Ride OzGolf Ride

[Fishman Dan]

The newest addition to the "shameful overweight golfer attempts to get fit/lose weight" series of threads.

Continuing on from the 'Gong ride thread....

I had a play around on Google Earth - the longest climb on the route I did today was about 300m (and it was fairly steep). I'm building up to ride into the city to work - it's about 12-15 km's, although I wouldn't do it on Sydney streets. There are alternative roads to travel, but it adds a fair amount of distance to the journey.

The hill I climbed today is good practice (and will be my regular route) - Gladesville Bridge is about a 350m incline, and as soon as you come off that there's the climb to Lyons Rd which is about 750m - although an alternate route away from peak hour roads will avoid that climb in one hit.

I'm starting this journey on the wrong side of 100 kg's - I'm hoping if I stick to it I can shed some weight pretty quickly.

The big test - can I wake up at 5:30am tomorrow and do the circuit? The missus doesn't think so! :?

[goughy]

That is the toughest part of all this! The early mornings. I have to get up at 5am for the running. And now I'm about to start tri training I'm 'spose to fit in a 60min ride mid week. I might cop out and do that on the exercise bike.

M longest ride so far is a leisurely 40k. But that will get some serious increases over the next few months.

Now, should I start a Swim Ozgolf Swim.

[Fishman Dan]

Goughy - if I'm half-serious about this, I won't mind the 5:30am 1 hour ride. My work has been super hectic lately, plenty of hours, so it's all about how I'm spending the down-time.

MacJackAss - The first day I started looking at bikes I told a guy in Sydney my budget. They stocked the Kona series so the Dew Deluxe was probably the best, but he wanted to shave the PhD down my throat. It was double my budget.

I will say however that the CRX2 is a stepping stone - I'll see how I go for a couple of years and see how serious my cycling has become.

It's a great way to get fit, and I found out today you notice so much more about your neighbourhood when you're not in a car!

[goughy]

When I decided to start I picked up a Giant OCR3 for $300 including pedals and computer. Was considering spending double that, but really it was too cheap to pass up.

[Grunt]

I have a Giant MTB & a Peter Bundy Custom Road Bike. Giant are good gear for the money

[goughy]

They are called the Toyota of the bike world! I have 3 toyota's now then.

[markTHEblake]

I am seriously considering buying a bicycle, partly to minimise car expenses, going green, and getting fitter (but lets not get carried away there).

Am thinking of getting one of these babies.



http://users.tpg.com.au/adsl0jlt/Highlander/images/Jen32-Black2-resized.jpg



No rego, or license needed, which means you can have a few beers after work and not have to worry about getting nicked. If only i can figure out how to get around on this with a set of clubs, I have got it made.

I used to ride my bike and carry my clubs across the shoulder but the cops pulled me over for that. Was something about riding with golf clubs around midnight made them suspicious what i was up to for some reason.

[Courty]

No rego, or license needed, which means you can have a few beers after work and not have to worry about getting nicked.

Errr, you can get done for DD on a pushbike.

[goughy]

Didn't some guy get done for DD on a horse?

[Grunt]

Didn't some guy get done for DD on a horse?
Yep,

[markTHEblake]

yes, and on a Camel in Alice, this year in a wheelchair in NQ, and a few others. in both these cases the individuals were chronic repeat offenders, were legless (pun intended) and were eventually booked because they were both public menaces.

A copper would have to be having a really bad day to bother breath testing a cyclist and then charging him because he had three beers and was .06.

I have been confronted by the nice Rockhampton coppers twice when I was pretty much legless on my bike. The first mentioned above, the second time I 'rolled' it right in front of the coppers at around 3am, went flying through the air, and bent the back wheel 90 degrees.

All i got that time was "you alright mate" I guess they thought it was funny..... The only damage was the destroyed back wheel and a bitumen skid mark across the back of my best white disco shirt.

[kev]

Have a look at Bikely (http://www.bikely.com) - see if that suits your mapping/paths need.

[Moe Norman]

MTB,

I worked in a pub most of my uni life and always rode a bike to and from work, usually so I could partake in a knoff off drink or 10.

I was breath tested twice in 5 years (after 2am both times), and both times I was just lucky that I hadn't had a beer that night.

So its very mcuh something they have targetted in the past

[AndyP]

Have a look at Bikely (http://www.bikely.com) - see if that suits your mapping/paths need.Does this show elevation change too? httP://www.mapmyrun.com does and can be used for bike rides.

Good luck with the weight loss, Dan.

[Fishman Dan]

thanks AP. I figure doing it or not will kill me one day!

Blake - the funny thing is about your scooter post, is that I strongly considered one to beat the Sydney traffic (where I'm stuck now), but realized I'd be getting no fitter on one. I sit on a bus 5 days a week and watch cyclists coast past us.

[kev]

Does this show elevation change too? httP://www.mapmyrun.com does and can be used for bike rides.

Good luck with the weight loss, Dan.

Yes.


Bikely will generate an elevation profile for the route. To view the profile, choose the show menu and pick Profile. The profile can be calculated in meters or feet. Choose your units of measure by checking either kilometers or miles in the edit tab. The elevation profiles can be accurate or not. It is good to temper the Bikely elevation estimates with experience and field measurements using a GPS.

[Dotty]

Fishy, good choice of bike. I saw one at Castle Hill the other day, and was tempted.

I won't be able to join you at the Spring Cycle. Gave it a couple of goes on the old road bike, managed to get 20km in 60mins, but it makes me very nervous. 2.5 years in a SUV isolated me from the road intricacies, and the replacement handlebars 'don't feel right' (hence the visit to the Bike Shop at Castle Hill, to ask about converting to a flatbar).

Good luck with the ride, and I hope this thread gives me the kickstart needed to get out there again.

ps. I'll be helping on the Ride To The Top again next March, which is Sydney to Mount Kosciuszko. If the full week is too much, we often have a few extras do the first 1/2/3 days to Bowral/Goulburn/Canberra respectively. More info later.

[Fishman Dan]

Dotty - I know what you mean about being sheltered behind the wheel of a vehicle. You tend to forget about how crap some roads can be, and how much junk is closer to the kerb!

[Fishman Dan]

Another evening, another 10 km's in fading light. Got home from work after picking up Ella, and jumped on the bike for a race along my local route. I found the last kilometre I had tingly crampy stuff going on in my calves, but consider that after a long day of work that's not entirely unexpected.

As the guy in the bike shop said, I need to raise the seat another couple of inches (now that I am more confident) to get the maximum out of each pedal extension.

Looking at the 40 km's (+10 more at Homebush) a lot more seriously now, and early predictions have the weather in the high 20's!

[goughy]

Fishy, I have some online info about setting up a bike based on your 'dimensions' including an online calculator where you enter all the info requested and it gives you all the specs etc for seat to handlebar, seat to pedal etc etc. Could send you some links if you interested.

[Dotty]

I tend to use this method for seat height. Sit on my bike in a doorway, put my heels on the pedals, and try pedalling backwards. Then find the highest seat position, that I can smoothly backpedal, without the body/hips rocking side-to-side.

Don't worry about the legs being too straight, when measuring. On the road, you will be pedalling on the balls of your feet, so those extra inches to the heel act as a buffer to straight knees at the 6 o'clock pedal position.

[Dotty]

Fishy, good luck on your big ride tomorrow.

As per the recent pm, here are a couple of handy hints that help others also.

1. Be very wary of steel grates over drains, esp. the old ones that run parallel to the gutter. A road tyre fits perfectly and causes a pince flat (or two). From 10 years ago, I remember there are a few over near Boronia Park (Ryde Rd?), so they might still be a few around the areas that you ride.

2. Practice replacing tubes at home, to get familiar with techniques, force needed/not-needed, tools, etc. (Think of it like a bunker shot, but on the road.)

3. Carry a spare tube and a tube repair kit (make sure the glue hasn't dried up), and watch for the edges of tools resting against the tube (it can wear a hole in it).

4. White road paint in the wet is like ice.

That's all for now.

[Fishman Dan]

Thanks Dotty.. all good stuff.

I'm riding with seasoned leisure cyclists tomorrow (if touring Europe is 'leisure'), so I'm sure they'll have gear. I haven't bought my survival kit yet - when I'm serious about going into work it will be required.

I went on another 45 minute, 12 km journey today through East Ryde and doing a lap of Maquarie Hospital - some subtle, long hills in that! I'm still not fit enough to do serious road riding, so will need a regime of Homebush and Centennial Park days where it's flat and I can push myself on relatively flat terrain. Lane Cove River Park is 4.5 km's each way - one way all up, the other all down.

I bought a wireless trip computer and fitted that before today's ride. I struggled around the Ryde hills at an average of 15 kph, and that was totally pedestrian - considering prolonged flat roads you could effortlessly travel at 30-35 km's. So if that's the case for tomorrow it shouldn't be any longer than 3 hours on the road, with a couple of stops along the way.

Riding across the Harbour Bridge will be totally cool!

[Grunt]

Have Fun Dan, another thing to watch out for in this are the one time riders that will pull out in front without looking. Saw plenty of this each time I have done the ride. It settles down by the time you have crossed the bridge and are heading towards Pyrmont.

[Fishman Dan]

Crossed the bridge around 7:45am, and got to Homebush at 11am. It was a slow ride, with hundreds of people around you at any time - we averaged 16 km/h for the journey and had a couple of stops to refill water etc along the way. It was great to get out on roads that you would either have no access to (Harbour Bridge, Western Distributor, old Piermont Bridge), and other roads you wouldn't normally attempt to ride on for fear of preserving your own life.

It got a little more stressful within the Homebush precinct, because the pathways aren't really conducive to the amount of traffic that was on them. If someone missed a gear it would almost cause a pileup.

I ended up hanging around the finish for an hour, then cycling about 8 km's back along the route to Homebush where I got picked up. About 60 km's for the day.

[Grunt]

Well Done Dan, how many near misses did you see or avoid?

[Fishman Dan]

Well Done Dan, how many near misses did you see or avoid?

Not that many to be honest. In Rozelle you go to single-file rounding the corner into Victoria Rd. Some kid came to a halt and forgot to put his feet down, so he went over. One bloke did a jump over a roundabout in Five Dock, and had a nutbreaker of a landing and nearly went base-over-apex, but apart from that nearly everyone was well behaved.

There were some heroes in the crowd, but other than within the Homebush area they posed no threat.

[Fishman Dan]

I conquered my next bridge today - the Gladesville bridge. It's not as daunting as it looks - it's a consistent incline lasting about 400m but fairly easy once you find a rhythm. That in itself isn't that easy - getting onto the GB footpaths is a chore in itself! The hardest part is approaching from the Drummoyne side - in roughly 200m of riding you climb 30m!

I rode from my place to a friends for their sons 1st birthday party - only about 20 km's round trip. The hardest part wasn't the bridge, it was going up a hill in Drummoyne, and about 50m from the crest I started getting dive-bombed by some little prick of a bird. It's amazing how fast tired legs will push you up a hill when nature strikes back. Little prick actually kept hitting the helmet too.

