Tell us about your cycle Yesterday.

Hmmzis

Was around 8am-ish. Most places still in shadows had frost and ice. The descent where you have a small forest on the left after a fairly sharp right hand turn was especially interesting. The sides of the road were the worst so I stayed more to the middle and somehow managed not to fall off.

Morrisseeee

I hadn't been on the bike in 2 weeks, so...............I looked out, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, yep, perfect, lets get's suited up & go for a spin.

Yikes................I was prepared, but not prepared for 'that', ie. Mr Winter introduced himself to me today, wind, a cold biting wind, a lazy wind (rather go through you than around you!!), hailstones, freezing rain, face-frozzzzen, body shivering, fingers numb, aghhhhh !

........but I'm back now and after a hot shower and a hot cup of tea (whiskey) and feeling refreshed, ..........ready to tackle it again tomorrow :eek::pac:

bad2dabone

Bitter cold this morning I set out at 7.30am for a spin on my new bike, first time i've had a carbon frame, I just couldn't get warm! found it tough going, but loving the new bike! It's not much lighter or faster than my other bike but its more comfy and climbing is far easier. Just hope it warms up a little!!

Felloffmebike

A nice pleasant 50k starting in Navan, out the Kells road and round via Boyerstown, Dunderry, Trim, Bective and Kilmessan. Coffee and a muffin in Maguires on the Hill of Tara and home. One good (as in feck sake will it ever end!) hill, it's a back road up Tara, I think the road is called Ringlestown. Glad to see the top of it. Lot of mud on the roads, carried out of fields on tractor wheels. Have to keep your wits about you. And thanks to Aldi for keeping me warm.. Time was 2 hrs 10 including the coffee stop.

manwithaplan

Long steady ride this morning was punctuated by a car that went out of control, missed a couple of us by very little and crashed into a bridge. It was very icy early in County Meath. A bit of impromptu marshalling and chatting to the very shaken driver was required. Thankfully she didn't seem to have any obvious injuries.

meercat

manwithaplan wrote: »

Long steady ride this morning was punctuated by a car that went out of control, missed a couple of us by very little and crashed into a bridge. It was very icy early in County Meath. A bit of impromptu marshalling and chatting to the very shaken driver was required. Thankfully she didn't seem to have any obvious injuries.

lucky escape so

someone on your side

veetwin

Just a quick 35km spin this afternoon. Started Portmarnock - Balgriffin - Malahide Rd to Fairview - lovely tail wind up to Sutton Cross along the coast cruising at 35-40kph - up Howth Hill to the summit and uturn back down to Sutton Cross - Baldoyle and home. Total 1 hr 30 mins including more than few red lights. Only biking 2 months but have a serious bug for it! Also thanks to Aldi for the warm gear.

JohnBee

Just in from a short leisurely 20km.

I knew my feet were feeling a bit numb but man I was shocked at the sight of some paralysed white toes! Took 10 min to return to pink in front of heater! Man I gotta get myself sorted for my feet! Got pair of Altura night vision trousers, great insulation!

buffalo

Cold and wet out there. Met a friend in Dundrum, up Embankment to show her the racing circuit out around the lakes by Blessington, then up to Sallygap, because she'd never been. The Gap itself was fine, but coming down past Lough Bray, there was some mist, and gravel on the road by the lay-by. Along the Military Road, down Stocking Lane. Stopped for tea and cake at hers, which was very welcome at that point!

Saw the aftermath of a crash between Terenure and Harold's Cross, not sure what happened, but there were three cars with various bits taken out of them and plenty of debris on the road. Looked like I'd missed it by a few minutes, one more reason to be grateful for the cake stop!

Now I'm home with the house to myself, kettle on the boil, the Boss on the radio, Sunday Times on the table, and a few sausages under the grill. Couple of beers lined up for the Leinster game. 95km all in, not going to leave the house for the rest of the day!

Hmmzis

Went out today with the Orwell red group, seven lads all together. Was nice and steady most of the time. We were caught be the orange group (some crowd they had) before Blessington (one of the lads got a puncture). Also the weather cleared up a bit not long after we got out of Dublin and the talks of cutting the route short stopped. The guys were taking it handy (in some places maybe a bit too handy) and had no issues keeping up, very happy with the pace overall.

Some nice views there around the lakes and with some nicer weather there might have been a bit more to see. When we were nearing Dublin again the rain re-started, freezing fingers returned and at the end I was properly soaked to the bone and my rain jacket now looks like I had went MTBing. When we were entering Talaght my legs started to feel a bit dull and it looks like I might need new shorts or saddle or maybe both.

From door to door it was 95k total with an average of just a bit over 26kph and some few hundred meters climbed.

