Tell us about your cycle Yesterday.

Rambling Man

Dragged my ass out this evening despite the downpours. I have really enjoyed cycling this Summer and all the easy opportunities to get out, so I really want to keep going thru the sh1te weather. So Donabate R132, Nags Head, Ballyboughal, Swords, Portrane & Home. 45k 25kpm. Soaked, covered in muck, rain gear not rainproof, shoes squelching. Loved it.

Wishbone Ash

Rambling Man wrote: »

.... Soaked, covered in muck, rain gear not rainproof, shoes squelching. Loved it.

The big difference yesterday was that it was exceptionally mild. Being soaked through when it's 2 degrees outside and you've still many miles to go, can be utterly miserable.

godtabh

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

The big difference yesterday was that it was exceptionally mild. Being soaked through when it's 2 degrees outside and you've still many miles to go, can be utterly miserable.

Can also sap the motivation to go out if you know thats what you have to face!

This morning was wet but mild. Given the time of the day I'm in full winter gear and I was roasting. May need to break out the autumn gear again.

Rambling Man

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

The big difference yesterday was that it was exceptionally mild. Being soaked through when it's 2 degrees outside and you've still many miles to go, can be utterly miserable.

Totally - I didn't even realise how wet the gear was because there was no chill. no qualms about going out again in that weather.

simonrooneyzaga

Rambling Man wrote: »

Totally - I didn't even realise how wet the gear was because there was no chill. no qualms about going out again in that weather.

I really enjoyed the 30 I did last night, the rain was refreshing heading up Cruagh!

helimachoptor

A split second away from getting truly malleted by a door.

Going by the Teresian school on the n11, a few cars in a Q to turn in.. passenger opens the door and literally managed to get around it :mad::mad:
There were some seriously angry words

RobertFoster

I tried Kilmashogue for the second time ever today. The first time, back in August, I put my foot down twice to compose myself. Today I remembered what was around the next corner, paced myself accordingly, and made it all the way up without stopping. An improvement, but definitely no prizes for speed A sheep stopped chawing and stood watching me on the final ramp, probably thinking humans are strange creatures.

The road was damp from the drizzle, with plant matter in places, so I took it handy on the way down. Passed a guy on his way up, just before I reached the Wicklow Way. I tried to be encouraging and told him he was nearly there, but looking at the map now, he'd a fair bit to go From there I went up Cruagh and down Stocking. Reasonably dry today, just the odd sporadic drizzle.

BenEadir

RobertFoster wrote: »

I tried Kilmashogue for the second time ever today.

Would you mind posting the co-ordinates at the very top? I can't see from Google Maps which road represents the climb you refer to and I'd like to give it a go as I'm based in Stillorgan but new to road cycling.

RobertFoster

BenEadir wrote: »

Would you mind posting the co-ordinates at the very top? I can't see from Google Maps which road represents the climb you refer to and I'd like to give it a go as I'm based in Stillorgan but new to road cycling.

Sure, here it is on Strava and Google. Have fun

BenEadir

RobertFoster wrote: »

Sure, here it is on Strava and Google. Have fun

Thanks Rob.

So you head up as far as those gates in the street view and that's the summit?

It's 11km from my house so should be a nice warm up spin for the first 8km and then torture but it looks like I might be able to freewheel all the way home!!!

BenEadir

RobertFoster wrote: »

Sure, here it is on Strava and Google. Have fun

So bearing in mind I'm on a road bike not a MTB is this #1 the route to take

or is this #2 the route to take?

Wishbone Ash

BenEadir wrote: »

Would you mind posting the co-ordinates at the very top? I can't see from Google Maps which road represents the climb you refer to and I'd like to give it a go as I'm based in Stillorgan but new to road cycling.

Head across to Rathfarnham and turn left at The Yellow House pub. Then veer left at The Tuning Fork pub onto the Whitechurch Road. Stay on that road until it goes under the M50 and you reach a small roundabout. Kilmashogue Lane is the first exit on the roundabout with a Cul de Sac sign.

Then brace yourself!

