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

[Thistledew]

Hi All

I thought I would start a cycling thread. It would be great if we could make it all inclusive, so whether you currently just enjoy bike rides but are interested in taking it further, or already train seriously, please post what you are up to and what your aims are. By sharing knowledge and experiences, hopefully we can spur each other on.

If you want to, please post a quick biog of how long you have been cycling, how much you currently cycle, and what your goals are.

And for those who wish to engage in a bit of bike porn, please feel free to post what sort of bike you ride!

Happy peddling!

Have fun on your ride tomorrow. Early morning is def a good idea in the heat.

Sounds lovely! Mousehold is where I was thinking of, had forgotten the name.

Thistledew Glad you persevered with the club, and I'm sure there are slower folk up the hill than you sometimes!

The Bryton units might be another option for GPS, or even the Garmin 200 if you're never going to care about Heart Rate and just want to know where you've been, it's cheaper than the Garmin 500.

Grrr. Just tried and failed to get tickets for the Olympic road cycling events. I even got to the stage of having a couple of tickets reserved, but when I tried to pay for them a message came up saying they were no longer available.

On a more happy note, I thoroughly enjoyed the Norwich 100 on Sunday. There was a lovely breeze from the sea, and as most of the route was on the coast road it kept the temperature just cool enough.

I was pretty tired by the end, but not so much that it stopped me amusing myself in the last 7 or so miles by seeing just how many people I could overtake! It kept my mind off just how sore my bottom was feeling by that stage.

I would say that I am still quite a way from being truly fit, but feel pretty chuffed when I look back to just under a year ago, when I was contemplating with some trepidation doing my first 26 mile ride!

A kind MNer has offered to put ds and I up so that we can watch the Olympics road race, as it goes past near her house

I am crapping myself at the thought of a 26mile ride! Need to get my bike serviced and cleaned after its journey across the ocean, sign up for some spin classes then register for LifeCycle - have a year to train, think its a 5/6 day journey, around 100miles a day

Aaaaaarrrggghhhh!!

Hi! I'm a mix of commuting, leisure and road cyclist. We have a Specialized Rockhopper with road tyres with a Trek Mountain Train Tagalog behind and a Leco Top Tube seat up front for getting DSs to school / preschool at the moment.

We've also done rear seats and trailers over the past 5 years. When I get a moment I have an old racing Bianchi - doesn't get enough use. No idea how many bikes DH has - found two more frames in the loft last week!

One thing DH and I were getting annoyed about was lack of info about cycling with kids. In a moment of madness I decided to try and do something about it and www.cyclesprog.co.uk is the result. It's still early days but the basics are there. We've shown our friends and family the result and are ready to brave letting other people know about it (gulp!). Would really welcome your thoughts.

Hello, can I join too?
I cycle most days to the station and then at the other end on to work. I also try and cycle back (10 miles) at least once a week. I have 2 year old DS on the back and take him to nursery on the way to the station. 5 year old DS rides his own bike to and from school (less than a mile). So I'm on the pavement until its just me and DS2. I ride a hybrid.

We also like going for long rides in the summer with the kids, but are struggling a bit at the moment. Last year we bought a tag-a-long and I had DS2 on the back of mine while DS1 was pulled by dad. Due to the weather we have only managed one bike ride so far this year, and DP complained about how heavy DS2 had got (had not really used it since last autumn) and that he does not pedal at all so DP is doing all the work. DS1 will happily ride 5 miles or so when he's on his own bike, but this isn't far enough for us to cycle as well and he's so much slower. If we are walking while DS1 is on his bike then DS2 wants to walk quite a bit as well (fair enough) and so we can cover even less distance and DS1 has to keep stopping and waiting for use ot catch up when he just wants to ride off. We were hoping to have another summer of riding before DS1 was too big for the tag-a-long and DS2 too little next summer.
Any ideas for motivating DS1 to pedal??

I'm watching for tips to enthuse DS1 (nearly 5) to practice cycling. Weather hasn't helped!

