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

positron

magicbastarder wrote: »

you got a rare enough northwesterly for that cycle...

if you're in buncrana, you could try the inishowen 100 (should you wish to do another long cycle...)

Just my luck. I have done innishowen 60 (miles) route once a few years ago, it was hard enough,
yeah that Mamoré gap.. shudder..!!

smacl

137k with 2.1k of up taking in Rathfarmham, Roundwood, Laragh, Aughrim, Slieve Maan, Shay Elliot, Sally gap and home. Longest ride for me in quite some time, grand fitness wise but holy jaysiz the rear end is sore now. Fantastic day for it and loads of people out and about on their bikes.

saccades

Woke up at nearly half ten, FFS.

Did a 70km loop up the vale of Clara and across to the old N11 back home. Ave speed of 25.5kmph, with 600m of climbing. Then did another 12km messing on the skate park and grabbing lunch with the kids.

Lovely day for a spin

wheelo01

Got out yesterday, was deceptively warm, wasnt a day for tights and long sleeve jacket.
Drimnagh upto tallaght, mount venus road, rockbrook, pine forest, across to eniskerry, Bray and home again.
58 kms @ 23kph, strava says 569m of climbing, but my legs disagree lol

Loads of cyclists about of all ages, great to see.

https://strava.app.link/WN4Yve9Nf8

magicbastarder

Had planned to take it easy today after over 900m of climbing yesterday, but had to head back to bellewstown to pay for a bottle of water a woman running a fast food stand gave me for free yesterday. I'd pulled into the car park in the bellewstown inn hoping they might have had a tap I could use but she took pity on me.

secman

Headed to Gorey to meet the club, down towards courtown, left for Ballymoney, around Tara hill to Castletown, out on to n11 ,Arklow, woodenbridge, Avoca, Rathdrum, Deputy pass, Beehive, Jack Whites, Arklow ,Gorey , Courtown.
118km 800 m 31.2kph

14km cool down spin from Courtown to home.

Lost contact with group coming out of Arklow, taking a gel at the back, only one not to make it through a roundabout, began to chase, they got through a pedestrian cross and i got caught at it being in club gear i stopped , could never haul them in on the traditional gallop section
Lesson learned , don't be on the back going through Arklow on way back , too many lights, roundabouts to get caught at.

lawrencesummers

1hr 45mins
44km
24.6 avg.


Had my closest call ever for a crash. Busy urban road and car reversing out of a driveway completely blind, Couldn’t have been more than an inch in it and a car on my right stopping me swerving out, disk brakes helped a lot but I was sure I was coming off

I’ve often driven up that road and plenty of houses leave their cars parked in such a way that they have no choice but to reverse out onto main road.



Out of interest, what do people make of that average, I’ve been getting it up in the last month or two but is it low for someone that’s out on their own, I see many higher ones are part of group spins.

wirelessdude01

lawrencesummers wrote: »

1hr 45mins
44km
24.6 avg.


Had my closest call ever for a crash. Busy urban road and car reversing out of a driveway completely blind, Couldn’t have been more than an inch in it and a car on my right stopping me swerving out, disk brakes helped a lot but I was sure I was coming off

I’ve often driven up that road and plenty of houses leave their cars parked in such a way that they have no choice but to reverse out onto main road.



Out of interest, what do people make of that average, I’ve been getting it up in the last month or two but is it low for someone that’s out on their own, I see many higher ones are part of group spins.

Avg is irrelevant. Did you enjoy the spin? That's the important question.

I'd have spins that range from 22 to 40 kmph avg. All can be equally enjoyable depending on what you want to get out of them or had planned.

magicbastarder

lawrencesummers wrote: »

Out of interest, what do people make of that average, I’ve been getting it up in the last month or two but is it low for someone that’s out on their own, I see many higher ones are part of group spins.

group spins allow you to take much better advantage of aerodynamics, your required power to maintain a particular speed falls off measurably if you're drafting behind another rider or riders.
you could consider joining a club?

also, i found when starting out that dropping a gear (i.e. going for an easier gear than i would have previously selected) and increasing my pedalling cadence made a difference - you're relying less on sheer strength in your legs, and distributing the load more evenly across your cardiovascular system so you don't tire so quickly. you'll have more left in the tank near the end.

JMcL

positron wrote: »

Usual N2-A5 route from Drogheda to Buncrana, which fully reminded me all over again why I had decided not to do that ever again.

