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SystonFox

Cycling

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Not me either - didn't make it out last week as had a week off work spent with family time and binge eating.

 

Vowed to go out this week and explore again though as did a 26 mile ride last time I went out through Hoby towards Sixhills etc. Really nice route and then back down through Barrow, Sileby etc. Felt good (although my arse was starting to feel it!) and would have happily done another 15 miles or so had it not been for the sun starting to set and as SystonFox says above, fear of a nagging wife!!!

 

Decided to not go for a road bike just yet and stick with the hybrid. Can't commit to going out enough at the moment as only get the chance once the kids are asleep (and my youngest wakes at the crack of dawn so not like I can go for a pre work cycle either!!)

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20 hours ago, SystonFox said:

I've no doubt I can do 100, when I say manage I more meant I've never found the time! When I did the 70 odd I was only supposed to be out for 2 hours. Got home 5 hours later and the wife was livid!

 

that is extortianate really but it's what these places do nowadays

I see. My wife is ok with me doing what I want, because she knows it makes me happy :D

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5 hours ago, syston_fox said:

Not me either - didn't make it out last week as had a week off work spent with family time and binge eating.

 

Vowed to go out this week and explore again though as did a 26 mile ride last time I went out through Hoby towards Sixhills etc. Really nice route and then back down through Barrow, Sileby etc. Felt good (although my arse was starting to feel it!) and would have happily done another 15 miles or so had it not been for the sun starting to set and as SystonFox says above, fear of a nagging wife!!!

 

Decided to not go for a road bike just yet and stick with the hybrid. Can't commit to going out enough at the moment as only get the chance once the kids are asleep (and my youngest wakes at the crack of dawn so not like I can go for a pre work cycle either!!)

Yeah, its must be hard to get out having young kids. I must get out that way again, there`s some nice roads over there. 

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Went out to Dartmoor on Saturday for some xc across a couple of tors. Parked up at Okehamton, hopped on the bike and snapped my chain before I even left the tarmac. ?

 

95 mile round trip as well. Never had a chain snap on me before, I was barely going up hill so no excessive forces on the drivetrain but one of the pins popped out. Very strange. 

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19 hours ago, Uncle Phil said:

Went out to Dartmoor on Saturday for some xc across a couple of tors. Parked up at Okehamton, hopped on the bike and snapped my chain before I even left the tarmac. ?

 

95 mile round trip as well. Never had a chain snap on me before, I was barely going up hill so no excessive forces on the drivetrain but one of the pins popped out. Very strange. 

Had that a few times, learned to carry a magic link or two now.

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  • 1 month later...

Yours truly at Rutland Viaduct during Sundays Moira - East Midlands Forests 207 km Audax :wave:

Managed to bag 217.3 km (135 miles) in 8 hours and 30 minutes riding time, with over 2000 metres (around 7000 feet) of elevation at 16 mph average speed :cheers:

 

cURabqRO7nXzaWoCeRl5Y_H2YcQhqIO4beySx38Z8l0-1536x2048.jpg

 

Edited by I am Rod Hull
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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 months later...

Image may contain: bicycle, sky, ocean and outdoorImage may contain: bicycle, sky, ocean and outdoorPopped in my 7th 100 miler of 2018 (not bad considering the start to the year weather wise) on Thursday with a solo ride to Skegness. I`m challenging myself to do at least 1x100 mile ride per calendar month, but want 24+ for the year.

 

117 miles in the sun, before getting the train home :)

Image may contain: tree, plant, sky, outdoor and nature

Image may contain: sky, tree and outdoor

Image may contain: bicycle and outdoor

Image may contain: bicycle, sky, ocean and outdoor

 

 

 

Edited by I am Rod Hull
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  • 1 month later...

Bump.

 

Been set a challenge to do a 60 mile bike ride for charity next year. Managed to get myself a Giant Contend 2017 model in the sale, with disk brakes for a few hundred quid off the price, paying £30 quid a month for it, set it all up to day, (cages, bottles, clip peddles, cleats etc) now need to hit the road, the lads that have been cycling for a bit longer than me took 3 hours to do this 60 miler this year, now 20 miles and hour for 3 hours seems more than a steady pace too me, bare in mind I've done next to no exercise since my kids came along and I knocked 5 a side on the head.

 

I've found a nice little 16 mile route near me that keeps me away from main roads and doesn't have to many serious climbs, going to try give it a go later.

 

I've practiced making sure I can get me feet out my peddles without stacking it, hopefully lol . Any other advice, for a new to road cyclist, normally I take my mountain bike in the boot somewhere and off road as much as possible but that tends to be short bursts, hence the lack of exercise, no idea how long 16 miles will take me, and have no intention of attempting to fly round and keeping trying to lop of time, more about steady pace and getting some fitness back, but how long would it take me to get from doing nothing to getting to around the 20 miles an hour mark?

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Depends on how old and naturally fit you are, and how much time you are able to spend on training (work commitments and family etc.). If I go on a bike in the gym it generally calculates that I am about 28 years old. In fact I am more than twice that age. However I haven't done that sort of time over 60 miles for about 28 years. That bike is still in my shed, in bits, a 1986 Condor Audax model in Italian pearlescent green. I keep saying I will put it back on the road one day, and most of the expensive Campag bits are all still there.

I have been cycling more this year as I work away from home during the week and there is absolutely eff-all to do in the small town on the Berkshire/Hampshire border where I am working. 

I put the bike on the back of my car when I go away each Sunday and try to get out on at least two evenings.

16 miles sounds about right for an evening. 

I would try to do that 16 miler every week and if it is getting quite easy after a few weeks try and up the ante a bit with a few more climbs. If you are getting round in under the hour after 3 months or so I would say you are well on the way.

You might be able to find a club run at the weekend and start with a 30 mile morning ride and work up.

The mountain bike and off road tracks are a good way of varying things a bit. Leicestershire doesn't have quite the variety of bridle roads that some places I have lived and worked but when I go back to Leics I sometimes ride bits of the Via Devana, and maybe this summer will find out how much of the old railway between Mkt. Harborough and Melton is rideable. I don't have a mountain bike but take my Ridley, a sort of ruggedised touring bike with 35mm tyres and shallow drop 1980s-style bars. No suspension. 

Interested to hear how you get on.

 

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1 hour ago, The Fox Covert said:

Depends on how old and naturally fit you are, and how much time you are able to spend on training (work commitments and family etc.). If I go on a bike in the gym it generally calculates that I am about 28 years old. In fact I am more than twice that age. However I haven't done that sort of time over 60 miles for about 28 years. That bike is still in my shed, in bits, a 1986 Condor Audax model in Italian pearlescent green. I keep saying I will put it back on the road one day, and most of the expensive Campag bits are all still there.

I have been cycling more this year as I work away from home during the week and there is absolutely eff-all to do in the small town on the Berkshire/Hampshire border where I am working. 

I put the bike on the back of my car when I go away each Sunday and try to get out on at least two evenings.

16 miles sounds about right for an evening. 

I would try to do that 16 miler every week and if it is getting quite easy after a few weeks try and up the ante a bit with a few more climbs. If you are getting round in under the hour after 3 months or so I would say you are well on the way.

You might be able to find a club run at the weekend and start with a 30 mile morning ride and work up.

The mountain bike and off road tracks are a good way of varying things a bit. Leicestershire doesn't have quite the variety of bridle roads that some places I have lived and worked but when I go back to Leics I sometimes ride bits of the Via Devana, and maybe this summer will find out how much of the old railway between Mkt. Harborough and Melton is rideable. I don't have a mountain bike but take my Ridley, a sort of ruggedised touring bike with 35mm tyres and shallow drop 1980s-style bars. No suspension. 

Interested to hear how you get on.

 

Turns out it was 16.1 miles and took me just under an hour and a half averaging just over 10 mph

 

Really struggled with gearing on some of the inclines. Need a bit of practice. Ended up losing all momentum on one and stacked it as I couldn't release my cleat at a standstill lol

 

Certainly room for improvement. Never been a naturally fit guy. Could walk all day but anyrhing that puts some real strain on me takes it out of me unless it's in short bursts need to work my lung capacity I think.

 

Felt great having done it tho. And have found another ride about the same that I think is a bit flater so maybe gonna do that a few times then go back to this original one and see if I'm showing signs of improvement.

 

But having spent a bit of getting set up one thing I don't have is waterproofs so today maybe out the window.

 

Oh and cycling on your own into head winds. No that's not as much fun. Glad it was on my way out and got blown home a bit lol

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possibly looking at cycling the Eurovelo 5 route from Canterbury Cathedral to Brindisi in the very south of Italy. It's 3300km. Not looking to break records - just looking to finish the route and raise some money for Charity. 
 
I'm thinking of leaving my job in August and setting off in September. 
 
I've never done anything like this before but prepared for the ups and downs it'll bring and willing to put the hard work and preparation in beforehand. 
 
Anyone else having a midlife crisis and want in on this? Some company would be nice. 
 
http://www.viaromeafrancigena.com/

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On 24/05/2018 at 13:13, Bayfox said:

Bump.

