Road Cycling

BaJ said:
A commuting/fitness/health question ...

I'm still reasonably new to road cycling, I've only been an occasional (400-500km a year according to Strava history) mountain bike rider over the past 5 years or so. This summer I decided to start commuting to work, it's 19km door to door so almost 40km each day I decide to take the bike. I started off just once a week, then moved to two days a week and am now trying to do three days.

I'm finding it all a bit of a struggle though, not the effort involved whilst actually out on the roads, I just find myself generally more tired a lot of the time. I guess that's to be expected to some degree and I'm not really sure what, if any, question I have to people.

Does it get easier? I've two young kids so my sleep/rest cycle isn't the best it could be. Do I need to eat better? How long did new commuters take to get used to the extra miles?

I can't ever see myself taking the bike five days a week – a combination of weather, facilities, work meetings and the like would probably make three to four my limit.
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You probably need a decent chunk of extra food on the days you are riding too.
 
SoliD said:
Figure out what size the screws are and just buy them from eBay. Will be 99pfor 10... Thinking about that I need some reach adjustment screw for 105 hydro levers. They're tiny. Job for Roady to find out what screw is required :D:D:D
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I was half tempted by new plastic pieces too as both are a bit battered from crashes however I feel like they'll only get a bit battered again at some point!
 
Thanks for the replies. I do Strava all my rides but I've not got a heart rate monitor, I know my TomTom watch can support one though so I'll look in to that.

I do indeed get the munchies on the days I cycle in. I'll keep at it for now as I am in to the swing of commuting in terms of the logistics.

You can see how my monthly distance has increased recently - https://www.strava.com/athletes/1703503
 
BaJ said:
Does it get easier? I've two young kids so my sleep/rest cycle isn't the best it could be. Do I need to eat better? How long did new commuters take to get used to the extra miles?

I can't ever see myself taking the bike five days a week – a combination of weather, facilities, work meetings and the like would probably make three to four my limit.
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'It never gets easier, you just get faster!' - Greg LeMond. Basically true of any/all cycling!

Going into a little more depth - when first commuting initially you're training your body to manage the 'suffering' of riding at the intensity required to 'make progress'. You'll go through phases of being over-trained, under-fueled and struggling to recover. It's easy to say 'take things easy' but we all know how it is, I guess the best advice is to 'rest enough' and then to rest a little bit more. You'll gradually learn when you need to take rest days - using a HRM and things like Stravistix (or the Strava Premium Fitness & Freshness chart) can help with this. As you gain fitness & form you'll gradually find your commute gets 'easier'. You're generally suffering a little less and some days of slow traffic, tail winds and having a little more energy you'll feel stronger and feel able to ride more. Not resting enough will hinder lots of initial progress (as you're trying to commute as much as possible & riding faster), but you'll get there eventually! :cool:

Take the bike whenever it fits into your work routine/requirements and just keep at it! I started off (2013) struggling on a ~20-30 mile week (2-3 commute days of 5 miles each way @10mph avg) and worked up to riding most days (2015 - 40-50 mile weeks @15mph avg) before I really got into cycling for leisure too. These days my ~50 miles a week commuting (~17mph avg) are around half the miles I'll do in a week. I still ride my commutes harder (than I should) and don't take enough rest days but they don't impact my other leisure riding. I dread to think of the accumulated fatigue but it's something I've grown used to - if I take more than a couple of rest days I find I struggle more! :o :rolleyes:

Lethal` said:
Found it :)
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-sp...te-fixing-screw-right-hand-y00e98020/?geoc=US
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Knew that was where I'd spotted them! I recall seeing them sold in pairs for <£20, but I was looking at 105 not Ultegra.

SoliD said:
Thinking about that I need some reach adjustment screw for 105 hydro levers. They're tiny. Job for Roady to find out what screw is required :D:D:D
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Pffft! Maybe for real men levers like the 785, rather than your toy levers... :p
 
SoliD said:
They're my girlfriends so I'll just sit over here with my smug face :D :D Squeezing both sets of 785s I have....
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Careful you don't do it without a spacer or rotor in there smug^pants! :p

http://si.shimano.com/pdfs/dm/DM-BR0008-08-ENG.pdf - Page 65. No mention of screw size, just that it needs a 2mm hex.