Today's ride in itself is a nice course for the future - from home, around the Bay Run and back. Enough back-streets and footpaths to stay out of traffic.

[macjackass]

Dan, a pump (pref metal) works well on airborne pests.

I may feel different tomorrow (pretty sure my legs will) but I'm thinking about getting a road bike and joining a cycling club.

[Fishman Dan]

I've considered joining a local group that goes out on rides from 25-50 km's. They have a full calendar each weekend and you can pick and choose. There are other benefits, such as insurance etc.

You did the 'Gong ride on a MTB? Gutsy!

[macjackass]

I've considered joining a local group that goes out on rides from 25-50 km's. They have a full calendar each weekend and you can pick and choose. There are other benefits, such as insurance etc.

You did the 'Gong ride on a MTB? Gutsy!

The lockout on my headshock means no bobbing at all. Plus, I had some really thin slicks (continental sports contacts) which were almost like road tyres. Saw plenty of mtbs with nobbys but admittedly not many at the Sydney start. Next year I'm going to head off really early and on a new road bike (already started looking at the 09 'dales =P~). Golf ho-ing on the back burner for a while.

[Fishman Dan]

Bike ho-ing is a whole new world!

[senecio]

Bike ho-ing is a whole new world!

Looks like I'll be up for some bike ho-ing myself.

My bike commuting has been put on hold for a while after a small incident last Thursday on my way to work. I dropped back through the gears to ready myself for a climb. I started to apply pressure to the crank when the chain jumped off the sprocket and lodged itself between the cluster and the wheel spokes. At this point it locked the rear wheel, bent 4 of the spokes and snapped the rear derailleur into 3 pieces. It was about this time I realised I could nothing but hold on and brace myself for the fall.

Oh well, that's what happens when you're riding a 20+ year old bike I guess.

Anyone want to buy a bike, slightly used?

[amanda]

The lockout on my headshock means no bobbing at all. Plus, I had some really thin slicks (continental sports contacts) which were almost like road tyres. Saw plenty of mtbs with nobbys but admittedly not many at the Sydney start. Next year I'm going to head off really early

Sounds like Brad's setup - at least he could handle a little gravel when he got squeezed out onto the verge by novice riders.

What was your time? Brad did 4.5 hrs but with around 1 hr of waiting or walking the bike. Says he'll only ride next year if it rains in the morning - it keeps away half the casual riders 8-)

[Fishman Dan]

Amanda - rides such as the Gong ride and the Spring Cycle are set up for novices, in the hope they can raise money for MS. Casual riders would still turn up, entrance fees are usually paid well in advance.

I averaged about 16 km/h for the Spring Cycle. MJA - do you have a trip computer? Do you know what you averaged for the journey?

[macjackass]

No idea, really. Didn't have a watch or my phone. I stopped at Maacas (at St Peters as it was quite annoying with all the stop start at the beginning plus I haven't had a bacond and egg mcmuffin is ages!) Then the long and slow walk at Heathcoate before we got into the national park. Another stop at the bottom of the hill where they had the lunches and then after the hill there was this little shop in a white building that had home made apple pie. Had to stop and have one of those!! Then just down the road was the fruit stop so two bananas and an orange later I was off again. I was pretty happy with how I went, the 3 weeks training I did prior was definately beneficial. I would say actual riding time about 4 hours. Next year with the early start and a road bike I'm hoping for 3 and a half hours, including stops.

[amanda]

Brad, his brother & brother in law have started a weekly cycle down the M7 cycleway (only about 25km of it)

This was what he looked like when he came home last night:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee276/amanda_simple_savings/IMG_2543_1.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee276/amanda_simple_savings/IMG_2545_1.jpg

Even the Napisan is having trouble removing the stains!

[Fishman Dan]

Was it that scary?? :lol:

I've heard the cycleways are very good along the M7.

[amanda]

Nah - just blokes riding along talking shit!

M7 cycleways are fantastic - lots of undulation (of varying levels of incline and length) and no cars! (i'm terrible at riding in traffic)

[Grunt]

Is the damage to the cycleway up around the M2 end fixed. It collapsed in the heavy rains earlier this year.

[amanda]

Grunt - I think it was the section near the Richmond Road exit - and yes - fixed a few months ago.

[amanda]

Anyone been doing any riding recently?

Brad and his brother & brother-in-law are doing about 30km every Tuesday night on the M7 cycleway. He is got a Lemond road bike for (early) Xmas.

I've got a Trek FX 7.7 :) Can't believe how light the thing is compared to my old mountain bike!
http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/dbimages/bike/fn_large/100012688/large/7.7_fx.jpg?20080813

Trying it out on M7 from Rooty Hill towards Rouse Hill on the weekend - can't wait!

macjackass - did you end up looking at the new canondales? some of the new Trek road bikes look sweet. Also - tip from the distributor - Trek bikes are going to jump about 20% in price just before New Year because of exchange rates. Something similar may be happening with all the other big brands. Might be worth checking out some of the sales.

[Grunt]

I am getting back into it Amanda going to give the old custom built tri bike a rework and get on the M7 path soon. It has been on the garage wall for some time may need a good going over. It's all part of the new fitness kick, kayaking plus bike riding. After fitting the racks to the car for the kayak, I have also fitted the bike rack.

[amanda]

Woohoo!

One bonus of riding the m7 cycleway - that Maccas at the M5/M7 junction (the thought of chicken nuggets keeps me moving!)

[Grunt]

May have to meet up for a ride one day Amanda, The Macca's is about 1km from my house.

[amanda]

Give me a few months to get my fitness up to speed - I haven't had a decent ride since May (I was a wus and didn't ride during the winter)

[Fishman Dan]

Nice pickup Amanda. I was looking at the FX 7.5 but the Giant was just a little better suited to me. Enjoy it!!!

[goughy]

My mate and I ride on Sunday mornings and are now doing the coffee (or tea) thing after our rides now. It's what the 'cool' cyclists do up here, and they all call into the same shop. Even better for me because I don't have a proper cycling shirt, so I'm in a singlet. And I wear mountain biking shoes instead of proper cycling shoes! And then there's the tri bars on my cheapie 2nd hand bike - they'd all be shocked by me; and I love it!!!

[amanda]

goughy - as long as you're having fun! I wear my mtb shoes, riding nicks under regular shorts and a long sleeved cancer council shirt (too lazy for sunscreen) - Brad wears the full lycra get up - just can't bring myself to do it.

thanks fish - I didn't even think of Giant - d'oh (strange I didn't see them at the bike store on Clarence St or the big one I went to in Parra)

[oobsadd2]

Hard to move in Jetty road on a sunday morning for all the "bike riders" and bikes having their coffees.
Must be something about cycling and coffee, my uncle was an elite cyclist - olympic level and was always having coffee.
I remember him bitching after coming home from a tour of New Zealand about how he couldnt get a cappacino. (was a long time ago)

[macjackass]

Amanda, the cannondales went up just before i was going to grab one. Probably a good thing, can't afford to be a two sport ho! Plus, the f3 went great with some skinny slicks. I'm going to have to get out there and ride the m7, was out there on my way for the federal golf day and it looked great.

[Fishman Dan]

thanks fish - I didn't even think of Giant - d'oh (strange I didn't see them at the bike store on Clarence St or the big one I went to in Parra)

Clarence St are Fisher / Trek. CBD (City Bike Depot - Kent St) have some great Kona gear... but otherwise every suburban store seems to stock Giant. I ended up buying mine in Harbord, and came close to buying the Trek from Manly just 2 minutes down the road.

[amanda]

Believe it or not I've seen some good Kona bikes (mtb) at Anaconda!

Most of our local stores seemed to be stocking Specialized as the marque brand

Happy with mine - and there's a Trek flag store at Rouse Hill for check ups :)

[goughy]

goughy - as long as you're having fun! I wear my mtb shoes, riding nicks under regular shorts and a long sleeved cancer council shirt (too lazy for sunscreen) - Brad wears the full lycra get up - just can't bring myself to do it.

Cycling stuff is just so bloody expensive!! Got a pair of cycling nicks and a few pairs of tri nicks now and a tri singlet. I don't wear the tri singlet on normal rides as it's pretty tight. But thank god I have it now because at tri training on Sat mornings I wasn't enjoying running around the neighbourhood just in tri nicks and nothing on top! Not a pretty sight :shock: Got my tri shoes on layby now :)

If I keep this up for a year or two I can see myself getting a tri bike - there goes a few k.

[amanda]

Anaconda when it's on special is pretty good - I picked up my nicks for $20.

I just make brad the pack mule - since he has a proper cycling jersey, he carries the museli bars, tissues, spare parts etc :mrgreen:

[goughy]

Well, eventful morning at tri training this morning. After the swims we were just starting mini-tri's and had just gotten out of the pool and were onto the bikes. Without proper shoes I take for ever to get on my bike and my mate was out just before me. But fiddling to get his shoes tightened up he hit one of those little islands by the side of the road at a school crossing. I'm not sure what the story is with his right hip and shoulder as he's pretty doped up right now but has broken ribs and punctured right lung and was heading off for ct scans when I left the hospital.

[Grunt]

Ouch, hope he recovers well.
When training isn't slow and steady better? I remember when I competed in Tri's, most events kept all that sort of stuff well out of the way wit the use of bollards etc. So the training rides are the times that these sort of hazards are there.

[goughy]

The training is just a neighbourhood ride. He was fixing a shoe and didn't see the island. He's broken 21 ribs!! :o

[kev]

Started riding to work today. Of course I pick a day when it's going to be mid 30's, so going home should be fun!

It's just over 10k's from home to work. My legs don't know what's hit them!

Plan on doing 2 days a week for then next 3 weeks, and then 3 days a week. Let's see how I go.

[Fishman Dan]

After a lengthy festive season, I jumped back on the bike for 5 laps around Centennial Park - about 20 km's. Took me just on an hour, not pushing hard just doing laps. I put in on the fourth lap and relaxed on the final one.

It's some sort of barometer now, so I can base my performance compared to that. It's a safe and simple ride around Centennial Park, and next thing is to buy my daughter a helmet and take her around for a lap. I hope to be riding into work within the next month or so.

[Grunt]

Hey Dan were the rangers there?
Years ago when I was doing tri's I went there with some guys on the way home from a ride. We all got booked for exceeding the 10km/h speed limit of the streets inside the park.

[Fishman Dan]

There were rangers, but the speed limit is 30 km/h - although I'm not sure if that includes bicycles. Someone here at work trains there, and he was telling me he's been brought up to the tough group where they have to average 40 km/h.

I think it's just for vehicles.

[Grunt]

Was back in 89 when I was booked may have been higher but we indeed did get booked was $50 if I remember correctly. We were probably doing around 35-40km/h, pack of 8 riders.

[amanda]

Fishy - do you ride from your place to the Park? I'm thinking about checking out Sydney Olympic Park - meant to be some good riding areas around there.

Doing a weekly 30km ride at the moment (just from our place in Mt Druitt to our block of land and back)

[Fishman Dan]

Fishy - do you ride from your place to the Park? I'm thinking about checking out Sydney Olympic Park - meant to be some good riding areas around there.

