New bike, long ride, awesome experience.

Aaku
Aaku Posts: 20
edited October 2017 in Road beginners
Hope you've all had a great weekend.

I bought my first road bike last week (it's an Eddy Merckx Blockhaus 67 Tiagra) having only had experience on an MTB years ago. Excited as i was waiting for it to be delivered, I must say it was very daunting getting on it and going out onto the road with traffic once i got it.

Took it for a test ride in the local park later that evening and the day after went on a 13 mile road ride. The road ride was so daunting and it somewhat put me off it slightly. Immediately afterwords i went online and watched a few road cycling safety videos which helped.

Determined i went out again this morning, when it was much quiter, and completed a 40 mile ride which i'm over the moon with. I found some awesome narrow country lanes which had no traffic on them whatsever. They seemed to be popular with other cyclists too. It was also my first time using clipless pedals and i nearly ended up in a bush at one point when i couldn't unlclip in time :oops: . I also climbed a total of 3100 feet during the ride which in hindsight wasn't a good idea as i really struggled up some of the hills, but i made it. I was beaming with a massive smile downhill though, what a rush. :D

Still feeling very good with no major aches although i've got a feeling i'll be aching tomorrow.

The only i'm thing i'm still seriously uncomfortable with is looking back to see if there is traffic when taking the lane. It always make me swerve wildly which is quite dangerous. Any tips on how to prevent this would be great.

Just thought i'd share this with you guys.

Comments

  • gethinceri
    gethinceri Posts: 1,677
    Top work, keep it up!
  • dj58
    dj58 Posts: 2,224
    Glad to here you are enjoying it. What you need to do is find some quite routes in your locality and choose your times, try and avoid the twice daily rush hour if you can, at the weekend go out early in the morning. If you are new to clipless pedals, go to the park and practice clipping in/out for an hour or so to nail the technique for your pedal/cleat combination and use the low tension setting, always unclip before you come to a stop.
  • Neil Grubb
    Neil Grubb Posts: 38
    Great to hear you had such a good ride. A fair amount of climb in there for the distance - so an excellent start. It's quite exhilarating the first time out on a road bike! I had the same problem too, checking over my shoulder- it seemed easier on the hoods than in the drops. You might find it easier to look to the side and back than lifting your head up and turning it, as you might do on a hybrid / flatbar where you are more upright to start with.
  • cld531c
    cld531c Posts: 517
    If you find a quiet road just keep practising looking behind you.
    Its often easier to freewheel whilst doing so til you are comfortable.
    You'll get used to it and well done.
  • Aaku
    Aaku Posts: 20
    Gethinceri wrote:
    Top work, keep it up!

    Thanks!
    DJ58 wrote:
    Glad to here you are enjoying it. What you need to do is find some quite routes in your locality and choose your times, try and avoid the twice daily rush hour if you can, at the weekend go out early in the morning. If you are new to clipless pedals, go to the park and practice clipping in/out for an hour or so to nail the technique for your pedal/cleat combination and use the low tension setting, always unclip before you come to a stop.

    Thanks, think i'll take it our and go around the local park a couple of times and get comfortable with clipping.
    Neil Grubb wrote:
    Great to hear you had such a good ride. A fair amount of climb in there for the distance - so an excellent start. It's quite exhilarating the first time out on a road bike! I had the same problem too, checking over my shoulder- it seemed easier on the hoods than in the drops. You might find it easier to look to the side and back than lifting your head up and turning it, as you might do on a hybrid / flatbar where you are more upright to start with.

    I didn't really use the drops yesterday. Most of my time was spent on the hoods. Maybe it's just a case of practise. Thanks.
    cld531c wrote:
    If you find a quiet road just keep practising looking behind you.
    Its often easier to freewheel whilst doing so til you are comfortable.
    You'll get used to it and well done.

    Thanks mate. Pardon my ignorance but what's freewheeling? Google search brings up physical bike components for it.
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    Freewheeling is when you stop pedaling and just shooooooooooooooom along.

    Please note that this term does not apply to a fixie which is a completely different kettle of frogs.
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • cld531c
    cld531c Posts: 517
    Matthewfalle wrote:
    Freewheeling is when you stop pedaling and just shooooooooooooooom along.

    Please note that this term does not apply to a fixie which is a completely different kettle of frogs.