Puggy

Waiting to turn left this morning at red traffic lights. There was a left turning car behind me, so I was paying attention to move off swiftly when the lights changed.

As the lights changed and I moved off, glancing over my sholder, imagine my surprise as another cyclist pi$$ed past me, also turning left, and clipped my front wheel and knocking me out into the traffic. He didn't bat an eye lid when I politely asked him would he take more care when moving past other cyclists. Don't know why I bothered, he just didn't give a damn.

Didn't see much of him as he just sailed through every red light.

It must be great to be so invulnerable.

cjt156

BenEadir wrote: »

So bearing in mind I'm on a road bike not a MTB is this #1 the route to take

or is this #2 the route to take?

It's number 1, unless you're a trout as number 2 is a river

Close by are Ticknock (to the mast at 3-Rock) and Cruagh which are enough to test the legs before you tackle the hell of Kilmashogue!

BremoreDave

Took a spin out to Swords , felt uphill all the eay due to the headwind , but carried on out to Portmarnock and then back to Balbriggan. Just shy of 60k but a very slow 23kph.

BenEadir

cjt156 wrote: »

It's number 1, unless you're a trout as number 2 is a river

Close by are Ticknock (to the mast at 3-Rock) and Cruagh which are enough to test the legs before you tackle the hell of Kilmashogue!

Oops, thanks for the clarification. Appreciate it.

crosstownk

Jesus the wind. It's been a few months since I've been out in wind that strong. I struggled most of the spin and just put it down to the wind. I had to work hard to keep up with my buddy - even on downhills with the wind behind us. Usually we keep together quite easily.

When I got home and was wheeling the bike indoors, I noticed the rear wheel was buckled and the rim was dragging the brake so much that the rear wheel locked and skidded. On closer inspection I discovered a broken spoke :mad: But at least it explains the struggle! How I didn't cop this earlier is beyond me.

Anyway, 74km @ 23.7km/h, 550m.

I've never broken a spoke before - how common is it?

sullzz

crosstownk wrote: »

Jesus the wind. It's been a few months since I've been out in wind that strong. I struggled most of the spin and just put it down to the wind. I had to work hard to keep up with my buddy - even on downhills with the wind behind us. Usually we keep together quite easily.

When I got home and was wheeling the bike indoors, I noticed the rear wheel was buckled and the rim was dragging the brake so much that the rear wheel locked and skidded. On closer inspection I discovered a broken spoke :mad: But at least it explains the struggle! How I didn't cop this earlier is beyond me.

Anyway, 74km @ 23.7km/h, 550m.

I've never broken a spoke before - how common is it?

shocking wind today and i broke 2 spokes and noticed a loose one

velo.2010

Well, that was harder than I expected! Did that Rathcoffey Cycle and ended up in a small group most of the way round. Looking for nice easy mileage at this time of year.... eh, that went out the window. Trim to Carbury via Enfield was so flipping tough in that wind.

117km for me and pretty well cooked now.

sullzz

velo.2010 wrote: »

Well, that was harder than I expected! Did that Rathcoffey Cycle and ended up in a small group most of the way round. Looking for nice easy mileage at this time of year.... eh, that went out the window. Trim to Carbury via Enfield was so flipping tough in that wind.

117km for me and pretty well cooked now.

yep as soon as you turned onto the longwood road at trim the wind hit and never gave up

bazermc

Jeebus that was a tough cycle with the wind this morning, only did 40, but feels like I did 80

One part made me laugh, was cycling down Angelsa road, very narrow, idiot person in a car overtook me on the other side of the road and nearly slammed into oncoming vehicle.

Wishbone Ash

crosstownk wrote: »

...I've never broken a spoke before - how common is it?

It seems to depend very much on the wheels fitted.

On my fixie it's a fairly regular occurrence - every couple of months or so and tends to be audible when it happens.

On the road bikes, I usually only discover that one is broken or very loose when cleaning the bike. No obvious sign when cycling. Happens several times per year. (It was a much more regular occurrence when I had Mavic Askiums).

sullzz

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

It seems to depend very much on the wheels fitted.

