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

Mercian Pro

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

Too early for shorts up there but I seen a few brave souls.

Not on the bike today but hillwalking above Glendalough. Saw no more than half a dozen cyclists on the way there and back and not a single bike outside Glendalough Green. Family commitments or the damp weather??

secman

Mercian Pro wrote: »

Not on the bike today but hillwalking above Glendalough. Saw no more than half a dozen cyclists on the way there and back and not a single bike outside Glendalough Green. Family commitments or the damp weather??

Nothing today for me, shifting 5 ton of topsoil is taking a bit longer than planned . Definitely heading out in the morning before shifting the last of it, having nightmares about topsoil.

D13exile

Up and out on the bike at 8am for my second post pneumonia spin from Clane to Caragh, Kilmeague, Prosperous and home. Managed to get my speed back up a bit for a 30km spin in 70 minutes. Have done better but I'm still recovering. Cold and raining but my Galibier Mistral and merino base layer did their job of keeping me warm and dry. Had to take off one of my Galibier toe covers as it was stopping me clipping in and I discovered how well it does its job as my right foot was toasty while my left was cold.

Onwards and upwards on the road back to fitness.

godtabh

Was due to leave at 5:30 to cycle back to Dublin as I had to be some where at 12. No sign of any day break so only hit the road at 6:30 which meant i had to stop in my mams house to get the car for the last bit.

106km at an average of 30km/h. No wind assistance today!

Half tempted to collect the bike later and finish off what I started.

Pinch Flat

67km @31kph, set my alarm for a Sunday, so missed the club spin.:o. Headed out to Tara, back through Kilmessan - Dunshaughlin to home in Dublin 15.

Had a bit of bike rage coming off the Hill of Tara - the kilmessan side. If anyone knows it, it's a narrow single track lane that leads from the road below to the Hill. It's a fast enough descent.

So I was heading down, tucked in and watching the garmin climb to 50kph plus - probably topped around 56kph. I spotted one cyclist coming up, quick wave and carried on. Then spotted another cyclist, followed closely by a van. The van had now pulled out to overtake the cyclist coming up the hill, narrowing my gap to pass - no big deal, but I slowed down - the verge is crappy enough on the left.

Out of the blue, some fool comes roaring past me, squeezing between me and the van. "What the fcuk did you do that for", he roared as he passed, presumably referring to me slowing down to negotiate a situation in front of me. I'm assuming his brakes worked perfectly fine, because he stopped at the bottom of the hill.

Well, if you're reading this, I slowed down because I'm not comfortable passing between the verge and a van in a narrow gap of a few feet. The fact that you continued, presumably seeing me slow down, and the van coming against me and the cyclist on the other side of the road, yet continued at pace shows you need to learn some basic cycling etiquette and awareness before you injure yourself or someone else.

retalivity

^I too was out at Tara today...that wasn't me though!

86k @25.8kph, it was a day of big rings, cold toes and the smell of sh1te in the nostrils.

https://www.strava.com/activities/946047733

Ranjo

Kicked off at 10:00 heading south on the N11 to Coyne's Cross , then the back roads to Rathnew. Headed back up via Newcastle to Kilcoole. Did 36km at 28km/hr but intended to do more. Stopped for cuppa at sis-in-law and didn't go any further. Wife arrived so put the bike in the car for the last bit home.

Felt like I was going slow, but happy enough with 28kph average. Chilly out too, full legs and 2 layers on & needed it.

Did a loop around enniskerry and Glencullen at lunch. Just pottered around after a bigger spin on saturday. Pretty chilly out.

magicbastarder

a flat 42k today around kildare and meath. not firing on all cylinders at the moment.

LollipopJimmy

I had a ramble around Dublin today. 65kms total with Howth Head being the only thing resembling a climb, if ever there was a day my legs and head didn't want to be in the saddle it was today. 3 coffee stops too

P_1

34km up and down Howth from the Sutton side, first proper spin of the year. The road up to the aerials isn't exactly ideal for a road bike.

crosstownk

I drove to Drogheda on Thursday morning (from Swords rather than home) and as I was driving I thought "this would be a nice enough spin" so I decided to give it a go today.

The cycle to Drogheda was hard work thanks to the R132. It's north county Dublin's answer to the N81. It goes on forever with lots of traffic.

Thankfully the way home was much more pleasant via Duleek and Garristown.

116km with a breeze in my face the whole way out that was of little help on the way back.