    You can freewheel on a fixie, you even get to beat your bike down the road when doing so!
  • figbat
    figbat Posts: 680
    A quick glance behind can be done by looking under your arm, although this is a limited view (enough to tell you that that person is STILL drafting you into the headwind and hasn't either dropped or taken their turn). A bigger look can be done by taking a hand off the bars, sitting up and turning your shoulders and head (probably easiest when freewheeling at a decent speed). Make sure you know what is (or isn't) in front of you though - you don't want to plough into a suddenly-stopped car (or worse, fellow cyclist).

    If holding the bars with both hands, a tip I learnt when doing my motorcycle training was to look down a bit as you look around (aim to put chin on collar bone) rather than try to look up and over the shoulder - when you are leaning forward this offers better flexibility in the neck. But as stated above, best practised somewhere safe and when/where the look is not safety-critical.

    Clipping out - you'll soon learn to anticipate when you are going to need to unclip and can do it ahead of time (ie as you coast toward the red traffic light). Even better you can plan ahead and slow your speed so that the light changes before you get there, so no unclipping needed. Even if you do unclip ready to stop and then don't need to, 'tis but the work of a moment to clip back in again and carry on.
    Cube Reaction GTC Pro 29 for the lumpy stuff
    Cannondale Synapse alloy with 'guards for the winter roads
    Fuji Altamira 2.7 for the summer roads
    Trek 830 Mountain Track frame turned into a gravel bike - for anywhere & everywhere
  • Aaku
    Aaku Posts: 20
    figbat wrote:
    A quick glance behind can be done by looking under your arm, although this is a limited view (enough to tell you that that person is STILL drafting you into the headwind and hasn't either dropped or taken their turn). A bigger look can be done by taking a hand off the bars, sitting up and turning your shoulders and head (probably easiest when freewheeling at a decent speed). Make sure you know what is (or isn't) in front of you though - you don't want to plough into a suddenly-stopped car (or worse, fellow cyclist).

    If holding the bars with both hands, a tip I learnt when doing my motorcycle training was to look down a bit as you look around (aim to put chin on collar bone) rather than try to look up and over the shoulder - when you are leaning forward this offers better flexibility in the neck. But as stated above, best practised somewhere safe and when/where the look is not safety-critical.

    Clipping out - you'll soon learn to anticipate when you are going to need to unclip and can do it ahead of time (ie as you coast toward the red traffic light). Even better you can plan ahead and slow your speed so that the light changes before you get there, so no unclipping needed. Even if you do unclip ready to stop and then don't need to, 'tis but the work of a moment to clip back in again and carry on.

    Thanks figbat, that's some great advice. I've been applying it to my rides and i'm already beginning to feel more comfortable looking out for traffic behind me.
  • g00se
    g00se Posts: 2,221
    To help stop the swerve when looking over your shoulder, if you can, sit up, and take the weight of the bars. And when you turn to look over your (assumed right) shoulder, drop your other (left) shoulder. Keep your arms bent and hands light on the bars.
  • Aaku
    Aaku Posts: 20
    g00se wrote:
    To help stop the swerve when looking over your shoulder, if you can, sit up, and take the weight of the bars. And when you turn to look over your (assumed right) shoulder, drop your other (left) shoulder. Keep your arms bent and hands light on the bars.

    Cheers Goose, removing weight from the handlebars has really helped. Getting much more comfortable with looking back now.
  • Thick Mike
    Thick Mike Posts: 337
    I've just started using one of these...

    https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/accessories ... ror-black/

    Easy to fit and a totally safe way to check behind with no wobble.
  • Aaku
    Aaku Posts: 20
    Thick Mike wrote:
    I've just started using one of these...

    https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/accessories ... ror-black/

    Easy to fit and a totally safe way to check behind with no wobble.

    Thanks Thick Mike :D . I've actually had my eye on of those mirrors. Is the angle adjustable?
  • Thick Mike
    Thick Mike Posts: 337
    Aaku wrote:
    Thick Mike wrote:
    I've just started using one of these...

    https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/accessories ... ror-black/

    Easy to fit and a totally safe way to check behind with no wobble.

    Thanks Thick Mike :D . I've actually had my eye on of those mirrors. Is the angle adjustable?

    Yes, there is a ball and socket mount that allows plenty of adjustment

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