Doing a weekly 30km ride at the moment (just from our place in Mt Druitt to our block of land and back)

On Sunday we took the bike to Centennial Park on the rack. That's one cross-town ride I wouldn't like to do (Cleveland St - no way!). We took Ella and had my sister-in-law in town too, so the girls played in the park while I rode around.

There are far more bike paths and routes around Sydney Olympic Park, and the roads are quiet anyway in case you want to create your own. There is a map online that shows you various routes.

My cousin is also on the "bike for fitness" regime, so we'll probably wind up doing Centennial Park and Homebush together fairly regularly, and/or join a social biking group (like BikeNorth (http://www.bikenorth.org.au/)). The Thule Express 970 bike rack makes it incredibly easy to go anywhere you want - it just clips onto the tow-ball with no extra ties or cables, and carries 2 bikes easily.

[amanda]

Fish - do you have a link to those S.O.P maps?

Brad has been doing lots of single track and mtbing recently - Lucas Heights (near the nuclear reactor) and down near Appin. I think I prefer him to road ride - less cuts, scrapes and bruises to deal with!

[Fishman Dan]

Cycle routes at SOP in PDF format - Clicky!! (http://www.sydneyolympicpark.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/2389/cycling_map_bike_safaris_2007v1.pdf)

The best method is a hybrid of all 3, and there's also a perfectly good pathway to Rhodes Shopping Centre (and Meadowbank over the rail/cycle bridge).

I plan on making a route from Meadowbank, to SOP, around a couple of times and back out. Can rack up an easy, safe 30 - 40 km's.

RideNorth do a regular ride around the park, out the west-side to Silverwater Rd, east along the river to Meadowbank and back into the park past Rhodes. It's their most leisurely ride (they aim for an average of 13 km/h).

[amanda]

Thanks Fish!

[Jono]

As of this week, I will be joining the "Ozgolf Riders" Organization. ;)

Giant OCR3 with clip on pedals will be my tool of trade. 8)

Now let's see if I can ride off some flab ... :roll: :lol:

[goughy]

Sweet Jono, that's my ride too. Good for a cheap bike.

[Jono]

Sweet Jono, that's my ride too. Good for a cheap bike.

Yep, I saw your post before I went out to buy. When you compared it to Toyota, I thought it would be perfect for me. No fancy stuff but just good quality basics. At this stage, I don't need anything more.

I rode from Wollongong to Bulli via the bike track the other day. I held up OK but the main thing that bothered me was the bum pain. Just have to get used to it, I suppose.

There's supposed to be some nice tracks around Wollongong. I'm not keen on road riding just yet. I'm also going to ride a bit on the velodrome near my work. It's owned by the Illawarra Cycling Club but I spoke to the president and he was kind enough to let me ride on it when they are not using it. Did a few laps of interval training. That was a killer.

Fish, Amanda, any interest in getting together for a "Ride Ozgolf Ride" Day? :lol:

[goughy]

Do you have cyclists nappy pants yet??? And for them to work properly you know you need to be commando underneath!

And have you fit the bike to you yet?? You could go to a store and pay for them to do it, but you can also find plenty of info online about doing it. I use this site for standard bike fit and for tri setup. Seems a bit more indepth than others, but also explains what it's doing.
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO

Getting this right can make a difference to your comfort level.

[Dotty]

Jono, a decent pair of cycling knicks are needed. (Doesn't have to be expensive, as I found the plain black 'Netti' knicks good enough to do 100km a day on NSW country roads, for six straight days.)

The saddle is the putter of your bike. Ask around, search the forums, etc. to find something suitable. I assume they are still in the $100-200 range for something suitable.

When I got the last bike, the shop let me try a few out (install, ride a couple of kms, install the next, etc.). Back in the 90's, mates were happy with Rolls or Turbo models, but the shop suggested Selle San Marco Squadra 'HDP', which suited me best.

I should search around for a comfortable set of handlebars and get back on the bike. :roll:

[Grunt]

Could be a big OzRide happening soon.

[Fishman Dan]

Jono - for sure. But you have to wait for me at the top of the hills ;)

[Toolish]

I have been riding a bit too lately. None of this new gear for me though...old school Apollo IV (1980ish I think). Have been tinkering with it in the shed as it is in bad need of a birthday. Also keeping an eye on ebay but living in a rural area kills it as most are pick up.

Anyhow, doing 2-3 rides a week, about 20km each which takes me about an hour. Need to work up the milage, but has been too hot recently!

[Jono]

Do you have cyclists nappy pants yet??? And for them to work properly you know you need to be commando underneath!

And have you fit the bike to you yet?? You could go to a store and pay for them to do it, but you can also find plenty of info online about doing it. I use this site for standard bike fit and for tri setup. Seems a bit more indepth than others, but also explains what it's doing.
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO

Getting this right can make a difference to your comfort level.

Thanks for the website link goughy. The cycle shop did an approximate fit but I do feel like I'm not getting quite enough extension.

Hmmm ... I'd feel funny about doing this in front of another guy ... :shock:

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/5297/bikefitml7.jpg



:lol:

[Jono]

Jono - for sure. But you have to wait for me at the top of the hills ;)

ahhh ... no hills please ... can we choose a flat course? :oops:

[Toolish]

Went for a ride with a mate tonight...a bit of a breeze out which made for some toughish going but longest ride yet. Ended up doing 27km in about 1 h 20 min. Was well and truelly out of water by the end of it so not sure what the solution is to that.

[Scottt]

Take more water.

[Scottt]

But seriously, have you thought of getting a Camelback (http://www.bikesyoulike.co.uk/product/4294/Camelbak_30_Litre_Classic_Hydration_Pack_2008).

[goughy]

I have been riding a bit too lately.

Been meaning to ask if that was you over at transitions, but I figure it had to be. I started on my 1988 steel roadie and waited until something came along. Got mine pretty cheap in the end. But the whole shipping thing was a was seeming a pain, like 100bucks etc. Found one locally in the end.

Being an old school roadie you may not have provision for a second bottle cage?


Thanks for the website link goughy. The cycle shop did an approximate fit but I do feel like I'm not getting quite enough extension.

Hmmm ... I'd feel funny about doing this in front of another guy ... :shock:

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/5297/bikefitml7.jpg



:lol:

Hence why I did it with my wife ;)

[Dotty]

Went for a ride with a mate tonight...a bit of a breeze out which made for some toughish going but longest ride yet. Ended up doing 27km in about 1 h 20 min. Was well and truelly out of water by the end of it so not sure what the solution is to that.
Have a lot of water, juice, cordial, etc. before you leave, and at rest stops, esp. in the hotter weather. (I usually like to carry only one bottle/bidon.)

Some bikes have lugs for a second bidon cage on the seat tube. unfortunately, that is where most full-length pumps fit on a road bike.

Another option is the Camelback-style arrangement, with 1.5 - 3 litres of fluid on your back and a feeder-tube. Bit dorky, but handy for long distances non-stop on expressways and country highways. (These are illegal in races though.)

[Fishman Dan]

I'm a big fan of drinking a good amount of water 15-30 minutes before leaving.

[Grunt]

Another vote for a camelbak, invaluable in my opinion. I have the Mule version enough storage for tools and a few snacks too.

[Toolish]

Been meaning to ask if that was you over at transitions, but I figure it had to be. I started on my 1988 steel roadie and waited until something came along. Got mine pretty cheap in the end. But the whole shipping thing was a was seeming a pain, like 100bucks etc. Found one locally in the end.

Being an old school roadie you may not have provision for a second bottle cage?


Yeah mate, it is me over there too...

How much difference did the bike upgrade make to you? No provision for a second cage on this bike.

I have a camelback here, have never used it so might have to give it a run, see how it goes.

[goughy]

Honestly, I bought the cheapest 'decent' bike I could find, a Giant OCR3 for $300. The biggest difference, and it is a big and worthwhile difference is in the shifting. My old roadie had shifters on the angled down tube, and every time I wanted to change it's reach down and almost fall off. Having the newer style combined break lever/shifters is great. You change gears easily and almost as an after thought and you just do it whenever you feel like it. It feels safer, smoother and just looks better.

My old bike was a bit heavier, but it also had a really bad front crank cogs - I think it was a 50/42 teeth setup and was a bugger for climbing. Most stronger riders will have a 53/39 tooth setup but you can get like 50/34 and it's great for climbing. Mine is a triple with a 50/39/30 I think and while I barely ever drop to the 30, it's there for the big hills.

I'm glad I did it when I did. I was gonna wait and save for a better 2nd hand bike but as thing turned out I wouldn't have been able to afford anything if I didn't jump when I did. I would think you should be able to get a 2nd hand bike for sub $600 with carbon fork and seat post, and at least shimano sora gearing. Maybe even shimano 105. I do it in a heartbeat.

Make sure you're drinking plenty of water all week, hydrate your body up. If I had 2 cages I'd be taking one with water and another with gatorade, and some food too. If riding for like 2 hours, I'd be taking some gatorade in and maybe some food after 40mins or so. Personally, unless your riding really hard I think 2 bottles would be plenty, and if riding hard you probably wouldn't have enough time to down more than that.

[Fishman Dan]

My old roadie had shifters on the angled down tube, and every time I wanted to change it's reach down and almost fall off.

"Suicide levers", as described by a colleague and enthusiast at work when discussing modern bikes. Also, the geometry of bikes these days is hugely different.

[Grunt]

My Bikes

My Road/Tri bike is proably due for upgrade as it is now almost 20 years old. I bought it with my first tax return cheque.

It is a Peter Bundy Cycle's custom Tri bike.
Fitted with pretty old gear.
Shimano Exage derailleurs
Shimano SLR Brakes
Shimano Bio Pace Front gear (it is one of those elliptical one's)52/40
It had the original profile bars on it when I got it, I changed these back to normal bars with profile extension bars for the RTA big ride a few years back. Frame is still in great nick and was thinking of upgrading all the gear to get it up to spec. I keep saying I will get out on it but nowadays it just sits on the wall in the garage.

My MTB

Giant 860 ATX Hardtail
Great all terrain runabout and my bike of choice for running around on and short road rides.

Meaning to get out more but the kayaking has taken the spot of riding for my aerobic fitness regime.

[Toolish]

Was thinking that getting away from the suicide levers would be the advantage...also the tyres I currently have on are not really designed for any sort of speed on the road. keeping an eye on ebay and bikeexchange to see if anything comes up.

I don't understand all the 105/Tiagra, etc stuff yet, but working on it!

Edit : also, good work Goughy on the first tri!

[Fishman Dan]

Toolish - the running gear is a new language...

Road bikes start low, then they have groups - Shimano for instance manufacture the Sora, Tigara, 105, all the way up the scale to Ultegra groupsets. The key here is that the more you spend, the lighter and more durable the gear becomes - allegedly!

The groupsets for Mountain Bikes differ again..

Then there's SRAM, Campagnolo..... it's like another language, because it is!

[goughy]

Was thinking that getting away from the suicide levers would be the advantage...also the tyres I currently have on are not really designed for any sort of speed on the road. keeping an eye on ebay and bikeexchange to see if anything comes up.

