Tell us about your cycle Yesterday.

wirelessdude01

veetwin wrote: »

Losing 13 kilos of lard in the past month makes cycling a lot easier!

Be careful with the level and quickness of weight loss.

Lyaiera

ford2600 wrote: »

Follow river downstream from PUC. When you get to Blackrock village, turn left, keeping river on left. Continue to just past Castle, entrance to Coastal cycle/pedestrian path is there

Thanks for that. I looked up Google maps again now that I've been around the area, I know where I went wrong. I went around the pond thing by PUC rather than taking the path on the left. If I want to go via that walkway through Mahon I can just take that alternative path. I'll try doing the Coastal Cycle Path, and head into Rochestown and come back again into the city next time. It's about 1km longer too which is good. Eventually I hope to be going down through Passage and around back to Douglas.

Would you take a look at this and tell me if I've got the route right or will I run into problems?

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/383011738

Zyzz

veetwin wrote: »

Did a nice 45k loop from Portmarnock to Ballyboughal in lovely sunshine. Bared the legs also and happy with an average of 26kph. Losing 13 kilos of lard in the past month makes cycling a lot easier!

Did you cut off your leg?

veetwin

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Be careful with the level and quickness of weight loss.

I had plenty to lose. I tipped the scales at 18 st 2 lbs just over a month ago (just shy of 6 ft 2) and decided enough was enough. All alcohol, sugar and carbs were banned and went on a high protein diet with plenty of fat. Also averaged 4 cycles a week varying from 25k to 60k.

I'm now 16st 9 (108kg) and hope to eventual reach 90 to 95kg and do the ROK cycle in July.

Edit; just checked and turns out I got the maths wrong. Actual weight loss was 9.6 kg.

ford2600

Yep. At km 5 just turn right and take cycle path over bridge on south link and under skehard road and blackrock road. Shorter.

Also you could head out to Passage and back.

G1032

What a perfect evening for a cycle. Did 33km and managed an average speed of 34.6 km/hr. I can safely say i've never cycled faster over that distance before. Got myself 2 strava podiums and 2 other top 7 positions too. Bloody delighted with that cycle........

OldBean

Lovely day for a cycle, but only managed to get out at about 6, and only for 40 minutes - What an evening though. Just under 20Km in Phoenix Park, 80% on roads/bike tracks, the rest on looser terrain. Bring on the long evenings!

Diggabot

Cracking day for a spin. 64km from home (Malahide) up to Naul, across to Garristown, back down to St Margaret's and home. The only downside was the puncture I got climbing out to Naul on the way to Garristown.

crosstownk

What a day for cycling. I was stuck in the office today but managed to 'escape' ahead of time.

I got home and did a quick 31km up the embankment to Brittas and then home via Ballinascorney and Firhouse. My best average to date (26kmh) and 20 mins quicker than the last time I attempted it in December.

rollingscone

http://www.strava.com/activities/125967223/segments/2829984812


Really enjoyed my spin today and was fairly proud of my descending, I also found climbing a lot easier now that my rear brake doesn't engage every time I start working hard.

Some advice of Lenny MC's that someone else referred me to in the Campervan came in really handy as the turn left from the Xroads has a really gravelly surface for quite a few kilometres and being able to remind myself that if the wheels skid I should still be able to keep going in the same direction.

Still stopped a few times on the climbs but more because of laziness than anything else.

Average speeds are still in the toilet but I'm feeling a lot happier about my bike handling and fitness in general.

Some Fred on a better bike in better kit tried racing me on the way home...I'll never understand why people who get trounced catch up with you at lights and try to get ahead (unsuccessfully).

cdaly_

Last day of the leave year yesterday...

Set out at 0800, through town at 0845 and south from the Yellow House at about 0915. That was the end of speediness. Had a good run up Cruagh Road (considering my lack of climbing over the last year). Stopped at the bridge to cool off and remove a layer and then carried on up to lough tay. Quick stop there before tackling the steepest bit of the climb. On over Sally Gap, down to Laragh and on up Slieve Elliot (with a gear to spare!) and down to Glenmalure. Lunch with my sister and home via Roundwood, Enniskerry, Dundrum.

156k with an average of 18.5kph. 12 hrs door to door, 8 hrs rolling.

A few more of these should have me ready for the REK in May...

