Tell us about your new improved government regulations compliant cycle part II

site_owner

aha, cool, i have one of those tool things, didnt realise it fit in the bottle holder although with my d-lock hanging off the frame there might not be much room.

self sealing patches sound great!

07Lapierre

site_owner wrote: »

aha, cool, i have one of those tool things, didnt realise it fit in the bottle holder although with my d-lock hanging off the frame there might not be much room.

self sealing patches sound great!

Buy another lock! Leave one lock in work, so you don't have to carry a lock on your daily commute.

leave the other lock at home and use it on other spins.

In short. Always travel as light as possible.

site_owner

i'd be leaving d-locks all over the city unfortunately.

i've actually taken to using the pannier, even on spins, so i can have as much stuff as i need with me in case i decide to do something else. i'll add a boot and a couple of tubes to the spare lights, usb battery back up, spare cateye battery, first aid kit, neck warmer, wallet, keys, phone, cable lock extension, etc etc

triggermortis

That headwind near killed me today...

Tough commute

Saw a guy on a Cervelo in short sleeves heading North through Blakes Cross. I'm sure I saw him similarly dressed a few days ago too. Either mad or tough as nails...

Justwinginit

Jaysus that was windy. Terrible cross wind this evening. No puncture though, and was warm as well. Bike shop was talking about kevlar tyres? Is that the right word? Apparently a lot stronger than the std tyres on the road bike. Reduces punctures by about 80%. Any thoughts?

BowSideChamp

Weird today. Phoenix Park was frozen solid this morning. But as soon as get down to Parkgate St it was balmy with a warm breeze.

pjmn

First spin of the year 63km - dry but strong south easterly wind against me on the way back...

https://www.strava.com/activities/1354772163

site_owner

Managed 30k myself earlier which went fairly uneventfully.

This afternoon I drove (sorry) to blackrock to pick up a fly6 from another user. Along the way we came across a cyclist who had fallen at the merrion gates and was having a lot of difficulty getting up due to the way the bike had twisted around her leg. At least 10 Cars ahead of me just drove past.

We stopped and helped her get untangled and back to her feet. I couldn't stick around to find out what happened as I had 2 small kids in the car who I could hear shouting, but hope she was ok.

Fair play site_owner , hopefully she's ok. Had a fall myself last year so know what it's like to be tangled in the bike and have someone get out help me up. I'm sure she much appreciated the help.

rushfan

43km today. Raining steadily and gusting 26 knots when I left. Hadn't been out all week so I simply HAD to get out today. Also wanted to properly road test the Galibier Mistral, only good stuff to report there. Rain never let up but it didn't bother me.

LollipopJimmy

rushfan wrote: »

43km today. Raining steadily and gusting 26 knots when I left. Hadn't been out all week so I simply HAD to get out today. Also wanted to properly road test the Galibier Mistral, only good stuff to report there. Rain never let up but it didn't bother me.

Are you out in the Rush area or is it Rush of the Geddy Lee variety you're a fan of?

rushfan

LollipopJimmy wrote:

Are you out in the Rush area or is it Rush of the Geddy Lee variety you're a fan of?

I'm not too far from Rush, but well spotted. It's the latter.

LollipopJimmy

rushfan wrote: »

I'm not too far from Rush, but well spotted. It's the latter.

Good man. 2112 being one of my all time favourite albums.

50kms done tonight, freezing cold and rainy plus a headwind along the coast but I feel great after it. After over indulging with booze and food over christmas I'm back eating well and training so should loose the Christmas belly in a week or two. I did get clipped by a motorbike on the quays but managed to stay upright but even said tosser couldn't dampen my mood

rollingscone

1st Noteworthyish spin of 2018.

Popped out on the Singlespeed to meet someone in Dundrum in mild blustery weather then decided to test my legs by popping up to Enniskerry for lunch.

Up to Lambs Cross, dropped down Ballychorus road then up the Road from the edge of Bray to Enniskerry.

