Cycling Thread - All Peddlers and Pedallers welcome.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Have started a new thread as the other one is very nearly full.

29th sept last year, info on last years items here

So fingers crossed in a few weeks they do some.

eightytwenty I got mine for £60 from Wiggle here but they've also got them in Evans for the same price now, with a wider range of sizes.

Off tomorrow to reccy a section of the new Kinder Loop ride, so I just checked the weather forecast . . . 11° in the valley Also wet and windy in the afternoon - eek!
"Winter drawers on", as they say!

Ladymud, that route looks good. Is it mtb only or do you think a cyclocross bike would be ok?

I don't know anything about cyclocross, Viva or what the bikes are capable of, so I can't really comment.

The Mary Towneley Loop is well worth doing, although you'd be better with an MTB bike for that.

I want to start cycling again. Mainly to save petrol on shopping and to get a bit fitter. I am torn between a trike with basket on the back (seats on top of the basket) or a hybrid with a kid trailer. Need advice. Would poss not use the trailer for kids too much but would have that option, but was thinking it would be more stable than 2 wheels (and other traffic would afford me more road space) until I regained my nerve and road sense. Anyone use a trailer?

Please don't get a trike! Upright models like the Pashley feel horribly unstable on the road, unless you ride well away from the kerb. Roads generally slope down into the gutter a little bit, and this tilts the trike. A trailer will feel much safer!

MerlyPuss, check with your local council, as many offer free cycle training to Bikeability Level 3 standard. This can be 1-2-1, so you won't be with a bunch of kids!

Also check out Breeze Bike Rides. They're specially for women new to cycling, or getting back into it. And they're free

Merlypuss I've got a zigo which is essentially a reverse trike/ cargo bike. The camber/crap road surface thing is a real issue and takes a lot of getting used to but once you are used to it it's not too bad. The other thing is that a trike or cargo bike is likely to be extremely heavy even before you've loaded it with kids which will severely limit your range. That said, I wouldn't have a trailer because I'd be worried about traffic not realising it was there when I pulled out. We live in central London though and if we'd been in Cambridge for example I'd have been quite happy with a trailer.

Whatever you are riding you'll still be dealing with traffic and that's probably the biggest confidence issue - a lot of councils do cycling assertiveness training so have a look at that too.

Sorry ladymud just seen your post about training! That's what I meant but said much more clearly!

Great minds think alike, 93pjb
I just googled Zigo - they look cool!

re trike- trailer choice- IF you can... try before you buy. Borrow or hire what ever you are considering and try it out, on the road ( with out children but with a suitable weight load if you want a better idea) . I thought I wanted a front seat, hated it, ended up with a trailer, loved it. Was interested in a tag-a-long,tried it, hated it, tried a tandem, loved it.

Hi eightytwenty, I have puncture resistant slime wall tyres too. For a while they were fab, now I'm just paranoid in going to get a puncture, not realise it and shred my wheels to bits

Actually they rock, when you consider where I cycle I've yet to have a puncture, where friends have had several. Dp fitte them when we first got the bike, obviously he considers me useless at any kind of bike mechanics!

Bugger re aldi gear, was really hoping for some merino base layers in soon - shall keep fingers crossed for end sept and in the meantime head to sports direct for some shorts..

Decathlon is good (ie cheap) for cycling and other stuff - all year round!

Just reporting in that our local aldi have rain jackets, overshoes and over trousers in. No shorts though

Bookmarking :)

Bonjour.
I went out for a 10mile jaunt with my weds evening men in the rain. To the pub, then back to another pub.
I've officially given up on trying to find local female cyclists. The breeze network apparently cycle so slowly they may as well not bother and I can't spend my days trying to track down the couple I've seen out and about.
The guys are stupidly fast but at least they're pushing me to go faster!

For shoe covers I use these "PRO" ones which are made Shimano which are incredible. Make sure you get ones with Neoprene and these ones also had black bamboo in them?! So so warm and kept my feet really dry.