Unknown Soldier

colm18 wrote: »

See it? Say it!

http://www.epa.ie/enforcement/report/seeit/

Luxman wrote: »

I use it on an iPhone I think it's also available for android. See it. Say it. It snaps a photo and records GPs location and routes it to the appropriate council

Cheers!

I was out on Saturday for a 75km spin and came across a lot of rubbish on the right side of the road from Brittas to Ballinascorney. Looked like someone dumped a load of that asbestos looking stuff, that you do insulating with, in the ditch. Loads of it Absolute bleednin peadophile!

godtabh

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

Cheers!

I was out on Saturday for a 75km spin and came across a lot of rubbish on the right side of the road from Brittas to Ballinascorney. Looked like someone dumped a load of that asbestos looking stuff, that you do insulating with, in the ditch. Loads of it Absolute bleednin peadophile!

Careful of that. It is broken and airborne thats when it is dangerous

Chuchote

godtabh wrote: »

Careful of that. It is broken and airborne thats when it is dangerous

Well, if it's the peachy-yellow-coloured insulation fluff, I don't think that's asbestos.

Mercian Pro

crosstownk wrote: »

I drove to Drogheda on Thursday morning (from Swords rather than home) and as I was driving I thought "this would be a nice enough spin" so I decided to give it a go today.

The cycle to Drogheda was hard work thanks to the R132. It's north county Dublin's answer to the N81. It goes on forever with lots of traffic.

Thankfully the way home was much more pleasant via Duleek and Garristown.

116km with a breeze in my face the whole way out that was of little help on the way back.

As the guys in the club will know, I have a major aversion to the R132 and avoid it like the plague. There are some great cycling roads both to the west and east of it with or without hills (mainly with!). All you need is a decent map or to plot a route out beforehand and upload it. Some great place names to explore too such as Man o' War, Forde de Fyne and Bog of the Ring.

crosstownk

Mercian Pro wrote: »

As the guys in the club will know, I have a major aversion to the R132 and avoid it like the plague. There are some great cycling roads both to the west and east of it with or without hills (mainly with!). All you need is a decent map or to plot a route out beforehand and upload it. Some great place names to explore too such as Man o' War, Forde de Fyne and Bog of the Ring.

Agreed. I just headed out the way I knew but in hindsight it would have been better to head out the R108 via Naul.

Nothing more educational than a lesson learnt the hard way!

nilhg

Missus wanted to do the Mullingar-Athlone greenway, (have to admit I was curious myself) so we drove to Mullingar, cycled to Athlone and back, had a quick peek at the canal towpath and drove home.

It's a great facility, took me a while to ease out of my default traffic induced caution but was soon taking in the views, the local nature and greeting those we met or passed, a very relaxing day out.

87km @24.2km/hr

Wishbone Ash

crosstownk wrote: »

...The cycle to Drogheda was hard work thanks to the R132. It's north county Dublin's answer to the N81. It goes on forever with lots of traffic...

It's a lot easier to cycle on now compared to when it was the N1 (pre-motorway era - with loads of trucks thundering by).

I don't mind that road when solo but I don't enjoy it in a group when close passes are much more common.

secman

secman wrote: »

Nothing today for me, shifting 5 ton of topsoil is taking a bit longer than planned . Definitely heading out in the morning before shifting the last of it, having nightmares about topsoil.

If I could pedal with my arms right now I'd be flying, lost count of how many Barrow loads in a 5 ton drop of topsoil, can get back to biking this week .

rollingscone

Wasn't really feeling myself on my spin yesterday so decided to take my singlespeed hack mtb for a loop of the trails in the park before work this morning.

To my dismay and bewilderment my steady progress in confidence with the little berms and drops and climbs had reversed and I kept pulling the brake at every obstacle.

"Off morning" I tried to tell myself and took solace in the fact that portaging the old steel tank up and down steep hills was still a pretty good workout.

Then just as I was paralleling Chestetfield Motorway it hit me. Full sensory flashbacks of the accident that left me with a reconstructed knee and in search of a new hobby...

Am edgy as **** now and taking a coffee across the road from work but I was able to pootle on to work which is a big step up from my last full on flashback attack a few years ago which left me tearfully trudging back down Cruagh Road telling myself I'd have to sell the bike.

Cycling = medicine for living in the world.

Ps: I'm still **** at cycling

kirk buttercup

rollingscone wrote: »

Wasn't really feeling myself on my spin yesterday so decided to take my singlespeed hack mtb for a loop of the trails in the park before work this morning.

