Hurler turned Cyclist

ontheditch2

Got my first road bike last week. Have to take a kind of enforced break from the Hurling this season, so need something else to keep me somewhat fit.

So in an effort to keep up the cycling, going to post my rides here.
A few goals of mine are:
1.) Cycle over 100km in one go by end of August.
2.) Commute to and from work, most of July and August. 40km each way.
3.) Get weight down to 13 stone (currently 14 and a half).
4.) Enjoy myself..

Beasty

Good luck with it ontheditch2

If you can do your 80km commuting roundtrips 100km in a go will be easily achievable

If you can drop the weight also you need to be thinking about something like the Sean Kelly tour of Waterford at the end of August as a target;)

No 4 wil flow naturally from the other 3

ontheditch2

Cycle 1

8km, mainly flat, no major hills. Felt ok.Took about 25 minutes. Getting used to the bike.

Cycle 2

20km, hilly ride. Was tough. Took 1 hour.

Cycle 3

20km, up to Cunard, 450m up. Took about 1 hour 20 mins.

Cycle 4

18 km, mainly flat. Took 50 mins.

ontheditch2

Cycle 5

Distance: 28.50km
Time: 1:10:00
Average speed 24.42km/h
Evevation: Gain 250

pprendeville

I was in the same boat as you last year although I hurled a bit last year (with Na Fianna). Crap managers led to me quitting and putting cycling as my number 1 hobby although obsession is a better word. If you get into it you won't go back to hurling that's for sure.

Why not come out with me for a spin sometime. Will get you over the 100km mark and take it easy. Cycling on one's own can be hard especially if you're doing more than 2-3 hours. Once you reach the 100km milestone there's only one way to go - onwards and upwards. My record stands at 142km currently which I did with a fellow Boardsie in April. Probably not much compared to some guys on here though.

morana

as pp says you should try hook up with a group as you will go further and get a bit more enjoyment out of it.

Anyway enjoy it!

ontheditch2

Outward leg
13.15km Distance
47:21 Duration
17.4km/h Avg Speed
400 kCal

Return Leg
16.11km Distance
52:03 Duration
18.6km/h Avg Speed
440 kCal

Beginning to think i need to start improving my speed a small bit.
Went through the city centre today, so did have a lot of stops with lights and traffic, and had to slow down a good bit due to diversions etc in the city centre.

But getting there. longest spin yet

ontheditch2

Ride 7
25km
Average 20km/h

Ride 8
20km
Average 19.5km/h

Ride 9
27km
Average 20km/h

Ride 9
25km
Average 22km/h

Ride 10
36km
Average 21km/h

Slowly getting there, did half of my first commute today, 36 km to work, will do the other 36 km home later.
Will try to get home at speed of approx 25km/h if possible, will push hard anyway.

Edit: 23.1 km/h, not too bad, think the traffic lights in town are seriously hindering my average speed..

ontheditch2

Haven't done anything hectic only cycling to the pitch, shop etc on most days. Went for an 8 km run last night, so back on the bike today.

Distance 36.83 kms
Time 1:33:44
Speed 23.6km/h
Pace 2:32min/km

Happy with the speed, will be doing the return leg at about 7, so hope to get back in under 1 hour 30 mins. Going into a headwind for the first 5 kms, but after that it will be side wind, so will wait and see how it goes.

ontheditch2

50km
22.7km/h
Flatish route

Went for my longest one off spin without a break yesterday. Slowly getting more miles into my legs. Plan on commuting the 72km round trip at least twice this week, hopefully more depending on the weather. Also want to get over 25km/h for on the commutes.

BGT

Ontheditch2, You are making good progress, 50 kms at this stage is good going.

Leinster Loop on 21st August in south Kildare has routes of 85km and 120 km, chance to cycle with Stephen Roche and is an excellent day out. By this stage you'll be ready for the 120 if you can keep it up.

ontheditch2

BGT wrote: »

Ontheditch2, You are making good progress, 50 kms at this stage is good going.

Leinster Loop on 21st August in south Kildare has routes of 85km and 120 km, chance to cycle with Stephen Roche and is an excellent day out. By this stage you'll be ready for the 120 if you can keep it up.

Thanks BGT, that will give me a realistic target i think. Missed the last few days with sickness, so hopefully will get back out tomorrow or the day after. Seems like a good event too.

pprendeville

ontheditch2 wrote: »

Thanks BGT, that will give me a realistic target i think. Missed the last few days with sickness, so hopefully will get back out tomorrow or the day after. Seems like a good event too.

Cycling with a group makes life much easier. Cycling long distances on your own is more of a mental challenge than physical in my opinion. Unless it's WW200 weather you're cycling in in which case no matter who you have with you you're miserable.

ontheditch2

21.06km Distance
1:07:02 Duration
19.0km/h Avg Speed

Did a 5 km warm up thats not accounted for in the stats. Went a little bit up mapmyride category 3 climb.

95.88 m Start Elev
383.0 m Max Elev
281.0 m Gain
Distance
Cat Start End Length Min Max Avg.
3 0.56 km 5.81 km 5.25 km 107 m 383 m 4.8%

Was tiring going up, was in the easiest ring basically from when i started.

ontheditch2

Out- Didn't realise until the way back, but i had a bit of a tail wind
Went through town again, and for the first time i didn't have to stop, was 8pm in the morning, so traffic was light, so may of went through a few red lights. Very happy with the speed though.
Time Speed Pace Distance
1:20:35 27.4km/h 2:11min/km 36.61km

Home- Into Headwind, wasn't too strong. Tired a lot near the end, Iusually have a 4-5 hour break between the return leg, but this time only had 2.
Time Speed Pace Distance
1:41:12 21.8km/h 2:45min/km 36.75km.

20 minute difference is a large amount, but there is also a slight elevation gain overall from the work place to home, so that might account for some of it, but i will try to get more consistent on the journeys over the next few weeks.

ontheditch2

Went out to Howth, so have 2 sets of data because i needed to time the trip up the hill. I initially went up from the howth side, then went to the start point on the Sutton side, took 12.31:eek: Was hoping for a bit better than that, will blame the tiredness from going up the howth side first. I have a target to improve on now.

Total of over 80kms, in one go, a new record for me.
Would like to improve on the average speed though, not too happy with that.

Distance Time Date Speed Pace
34.7kms 1:35:14 06/30/2011 21.8km/h 2:44min/km

Distance Time Date Speed Pace
45.81kms 2:20:37 06/30/2011 17.6km/h 3:24min/km