Lyaiera

Lyaiera wrote: »

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/383011738

I did this route today (my second day of cycling for this year.) The Blackrock Coastal Road was lovely. It was quite foggy over the bay and it was pretty cool to see the distance fade to nothing and fog and just be able to make a few things out. It's also a lovely path that I found great for cycling on, apart from a bit with some seaweed and flotsam, etc. from storms.

The road past Pairc ui Caoimh was a pain. I imagine it was once a fine road, nice and flat but it's been patched up so many times that my bum was in bits after it. I tried avoiding as much of the patchwork as possible but it was impossible not to feel judders.

Going out those two paths I was amazed at the difference cycling into the wind makes. The wind was obviously travelling across the harbour and hitting me. I was annoyed at first by how slow I was going, but when I turned around was suddenly going a third faster despite no changes in the ground or elevation. I was stunned by the difference.

I also went generally faster over the two Strava segments I did yesterday. Knowing they were there pushed me on a bit, although I didn't know where one ended so I pushed further than I needed to. A good thing I suppose.

And of course despite all this good news I had an annoying ending. I was turning onto the South Terrace, I saw a fairly big pothole and was going around it. Anglesea Street turns onto the South Terrace there and there's traffic lights that flash orange. Now I know this means you're ok to travel onto the road if there's no oncoming traffic. The problem was the car coming onto the road didn't seem to count a bicycle as "oncoming traffic." I got a bit of a shock and swerved right into the pothole, with an almighty shudder going through the bike. Ten seconds later my back tyre was completely flat and I was pushing it the ten minutes home.

I've been told this is probably a pinch flat. I had pumped up the tyre with the small pump I have just before I set out. I had pumped it as much as I could, and it was fairly solid but obviously not solid enough. So now there's two tubes on my shopping list and a pump with a gauge on it to avoid this situation. Unfortunately I'm broke, so it'll have to wait for a while. Overall lesson of this is to carry a tube with me. If it happened earlier on my cycle I'd have been pushing the bike a long way home, as I'm fairly sure the tube is beyond repair with my repair kit.

Mercian Pro

You would do well to get a small pump up to 60 psi even if it has a gauge. Keep what you have for emergency use on the road and buy a proper track pump for home use. Depending on your weight and tyre size, you could need pressures of around 100 psi.
I hit a savage pothole in Merrion Row yesterday but luckily had topped up the tyre pressure to 95 and 105 that morning. Soft tyres would certainly have resulted in a pinch flat and possibly a damaged rim. Don't forget to report the pothole to the Council.

Alek

Descending down Howth / Sutton side before work today (in a dense fog) felt only a little bit more excicting than scary Its great feeling to see all these sleepy faces in the office after a 40k spin!

t'bear

Spin out to Howth with a club mate, the Clontarf section from Fairview was slower than normal as there was a nice breeze there the whole way. Up to the summit from Sutton was more of a push when hanging onto a wheel, down to the harbour for a coffee and banana and back up the right hand side of the church, forgotten how steep it was but kept a decent cadence. Down Howth in the fog was interesting. 90k with 500m climbing all in.

hueylewis

Cycling up the road near ticknock earlier today and passed a lad in all the gear on his mountain bike going the same direction but on the footpath. I must've been a couple seconds past him when he let out an indignant "HEEEEEY! HOW'S IT GOING" after me. Maybe that's just how he says hello, but it was rather startling :pac: Not sure what I did to upset him!

Lovely weather for cycling, hope it keeps up for the weekend.

dakar

On my second 'proper' ride, I had a glorious spin in the morning sunshine around Lough Arrow on my aesthetically challenged new (to me) bike.

I could get used to this.

moonshadow

Well after 14 days watching a peleton passing my gaff ( very popular NE route) and me off the bike I hit the road again this evening in mid Louth, my favourite run headed straight for annagassan and coastal run home with an easterly wind for a change 48km and knees feel good !! Success!

lismore7

Did second of my mid week short training spins after work yesterday, now that the evenings are longer.
Lismore, Cappoquin, Camphire Bridge, Tallow & back to Lismore.
35k & 23k/hr ave speed.
Not great average speed I know but improving, as previous spin Monday evening was 22.3k/hr.
Looking forward to long spin Sunday and a trip over the "Vee"....if weather holds..

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Was out last night on a short 30 km. There's a not very scenic but well lit 15 km loop outside my door so its handy for nipping out for quick spins. Had planned to do 60 but was nearly falling asleep on the bike after 30 so thought I'd get rested for a proper go on Saturday or Sunday. Weather not looking great for the weekend though

Dcully

Now that my annual bout of winter seasonal asthma seems to be eventually pissing off im back on the bike at last.
Ive done maybe 7-8 spins since the turn of the year which i really shouldnt have done as i really struggled with seriously limited lung capacity,what a struggle!
However the last few days since the temps are higher ive managed to get out and about.

