Road Cycling Essentials

Status
Not open for further replies.
PaulStat said:
Ok thanks all, sounds like a plan, guess I'd better start finding some routes to practice on!

Strava profile is https://www.strava.com/athletes/2467918 for anyone wishing to see my progress

Oh also I currently have this as a bike, so maybe I should upgrade at some point :p

That and I'm a fat git at 219lbs ~ 99kg 5'10"
Click to expand...

Added you!

You're not fat mate, you'll easily lose it! :)

I was ~15 stone (210 lbs) with a 36" waist (I'm around 5' 8") just over a year ago, cycling has got me down to ~13 stone (182 lbs? I work in kg's now!) and a 32" waist. That's mostly through commuting (only more recently leisure rides) and no real training program (Trainer Road starts this weekend) or diet change (I like food!). My commute is half the distance of yours - check our side by side stats: https://www.strava.com/athletes/3305124 :)

Changing to a road bike (last July) and then a much better road bike (December) has got me hooked - I came from a Hybrid like you ;)
 
Last edited:
PaulStat said:
Yeah true. I suppose I need to find someone to do it with really, it could take quite a while if I'm having to navigate as well.

Most I've done so far in one go is just under 20 so I guess I need to work it up a bit, I'm not particularly quick at the moment averaging just under 14mph and the biggest climb I've done is apparently 90m which is a gradual incline over a few miles.
Click to expand...

Just be consistent - ride every week and add a bit more to your long rides every week.

I went from no cycling since i was 10 to doing 113 miles and 2000m climbing in about 11 weeks when i first started cycling again around 3 years ago. I was 36 and had only just quit a 20 a day smoking habit, so v unfit.

I did 60-90 mins every tues/thurs night at quite a hard pace, then a long ride every weekend. I added about 5 miles to my long rides every week. Week 1, my long ride was about 20 miles and totally killed me. By week 10 i was doing around 90 miles and it was still killing me! :D But **** it, i was managing 90 miles!

It was a sportive that i did for my first century - i found the fact i had a definite goal, a date and i'd paid some money to take part helped to focus me on the task as well.
 
Last edited:
One of my mates went from absolutely 0 in March 2013 to 105 miles by the end of May that same year. Entirely doable. Consistency and doing that bit extra each week is the key. And he was by no means cycling fit at the time of starting.
 
Such a nice day today. When I left work it was sunshine and not even particularly cold. Made the most of it and cycled my old 10.5 mile route home (basically down the Fallowfield loop as much as possible). Pushed it a bit on the roads but took my time down the loop to enjoy the sun and greenery :)
 
Roady said:
Defo doable, but you'll need to work at it as there's quite a lot of elevation. You may find you'd have to route via Gloucester to avoid as I'm unsure about them allowing cyclists over the bridges, certainly 'The New Bridge' is classed as the M4 and I've never seen cyclists on it. 'The Old Bridge' is the M48 so still classed as motorway... Yet it has a walkway along the side (can't remember if I've seen cyclists on it).

Google seems to think you can:
Click to expand...

Yes you can ride over the old bridge, there is a cycle path which we used when I did JOGLE last year.
 
Grrr, my bent rear derailleur hanger gave up the ghost today after being bent back from my fall on the ice last week, luckily it didn't take my rear wheel or derailleur with it.

Hopefully Merlin send out the right one this time, as for the second time the ones that arrived this week were the wrong ones!
 
FAO grudas and anyone else who has used the lifeline essentials bar tape from wiggle...

Is this stuff supposed to be sticky or what?? I've just re-taped a set of bars with this and found that it's not sticky. On other tape there's been a strip of paper to pull off as you're taping to expose the glue, but there was nothing, just a strip of something that looked like glue anyway, but which didn't want to come off. I taped it on, on the basis that so long as it's well wrapped and taped on with electrical tape at the end then it as good as holds itself on, but I can't help but feel it won't last well.

Or have I missed something obvious here? Maybe it's not lasted well being sat around for a few months waiting for me to get round to putting it on...
 
Sounds a bit like some I used a while back. Was the strip slightly tacky? It should hold ok.

I think the key things I've found to make it stay in place are to ensure the bars are grease-free and most important is to wrap the tape in the right direction so that it doesn't unwind itself when you ride.
 
I guess maybe a bit tacky. I've only used deda tape before this, and that is super sticky, so this is worlds apart.

I made sure to wind it the right way round at least, so fingers crossed...
 
Decided to buy a dedicated turbo tyre. I was using an old Pro4 SC but it was getting pretty slick and squeaky. Picked up a nice blue Schwalbe one and fitted it tonight. Only downside is that It obviously required removing the bike from the turbo and then replacing. It seems that there is a marked increase in resistance now from my previous set up. Tried Trainer Road Lola which is a TT sim of sorts. Warm up and then 30 mins of blowing out my ar$e. HR was average 176bp for the interval but I struggled to hold my previous FTP of 245W. Ended up with 233 watts and felt pretty sick when it ended.

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1638696-Lola
 
Vonhelmet said:
I guess maybe a bit tacky. I've only used deda tape before this, and that is super sticky, so this is worlds apart.

I made sure to wind it the right way round at least, so fingers crossed...
Click to expand...

Yeah that's how it's meant to be ;) deda is sticky this is just silicone/rubber what ever thing so it doesn't slip around but it's easy to apply and reapply if you have to! Plus it leaves nothing on the bars which is awesome :) haven't had any problems with it.
 
PaulStat said:
Ok thanks all, sounds like a plan, guess I'd better start finding some routes to practice on!

Strava profile is https://www.strava.com/athletes/2467918 for anyone wishing to see my progress

Oh also I currently have this as a bike, so maybe I should upgrade at some point :p

That and I'm a fat git at 219lbs ~ 99kg 5'10"
Click to expand...

Your bike is quite similar to mine really, I've got slightly narrower 40mm tyres and a slightly more head down bar height but basically the same sort of hybrid.

As and when you want to upgrade a proper road bike will be of benefit but until then just get out and enjoy putting some miles in. I'm going to make the jump to a road bike this spring, the idea being to have it ready for a 50 miler I was going to do with a few others at the end of May but now I've got to spend four weeks in the middle east in May/June for work :( Still buying the new bike though :p
 
Taking one friend who's new to cycling and another that is recovering from a knee injury for a very easy paced cycle to Lyme Park. Should be fun though it'll make my weekly average speeds look even worse than they already are :p
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom