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!

Update on the 40 km Cycletta on Sunday.

Won't give the exact placings as the competitors names are listed on line on the results page.

I came inside the top 85, out of 634 finishers. I am pretty chuffed, seeing as it was my first timed ride and still less than a year since I took up cycling and was exhausted after 6 miles. However, I was defeated by a section of the really steep hill just before the finish and although I managed to ride up most of it there did come a point that I realised I could make quicker progress on foot!

I pushed quite hard but perhaps could have pushed a bit harder, as I felt that I was still riding quite 'within myself'. However, I am still trying to focus on keeping my cadence up, keeping a smooth rhythm, and pushing through the balls of my feet rather than worrying about power too much at the moment, so hopefully speed will pick up when these become more second-nature.

However, I think we have had a bit of false modesty from DebiTheScot! All this "I'm not very fast" "I've only just switched from mountain biking" etc, etc- she finished considerably higher than me and 10 mins faster! I will leave it to her if she wants to disclose her result, but I will just say a big well done!

It was a great event and very friendly. I chatted to several women en route (when I had the breath to do so) and afterwards as well. The one in October is too far north for me but I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone living closer.

Well done Thistledew and Debi! Wow, sounds brilliant! Maybe I'll try and do it next year after all.

DottyDot, I have found that cycling is really great for weight loss and just generally toning up. I unfortunately didn't dare weigh myself at the time when I took up cycling but have really noticed that all my clothes have become much looser, even since the beginning of summer. Cycling to work is great, because it is 'dead' time that you are turning into something far more useful, and it means that you do not have to find time elsewhere in the week to exercise.

Give it a go again, and post back here to let us know how you get on!

By 'eck it's hard cycling in this wind.

I've only got a mile but it's up hill getting there for most of the way and with a head wind this morning it was a tough mile!

Just a quickie to say I will post again about Cycletta. And thanks thistle I'm feeling very chuffed with my position.
Mn on my laptop is playing up and it's too faffy to write long post from phone. I'll try again tomorrow.
I got your message too Thistle. I'll reply but basically I'm not worried.

Well we survived our cycling weekend, despite some rain and strong winds. On Saturday we rode from Lancaster Uni to Morecambe via Hest Bank, then on to near Glasson before heading back. Sunday was more hilly - around to Caton, Gressingham, Arkhome - not too far but there was hardly a flat piece of road on it! The wind made some parts more difficult, but it could have been worse. Today the Tour of Britain was called off in that area!
Back to cycling to work tomorrow - hope the wind has calmed down by then!

I agree with Thistle, the Cycletta event was really good. Well organised and friendly with a real mix of bikes and cyclists. Only bad thing I thought of about it was that if you had spectators with you they had to pay to get into the zoo to see you start and/or finish and get involved with things in the 'village'. Wasn't an issue for us as we were all going to the zoo afterwards anyway but it hadn't said anywhere on their website that the spectator bits were inside the zoo.

Anyway, back to the race. The start was fine as they set us off 10 at a time. I think this was as the exit corners were tight and then there was a very steep bendy downhill. The route was good, very picturesque. There was a 2 mile long hill between miles 4 and 6 (so not surprised you were tired at 6 miles Thistle) and a couple of good downhills. The hardest bit was at about 21 miles where there was another hill that I found a slog mainly because I knew the hill we'd gone down at the start was still to come. Then a mile down then the last mile up the hill from hell. Looking at the data from my Garmin it was about a 10% gradient and had about 3 tight bends on it. It was really hard but my stubbornness kept me on the bike! I probably could have run it faster though.
I was 7 mins slower than I hoped for (average 15mph and I'd hoped for over 16) but with the wind and that hill I was happy and then even happier when I saw my placing- 35th!

Loads of people must have been over optimistic about their time as I overtook a lot of people and I started at the right time for my time.

Going to enter a duathlon at the end of next month.

DebiTheScot and Thistle you have encouraged me, I might go for Cycletta North after all! I am fairly slow though - if I start near the back, I may not get everyone flying past me :)

That's fantastic paddington. I am sure you will enjoy it. Post back to let us know how you get on.

Ds (age 11 and one day), my dad and I enjoyed the Pedal for Scotland. Ds and I probably did about 52 miles by the time you've added on the cycle to and from Glasgow Green. Took us about 6.5 hours but that included stopping at every rest stop (every c.10 miles) and dad stopping to help someone who needed a spanner to deal with a puncture.

There were loads of punctures - must have seen hundreds of people stopped before we'd even left Glasgow. I know with c8.5,000 people doing it, there will be a fair few punctures, but there seemed lots. We were fortunate and dind't get one on the ride itself, although ds got his first ever puncture on the way to Glasgow Green, so my dad had to do a rapid repair job once we'd met him (fortunately we were within bike pushing distance).

Also saw at least 3 blue light incidents/attending - and know of one death as a friend's dad who is a doctor was doing it and he apparently had a 2 hour detour to A&E after resuscitating someone but they didn't make it. Salutory lesson on why you should fill in the details on the back of the number though: the guy had no ID on him, so it took time to get contact details. :(

The finish through Muarrayfield stadium was a nice touch.

Ds coped admirably - still needs to learn to cycle at a more consistent speed as he's a nightmare to cycle behind but he says he suffered no ill effects, even the following day when he got back on his bike to go to school but then he did spend most of his time up out of his saddle

My training must have been adequate too as my bum wasn't too sore the following day either!

All three of us zonked out on the bus on the way back to Glasgow - but getting back on the bike for the last 2 miles wasn't too bad. The weather was crap back in Glasgow and had apparently been bad for the Sky Ride - but it had been OK for us throughout our ride. I suspect we were just ahead of the bad weather all the way - and got the benefit of a tail wind.

Ds is desperate for the Islabikes Luath drop handlebar bike. I've told him he is between sizes at the moment so there's no point getting one. We will probably end up getting one for him for Christmas.

In truth both dh and I "need" new bikes before ds does (he's got a good Islabike Beinn at the moment) but....... he does get such pleasure from his cycling!

afraid i haven't read through the whole thing as no time at moment, will do so at my leisure tomorrow, but wanted to add something. I have been cycling home from work some days over the summer. I take bike in back of friend's car then cycle 11 miles home.It's that bit too far for me to do twice a day, but seems to work well. I want to keep it up as the weather changes, but know i will be tempted to give up. So.......what do I need to kit myself out for wet/cooler weather? Can't spend too much on gear, but looking for ideas about what to wear for flexibility ie it may be cold when start but soon work up a sweat (vv hilly) and raingear that packs down small.
Any words of encouragement from those who keep it up all winter would be welcomed

I could also use some advice from a pro about gears. I never seem to be in the right one and lose momentum going up hills. I don't really understyand the sequence of my gears, so that doesn't help

Prettybird Well done to you all. You all did brilliantly. Not sure my ds aged 11 could do the same. You all must be very fit.

I was feeling quite pleased with my 62kms I did yesterday until I read your post......!! I'm definitely going to work on my goal of 100km in the next few weeks before it gets too cold.

Tumteetum If I know a hill is coming up I change to the smallest cog in the front, whilst on a larger one at the back and gradually change down (up? not sure of the terminology) to the smallest cog at the back as I cycle uphill. I stay on that ratio as needed. I find if I leave it too late the chain won't move and then it comes off. I'm sure someone more experienced will come up with the correct terminology and explain it better!

Ds hadn't really done the training he should have done - but he had doen a couple of 12 mile rides and lots of c.7 mile rides after school and at weekends and cycles to school every day (less than 2 mile round trip though).

However, he is 11 and has all the energy of youth

I did make a concerted effort to get the miles in and had done 3 20+ mile rides in the 2 weeks before hand, as well as the 12 mile rides with ds and most of his 7 mile rides. The time I did it on my work commute (at the time) of a 6 mile round trip 3-4 days a week meant that I had a very sore bum the following day

My dad used to be the real cyclist amongst us (has cycled all over the world with my mum) but had pneumonia recently, so only committed to doing it at the last minute, once he had checked that he would be OK by cycling to visit Mum a few times (18 mile round trip for him).

