Road Cycling

ShiWarrior · 27 May 2015 at 13:36

Jono said:
How important is what you eat before/during a long (for me that's 35+ miles) ride? My fitness level is low; my weight is high. I reckon I should weigh about 11 stone. I'm 4 above that at present

I want to do a few rides of that length a week, but build up to it - I don't think I could do more than one a week, my buttocks wouldn't take it, but a new saddle may help. I may invest in a spoon - they seem comfier than mine (kappa prologo or something).

All the while losing weight by cutting down a lot on my calorific intake, but I don't want to have no energy for cycling, if that makes sense?

I remember last year when I was doing longer rides (30-40 miles) on my own and it helped to fuel
night before shouldn't be a problem
morning - porridge
during ride - a few cereal bars

if your going to really push your self, you will need a lot more

FrenchTart · 27 May 2015 at 13:38

Jono said:
How important is what you eat before/during a long (for me that's 35+ miles) ride? My fitness level is low; my weight is high. I reckon I should weigh about 11 stone. I'm 4 above that at present

I want to do a few rides of that length a week, but build up to it - I don't think I could do more than one a week, my buttocks wouldn't take it, but a new saddle may help. I may invest in a spoon - they seem comfier than mine (kappa prologo or something).

All the while losing weight by cutting down a lot on my calorific intake, but I don't want to have no energy for cycling, if that makes sense?

In many ways it depends on how much you'll be pushing it for that ride. If you were going as fast as you possibly can and/or going up lots of hills you'd need to make sure you eat decently. As your fitness level improves you'll be able to dial that down a little but generally speaking if you're riding at a point where you're putting in a ton of effort you're going to be burning a ton of energy, no matter how fit you are.

You could probably get away with having a reasonable carb-heavy breakfast (500kcal) before the ride and either not eating on it or just taking something like a banana with you, assuming that you're going at a more leisurely pace. By this I don't mean dawdling but basically going at a pace where you can feel your heart rate is slightly elevated and a bit of burn in your legs but you're not absolutely dying.

As or perhaps more important is your hydration. Take at least a full 700ml bottle of water and make sure you drink it all. You shouldn't feel bad if you drink more than double this either.

Jonny69 · 27 May 2015 at 13:51

Dup said:
Seated perfectly fine. The tyre seems to kink to one side and then follow that deviation. Weird. I have a spare at home, just got a 20 mile ride to get to it haha.

Looks to me like the guts inside the tyre have perished and split. It was probably just about holding together and you went over a bump or pothole and it let go. Only one way to find out if it can take a 20 mile ride though

Might be worth dropping it down to like 70-75psi though.

Roady · 27 May 2015 at 13:53

Amps said:
I took the gamble and went for one of the Gabba's from the www.theshed.com (a few pages back). Turns out they have taken my money but they don't have any stock to fullfill the orders.

Did anyone actually get a Gabba from them?

Erk, I feel slightly guilty for linking you up!

They're a genuine shop just I wonder about their 'online' store being that accurate (obviously not with stock levels). It would be worth calling them! They're not open weekends otherwise I'd go have a look and see if they have any in the shop!

Guy who owns them runs NFTO, not sure how involved he is with the day to day running of the shop but there is talk of them buying another place in the centre of town and setting up a Cycling cafe/shop. Will be awesome if they do as there's nothing like that elsewhere in Hereford (just lots of bike shops and clubs!).

ShiWarrior said:
oh dear, what you done ?

grudas said:
nothing at all

I think it's this ride coming back to haunt you! The hills had their revenge

grudas said:
on a different note.. here's me nearly getting killed yesterday!

:/

That's scarily close! He's obviously speeding and swerving to undertake the car. Definitely report! Dangerous driving if ever I saw any.

Dup said:
What are the odds of this lasting the 20 mile ride home?

Cant decide if it's the tyre or the tube at fault but both are going in the bin.

It'll be the tyre, I had an old cheap kenda do that on my old bike:

I rode on it for a few days (~15 miles) and then did a few turbo sessions on it afterwards. It'd worn through the rubber into the 'fabric' below when I took it off.

TLDR;

Not safely but 'just to get home' (taking it carefully incase it blows!) you should be ok.

Jono · 27 May 2015 at 13:54

I'll be riding alone so will be pushing myself as much as I can - not mentally - there's at least one evil climb (steep, but short - 2nd gear in a car kinda thing) on my planned lunchtime 10 mile route. Outside of that I'll be aiming to keep my average around 14-15mph. There aren't THAT many hilly bits (unless I choose to go up them) on my planned rides, most days. I will be doing at least one thing with what I consider to be hard hills (basically, anything that's not flat

) a week.

FrenchTart · 27 May 2015 at 14:06

Jono said:
I'll be riding alone so will be pushing myself as much as I can - not mentally - there's at least one evil climb (steep, but short - 2nd gear in a car kinda thing) on my planned lunchtime 10 mile route. Outside of that I'll be aiming to keep my average around 14-15mph. There aren't THAT many hilly bits (unless I choose to go up them) on my planned rides, most days. I will be doing at least one thing with what I consider to be hard hills (basically, anything that's not flat ) a week.

Sorry, I think I misunderstood. Are you planning on riding multiple rides that add up to ~35 miles a week or are you talking about single 35 mile rides? My advice was under the assumption of one long ride

If you're riding about 10 miles in a sitting then I wouldn't worry about nutrition that much. Just don't go out on an empty stomach unless you're taking it very easy. Be sure to take water with you though, or if it's a really hot day or you're going to be doing a lot of extra distance/hills, an electrolyte drink.

