[Other Sport] Cycling geeks

[manintheblackpajamas]

I'm not entirely convinced I said The Wall is 'easy', but it definitely has a reputation that it doesn't live up to.
I really was expecting a brutal horror show, similar to The Steyning Bostal, which it just isn't.
I doubt it in the top 5 climbs, in a 10 mile radius, it just looks worse because of the nature of the road.

It seems to be to very much be a hill that depends on miles in the legs, as PB mentioned. I felt like I breezed up it in a Sportive that started in Burgess Hill, but when I rode out to it from the coast I found it a bit tougher going.
I had smashed my personal best up the Bostal as my first climb of the day though, so I was feeling a bit like I had triumphed over that particular climb. It helps that it has a downhill section!

 

[Stat Brother]

I had the fun route of the KotDowns penciled in to do with jnr, fingers crossed.

 

[Bold Seagull]

OK, sounds good. When is it? How far? Link?

April 21st - http://www.hhbikeride.co.uk/

4 routes, 10 miles through to 72 miles

 

[Bold Seagull]

Thanks MITBP. Unfortunately the first two have sold out - I had been considering both of these, especially the Dorking one...

I did King of the Downs last year, and can confirm that it is an absolute killer. It advertised itself as having "Ten Killer Climbs", and this wasn't a lie. Unfortunately, the rest of the route is very hilly too, and all in all there were 3000m of climbing, if I remember right. The hills get harder as the course goes on - the last two, Yorks Hill and Titsey Hill (ooer missus...) are incredibly hard, especially after what's gone before. Also included are Coombe Bottom, Leith Hill, Box Hill, The Wall and several others.

And it's 115 miles. I swore I'd never do it again. I'm here to be convinced, though...

The South Downs Spring Sportive looks a distinct possibility. This was the one that was supposed to happen a couple of weeks or so ago, and got sleeted off. Yes, tempting. What do you think [MENTION=16159]Bold Seagull[/MENTION] ? And are you doing it MITBP?

The Plumpton one on the 18 May sounds good!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

The Plumpton one on the 18 May sounds good!

Yep, I think this'll probably be my next one. I'll get back to you!

 

[Hamilton]

I don't have that excuse hovering somewhere between 5'7" and 8"



If you'd asked on Saturday I'd have said everything was going very well. Fitness was good, legs were good, I'd tried some longer climbs in Exmoor (Dunkery Beacon is a beast) and I was very happy with my training plan and remaining sportives to at least give the Alps a good go.

However, I appear to have upped my hill training a little too severely with the clock change and have actually had a physio appointment this evening as my knee has been screaming at me since Sunday.
Apparently it's an issue with my IT band and I have some exercises to stretch it out etc. I'm also currently taped up from knee to erm, groin.

Sweet Jesus! You did Dunkery Beacon! Hats off to you. Was there just recently following the Tour of Exmoor. Thankfully the route just slipped past the Beacon. It looked immense. The following day we walked a part of it. I was glad I was walking.

 

[manintheblackpajamas]

Sweet Jesus! You did Dunkery Beacon! Hats off to you. Was there just recently following the Tour of Exmoor. Thankfully the route just slipped past the Beacon. It looked immense. The following day we walked a part of it. I was glad I was walking.

I did find it incredibly tough though, but for me it was the main point of the whole 3 day trip.
4 of us cycled from Weston-Super-Mare to Minehead and back staying in Taunton one night and Minehead the next.

Only 2 of us set off to do the Beacon after arriving at Minehead and I'm really glad I did, but equally glad I didn't attempt Porlock Hill on the same ride.
Our loop out to Dunkery packed in 661 metres ascent in 30.3 kilometres.

There's a really nice descent somewhere near Wheddon Cross though, so there is some pay-off.

 

[smeariestbat]

Hello cycling persons. I have an apollo phaze mountain bike i'm looking to sell as i'm moving country. where do you think i would stand the best chances of selling it? cost me £300 new and i've hardly ridden at and its still in near perfect condition, but as it is a halfords bike i was going to look for £150, what do you think?