Now to sort out the paperwork for joining the club .

Cookie_Monster

First day of getting back into morning cycle before work after coming back to NZ from a hol in Ireland, blew away my record by 14 seconds surprisingly
Well pleased with that, despite 72 hours on planes and in airports in 2 weeks and 2 weeks drinking and partying my pace seems to have improved!


http://app.strava.com/activities/26947312

homer simpson

Worst cycle I've had today, had the Man flu so first time on the bike in almost 2 weeks, 1.5k in i went to change down gears for a hill and I got no gear's (chain spinning between rings) then panic set in and I fell off couldn't get out of my pedals as I stopped pretty much instantly on the hill.

I was then sick 4 times on the spin and I only done 19KM (had planned to do about 40) I'm putting that down to drinking a mug of coffee just before I left, won't be doing that again!

Anyway one of them cycle's to forget and move on the the next one

kennyb3

First look at a proper hill in nearly 15 months due to injury, it wasnt pretty, wasnt sure if i was having a heart attack or not

Beasty

kennyb3 wrote: »

wasnt sure if i was having a heart attack or not

Please do not treat this as medical advice, but I suspect the fact you are posting here tonight is probably evidence you weren't

Anyway you should stick to the bike - stay clear of the water and runners and hopefully you'll be able to keep yourself fit...

DirkVoodoo

Forgot the stupid f**king velcro mount for the fenix and had to endure a race against fading light. Felt naked cycling home without a front light.

Lusk Doyle

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Felt naked cycling home without a front light.

Damn, I missed that. A bit of warning would be appreciated in future. Thanks.

Porninferno

First ride out in West Cork since moving here. Hope it's not a precursor for things to come. Am riding back-roads (?ish) but never expected this level of abuse.

Lusk Doyle

Porninferno wrote: »

First ride out in West Cork since moving here. Hope it's not a precursor for things to come. Am riding back-roads (?ish) but never expected this level of abuse.

What level of abuse exactly?

Porninferno

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

What level of abuse exactly?

Verbal at first, which I can tolerate. But the cutting up, knocking with wing mirrors and having stuff chucked at me is, I suppose, all part of the learning curve. It'll all come back to me. I'll toughen up. First day back on the road in a few years.

homer simpson

Porninferno wrote: »

Verbal at first, which I can tolerate. But the cutting up, knocking with wing mirrors and having stuff chucked at me is, I suppose, all part of the learning curve. It'll all come back to me. I'll toughen up. First day back on the road in a few years.

Well that isn't normal not normal at all, if you've been hit (multiple times?) times people's wing mirrors that could be classed as multiple hit and runs! You should report all the incidents to the Gardai and give details of reg (if not even type colour of car ect) the people cutting you up and throwing things at you even the people shouting isn't on, report them all....... if what your saying is true of course.

ROK ON

Porninferno wrote: »

First ride out in West Cork since moving here. Hope it's not a precursor for things to come. Am riding back-roads (?ish) but never expected this level of abuse.

Sorry to hear that. Where in west Cork.

I cycle west Cork regularly as doña few others here. I have never encountered any unpleasantness from drivers whatsoever.
I guess you can be unlucky in who you meet.

ROK ON

Got out of work a little earlier than expected.
Decided to get in 2 hours or so. Mostly easy base building but inhad one very short interval in mind. A short 1km climb that has some very steep digs.
I wanted to take 20secs off my PB which would be doing well as I am about 4kg heavier than my PB, I would be on my heavier commuting bike plus a rucksack on my back.

Got to Citywest and had a front wheel puncture. Change in the dark in freezing cold.

Off to Athgoe. Took 25 seconds from my PB on Athgoe hill. Delighted with myself.
Turn down and bead for home.
Heading down Nangor road heard an almighty explosion and bike skidded under me.
Managed to unclip in time to avoid spilling onto the floor.
Huge gash in rear tyre. Change tube and use a fiver as a tyre boot. No tubes or canisters left.
15km from home and now hoping to get back on a completely split tyre.

Managed to get 10k or so. Coming down Chapelizod hill slowly and rear tyre exploded again. Stopped at tragic light and a cab was also stopped. Asked him to roll down window and asked for a lift.
Bike in the boot and head home.

47km three punctures. With new tubes, CO2 and a new rear tyre plus taxi I reckon tonights spin has cost me in the region of €65.

buffalo

ROK ON wrote: »

Stopped at tragic light and a cab was also stopped. Asked him to roll down window and asked for a lift.
Bike in the boot and head home.

47km three punctures. With new tubes, CO2 and a new rear tyre plus taxi I reckon tonights spin has cost me in the region of €65.

ouch!