I don't understand all the 105/Tiagra, etc stuff yet, but working on it!

Edit : also, good work Goughy on the first tri!

Thanks T ;)

Basically the gearing equip changes as you go up levels bike. There are a few brands of groupsets for road bikes; copagnolo (something like this anyway), sram and shimano being 3 of them. Usually most cheaper (say sub 2.5k) bikes have shimano. The order (from cheapest to dearest) is 2200, sora, tiagra, 105, ultegra, ultegra sl and dura ace. The cheaper groupsets are heavier, and the changes smooth out as you go higher in range. Not that the cheaper stuff is rough by any means. Also, the 2200 and sora range have a different gear change. They use the brake lever to shift to larger cogs, but use a thumb clicker to move down cogs. The others use the brake lever to shift up cogs, but have a little shifter behind the brake lever to shift down cogs.

Most will consider the 105 series the start of the good stuff, although many won't look below ultegra. But they all work fine. Some of the groupsets from sram etc can cost several thousand on their own.

[AndyP]

Toolish, if you really need to know how much water you should carry, it may be worth while weighing yourself before and after the ride to see how much weight you lose (taking into account the amount you drink during a ride). Taking one litre per kilo lost is apparently the go.

[Fishman Dan]

You mean all this effort to get fit, and all I really need to do is go to the dunny to lose weight?!

[Fishman Dan]

Today's Route (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Home-Lyons-Rd-Great-Nth-Rd-Ramsay-Rd-Bay-Run-Balmain-Rd-Victoria)

About 21.3 km's, 8 km's more than yesterday. Once I'm doing that distance, the return over the Gladesville Bridge is a bugger!!

Today's route was a little all over the shop, I made it up as I went. A mix of good roads, and other high traffic, traffic lights, stop-start, and of course the Bay Run is treacherous with dozens of pregnant soon-to-be mums spread out over the bitumen clearly marked with a BICYCLE!!!

[Virgal_Tracy]

Did I happen to see Brad and Amanda on the M7 bikepath heading north between Cowpasture rd and Hoxton Park Rd at about 11:50am?

[amanda]

nope - sorry not us! back at work today :(

I carry only 1 bottle for our 30km ride - but I don't sweat much - plus my bike frame is only big enough for 1 bottle - I can't even carry a pump! (that's why brad is there, brad = mule :))

Brad rides his mtb when we ride together - apparently I'm too slow and lack muscle power to keep up with him on a road bike!

[Toolish]

went for a ride last night with the camelback, worked pretty well given that it was 40+ degrees. No excuses for not riding further now!!

[Fishman Dan]

Has anyone tried those glucose sachets? For Chrissy the wife gave me a cycling shirt, one glucose thingy and another "energy supplement" that was basically like eating jelly crystals.

I had the glucose thing the other day as I rode - it was pretty hard to choke down. It was like a sugary, caffeiney, orangey burst of yuckness - not one of those flavours was overwhelming but combined it just tasted weird.

According to the pack you're meant to have "1 sachet 10 minutes before starting your ride, then 3 every hour". I'd rather eat my own snot after dancing at the Big Day Out all day. I didn't feel any more energised either.

[AndyP]

I've avoided them so far. Senecio posted about how badly they went down for him too, in the Run thread.

[Dotty]

Handle with care. They can go through you depending on how sensitive your gut is to a high concentration of sugars. (Osmosis effect can draw water out of you, into your intestines and it only has one way out.)

Also saw this on an Oxfam Trailwalk, where compliemetary Gu sachets were handed out on the day. Our only walker with this problem was the 'lucky' one who grabbed one of the last free sachets.

Golfer69 had a similar problem with a bag of sorbitol lollies recently.

When riding, I tended to have the Kelloggs K-time (?) breakfact bars that were like a fruit pie, such as apple, apricot, raspberry, etc. (Not as dry and crumbly as muesli bars, and no messy melted chocolate.)

[goughy]

Has anyone tried those glucose sachets? For Chrissy the wife gave me a cycling shirt, one glucose thingy and another "energy supplement" that was basically like eating jelly crystals.

I had the glucose thing the other day as I rode - it was pretty hard to choke down. It was like a sugary, caffeiney, orangey burst of yuckness - not one of those flavours was overwhelming but combined it just tasted weird.

According to the pack you're meant to have "1 sachet 10 minutes before starting your ride, then 3 every hour". I'd rather eat my own snot after dancing at the Big Day Out all day. I didn't feel any more energised either.

I've wondered about them as I may need some of that stuff later in the year. I've heard that you shouldn't just jump into using those things but get yourself used to them.

From what I gather, up to an hour you should be just fine with water. If riding over an hour them something extra doesn't hurt. If you've got two bottle cages then have one bottle with water and the other with gatorade or something (I buy the powder from the supermarket). But you've gotta drink the gatorade early enough to get the benefits of it, say half and hour. But that's the same for the gels etc too.

I can do a 2hour ride followed by a half hour run just on water, but I suck the gatorade down afterwards and have something to eat, a banana or muesli bar or something. Granted it's not a killer hard ride (probably with a cupa tea in the middle ;) ) but the run is always hard afterwards (ever tried running after being on a bike - that hurts!).

[Fishman Dan]

Funny to see your thoughts on Gatorade. I prefer that for something like golf - the bottle is larger and better for refilling with water! I prefer water in either case. A half decent breakfast, coffee and water leaves me with plenty in the tank for 25 km's of cycling, which so far is plenty for me.

[Toolish]

Once this weather cools down I am going to look to increase mileage a bit. But seen as the aim is to lose some weight Gatorade and the like don't seem like the best course of action, empty calories.

[macjackass]

Dusted the 'dale off today and went for a ride. Has anyone ridden on the new path along the freeway from artarmon to the city? Started off looking quite prmoising but then when you get to (I guess) Naremburn you have to get in the traffic and ride on the road to Nth Sydney. It was nice not having to worry about Sydney drivers, even if only for a little while.

[goughy]

Actually, gatorade is about replenishing the glycogen etc in your muscles, especially after sport. Our trainer is right on us to have some sort of sport drink within 10 minutes of us finishing training, and even during. It helps the muscle soreness too apparently.

[Toolish]

Yep, that is what gatorade is great for, if you are looking for peak performance those sort of calories are required.

At the moment I am focussing on weight loss and a few different websites I have read (e.g. http://bodybuilding.about.com/od/cardioexercisebasics/a/cardiobasics.htm) have talked about exercising on an empty stomach while glycogen stores are low so your body focusses more on burning fat.

Also, the basic maths of weight loss is calories in vs calories out and sports drinks are a lot of calories in.

All that said, down the track once I have trimmed some weight I will definitely start using them and hope they help boost performance then.

I would guess your trainer is focussed on performance not weight loss.

[AndyP]

Once this weather cools down I am going to look to increase mileage a bit. But seen as the aim is to lose some weight Gatorade and the like don't seem like the best course of action, empty calories.
You could think like that, or you could consider the value in taking in some energy and electrolytes. In the scheme of how much you are burning, it's probably not too bad.

That said, I rely mostly on water for my longer runs (maybe a yoghurt top muesli bar too), and only have the sports drinks when they are supplied during races.

[Fishman Dan]

I just checked out the rest of the accessories to get on the road, prepared for the worst -

Saddle bag - $50+. Needs to hold a tube, tyre lever and compact tool
Spare tube - $12?
Pump - Start at $39, likely need to spend $59 to get one that can inflate to 85 psi+ more easily (or at all). It's not like the old-days either, you have to hold the pump against the tyre, no flexible valve/tube! There's also pumps that use CO2 and inject it straight into the tyre, but refills are $6 for 2 - seems like a lot, considering there's no guarantee that you won't waste a cylinder trying!

Plenty more accessories to buy too! Gloves and side-bars not required!

[Toolish]

There's also pumps that use CO2 and inject it straight into the tyre, but refills are $6 for 2 - seems like a lot, considering there's no guarantee that you won't waste a cylinder trying!


In 2008 at Hawaii ironman the leading woman (Chrissie Wellington) got a flat, changed the tyre and had a CO2 cannister to pump it up, unfortunately for her she didn't have it connected right and she didn't have another or a pump. Had to beg for another competitor to give her a cannister. In the end an Aussie girl did and Chrissie came back to win and go back to back. With that in mind I would think if you go the cannister option carry a spare or 2.


You could think like that, or you could consider the value in taking in some energy and electrolytes. In the scheme of how much you are burning, it's probably not too bad.

That said, I rely mostly on water for my longer runs (maybe a yoghurt top muesli bar too), and only have the sports drinks when they are supplied during races.

I guess if I take in 200-300 cals to burn an extra 500 then life is good. Will look at that once I am going for longer rides and runs. Have a play and see if it makes a difference to me I guess.

[Dotty]

Fishy, puncture repair is annoying and frustrating at the best of times, esp. since the next option is walking, public transport or an embarrassing call to a loved-one.

Don't skimp on a pump. I don't know what is around now, but Zefal HP-X was the bee's knees in the 90's. (They came in four lengths, depending on seat-tube length. Annoyingly, my original bike had a size 2, but the new one needed a size 3.) I originally made the mistake of getting a compact pump, and it would only get up to 50-60psi.

Practice using the tyre levers, removing a tube, etc. at home, to get an idea of technique and tension needed. (It is a bugger the first time on the roadside, a long way from home, under pressure and often when it starts raining (the water makes it easier for the culprit to peirce the tyre).)

Line the tyre brand label up with the valve. It make it easy to find the cause of the puncture, based on the hole in the tube. The cause will usually be a sliver of glass, steel radial wire or flint, which will still be imbedded in the tyre. If you don't remove this, your freshly replaced tube will soon develop a leak in the same spot.

A small rag run around the inside of the tyre is also handy for finding this (and potentially other) puncture causes. Don't use your finger, as it will slice open easily on the sharp bit of wire, glass, etc.

Best technique is to avoid using tyre levers to put the tyre back on, to minimise risk of pinching the tube. Watch out for pinching anyway.

[goughy]

In 2008 at Hawaii ironman the leading woman (Chrissie Wellington) got a flat, changed the tyre and had a CO2 cannister to pump it up, unfortunately for her she didn't have it connected right and she didn't have another or a pump. Had to beg for another competitor to give her a cannister. In the end an Aussie girl did and Chrissie came back to win and go back to back.

Actually, a competitor is not allowed to assist her otherwise they are both disqualified! Technically the girl 'discarded' a co2 cannister on the road in the vicinity of Chrissie. It was then trash on the road and chrissie could use it. She would have had assistance from the official bike repair guys there but it would probably have taken a while for them to get to her. Chris McCormack the aussie who won 2007 had bike trouble and the repair guys said it would take about 40mins to fix. He gave in.

There are torrents of the 2hour program of the Hawaii ironman available!

[Toolish]

Have been watching them on youtube, will check the torrents out.

Macca did a gear lever cable wasn't it?

[Grunt]

FD
Another Vote for the Zefal pumps, they will do above 85psi easily.

[Toolish]

Bought a new weapon today, decided to go to the local shop, figure if I am going to get serious riding I might as well build a relationship. Got a Shogun Katana (http://www.bicyclestore.com.au/Shogun-Katana-Road-Bike-pr-23225.html).