Ewww.... Being very familiar with that road, I can't think of many that would appeal less as a cycling route. Really nice spin from Buncrana out over the Illies past Cockhill (stop sniggering - it takes in Muff as well). The easy route is Muff-Burnfoot by the main road, the harder but more scenic is take a right before Muff and go up over Grainne's Gap. 60km odd either way. Heading up in about 2 weeks so looking forward to a bit of that!

lawrencesummers

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Avg is irrelevant. Did you enjoy the spin? That's the important question.

I'd have spins that range from 22 to 40 kmph avg. All can be equally enjoyable depending on what you want to get out of them or had planned.

I enjoy all the spins, but I’m wondering what a realistic average to be working towards, and where it sits currently.

lawrencesummers

magicbastarder wrote: »

group spins allow you to take much better advantage of aerodynamics, your required power to maintain a particular speed falls off measurably if you're drafting behind another rider or riders.
you could consider joining a club?

also, i found when starting out that dropping a gear (i.e. going for an easier gear than i would have previously selected) and increasing my pedalling cadence made a difference - you're relying less on sheer strength in your legs, and distributing the load more evenly across your cardiovascular system so you don't tire so quickly. you'll have more left in the tank near the end.

Considering joining a club, but currently the work life balance better suits Doing my own thing on my own time. I would probably only be in a position once a month to join a club spin, but I could go three time a week on my own.

That and the fact that a few years ago I was doing a bit of cycling with groups For a charity thing and always without fail I found that there was one complete A hole in the group.

Work / life will change in the next while so might give a club a go.

JMcL

66km with a lot of grassy road bagging today around Portlaw down to the coast n Waterford. About 700m of vertical stuff, with a fairly intense section up around the Curraghmore estate and up to the wind turbines with several lengthy ramps north of 10% for about 3km. Last bit was probably around a steady 15% up a "road" the street view car bailed on and went on for ever - or at least about 500m. Glorious day and nice to stretch the wheels on the Croix de Fer for a change

wirelessdude01

lawrencesummers wrote: »

I enjoy all the spins, but I’m wondering what a realistic average to be working towards, and where it sits currently.

Just challenge yourself. Avg speed on any given spin has so many variables. Don't get hung up on it. Weather, bike condition, hydration, nutrition, sleep, road conditions etc, etc, etc all play a part.

Seth Brundle

lawrencesummers wrote: »

I enjoy all the spins, but I’m wondering what a realistic average to be working towards, and where it sits currently.

Everyone is different. My average has come up over the last year but it's only a reference, nothing more really.
Your average for one route could be way different to another. I cycled along the Royal Canal today and my average was about 2 or 3km/h slower than normal. Of that, I found that my speed was better on the tarmac surface compared to the grit surface (unsurprisingly) but by about 2km/h.
Wind direction will also be a factor as will traffic, junctions, etc.
Don't get hung up on it as it doesn't mean anything. I know I'm not the fastest rider. I also know that I'm faster than others. But it doesn't matter as I'm happy with where I'm at now (as I was say a year ago).
If your average is 24km/h then that's fine. You will probably see it increase over the next year if you head out frequently and build up strength and stamina.

lawrencesummers

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Just challenge yourself. Avg speed on any given spin has so many variables. Don't get hung up on it. Weather, bike condition, hydration, nutrition, sleep, road conditions etc, etc, etc all play a part.

My Avg tends to be 24-25 all the time, even though all those factors vary.

lawrencesummers

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Everyone is different. My average has come up over the last year but it's only a reference, nothing more really.
Your average for one route could be way different to another. I cycled along the Royal canal today and my average was about 2 or 3km/h slower than normal. Of that, i found that my speed was better on the tarmac sirface conpared to the grit surface (unsurprisingly) but by about 2km/h.
Wind direction will also be a factor as will traffic, junctions, etc.
Don't get hung up on it as it doesn't mean anything. I know I'm not the fastest rider. I also know that I'm faster than others. But it doesn't matter as I'm.happy with where I'm at now (as I was say a year ago).
If your average is 24km/h then that's fine. You will probably see it increase over the next year if you head out frequently and build up strength and stamina.

Roughly speaking how much riding were doing doing and how much did it increase in the last year? (Just want to get an idea of what I could be aiming for)

I know avg isn't the be all of things, its just one of two things I'm watching currently to try and see some progress.

Seth Brundle

lawrencesummers wrote: »

Roughly speaking how much riding were doing doing and how much did it increase in the last year? (Just want to get an idea of what I could be aiming for)

I know avg isn't the be all of things, its just one of two things I'm watching currently to try and see some progress.