 

[Pantani]

Hello cycling persons. I have an apollo phaze mountain bike i'm looking to sell as i'm moving country. where do you think i would stand the best chances of selling it? cost me £300 new and i've hardly ridden at and its still in near perfect condition, but as it is a halfords bike i was going to look for £150, what do you think?

No chance, you will be lucky to get £50. Any right minded person will see the word Apollo and steer well clear, unfortunately bikes lose 50% of their value the moment they leave the shop floor unless you are talking top end stuff. A £300 Apollo is still an Apollo, the phaze is also available brand new at £180 at the moment.

Sorry.

 

[Hamilton]

I did find it incredibly tough though, but for me it was the main point of the whole 3 day trip.
4 of us cycled from Weston-Super-Mare to Minehead and back staying in Taunton one night and Minehead the next.

Only 2 of us set off to do the Beacon after arriving at Minehead and I'm really glad I did, but equally glad I didn't attempt Porlock Hill on the same ride.
Our loop out to Dunkery packed in 661 metres ascent in 30.3 kilometres.

There's a really nice descent somewhere near Wheddon Cross though, so there is some pay-off.

The Wheddon Cross descent is great. On the day I was there the road across the moor to Lynmouth was shut to cars. It was brilliant having an open road only open to cycles.

 

[Stat Brother]

Hello cycling persons. I have an apollo phaze mountain bike i'm looking to sell as i'm moving country. where do you think i would stand the best chances of selling it? cost me £300 new and i've hardly ridden at and its still in near perfect condition, but as it is a halfords bike i was going to look for £150, what do you think?

No chance, you will be lucky to get £50. Any right minded person will see the word Apollo and steer well clear, unfortunately bikes lose 50% of their value the moment they leave the shop floor unless you are talking top end stuff. A £300 Apollo is still an Apollo, the phaze is also available brand new at £180 at the moment.

Sorry.

Make way, come on clear a path, make way, Sanctimonious Stat coming through.

Now smear you might be thinking 'ah this Pantani fellow is going to make me a low offer having done my bike down'.
Well he won't as I think he was being generous, because he's a very nice man.

What you should be thinking is 'why didn't I go to the fountain of all bike knowledge BEFORE, I brought a bike'.

Had you done that you:-

You wouldn't have shopped in Halfords. (excluding Boardman)
You wouldn't have bought a bike you didn't ride.
You wouldn't have lost so much money.

Instead

You would have bought the bike you liked.
You would have bought the bike you needed.
You would have bought the bike you'd regularly use.
You would have bought a bike with a resale value.

Ok now self-righteous, Sanctimonious Stat, has gone for a lay down, I think all you can do is put it on Gumtree.com | Free classified ads from UKs Number 1 Classifieds Site or The Friday Ad, you'll definitely find it's price there, and I'm sure someone will pick it up, from you.

 

[sten_super]

Hello various cycling gurus. I've come for some advice.

I, as a 28-year old unfit and overweight man, have just (this week) started commuting to work on my bike. It's about 13½ miles and almost completely flat (the joys of living in the East of England). I've commuted previously when it was about 2 miles, but never (consistently) cycled this distance. I am more or less completely unprepared - I have bought some cheap cycling shorts, some half-decent lights and new tyres, but that's about it. I'm currently using a hybrid, a Giant Escape, with some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres that I purchased last week. Apart from that the bike is standard spec.

I appreciate that my bike is not ideal for the distance, but it'll be hard to get a new bike purchase (certainly an expensive one) past 'er indoors as the Giant is only 18 months old (but bought before we'd thought about moving out to the sticks). I suppose my real question is, what accessories (and eventually bike) should I be looking to buy to make the commute easier (both in terms of comfort and speed) and what order of priority should I purchase them in? I'm currently on the look-out for some gloves, but I'm reluctant to buy some without being able to try them on and none of the bike shops that I've been to around here have any in stock. Any recommendations?