Did a fair bit of out of the saddle but the mid point of this climb was the one and only time I briefly pressured my knees before copping on and focusing on pulling up with my hamstrings.

Made it to Enniskerry, had the lasagne in Poppies, politely disagreed with a man who felt I should be wearing Yellow then back the way I came.

It's a route I do regularly with a beginners group but as always I feel like a more lively cyclist on the Singlespeed which is a lighter, stiffer frame than my proper bikes and goes like a demon on the flat or slight uphills.

Braking was a bit...finer than usual but it was duuuurty out.

As a final observation. Having overheated a lot on recent spins I was chuffed to have gotten it right today with a merino jersey and baselayer that got quite damp but stayed warm as is its USP. Threw on an insulated Gilet on the way back and it was juuuuust right.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1355185168/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-US&v=1515861947

Wishbone Ash

rollingscone wrote: »

... politely disagreed with a man who felt I should be wearing Yellow...

Nice compliment all the same. I've never had anyone suggest to me that I should be wearing the leader's jersey.

triggermortis

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

Good man. 2112 being one of my all time favourite albums.

Really hard to beat Moving Pictures though...

rushfan

triggermortis wrote:

Really hard to beat Moving Pictures though...

Absolutely. All time classic.

LollipopJimmy

triggermortis wrote: »

Really hard to beat Moving Pictures though...

I'd be more into the Pre '80 stuff, Hemispheres, Caress of Steel etc.

Anyway, another 50kms for me today around Dublin, had a a buddy along who is a lot faster than me which kept me on my toes. Headwinds and roads covered in muck were a PITA but other than that a good day to be out.

triggermortis

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

I'd be more into the Pre '80 stuff, Hemispheres, Caress of Steel etc.

I like all their stuff really, but prefer the older stuff too.

Wind was harder than I realised coming into work, so hopefully it stays the same direction for going home later!
If I get out before midnight, I'll top 200km for the week which puts me back on track for my year target as I did nothing in week 1.

velo.2010

I now know Athlone town like the back of my hand after doing a figure of eight trying to get back to the start of the greenway.

rollingscone

More singlespeed adventures today.

Late start but decided to launch an attack on all of the work stress and Christmas calories and put in some hard efforts today, a group from Clondalkin CC passed me going down into Strawberry beds and I overtook them in my hubris before realising that 37kph wasn't going to be sustainable as they caught up with me I thought that the group leader might have invited me to roll in with them but no one else thought this was the case and the people rolling back cut in front of me every time so I ended up unintentionally drafting them without taking a pull on the front which didn't feel great (nor did keeping up with six strong roadies who had more than one gear mind. Speed bumps are cadence killers).

We parted way at Laraghcon presumably to mutters of who was that weirdo and why was he drafting us? And I continued on around the back ways to Maynooth trying to keep the needle on 30kph, few close passes by cars but in every case every other car following them passed properly so at least there seems to be a growing awareness (The 1st close passer of the day also had a suspiciously dirt caked number plate).

On the way into Maynooth I nearly lost the back wheel on the roundabout in front of Tescos, where a layer of Grey slime eliminated any hope of traction and "enjoyed" another slide on the slime down Main st but thankfully stayed upright.

Coffee stop at the Mill cafe in Maynooth where the staff were as friendly as ever but I guess I'd missed cycling O'Clock and the rest of the customers didn't look pleased to see me so I sat outside for fear of next weeks Late Late show being about smelly cyclists ruining Sunday lunch.

Left through the Dunnes Stores end of Maynooth and headed towards Dunshaughlin then turned off for Dunboyne, I briefly entertained the notion of continuing across to the coast and returning Triumphantly home via Clontarf but the wind was picking up and it was already after 14:00 so I cut and run for Clonsilla, Blanch and the Park where I did two laps that totally killed my average (Not helped by the group of 5 or 6 Spaniards walking three abreast in the cycle lane past the Magazine fort). Somehow I got my maths wrong and my 2.5 laps saw me getting home with 2km short of the first 100k of the year so I ended up overshooting home and heading back once the Odo had been properly fed.