However, I just wanted to say how much I love the phrase "tragic light". Typo or not, it evokes great imagery of the downtrodden cyclist, punctured and slashed, resorted to using the arch-nemesis* to get home. True tragedy!


*artistic licence, they're not all bad!

buffalo

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Felt naked cycling home without a front light.

I'm amazed by how vulnerable I feel without my super-bright winter light. If i just use my old regular light, I think everyone's going to kill me. But I feel like that fairly often anyway.

doozerie

My Garmin decided to turn itself off during my ride today. I was only about 8 miles in, and when I powered it back on it seemed to have remembered the distance I'd covered, of 5.5miles, until it had shut off and all the averages. But when I hit the start button to resume it it blanked my average speed and, presumably because it determined via GPS where I was now and "reasoned" that I'd covered the last 2.5 miles or so in instant, it then threw up an average speed of 9,813mph.

I'm not sure what that made me, but phrases like "super fookin' awesome" didn't seem out of place. Unfortunately, when cycling at a very modest pace, an average speed of over 9,000mph drops, like a bleedin' stone. In a matter of metres my average was down to 3 digits, putting me firmly merely in the "awesome" category. A few miles later and I was into "yeah, not bad" territory, by the end of the ride I was way back down into my familiar "decidedly average" category. Super Fookin' Awesome-ness is so fleeting.

Porninferno

homer simpson wrote: »

Well that isn't normal not normal at all, if you've been hit (multiple times?) times people's wing mirrors that could be classed as multiple hit and runs! You should report all the incidents to the Gardai and give details of reg (if not even type colour of car ect) the people cutting you up and throwing things at you even the people shouting isn't on, report them all....... if what your saying is true of course.

Just over a week back on the bike and can now say that, apart from my initial outing, I've had no issues since. I have to negotiate 10km of lanes before I hit anything resembling a road of any description. I have to get completely off the lane if I want to stand any chance of not being struck by a trailer/tractor/jeep. They just don't slow down.

It's all cool.

To add insult to injury (insert smiley face here), I've managed to find a place to do big hill intervals...... uninterrupted! Karma found me...at last.

at1withmyself

Feel this one is worth posting as its my longest solo ride!

Have had it on my list of things to do this year but didn't expect the new build to take so long and originally hoped to have complete by end of August. New bike is only 4 weeks old now and the last few weekends haven't suited so figured this was the last opportunity yesterday. So set out from Galway at sunrise and took the old road. Didn't go above 2 degrees till after Craughwell so was cold and worried that if the temperature didn't climb I'd have to go back as I was dressed for about 5 degree weather and the cold breeze wasn't hepful. Thankfully it climbed up to 5 by Loughrea but the road is pretty flat and boring. It climbed a few more degrees after that thankfully

The road continued like this and up to Athlone which was my point of no return I was fine. When I reached Kilbeggan I stopped for my 'official' stop at a garage. With 120 km under me and 95 km to go I felt good but with 29 km to Kinegad I hit a mental block (physically fine) and as far as kinegad was the toughest section for me. Once through Kinegad I made another short stop and once I reached the 50km to go I was good again.

I downloaded a route to my Garmin so as I got closer to Dublin I thought the detailing on the maps would improve and as planned I'd avoid the N4 but the standard garmin mapping sucks in Dublin and not just Galway. I was sure once in Dublin the Garmin would show me the route but it wasn't detailed enough so I tried second guessing the route using the compass but after 3 or 4 times I lost the route which I tried follwing so 'feck it' I thought and headed back out to the N4 as I new the road. Not as bad as I thought with the bus/cycle lane but after 7.5 hours in the saddle this level of traffic was not what I wanted! Eventually made it to the car (Heuston Train Station) but decided to finish I needed to go to the Spire then returned back to the car as the sun was setting.

Previous Solo record I think was around 135km so adding 90km to that on a cold November day was tough, still find it hard to believe I completed but glad to knock off the list. Overall a very boring route but nice one to say I completed for myself. 7:42 hours/minutes over the 226 km and showing as 29.3 average speed and 884m climbed.

Glad I done it and as I didn't over think it during the past few days it worked out well but thinking back I put myself under pressure with only 9 hours of available day light at 25kph with no stops would be plausible so adding any incidents and rest stops meant I had to go faster. Logistically as well it meant I drove to Dublin on Saturday to get the bus back to Galway to make it possible on Sunday and that itself is enough travelling never mind making the trip twice in 2 days including 1 leg on a bicycle!