Check out the DHB stuff on Wiggle. Really nice stuff, great value for money. Make sure you also get some CrudCatchers www.crudproducts.com/products/roadracer too

Hello. Just hopping on after doing our local route in the mud and sun to wave my lemon drizzle cake at ladymud

Ha ha, Puffy! Lemon Drizzle cake - mmmm
You're really getting the hang of this biking lark now

Gindrinker, you might like to reconsider your comment "The breeze network apparently cycle so slowly they may as well not bother"

Cycling is for everyone, whatever age, shape, level of fitness, etc. There are plenty of clubs and other opportunities for keen riders.

Breeze is specifically to encourage non-riders and ex-riders to start riding (again). It is not intended for the likes of you (although perhaps you might like to become a Breeze Champion or a Sky Ride leader).

Please don't be rude to other women cyclists! At least they're not slobbing out in front of the TV . . .

Breeze rides vary - hugely.
Just like cyclists and group bike rides of any name vary.
I've done breeze rides that were 4 miles long, I've done breeze rides of 30 miles, some of them at 3 or 4 miles n hour some at 10-12 miles an hour, I've not done any with a higher average speed as 10-12 is about my comfortable speed for 30 miles, but I know they exist as friends have done them while training up to doing a sportive.

Sadly some people don't read ride descriptions and assume a breeze ride will be what ever it is they have in their head. This has led to some women showing up for long, hilly, building up to sportive rides on a mountain bike wearing jeans, thinking it would be a pottle in the park and conversely some women rocking up to a traffic free path pottle on skinny wheels in lycra & then complaining they are getting cold.

If I go on a club run I read the description and decide if its a ride I want to do and a ride I CAN do. this for me rules out the local club A, B, M1 & M2 runs, as I don;t ride that fast OR that far. It leaves me with the social run and the breeze/ club joint run.
Thus far I've not done any sky rides, some of those look VERY short, others look about right for me, but they are a bit far away and I don;t want to drive for an hour before and after a ride.

Hello all, glad to find the thread.

I started cycling again earlier this year, and completed Lap the Lough, a 90 mile cycle round Lough Neagh a couple of weeks ago.

I have a Merida Juliet Lite road bike, with clippy shoes. I love it. I also have a Ridgeback hybrid, which I use when doing family things, although DS (6) is still on stabilisers (but learning well - still at the running along and holding the seat stage) so we don't really manage to do too much as a family yet.

I plan to go out this Saturday for about 30 miles, which is the first I will have been on my bike for almost 3 weeks since the event.

Hello, just seen this thread, I lost the old one as it went off my watched threads, I think cos they buggered around with the categories relating to sport so it moved.

Anyway I am mostly a mountain biker but i do have a road bike as well, as i live in a flat part of the country so the mountain biking round here isn't that exciting.

i have 2 mountain bikes, one road bike a commuter bike and an old singlespeed mountain bike that i never ride.

I also don't ride with many other women, though I do have some female riding friends, mostly it is guys, if I only rode with women I would hardly ever ride! I have enough trouble finding people to agree to go for rides with me early in the morning to fit around the kids. I also night ride off road a lot in the evenings.

Off to Wales this weekend (mountain biking) woo hoo.

I do the nursery run with the kids in a trailer which is 3 miles - or at least I did until DS started school this week, we are yet to decide what to do with getting DD to nursery now (might be bike seat on the back) - I have found this fine and not that scary but a lot of it is on bike paths so quite safe - also live in Cambrdige where everyone else cycles. Not sure where whoever was asking about the trikes and bucket style kid bikes lives, but there is a shop in cambridge which specializes in them (I think it is called school run centre). If you live in London it could be worth a trip, I just popped in once and they let me try a bakefiets (dutch bucket style bike) and christiania (trike one with two wheels at the front - v weird to ride i found) there and then - really good.