How was your Saturday ride?

millsey_awm

Had a cracking afternoon out on the bike today.

My first outing in 'bare' lycra with long bib tights. What a revelation they are. Its like going riding but sitting on the sofa in your underpants!

Only couple of fails was i was one layer of clothing short and me saddle bag strap decided to give out on a roundabout. Fair do's though to some kind white van man who let me run out and retrieve it. Oh well, the perfect excuse to buy some more kit

Apart from that loved it. Didnt quite make the '30' due to poor planning but did 27.67 miles in 1hr 57. Not too bad for a fat lad. But more good things to come i think.

Hope everyone that was out enjoyed it as much as i did.

Philinmerthyr

I had a great ride. 40.9 miles in just over 3hrs. It was very cold and windy but a loverly sunny morning in Cardiff and Newport.

Planning a shorter (20 mile) around Swansea bay in the morning. That will give me 100 miles for the week

The most I've ever done 8)

Grill

Did 40 miles on that Taff Trail with a friend on my XC. Had to keep it light and easy as I'm doing the Exmoor Beast tomorrow. Bring on 100 miles of rubbish weather!

nweststeyn

Good ride today with an old buddy talking about all the news of the moment... 87km and back for lunch.

Philinmerthyr

Grill wrote:

Did 40 miles on that Taff Trail with a friend on my XC. Had to keep it light and easy as I'm doing the Exmoor Beast tomorrow. Bring on 100 miles of rubbish weather!

What section of the Taff Trail did you ride? I live in Cefn Coed so ride the sections around Merthyr regularly.

elderone

did my longest ride today of 35.5 mile at 14.8 average so happy with that..ache alot but well worth it.

chrisaonabike

24 miles for me this morning before breakfast. Richmond Park was lovely, if a little crisp. Did all three hills up and down, using the track through the middle to give me a nice figure of eight. Overtook three guys on the way up the hill from Kingston gate, for the first time ever, so felt a little smug there.

I wanted to do more but I think I've been going at it a bit too hard too soon, ended up with a little patellar tendon pain, so I've eased back a little. Going a bit slower, and consciously trying to keep the gear lower and the cadence higher.

So I went and tried on some shoes this afternoon as compensation for not getting down to Box Hill, which is my next major target

Unfortunately, that will soon mean I have another jigsaw to do... figure out how to fit cleats. The other jigsaw is the Crud Mk2s which are still lying around in bits. They taunt me every time I go past, so I'm going to have to beat them into submission soon.

Grill

Philinmerthyr wrote:

Grill wrote:

Did 40 miles on that Taff Trail with a friend on my XC. Had to keep it light and easy as I'm doing the Exmoor Beast tomorrow. Bring on 100 miles of rubbish weather!

What section of the Taff Trail did you ride? I live in Cefn Coed so ride the sections around Merthyr regularly.

Went passed Abercynon after a detour up to Castell Coch for a few trails. Left it too late to make it up to your neck of the woods, but I'll make it next time I need an easy easy spin and I can't be assed with a road bike!

dai_t75

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

Unfortunately, that will soon mean I have another jigsaw to do... figure out how to fit cleats. The other jigsaw is the Crud Mk2s which are still lying around in bits. They taunt me every time I go past, so I'm going to have to beat them into submission soon.

Good luck with the Mk2s.. took me over an hour to get them sorted. My advice is use the video on the website as the instructions that come with it are laughable at best. Be warned as well there will be a couple of pieces left over/spare at the end (some screws and some nose/flap pieces). Also, when you put the ties behind the brakes, there is a little hole above the main body of the guard that you need to feed it through. I spent 10 mins trying to work out why the tyre was rubbing against the guard until I realised it needed to be fed through the gap rather than just around the whole guard :oops:

My ride today was pretty bad to be honest... starting to get a bit annoyed with myself. Admitidley I haven't done any CV exercise for a number of years, but I'm fairly young (26) and not overweight so I wouldn't have guessed I would be struggling as much as I am. The areas near my house are fairly hilly and they are destroying me within 30 mins of leaving the house! Do you guys have any tips? My head is spinning with the amount of articles/threads I have read. Some say cadence is the answer and others swear my using a heart rate monitor and staying within a certain zone for hours until you build up.

Good work to all you lads easily getting the miles in... hopefully I will be there sometime in the near(ish) future!

karlth

Did mine Friday. 37.5 miles, 1850' climbing, 15MPH average on the button. Got slowed down by headwind and rotten traffic through a couple of spots. Nice brisk morning though.

karlth

Dai - hilly round my way as well. Don't kill yourself on them; you can utterly knacker yourself for the sake of 10 seconds; it's not worth it. I have kids and it's amazing how easy hills are when you're out with them so not trying to take the hills fast.

If you're at all new (or not Bradley Wiggins) then you will need some good low gears - are you running a compact or triple?

Hwyl da.

FlacVest

Friday: 36 mile ride; didn't plan on riding that hard, so I wore a shirt and shorts. I'd do fine until 22 or so mph, when the wind really started to hurt.

Today, I wore the biking shorts and compression shirt. Awesome. 15 mph headwinds for at least 40 minutes, but still kept a high pace; it's like the wind slides right off of you. But I'm pooped.

edewer

Wanted to ride but got a flat on Friday. Changed the inner yesterday morning, pumped it up, walked to get changed, massive bang, bloody brand new inner tube had exploded!

Went to Tesco last night, bought another, seems to be holding at the moment........but heavens are about to open so yet another day off the bike that 10 days now due to weather/work/car maintenance!

