Greetings from Halifax (and Manchester)

[efreeti]

Hello everyone,

I hadn't been on a bike since a kid until I bought a Brompton last summer to save money on taxi fares and parking tickets in Manchester. My office is just out of the city centre and it was becoming more and more difficult to get to site visits and meetings. 3 of us are regular Brompton users now and they save us a fortune!

This time last year I weighed just under 20 stone. I have dropped over six stone in under a year and cycling has played quite a big part in that, along with a change of attitude to food and a generally more active lifestyle.

I haven't done any long rides really. I probably only clock up a few miles each day cycling around town. The longest straight run I have done is only about 6 miles or so. I have just signed up for the Manchester to Blackpool run in July (60 miles) so will be posting in the training forum to ask for advice soon. I live on the A58 A627 right on top of the Pennines so I'm certainly not short of training routes!

Jim

 

[dan_bo]

Get in!

you're not too far from a few of us!

 

[ColinJ]

Hi Jim.

Are you testing us - don't you mean A58/A672? The A627(M) seems to be a short stretch of motorway out of Oldham!

That would mean you are somewhere near Ripponden which isn't far from here. Groups of local CycleChat riders get together on a fairly regular basis. That includes bromptonfb who I'm sure would be happy to discuss the joys of riding bromptons round here. He has modified his brompton to give a wider range of gears for the severe climbs we have in this area.

Well done on that weight loss! It sounds like you are ready to be moving up to longer distances now.

My advice to you would be to make sure that you have low enough gears so you feel able to go further over the hills without killing your legs and it might be better to increase your longest ride by no more than about 10% in one go. You can do more but it's easy to overstretch yourself if you do. Make sure that you are eating and drinking enough when you get beyond about 2.5 hours or you run the risk of the dreaded 'bonk' which isn't any fun at all!

If you want to meet up for a ride some time just let us know and I'm sure we could arrange something. We could do a ride, meet up with you and do whatever distance you wanted together and then drop you off again near home.

 

[efreeti]

Yep, sorry about the typo. I am in triangle, just down from ripponden. My phone is about to die so will respond properly when I get to a pc. Sounds like I have picked the right forum!

 

[Bayerd]

Welcome, you probably have picked the right forum. I'm also going to do the Manchester to Blackpool this year. I'm currently in the process of gradually upping my milage.

Colin, let us know when you're planning a ride that us newbies could manage, I'd also be interested in tagging along.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

welcome fellow bromptoneer. i live in rossendale. i now commute daily from home to salford uni daily on the brompton. the brommies do do hills not fast but steady. colinj organises rides around hebden bridge. usually hilly.

 

[efreeti]

I was vaguely considering trying to do it on the brompton. I have mentioned it to a couple of people who both said "it would be possible, but I wouldn't do it".

I can't really afford to spend a great deal on a new bike at the moment but don't want to fall into the trap of buying something cheap that isn't really the right thing. Hopefully I will be able to sponge enough knowledge of you good people over the next couple of weeks to help me make the right choice. For now I will just try and get out for some longer rides and maybe concentrate more on the bike in the gym.

bromptonfb, have you had to do something clever with the gears then? Rossendale to Salford sounds like it would be pretty hardcore on my 3 speeder! I was planning to ride to Manchester at some point but there are two very big hills in the way!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

just reduced the gearing by fitting the smaller brompton chainring. for hily climbing rides i bolted a 30t ring to the outside of the 50t chainring and manually change for the hills. but i just used to go out on colins rides with the standard gearing. sometimes i pushed, sometimes i got up them all. the bike didn't let me down, my legs did.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I was vaguely considering trying to do it on the brompton. I have mentioned it to a couple of people who both said "it would be possible, but I wouldn't do it".

I can't really afford to spend a great deal on a new bike at the moment but don't want to fall into the trap of buying something cheap that isn't really the right thing. Hopefully I will be able to sponge enough knowledge of you good people over the next couple of weeks to help me make the right choice. For now I will just try and get out for some longer rides and maybe concentrate more on the bike in the gym.

bromptonfb, have you had to do something clever with the gears then? Rossendale to Salford sounds like it would be pretty hardcore on my 3 speeder! I was planning to ride to Manchester at some point but there are two very big hills in the way!

i know, i live on the top of the one nearest burnley. but i have been riding the brommie up em since july and they are getting easier.

 

[SavageHoutkop]

Hello! I'm a Manchester based Brompton commuter. Which end of Manchester is your office?

 

[chrisb1357]

Welcome to the Forum

Chris

 

[bauldbairn]

Welcome to the cc forums efreeti.

Congratulations on the weight loss - well done!

Good luck with the Manchester to Blackpool cycling challenge.

All the best.

 

[efreeti]

SavageHoutkop, I'm not far from the Apollo, Ardwick area.

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

 

[Cubist]

Hi efreeti and welcome to the forum from Scapegoat Hill!!

 

[longers]

Hello Efreeti from Oldham, another one to add to the very good local weather reporting we get on here at times.