Road Cycling Essentials

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Finally got my stravalentine code through, so will be activating Saturday to test, going to give the vids a try for sure, see if they motivate me on the turbo more.
 
Finally got my bell from that Kickstart campaign really happy with the build quality not so happy being stung with a £12.22 VAT+admin charge though.

IMG_20140227_193837.jpg
 
Ohhhhhh. I can't wait for mine to turn up.

In other news I'm taking the Soloist into work tomorrow as a single speed. Hopefully, after it's spent the day in the bike shop I'll be riding it home as a fully geared bike.
 
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Well, I'm back on the bike after almost 4 months! What a lazy winter, oddly I don't seem to have lost *that* much of it, after a couple of pretty poor rides I'm doing much better, lactic threshold and endurance seem the worst off.

I've got the Hertfordshire Devil in May, only the 85 miler, a couple more sportives after that and a sprint duathlon late in the year.

I'm getting back into some sort of training regime, anyone care to critique my plan?

For now it's on the turbo trainer (£60 from amazon, it works!) during the week, once the clocks change I'll be out.

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Monday - 60 mins interval training (10 min warm-up followed by 6 mins @ 170-180bpm, 2 mins @ 140-150bpm and so on until cool down).

Tuesday - 10 mins warmup followed by weight training, all over but trying to build up my legs with weighted squats etc. 20 mins medium effort biking, cool-down.

Wednesday - Rest

Thurs - 60 mins interval training

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Endurance, building up to long (80-100 mile) rides, currently only doing between 30 and 40 :(

Sunday - Rest.

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How does that sound? Any advice? Also, I want to get into racing, it sounds awesome, I'm just worried that it'll be full of leet racers. :/
 
godinman said:
How does that sound? Any advice? Also, I want to get into racing, it sounds awesome, I'm just worried that it'll be full of leet racers. :/
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Plan looks good to me.

To get into racing, join a club first.
You need the skill/experience of riding in a group. Preferably some time with a fast group also, as it's different from riding at a steady pace on a club run.
If there are others in the club who race, you'll be able to compare yourself to them to see if your ready for a race. If not, just enter a race and find out.
It's not the end of the world if you get dropped.*

edit: *just to add a bit more to this point - it really isnt a big deal to get dropped. I know of a lot of people who wont enter a race because they are scared they'll come last. The problem is that you need to go and do a race to see what it's like. Loads of people get dropped - it's part of racing. I'd guess, on average, around 20% of the people who start a race wont finish it.
 
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touch said:
Plan looks good to me.

To get into racing, join a club first.
You need the skill/experience of riding in a group. Preferably some time with a fast group also, as it's different from riding at a steady pace on a club run.
If there are others in the club who race, you'll be able to compare yourself to them to see if your ready for a race. If not, just enter a race and find out.
It's not the end of the world if you get dropped.
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Indeed. There will be local races that cater very well for new starters and the classing system means that everyone is of roughly equal ability. Some clubs run race skills days, I know that Kingston Wheelers have beginners race skills sessions at the closed track at Hillingdon.

SkodaMart said:
Best place for a bell is on a cow!

A Bavarian cow to be exact.
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My three offs have all been down to pedestrians. I'm putting those same bells on my single speeds.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;25925654 said:
My three offs have all been down to pedestrians. I'm putting those same bells on my single speeds.
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LOL! Don't let the main forum see this! You reckless cyclist! Hope you have an insurance policy and pay road tax? :D:D:p
 
Is your goal to cycle?
Is your goal to get fit?
Is your goal to ride long distance?
Is your goal to commute?

And would you like to do the above in relative comfort?

Can you twirl a spanner and screwdriver?

If you can answer yes to the questions above, grab an old Reynolds frame.

So much better than the modern ****

Unless you are racing that is, but even then a steel bike still makes a great training bike.
 
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Right, tyres. If I'm replacing a tyre so I'm going to have one worn (about 2500 miles on it) and one brand new then which do I want on the front and which on the back? Reason being one of my light summer tyres got nuked last year before I switched to heavy winter ones so now I've got one worn one and I've just ordered a brand new one.
 
touch said:
Plan looks good to me.

To get into racing, join a club first.
You need the skill/experience of riding in a group. Preferably some time with a fast group also, as it's different from riding at a steady pace on a club run.
If there are others in the club who race, you'll be able to compare yourself to them to see if your ready for a race. If not, just enter a race and find out.
It's not the end of the world if you get dropped.*

edit: *just to add a bit more to this point - it really isnt a big deal to get dropped. I know of a lot of people who wont enter a race because they are scared they'll come last. The problem is that you need to go and do a race to see what it's like. Loads of people get dropped - it's part of racing. I'd guess, on average, around 20% of the people who start a race wont finish it.
Click to expand...

[DOD]Asprilla;25925654 said:
Indeed. There will be local races that cater very well for new starters and the classing system means that everyone is of roughly equal ability. Some clubs run race skills days, I know that Kingston Wheelers have beginners race skills sessions at the closed track at Hillingdon.
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Thanks for that, the weights day will be swapped for hill repeats once I get a couple of hours of sunlight in the evening.

I've been meaning to join my local club for a long time, I spoke to the bloke who organises it and it's just a case of turning up for a time trial on a Tuesday, see how you like it and then join properly.

I will do it this time, I'll give it a month or so to get some fitness back and get on it!

e - Feels good waking up with aching legs again!!!
 
Vonhelmet said:
Right, tyres. If I'm replacing a tyre so I'm going to have one worn (about 2500 miles on it) and one brand new then which do I want on the front and which on the back? Reason being one of my light summer tyres got nuked last year before I switched to heavy winter ones so now I've got one worn one and I've just ordered a brand new one.
Click to expand...

Worn one on the front. Tyres wear quicker on the rear as it's where most if the weight is and where you are most likely to lock up.
 
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