30k lastnight

http://www.strava.com/activities/126581639

and just back from 51k spin this morning

http://www.strava.com/activities/126789945

Pace isnt what it was before i took the winter break but im just glad to be able to get again without barking and coughing my way around.

Overall disappointed i couldnt get out more of the last few months as theres a few sportives and charity spins i wanted to do over the next fortnight.

Gitb1

First time out on my new bike today and my first cycle in about 10 years(!!) did 6k around corcagh park stopped for a while ate a banana read a few chapters of a book and got another 6k in on the way back

Lyaiera

So today I did my third cycle in four days. I did the same route as I did yesterday, but this time with properly inflated tyres thanks to a helpful boardsie. I'd like to think I've improved over the past few days (I'm sure I have a little, or at least learned to judge my own body better) but I think my improvement is a lot down to the properly inflated tyres. Overall, my moving average speed improved by 2.5km/h and my top speed was better by 5km/h. I also beat 3 of my 4 segment personal bests significantly.

I missed out on one segment personal best because my calf started to cramp up quite badly, and this was only ten minutes into the cycle. I had to stop two more times after that to stretch it out. I'm glad I toughed it out though because this was definitely my best cycle of the three, even with the wind and the rain.

I'm going to have to add more distance onto the cycle now. If I didn't stop for the leg cramps I theoretically could have done this in 45 minutes if traffic lights were with me. I think I'll push for 20km total the next time I go out.

So again, a big thank you to the boardsie who gave me his pump. It's helped me a lot already.

not yet

Dunboyne-lucan-strawberry beds- park- Casltleknock- Dunboyne....

Now for the beer:

ford2600

110km spin in Burren on way home from Galway. Can't decide whether Beara Borlin or Burren is my favourite place to cycle.

Fasting for 8hrs when I got on bike. Hungry now!

rainbow kirby

22km spin after work this evening - Archway - Kentish Town - Camden - 3 laps of Regents Park - Camden - Holloway - Archway. The laps of the park are fine, it's the absolutely mental traffic during the tail end of rush hour that hurts the pace! The 22km took around 70 minutes due to getting stuck in traffic so often. Still glad I got out today though, don't have a lot of time tomorrow so a run is more convenient and the weather forecast is absolute garbage for Sunday.

Unknown Soldier

not yet wrote: »

Now for the beer:

+1

Finally did what I am calling my first "nearly proper" cycle today. Was off work so I did 53km but didn't have my backpack on or my rain jacket on. Had my Team Argos Shimano (Ireland) gloves on under a different pair too. Bar I was wearing three quarter length shorts over my cycling shorts I nearly looked like a proper cyclist rather than a commuter

I got a proper bag for under the saddle which held my tools and two tubes and stuffed everything else into my "Bargain alerts" 50e Altura Varium jacket. Bit of a bummer that it fitted me fine when I bought it a few months ago but having lost a lot of weight it is now sort of saggy one me

Bummer also getting a puncture on the final leg home. I think my poor rear gator skin is doomed.
Last time I am using the cycle path from Lucan to Tallaght. I've tried to be a good citizen and they are great cycle lanes but fuk it, I'm using the bus lane from now on unless someone cleans them every week or so.

234 for the week including the work commutes!

G1032

Did 85km this morning. Happy with it because the last time I did a similar length my hip and neck were extremely sore after. But after a bike fit and a few hours with physio and osteopath I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel regards pain free cycling. All in all a good day. Going to go for a 100km + very soon and I reckon I'll be well able did the Tour de Connemara then. Did no climbing today but it was just about getting miles in the legs.

Lawr

Got out at nine, this morning, uncertain if I'd do 80 to Nenagh and back or 100 to Feakle via Scariff and back. Had a flat just past Blackwater. Soaked through and with no usable spare, I did 40: O'Brien's Bridge to Broadford and hame.

crosstownk

I managed a 70km solo today which is my longest solo to date. I didn't really plan the route and ended up on the N81 to Ballymore Eustace and back.

The weather was a bit shíte on the way out but then the sun came out and dried me off. I managed my best average to date also - 27.6km/h.

Hopefully the weather gods will be good over the coming week so I can take advantage of the longer evenings.