Nice to have the first one of 2018 ticked off and a good cycling weekend overall...got me wondering if the Kings Mountain 200 would be Singlespeedable.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1357224854

NamelessPhil

The King's Mountain is single-speedable. A few lads have done it over the last few years.

Justwinginit

Off the main road today and headed for back roads and a few hills. New bike ate up the hills:-) Only done just over 26k, but managed over 125km for the week, (every day except Tuesday) so 100km a week back on track. Passed a good few cyclists this morning, all out before the bad weather came;-) pity it's gonna be another windy week this week, ah well, good for the lungs I suppose......

secman

Managed my first spin of 2018, just a short urban 40 km to test my back. Headed up towards firhouse , stocking lane, down to Rathfarnham, churchtown, taney, n11? Blackrock, back by RDS to canal, Stephens green, up cork street, back on to canal, up by bluebell ,Walkinstown ave, Greenhills road and home.
A wierd spin for me by a long stretch, but hopefully back is okay in the morning.

secman

secman wrote: »

Managed my first spin of 2018, just a short urban 40 km to test my back. Headed up towards firhouse , stocking lane, down to Rathfarnham, churchtown, taney, n11? Blackrock, back by RDS to canal, Stephens green, up cork street, back on to canal, up by bluebell ,Walkinstown ave, Greenhills road and home.
A wierd spin for me by a long stretch, but hopefully back is okay in the morning.

Unfortunately back to the physio

Miklos

100k with the club out to Wicklow town yesterday, a couple of us carried on while the rest stopped for coffee.

All was grand until the N11, started copping some serious aggro from people in private cars in the bus lane. Driving up behind us and leaning on the horn like lunatics. There were two perfectly good lanes of traffic they could have taken, but they saw fit to try and bully us off the road.

I had forgotten how much I hate the N11.

Doc07

Miklos wrote: »

100k with the club out to Wicklow town yesterday, a couple of us carried on while the rest stopped for coffee.

All was grand until the N11, started copping some serious aggro from people in private cars in the bus lane. Driving up behind us and leaning on the horn like lunatics. There were two perfectly good lanes of traffic they could have taken, but they saw fit to try and bully us off the road.

I had forgotten how much I hate the N11.

My group passed you in the other direction near Rathdrum. You lads were flying.
Sorry about the N11 experience, we took some elaborate detours to avoid it on way
home.
I think it was Shakespeare who put it best....'some folk are just c&nts'

rushfan

38km around a blustery NCD this afternoon. Coming into Ballyboughal a gust caught me head on, I nearly did a wheelie!!! Enjoyable apart from some halfwit in a 05 black Insignia who gestured to me that I should be using the cycle lane at the new Tesco in Swords at a point on the road where there's 2 lanes. Think he just wanted to make a point.

magicbastarder

secman wrote: »

Unfortunately back to the physio

is the cycling being impacted by your back problems, or causing them?

secman

magicbastarder wrote: »

is the cycling being impacted by your back problems, or causing them?

It initially started with a back spasm on the bike , a mere 2km from home. Could hardly walk the next morning. Eventually settled down , but there's a " pull" sensation constantly there. 2 different physios arrived at same conclusion that it was caused mainly by hip/ pelvis being out of alignment. They both worked on that area, both also loosened a tight vertebae in mid region of back. Both then gave all clear to cycle. Each come back spin went okay, no pain or spasm. But on both occasions the next morning resulted in " pull" sensation feeling a lot more sore and more restrictive.
You are probably wondering if one of the bikes is the cause.... in truth I don't know. The 2nd physio actually cycles too, it has passed my mind, as one of the bikes was only bought in Sept 2017. On each of the 3 bikes I have tried to use same reach, saddle height etc, but doing it myself.