Caporegime
I've not ridden since last Tuesday. I may be able to get out a bit in the next couple of days as my parents are having the kids from tomorrow to Saturday.
Road Cycling
- Thread starter Zefan
- Start date
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Just came off... massive black cat ran out from a parked car while I was doing 20mph and stopped, I tried to avoid then he ran again straight into my path. Side fall onto my hip and landed a few feet in front of the bike... Not too bad but very bruised hip and hand + cuts to the knee and elbow. I'll feel it in the morning for sure!
Multiple items of clothing ripped though funnily enough my base layer was ripped but the jersey on top not. Bike appears to have a bent hanger and possibly rear mech, some saddle scuffing and a buckled front wheel. Hopefully no frame damage.
It just happened to be one of the times I couldn't be bothered to attach the camera beforehand! I think the cat was probably okay as it ran off somewhere...
It's really quite annoying as I was looking forward to the next four days cycling before getting back to work!
Multiple items of clothing ripped though funnily enough my base layer was ripped but the jersey on top not. Bike appears to have a bent hanger and possibly rear mech, some saddle scuffing and a buckled front wheel. Hopefully no frame damage.
It just happened to be one of the times I couldn't be bothered to attach the camera beforehand! I think the cat was probably okay as it ran off somewhere...
It's really quite annoying as I was looking forward to the next four days cycling before getting back to work!
Man of Honour
^ that sucks. I'd react the same, especially as I have a black cat 
Luckily mine don't really venture any further than the back garden though.
I still don't feel like I have any fitness and I'm also fat as hell after doing very little for the last month or two but hopefully I'm going to get out on Saturday for a reasonable length flat and slow ride. I might go for the imperial century to Southport route as that was nice and easy. It'd be quite nice to start the year on an imperial too - I'd like to get at least one imperial per month down, in addition to my other targets.
On that note, what are people's 2016 targets? Mine aren't that exciting...
* 1 imperial every month.
* A single 300 mile ride/audax (this is the only one I'm excited about).
* 250,000 ft of climbing (missed it this year but have no real excuse for that).
* Back to 10,000 miles as per 2014. Another one that I don't think will be hard given my enforced time off in Feb, Nov and Dec of 2015.
Luckily mine don't really venture any further than the back garden though.I still don't feel like I have any fitness and I'm also fat as hell after doing very little for the last month or two but hopefully I'm going to get out on Saturday for a reasonable length flat and slow ride. I might go for the imperial century to Southport route as that was nice and easy. It'd be quite nice to start the year on an imperial too - I'd like to get at least one imperial per month down, in addition to my other targets.
On that note, what are people's 2016 targets? Mine aren't that exciting...
* 1 imperial every month.
* A single 300 mile ride/audax (this is the only one I'm excited about).
* 250,000 ft of climbing (missed it this year but have no real excuse for that).
* Back to 10,000 miles as per 2014. Another one that I don't think will be hard given my enforced time off in Feb, Nov and Dec of 2015.
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* Enjoy riding my bike
* Enjoy riding my new bike when I build it
* Complete the Maratona des Dolomites
* Stay fit and healthy
After a little clean and closer inspection it looks like the chainstay metal plate protector is bent and punctured next to the smaller chainring. Hopefully there's no damage underneath!
Unlucky Lethal, that is really not so good. Sounds pretty bad damage wise but hope you can get everything mended and back soon. Most important thing though is you, as long as you are OK everything else can be fixed! If you see Mr Black cat again, stop, and give him a swift punt over a hedge 
I was out at 06:00 and it was -4.5 for most of the ride. Got 60km done on some serious sheet ice and frost, I really should not have been riding on those roads, how I got the ride done and home safely is a minor miracle in all honesty.
I was out at 06:00 and it was -4.5 for most of the ride. Got 60km done on some serious sheet ice and frost, I really should not have been riding on those roads, how I got the ride done and home safely is a minor miracle in all honesty.
I'll find my targets for this year, I know I hit some of them. Next year only got 2.
Sub 21:30 10 mile TT on A3
Sub 56:30 25 mile TT on A3
And to keep on enjoying riding, oh and actually fix my mtb! Doing cross reminds me how much I enjoy riding the dirty stuff!
