[Other Sport] Cycling geeks

[Stat Brother]

Quick question...
During and after all my rides lately I am am getting massively sore feet. Not been a problem before, but after my 50 miler today I was barely able to put any weight on my right foot as the bone felt so bruised. Its all the way down the outside & underside of the foot (particularly so at the midpoint) - & feels like Ive been stamping barefoot on pebbles for an hour.
Any advice or tips to stop it happening??

Stop stamping on pebbles.

 

[Motogull]

[MENTION=24884]Fignon's Ponytail[/MENTION]. I had a similar problem so rode with looser shoes for a while. It did the trick.

 

[spongy]

After two and a half weeks of a horrid virus and bronchitis has kept me off the bike I've got back on it this week expecting any fitness I had built up in my mere 3 months of being back in the saddle to have gone.

Managed 10 miles yesterday without feeling too bad.

Started a 6 mile commute only to nearly ride into a fallen tree at 5.20am this morning 2 miles into the route. The bridge it had fallen over was the only local way to cross the river so I had to turn back to almost the start point and start again. Route abandoned and only 5 miles this morning!

I had an early finish today at 4.30 so planned a 15 mile mix of road and off road route home that started really well. I had to keep stopping to check the route and where I was as the sat nav on my phone was telling me to go straight ahead but at a fork in the trails. 13 miles in it wanted to send me through a farm that had 10ft steel gates blocking the footpath so had to find a way around but failing light, a front light that was about to drop into "get me home" mode (not good for off roading in the dark), 5% battery on the phone I decided to call it and head straight home feeling rather good considering it's the first proper ride in a while.

The bike is filthy and caked in mud. I only have a few rashes from stinging nettles.

I also need to invest in a proper mountain biking jacket that has good breathing and wicking. I have a yellow Altura one at the moment but I was getting very hot inside it with the backpack on.

On the plus side I hope to have a proper Vaude Splash Air 20+5 backpack arriving on Thursday for my 40th birthday

I now sitting here smashing down some cider and undoing all my hard work.

Another 6am start at work tomorrow so early night and to plan a route that will avoid the fallen tree in the morning.

Today's shortened ride......
Check out this post on Strava https://strava.app.link/D16B2TAn4Q

 

[banjo]

https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-could-have-to-give-way-to-cyclists-and-pedestrians-under-highway-code-shake-up-11528398

Interesting. Not sure it’ll go down well with the petrol heads.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Quick question...
During and after all my rides lately I am am getting massively sore feet. Not been a problem before, but after my 50 miler today I was barely able to put any weight on my right foot as the bone felt so bruised. Its all the way down the outside & underside of the foot (particularly so at the midpoint) - & feels like Ive been stamping barefoot on pebbles for an hour.
Any advice or tips to stop it happening??

1. Tightness of shoe. With the fasteners it's really easy to over tighten, cut off circulation and cause pain in the foot and up the leg.
2. Cleat position. Sometimes cleats can shift without you realising or over time poor positioning has led to pain. You can do the whole dangling your leg, draw the outline of your natural foot angle then transpose that to the cleat position. With new shoes or cleats I go out with an allen key and then might make micro adjustments every few miles to get it just right. I have had pain in feet and up to knees through cleats. I've also experimented with less float and the blue cleats (SPD-L) as I think my legs prefer being locked in rather than having float, although the cleat position is critical to this.

What cleats are you using? An SPD mountain bike cleat is a very fixed point in the shoe, great for MTB and commuting, but for longer rides, can create a 'hot spot' in your foot. Other road cleats spread the load further across the sole of the foot.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

1. Tightness of shoe. With the fasteners it's really easy to over tighten, cut off circulation and cause pain in the foot and up the leg.
2. Cleat position. Sometimes cleats can shift without you realising or over time poor positioning has led to pain. You can do the whole dangling your leg, draw the outline of your natural foot angle then transpose that to the cleat position. With new shoes or cleats I go out with an allen key and then might make micro adjustments every few miles to get it just right. I have had pain in feet and up to knees through cleats. I've also experimented with less float and the blue cleats (SPD-L) as I think my legs prefer being locked in rather than having float, although the cleat position is critical to this.

What cleats are you using? An SPD mountain bike cleat is a very fixed point in the shoe, great for MTB and commuting, but for longer rides, can create a 'hot spot' in your foot. Other road cleats spread the load further across the sole of the foot.

Just some thoughts.

Cheers Bold. I played around with the cleats the other day and have set them back a bit - also put a bit more angle on them as my feet are naturally at "10-2" with my weight on the outer edge of the sole, so they now have more of an even pressure across the bottom of the shoe. Im not riding "knees out" like you see some people do, but its enough to feel my legs are lined up where they should be.
Im riding road style cleats as the old MTB ones I had were too uncomfortable, and I have quite a bit of float as I've always had knee problems since I was a kid anyway. I wear shoes with Velcro straps and the last 3 days have ridden them without over tightening....and its all made a big difference.

Fingers crossed it'll really reduce the pain from now on & I wont have to worry about it anymore.

