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Where to train in or around south west london

bobo696bobo696 Posts: 103
edited October 2012 in Training, fitness and health
Hi everyone !

I'm getting hooked by road cycling and am doing the 100miles (!!!) st crispin day night ride as my forst ever "sportive". That seems a lot but they say it's very doable because flat...

I started recently going to richmond park to do laps. It's nice because there are not too many cars. But I would like to diversify my training else I will get bored quickly !

Where are you guys and girls going for training ? In a ideal world I'm looking for trafic free routes, but alternatively routes with not a lot of cars are okay as well. However I hate the busy roads, which I take often enough during my everyday commutes...

Thanks for the advices :)

Posts

  • Curious YellowCurious Yellow Posts: 281
    If you have a Garmin then try the Garmin Connect site. Or you could just sign up for Connect and see what routes people have already mapped out. Could be a bit hit and miss about how busy/quiet they are. Roads in London generally seem to be quiet before 7am-ish and after 8pm-ish.
  • okgookgo Posts: 4,368
    Join Kingston Wheelers :)
    Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com
  • bobo696bobo696 Posts: 103
    No unfortunately I don't have a garmin, just my android phone and a heartrate monitor...

    As for joining a club it sounds great but my weekends are often busy... I would have to find a club which does week runs !
  • Curious YellowCurious Yellow Posts: 281
    Most clubs seem to do a short mid week run. Probably 40 miles or so. There is a nice loop to Windsor and back with a bit of a hairy section where you cross a 5 lane carriageway. There's also a Chertsey loop somewhere.

    I think it is fairly simple to map either one of these out on Google Maps.
  • okgookgo Posts: 4,368
    Yes Kingston club does many ad hoc midweek rides. Most days in fact. Last night was a chain gang style ride. Today there are some people heading down to Leith Hill. Tomorrow I'm doing a
    140 mile ride with about 6 others. Hardly surprising that with 500 members you can find someone to ride/train with most days of the week :)
    Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com
  • bobo696bobo696 Posts: 103
    That sounds great actually... I might have a free sunday soon! Although another worry is that I'm a complete beginner and not at my fittest... I did a TT 3 lap of Richmond park just to try the other day and finished in 77 minutes which seems very slow compared to the times on this forum
  • guineaguinea Posts: 1,177
    Your time around Richmond Park will improve if you keep riding and try hard while doing so.

    I went from 85 minutes to under an hour quite quickly.

    Ride often and your fitness will follow.
  • okgookgo Posts: 4,368
    bobo696 wrote:
    That sounds great actually... I might have a free sunday soon! Although another worry is that I'm a complete beginner and not at my fittest... I did a TT 3 lap of Richmond park just to try the other day and finished in 77 minutes which seems very slow compared to the times on this forum

    Well put it this way, when I started riding I was probably slower than that, riding since then with the club and doing all sorts of different rides distances and intensity's etc I was able to do it in under 50 mins a few months back, probably do a 48 now. So don't worry about now (for what its worth there are rides that cater for nearly all paces of rider, you would be fine on the beginner club run on a Sunday, and just build up from there, and many of the midweek ride are at club-run pace which is around 15-16 mph average).

    Anyway, the best way to see if you're up to it (which you will be I'm sure) is to come along to Laithwaites in Surbiton at 9am on Sunday morning, ask somebody in club kit about the beginners ride and off you go, its a 36 mile loop down to Boxhill, then from there you can go on and do many of the 6/7/8 different rides that go out on Sunday or any of the midweek ones I've mentioned.

    Have a look on the forum under the club run room, or other club rides to get a taste for it :)
    Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com
  • okgookgo Posts: 4,368
    On the website :)

    Kingstonwheelers.com
    Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com
  • TricycleboyTricycleboy Posts: 373
    http://www.kingstonwheelers.co.uk/clubrun.shtml

    The club run page has few KW routes and maps. I've done a fair few of them alone and they're really nice routes. I too plan to go on an actual club run soonish.
  • moscowflyermoscowflyer Posts: 533
    I'm looking to tag along with the Wheelers before too long, been meaning to do it for ages now but with two young kids it's hard to find the time. I know they're fairly saturated with members now so you have to join up for two years, I never realised they did slower midweek rides though. I always see the likes of Jim and the faster lot posting some pretty quick times on those midweek runs, just a bit out of my reach pace wise. Midweek evening rides would suit me a lot better though, so maybe I'll make the leap sooner rather than later.
  • okgookgo Posts: 4,368
    We do slower mid week ones too.

    It's only really a few of us going out midweek at the minute. But more will happen soon.
    Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com
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