Road Cycling Essentials

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Shamrock said:
How can you do that to yourself?:eek:
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:D

Back in July of last year, when I'd literally just started road cycling, I took a day off and went out with my next door neighbour. About 9 miles into the ride, a car passed me quite closely on a 90 degree bend. I was nervous enough that it put me off my stroke and I ended up hitting the kerb and somersaulting into a thorny hedge. I climbed out and cycled a further 18 miles, occasionally coasting while pulling thorns out of my hands with my teeth, and earning me the nickname of Johnny Hoogerland in my neighbour's address book in his phone.

I went out to a work party that evening, and some of my friends asked why on earth I'd want to spend my day off cycling and crashing into hedges, and it made me think of this cartoon:

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For those of you with failing eyes or a useless monitor, the text in the final box reads "The secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that's even worse."

So, yeah, I managed my 20 miles. I even made it to 3rd on a little segment near me, which isn't bad considering I was spending most of the ride trying not to freeze to death.
 
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Vonhelmet said:
So, yeah, I managed my 20 miles. I even made it to 3rd on a little segment near me, which isn't bad considering I was spending most of the ride trying not to freeze to death.
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You're mental mate. The last thing I want to do after being in work all day is go for a ride in the dark.

Edit: Just noticed I've not done half of those segments. That circuit's going on my to do list :p
 
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[Damien];23809263 said:
You're mental mate. The last thing I want to do after being in work all day is go for a ride in the dark.

Edit: Just noticed I've not done half of those segments. That circuit's going on my to do list :p
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Haha, I was going to say - I expect you to be bumping me down to 4th on the Mosley Common Road climb one in short order!
 
Jonny69 said:
An enforced ride in today, which I'm annoyed about because I didn't want to ride. Puncture on the car now :mad:

Remi87: looks like a good choice. I love Miche track hubs and wanted some for ages now. Just not had the justification to build another set of wheels when there's nothing wrong with my current ones :D
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Brilliant! was looking at lfgss forum and found the v-sprint website from there even with a discount code. Quite clueless on these things but I might try to build one, one day as looking for a decent set online is proven to be quite difficult. Thanks
 
Hoping my Boardman will be ready today, it's having a new frame (under warranty) as the inner cable routing was becoming knackered somehow. The front shifter was VERY stiff!

Should be breaking it back in tomorrow, at least 100 miles planned tomorrow.....but I'm hoping to do my first 150 miler. Weather looks good, albeit cold.....but not wet or very windy :)
 
Yeah I agree Canyons are probably the best VFM when the exchange rate isn't working against us. Being able to configure the Rose components is a bonus although it almost always ends up with the price increasing!:D
 
Shadowness said:
Hoping my Boardman will be ready today, it's having a new frame (under warranty) as the inner cable routing was becoming knackered somehow. The front shifter was VERY stiff!

Should be breaking it back in tomorrow, at least 100 miles planned tomorrow.....but I'm hoping to do my first 150 miler. Weather looks good, albeit cold.....but not wet or very windy :)
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id love to do 100+ but ill do ~40 i think..
 
If anyone's in the market for a new cheap saddle I can confirm the Charge Spoon is pretty damn comfy. Mine's the basic one with synthetic leather and Cro-Mo rails (as opposed to the shiny version with proper leather and Ti rails) but it does the job nicely.

Edit: Just noticed, if all goes well with my ride this weekend, not only will I do my very first proper century, I'll also clear 40,000ft climbed this year. Go me!
 
Shamrock said:
I'd like to ride with more people off here. Don't really fancy joining some cliquey, elitist cycling club.
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Most clubs are very beginner-friendly these days.
Ask around on forums (bikeradar, etc) for recommendations of a local club.
Riding with a club really helps improve your cycling, more experienced members will give you advice, it helps with motivation to get out on your bike and you'll be able to cycle faster+further when in a group.

A couple of guys on here have recently joined clubs:
One More Solo said:
First club run today, went pretty well. I was on an intro ride of around 18 people, most of whom hadn't ridden in a group before, myself included. That meant there were a few slightly nervous moments with people being a bit too keen on the brakes or not signalling what was ahead. When everything was working it was great fun though, had a bit of through and off after the cafe stop and that was good. Ended up in the leading group most of the time and found the pace pretty comfortable which I was happy with.

The most amazing thing is how quickly we covered 70km, riding in a group really does make a huge difference.
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ShiWarrior said:
you will come home buzzing, i joined mine in december so i remeber it well, was such good fun, EPIC
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