 

[Stat Brother]

https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-could-have-to-give-way-to-cyclists-and-pedestrians-under-highway-code-shake-up-11528398

Interesting. Not sure it’ll go down well with the petrol heads.

Worthy of it's own thread, when I've got the energy.

Cheers Bold. I played around with the cleats the other day and have set them back a bit - also put a bit more angle on them as my feet are naturally at "10-2" with my weight on the outer edge of the sole, so they now have more of an even pressure across the bottom of the shoe. Im not riding "knees out" like you see some people do, but its enough to feel my legs are lined up where they should be.
Im riding road style cleats as the old MTB ones I had were too uncomfortable, and I have quite a bit of float as I've always had knee problems since I was a kid anyway. I wear shoes with Velcro straps and the last 3 days have ridden them without over tightening....and its all made a big difference.

Fingers crossed it'll really reduce the pain from now on & I wont have to worry about it anymore.

Or KNEE out in one particular cyclist case, mentioning no names ( [MENTION=225]Hamilton[/MENTION])

I'm just back from a lovely ride, following a known route.

It occurred to me, half way round, that I might never have ridden it anti-clockwise.
Sure enough having ridden the roads 20+ times, according to Strava I've never done it the 'wrong way'.
A fact in itself isn't surprising as on the profile appears to be up hill all the way.

No cars at the bottom of Duncton Hill

 

[Stat Brother]

Oh dear I seem to be feeling a bit Moto.

After a decent few weeks of riding not a lot from my lower back down is working.
Back, right bum, both knees, right arm and ankles all hurt.
Oddly though I'm at my most comfortable while riding so the slow' deterioration of the boy Statles will continue, in this glorious weather.

 

[mwrpoole]

Ok NSC I need some help on the cycling front.

I've agreed with some mates to do a 3 day off road 200 mile event next summer, from the Lake District across Lancashire & Yorkshire to Scarborough (The Crossing 2019).

One of the group is a regular cyclist & triathlete and is recommending I get a carbon 29er hardtail, he says the lightness of a carbon frame will make a huge difference.

It also makes a huge difference to the wallet!

From what I've researched a carbon bike will come in at about 10KG whereas most non carbon bikes will be 12-13KG. Is that extra 2-3KG going to make that much difference?

There are a huge amount of 2nd hand bikes for sale on Facebook & Ebay but should these be avoided? As I don't really know much at all about bikes I could end up buying a dud

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[banjo]

Ok NSC I need some help on the cycling front.

I've agreed with some mates to do a 3 day off road 200 mile event next summer, from the Lake District across Lancashire & Yorkshire to Scarborough (The Crossing 2019).

One of the group is a regular cyclist & triathlete and is recommending I get a carbon 29er hardtail, he says the lightness of a carbon frame will make a huge difference.

It also makes a huge difference to the wallet!

From what I've researched a carbon bike will come in at about 10KG whereas most non carbon bikes will be 12-13KG. Is that extra 2-3KG going to make that much difference?

There are a huge amount of 2nd hand bikes for sale on Facebook & Ebay but should these be avoided? As I don't really know much at all about bikes I could end up buying a dud

Any advice much appreciated.

Think Pogue’s your man on this advice. Hopefully you haven’t woken Stat up. No sure he’s a fan of chunky bikes.

 

[Motogull]

not a lot from my lower back down is working.

Okay, so 'right arm' is a euphemism then big boy?

I have noticed that my rear tyre has some malformation/blistering. Must be all the roller sessions. How long before it blows? I'm due out at 6 tomorrow morning.

 

[banjo]

Okay, so 'right arm' is a euphemism then big boy?

I have noticed that my rear tyre has some malformation/blistering. Must be all the roller sessions. How long before it blows? I'm due out at 6 tomorrow morning.

https://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12912786


Looks like you can buy tyres for rollers.

 

[Stat Brother]

Okay, so 'right arm' is a euphemism then big boy?

I have noticed that my rear tyre has some malformation/blistering. Must be all the roller sessions. How long before it blows? I'm due out at 6 tomorrow morning.

Nah I missed a crucial 'and'.

In an ideal world you never threw out old tyres 'just in case', as rollers will kill a decent set very quickly.

I guess one of us should have mentioned that a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Motogull]

Nah I missed a crucial 'and'.

In an ideal world you never threw out old tyres 'just in case', as rollers will kill a decent set very quickly.

I guess one of us should have mentioned that a couple of weeks ago.

I'm kinda stuffed as I want to do a few rolling sessions midweek and a real ride over the weekend but can't be arsed swapping tyres and I have no other wheels. Existing front is quite worn anyway. I'll see how it goes. The 28s might get fitted quicker than expected.

 

[banjo]

I'm kinda stuffed as I want to do a few rolling sessions midweek and a real ride over the weekend but can't be arsed swapping tyres and I have no other wheels. Existing front is quite worn anyway. I'll see how it goes. The 28s might get fitted quicker than expected.

What better excuse to get another bike.

 

[Stat Brother]

Ok NSC I need some help on the cycling front.

I've agreed with some mates to do a 3 day off road 200 mile event next summer, from the Lake District across Lancashire & Yorkshire to Scarborough (The Crossing 2019).