On my fixie it's a fairly regular occurrence - every couple of months or so and tends to be audible when it happens.

On the road bikes, I usually only discover that one is broken or very loose when cleaning the bike. No obvious sign when cycling. Happens several times per year. (It was a much more regular occurrence when I had Mavic Askiums).

Same as that today I didn't realise I had a broken spoke until I was moving my bike to cycle home I could hear a rattle so I checked and found the broken and loose spokes , the wheels are mavic open pros , never had an issue with them before .

alentejo

Major cross wind up military road today. Needed to slow right down and simply concentrate on keeping up-right.

crosstownk

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

It seems to depend very much on the wheels fitted.

On my fixie it's a fairly regular occurrence - every couple of months or so and tends to be audible when it happens.

On the road bikes, I usually only discover that one is broken or very loose when cleaning the bike. No obvious sign when cycling. Happens several times per year. (It was a much more regular occurrence when I had Mavic Askiums).

sullzz wrote: »

Same as that today I didn't realise I had a broken spoke until I was moving my bike to cycle home I could hear a rattle so I checked and found the broken and loose spokes , the wheels are mavic open pros , never had an issue with them before .

I reckon my spoke broke early on in the spin today. I struggled to maintain a much poorer average than usual. When heading out, the main resistance I felt was the wind. It was quite strong and we headed out into the wind up the N81 and around Blessington Lakes. On the return back the N81 with the wind almost directly behind I did think that I should have been going faster and still had to work hard to keep up with my mate who more often has to work a bit harder to keep up me. I did feel something was wrong but I put that down to me rather than the bike.

When I got home the wheel just locked up when wheeling it on the carpet (I hope Mrs. crosstownk doesn't read this ). When I spun the wheel I noticed the large buckle/deflection that looks to be about 4mm. Obviously there is significant drag at the brake at this point in the wheel revolution. The bike is still under warranty so I'm assuming this will be free but I've no problem doing it myself rather than argue with the LBS if they disagree.

I've the standard Giant S-R2 wheels that came with the bike running Mavic Aksions (soon to be ditched for Michelin Pro4).






TL;DR - A: Bike's fault. B: I'm crap at this.

Wishbone Ash

crosstownk wrote: »

...The bike is still under warranty so I'm assuming this will be free but I've no problem doing it myself rather than argue with the LBS if they disagree...

While the bike shop may look after you in the interest of customer care, they would not be under any obligation to do unless it could be proven that the wheel was faulty/spokes incorrectly tensioned etc.

crosstownk

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

While the bike shop may look after you in the interest of customer care, they would not be under any obligation to do unless it could be proven that the wheel was faulty/spokes incorrectly tensioned etc.

Yep. Fair enough but can spokes be considered wear and tear?

Eamondomc

ok I m new to cycling. bout 3 weeks or so. Was out yesterday on my usual 20k run and turned into the wind after 5 k or so and had bout 7 k straight into it and man it was harder than any climb I have to do on my run. really f d my legs. Feel great today though but the wind is a factor i never considered till yesterday and will definitely give thought to in future.
It wont stop me though.

godtabh

Eamondomc wrote: »

ok I m new to cycling. bout 3 weeks or so. Was out yesterday on my usual 20k run and turned into the wind after 5 k or so and had bout 7 k straight into it and man it was harder than any climb I have to do on my run. really f d my legs. Feel great today though but the wind is a factor i never considered till yesterday and will definitely give thought to in future.
It wont stop me though.

At least you will be better at climbing next time!

G1032

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

It seems to depend very much on the wheels fitted.

On my fixie it's a fairly regular occurrence - every couple of months or so and tends to be audible when it happens.

On the road bikes, I usually only discover that one is broken or very loose when cleaning the bike. No obvious sign when cycling. Happens several times per year. (It was a much more regular occurrence when I had Mavic Askiums).

I'm guessing you wouldn't recommend these so? I was half thinking of getting a set at Christmas
What wheels have you now and how do you find them?