Also, I'm generally enjoying the ride (aches and pains aside), but am somewhat trundling along (13.4 miles is taking me a tad under 1 hour 10 mins). Are there particular exercises I should be doing to look to improve my speed, or will just a general improvement in fitness do it for me?

edit to add: As context - I can't see myself ever really getting 'in' to cycling. Yes, it'd be nice to do the odd 30- or 40-mile bike ride (but at a push I could probably do this at the moment; certainly after commuting for a while) but I'm unlikely to get into sportives or anything else. It's primarily for me about fitness and actually getting to work and back (I would say saving money but I don't think that's very likely given how much accessories and potentially a new bike will cost me!).

 

[Stat Brother]

Hello various cycling gurus. I've come for some advice.

I, as a 28-year old unfit and overweight man, have just (this week) started commuting to work on my bike. It's about 13½ miles and almost completely flat (the joys of living in the East of England). I've commuted previously when it was about 2 miles, but never (consistently) cycled this distance. I am more or less completely unprepared - I have bought some cheap cycling shorts, some half-decent lights and new tyres, but that's about it. I'm currently using a hybrid, a Giant Escape, with some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres that I purchased last week. Apart from that the bike is standard spec.

I appreciate that my bike is not ideal for the distance, but it'll be hard to get a new bike purchase (certainly an expensive one) past 'er indoors as the Giant is only 18 months old (but bought before we'd thought about moving out to the sticks). I suppose my real question is, what accessories (and eventually bike) should I be looking to buy to make the commute easier (both in terms of comfort and speed) and what order of priority should I purchase them in? I'm currently on the look-out for some gloves, but I'm reluctant to buy some without being able to try them on and none of the bike shops that I've been to around here have any in stock. Any recommendations?

Also, I'm generally enjoying the ride (aches and pains aside), but am somewhat trundling along (13.4 miles is taking me a tad under 1 hour 10 mins). Are there particular exercises I should be doing to look to improve my speed, or will just a general improvement in fitness do it for me?

edit to add: As context - I can't see myself ever really getting 'in' to cycling. Yes, it'd be nice to do the odd 30- or 40-mile bike ride (but at a push I could probably do this at the moment; certainly after commuting for a while) but I'm unlikely to get into sportives or anything else. It's primarily for me about fitness and actually getting to work and back (I would say saving money but I don't think that's very likely given how much accessories and potentially a new bike will cost me!).

TBH you're probably well set already.

You don't have any suspension, & new tyres.
Thinner slicker tyres might have been better, but what you have bought is plenty good enough.
If they had big nobbly bits we'd have been rolling our eyes.

It's tough to quantify 'cheap shorts', a hybrid is a lot more forgiving than a road bike so if they are working for you then fine.

Minor aches and pains are probably from using 'new' muscles differently, plus your weight, I'd image they will both change fairly quickly. Although I doubt you drink anywhere near enough water and would suggest you considerably up your intake.

As for any 'next step' that's down to you, although as [MENTION=3858]Motogull[/MENTION] will testify, as he's were you are now not so long ago, if it gets under your skin it'll be really worthwhile and rewarding.
At that point, we'll really start to spend your cash


Oh and 13mph is not too shabby, if you are competitive and are serious about losing weight and gaining fitness, a little £10 computer that logs your distance, speed, and average speed, will help you with your commitment and push you on.

 

[sten_super]

TBH you're probably well set already.

You don't have any suspension, & new tyres.
Thinner slicker tyres might have been better, but what you have bought is plenty good enough.
If they had big nobbly bits we'd have been rolling our eyes.

It's tough to quantify 'cheap shorts', a hybrid is a lot more forgiving than a road bike so if they are working for you then fine.

Minor aches and pains are probably from using 'new' muscles differently, plus your weight, I'd image they will both change fairly quickly. Although I doubt you drink anywhere near enough water and would suggest you considerably up your intake.

