Road Cycling Essentials

Fuzz · 6 Jul 2011 at 08:28

I've been in that exact same situation when I was about 18 or 19 only I was the car driver.
Looked left, looked right... Pulled out (turning right) only for two cyclists to be "there" on my right, hard on the anchors. :eek:

Not only felt a right tit for pulling out on them but scared that I didn't even see them.
I guess the brain does funny things if you are focusing on the wrong part of the road too heavily. Lesson learnt, no harm done.
Didn't even get a load of abuse from the cyclists either. The front runner just put his hands up in a WTF are you doing kinda way.

Nix · 6 Jul 2011 at 09:02

Glad you're okay emetic.

cork-spotters · 6 Jul 2011 at 09:44

emetic said:
got knocked off on my commute home last night

Was going just shy of 30mph and a woman came out a road on the left. Said she looked but "I was further away at the time", I explained that's how moving traffic worked. Amazingly even though I ended up sprawled across the tarmac I escaped with a very light graze on my left knee and that was it.

She did look but then seemed to wait until I was almost ontop of her and then pulled out, scrubbed off most my speed but slammed into her drivers door with my shoulder and bounced to the floor. I was in a good mood and as no real damage had been done to me (I never checked the car but that's her problem anyway) so I gave her a lesson in road saftey, brushed myself off and got on my way.

This is the thing that scares the **** out of me, both as a driver and as a cyclist.

You had a lucky escape.

[DOD]Asprilla · 6 Jul 2011 at 10:14

Glad you are ok. That's exactly what happened to the guy I was supposed to be riding the Dragon with. Except that he's just started commuting again after four months and the guy he was with broke his collar bone and hasn't ridden since.

You were very, very lucky indeed. You should have bought a Euromillions ticket yesterday.

Jonny69 · 6 Jul 2011 at 18:14

I've said it before but I'll say it again: it's that genre of women drivers that really really scare me out on the road. Aggression and cutting me up deliberately to try and scare me I can deal with, but the blind cluelessness (sp?) and total lack of awareness from some women drivers scares the hell out of me.

SizEzE · 6 Jul 2011 at 20:24

Bought my first road bike yesterday! Pick it up Friday

looking forward to the chat and the commute.

[DOD]Asprilla · 6 Jul 2011 at 20:29

SizEzE said:
Bought my first road bike yesterday! Pick it up Friday looking forward to the chat and the commute.

More details required!

New bike!

Saundie · 6 Jul 2011 at 20:31

emetic said:
got knocked off on my commute home last night

I was in a good mood and as no real damage had been done to me (I never checked the car but that's her problem anyway) so I gave her a lesson in road saftey, brushed myself off and got on my way.

I'm glad to hear that you weren't seriously hurt. Was your bike badly damaged?

emetic · 7 Jul 2011 at 08:49

cheers all. Neither me or my bike sustained any major damage although my shoulder is a bit sore now but nothing worse than stacking it off road. As she rolled out i couldn't go pavement side of her so had to try swing round the front, think my bike was pretty much sideways on to her car when i hit her, my left shoulder took the impact and i bounced off ending up on the floor somewhere. Thankfully the car behind was able to stop stopping the rest of the traffic while i picked my self up.

SizEzE · 7 Jul 2011 at 20:35

[DOD]Asprilla;19530027 said:
More details required!

New bike!

All will be revealed tomorrow. Well I hope so my lbs were supposed to ring me to say it's in. Hopefully pictures tomorrow. Quite excited to join the lycra mob :eek:

Fuzz · 7 Jul 2011 at 20:38

Still waiting for mine to be built..

Jealous much. :mad:

platypus · 8 Jul 2011 at 08:58

Nix said:
Glad you're okay emetic.

Yep. Never good when a fellow cyclist & commuter comes a cropper.

[DOD]Asprilla · 8 Jul 2011 at 10:37

SizEzE said:
All will be revealed tomorrow. Well I hope so my lbs were supposed to ring me to say it's in. Hopefully pictures tomorrow. Quite excited to join the lycra mob

It's tomorrow now, where are our pictures!

In other news, I've entered my first TT at the weekend; 46 miles from Kingston to Worthing. Can you be 'off the back' in a TT?

touch · 8 Jul 2011 at 12:50

[QUOTE='[DOD]Can you be 'off the back' in a TT?[/QUOTE]
No, worse! You can be caught by your minute-man. If it happens, just keep your own pace. Its very difficult not to speed up and try to stay near him, but it will ruin you for later. (and dont draft him).

[DOD]Asprilla · 8 Jul 2011 at 13:11

touch said:
No, worse! You can be caught by your minute-man. If it happens, just keep your own pace. Its very difficult not to speed up and try to stay near him, but it will ruin you for later. (and dont draft him).

I expect to be caught and taken several times given its my first, I've only been roped into it so provide moral support for a mate who wants to get into doing TTs.

olv · 8 Jul 2011 at 13:39

Scubascorpion said:
Still waiting for mine to be built..

Jealous much.

Me too, must be new bike week. Hopefully mine is being built today or tomorrow.

SizEzE · 8 Jul 2011 at 17:38

[DOD]Asprilla;19539788 said:
It's tomorrow now, where are our pictures!

In other news, I've entered my first TT at the weekend; 46 miles from Kingston to Worthing. Can you be 'off the back' in a TT?

Finally got it home after having a bike fit. Change of stem and some quick measurements and saddle adjustments and it's good to go.

Resisted buying a Garmin 800 and have put some crank bros eggbeaters on :eek:

At least that way I can use my existing shoes for now.

Almost bought the Look Keo Classics but I would have needed new shoes as well.

SizEzE · 8 Jul 2011 at 17:40

Congrats on the TT entry by the way!

I'm looking at shorter term goals of actually using the bike, improving fitness and road craft. Medium term I may look at local clubs and competitions.

VaderDSL · 8 Jul 2011 at 17:42

SizEzE said:
Finally got it home after having a bike fit. Change of stem and some quick measurements and saddle adjustments and it's good to go.

Resisted buying a Garmin 800 and have put some crank bros eggbeaters on At least that way I can use my existing shoes for now.

Almost bought the Look Keo Classics but I would have needed new shoes as well.

I put some Look Keo Classics in my Synapse upgraded from bog standard Shimano SPD and bought some DHB carbon road shoes.

They are pretty good I have to admit, the large cleat feels weird at first and I struggled to clip in despite years of SPD experience, but I don't think I could go back to SPDs (MTB versions) as the stiffness and secureness of the Look is very nice!

SDK^ · 8 Jul 2011 at 18:14

Anyone interested in buying a 2012 Specialized Tarmac S-Works SL4 frameset should get down to your local Specialized Concept store tomorrow with £2,500

http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=417&parent_id=2

Road Cycling Essentials

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