Few things I learned:
Don't bring so much food (shop every 30 mins or less!)
Don't do in such cold conditions!
Do bring lights just in case (my timing was too close for comfort in case of puncture etc.. I would have had to give up and get taxi for finish)
Stop early and regular not almost 100km into route!
My Garmin standard mapping is crap
My Garmin battery lasts over 9 hours!

route66

I've kept a record of my various rides this year. A few months ago, it became obvious that 4,000kms would be my challenge for the year. I don't commute so all my rides were midweek - when the daylight allowed - and/or weekend.

If I wanted to reach that number, I had 58 kms to complete today. Some family duties prevented me from going out until after 2pm. I normally cycle in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains and that involves climbing - e.g. 921 metres today. Thats means I'm slow - well, that's my excuse for averaging just a bit over 21kmph anyway...

So off I went. A little past the Powerscourt waterfall something wasn't right. It couldn't be a puncture - I've fixed a few of those in my day, but they were never mine. I look after my bike and use good tyres; I haven't had a puncture in the 7,300 kms I've done on 2 different bikes since September 2009.

But it was.

A little over an hour and 23 kms from settings off and in the wilderness, I had a puncture. I extracted 2 slivers of glass from the tyres before sticking in a new tube and 34 minutes later, I was on my way again. 34 minutes? I could have taken over 10 kms off my goal in that time! And now I was cold!

Anyway, must focus, keep going, etc. But now there was another problem! My cateye computer had stopped so now my only distance record was from my Android Strava app - nicely tucked away in my saddle bag.

When I joined the Military road, I turned right, heading for the viewing point. It was getting dark now, but I had lots of lights so no problem. The surface is very good on most of that road and I made good progress. I turned right at the Viewing Point and then headed for Jonnie Foxs where I turned left for Stepaside. Right then for Kilternan and then left for Carrickmines. When I got home, I took my phone out and checked what Strava was saying about my distance.

52 Kilometres!!! Aaarrrggghhhh. It's wasn't enough. It was after 5pm at this stage, and the sensible thing to do was to abandon the challenge and clock up the Ks tomorrow.

No way.

Off I continued and did 3 loops of a local circuit. Back at home, took the phone out again. 60.8 KMS !!! YYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSS !!!

This got me thinking about what I did this year:

• 4003 kilometres
• Nearly 3,500 of those on a road bike - a sucessful experiment that started in April.
• 50% more distance than I did in the previous 3 years
• A 136 km charity cycle where I raised €1,100 for Fr. Peter Mc Verry's homeless charity

Mind you, my garden looks a bit grotty, my BBQ hasn't been brought in yet for the winter and my "list" of jobs is growing. Despite all that ...

I really like this cycling lark

Hmmzis

Went out for a Sunday spin this morning with the club. Was a crisp sunny Winter morning, no wind. Just perfect to get some miles in the legs and enjoy the scenery of Co. Wicklow. We set off in a small group of 5 people, before Enniskery it became 4 then after Ballinastoe it became 3. So we continued on towards Laragh over some lumpy back roads, enjoying the scenery. Was also enjoying my new gloves, for the first time my fingers were not freezing on descents.
Then after Laragh heading towards Rathdrum some rain started drizzling. Comming near Wicklow town the rain became more fierce. We went through Wicklow town and after a few kms realized that we are heading the wrong way, we should have been heading back to Dublin but the road signs were showing distances to Brittas Bay. Promptly we turned around and headed back. The other lads asked a couple locals in Wicklow how to get back to Dublin, they were kind enough to advise us. Heading out of Wicklow town (for the second time) the rain was pouring down and it felt like an ice bath, even the new Seal Skinz golves were no match for it. My shoes were dripping wet and I started feeling the cold in my toes. The other two guys looked to be coping better and suggestions about picking up the pace to warm up were not received well. Tried to stay at the front, tried pushing big gears, spinning silly low gears but nothing helped much I became colder and colder. Somewhere between Graystones and Bray the other two guys were gone (most likely I missed a turn somewhere because I ended up in Dun Laughaire and had to find my way to Dundrum from there). Tried to up the pace to help with the freezing but it didn't seem to help much, was almost out of water in the bottles. Was suffering like a dog, now not only from the cold but also tiredness started to kick in.
Hot shower, protein drink, lots of food, hot tea and a warm bath - now I feel like just going to sleep.

Here is some Strava from today:

http://app.strava.com/rides/30565933

Myksyk

Was due my 'long' (newbie long) spin of the week today but utterly miserable here so was tempted to go on the turbo. However wanted to do abot 65-70k so probably too long and boring for a turbo ride. So bit the bullet, remembering the Rule that says you're a badass if you cycle in bad conditions, and cycled the 70k to Galway from Ennis in the pi$$ing rain. Getting a lift back with my wife tho ... I'm not that badass ... Yet!!