Had to take it for a test ride tonight...I can not believe how much easier riding is. Ended up doing 31km in 1:12 and loved every minute of it. Might have to look at buying some nicks soon though I think.

[Toolish]

Went for my longest ride yet this morning. 56km, took me 2:12.

Had a pretty sore bum after about 30km and legs had nothing left in them at all for the last 15km. Don't think I will be riding any further than this for a while but will attempt this same ride every couple of weeks for a while all going to plan.

[goughy]

My mate and I only ride about 30 to 40k on sunday mornings, but could add an extra 10k if we didn't stop for coffee in the middle of it ;)

[Fishman Dan]

Went for my longest ride yet this morning. 56km, took me 2:12.

Had a pretty sore bum after about 30km and legs had nothing left in them at all for the last 15km. Don't think I will be riding any further than this for a while but will attempt this same ride every couple of weeks for a while all going to plan.

Good stuff Toolish.

I haven't touched the bike this weekend due to the rain, but sitting here now at the office, I should have ridden in. It would have been my test run and a perfect day for it - looks ominous but I don't think there will be any rain.

I bought the seat bag, spare tube and puncture repair kit yesterday, so I'm pretty much ready to go!!

[Toolish]

My mate and I only ride about 30 to 40k on sunday mornings, but could add an extra 10k if we didn't stop for coffee in the middle of it ;)

I was planning to stop after about 30km for a drink and some food at a service station, but got there and felt ok so kept going. In hindsight some more fuel might have been a good thing.


Good stuff Toolish.

I haven't touched the bike this weekend due to the rain, but sitting here now at the office, I should have ridden in. It would have been my test run and a perfect day for it - looks ominous but I don't think there will be any rain.

I bought the seat bag, spare tube and puncture repair kit yesterday, so I'm pretty much ready to go!!

A seat bag, spare tube and tools etc to fix it all are next on my list of things to buy. At the moment going on a wing a prayer and a mobile phone.

[Fishman Dan]

I also need a pump, but not sure whether to get a floor pump for home, or a mobile pump to hook onto the bike. I am all for the latter, with plenty of options out there!!

The guy at the bike shop yesterday (and I wasn't too impressed with him) said that if you keep the tyres inflated, then the chances of puncture are lower. I don't necessarily subscribe to this - especially when cycling besides some of Sydney's busiest roads - there's glass and crap everywhere.

[Moe Norman]

I also need a pump, but not sure whether to get a floor pump for home, or a mobile pump to hook onto the bike. I am all for the latter, with plenty of options out there!!



Get both.

The one for out on the road is just for a quick repair and head home. The floor pump for home you can use to correctly inflate your tyres to your chosen level.

If you don;t already have a floorpump, what are you using??

[goughy]

Yeah, with moe here. Floor pump first then one for the bike. I just go the mobile phone atm, if I got a puncture I'd just ring rob. Don't carry any spares on the bike with me.

[Toolish]

I have a floor pump and a hand pump, but the hand pump battles to get the pressure high enough but would be enough to get me out of trouble.

[Toolish]

Well, have had my first puncture.

The guy at the bike shop told me to let my tyres down between rides so I have been doing that. On Saturday I went to pump them up before going for a quick spin and I noticed the front was really flat. Thought it was a bit weird but assumed I had just let too much out last time I rode. Pumped them up and off I went.

25 minutes in I noticed my tire was definitely going flat, but seemed pretty slow so kept going. 40 minutes in I was on the roadside waiting for a lift. My hand pump doesn’t fit the valves on my new bike so I have not been taking it with me. My mate that I was riding with has a pump, but hadn’t brought it for that ride.

So today I went and bought a saddle bag, some tube patches and glue and a spare tube. Didn’t buy a pump as the budget didn’t extend that far, but will look at one in the next couple of weeks. So tonight I will be patching the tube, I have already taken it out and found the leak then I realised the patches I have are for mountain bike tyres and are way too big!

Anyhow, I guess it had to happen sooner or later, at least it wasn’t on a long ride where I was miles from home, only had about 5 km left but didn’t want to risk a rim!

[Jono]

Hey Toolish, is this your new bike that had the flat?

[Toolish]

Yep, new bike. Pretty sure it was a 3 corner jack, very distinct hole in the tube and on the outside so not a spoke prick or anything.

[Toolish]

Anyone else out there riding still. I put in 45km yesterday which took 1:40. Need to work out a proper riding program. Running I have a program set up where I know what distance I am doing etc. Riding tends to be more along the lines of "I feel like a ride today" so I head off.

Have had 3 more flats since my initial one... definitely going to have to get a hand pump, mrs is sick of driving out to pick me up!

[Bruce]

Having grown up riding my bike around Mildura I can tell there are bloody caltrops everywhere! I used to have the thornproof inner tubes filled with that goo stuff that helps self-repair and even then I would still get a few flats.

[Fishman Dan]

Anyone else out there riding still. I put in 45km yesterday which took 1:40. Need to work out a proper riding program. Running I have a program set up where I know what distance I am doing etc. Riding tends to be more along the lines of "I feel like a ride today" so I head off.

Have had 3 more flats since my initial one... definitely going to have to get a hand pump, mrs is sick of driving out to pick me up!

Sadly not. I'm still finding myself doing "other things". I need to get back on the bike, no questions asked. Had a horror weekend 2 weeks ago with the little one and a temperature, and I was on-duty last weekend for babysitting last Saturday with the missus having other arrangements. Sunday we chilled out and played properly for the first time in yonks.

[goughy]

An easy 35k with 3 intervals and a coffee (cup of tea anyway) for me on Sunday. Sunday's is my riding day. We still do some with the Sat tri training, but mid week it's the exercise bike for me!

[goughy]

It was a sad day for me yesterday when I came to the realisation that if I could get enough money for my golf clubs I'd sell them and own one of these instead!!
http://www.cervelo.com/bikes.aspx?bike=P12009

[henno]

Bike ho.

[Virgal_Tracy]

It was a sad day for me yesterday when I came to the realisation that if I could get enough money for my golf clubs I'd sell them and own one of these instead!!
http://www.cervelo.com/bikes.aspx?bike=P12009

The P3 has always been on my wish list.

[Toolish]

Goughy...what sort of speed are you averaging on the roady?

I would feel really self conscious riding a better bike than my current one because I just aren't quick enough.

Also, a little bit excited, on Wednesday I went for my first ride since destroying my ankle a couple of weeks back and I pulled up well so riding will be full steam ahead again.

[burger]

I too have just got on the bike . . . .

Cell MTX-2 http://www.cellbikes.com.au/p_92_CELL__MTX2_CITY_MOUNTAIN_BIKE_SHIMANO_DEORE_G EARS

Been out a couple of times and have found that my local hills are a lot ****ing steeper than they seem on the bus!

Legs been OK, aerobic capacity godawful!

Also planning to do some nice flat Meadowbank to Homebush rides to raise the cycling experience and bring back those memories from 20+ years ago when we used to ride to Brooklyn to go fishing.

Likely to end up joining BikeNorth if only for the insurance side of it.

stu.

[goughy]

Goughy...what sort of speed are you averaging on the roady?

I would feel really self conscious riding a better bike than my current one because I just aren't quick enough.

Also, a little bit excited, on Wednesday I went for my first ride since destroying my ankle a couple of weeks back and I pulled up well so riding will be full steam ahead again.

No where near fast enough!! But I ride fairly hilly areas where one minute you're doing 55k and the next it's 20k. But the idea of the tri bike is more than about speed! The position you get on tri bikes assists you in the run in a couple of ways. Firstly when you rest in the proper position on your forearms etc you are supporting your upper from on your skeleton whereis on a roadie you are using your muscular frame which uses more energy and is less comfortable starting on the run.

Also the extreme forward seat position forces you to use less of your quads on the ride which helps also on the run. Cyclists tend to be hindered in their running by the size of their quad muscles. They actually restrict the running motion.

Since tri's are what I'll mostly do I figure get the right bike. But I've found so far that that model bike isn't brought into Australia. So maybe I'll look for a second hand bike. There'll be tons int he sub 3k range but I feel with tri bikes you need to know the bikes history, as sometimes they aren't treated right!

[Toolish]

Went for my first proper ride in 3 weeks last night. Went for an hour and did about 30km. By the end I was running out of daylight so lights are now fitted to the rig, no excuse not to get out there!

[Toolish]

Riding has been full steam ahead, although the mrs thinks I have lost it.

Last night it was raining but I really wanted to go for a ride, 5km in the rain stopped so that was nice but riding in the wet in the dark is an experience. 30km later my bike is filthy and will be getting a loving clean down on the weekend.

Keep finding things I want to buy though. I am sorted with a floor pump and a hand pump. Bought a pair of knicks a couple of weeks ago which was a good investment. Now thinking either some tights for the cold mornings (riding and running) or some bike shoes....oh, and a chain cleaner....cycling is as bad as golf for spending money!

[Grunt]

A good option is the legging add ons to knicks. They are good for the early morning rides as you warm up you cam take them off and slip them into the pocket at the back of the bike top. I have sleeves and leggings, really good!

[goughy]

My arm and leggings just arrived today!! On the really cold windy days they will be going over the long compression wear which is under my riding gear. Maybe need to add a vest for the chest too!

[Grunt]

get a winter weight bike shirt Goughy. I have a couple that are of heavier weight material.

[Toolish]

A good option is the legging add ons to knicks. They are good for the early morning rides as you warm up you cam take them off and slip them into the pocket at the back of the bike top. I have sleeves and leggings, really good!

Was thinking about that, but I need something for morning running as well so I recon Skins or 2XU type thermal tights might be the go...shorts over the top when running of course!

Will be looking at arm warmers for sure though.

[goughy]

I've had the Slazenger long compression pants since last year for running in. And I use them on the bike too. But on the cold cold days I'll be wearing them (as well as the long sleeve top) under my cycling stuff with the arm and leg warmers over the top!! Would have been worth it on our ride last week!

[Toolish]

Bump...

Goughy, just in case you are searching this thread might be requiring some posts from you in the near future...

Good luck!

[AndyP]

Haha, busted!!

[goughy]

Yeah, the riding thread has died a bit! I'm just used to posting in the run thread! And are you suggesting I need to bring something up here?? Something you read somewhere else?? ;)

[Toolish]

Just thought you may be looking at some longer rides soon...

BTW...bought a mag trainer today, have not set it up yet, but I am excited to see how it goes! Pretty basic model but at least I don't have to take on trucks in the wet and dark anymore!

[goughy]

I pretty much haven't used mine, although I do go to a spin session with my trainer on Tuesday mornings. I've got my hands on some of the spinervals sessions and plan to use them soon. But don't have much room in the house to set up the trainer. I do have an exercise bike as well. I seriously need to get my rides up to the 60 to 80k mark. And also sitting on the mag trainer pumping out a consistent cadence.

Do you have a bike computer with cadence? I find the cadence invaluable on the trainer!