Jono · 27 May 2015 at 14:09

Ah, my bad

What I mean was, working up to 35 miles in one sitting, 3x a week (one of which on a weekend, which will go up in milage)
While I'm working up to the 35s... I'm going to start with about 10 miles on a lunchtime just around near work, some days. And if I don't do that, the longer ride after work nearer home.

rnickster · 27 May 2015 at 14:12

Hi guys, random Strava related question. . . . why are some segments 'hidden' and others not?

Roady · 27 May 2015 at 14:14

Jono said:
How important is what you eat before/during a long (for me that's 35+ miles) ride? My fitness level is low; my weight is high. I reckon I should weigh about 11 stone. I'm 4 above that at present

FrenchTart said:
As or perhaps more important is your hydration. Take at least a full 700ml bottle of water and make sure you drink it all. You shouldn't feel bad if you drink more than double this either.

Hydration is much more important! Also you shouldn't expect to suddenly be able to ride that distance.

I started at around 15 stone cycling my 4.2 mile each way commute and it was enough to bury me for the first few weeks. 10-15 mile rides were also more than enough for me 6 months later until I'd really done some miles and training. Only now (~2 years later & ~3000 miles) can I do a 30+ mile ride at a highish pace (16/17mph). Although I did little/no structured training and didn't really begin pushing my boundaries until 10 months ago. I'm now near 12.5 stone. I've done little to my diet either (which is mostly ok, I just had very little exercise!).

Even now, I have to fuel correctly for a 30 mile ride (usually porridge/museli before along with a flapjack and haribo while riding) and I regularly finish two 700ml bottles of isotonic drink (to stop cramping, not for energy).

Your experience and mileage will vary, it's be worth starting a blog! Kinda regretting not starting one when I did! Goals are good but you should start small, when I started my 4.2 mile commute the first week or two I even had to stop for a breather half way! :cool:

ShiWarrior · 27 May 2015 at 14:16

rnickster said:
Hi guys, random Strava related question. . . . why are some segments 'hidden' and others not?

probably due to being "flagged" , could be because the course is dangerous or somebody done it in a car etc
or a duplicate, lots of dups around

janp · 27 May 2015 at 14:19

Grudas, if you report that to the police. Make sure they give you a reference number. I nearly got wiped out on a roundabout, reported it but never heard anything back. I tried chasing, but they didn't give me a reference at the time, so claimed I hadn't reported :/ That was via the '101' service.

FrenchTart · 27 May 2015 at 14:21

Sounds good Jono. You may struggle to do 10 miles at lunch time if you've not already been riding for a bit - a 10mph pace doesn't sound like much but once you factor in all the stopping for lights/etc the actual time it takes to do the entire ride is quite a lot more than you'll expect.

Aside from that I'll just echo what Roady has said above

Roady · 27 May 2015 at 17:12

FrenchTart said:
Sounds good Jono. You may struggle to do 10 miles at lunch time if you've not already been riding for a bit - a 10mph pace doesn't sound like much but once you factor in all the stopping for lights/etc the actual time it takes to do the entire ride is quite a lot more than you'll expect.

Aside from that I'll just echo what Roady has said above

It would take me longer to get ready/changed (and then get changed back) than it would to ride 10 miles!

Jono · 27 May 2015 at 17:21

I should say that I've done 40-odd miles before in the past... but that was in the past. i.e. last year. I've basically done nothing except a bit of trail riding this year, other than about 25 miles a couple of months back... which was ok, aside from the hills... but yeah - I'm gonna work up to it slowlyish.

Thanks for the advices

Bear · 27 May 2015 at 19:06

I've only started out riding my road bike this month and usually go out first thing in the morning (6.30am) without eating anything. I weigh a tad over 100kgs and haven't done any exercise for years but started out at 10 miles and did an 18 mile ride last week. Oddly enough I feel fine after but feel I need a kip in the afternoon.

ShiWarrior · 27 May 2015 at 19:12

once you start increasing your distance (and time) you will need to do exercises when you get off the bike (you should be really doing these already as it prevents injury when your older) and watch what you eat a little more
but just have fun

Bear · 27 May 2015 at 19:19

ShiWarrior said:
once you start increasing your distance (and time) you will need to do exercises when you get off the bike (you should be really doing these already as it prevents injury when your older) and watch what you eat a little more
but just have fun

Aye I stretch after I get home. Quite pleased with my progress so far as I can only ride at the weekend as I work away from home during the week so try to get out on Saturday and Sundays if I can. Fat couch potato to 18 miles in 4 outings

https://www.endomondo.com/users/3401856/workouts/527677969

ShiWarrior · 27 May 2015 at 19:22

good work

Dup · 27 May 2015 at 19:33

Jonny69 said:
Looks to me like the guts inside the tyre have perished and split. It was probably just about holding together and you went over a bump or pothole and it let go. Only one way to find out if it can take a 20 mile ride though

Might be worth dropping it down to like 70-75psi though.

I made it, averaged 15mph over 20 miles and left 120psi in it. Was also peeing down. Meh! Felt really sketchy but got no worse from what I can see. Cant be bothered messing with it tonight but be interesting see what it looks like inside.

janp · 27 May 2015 at 19:43

Bear said:
I've only started out riding my road bike this month and usually go out first thing in the morning (6.30am) without eating anything. I weigh a tad over 100kgs and haven't done any exercise for years but started out at 10 miles and did an 18 mile ride last week. Oddly enough I feel fine after but feel I need a kip in the afternoon.

I'm physically sick if I eat too early. So I always eat after my commute. I read that it's great for increasing your metabolism rate, as long as you don't over do it and eat soon after exercise.

Road Cycling

Man of Honour