Laird_Attwood

Work 12 hour shift on Saturdays so my Saturday ride wasn't very good

kathrynwhite

Did 35 miles yesterday with a coffee stop in the middle. It was my first time riding with my dad for a while and it was nice to hear him say 'I remember when you complained and struggled up that hill' as we sauntered over what were really just bumps in the road. Still not a great cyclist but nice to hear that I'm improving. Completed in 2hr20, 14.9mph. (Even with the wind!)

I think I'm going to pop out for a short spin later as I've done 99 miles this half term and I want to take it over the 100.

dai_t75

karlth wrote:

Dai - hilly round my way as well. Don't kill yourself on them; you can utterly knacker yourself for the sake of 10 seconds; it's not worth it. I have kids and it's amazing how easy hills are when you're out with them so not trying to take the hills fast.

If you're at all new (or not Bradley Wiggins) then you will need some good low gears - are you running a compact or triple?

Hwyl da.

I have got a triple luckily! Think I have been using the 'granny ring' quite a lot on hills so far.

What a difference a day makes though (and change of route). I did the reverse of the route I did yesterday and the difference was crazy. The start was much more gentle and hardly any inclines. Think this allowed me to warm up a bit. There was one steep bit bout half way round which I made up (just) by getting out of the saddle and overall just found the ride a lot more enjoyable.

Grill

If you're in Bridgend then you should head out to Ogmore via the little cat4 in Ewenny. Climb more hills and they get easier!

karlth

Grill wrote:

If you're in Bridgend then you should head out to Ogmore via the little cat4 in Ewenny. Climb more hills and they get easier!

No they don't. As eny fule no, hills don't get easier; you get faster.

dai_t75

Grill wrote:

If you're in Bridgend then you should head out to Ogmore via the little cat4 in Ewenny. Climb more hills and they get easier!

I have got a route planned through Ogmore, but I won't be tackling it until I have put a bit more time on the saddle!

Excuse my ignorance, but what does cat4 mean (i'm guessing some sort of grading system for hills)? Which hill are you referring to by the way? I can't picture it at the moment.

Grill

Ogmore is really nice power climb. I've done it at over 18mph and it's more fun than descending. The hill I'm referring to is Tair Croes Hill in Ewenny. When I talk about a "cat 4" it means that the climb is long/steep enough to be graded with cat 4 being the easiest of graded climbs (goes to cat 1 and the HC which is the hardest). You can see it on this ride: http://app.strava.com/rides/23482545

@karlth- If you're referring to TTing then yes, it doesn't get easier you just get faster, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that climbing does get easier.

karlth

Grill wrote:

Ogmore is really nice power climb. I've done it at over 18mph and it's more fun than descending. The hill I'm referring to is Tair Croes Hill in Ewenny. When I talk about a "cat 4" it means that the climb is long/steep enough to be graded with cat 4 being the easiest of graded climbs (goes to cat 1 and the HC which is the hardest). You can see it on this ride: http://app.strava.com/rides/23482545

@karlth- If you're referring to TTing then yes, it doesn't get easier you just get faster, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that climbing does get easier.

Yes, I know. It's an old saw with a kernel of truth though.

peat

Got out on my new bike for a 50km burn. It was so windy, almost came to stop in some places. Brutal. Also very cold.

I was pretty well togged up, but i did get numb toes and Johnson. Not sure, in the latter's case, if it was the cold or the saddle that got him. Thoughts?

Grill

Dead dick is caused by pressure of the perineum. Check saddle angle/height/position and if it continues look to getting a cut-out (fixed the problem for me).

keef66

Well East Anglia got a frequent pasting of heavy showers interspersed with hail, so my Saturday ride didn't start till after 8 pm. By then I had a lovely starry sky and a full moon, but the temps had fallen to about 2c. Managed a brisk 20 mile loop, including a road I've never ventured up before. Back just in time to see the closing credits on X-Factor

Stuuu

I had to check that I was in the Beginners section before posting this. The speed you guys can cycle leaves me wondering what I've been doing for the past year. :?

On Saturday the roads were still a little moist so I went out on my mountain bike just in case there was any flooded/muddy areas. It was hard going into that freezing head wind! Over a 15 mile stretch I only managed an average 12.5 mph. On the one hand I was pleased I got out and achieved something but it was hardly anything to write home about.

On Sunday when the wind had died down I took my Defy 3 out for the same spin. Just under 15 mph average. Still on the slow side compared to the rest of you. I guess I need to work harder.

Grill

Keep at it, you'll get faster!

Stuuu

Thank you for the reassurance. I don't think I will be able to stop whether I am slower or not. I'm quite addicted to cycling.

drlodge

Didnt get out Sat but did yesterday (Sunday), and managed to stay clear of the rain. Was pretty cold though but with thermal bib tights, long sleeve vest and thick jersey stayed warm enough. Fingers were fine with long gloves, but feet still got cold despite 2 layers of good woolly socks, and neoprene overshoes.

Managed 40 miles, on account of me getting a little lost but a good run with a few PRs up some pretty steep hills.

http://app.strava.com/rides/26327524

Grill

You should never wear 2 pairs of socks. All that happens is moisture gets trapped between them and freezes your feet. 1 pair of good merino socks and shoe covers are the way forward.

mhj999

currently without a bike - this thread is killing me...2 weeks until new bike is delivered...tick tock

keef66

How many pairs of socks you can wear depends entirely on the space in your shoes. Too tight = cold feet.

For me one pair of Woolie Boolies, shoes fastened loosely and a pair of neoprene overshoes means toasty feet even below zero.