 

Been set a challenge to do a 60 mile bike ride for charity next year. Managed to get myself a Giant Contend 2017 model in the sale, with disk brakes for a few hundred quid off the price, paying £30 quid a month for it, set it all up to day, (cages, bottles, clip peddles, cleats etc) now need to hit the road, the lads that have been cycling for a bit longer than me took 3 hours to do this 60 miler this year, now 20 miles and hour for 3 hours seems more than a steady pace too me, bare in mind I've done next to no exercise since my kids came along and I knocked 5 a side on the head.

 

I've found a nice little 16 mile route near me that keeps me away from main roads and doesn't have to many serious climbs, going to try give it a go later.

 

I've practiced making sure I can get me feet out my peddles without stacking it, hopefully lol . Any other advice, for a new to road cyclist, normally I take my mountain bike in the boot somewhere and off road as much as possible but that tends to be short bursts, hence the lack of exercise, no idea how long 16 miles will take me, and have no intention of attempting to fly round and keeping trying to lop of time, more about steady pace and getting some fitness back, but how long would it take me to get from doing nothing to getting to around the 20 miles an hour mark?

All I would say is don’t underestimate it. A few years ago I agreed to cycle 54 miles at 10 days notice and after 25 miles I just wobbled side to side until on 40 miles a van picked me up and dropped me within 4 miles of the finish lol.

 

I’ve just bought an exercise bike for this fundraising you have no doubt seen on Twitter. Planning to cycle the equivalent distance of Brighton to Paris over 4 days in different locations on it. Haven’t been on one in about a year and really not looking forward to it.

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1 hour ago, Costock_Fox said:

All I would say is don’t underestimate it. A few years ago I agreed to cycle 54 miles at 10 days notice and after 25 miles I just wobbled side to side until on 40 miles a van picked me up and dropped me within 4 miles of the finish lol.

 

I’ve just bought an exercise bike for this fundraising you have no doubt seen on Twitter. Planning to cycle the equivalent distance of Brighton to Paris over 4 days in different locations on it. Haven’t been on one in about a year and really not looking forward to it.

I'm happy to accept I have my limits.

 

Agreed to go out with my neighbour on monday. He's doing 20 mph easy and regularly goes to France to do stages of the tour. Nutter.

 

He's juat agreed to to do John O'grotes to lands end next july. Needs to average 100 miles a day or there abouts for 9 days in a row. Madness.

 

Although worryingly when you put it in Google maps it says you can do it in 3 days ?

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8 minutes ago, Bayfox said:

I'm happy to accept I have my limits.

 

Agreed to go out with my neighbour on monday. He's doing 20 mph easy and regularly goes to France to do stages of the tour. Nutter.

 

He's juat agreed to to do John O'grotes to lands end next july. Needs to average 100 miles a day or there abouts for 9 days in a row. Madness.

 

Although worryingly when you put it in Google maps it says you can do it in 3 days ?

I looked at that the other day, madness isn’t it. I don’t think arse cheeks are built to withstand that.

 

Haha best of luck keeping up with him then,  **** that! 

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16 miles in an hour and a half on flattish country is where I was a couple of years ago when I started cycling again.

Bayfox - if your neighbour is a bit of a bike techie make sure your saddle is at the right height and the gears are not too high. You should be able to gear so that you can pedal quite rapidly with very little resistance on a flat road or one sloping gently up hill. If you have to stand up on the pedals it uses up your energy very quickly. And your tyres are the right pressure. The tyres on my Ridley are pumped up to 80psi. A fast road bike with 21 or 23 mill tyres will often be pressured to 100-120. 

Quite small differences add up to making your riding experience much easier and more comfortable.

Unless it is lashing down stair rods you don't need any expensive wet weather gear if you are only going to be out for an hour or so.

Thousands of people run around a football field rain or shine with no wet weather gear at all.

I have a little Pertex jacket which rolls up into its' own pocket into a package about the size of a woman's fist.

Nylon spats for your lower legs are a good idea as if it is raining you get more wet from spray caused by passing motor traffic than you do from the sky.

Very jealous about the prospect of riding through Europe to Brindisi. However work-life balance for me at the moment is firmly in the other direction. Four years ago I had a major heart operation and a few months later I lost my job. My dimwit manager behaved to me as though I was destined for the employment scrapheap. He is still there and four years later I am probably earning more than he does.

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On 24/05/2018 at 13:13, Bayfox said:

Bump.

 

Been set a challenge to do a 60 mile bike ride for charity next year. Managed to get myself a Giant Contend 2017 model in the sale, with disk brakes for a few hundred quid off the price, paying £30 quid a month for it, set it all up to day, (cages, bottles, clip peddles, cleats etc) now need to hit the road, the lads that have been cycling for a bit longer than me took 3 hours to do this 60 miler this year, now 20 miles and hour for 3 hours seems more than a steady pace too me, bare in mind I've done next to no exercise since my kids came along and I knocked 5 a side on the head.