As for any 'next step' that's down to you, although as [MENTION=3858]Motogull[/MENTION] will testify, as he's were you are now not so long ago, if it gets under your skin it'll be really worthwhile and rewarding.
At that point, we'll really start to spend your cash


Oh and 13mph is not too shabby, if you are competitive and are serious about losing weight and gaining fitness, a little £10 computer that logs your distance, speed, and average speed, will help you with your commitment and push you on.

Thanks very much for the advice and reassurance. It's a bit intimidating tootling along the back roads on my hybrid and seeing various lycra-clad gents on their expensive road bikes shoot past!

The water tip is a good one, I'll be sure to up my consumption.

I've been using the Strava Cycling app on my phone to monitor time, average speed etc, which as you say has been a great motivator. At the moment the rides have been taking me longer as the week's gone on, although I'm hoping to reverse the trend within a couple of weeks (and certainly at the start of each week!).

 

[Stat Brother]

Thanks very much for the advice and reassurance. It's a bit intimidating tootling along the back roads on my hybrid and seeing various lycra-clad gents on their expensive road bikes shoot past!

The water tip is a good one, I'll be sure to up my consumption.

I've been using the Strava Cycling app on my phone to monitor time, average speed etc, which as you say has been a great motivator. At the moment the rides have been taking me longer as the week's gone on, although I'm hoping to reverse the trend within a couple of weeks (and certainly at the start of each week!).

I started back, on a Carrera Subway and although there wasn't the popularity at the time, it was still pretty disheartening when someone shot past. I remember my rides were pretty inconsistent, I guess your more susceptible to variables like the weather and energy levels when you don't have the 'miles in your legs'.

I certainly reached a point when I wanted more from cycling and so it began.
As said [MENTION=3858]Motogull[/MENTION] is definitely the man to chat with, as I think he's only recently crossed over to full geekdom, not that you'd know that from his avatar

 

[Bold Seagull]

Hello various cycling gurus. I've come for some advice.

I, as a 28-year old unfit and overweight man, have just (this week) started commuting to work on my bike. It's about 13½ miles and almost completely flat (the joys of living in the East of England). I've commuted previously when it was about 2 miles, but never (consistently) cycled this distance. I am more or less completely unprepared - I have bought some cheap cycling shorts, some half-decent lights and new tyres, but that's about it. I'm currently using a hybrid, a Giant Escape, with some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres that I purchased last week. Apart from that the bike is standard spec.

I appreciate that my bike is not ideal for the distance, but it'll be hard to get a new bike purchase (certainly an expensive one) past 'er indoors as the Giant is only 18 months old (but bought before we'd thought about moving out to the sticks). I suppose my real question is, what accessories (and eventually bike) should I be looking to buy to make the commute easier (both in terms of comfort and speed) and what order of priority should I purchase them in? I'm currently on the look-out for some gloves, but I'm reluctant to buy some without being able to try them on and none of the bike shops that I've been to around here have any in stock. Any recommendations?

Also, I'm generally enjoying the ride (aches and pains aside), but am somewhat trundling along (13.4 miles is taking me a tad under 1 hour 10 mins). Are there particular exercises I should be doing to look to improve my speed, or will just a general improvement in fitness do it for me?

edit to add: As context - I can't see myself ever really getting 'in' to cycling. Yes, it'd be nice to do the odd 30- or 40-mile bike ride (but at a push I could probably do this at the moment; certainly after commuting for a while) but I'm unlikely to get into sportives or anything else. It's primarily for me about fitness and actually getting to work and back (I would say saving money but I don't think that's very likely given how much accessories and potentially a new bike will cost me!).

I think the biggest difference you could probably add (if you haven't already) is some spd pedals and shoes. Your power output can come from both your down and up stroke on the pedal, and so as some muscles tire, you can slightly change your pedal action, maintain your speed by use different muscles while resting others. The good thing about spd shoes is that the clip can be hidden in the sole, and so you can wear an spd shoe that looks like a nice trainer when you're off the bike. The shoes have much stiffer soles than normal shoes and so much more of your effort is transferred into the crank. You can also get pedals that have an outer flat base as well as the clip so you pedal in normal shoes if you don't want to put on the spd's.

