Road Cycling Essentials

Status
Not open for further replies.
CRC have High5 Zero electrolyte tablets at 50% off (berry and citrus) at the moment (here). There's also a High5 Race Pack here for £7.99. Get quite a few bits:

Iso gel x 2
Iso gel plus x 1
Energygel x 2
Energygel plus x 4
Energysource sachet x 2
Energysource plus x 1
Energysource X'treme x 1
Protein Recovery x 1
Zero Sachet x 3
Energy bar x 1
750ml bottle x 1
Click to expand...
 
physichull said:
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.
Click to expand...

Ah, good stuff. If you look at my Strava history you should see some routes near you. There's some good flat runs around Leigh, Culcheth, Worsley sort of way, and if you like hills then there's plenty around Bolton, Rivington, Chorley, and further East towards Bury and Ramsbottom. Where is it you live? I can probably point you in a good direction to get you started. Damien and minty ride round here as well - they're both in the OCUK Strava club, so you can look at their rides as well.

physichull said:
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.
Click to expand...

Be assertive, but sensible. Don't hide away in the gutter - ride a couple of feet from the pavement, as it makes you more visible and cars will be forced to either wait behind you properly or overtake you, hopefully in a sensible fashion. In terms of busy junctions, take them slowly, and if you have to, just get off and walk round them on the pavement. If you plan your routes ahead of time, it can be worth looking at junctions with Google Streetview so you can see what things will look like. Pay attention to street signs and lane markings and get in the right lane in plenty of time. I'd be hesitant about squeezing through traffic too much. If there is one of those blocks at the head of the junction for cyclists, then by all means work your way up to it, otherwise it can be as well to just take a position in your lane behind a car. That's definitely a time when you don't want to be sat right in the gutter or between two lanes, because then cars will squeeze past you as they move off.

There's a lot more to it, but that's my brief answers to your questions... I'm sure other people can help out. There's some book that I recall Asprilla recommending... Is it called Cyclecraft? Yes, here you go. That might be worth a look.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Ah, good stuff. If you look at my Strava history you should see some routes near you. There's some good flat runs around Leigh, Culcheth, Worsley sort of way, and if you like hills then there's plenty around Bolton, Rivington, Chorley, and further East towards Bury and Ramsbottom. Where is it you live? I can probably point you in a good direction to get you started. Damien and minty ride round here as well - they're both in the OCUK Strava club, so you can look at their rides as well.
Click to expand...

Lowton. Looking for potential routes out to Culcheth then down across the canal to Warburton bridge, then out round Dunham Massey and potentially a bit further to Tatton Park if I'm feeling up to it. Its going to be my main form of transport for my commute too (not too far - Birchwood), so that will be 6.5 miles each way.

Vonhelmet said:
Be assertive, but sensible. Don't hide away in the gutter - ride a couple of feet from the pavement, as it makes you more visible and cars will be forced to either wait behind you properly or overtake you, hopefully in a sensible fashion. In terms of busy junctions, take them slowly, and if you have to, just get off and walk round them on the pavement. If you plan your routes ahead of time, it can be worth looking at junctions with Google Streetview so you can see what things will look like. Pay attention to street signs and lane markings and get in the right lane in plenty of time. I'd be hesitant about squeezing through traffic too much. If there is one of those blocks at the head of the junction for cyclists, then by all means work your way up to it, otherwise it can be as well to just take a position in your lane behind a car. That's definitely a time when you don't want to be sat right in the gutter or between two lanes, because then cars will squeeze past you as they move off.

There's a lot more to it, but that's my brief answers to your questions... I'm sure other people can help out. There's some book that I recall Asprilla recommending... Is it called Cyclecraft? Yes, here you go. That might be worth a look.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice on this. I really have no experience, but I know my first obstacle on the way to work will be crossing the East Lancs! Fun! Part of me thinks I should take the back roads via Croft but those twisty little roads could be potentially more dangerous than the road from Culcheth to Birchwood.
 
If you are worried then it might be worth looking at some Bikeability training. It's not just for kids and you'll pick up a lot.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/bikeability/

Once of the contributors to the Commuting forum on Bikeradar has trained as an instructor and is now doing it as a full time job.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12892350

It's a nice thread, worth a read.

I should imagine that all of us would learn something doing it.

Oh and John Franklin, author of Cycle Craft as recommended above, helped devise and implement the training involved.
 
physichull said:
Lowton. Looking for potential routes out to Culcheth then down across the canal to Warburton bridge, then out round Dunham Massey and potentially a bit further to Tatton Park if I'm feeling up to it. Its going to be my main form of transport for my commute too (not too far - Birchwood), so that will be 6.5 miles each way.

Thanks for the advice on this. I really have no experience, but I know my first obstacle on the way to work will be crossing the East Lancs! Fun! Part of me thinks I should take the back roads via Croft but those twisty little roads could be potentially more dangerous than the road from Culcheth to Birchwood.
Click to expand...