[Toolish]

I pretty much haven't used mine, although I do go to a spin session with my trainer on Tuesday mornings. I've got my hands on some of the spinervals sessions and plan to use them soon. But don't have much room in the house to set up the trainer. I do have an exercise bike as well. I seriously need to get my rides up to the 60 to 80k mark. And also sitting on the mag trainer pumping out a consistent cadence.

Do you have a bike computer with cadence? I find the cadence invaluable on the trainer!

No cadence here....on my to do list...along with about $5000 worth of other stuff!

[goughy]

Do you have a computer on your bike? Mine came with one when I bought it, and the cadence kit for it was only 20bucks more.

[Toolish]

Got a computer...no cadence option so will have to be a new one to get cadence. Also need to look at getting some shoes too.

Did 40min on the trainer last night...sat on about 140bpm to see how it would go. tougher than road riding for sure as there is no break. Thinking for the next bit will be a couple of weekday sessions on the trainer then a long ride outside on the weekend.

[goughy]

Got up to 56k today! Longest ride yet, but still need to get it higher over the coming months. Bloody cold though!!! Got out to Cambooya and the ground was covered in frost. Must have been close to 0 degrees. Ordered a thermal jacket/vest on Friday so hope it turns up soon. Layered up in full skins (bigW cheapies of course), jersey and cycling shorts and arm and leg warmers, beanie etc. Was almost enough but not quite. And the fingerless gloves just don't cut it.

[giddyupgaz]

What type of bike would you guys recommend for someone trying to get started riding?
I am looking to stay on the roads mostly, but the trip to the Cricket Club does have a short patch of gravel.
looking for comfort, ease of pushing and as light as possible. would rather not pay $1k as well, what am I looking for?

[Grunt]

Go for a hybrid if you are going to do more that a little off road riding. Not sure of what you can get for $1000.
Maybe a decent 2nd hand Mountain Bike. Fit some slicker tyres on it and you have a decent hybrid of sorts for waht you are looking for.

[giddyupgaz]

Cheers grunt - will troll the bay

[goughy]

Grunt's pretty much right! Keep an eye on fleabay. Either a mountain bike or a flat bar road bike (looks like a cross between a mountain and road bike) would be the go. Sometimes called commuters, sometimes hybrids.

[Toolish]

Got up to 56k today! Longest ride yet, but still need to get it higher over the coming months. Bloody cold though!!! Got out to Cambooya and the ground was covered in frost. Must have been close to 0 degrees. Ordered a thermal jacket/vest on Friday so hope it turns up soon. Layered up in full skins (bigW cheapies of course), jersey and cycling shorts and arm and leg warmers, beanie etc. Was almost enough but not quite. And the fingerless gloves just don't cut it.

Nice work, how did you pull up. My couple of 50km+ rides have left me feeling pretty spent and very hungry. Are you planning to do some 90ish rides before the big day to see how it goes pace wise etc?

I see Torpedo 7 has a special on arm and leg warmers so about to order some of them.

I had big plans of a long ride this morning but the baby decided she needed to be awake from 11pm to 3am overnight so I slept in, no ride. Will head out to the trainer later tonight though.

[goughy]

I'll be trying to get up to some 80+k with a bit of a brick off of them. And maybe some 40 to 50+k with maybe 5 to 10k run afterwards. Basically I need to keep up one long run and one long ride a week, but can probably keep up my speed work, swimming etc.

Didn't pull up too bad actually, and planned on bricking off of it but the fam wanted pancakes instead.

I'm most keen to get into the new house 'cause I'll have room for the trainer and spend some decent sessions in the mornings on it.

[Toolish]

Just spent an hour on the mag trainer keeping heart rate between 140-150, bloody hard work. Much harder than road riding!

[goughy]

It is. And riding you will average like 10bpm less than if you'd been running. I struggle to get my hr up on the bike. My knees give out before my heart does!

[goughy]

Longest ride today, about 60k. Kind of an easy ride where the avg speed was only 21k/hr for most of it. Can't wait till my garmin gets here as I think it'll chart things more so and also I think it'll keep a check on how much climbing we do. I seem to spend a lot of time going uphill at 15 to 20k/hr.

But booked it over the last 7 or so k home keeping it up around 30 to 50k/hr. I'd love to get on a flat course and actually see what average I could keep up. I just don't know what my 22k average is worth on a flatter course. But I'd like to average at least 30k/hr on a flat track.

[Fishman Dan]

Geez Goughy... you wouldn't get off the first cog if we were to ever cycle together!

I finally threw Ella into the baby seat yesterday. She sat in there comfortably enough while I did 2 laps of the kiddy park at Homebush, but she kept murmuring for her Mum so the fun was short lived. She quietened down when I picked up some speed - I don't know if that was due to terror or enjoyment, but hey - it worked!

It was a triumph though - I bought her a helmet about 2 months ago, and any time we put it near her in the house she'd back away and say "Nooooooooo" - not sure what she thought of it, but it couldn't have been good!

I ended up cycling home from Homebush - an 8 km lap around the precinct then over the rail bridge to Meadowbank. Far hillier on my side of the Parramatta River, I think I took a bad route home to avoid traffic, some shocking slopes for a guy who hasn't been riding enough. Still..... I beat the girls home (they stayed at Homebush to play on the swings).

[Dotty]

Fish, when I was living at Denistone and just starting, I used to take the road bridge (no cycle bridge then), stay close to the river through Putney and head up Tennyson Avenue, right onto Victoria and left onto Ryde Road. (Anything west of Tennyson Road was too steep to get up to Victoria or Blaxland Roads.)

This thread got my arse into gear last week and found some more suitable handlebars. (It was as bad a driver shafts, with diameters, bend points, lengths, etc. and managed to get a 'pullout' from a mate's mate, and he also had a carbon seat-post in the right size.)

Had a quick ride, while fitting the bars. Felt great, but nervous as hell on the wet road. Now EOFY changes are done, I might try for a few midweek rides.

[goughy]

Geez Goughy... you wouldn't get off the first cog if we were to ever cycle together!


You should try the spin sessions I do on Tuesday mornings. 3 minutes at 130+ cadence is a killer!

[Fishman Dan]

Dotty - that's how I came back... across the bridge, around the TAFE and up to Morrison Rd to Tennyson Rd. I didn't think Tennyson Rd would be too bad, but it really kicks up for the last 200-300m. I was shattered by the end of that (considering the climb on Morrison to Tennyson as well).

Having said that, I haven't been riding much at all lately. It will remain a good challenge down the track, but in the meantime I will probably go from Meadowbank TAFE to Victoria Rd - at least that route skirts along the ridge and is relatively flat.

From there I wasn't game to stay on Victoria Rd, so it was a first left onto Monash, and then backstreets home (only about 4 blocks).

Flying down Morrison to Putney shops was great fun though - and thankfully the lights were in my favour when I got there!

Goughy - If I were to try 3 minutes @ 130, it might just be a killer!

[Toolish]

Longest ride today, about 60k. Kind of an easy ride where the avg speed was only 21k/hr for most of it. Can't wait till my garmin gets here as I think it'll chart things more so and also I think it'll keep a check on how much climbing we do. I seem to spend a lot of time going uphill at 15 to 20k/hr.

But booked it over the last 7 or so k home keeping it up around 30 to 50k/hr. I'd love to get on a flat course and actually see what average I could keep up. I just don't know what my 22k average is worth on a flatter course. But I'd like to average at least 30k/hr on a flat track.

When is the Garmin due?

Roads around here are flat, but the wind is a killer. Other day I rode an out and back of about 40km total...took over twice as long to get back in as it did to get out.

Makes me wonder if a power tap is the only truly accurate way to track cycling improvement.

[goughy]

Another fortnight still! Was spose to be a few weeks ago originally but the worldwide release date keeps getting pushed back. A power tap would be worth 3 times my bike, though the garmin is worth like twice my bike ;)

[goughy]

Have joined a group of riders on tuesday mornings! These are some serious guys and someone often has to double back to pick me up. Jeeze these guys can ride. One has ridden sub one hour at the Noosa triathlon, and a couple of weeks ago rode 100k around Toowoomba in under 3 hours. With all our hills that's incredible. I was invited by one of the group who I do tri training with (outstanding rider, ok runner, not great swimmer) and a couple of the others from swimming are there + a few others.

Last tuesday we were rained on from almost the start and only got in 20k. But today we got in the whole 40k - seriously the toughest ride I have ever been on in my life!! Just the way they can accelerate from a stop and the way they ride up hills. Insane.

If this doesn't improve my riding nothing will. Now to go and stand on my legs for the next 10 hours :)

Oh, new garmin is here. Maps out my course for me and all. Today my hr maxed out at 179bpm on some of the climbs and averaged 157bpm for the ride. Burnt 1200 calories and I'm f'd.

[Fishman Dan]

Sounds great Goughy. Good stuff, you should really benefit from hanging around some of these freaks.

Have you seen Bikely.Com (http://www.bikely.com/)? Great for mapping routes and picking up routes from others.

[Toolish]

Nice work Goughy…I have joined the local cycling club but have not had a chance to join in a bunch ride yet. Think I might feel a bit out of place given I don’t own a cycling jersey or shoes. Anyhow, will hopefully get there on Saturday morning as apparently that is a better bunch for a beginner.

Did 60km on my own on Sunday at an average of 27.5km. Took about 2:15 to complete with an average HR of 135. I did not have anything to eat and I hit a massive wall after about 90 minutes, thinking if I want to go any longer at that sort of effort I will need some sort of nutrition.

[goughy]

One of the guys last week was telling me for my ride at the goldie to maybe keep my hr around 140 for the entire ride so I don't wear myself out. I have no idea what that will equate to on a flat ride. Here it's constant up and down hills. Based on the graphs there was about 15k of climbing, including about 6k of between 10 and 15%.

I need to talk to our PT about nutrition and how much water and gatorade I need to suck down on rides etc and am also gonna investigate the gels as well!

[AndyP]

Gels are for pussies!

[goughy]

Not like you'd be able to keep one down ;) camel back boy!!

[AndyP]

I've had one. It wasn't too bad, although messy to take on the run. Snakes or jellybeans are better.

[Fishman Dan]

I finally did a practice ride from home to work. It's not a huge ride (about 12 km's), but has some chunky hills and weaves in and out of a lot of general traffic. Much of the ride is along a shared footpath (i.e. slow going), and much of that is downhill. It was great riding across the Anzac Bridge.

In all it took a leisurely 45 mins (about 15 km/h average).

I found it harder being a 'commute' rather than an exercise ride. A lot of higher traffic roads, shared footpaths meant bus stops, side-street crossings (i.e. slow going) and a lot of glass shards. It was a good journey though, but I probably won't do it for work purposes until it warms up.

[Toolish]

I got 60km in today in 2:15 of actual riding time . I had planned to go further but a flat tyre took the time away.

Started raining after about 20km. Stopped and grabbed a can of Coke after 40km (learnt that from the tour). Flat tyre at 50km and being cold and wet and running late I cut it short.

Does anyone have any tips for changing a rear tyre without getting crap all over your hands.

[Moe Norman]

keep a glove in with your spare tubes

[goughy]

Pick a thread, any thread! Well, it was mostly riding so this one'll do!