One of the group is a regular cyclist & triathlete and is recommending I get a carbon 29er hardtail, he says the lightness of a carbon frame will make a huge difference.

It also makes a huge difference to the wallet!

From what I've researched a carbon bike will come in at about 10KG whereas most non carbon bikes will be 12-13KG. Is that extra 2-3KG going to make that much difference?

There are a huge amount of 2nd hand bikes for sale on Facebook & Ebay but should these be avoided? As I don't really know much at all about bikes I could end up buying a dud

Any advice much appreciated.

One thing your friend won't have warned you about, you'll need to loosen up your pointing finger.
Pointing off into the middle distance will be one of the hardest skills you'll have to learn:-

 

[banjo]

One thing your friend won't have warned you about, you'll need to loosen up your pointing finger.
Pointing off into the middle distance will be one of the hardest skills you'll have to learn:-

View attachment 101427

I’m surprised you didn’t put a caption with that picture.

 

[1066familyman]

Report back from first sampling of Cob lane.

As mentioned a while back, I planned to ride the Mid Sussex Hillier audax, which I did yesterday, and it included Cob Lane.

Unlike Kidds Hill, which I was never sure I was actually on it when I rode it a while back, Cob lane announced itself no bother! Unfortunately on the narrow winding descent to it ( Hook lane) my rear light decided to fall off. I had to get off the bike to change gears as I wouldn't be able to clip in and go back up to retrieve the light. Having found the light, I then descended even more gingerly than usual as I didn't want a repeat performance. All the while I had no idea this lane would soon morph into Cob Lane, even though I remember Stat telling me you descend into Cob Lane. Then things went very uphill very quickly and I thought this could only be Cob Lane. Sighting the 20% sign just confirmed it, but even without the sign, there was no mistaking. Quickly into my lowest gear I crawled up it and had the fleeting thought of getting off. This wasn't so much it's gradient, or length ( I'd put it just above Chick Hill and Doleham Hill over here ) but the fact that my mojo had gone before I even started the ride yesterday. But what a climb! Technical descent into it, proper leg burner and all set in a quiet wooded lane. I will be revisiting this beauty again I hope.

Have to say, for my first excursion on a bike into Mid Sussex, I'm impressed! Despite being Mr Grumpy for the day, and not really up for the ride, the route still impressed me all the way round. The roads are certainly less pot holey over there than they are our way. Not sure if that's because it's a richer area than over here or not? or the route planner avoided all the dodgy lanes, but there was a definite difference. Highlight was definitely Cob Lane, but I also particularly liked Rowhill Lane, coming from the Rocks lane end, Balcombe.

If any of you boys over that way want to send me some routes of about 60 -100 miles, hilly elevations welcome, going up and east of, say Lewes station, then I'll gladly give them a bash. Not normally up for train or driving to start a route, unless it's an audax too far to ride to, but would like to explore Mid and even West Sussex more, so willing to make exceptions.

 

[banjo]

Report back from first sampling of Cob lane.

As mentioned a while back, I planned to ride the Mid Sussex Hillier audax, which I did yesterday, and it included Cob Lane.

Unlike Kidds Hill, which I was never sure I was actually on it when I rode it a while back, Cob lane announced itself no bother! Unfortunately on the narrow winding descent to it ( Hook lane) my rear light decided to fall off. I had to get off the bike to change gears as I wouldn't be able to clip in and go back up to retrieve the light. Having found the light, I then descended even more gingerly than usual as I didn't want a repeat performance. All the while I had no idea this lane would soon morph into Cob Lane, even though I remember Stat telling me you descend into Cob Lane. Then things went very uphill very quickly and I thought this could only be Cob Lane. Sighting the 20% sign just confirmed it, but even without the sign, there was no mistaking. Quickly into my lowest gear I crawled up it and had the fleeting thought of getting off. This wasn't so much it's gradient, or length ( I'd put it just above Chick Hill and Doleham Hill over here ) but the fact that my mojo had gone before I even started the ride yesterday. But what a climb! Technical descent into it, proper leg burner and all set in a quiet wooded lane. I will be revisiting this beauty again I hope.

Have to say, for my first excursion on a bike into Mid Sussex, I'm impressed! Despite being Mr Grumpy for the day, and not really up for the ride, the route still impressed me all the way round. The roads are certainly less pot holey over there than they are our way. Not sure if that's because it's a richer area than over here or not? or the route planner avoided all the dodgy lanes, but there was a definite difference. Highlight was definitely Cob Lane, but I also particularly liked Rowhill Lane, coming from the Rocks lane end, Balcombe.

If any of you boys over that way want to send me some routes of about 60 -100 miles, hilly elevations welcome, going up and east of, say Lewes station, then I'll gladly give them a bash. Not normally up for train or driving to start a route, unless it's an audax too far to ride to, but would like to explore Mid and even West Sussex more, so willing to make exceptions.

shhh!!!! stat will never let you forget it.

 

[Stat Brother]

Morning [MENTION=19321]Pogue Mahone[/MENTION]

[tweet]1054549794411163650[/tweet]