Broke the 30 mph barrier yesterday......

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Comments

  • thumperman
    thumperman Posts: 76
    I ride on my own 99% of the time and find strava gives me incentive to get out. Getting good times is satisfying but very wind dependent on the south west tip of Ireland so don't alway's mean much. My last post was more to show it's not outright speed but how/where/weather conditions. 10mph into a ferocious headwind can be as hard as you've ever ridden. As long as your happy with what your doing is what should matter. Well, to me anyway as I don't compete or "train", just ride. I'd be pretty damn happy sustaining 30mph for any amount of time on a flat road and calm day.
  • bungle73
    bungle73 Posts: 758
    Strava really doesn't do anything that MMR doesn't do. And Garmin Connect does most of it too. I prefer MMR's website to Strava, apart from the other issues I have with it.

    I have Garmin Connect automatically upload to MMR, and to Strava too (but only really because it can). I use GC and MMR to monitor my stats.

    I've been using my bike to lose a bit of weight, and the MMR course I mentioned earlier is on my regular route. It's quite handy to have a section that gives me an incentive to push it, which is going to help to achieve that purpose. I've been steadily decreasing my time over it the past few months.
  • awavey
    awavey Posts: 2,368
    thumperman wrote:
    I ride on my own 99% of the time and find strava gives me incentive to get out. Getting good times is satisfying but very wind dependent on the south west tip of Ireland so don't alway's mean much. My last post was more to show it's not outright speed but how/where/weather conditions. 10mph into a ferocious headwind can be as hard as you've ever ridden. As long as your happy with what your doing is what should matter. Well, to me anyway as I don't compete or "train", just ride. I'd be pretty damn happy sustaining 30mph for any amount of time on a flat road and calm day.

    ^^^ this, totally agree, Id just be pretty happy hitting 30mph without gravity assist for a change :)
  • debeli
    debeli Posts: 583
    There is a unique pleasure to hitting a milestone, so chapeau to the OP.

    In my youth, speed measurement on a bicycle was wobbly at best... We had a mechanical Huret speedo on a family tandem, but I'm not sure it gave a very credible figure.

    Most speeds achieved in my youth came under the "I must have been doing 40!!" heading. I had no idea of my true speed, but forty sounded cool.

    These days we are measured and monitored for everything by the spy on the handlebar. It can take something away from the joy, but congrats to the OP anyway for hitting a number.

    Things will get faster if you keep at it. But don't be in a hurry to ride in a hurry. There are all sorts of things that can go awry at speed. Build up slowly.

    40mph is the next biggie and on most road bikes this can be achieved while pedalling. In my experience (running 53/11 on 700c x 23 and uncomfortable at speed pedalling above 130rpm ish), after about 45 mph you will become dependent entirely on gradient, safety margin, calmness and the condition of your bike. Maxxing your tyre pressures also helps. And do make sure that everything is straight and adjusted and tightened as appropriate. The sudden onset of speed wobble can be unnerving.

    Many of my cycling friends have comfortably and frequently exceeded 50mph. I have not and am pretty sure I never will. But 40+ is enough of a rush on public highways and in the right conditions 30+ can be pretty cool.

    Congrats again to the OP and keep having fun.

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