Can't quite figure out what the specific model number for the STI levers is, I only find this one when looking for RS505 and it's a parts list for the caliper itself: http://si.shimano.com/pdfs/ev/EV-BR-RS505-3901A.pdf

I guess it's possibly the same as the regular 5800 levers - http://si.shimano.com/pdfs/ev/EV-ST-5800-3711.pdf

If so, Shimano part number 'Y00S000A0 Grip Adjusting Screw' - https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/gear-spares/shimano-ultegra-di2-st6870-grip-adjusting-screw-y00s000a0/

Slightly less smug now? :D
 
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Have a weird sizing conundrum. Ordered a Rapha Brevet gilet in Medium and it's still a little large around the shoulders/arms and flaps around a little. I have a Castelli Fawesome 2 in Large and it's a much closer/better fitting.

Rapha Gilet medium chest sizing: 91-99cm.
Castelli Gilet Large chest sizing: 100cm.

:rolleyes:

The rest of the fit is perfect, around my torso and length etc. I'm in 2 minds about returning it as I'm pretty sure a Small is going to be too tight around the waist even if the shoulders are then right! :o

EDIT: Great deal on a good Cateye 'be seen' front light if anyone needs: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cateye-rapid-x2-front-light/
 
maybe an interesting (from 4aug, unfortunately netflix only) cycling oriented film Icarus
...At the documentary’s precipice is the director’s own story. Originally, Fogel was to investigate doping in cycling by himself participating in the practice. That led him to Russian scientist, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov. At first, Dr. Rodchenkov was the leader in Russia’s anti-doping practices; however, it turns out he was covering the entire program. The documentary runs from their meeting and covers, allegedly, the depth of performance-enhancing drugs and doping.
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Quick commute to work today, managed to draft a double decker coach for a bit then a bit later took it up to 37mph to catch a lorry which got me along a big stretch of road with little effort.

Sweeeeeeet.
 
Rode my balls off on the way home. It's a bit over 11 miles and overall it's uphill, and I do it on a single speed bike, so if I manage a 17mph average I've done well. Tonight's average was 17.9mph. Was gutted not to make 18mph, but there's like five sets of lights in the last mile and all but one went against me.

Only one PR on Strava as I've done most of it on a proper geared bike, but it was quite a good one - a mile long in three minutes. I'd started out aiming to chase down a hybrid rider I'd spotted down the road ahead of me and then I just kept going. It involved a pretty close pass on a bendy bit of road from Cheshire Police of all people. Cheers guys.
 
lawrence281 said:
Thanks for the reply! Really good, so you recommend any stores I could go in to try out a selection of single speeds?
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Not sure about stores on the street, but mango bikes have some cheap single speeds at the moment. £200 for flat bars in certain colours, £300 for other colours, £350 or so if you want drop bars.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Not sure about stores on the street, but mango bikes have some cheap single speeds at the moment. £200 for flat bars in certain colours, £300 for other colours, £350 or so if you want drop bars.
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http://www.wiggle.co.uk/eastway-single-speed-1/

Wiggle also have this Eastway Single Speed. £150 for the black version. I'm half tempted as a little commute / don't care about it too much bike!
 
Jumped onto a Zwift race last night. 291NP. Prompt again to update FTP to 284W but ignored. Considering how rubbish/lethargic I've felt this week I didn't expect to ride as well as I did! Race went ok, have lost my climbing legs but am able to boss the flats. Made a huge solo effort and was still able to out sprint a guy I caught in the finish. Long 1.5 mile 4.5-5w/kg chase, half a mile sat on his wheel then long 6.5w/kg sprint with 8-9w/kg finish. BOOM! :cool:

BaJ said:
Cheers ... I'll crack on and see how the next few months go :)
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That's all you can do really, listen to your body and try to rest when you notice that fatigue is slowing you down. You'll feel 'tired' much of the time from riding regularly (it's the recovery from this which makes you stronger), but should find that once riding you feel ok and don't really have any loss of speed. When you do struggle to get your HR up, to find any power or have real deep aches you need to rest. You need to avoid strains and pulled muscles as much as possible so getting your fit right (and improved as your body changes) is quite crucial to regularly riding and avoiding any injuries.

Vonhelmet said:
Rode my balls off on the way home. It's a bit over 11 miles and overall it's uphill, and I do it on a single speed bike, so if I manage a 17mph average I've done well. Tonight's average was 17.9mph. Was gutted not to make 18mph, but there's like five sets of lights in the last mile and all but one went against me.
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https://www.strava.com/activities/1114122604/analysis/108/1882

18.5 if you trim off the start and the end stop-start bits! Good going! Although you really do need a cadence sensor for the luls ;)

Vonhelmet said:
Some seem flatter. Others are still awful but you know you've done them or similar before so you know you can do it.
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This is much of it, similar to riding with others - "if they can get up it, then I can!" :D
 
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