The only other accessories I would recommend are your your comfort; i.e right clothing for changing weather conditions, plus base layers are excellent at managing your sweat levels.

You will find the weight will drop off you from doing 27 miles per day, 100+ miles per week. If you've got an iPhone or Smart Phone, download something like Strava and record your rides each day. Strava has segments where you can see your time, compare it to previous days and to other people. It will also confirm your mileage, average speed, top speed etc. Just adds a bit of interest and a bit of fun to try to beat your time at certain places.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Hello various cycling gurus. I've come for some advice.

I, as a 28-year old unfit and overweight man, have just (this week) started commuting to work on my bike. It's about 13½ miles and almost completely flat (the joys of living in the East of England). I've commuted previously when it was about 2 miles, but never (consistently) cycled this distance. I am more or less completely unprepared - I have bought some cheap cycling shorts, some half-decent lights and new tyres, but that's about it. I'm currently using a hybrid, a Giant Escape, with some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres that I purchased last week. Apart from that the bike is standard spec.

I appreciate that my bike is not ideal for the distance, but it'll be hard to get a new bike purchase (certainly an expensive one) past 'er indoors as the Giant is only 18 months old (but bought before we'd thought about moving out to the sticks). I suppose my real question is, what accessories (and eventually bike) should I be looking to buy to make the commute easier (both in terms of comfort and speed) and what order of priority should I purchase them in? I'm currently on the look-out for some gloves, but I'm reluctant to buy some without being able to try them on and none of the bike shops that I've been to around here have any in stock. Any recommendations?

Also, I'm generally enjoying the ride (aches and pains aside), but am somewhat trundling along (13.4 miles is taking me a tad under 1 hour 10 mins). Are there particular exercises I should be doing to look to improve my speed, or will just a general improvement in fitness do it for me?

edit to add: As context - I can't see myself ever really getting 'in' to cycling. Yes, it'd be nice to do the odd 30- or 40-mile bike ride (but at a push I could probably do this at the moment; certainly after commuting for a while) but I'm unlikely to get into sportives or anything else. It's primarily for me about fitness and actually getting to work and back (I would say saving money but I don't think that's very likely given how much accessories and potentially a new bike will cost me!).

You'll be a geek before you know it.

As with anything that is about fitness, you begin to get better, fitter and more proficient. When this happens I guarantee that you'll want to push on further - you'll start seeing bike shops as pornographic, and will begin to aspire to what you cannot afford, before deciding that perhaps you can afford it. You'll be doing sportives, long weekend cycles, and developing a whole new social circle from what is the most beautiful of sports.

I've seen it all before. Again and again.

For the time being, your bike sounds fine for what you're doing. Don't worry about the roadies - it is compulsory for them to chase down and overtake anyone who is on a less sporty bike than them (us).

Gloves - check out Wiggle, they always have a good selection with loads of reviews from previous customers. I've got fingerless Castelli's and full length Campagnolas, both are excellent, but there are so many to choose from.

Most importantly, find a local bike shop where you can develop a relationship with the staff - this is vital interms of progress, trust, advice etc.

Keep going, you'll be fit and trim before you know it!

 

[Bold Seagull]

The Plumpton one on the 18 May sounds good!

Yep, I think this'll probably be my next one. I'll get back to you!

I think [MENTION=11738]Spreadbetting Seagull[/MENTION] was going to do this one before it was rearranged, up for it again mountain goat!?

 

[smeariestbat]

No chance, you will be lucky to get £50. Any right minded person will see the word Apollo and steer well clear, unfortunately bikes lose 50% of their value the moment they leave the shop floor unless you are talking top end stuff. A £300 Apollo is still an Apollo, the phaze is also available brand new at £180 at the moment.

Sorry.

and also [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION]. Buggerit!

 

[Stat Brother]

and also [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION]. Buggerit!

Hey nothing to do with me, it's Sanctimonious Stat you need to be speaking to, but he's an arse.