Sub 21:30 10 mile TT on A3
Sub 56:30 25 mile TT on A3
And to keep on enjoying riding, oh and actually fix my mtb! Doing cross reminds me how much I enjoy riding the dirty stuff!
Soldato
My 2016 target is to finish Ironman Switzerland. Sub-12h might be a bit ambitious?
Caporegime
I'll post a review of this year and some goals for next year a bit later...
- Ride an imperial (just never got around to it this, my first, year of riding).
- 3,500 miles (+500 on this year, no commute)
- IOW Randonnee in sub, or as close to, 4hrs as possible.
- Re-ride the South Downs without crippling cramp
I have some particular local climbs/segments that I've got targets for too.
Will tackle a Cat 2 in June with Maxeh and also see some more of Germany in the saddle which I'm looking forward too, plus a couple of other sportives and probably the Dragon Ride Gran Fondo with my uncle as well
Unlucky Lethal, that is really not so good. Sounds pretty bad damage wise but hope you can get everything mended and back soon. Most important thing though is you, as long as you are OK everything else can be fixed! If you see Mr Black cat again, stop, and give him a swift punt over a hedge
I was out at 06:00 and it was -4.5 for most of the ride. Got 60km done on some serious sheet ice and frost, I really should not have been riding on those roads, how I got the ride done and home safely is a minor miracle in all honesty.
Thanks! The annoying thing is I was really looking forward to using these 4 days before work and the weather is amazing today. Dropped it off at the bike shop anyway and I'll hear back next week. They had a brief look and are hoping it's just the protector damaged though it is quite a deep cut into it.
Soldato
People, I'm after a cheapish (but bright/economical if poss) set of lights to go on my road bike - I've been putting off commuting in the winter for too long 
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
2016 goal is to get my knee fixed and hopefully to be back on the bike somewhere near the end of the year.
These things always seem to happen when holidays are coming, places are closed (aka when it is the most inconvenient!)
Caporegime
Anyone tried or get any knowledge on Wiggle's Cosine range of saddles? You can get a Ti failed saddle for under £30 which is pretty bargainous!
Caporegime
OK, so here were the goals I set myself for 2015, and details of how I got on...
1) Average speed of 15.5mph outdoors, for definite this year. Ideally 16mph.
If I exclude commuting and a small bit of turbo time, I come out with an average of 15.57mph... Nothing earth shattering, but above what I was aiming for, so that's some progress.
2) Try track cycling. Should be easy, as her indoors has bought me some vouchers for taster sessions!
Nope, never got round to this. The vouchers are good for a while yet, so I'll have to give it a go sometime soon.
3) At least 6 metric centuries, ideally 10 or even 12, but that would be a real stretch.Five long rides so far and more planned. Should get there.
Only 4! Rubbish!
4) At least 1 imperial century.
Nope again!
5) Build myself a bike - I've already got some bits for a singlespeed on order, so this is well underway.
Well, I managed this one. I built an On One Pompino single speed bike, which has become one of my favourite bikes to ride, and which will get heavy use in 2016 as I'll be commuting on it every day. I also had my old TDF stripped and powder coated and I rebuilt it with second hand Claris parts. I've been commuting on it the past few months.
6) Take part in a big nationwide ride with work in May - I'm signed up for a hundred mile leg from Liverpool to Sheffield.
Done! It was only 84 miles in the end, but it was hard going nonetheless. I made the mistake of leading the pack for about 5 miles at about 25mph through some familiar flat territory, and I was then thoroughly burned out when we got to the hills in the second half of the ride! Whoops!
7) Go and see the Tour of Britain again in September. This will be tough, as it seems the nearest it will be is the Trough of Bowland, or Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire, so that's about an 80 mile round trip, minimum, wherever I go.
Done! This was a really good day. I headed North in the end, to watch stage 2, as the windy route meant I could see the race at three separate points - once right near the start, once on a hill climb towards the end and then at the finish. I covered about 80 miles all told. It was hard work, and I did it on my own, but I really enjoyed it. It was particularly good as it was a lovely day in September, which came as welcome relief after the dire weather we'd had over the summer.