To my dismay and bewilderment my steady progress in confidence with the little berms and drops and climbs had reversed and I kept pulling the brake at every obstacle.

"Off morning" I tried to tell myself and took solace in the fact that portaging the old steel tank up and down steep hills was still a pretty good workout.

I took a big tumble MTBiking last year and it knocked my confidence a huge amount I had a lot of "Off Mornings" after. I turned strava off for a few months and just concentrated on enjoying the flow of a trail. I turned strava back on a couple of weeks ago and was surprised my times were not a mile off me pushing hard by just taking better lines and enjoying the ride rather than always trying to beat a time.
Anyway short ride yesterday of only about 35km wanted to get more done over the bank holiday weekend but ran out of time.

Thud

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

Cheers!

I was out on Saturday for a 75km spin and came across a lot of rubbish on the right side of the road from Brittas to Ballinascorney. Looked like someone dumped a load of that asbestos looking stuff, that you do insulating with, in the ditch. Loads of it Absolute bleednin peadophile!

Saw that, too, think it's fiberglass, still terrible though.

Some **** keeps dumping in a spot just after the viewing point on stocking lane (heading towards featherbeds) on the left in the section through the trees, you can tell it's probably the same person because there's usually cat food tins in it, I'd love to catch them at it......

Eponymous

Ranjo wrote: »

Kicked off at 10:00 heading south on the N11 to Coyne's Cross , then the back roads to Rathnew. Headed back up via Newcastle to Kilcoole. Did 36km at 28km/hr but intended to do more. Stopped for cuppa at sis-in-law and didn't go any further. Wife arrived so put the bike in the car for the last bit home.

Felt like I was going slow, but happy enough with 28kph average. Chilly out too, full legs and 2 layers on & needed it.

Sounds like you did my route in reverse!

Second tester for the back yesterday, more about building distance, but did manage two PBs along the way (starting from a very low base, mind you!). The good news is that I'm confident that I'll at least be able to manage a spin to Roundwood and/or Glendalough next time out.

Stopped for coffee at Café Latte in Ashford for the first time. They do a lemon drizzle cake that's on a par with my own, if that's your thing. There was a Trek US Postal bike parked up there. Beautiful machine, if the owner happens to be reading!

https://www.strava.com/activities/945833917

Bloggsie

1st spin in months yesterday, 2 & a half hours for just under 50kms, felt every one of my 44 years afterwards, I could hardly climb the stairs to get into the shower. If Dublin Bus & Irishrail go out in support of their Bus Eireann colleagues I'll be banjaxed.
Mind you today I am glad I got out, didnt realise how much I missed the pain.

alentejo

Decided to take the long way home from work this evening via Stocking Lane and did a PB. Have struggled recently but for some reason just aced it. Must be all the fustration in work 😊

smacl

rollingscone wrote: »

Ps: I'm still **** at cycling

Same. I've given up at being good at it and these days work more on just enjoying it, which sometimes works really well, other times less so.

Took a couple of days off down in South Wexford for a long weekend and cycled back up today because apparently we were due some good weather. Mostly alternated between dull, misty, light rain and torrential rain. Given I'd a few small bits to bring back up I'd stuck a rack and mini-pannier effort on the back, thinking the small amount of extra weight wouldn't make any difference. About 90k in hitting Aughrim I was already knackered, and realised my planned 8 hour spin was going to be closer to 9. Following Coffee and cake in Laragh I decided on taking the lazy Roundwood option home, and was quickly reminded it is never worth swapping a bit of a climb in great scenery for drab roads with loads of traffic. Dragged my sodden ass in the door eventually for 168k with 1.6k of up at a pretty terrible 20kph. Taking the bag off the back, the contents there were sodden too. Need to rethink my light touring setup.

Anyway, not the most enjoyable day on the bike but I'm still working on it.

kirk buttercup

50km out to arklow via brittas and back to wicklow in a figure 8 . Pissy rain but enjoyed the ride. Loads of midges

Chuchote

kirk buttercup wrote: »

50km out to arklow via brittas and back to wicklow in a figure 8 . Pissy rain but enjoyed the ride. Loads of midges

Rain and midges? That's unfair!

kirk buttercup

Chuchote wrote:

Rain and midges? That's unfair!

Yep swallowed a few ... while soaking wet . But was worth it had a load of PR's on strava