 

I've found a nice little 16 mile route near me that keeps me away from main roads and doesn't have to many serious climbs, going to try give it a go later.

 

I've practiced making sure I can get me feet out my peddles without stacking it, hopefully lol . Any other advice, for a new to road cyclist, normally I take my mountain bike in the boot somewhere and off road as much as possible but that tends to be short bursts, hence the lack of exercise, no idea how long 16 miles will take me, and have no intention of attempting to fly round and keeping trying to lop of time, more about steady pace and getting some fitness back, but how long would it take me to get from doing nothing to getting to around the 20 miles an hour mark?

Do not worry about your average speed, 60 miles is your target, not 20mph. Take it easy at the start and don`t push, just find an easy gear and plod through it. Drink little and often and refuel when you can. You`ll be fine as long as you ease off and save your energy for the end. Good luck :chant:

 

I`v now done 15 100 mile rides this year and the last thing I look at is my average speed, I just find that easy gear and only put an effort in at the end of my ride. I rode to Lincoln last Sunday on a 125 miler averaging 16.2 mph, but on the last 8.5 miles along a tarmacked old train line from Bardney to Lincoln I had plenty left in the tank, gave it the beans and averaged over 21mph for that section.... that was with 116 easy miles in the legs.

 

The only time I average 20mph is on a 30 mile evening club ride and tend to do 100 milers around the 16/17 mph mark. Average speed is all down to route and conditions so its not something that bothers me. 

 

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20 hours ago, I am Rod Hull said:

Do not worry about your average speed, 60 miles is your target, not 20mph. Take it easy at the start and don`t push, just find an easy gear and plod through it. Drink little and often and refuel when you can. You`ll be fine as long as you ease off and save your energy for the end. Good luck :chant:

 

I`v now done 15 100 mile rides this year and the last thing I look at is my average speed, I just find that easy gear and only put an effort in at the end of my ride. I rode to Lincoln last Sunday on a 125 miler averaging 16.2 mph, but on the last 8.5 miles along a tarmacked old train line from Bardney to Lincoln I had plenty left in the tank, gave it the beans and averaged over 21mph for that section.... that was with 116 easy miles in the legs.

 

The only time I average 20mph is on a 30 mile evening club ride and tend to do 100 milers around the 16/17 mph mark. Average speed is all down to route and conditions so its not something that bothers me. 

 

 

Thanks for the advice. Maybe I should have explained it's a team event. And the lads who did it this year took 3hrs so I need to get somewhere close to that so not to slow them down too much.

 

Adjusted my cleats yesterday and did a quick 8 miles to test them (Only had half an hour before we had people coming round) felt in a much better position in the peddles and feet felt in a much more natural position but felt it in my legs nut not sure if that was the after effects of going from doing nothing to 16 miles 1st time out.

 

Want to get our today but spent 10 hours on beers and bbq yesterday. Might take my girl out on mountain bike for a short ride. At least the pace will be slow lol

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  • 5 weeks later...
8 hours ago, LutterworthLCFC said:

Does anyone know any decent off road trails/routes for a mountain bike? I’ve been to Cannock Chase a few times but wondered if there’s anywhere more local?

I don’t mountain bike in the midlands a lot but there is Sherwood Pines. It’s not as technical as Cannock though. Thetford Forest might be worth considering but it’s not exactly local. I dont really know of anything much in Leicestershire. 

 

There are bound to be some trails in Derbyshire/Peak District, have a look on singletrack forum, dirt forum. https://www.moredirt.com/region/United-Kingdom_East-Midlands/

 

Also, try an app called ViewRanger and select mountain biking on the sports list in the viewer. I use it a lot in Devon and it has a lot of MBUK routes etc for Dartmoor, Exmoor and Quantocks so I assume it would have the same for the Peak District. 

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On 27/06/2018 at 02:15, LutterworthLCFC said:

Does anyone know any decent off road trails/routes for a mountain bike? I’ve been to Cannock Chase a few times but wondered if there’s anywhere more local?

Not really anything much in Leicestershire unfortunately. Usually end up going up to the Peak District for a decent ride.

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  • 5 months later...
35 minutes ago, I am Rod Hull said:

I set out on a challenge at the start of the year to do a 100 mile ride for every calendar month, but things got a little out of hand... :rolleyes:

 

I bagged my 52nd imperial century of the year yesterday for the average of 1 per week. It`s been a crazy year on the bike and one that i`ll never forget :)

 

a century per week is an outstanding achievement. 

 

****ing good work mate

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