I've gone from where you are to in or around the 29/30 mark.
I also go out frequently using the bike to commute (pre-lockdown) unless I needed to have the car (which was four or five times). I've also joined a club which has benefited my performance.
I did about four thousand km in 2019, most of which was in the tail end of the year. So far in 2020 I've done about 6500km with a target of 10000km by the end if the year (which I should achieve).
I've a good road bike which I look after and I've also become more confident on the road.
But its mostly just that I've improved. I'm fitter than I was a year ago. I eat healthier and so on. I train more than I used to.
It would be the same if I was more into running or whatever sport you can think of. As you improve yourself, your performance improves.

new2tri19

lawrencesummers wrote: »

My Avg tends to be 24-25 all the time, even though all those factors vary.

You need a power meter , average speed has too many variables.
I don't have any speed metrics on my bike computer it's just power / distance / time.
I could be riding 20-40km/hr average but the 20 might be pushing more power depending on wind / gradient / bike / bag on back , aerodynamics / drafting.
If you don't have power meter ignore average speed and cycle off heart rate it's better than average speed .

lawrencesummers

Seth Brundle wrote: »

I've gone from where you are to in or around the 29/30 mark.
I also go out frequently using the bike to commute (pre-lockdown) unless I needed to have the car (which was four or five times). I've also joined a club which has benefited my performance.
I did about four thousand km in 2019, most of which was in the tail end of the year. So far in 2020 I've done about 6500km with a target of 10000km by the end if the year (which I should achieve).
I've a good road bike which I look after and I've also become more confident on the road.
But its mostly just that I've improved. I'm fitter than I was a year ago. I eat healthier and so on. I train more than I used to.
It would be the same if I was more into running or whatever sport you can think of. As you improve yourself, your performance improves.

Good to know thanks.

I’m only doing 100km a week currently, but have been steady enough and looking to up it to about 150 by mid August. Will probably be doing very well to hit 4K for the year but it’s probably something worth aiming for, never looked at distance on an annual basis before.

Can’t cycle to work unfortunately.

magicbastarder

new2tri19 wrote: »

You need a power meter , average speed has too many variables.

beg to differ. you only need a power meter if you're training for something (says he who knows shag all about training for anything).

there's a couple of things that will help bring your average speed up - one major one being time in the saddle, if you use it well. fuel well, mix it up and push yourself. as mentioned, don't try to push too hard a gear, you'll drain your legs faster than your body can replenish them.
think of it like interest earned on money in a bank. if you withdraw at a rate which just matches what your deposit is earning, you'll never run out of money. if you withdraw large amounts, you'll quickly deplete your funds and the interest earned won't be able to keep up. it's a case of learning (knowing how far you intend to go) what rate you can withdraw at that you won't run out of money. ideally, if you're trying to go fast, you'll only run out as you're swinging up the driveway as you arrive home. any slower, and you won't have benefitted from the money, any faster and you'll be running the overdraft before you get home.

lawrencesummers

new2tri19 wrote: »

You need a power meter , average speed has too many variables.
I don't have any speed metrics on my bike computer it's just power / distance / time.
I could be riding 20-40km/hr average but the 20 might be pushing more power depending on wind / gradient / bike / bag on back , aerodynamics / drafting.
If you don't have power meter ignore average speed and cycle off heart rate it's better than average speed .

Don’t have power meter, they look a bit pricey tbh, might try heart rate but currently I’m trying to limit some variables by going the same routes and comparing avg speeds on them.

new2tri19

magicbastarder wrote: »

beg to differ. you only need a power meter if you're training for something (says he who knows shag all about training for anything).

there's a couple of things that will help bring your average speed up - one major one being time in the saddle, if you use it well. fuel well, mix it up and push yourself. as mentioned, don't try to push too hard a gear, you'll drain your legs faster than your body can replenish them.
think of it like interest earned on money in a bank. if you withdraw at a rate which just matches what your deposit is earning, you'll never run out of money. if you withdraw large amounts, you'll quickly deplete your funds and the interest earned won't be able to keep up. it's a case of learning (knowing how far you intend to go) what rate you can withdraw at that you won't run out of money. ideally, if you're trying to go fast, you'll only run out as you're swinging up the driveway as you arrive home. any slower, and you won't have benefitted from the money, any faster and you'll be running the overdraft before you get home.