Been very lazy this week with the move missing all my workouts so I was determined to keep todays! And what a day it was. Was gonna drive from the new house to my mates to start today but thought bugger it, I'll ride from home. My reasoning was I didn't feel like starting our 60k with a 5k climb, but what the heck. It wasn't too bad. Ended up pushing out 75k today, with shit loads of climbs and just for the fun of it went for a 5 odd k run when I got home. I was shagged off the bike and with our house surrounded by hills I struggled but loved it. Had to walk a few times up some very steep sections, but after that ride I didn't have much choice. Another mate has joined us which slows us down a bit on the uphills. Going up one big one (Mt Kynoch for any that know Toowoomba; about 2+k fairly constant and steep) he was struggling so I hung behind him to keep him company but pedalled right leg 10 rev's then left leg 10 rev's for most of it. That was interesting.

In the end started riding this morning at about 5:40am and finished running a bit after 11am (20mins at the coffee shop for good measure!). 3hrs37mins riding and 37mins running.

Most extreme workout I've ever done and toughest brick session ever too. Hurts like hell too but dang it feels good. Also burnt 2500 calories so I can eat whatever I want today ;) ;)

[Fishman Dan]

This thread has lost control. Time to shut it down!

[Toolish]

Pick a thread, any thread! Well, it was mostly riding so this one'll do! Been very lazy this week with the move missing all my workouts so I was determined to keep todays! And what a day it was. Was gonna drive from the new house to my mates to start today but thought bugger it, I'll ride from home. … Another mate has joined us which slows us down a bit on the uphills. Going up one big one (Mt Kynoch for any that know Toowoomba; about 2+k fairly constant and steep) he was struggling so I hung behind him to keep him company but pedalled right leg 10 rev's then left leg 10 rev's for most of it…20mins at the coffee shop for good measure!). …Also burnt 2500 calories so I can eat whatever I want today ;) ;)

Nice workout. I ride a bit with a mate who is slower, makes for an easy ride for me but is good socially. I have never understood the coffee shop thing to be honest. At the end of a hard ride I never feel like a coffee. I use the calorie burn thing as an excuse to eat what I want too…maybe that is why I am not losing weight!

[Fishman Dan]

I just signed up for the Spring Cycle - the fun ride that got me into cycling a year ago. 40 km's through Sydney (including over the Harbour Bridge), with an extra 10 km's around the Olympic precinct at Homebush to round off at 50. It's a pretty cruisy ride really, but a ton of fun nonetheless.

I've decided that I want to give myself every chance of doing the Sydney to Wollongong ride later in the year (November), which is 90-odd km's, with a few more significant hills. Perhaps even just to pick one of the different starting locations to shorten it to 60 km's.

[Grunt]

Might do this too Dan the Liverpool start is only round the corner from My house. 50km would be a good training event for the paddle only a month later.

[Grunt]

Entered the event tonight, 50km from Prestons to Sydney Olympic Park. 60km if I do the optional 10km lap around Homebush. I gather you will be doing the North Sydney part Dan.

[Fishman Dan]

Entered the event tonight, 50km from Prestons to Sydney Olympic Park. 60km if I do the optional 10km lap around Homebush. I gather you will be doing the North Sydney part Dan.

Yep - starting at St Leonards Park (North Sydney Oval), which gives us the opportunity to ride across the bridge - a once in a year opportunity. They also close the old Pyrmont bridge and we go over that too. Took about 3.5 hours last year - we started at 7am but by the end it was a stinking hot day.

I rode out of Homebush to Meadowbank which made it just short of 60 km's for the day. I'll probably ride home from Homebush this year - makes it about 65-70 km's all up, with a few tough hills towards the end of the journey.

[Grunt]

Yeah I did the North Sydney one a few years back as a training ride for the RTA big ride. Is pretty good going over the Bridge. The ride was to Parramatta Park then though.

[Captain Nemo]

All you Sydney Ozgolf Riders:
www.probikemechanic.com.au (http://www.probikemechanic.com.au/)
This is a mate of mine, Pete Mcdonald, some might know him as Australian Road Bike Champion!
Anyway he does bike repairs/servicing, has a little shop in Alexandria, but will come to you!

[Grunt]

Pulled my finger out this afternoon and serviced the road bike. After I finished I gave it a good clean and it is now ready for riding once again. I do need some new rubber on it though the sidewalls of the tyres are cracked as the rubber has gone off.
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/4344/p8090006.th.jpg (http://img6.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p8090006.jpg) http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1593/p8090007.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p8090007.jpg)

[Grunt]

35km Ride today. Bike needs some further tweaking and fine tuning of the gears. Need new brake pads, they have gone hard and just slide on the rim. Might be easier just to slip into a bike shop for a full going over and see what I can and cant do myself.

M7 Bike Path is great, first time ride on it today. Rode from Prestons to The Horsley Drive and return, man those hills near Horsley Drive are tough. 35 was a good shakedown ride the 50 to Homebush should be good too.

[goughy]

Time to bring out the green eyes of jealousy!!!!

I ride on sundays with a couple of mates. One's been riding a while longer than me and has a bike maybe 2 or 3 times better than mine. But I'm faster now :)

The other has just gotten into the riding and tri thing. He's been riding with us maybe 5 weeks on a borrowed bike. Yesterday he picked up a 2008 Specialized with durace groupset, full carbon for 5k! I hate him :evil:. Even worse 'cause I have a thing for Specialized bikes. How do I face him without him knowing I hate his guts!

OK, jealous rant over. I'm still faster!

[ParMaster]

Damn! 5k for a big is insane. Can they get much more expensive?

[zacdullard]

Damn! 5k for a big is insane. Can they get much more expensive?
Yes (http://www.roadbikebuyersguide.com/view_product.php?id=886&type=bikes), I just did a quick search and found this one. You can spend heaps on a bike.

[ParMaster]

Wow thats insane..

I just had the thought that there'd be bike ho's like there are golf ho's. ;)

[zigwah]

I should buy a bike.

[Dotty]

$19,000 for a Trek Time-Trial bike (prepared by the same boffins as Armstong's bike), is the highest Australian retail that I have seen.

Admittedly, the dollar was at its lowest, and the blue 350cc Callaway Great Big Bertha 2 was just released at $925. :shock:

[goughy]

Add a set of Zipp Sub9 disk and 1080 front to any bike and there's an extra 5 or 6k. Then SRAM groupset, no better than Shimano but much bigger bling factor!

In Tri mags I've seen plenty of people spending over 10k US on bikes. One brand called Blue includes 2 hours in the big name wind tunnel in the states including airfare - there's a lazy 2k+ included in the price. Buggers me what the bike must cost!

[Fishman Dan]

Wow thats insane..

I just had the thought that there'd be bike ho's like there are golf ho's. ;)

If only you knew. And "Tour Gear" takes on a whole new meaning. In golf there are only so many things you can replace on a semi-regular basis. On a bike there's..... well... everything. BYO allen key. ;)

Goughy - don't get too jealous of Specialized... they're designed in New Zealand! Just put another mortgage on the house and get some Campag group-sets :p

[Toolish]

And it's all about performance ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4

Personally I have a bit of a thing for Cervelo bikes, but given I can't even pony up $200 for shoes and pedals a new rig is a long way off....and I just finished payments on my current bike anyhow.

[goughy]

I like the Cervelo's too, but I hear lots of stories about cracked frames etc. Granted they have a lifetime warranty. One of the guys int he Tuesday group I ride with rides a P2 and called it the cheapie he could afford!!

[Grunt]

Would love to upgrade my ride too, just ain going to happen. I remember buying Zipp wheels in my tri days and they were actually worth more than the bike. I had a solid disc rear wheel and a 3 spoke front.

[Toolish]

A few big stats for me on my ride tonight. Went for just over an hour, average just over 30kmh (highest average speed for me), hit 189BPM on the heart rate monitor while climbing a hill at 18kmh (highest heart rate for me on the bike) and hit a top speed of 54.2kmh (maximum speed I have hit).

Was a pretty good wind here tonight so last 8-10km of the ride were down wind sitting on 40+kmh, felt really good. Would love to have the strength and fitness to do that without any assistance.

A pair of ZIPP wheel would smash the cost of my bike...not to say it won't happen one day. After all of the reports I have been reading I will upgrade wheels before frame.

[goughy]

Depends on the bike! Mine isn't worth upgrading anything on. I'd do much better just buying a whole bike.

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2009/08/25/police-claim-broken-bottle-used-assault-woma/

I was one of the two cyclists. Had seen him earlier in the distance doing a burnout round a corner. Was heading up the street when my mate and I heard something coming and looked round then got up onto the footpath quick smart. Rear left tyre was gone and sparks were flying from the rim on the road. Idiot turned down the street right in front of us and right past a cop car sitting on the left of the road and then round the corner when we heard more noise, obviously him crashing his car. made for an interesting ride!

[Toolish]

Shite....that would have been fun! Have you called the police as requested?

[goughy]

Yeah, but they didn't seem that interested. Took my details etc. You can see on the mapping from my garmin where we jumped left onto the footpath.

[Grunt]

Started a Fundraising page for Cycle Sydney to Raise Funds for MS.

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/grant__mascord

Sorry for the Constant request for donations, just a busy period of fund raising at the moment.

[zacdullard]

What are your goals for this fundraiser?

[Grunt]

Probably $1 would be good.

[AndyP]

That's not very convincing, Grunt.....

[goughy]

I see lots of old dudes riding bikes with their handle bars like this, but I doubt they're doing what these girls are!! Any of you ready to give this a go
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b36Yi-Pb1wM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcrooksandliars.com%2F&feature=player_embedded#t

[BrisVegas]

goughy - you owe me 6 min 20 seconds.....

[Grunt]

Only a week to the Spring Cycle Sydney Ride. Looking forward to a good ride. Tweaked the bike up today, gave it a good going over and fitted my number. Should be a good training run for my paddle too, 60km from near home to Sydney Olympic Park. Still have to plan the return home, have to see if the girls want to go into Homebush or not. If not I will be riding back home too.

[Fishman Dan]

My Spring Cycle day has been dashed. A friend of christening both his children next weekend, and to make things even more special they're doing it at 10am - smack bang in the middle of the morning. It doesn't really work for me to do the ride early, nor does it help for a late start. I'm devastated, it's one of those situations where no one is to blame, but there's no avoiding it.

I'm thinking I might do the start at 6:30 or 7am, go through the city to Rozelle and ride home from there. That will be about 25-30 km's and have me home in time to get ready for the christening.

[Grunt]

Sorry to hear Dan.

Some is better than none though.

[Captain Nemo]

Grunt, Mark,I and Toddy are all doing it as well, we should meet up and ride together?

[Grunt]

Where are you guys leaving from?
I am doing the Liverpool to Homebush ride.

[Toolish]

Got my longest ride yet in today. 78km in 2:35 (not including time to repair flat). Got a flat after about 73 km. The last 5 hurt getting back on after being stopped for 15 changing the tyre.

Felt pretty good, but probably should have taken some food....and got hit on the head at least 5-6 times by bloody magpies!

