Cycling Thread - pleasure peddlers to serious cyclists sign in here!

ME!!
I've been on the mountain bike this morning and out on the road bike yesterday. I am planning on going on the road bike again tonight only for about 45mins as DH isn't used to riding a bike - saying that he enjoyed it last night.

This morning I was just up on the moors.

I've been out and it was ok!
It felt very strange because the gears are totally different ( On the frame of the bike rather than being part of the brake system)

I'm going to go out again soon, just MN for 10min while I have a brew and then go somewhere else.

I'm going out on my mountain bike tomorrow morning very early for a couple of hours on the moors before I head up to the Lakes for some walking.

Right that's it!!

I've MN to much for one day and I'm out on my bike.
I said up thread that I normally do trails, well I have a Peugot road bike that is ancient and had been left to rot at DH workplace.

Over the weekend he took it to a bike shop and got new tyres, tubes and so on. THe bike was in remarkably good nick seeing that I haven't riden it for 17 years!!!!

I'm going out on that and see if I can enjoy some roads. I only have to cycle a few miles to get away from the suburb into the country.

Another cyclist checking in. I'm a commuter and triathlete. My commuting bike is a Ridgeback Nemesis with an 8 speed hub gear. I'm lazy when it comes to cleaning the commuting bike so having almost maintenance free gears is brilliant. I'm also looking forward to taking DD on it when she's old enough.

I have two road bikes. One is a steel frame Planet-X Kaffenback that's used for winter riding as it has full mudguards. The other is an Argon-18 Radon which is a fabulous bike. I'm a bit of a grimpeur and love the challenge of a good climb but I'm not built to generate power over long distances so can normally be found sitting on someone's wheel on the flat roads.

The bike collections was a bit bigger but had to be trimmed down a bit when DD arrived. I used to own a tandem, but DW is too much of a control freak to go on the back, and also an On-one Pompino which is a fixed gear bike. That was great fun to ride but wasn't useful enough to had to go.

steamedtreaclesponge I've ridden the road bikes in London a couple of times and it's horrible. The worst road users are other cyclists. Most of the drivers gave me enough space as long as I was clear with my signals but I was nearly taken out a couple of times by cyclists jumping red lights.

I'm a commuter (although not in rain like today's!) but by no means the serious kind in Lycra...

I have an ancient Raleigh bike which makes all sorts of worrying noises when I ride it, and at the moment I only have a twenty minute ride to get to work, so I tend to just cycle in my work clothes. I do love cycling but given that I live in central London, I don't find it particularly soothing... would be nice to be able to ride out in the countryside sometimes!

Oh and to the poster who lives in a hilly place - me too! I find the only way to get better at hills is to just do them, even if you feel like you want to die, you will improve.

Oh can I join?

I am somewhere between a pleasure peddler and serious cyclist. I ride every single day and am very cross if I don't . I have four bikes at the moment (racing bike, touring bike, mountain bike and fixie) but realise this is ridiculous.

I'm doing the Breeze training later in the month, any advice?

Or this is another one.

Another cyclist here - not very good at long distances, but I do like it. Took ds11 out for our first ever proper ride - ie one that went a route I would normally do, not adapted for kids. 20Km and 4 very large hills, and he did really well. He's not very sporty but this seems to work for him.

We have done some family cycle touring, and I find blogs like this are useful for getting good ideas about where to go and how to do it.

Gore Sizes come up v small.

thistledew I'm a 10-12 and I take a medium Pearl Izumi, not sure about Gore but I think medium too. I don't like things too tight though.

oh no, please no rain.

When I did my Breeze training it poured down all day!!!

hi indrid, i am doing the breeze training on 10th september in plymouth. it's free if you fancy signing up too.

Another keen cyclist here too - doing and watching (am enjoying La Vuelta on ITV4 at the moment!)

I cycled regularly until my mid 20s when I started working in London; in those days it was not nearly so cycle friendly so I got out of the habit.

I started again about 3 years ago so with the intention of getting fitter and healthier, as well as being able to take DS out cycling too. It didn't take long for DH to join in too, so as not to feel left out!

I ride a Specialized Tricross Sport which is a cyclocross bike, suitable for the fairly mixed terrain here in Cornwall. I also rescued an old Peugeot steel framed road bike which I am doing up as a project and to learn more about the technical side of bikes.

My biggest problem here in Cornwall is the hills. We live at the bottom of the Tamar Valley so the first thing I face going out on the bike is massive climb, which makes popping out to the shops impossible (at the moment, anyway). I am working on it though, and am determined to do it eventually.

As for gear, I also love Pearl Izumi stuff. I would recommend keeping an eye on Chain Reaction Cycles website as I have got some spectacular bargains there in the past - they have a very good women-specific section.

Will be keeping an eye on this thread, I've often thought I can't be the only Bike fiend on MN!

i'm really looking forward to it.
i set up a womens road cycling group where i live now, but breeze isn't offered here in scotland.
i'm moving south again in a couple of weeks and am managing to do my breeze training before i start my job.
it will be a good way to focus me to get a bit fitter and also help me to meet people in a new place. i'll need to figure out some routes for myself anyway, but it's nice to ride with others.

Well I never got out today despite my best intentions!!
Very busy morning and early afternoon and then the rain and wind came!

Ok call me a fair weather cyclist but I didn't feel like being soaked before I lef the drive!

Other news is that I have a road bike that at the best you could say it is retro. I got it in 1984 and it is a road bike. It has been at DH's works unit unloved and uncared for many years as my love for treks and trails has taken over.
However today DH took it to the bike shop and got it restored. I am going to go out on it tomorrow (maybe) and get familar with it again.
Also DH has spotted a 2010 Kona road bike that has been reduced from £1,200 to about £900 that he said he would get me if I'm interested.

I was looking at getting a bike through the cyclescheme but think I would prefer DH to pay cash on this bike than have a salary sacrifice. (especially if he is offering)

Hi Nevergoogle
I did the Breeze training in July.
I really enjoyed doing it.

I haven't led any rides yet as I would prefer to have a road bike ( I currently have a Scott mountain bike).Dh is currently sorting out my old one. Also I am waiting for all my holidays to be out of the way and my new job to start before I start making commitments.

Let me know how you get on.

hi, just checking in.
i'm doing the ride leader award to lead womens rides for the breeze network.
i ride a bianchi via nirone 7 and i love it.