No advice I'm afraid as we only just got DS his first bike - loves it but gets knackered very quickly (we've only done up and down our driveway so far til he's mastered braking)

I've just signed up for a charity cycle ride next year - cycling along the coast from San Francisco to LA in a week, have to raise $3000, eeek! The cycling bit is terrifying as I've only been a commuter cyclist up til now and haven't been on my bike since last October

With DD in tow i've joined a gym that has child care so I can at least occasionally use indoor bikes while DS is in preschool. Will try out their spinning classes but any recommendations in the meantime for doing it on my own? Hope to start some outdoor rides again soon.

Another question - we want to get out for some family bike rides, DS loves the trailer but DD is only 6months do too small for that or the seat - is there a way of taking younger babies out? Other types of seats?

Terrified of the ride, have never done anything like it in my life!!!

tourdefrance and BlueChampagne - we've got a very similar situation. We use a tagalong to get DS1 to school and sometimes I feel like an aerobics instructor shouting at him to pedal! One thing that has worked for us is getting some sporting heroes. They don't have to be cycling related, but with the Olympics coming up there are plenty of opportunities to get them to see their hero in action. When I need some extra oomph I then call out that x would be pedalling really hard now. It also works well at the dinner table, as heroes need to eat up to be big and strong!

tourdefrance - we've also recently got a tow bar (trailgator) which means DS1 can pedal as a far as he can on his own when we go out at weekends but then we can hitch him up for the final bit if he gets too tired.

GirlWithTheMouseyHair - front and rear seats are only suitable for when your DD can hold her head upright without support - usually 9 - 12 months. I met a family yesterday with an 8 month old in a rear facing car seat which was strapped into a single seater trailer. There are a couple of makes of trailer that allow this but it's not a cheap option!
Good luck with the training and the ride. Have you seen the Breeze Rides? They a good way to get cycling in a friendly, all girlie environment.

Mousey I put DS1 in a Co-Pilot Taxi from 8 months. I have seen a rack for the back of a bike which takes a car seat, and I think there are some trailers you can strap a car seat in, but then you have that weight too!

Massive good luck for you US marathon!

Pasta4Tea - how old is your DS1? There was a trailgator for sale at work recently but I thought we had another year of trailer-biking so didn't get it.

If we are all going on our bikes we will often do 20 miles or so, I think we could prob do 10 at most if DS1 is riding some of it as he is a lot slower (although can be pretty fast when he wants to be). I would not want him on any roads yet though, so we would end up pulling him until we were off-road and re-attaching at every road which all sounds like a bit of a faff. He can be whizzing off in the distance or demanding to be pushed at the slightest incline depending on his mood.

The sporting heroes is an interesting idea too. We don't really watch sport or much TV at all in our house, except for 1/2 hour of Cbeebies here and there. He is really into trains now and loves Chuggington so maybe I should use one of those - just need to watch it myself now to find out their names!

tourdefrance - my DS1 has just turned 6 but I know people who have used them from younger than that. They aren't as stable as the towbar, but the idea is that they do most of the riding themselves.
Their mood makes such a difference doesn't it- along with the weather it can make or break a ride!
Re sporting heroes, am wondering how I break the news to DS1 about Lance Armstrong......

Anyone doing the London to Brighton this weekend?

DP and I have the wonderful start time of 6am! It will be great to get out with the early riders before things get too congested, but 6am?!? There aren't any trains at that time of day, so we will either have to find somewhere to park in Clapham, or add an extra 8 miles to the journey.

On my way back to London after completing the London to Brighton ride for the first time. Had a fabulous ride, although it was a bit frustrating continually having to slow and overtake people (not to say I wasn't overtaken quite a bit myself )

I even managed to cycle all the way up Ditchling Beacon, which I am really chuffed with myself about. I have to say that it was at that point that I realised how much I luffs my triple chain ring!

Wow - I AM impressed!

And good effort for posting to mumsnet whilst cycling back!

