right before he dropped me off the back on a twisty descent.

I swear, there were probably 4 year olds on tricycles out on Saturday that could've dropped me... Pride is a dangerous thing. Either that, or they just build cycling folk freakishly strong down here in Devon!

plowmar

I've just got to accept that reasonably fit guys - the sex doesn't matter- on MTBs will always beat me up hills but I'll do them down hill or on the flat.

Fact of life for me. :oops:

CakeLovinBeast

plowmar wrote:

I've just got to accept that reasonably fit guys - the sex doesn't matter- on MTBs will always beat me up hills but I'll do them down hill or on the flat.

Fact of life for me. :oops:

I would have settled for that, but for the following:

1). I've got a triple.
2). They beat me down the hills too!

I can see that there's a certain amount of work to be done here before I'm going to be happy with myself!

chiark

the one good thing to keep you encouraged is that speed seems to improve quite quickly when you're starting off. I was under no illusion that I was quite fit though: I know I'm out of shape, and I think fitness is getting to the point that I can hurt my legs now

My first evening outing on my shiny road bike was 6 weeks ago, was 16 miles, averaged 15mph and had me in the granny gear up some of the hills...

Since then I've been out 2 or 3 times a week, with 1 week off due to being in LA. (hard times)

I've kept extending the circuit and it's now 24 miles. Average 17.5mph, and 2 cogs in reserve at all times.

I suspect me making progress from here is going to hurt quite a lot more! Enjoy, and don't get too disheartened by the overtakers... next year you'll have 'em

CakeLovinBeast

I'm fortunate in that respect... Whilst my initial expectations might be unrealistic (to say the least), I don't see being passed by other people as disheartening, rather than motivating me to push myself harder. I have a fairly strong competitive streak (in pretty much everything that I do) so my mindset is pretty much "You might be going by me now, but one day, I'll be better than you!".

For the time being, I'm just enjoying being back on a bike - I've missed it so much. Starting the commute tomorrow... Well, bike-train-bike in any case, so that's going to be 12 miles a day split into convenient 3 mile speed sessions! Once I've got a bit of fitness back then I'm going to look at doing the full distance a few times a week too.

questforbest

Peddle Up! wrote:

Ha! Ha! But joking aside, you may well be fit, but not "bike fit". I realised that fitness in some areas are not necessarily transferable.

If you crack the secret of descending on narrow tyres without making your own "cyclist's butter", :shock: let me know!

Jason82

Don't worry I keep getting owned by MTB and folders although I did beat a BMX a week or so ago maybe I will wait to celebrate I have a cyclocross myself.

CakeLovinBeast

First commute done today... Managed to steam past an older guy early doors this morning. Guy on a mountain bike paced me on the final mile into work, but he kept jumping red lights, so I'll take that as a moral victory in any case!