Road Cycling Essentials

Thomas. PLease. · 13 Aug 2013 at 19:21

Awesome ride tonight, first smashfest in absolutely ages. No training goals, no HR monitor, just absolutely going for it for about 50 minutes. Great fun.

http://app.strava.com/activities/74418927

uniQ · 13 Aug 2013 at 19:26

Hardnott pass after 95 miles and 10200ft already in the legs is just plain mean :eek:

Jonny ///M · 13 Aug 2013 at 19:29

I use Endomondo then upload to Strava. I like to track mileage and seeing how I compare week to week.

Does make me a bike of a Strava ****** when I end up going flat out everywhere to race a guy I don't even know. Almost a pleasure just going a ride without a computer around and just enjoying the bike for what it is.

Murf · 13 Aug 2013 at 19:32

Just bite the bullet and get a Garmin. My 800 hasn't skipped a beat in the year I've had it.

And if you're interested in your stats, you can add a heart rate monitor and cadence sensor too. I know when I've been slacking as my cadence drops below 90 average.

Edinho · 13 Aug 2013 at 19:38

uniQ said:
Hardnott pass after 95 miles and 10200ft already in the legs is just plain mean

Did it again this weekend on the Langdale Loop. You know it was my 3rd time and I actually am beginning to think Hardknott is not that difficult heart rate barely touch 170 and probably hovered around 165 most of the way. I think i'd be more terrified trying to drive up.

touch · 13 Aug 2013 at 19:58

uniQ said:
Hardnott pass after 95 miles and 10200ft already in the legs is just plain mean

How did you get on? Strava link?

ShiWarrior · 13 Aug 2013 at 20:37

grudas said:
810 but I genuinely don't think you need that .. Get 200 or 510 if you don't care too much about maps and so on and just want a simple yet good gps tracker.. Mind you garmins and so on crash too just not as often

garmins Crash?
not in a year that I've had it!

rogan · 13 Aug 2013 at 20:39

my 500s never crashed either

touch · 13 Aug 2013 at 20:47

ShiWarrior said:
garmins Crash?
not in a year that I've had it!

rogan said:
my 500s never crashed either

I'v logged 273 rides on strava with my Edge 500 and never had any problems.
My dad has logged 122 rides with his Edge 200 and had 1 ride with corrupt data (which was fixed with the garmin data fixer tool)

Seems pretty reliable.

uniQ · 13 Aug 2013 at 20:49

touch said:
How did you get on? Strava link?

Wen't OK. First 20mi were slow as roads were wet so I was descending like a snail. Could easily knock 15-20mins off if I had waited an hour before starting.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/358392376

Highlight was stopping in Cockermouth and ordering a coffee, lady brought me a 2 cup Cafètiere plate of digestives and custard creams and a thick slice of cake with a bag so I could take the cake with me

Views were amazing, the scenery in the lakes is breath taking. I'll probably be back for the organised event next year but fairly happy for a solo effort w/ no drafting or feed stations

grudas · 13 Aug 2013 at 20:51

touch said:
I'v logged 273 rides on strava with my Edge 500 and never had any problems.
My dad has logged 122 rides with his Edge 200 and had 1 ride with corrupt data (which was fixed with the garmin data fixer tool)

Seems pretty reliable.

they do crash, quite a few people in this thread have complained about loosing long rides and so on.

daveski · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:01

uniQ said:
Wen't OK. First 20mi were slow as roads were wet so I was descending like a snail. Could easily knock 15-20mins off if I had waited an hour before starting.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/358392376

Highlight was stopping in Cockermouth and ordering a coffee, lady brought me a 2 cup Cafètiere plate of digestives and custard creams and a thick slice of cake with a bag so I could take the cake with me

Views were amazing, the scenery in the lakes is breath taking. I'll probably be back for the organised event next year but fairly happy for a solo effort w/ no drafting or feed stations

Awesome ride! Well done.

ShiWarrior · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:08

on my Garmin Edge (800 in this case)
under "user profile"
is there any point in these settings? especially the activity class? does it do anything? I've had it set up since I've been using, just wondered if it makes any difference..

and does anyone have "auto start" on? thinking of using it for when I do a TT ride

Thomas. PLease. · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:09

grudas said:
they do crash, quite a few people in this thread have complained about loosing long rides and so on.

Never lost a ride on my 500 and I've recorded over 250.

Vonhelmet · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:12

Urgh, was more tired than I thought this evening, so my 20 miler was quite a slog. Still, a fair number of PRs and whatnot, so it's not all bad.

I took a bottle of my home made energy drink mix. Mixed it with some squash, and it turned out soooo sickly. I guess sugar plus sugar plus squash full of sugar will do that. I'll have to find something like lime squash or something that isn't too sweet to mix it with...

One More Solo · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:15

uniQ said:
Wen't OK. First 20mi were slow as roads were wet so I was descending like a snail. Could easily knock 15-20mins off if I had waited an hour before starting.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/358392376

Highlight was stopping in Cockermouth and ordering a coffee, lady brought me a 2 cup Cafètiere plate of digestives and custard creams and a thick slice of cake with a bag so I could take the cake with me

Views were amazing, the scenery in the lakes is breath taking. I'll probably be back for the organised event next year but fairly happy for a solo effort w/ no drafting or feed stations

Great effort and fantastic about the coffee, love stuff like that. Definitely increased my interest to ride the event next year but I have every intention of cracking out the 32t cassette!

Edit: on the Garmin front, I've lost one 100mi ride since having it so it does happen albeit rarely.

rogan · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:19

i think to trick to long rides is break it up (150+ milers) the longer the ride goes on, the more work it has to do, more calculations it has to do, and more chances of potential problems when saving the ride

ShiWarrior · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:21

rogan said:
i think to trick to long rides is break it up (150+ milers) the longer the ride goes on, the more work it has to do, more calculations it has to do, and more chances of potential problems when saving the ride

but if you break it up
strava etc wont think your rode the 150 miles etc

physichull · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:22

Vonhelmet said:
Urgh, was more tired than I thought this evening, so my 20 miler was quite a slog. Still, a fair number of PRs and whatnot, so it's not all bad.

I took a bottle of my home made energy drink mix. Mixed it with some squash, and it turned out soooo sickly. I guess sugar plus sugar plus squash full of sugar will do that. I'll have to find something like lime squash or something that isn't too sweet to mix it with...

Nice work. My OcUK stalking powers went into action after looking at that Strava link and I live quite close. When my new bike arrives I may have to ask for some advice on decent routes in the Lowton/Leigh/Birchwood and other areas.

Also, does anybody have any advice for a newbie just starting out riding busy roads? I used to have just a mountain bike when I lived in East Yorkshire, but I lived right out in the sticks so traffic was never a concern. Now I live in the north-west I am more than a little nervous, in particular busy traffic light junctions, navigating through traffic, squeezing between cars. If anybody has any helpful advice, it would be much appreciated.

VeNT · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:36

arknor said:
never heard of it until now I'll check it out later does it make proper gpx files?

android?
mytracks is best

_ALWAYS_ get data sync issues with strava.
records the ride fine but when it goes to upload it fails and crashes.
hence lost ride!