Fred - I got the coach back! Maybe next year I will consider cycling back, if my fitness continues to improve. DP and I did cycle to and from the start in Clapham though, which made a total trip distance of 74 miles for the day. I did the Norwich 100 a few weeks ago, but that was considerably flatter than the route through West and East Sussex. I need a bit more strength in my legs before I can contemplate tacking Ditchling Beacon from both directions.

Thistledew You generally (as in people in SW London who ride to Brighton and back) do Devils Dyke on the way back, and that's a pretty easy climb compared to Ditchling Beacon. And it would've been really easy on sunday as there was a raging tailwind. Actually makes your ride better as you did all the hard work on the way down into it.

I am going to my first spin class today - not the same as proper cycling but the local YMCA does free child care so at least I can get on a bike while I have DD to lug around. Then planning my first ride on Sunday when DH has promised to have both DC for a few hours so I can get out - so looking forward to it! Will do a gorgeous beach ride

London to Brighton sounds awesome, do they do regular rides? Planning to spend all of jan in the UK but a bit scared of a month with no training while gearing up to this mammoth ride next summer

Speaking of this ride, I've never done ANYTHING like it before. I have a ridgeback hybrid, would a road bike be better? California is nicely catered to cyclists with bike paths through all the beaches and down main coastal roads, even the part of LA I'm in has bike paths in the streets - but the lightweight nature of road bikes scares me, and their propensity to get punctures more!

GirlWithTheMouseyHair - your ride sounds awesome. A quick bit of googling says that is roughly 60 miles a day for 7 days, is that right?

Whether your bike will be suitable really depends on its spec - whether it is a 'fast hybrid' - i.e. more or less a road bike but with flat bars, or whether it is very much a town pop to the shops bike. I would recommend that you have a bike with at least an 8 cog rear cassette and either a double or triple chain ring on the front, depending how hilly it is. If it is flat, then a double will be fine, but if there are any sharp climbs, you may be grateful for a triple ring.

Whether you want a bike with drop handlebars or whether you stick to flat bars is mostly a matter of preference. Having drop bars will mean that you can get in a more aero position, so have to work slightly less hard to overcome air resistance, it is safer if there are any fast downhill sections to go 'on the drops' and it will give you more options regarding your cycling position, so you can shift around a bit if you are feeling tired or uncomfortable.

As a minimum, I would recommend having your bike set up so that your handlebars are level with your seat, rather than being 'sit up and beg'.

If you do go for a new bike, it is worth bearing in mind that a lighter bike will be less hard work, and you soon get used to the twitchiness, but I would not go for a pure road bike if you are not used to riding one. I would go for a tourer or a cyclo-cross bike, as these have a less aggressive and therefore more comfortable position than a pure road bike, although they look very similar.

Slicker, thinner tyres are a definite advantage, whatever bike you go for. I have 32mm Borough tyres, which came with my cyclo-cross bike, which are a bit nobbly on the sides but slick in the middle, but I normally ride with 25mm slick tyres. I find that I am nearly two miles an hour faster with the slick tyres, just through the reduction in rolling resistance. Getting toughened tyres such as Armadillos really reduce the risk of puncture.

The main London to Brighton is on once a year, but they now do other London to Brighton rides, such as a night ride, and an off-road ride.

Mousey there are other similar rides like the London to Cambridge. But not in January! Where will you be based? I'm sure there will be a local cycling club who would help you out.

Thanks all - great info on the bike. My hybrid is pretty decent but I think between the two you describe, but handlebars already at seat level. I didn't know about cyclo cross, they sound good...

In jan I'll be based at my folks in west Sussex, will be a shock to the system riding in English winter but I braced the snow and rain the last few years in London and will only be borrowing my dads old banger of a bike - bike clubs is a good idea, just want to keep my hand in

Spinning killed me yesterday!!! Argh, my fitness level is zero and I've never been one for hardcore exercise - this will def be a monstrous challenge!!

ALC takes 5days so I think roughly 80miles a day