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!

Where are you off to Tomorrow Summer? I went to Glentress for the first time in ages last week and had such good fun. But, because i hadn't been for so long, I'd forgotten which features I went over and which ones I take the chicken run round and ended up accidentally going over a huge drop-off that I've never done before. And I lived to tell the tale! Of course the big question is, could I do it again intentionally? (unlikely!)

Any recommendations for warm lightweight cycling gear, anyone?

life if you've got an Aldi nearby then go and see if they have any of their cycling stuff left, it's astonishingly good value for money and good quality too. I got their winter trousers and a soft shell jacket. The trousers are, IMO on a par with an Altura pair I had which cost 5x as much (and had to get sent back after one wear cos the reflective stuff started peeling off [bangry]).

Thanks Piffpaff good idea!

Haha piffpaff sometimes that is the best way - to ride something without thinking about it - til it goes wrong of course. I was riding in the Surrey hills near dorking so a bit of a way from Glentress. I love it up there though. Are you near Glentress? Anyway course you could do it again you have done it once will be fine!

What do you mean on lightweight stuff lifeistooshort? In general I quite rate pearl Izumi, sugoi and endura for mid/pricey stuff (I don't do super expensive assos/rapha as I will just fall off and trash it - is for roadies anyway )
Cheap I do aldi or dhb (from wiggle). Got loads of reduced stuff recently from rose bikes in Germany - v good had to send some stuff back due to not fitting but was fine and easy.

Summer I'm about an hour from Glentress so can do day trips although it's slightly less enticing now that The Hub and their lovely cakes are not there anymore. Am going to make more of an effort to go exploring locally though, we have loads of footpaths and tracks on our doorstep which I really should get out and investigate.

Theres a merino woll sale on the sportpursuit website I linked to last week - have had a few bits in and out of my shopping basket all evening

Have been buying stuff from Evans recently. Ds needed some Look pedals for his (borrowed) track bike (have I mentioned we've got a fandabbydozy new velodrome? ) as we had to give his borrowed pedals back. I did the research for the cheapest ones on-line and then got the local Evans store at Braehead to price-match as per their commitment . Got Look Keo Classic pedals for £35 instead of the official Evans price of £53!

Hi All!

FYI, there is a concerningly-titled 'documentary' on BBC on Wednesday, in case you haven't heard of it yet? It's called "The War on Britain's Roads", and looks like a series of filmed 'flashpoints' between cyclists and vehicles.
If you get round to googling it at all, you'll see lots of bike sources expressing alarm at this initiative. One element of it apparently is an 'alley race' - this is a staged professional stunt race from an experienced film maker. Unfortunatley, the voice over fails to point this out and leaves it to appear as if it reflects normal cyclists' conduct.

I fear it will be grim and v misleading.

You're welcome, ruby.

here's one article on it

I'll be setting of for work on my bike tomorrow at 6am. In the snow. The only person I'll be at war with is myself.

Hi All

I am going to this next weekend.

Hopefully it will give me an indication as to whether I am anywhere near the standard for having a go at racing next year.

That looks really good. :) Hope you have a great time.

I watched the end of a Women's Only Track session yesterday before the start ds' training session - it was good to see all sorts of shapes and ages!

Poor ds - he's in the top group with some really good Youth A and B riders (two of whom I am sure will end cycling for Scotland at least) - and he's still on Youth C gearing. He's got to spin like billy-o just to keep up - and doesn't stand a chance once they go into full sprint mode (they were doing Japanese Kieran yesterday). But at least he got more confident at the standing starts.

I need to get myself fitter so that I can give the Track a go (at least to be able to do Accreditation 1): I can go up hills but reeeeally slowly in the easiest possible gear. There is no way at the moment that I could go up a 45 degree "hill" at the constant speed of a fixie.

How did you get on pan cycling in the snow? I've just laid my kit out for tom hoping I can motivate myself to set off at 6.15am in dark n cold brrr. It's the wind I fear, last time coming home from work I was exhausted the head wind all the way just drained me. I have however with help of my DH on the gears, cleaned and lubed my bike after it was grinding abit and I realised how dirty it was DH had some wet cycle lube in the shed....who knew that was there!....so I will vow to clean it more regulary now :)

oh no snow ssmile, thanks! Forecast for lower Pennines was so, but none. Just really really cold. It's the coldest I've biked in this year, and I've realised you just have to do a sort of zen acceptance of it - otherwise it's a misery - and def. yes the the wind! Snow, hail, rain, Ok - NOT wind.

And am gobsmackingly impressed by all this talk of competitive biking, and velodrome stuff. Just wow. I bike past the National Cycling Centre in M/c near my journey's end and am sooo tempted to have a peek in or a go.

at some stage I need to get the cassette off and give it a bath or something. Just rubbing it with a tooth brush isn't going to get everything, is it?

yes ruby rain is the accompanier tomorrow morning......still, after the first 10 mins you can't get any wetter!

Aww at giving your cassette a bath pan that sounds sweet. I actually find that proper degreaser and a toothbrush does a good job. But it's very easy to get your cassette off, but you do need the tools (chain whip and round thing that I don't know the name of that holds the middle of the cassette in place, ahem, I am so helpful). Anyway it really must be easy as I can do it!! Then maybe you can put it in the dishwasher or something! (admit I usually only take my cassette off when it's knackered)

I don't mind cycling in the cold once I get going. Did race on Sunday and it was sub zero, and absolutely lovely. apart from the pain of riding as fast as possible I can't bear rain AND cold though, that is just minging. And yes also wind is not ideal - though I went out for a road ride weekend before last when it was 30 mph winds and said to DH, "Oh why don't you meet me with the kids at " where was a town that I would be blown to for 30 miles. Was awesome I went so fast!

ANyway pan have you cycled in snow before? Will you change your tyres? I ride my mountain bike to work when it snows. It is hard going but I also hate driving in the snow so I prefer biking.

thistle that training sessions sounds great. Hope its not too cold. Do you think you will race next year? Will it be women's only road races?

Am not going to watch the show you were on about. It will just piss me off!

Oh and other news is I am going to cycle the olympic mountain bike course the weekend after next. Apparently it is moderately terrifying and they are averaging one broken person a weekend (you have to book onto be guided to ride it - you aren't allowed to just go and ride it). So if I don't post back in a couple of weeks, so long, was nice knowing you all!

Ha! Bath, with bubblebath and water guns!

No, have never changed tyres, but have never ridden in 'proper' snow so it may be something to do this year may be??

Olympic course!! Double wowser! THAT is a challenge. I did see the fearless Helen Skelton having a go and she was..erm....not very successful. The pros made it look ok in the races but it looked pure evil.

No she wasn't was she? I don't think she was even on the difficult bits either!

Made it to work but got very wet cold n muddy, and NO heating on at work when got there :-( but did have hot shower. Still its taken me all morning to warm up hope the rads that are on now have dried out my kit or its going to be miserable gettin home again. My yellow jacket isn't water proof but I didn't fancy wearing my waterproof one under my high vis one but maybe I should have. But how do I keep my legs warm?? Twice I've cycled with cycle shorts under leggings &still cold.

Wow all this talk of racing is inspiring do you have to be young to do it? Just curious I'm not old (40) but not that "race" fit either!