A few more rides in the 70-80 bracket and I will be ready to have a go at the 100 I reckon.

[goughy]

Haven't cracked the big triples myself yet. It just takes so bloody long!

[Fishman Dan]

Felt pretty good, but probably should have taken some food....and got hit on the head at least 5-6 times by bloody magpies!


What do you guys do for the maggies? It's that time of year again... it's annoying too - the first hit you never see coming and it scares the crap out of you!

I see guys in the city with plastic zip-ties pointing upward from their helmets - about 4-6 of them. I can only assume they're for the dive-bombing bastards.

[Grunt]

Zipties work well!

[goughy]

But you look like a dick! Haven't been swooped in a group yet - maybe don't ride alone...

Or windtrainer...

[Captain Nemo]

Where are you guys leaving from?
I am doing the Liverpool to Homebush ride.


Were going North Sydney to Homebush?

[Fishman Dan]

Titty... what time are you going to start? If I do my half-trip, I was going to start at sparrows. Problem is I might have to ride to the start line as well!

[Captain Nemo]

Mate we'd like to get out early as well, beat all the family's etc.
We'd like to use it as a bit of a training ride so to speak, so will go at a decent pace hopefully.

[Fishman Dan]

Mate we'd like to get out early as well, beat all the family's etc.
We'd like to use it as a bit of a training ride so to speak, so will go at a decent pace hopefully.

Enjoy the ride ;) :lol:

I seek a leisurely pace.. mind you I'm going to bail out at the bottom of Victoria Rd and head home from there.

[Captain Nemo]

No probs, looking forward to it!

[Grunt]

Did the Spring Cycle Ride Liverpool ride this morning. Was a blustery start and the climbs on the M7 were difficult. They were easy when we faced the climb to the top of Sugar Loaf Ridge. I could not find a low enough gear and slowed to a crawl, I looked at the speedo and was doing 7km/h and it was burning my thighs. Got to the top and face a great view of the Sydney Skyline. Quick pitstop and I was off again.

Ended up doing the 50km ride and not 60 due to a slow puncture near the end I rode it out but finished at Homebush rather than do the tour around the park..

50km in 2:09:12
Average speed of 22km/h
Top Speed of 47km/h

[jimandr]

Grunt,

I reckon it was a great effort just to start in today's wind, even though you would've been luckier than the Nth Sydney starters by being downwind for part of the way.

I've never been as fit as you, but I tried to ride to the top of Sugarloaf ridge once and had to get off and walk it. I was most surprised when I saw that was part of the route.

[ParMaster]

Grunt you should try and ride up a road in collaroy. Edgecliffe Road. It's the steepest road I've ever seen.

The name says it all. ;)

[Toolish]

This Saturday marked my first ever bunch ride, I have been thinking about doing one for a while but have always been worried I would be out of my depth. Anyhow I decided to bite the bullet and the contact from the local bike club suggested a beginner bunch to me. Got to the meeting point just before the designated start time. Rolled up and instantly felt out of my depth.

There was carbon everywhere I looked, everyone else had cycling shoes making my old runners with toe straps look very out of place. I think there may have been one bike cheaper than mine and that had a junior riding it. Oh well, here now, go time.

Rolled out and somehow ended up about 4 off the front in a bunch of 25. No drama there, can sit here and observe. Then the bunch started to roll and I realised the problem. I was in the right line, we were going forward….7km into my first bunch ride I am hitting the wind (and we were pushing into a fairly good breeze here) at the front of the group, shit, that wasn’t the plan. Rolled through pretty quick and was happy to be heading back towards the back of the bunch. Although I had not realised how much you need to focus to actually hang onto a wheel. Always ended up dropping off the wheel a bit in front then having to surge a bit to grab the wheel again, I am sure it sucked for the people behind me, sorry about that. Also a lot of brake use in parts, I need to get better at judging bunch movements.

Rolled on for a bit and turned so we had a cross wind, by this stage we were about an hour in and the ongoing problem I have with a sore right shoulder while riding started to flare up…normally on a solo ride this would signal home time, but I wanted to make sure I stayed in the bunch if I could in any way. By this stage the pace was picking up a bit, it was my turn to be near the back and I was wondering if I was going to get dropped off.

Another corner and downwind it is…the speed didn’t get up as high as I thought it might but that was fine by me. Spent some more time on the front downwind, no big drama there except I really didn’t know what sort of speed to go when on the front, how hard to push.

Got back into town and the bunch got split at a roundabout and then sort of seemed to fragment as that was around the end of the ride, so I rolled on home. 66km in 2:15 for the total, I have been further at a similar speed alone, but this was a different experience as there is no choice as to when you push and when you go easy etc. Felt safer as far as less chance of getting cleaned up by a car but was a bit on edge about a bike to bike collision. also I need to learn more about the calls and signals within the bunch.

I will be back, but I think I will get some shoes first.

[Fishman Dan]

Toolish - even though I'm not riding as much as I should, I found that shoes + pedals (clipped) make a big difference. Not a massive investment - and if you go down this path, test clipping in/out before you travel in a bunch, everyone has a newbie stack in clipped-in shoes ;) Mine was out the front of the house rolling in circles testing out the new bike!

Was there much chatter in the pack? Where did the journey take you?

[Grunt]

Shoes are worth it BIG TIME. You wont realise how much until you get them or try them.

[Toolish]

Toolish - even though I'm not riding as much as I should, I found that shoes + pedals (clipped) make a big difference. Not a massive investment - and if you go down this path, test clipping in/out before you travel in a bunch, everyone has a newbie stack in clipped-in shoes ;) Mine was out the front of the house rolling in circles testing out the new bike!

Was there much chatter in the pack? Where did the journey take you?

Shoes are definitely on the top of the to buy list. There have been a few larger household purchases lately, but once the plastic is clear I will be buying.

This is the route

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/australia/mildura/992125480414772097 (hope that works)

There was a bit of chat. Actually met a guy in the bunch who is a friend of a friend who I have played golf with a bit, didn't know he rode but he is right into it.

[AndyP]

Link didn't work, T.

[Toolish]

updated the URL, see if that works...not that it will mean much to all of you northerners!

[jimandr]

Great post about the bunch riding, Toolish.

I've often wondered how hard those guys ride. Once upon a time I aspired to join one of the Bicycle User Groups that post their ride programs on BicycleNSW and elsewhere. I doubt if I'll ever do it now. It just sounds too professional for me.

[AndyP]

I had a look at the elevation profile. I don't suppose there is much in the way of hills around Mildura.

[Virgal_Tracy]

Great post about the bunch riding, Toolish.

I've often wondered how hard those guys ride. Once upon a time I aspired to join one of the Bicycle User Groups that post their ride programs on BicycleNSW and elsewhere. I doubt if I'll ever do it now. It just sounds too professional for me.

These rides are a lot different to the bunch rides. Its eclectic ages and abilities. Most of the riding is done on cycle paths and is at a very easy pace if that is how it is advertised. They are more a social ride than a workout. Recently did a Liverpool to Parramatta Lakes ride and it was very easy following the train lines.

[goughy]

Posting this because while the bike is fully sick (the front brakes rock!) I think our AP has been moonlighting in the tri world!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73zKmPg2_0w

[Grunt]

Nice Bike, Yeah AP has another accent too.

[Toolish]

Well I finally got myself some shoes a couple of days ago. Went for first ride with them last night, will take some getting used to, is a different feeling for sure. I got pins and needles in my toes so I am going to have to play around with the cleat position a bit I think. May have been too far back, not sure. Have pushed them all the way forward as an experiment so will see how that goes next ride.

With the change in shoes I am thinking I may have to raise my seat a bit, the foot position has changed enough that I feel like the seat is too low now costing some power.

First ride was about 40km, average speed of just under 30kmh, which is not greatly different from without shoes. Hard to judge if it has helped yesterday as there was a pretty solid wind which threw me off a bit.

Will see how I go after a few tweaks, and didn’t even manage a clip stack, although went close when I finished. Took left leg out to stop at home, put it down then went to just lift right leg off without unclipping…ooops.

[goughy]

Strangely enough, did my first 100k ride today. 4am start in Bli bli then up to noosa to meet some tri doods from a tri forum then we headed down to twin waters where they headed home, then down to mooloolaba for me, a quick snickers as I didn't have enough drink with me then back to Bli Bli. Firstly the drivers around here seem very accomodating to cyclists, and secondly the roads were just a pleasure to cycle on! These two factors make Toowoomba look like a crap hole (along with about 50 other factors too)!

[Toolish]

Nice work on the 100!

I am half thinking of trying to get one in Thursday morning. Got a new helmet for christmas so why not initiate it with my longest ride yet?

I have a problem pacing myself for longer rides, always go out too hard so gonig to have to be be conscious of that when I want to go really long.

[goughy]

I always take longer rides easy and just enjoy myself. the long stuff isn't about pace, it's about time spent in the saddle.

[Toolish]

well...didn't get the 100. got 83 km done but was running out of time. Took 3:15 to do that far.

Learnt a valuable lesson on nutrition though...didn't eat before i left and after about 2 hours I cracked badly. Spent the last hour plugging into a solid headwind at 22-23 kmh.

Ah well, next year I guess!

[goughy]

Mad ethe same mistake T, though I was taking it pretty easy on the ride. Starting at 4am meant I needed my lights which require my small 2nd drink bottle rather than a large one, and I'd left it home. So I had no food and one bottle of gatorade with me. The snickers at 90k tasted so sweet!

[BrisVegas]

I had my first meaningful bike ride today in about 10 years. Rode into work (just the last 15km or so, it's 35km total) on the MTB.

A couple of points have come up.

1. I need slick tyres. The nobbies are not helping my cause.
2. I need to fix my front derailieur (sp?) so I can get onto the big chainring for the downhills.
3. I need to buy a pump, spare tubes and tyre levers.
4. Clip on pedals & shoes would help too I think.

I'll see how I pull up in the morning after tonight's ride home. I might have a crack again tomorrow.

[AndyP]

You might be a bit too sore for riding tomorrow. How long did it take you?

[BrisVegas]

half an hour. Maybe 35minutes.

[goughy]

The only prob I found with riding to work was all the stuff I had to carry for once I got there. If you're gonna go clipless pedals then get mountain biking/adventure racing shoes and pedals. Most allow you to clip in either side of the pedal, and often you can get shoes which are nearly sneakers/boots. Much much much easier to walk in if you need to at any point as the cleat is recessed into the bottom of the shoe rather than sticking out like on road bike shoes.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Northwave_Expedition_GTX_MTB_Cycling_Shoes/5360028004/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Shimano_M324_Combination_Pedals/4000000039/

These pedals can be used with cycle shoes or normal shoes. Not a bad option I think.

[BrisVegas]

thanks goughy. I had similar shoes (Shimano) and pedals years ago but ended up selling them as I was mainly riding on rough dirt tracks etc and felt safer with normal bear trap pedals. If I get into cyclying to work I'll prob get a road bike anyway, with the requisite shoes etc etc..

[Grunt]

Get a hybrid BV, comfort of the MTB but with the easier ride of a road bike.