8) Have a go at commuting to work by bike, with a view to not needing to renew my train season ticket in June.
Quite a success, this. I started in October and managed 30 odd days between then and the end of the year. It's not the nicest route, but it got me into doing it, and I have every intention of keeping it up going forward.
9) Lots of summer rides with the family.
Didn't happen at all. Between my wife being quite unwell and the terrible weather, we just didn't get into it.
10) Explore more. Ride roads I've not ridden in ages, and try new ones.
I did fairly well on this front. I didn't get to everywhere I was hoping to, but I did cover a lot of ground and got to some places I've not been to for a while. Pretty good all told. Here's where I got to:
The ride from point 6 is the long stretch from Liverpool to Sheffield. The bit way up North is seeing the ToB in point 7. My Garmin played up, hence a chunk of the ride is missing - the random start up North was actually a couple of hours into the ride. I lost a chunk between Bury and wherever that is. The bright yellow ride is my commute into work.
1) Average speed of 15.5mph outdoors, for definite this year. Ideally 16mph.
If I exclude commuting and a small bit of turbo time, I come out with an average of 15.57mph... Nothing earth shattering, but above what I was aiming for, so that's some progress.
2) Try track cycling. Should be easy, as her indoors has bought me some vouchers for taster sessions!
Nope, never got round to this. The vouchers are good for a while yet, so I'll have to give it a go sometime soon.
3) At least 6 metric centuries, ideally 10 or even 12, but that would be a real stretch.Five long rides so far and more planned. Should get there.
Only 4! Rubbish!
4) At least 1 imperial century.
Nope again!
5) Build myself a bike - I've already got some bits for a singlespeed on order, so this is well underway.
Well, I managed this one. I built an On One Pompino single speed bike, which has become one of my favourite bikes to ride, and which will get heavy use in 2016 as I'll be commuting on it every day. I also had my old TDF stripped and powder coated and I rebuilt it with second hand Claris parts. I've been commuting on it the past few months.
6) Take part in a big nationwide ride with work in May - I'm signed up for a hundred mile leg from Liverpool to Sheffield.
Done! It was only 84 miles in the end, but it was hard going nonetheless. I made the mistake of leading the pack for about 5 miles at about 25mph through some familiar flat territory, and I was then thoroughly burned out when we got to the hills in the second half of the ride! Whoops!
7) Go and see the Tour of Britain again in September. This will be tough, as it seems the nearest it will be is the Trough of Bowland, or Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire, so that's about an 80 mile round trip, minimum, wherever I go.
Done! This was a really good day. I headed North in the end, to watch stage 2, as the windy route meant I could see the race at three separate points - once right near the start, once on a hill climb towards the end and then at the finish. I covered about 80 miles all told. It was hard work, and I did it on my own, but I really enjoyed it. It was particularly good as it was a lovely day in September, which came as welcome relief after the dire weather we'd had over the summer.
8) Have a go at commuting to work by bike, with a view to not needing to renew my train season ticket in June.
Quite a success, this. I started in October and managed 30 odd days between then and the end of the year. It's not the nicest route, but it got me into doing it, and I have every intention of keeping it up going forward.
9) Lots of summer rides with the family.
Didn't happen at all. Between my wife being quite unwell and the terrible weather, we just didn't get into it.
10) Explore more. Ride roads I've not ridden in ages, and try new ones.
I did fairly well on this front. I didn't get to everywhere I was hoping to, but I did cover a lot of ground and got to some places I've not been to for a while. Pretty good all told. Here's where I got to:
The ride from point 6 is the long stretch from Liverpool to Sheffield. The bit way up North is seeing the ToB in point 7. My Garmin played up, hence a chunk of the ride is missing - the random start up North was actually a couple of hours into the ride. I lost a chunk between Bury and wherever that is. The bright yellow ride is my commute into work.
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Soldato
Congratulations (and to anyone else who did the Festive 500). I did a windy 100km today with tired legs from an FTP test yesterday and ride the day before and thought to myself I'd really struggle doing the 500km. I'm really not a fan of riding into the wind and doing that day after day would have broken me! Great effort.
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