I would fancy myself to be quicker on a 1000 euro bike with a 400euro power meter than a 10,000 euro bike without a power meter over any effort over an hour , a power meter is the single best upgrade you can make IMO. The biggest thing I got from it was actually realising I was pushing way too much power at the start of climbs . It's a pacing tool. Even if your training for nothing its good to get to know your numbers.

lawrencesummers

new2tri19 wrote: »

I would fancy myself to be quicker on a 1000 euro bike with a 400euro power meter than a 10,000 euro bike without a power meter over any effort over an hour , a power meter is the single best upgrade you can make IMO. The biggest thing I got from it was actually realising I was pushing way too much power at the start of climbs . It's a pacing tool. Even if your training for nothing its good to get to know your numbers.

I can’t see myself being able to justify that expense for a long time, but out of interest, is it something that you Still use as much now as when you got it first? Or has it taught you how to ride smarter now and you don’t use it as much?

new2tri19

lawrencesummers wrote: »

Don’t have power meter, they look a bit pricey tbh, might try heart rate but currently I’m trying to limit some variables by going the same routes and comparing avg speeds on them.

Yeah you'll get a rough idea that way , just cycling more should get you better.

new2tri19

lawrencesummers wrote: »

I can’t see myself being able to justify that expense for a long time, but out of interest, is it something that you Still use as much now as when you got it first? Or has it taught you how to ride smarter now and you don’t use it as much?

When I first got it it was a cool toy, I would ride along and look at the numbers and see how high I could get them. It was fun then it became boring. Then I got onto Zwift and did an FTP test , I knew then I should be able to hold for example 280watts for an hour. So the numbers started to make more sense to me . From using zwift more and more I started to get used to my 5-10-20-30 min max power efforts. With these numbers I would attack local climbs it was much easier knowing I can hold 400watts for 5 mins , so the hill takes roughly 5 mins I would keep power around 400w.

As I ride mostly solo (at the moment) if I am going out for a 2 hour ride I know I can hold around 250w for 2 hours I try keep my average lap power below this for the whole ride , I find I am never bonking on rides compared to previously. Some days I can't hold the power but more often than not I am finishing the ride feeling like I paced it well.

When I commute I rarely look at it now , the odd time I would look at it is when I'm cycling into a block headwind and it helps me pace i'll just sit on a certain wattage and ignore the wind.

paddydriver

Mercian Pro wrote: »

Good to hear they are open again. Weekends only I presume?

Passed on Fri last and sign wasn't out at their turn so assuming closed. We had gone to Glendalough Green just in case.. might have had sneaky 2nd's though of The Dome was open..

P_1

Last week was a busy one...
Dublin to Roscommon
Westport to Galway
A bop around Galway
Galway to Limerick
Limerick to Kilkenny
Kilkenny to Dublin

Nice slow pace throwing in as many crappy backroads and offroad sections as possible. Brilliant way to spend a week

lawrencesummers

lawrencesummers wrote: »

Considering joining a club, but currently the work life balance better suits Doing my own thing on my own time. I would probably only be in a position once a month to join a club spin, but I could go three time a week on my own.

That and the fact that a few years ago I was doing a bit of cycling with groups For a charity thing and always without fail I found that there was one complete A hole in the group.

Work / life will change in the next while so might give a club a go.

Speaking of A holes, my first sportive a lad with a 7k bike, three quarter length pants, a snood and every other every other stupid accessory you can think of came up and pushed me in the back for some perceived issue I had caused.

I told him if he ever laid a hand on me again I'd pull him off his bike and throw him into the sea next to us. He got a bit of a land at my response and tried to befriend me then, telling me in the most patronising way possible that I was doing great, 5k into a 160k bastard of a spin. I was inexperienced but very fit at the time and nothing gave me greater pleasure than passing him at speed after 150k, him after doing it all in a group and me solo.

Ignore the A holes, you get them in every sport.

lawrencesummers

Deleted User wrote: »

Speaking of A holes, my first sportive a lad with a 7k bike, three quarter length pants, a snood and every other every other stupid accessory you can think of came up and pushed me in the back for some perceived issue I had caused.

I told him if he ever laid a hand on me again I'd pull him off his bike and throw him into the sea next to us. He got a bit of a land at my response and tried to befriend me then, telling me in the most patronising way possible that I was doing great, 5k into a 160k bastard of a spin. I was inexperienced but very fit at the time and nothing gave me greater pleasure than passing him at speed after 150k, him after doing it all in a group and me solo.

Ignore the A holes, you get them in every sport.

Unfortunately my experience tells me that he is not an entirely rare creature, I probably will fall into a club down the road, safe in the knowledge that I’m going to have to ignore one or two of these types.