Tonight's 'ride'... lessons learned!

MarksMintness

Ok so filled with enthusiasm despite the freezing cold weather (-1) I went out on a training ride tonight aiming to do about 12 miles.
The ride seemed to be cursed from beginning to end, so here is my tale of woe and the lessons learned!
Down from my house there is a steep long hill - by the time I got to the bottom my face was frozen and in serious discomfort. Not to worry, I stopped at the bottom and rearranged my 'head toob' type thing into a balaclava to keep the wind chill off my face/ears/neck.
LESSON 1 - These head toobs are really quite useful for the sake of a fiver!
Then, about 2 miles into the ride my front light (£10 from Decathlon, 5 LED type thing) failed going down yet another hill after a climb doing about 30mph... not good! It eventually came back on but kept flickering and going dim from time to time. This has been my only light so far when riding at night, not sure if it was batteries or a bad connection, but either way I knew I had to turn around as I just couldn't risk total light failure!
LESSON 2 - Have more than one front light, and make one of them a good one!
Finally, on the way back home, the bracket on my rear light (about £5 from Decathlon you guessed it) broke and I had to hold my rear light behind me for the couple of miles home! Ridiculous!
LESSON 3 - See lesson 2 but apply to the rear!
All in all, the whole ride was a bit of a disaster but at least I learned a few important lessons for a noob.
On another note, I wore my new Tenn Outdoors bargain bib tights and I have to say they are MEGATRON. Comfy and well fitting, surprisingly warm in the minus conditions, with high vis bits on (which I was glad for tonight!) they are excellent value at £25, I don't know why I didn't get bib tights before!
LESSON 4 - Go bib tights, they're mint.
Oh yeah, and again filled with enthusiasm after todays 'Commando' thread I went commando for the first time. Comfy yes, freeze dried chipolata - yes.
So there we are. I'm off to get a decent front and rear light now...

shuttle_cock

I'm with you on the Tenn bib tights, good for £25, also the winter jerseys are good for keeping you toastie, on sale at a reasonable £14.99, plus free postage as well, can't be bad.

Also overshoes for a tenner, guess who's been shopping?

Shuttle.

MarksMintness

Winter jersey sounds good, cheers for the tip. I've got a long sleeve base layer on the way from them as well, hopefully just as impressive! For a family guy cycling on a budget - will do for me!

Nik Cube

Well done on going out

as a daily commuter I use two front and two rear lights

One set is cateye which I rate highly for being seen and durable and the other is a re chargable 300 lumen front light(which is up to a decent rural commute home) and a rear light I can clip to my back pack - no idea of the make. I also carry spare batteries

well done on the bibs just ride harder to keep warm

on the clothing front I use some stuff from mountain active to keep me warm good value imo

MarksMintness

Nik Cube wrote:

Well done on going out

as a daily commuter I use two front and two rear lights

One set is cateye which I rate highly for being seen and durable and the other is a re chargable 300 lumen front light(which is up to a decent rural commute home) and a rear light I can clip to my back pack - no idea of the make. I also carry spare batteries

well done on the bibs just ride harder to keep warm

Cheers, whole thing was a disaster really. Cycling one-handed the 3 miles home in freezing conditions! Totally see the concept of investing in 2 sets of lights now, I reckon something like the Cateye LD1100 or Exposure Flare on the back along with something maybe a bit cheaper like that long Topeak one. Thinking about a powerful XML torch or lamp for the front would be good, as I can barely see the road after cars go by - really dangerous.
Cheers

Nik Cube

a good front light is a must tbh I'd go to a local Bike shop and see what they stock - as i said I like the cat eye light sets as I have been using them for quite a few years
I use a light and motion usb rechargable on the front along with the cat eye. The L&M is to see where i'm going and the Cat eye (on Flashing) to help drivers see me.
good luck

had a look at the tenn website looks like some good value kit cheers

Mike39496

I went out for my first ride tonight. My lesson learnt is to go slower than 30mph round corners when there is ice about. Extremely painful sliding along the cold pavement and my new gear is ripped!

Nik Cube

Och

I always get the pI55 taken out of me by my club mates for riding slowly round corners - now you know why

dust of and back on but take it steady

Squeakz

I use Exposure lights, rechargeable and I find better than cats eyes.

The ones I am currently running are these :-
They are lightweight, easy to fit and remove with a very strong light source

FRONT LIGHT: http://www.exposurelights.com/product/000058/flash/
REAR LIGHT: http://www.exposurelights.com/product/000059/flare/

I also use the helmet bracket and light, its great for helping you see exactly where you are going and helps attract the attention of car drivers, when your moving your head around for look at junctions and roundabouts, it looks like someone is shaking a light.
http://www.exposurelights.com/product/2 ... t-bracket/

They do a wide range of lights and brackets to suit most purposes, well worth looking at the brand

Xommul

Reckon being seen from behind by bleary eyed tired motorists is equally or more important and more money should be spent here.

I drive to work at 0530 each morning and pass the same 3 cyclists each time. One of them I never fail to spot and the other 2 I can get very close to before their lights are visible.

The chap I see each time from a mile away has 3 rear lights, all very bright. One on his saddle tube, one on the back of his helmet and one on the down tubes beside the rear wheel, all three blink.

One guy I see has arm bands with little LEDs on which are totally useless as are the ones people put on back packs as they are angled upwards pointing most of their light towards the sky which is great for being seen by low flying Aircraft but rubbish if u r in a car behind.

andyrr

Sounded like a fun ride - the kind probably all of us did at some point. I remember I started my first dark commute to work and not far from home there is a steep (1-in-5 or so) hill that I descended. With a rubbishy Cateye light the road disappered and I though "Oh dear, this light is nowhere near bright enough". Choice of lights is massive depending on budget etc As recommended, have at least 2 pointing forwards and same for the rear, helps both with your visibility and as backups, probabably 3 is a good minimum as that gives a little bit more for your comfort. High-vis vest I think is a good cheap addition plus snap-bands on ankles and wrists. Buffs/head toobs are great multi-use items - just round the neck area, stretched to cover the chin or, on a morning like today when it was at least -4, stretched all the way up and covering the ears and when your breath stars to steam your glasses just pull it down a fraction - great pieces of kit.

rick_chasey

MarksMintness wrote:

Oh yeah, and again filled with enthusiasm after todays 'Commando' thread I went commando for the first time. Comfy yes, freeze dried chipolata - yes.
.

http://www.universal-textiles.com/UK-UT/utmb207.php

MarksMintness

Mike39496 wrote:

I went out for my first ride tonight. My lesson learnt is to go slower than 30mph round corners when there is ice about. Extremely painful sliding along the cold pavement and my new gear is ripped!

Yes I ended up in a ditch one night after being blinded by a car on full beam. Ripped my new high vis jacket! It can be expensive coming off, bit at least still alive!