Ds is really chuffed with himself and is already looking forward to next year! :)

Prettybird I've just been looking at the Pedal for Scotland site. All credit to you all as there is a big difference between between cycling 20+ miles and 50 in one gond still being able to walk afterwards.

I was cycling into a really strong headwind yesterday which was exhausting so you were very lucky having a tailwind. I'd hoped for that on the return part of the journey but the wind had changed direction!

Your Dad must be really strong physically to cycle that after having had pneumonia. I've noticed the difference in my fitness after having had the flu 2 weeks ago.

He's doing not bad for a 74 year old :)

I love cycling but I've only ridden my bike (Genesis Ridgeback) twice since November so I get quite sore now when I do cycle! I also have a folding bike.
I would like to start cycling with my son who's 10 months but I'm a bit nervous of the traffic around here. We have some mountain bikes now so are going to go off-road.
I've been cycling since I was a child and used to cycle to work for several years. Also enjoy leisure rides round country lanes, did the London to Brighton once and had a few days touring in Holland a few years ago.

Hi tumteetum
Lots of people struggle with gears but a few pointers may help. Apologies if I'm starting too simply but it may be useful to go right back to basics.

Most bikes have a number of cogs attached to the rear wheel. This is called a "cassette". They also have two or three cogs attached to the pedals. These are the "chain rings". By having the chain running over different combinations of chain ring and cassette cogs you get different gears, meaning your bike moves forwards a different amount for each rotation of the pedals. If the bike moves a small amount for each pedal rotation it's called a small or easy gear. If the bikes moves a large amount it's called a big or hard gear.

The biggest gear you have is when the chain is on the smallest cassette cog and the biggest chain ring. The smallest gear is when the chain is on the biggest cassette cog and the smallest chain ring.

When you're approaching a hill check that you're on a small cassette cog and the right chain ring (the middle or smallest, depending on how tough the hill is). Don't try and change chain ring once you're on the hill as you'll struggle to get it to change and if it does the chain is more likely to jump off. As you start going up the hill and it gets harder, shift the chain to a bigger cassette cog (a smaller gear). Keep shifting as it gets harder so you can keep pedalling at the same rate. You will slow down but you should keep your pedalling speed high. You do still need to work on the hill so keep pushing hard.

I hope this helps.

I'd just re-iterate the point that nocake made about changing gears before you need to, to keep the the rate you turn the pedals at constant.

Once it becomes too "stiff" it becomes more difficult to change gears. I can't quite get this through to ds (11): the need to anticipate the need to change gears - but I'm sure he'll get it eventually.

Thankyou so much Nocake and Prettybird, that's a really helpfyul explanation. I have been trying to change the chain ring on hills and have struggled. Want to go out and practice now I know what to do but is pouring with rain...
Does anyone have any advice for my other question about clothing and how to kit myself out for autumn/winter?

For my commute I have a pair of heavy duty waterproof trousers, a ski jacket, ski gloves and a woolly hat under my helmet. I also wear a hi-vis vest. If I'm on a training ride I wear a pair of thick bib-tights, several thin technical tops with a thin, hi-vis waterproof jacket on top, ski gloves and the woolly hat. The jacket doesn't keep me completely dry but it stops the wind so I stay warm.

Hello, Isn't anyone cycling at the moment? The weather is fabulous here at the moment, just like summer. I went out yesterday, cycled 75km and got to swim in the lake as well. Wonderful! I have achieved another one of my goals I set for myself. Ached a little yesterday evening but fine today. Next goal 100km. Also am thinking about doing a col. The only thing putting me off is cycling back down the mountain afterwards.

hi there! Just thought I'd post briefly about Cycletta North. I did it with another mum from dd's school, who managed to enter at the last minute. We really enjoyed it and were quite pleased with our time - 1 hr 29. The course sounds like it was maybe a bit easier than the South one! Fastest result of the day was 1 hr 5 min The whole thing was well organised, would consider doing it again next year.
How is everyone? Weather seems to be turning a bit up north.. got a bit wet on the way home today!

Well done Paddington. It all seems very well organised. I wonder where all the cyclists have gone? Snow on the cols here so I don't think I'll be doing that might need to shelve that goal for this year. I might try and cycle 100kms this week if the weather holds out.....