These rides should help you out in terms of your routes:

http://www.strava.com/activities/72441783
http://www.strava.com/activities/70990517
http://www.strava.com/activities/50927160

If you're going from Lowton to Culcheth, then you can cross the A580 at the Texaco garage, where the A572 heads down towards the M6 and Warrington, then turn off almost immediately towards Culcheth opposite whatever pub it is there. That junction across the A580 is pretty civilised - the lights pretty much do the hard work for you. If you look at the second ride above, that should show you how to get from Lowton to Culcheth that way, and the third ride shows how to get from Culcheth out to Warburton Bridge and Dunham Massey.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the help guys. That road from Culcheth to Birchwood gets pretty busy with fast drivers. To start, I'm going to head out early to avoid the majority of the traffic and get acclimatised to the route. Hopefully the nerves will have dissipated a bit after the first week.

As an aside, I've just joined the Strava Ocuk group, but I don't appear on the memberlist? Am I missing something?
 
Vonhelmet said:
These rides should help you out in terms of your routes:

http://www.strava.com/activities/72441783
http://www.strava.com/activities/70990517
http://www.strava.com/activities/50927160

If you're going from Lowton to Culcheth, then you can cross the A580 at the Texaco garage, where the A572 heads down towards the M6 and Warrington, then turn off almost immediately towards Culcheth opposite whatever pub it is there. That junction across the A580 is pretty civilised - the lights pretty much do the hard work for you. If you look at the second ride above, that should show you how to get from Lowton to Culcheth that way, and the third ride shows how to get from Culcheth out to Warburton Bridge and Dunham Massey.
Click to expand...

I'll actually cross at the Church Lane (bricking it for the first time, but nerves will get better!) set of lights then go straight forwards down that road to Culcheth. On the way back, if I'm feeling up to it, I will go up through Glazebury then back down on the cycle path that runs parallel to the East Lancs.
 
Last edited:
physichull said:
I'll actually cross at the Church Lane (bricking it for the first time, but nerves will get better!) set of lights then go straight forwards down that road to Culcheth. On the way back, if I'm feeling up to it, I will go up through Glazebury then back down on the cycle path that runs parallel to the East Lancs.
Click to expand...

Ah, OK, if you're coming from that end of Lowton, then Church Lane is OK as well. The main thing to do is not try to pass any cars on the inside who might be turning left and neglecting to indicate. Beyond that, just take your time and wait your turn. Once you're out crossing the dual carriageway, keep a bit over to the left and any cars following you will have plenty of room to pass.

Coming up through Glazebury is OK, though the road surface is not spectacular. I've not used the cycle path, so can't speak for that. The Greyhound roundabout is a bit daunting, though, so I'm not about to recommend crossing that and heading back to Lowton through Leigh.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Ah, OK, if you're coming from that end of Lowton, then Church Lane is OK as well. The main thing to do is not try to pass any cars on the inside who might be turning left and neglecting to indicate. Beyond that, just take your time and wait your turn. Once you're out crossing the dual carriageway, keep a bit over to the left and any cars following you will have plenty of room to pass.
Click to expand...

Cool, cheers for the advice.

Vonhelmet said:
Coming up through Glazebury is OK, though the road surface is not spectacular. I've not used the cycle path, so can't speak for that. The Greyhound roundabout is a bit daunting, though, so I'm not about to recommend crossing that and heading back to Lowton through Leigh.
Click to expand...

By cycle path, I think I just mean path, but I see plenty of people cycling on it. So when I get to the Greyhound roundabout, I'll duck off the road about 50 yards before it and follow the path left (I won't be crossing the roundabout, I agree, it would take a special kind of person to brave that on a bike!).
 
arknor said:
cops seem to ignore me if I'm on a path that's going down the side of a fast road.

if it's a path loads of pedestrians use I stick to the road though but sometimes I feel safer going 15mph down a path than down the side of a 40-60mph road with fast traffic rushing past
Click to expand...

Yeah, its a 60 mph busy dual carriageway. The path is well away from the side of the road too and there are very few pedestrians.
 
physichull said:
(I won't be crossing the roundabout, I agree, it would take a special kind of person to brave that on a bike!).
Click to expand...

Damien does it every day on his commute. I've done it, but I don't like it much. Joining the roundabout is OK, but coming off on the other side while watching for cars joining from the left is a bit nerve-wracking...
 
Right

measured the space that I can use (Turbo Trainer)
and in the shed, I have shelves on either side, and I me4asured it, and its 1m20
so that doesn't give me a lot of room :(
 
30kph moving average this morning; some semblance of fitness and form is returning.

The first time I rode this bike I had my doubts, but I'm loving it.

Went for a Strava segment in Kingston only for a car to pull across the road and then stop blocking the lane. Tards.

Otherwise, beautiful day and beautiful ride.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;24764336 said:
30kph moving average this morning; some semblance of fitness and form is returning.

The first time I rode this bike I had my doubts, but I'm loving it.

Went for a Strava segment in Kingston only for a car to pull across the road and then stop blocking the lane. Tards.

Otherwise, beautiful day and beautiful ride.
Click to expand...

Is this the fixed still?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom