Road Cycling Essentials

George Hincapie · 9 Dec 2011 at 09:02

I'm playing my 2012 season by ear. One event booked so far, going to enter the Wiggle ride with Platypus and then we'll see. I'd like to do the Northern Rock Cyclone, but not sure what else.

Obviously there's a balance to be struck between entering the rides I'd like to complete and not upsetting Mrs Hincapie

George Hincapie · 9 Dec 2011 at 09:02

platypus said:
Yes I entered the 80 miler.

Ninja post!

I'll sign up this morning.

platypus · 9 Dec 2011 at 09:45

Next year is going to be interesting for me cycling wise. I'm going to make a big push to get into running Ultra's, so I won't be able to train specifically for cycling events as much. However, even just ticking over on the commute nets me 150 miles/week, so its good for the legs and should hopefully mean I can just turn up to some events, once fully fit (my ankle seems to have recovered extremely well).

I've worked out that I will manage roughly 3800 miles this year, with a broken ankle, so not a bad effort :cool:

.

touch · 9 Dec 2011 at 10:09

all these sportives are far too far away.

Only race i have confirmed for next year is the Strathpuffer MTB on 7+8 January.
No calendar out yet for road races

Got a week cycling in Majorca booked tho

[DOD]Asprilla · 9 Dec 2011 at 10:15

touch said:
Got a week cycling in Majorca booked tho

Well jel.

Shadowness · 9 Dec 2011 at 10:30

I was hoping to break 5k miles next year, but as I travel abroad so much it's hard for me to stick to that. So I've gone conservative with 3k.

platypus · 9 Dec 2011 at 10:47

Well you're welcome to stay at mine touch.

burtie · 9 Dec 2011 at 14:20

Shadowness said:
I was hoping to break 5k miles next year, but as I travel abroad so much it's hard for me to stick to that. So I've gone conservative with 3k.

I have set myself a 5k target for next year which should be manageable as I'm free to ride everyday between 9-3

Thomas. PLease. · 9 Dec 2011 at 15:14

Christened my new Edge 500 today with a ride.

Loving it so far.

Streeteh · 9 Dec 2011 at 17:01

Back on the bike after three days off with a cold, was really difficult on the way to work as my lungs were full of crap. On the return journey however, they had cleared up (entirely due to my morning cycle).

Felt good to be back out there.

Thomas, 42mph? Honestly? I start to whimper when i hit 30, there is no way i'd go that fast without panicking.

Shadowness · 9 Dec 2011 at 17:50

Thomas - I've just got one of those too. Loving it too, find it gives me inspiration to get out on my bike too!

42mph! Must have been a steep hill!

Did you get a HR meter with it?

Thomas. PLease. · 9 Dec 2011 at 18:04

Streeteh said:
Thomas, 42mph? Honestly? I start to whimper when i hit 30, there is no way i'd go that fast without panicking.

Shadowness said:
Thomas - I've just got one of those too. Loving it too, find it gives me inspiration to get out on my bike too!

42mph! Must have been a steep hill!

Did you get a HR meter with it?

Haha most enjoyable part of the ride for me! I had 45mph on my old computer. My commute takes me down another hill where its fairly easy to maintain 40mph. I do find that a little hairy in the wet :eek:

I just got the unit itself for my birthday, hopefully going to get the cadence meter and heart rate strap for Christmas!

Shadowness · 9 Dec 2011 at 18:15

I got the full kit, but I haven't used the cadence meter yet. Not really sure what I'd do with the information really. HR is useful as it shows how hard I'm working (roughly).

I've been told the cadence meters don't hold up too well in the wet too, so not great at the moment

InsomniaCalls · 9 Dec 2011 at 18:43

Shadowness said:
I've been told the cadence meters don't hold up too well in the wet too, so not great at the moment

If the cadence sensor is the same as that on the 705 I can offer a contrary opinion to that - I live in 'the North' where it is perpetually wet and mine works fine.

Shadowness · 9 Dec 2011 at 18:50

ah well that's good to know! I can only assume it's the same.

Jonny69 · 9 Dec 2011 at 19:53

Well that's it for me now until after Christmas. I'm on a course next week and then on leave until Christmas. Won't be cycling again until 3rd Jan 2012 :eek:

Fuzz · 9 Dec 2011 at 20:00

My Cateye V3 has been washed with soapy water on a number of occasions and not played up yet. That's got inbuilt cadence and heart rate

One thing it does lack is download ability though (oh and GPS)

Last ride Max's
33.2 mph
187 bpm
199 rpm

Shadowness · 9 Dec 2011 at 20:31

That's it. Just decided to do a 60 mile ride tomorrow. Weather looks good, not too windy so should be a nice day for it!

No going back now!!

What would be a decent time for that distance?

I'd love to crack 3 hours, but it's a tall order averaging 20mph I think. If I can manage 18mph+ I'll be happy.

PardonTheWait · 9 Dec 2011 at 21:10

Streeteh said:
Back on the bike after three days off with a cold, was really difficult on the way to work as my lungs were full of crap. On the return journey however, they had cleared up (entirely due to my morning cycle).

Felt good to be back out there.

Thomas, 42mph? Honestly? I start to whimper when i hit 30, there is no way i'd go that fast without panicking.

There's a huge hill around here that's easy to get 42/43 down and it takes a good minute or so. It's not scary for some reason, I like it

Don't like coming back up :/

InsomniaCalls · 9 Dec 2011 at 21:15

There's a hill about 20 miles north of me where I hit my top speed during a sportive earlier this year - just over 51mph. Fortunately there's basically no traffic and it's a completely straight road in decent condition, so not scary at all - great fun!

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