Hello from Harlow,Essex

[Biker Joe]

Hi everyone,
I'm 68 years old,a life long cyclist who has been away from cycling for just over a year due to illness.
I am now back to health and have just started cycling again.
I have two bikes. One is an aluminium framed hybrid with triple 28/38/48 chain rings and a 14 to 28 seven speed cassette.
The other is a 'Look' carbon composite road bike weighing 9kg with 38/53 chain ring and 12 to 27 eight speed cassette,Shimano 105 group set.
I have had six rides out in the last couple of weeks, on the hybrid,over an undulating course of 11 miles, the last of which I managed in a miserable 56 minutes. (I used to do that in 37 mins on my road bike)
I intend to stick to the hybrid for now until I get get back into a reasonable shape. The reason being that the hybrid is heavier but has lower gearing and should get me back to a reasonable state of fitness before I swap over to the road bike. I hope to get onto the road bike by early April.
My intent is to get up to 50 mile runs by the middle of Summer and finish off the season with a couple off 100 mile runs.
I look forward to contributing to this forum and sharing thoughts and experiences.
I wish you all a very happy and successful coming year.
Biker Joe

 

[anyuser]

Welcome and good luck with the training!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

, good you are back on your bike!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Hello!

I've played at the Harlow Square many times, sadly nobody ever wanted to watch me

 

[paul04]

Welcome to the site. Glad you have got over your illness and back on the bike.

 

[Cycleops]

Hello Joe and welcome. I used to live just up the road from you in Stansted, now in Accra, Ghana, West Africa. Hope to be coning back to the UK in the summer for some touring. I have a Marin hybrid and four other bikes bought here.Good luck getting back into trim.

 

[coffeejo]

 

[Trail Child]

Hello from Canada!

 

[Ern1e]

Hi Joe and welcome to the site and may I say nice bike's and good luck with your training

 

[Biker Joe]

Thanks for the welcome.
I think I will enjoy this forum. It's very good and nice people.

 

[compo]

Hi from another Harlow pensioner.

If you ever want a bit of company for a ride out get in touch. I am not fast, average 11-12 mph but like to go between 20 and 40 miles. If you are looking at a longer ride later in the year take a look at the Dunwich Dynamo which is what I will be starting to work towards shortly.

Enjoy your rides!

 

[Biker Joe]

Thanks very much. I'll keep that in mind.
Very kind offer.
I live in Roydon.
Take care

 

[Primal Scream]

Hi from Romford.

 

[ianjmcd]

Welcome to the forum joe you quite lucky living in essex plenty of flat runs and loads of wee country pubs to stop at i used to love cycling from witham through dunmow finchingfield danbury that sort of area used to avoid harlow cos it was like a concrete jungle

 

[Biker Joe]

[quote="used to avoid harlow cos it was like a concrete jungle[/quote]
With it's range of cycle tracks there are some quite pleasant rides to be had.You can clock up a considerable distance with a lot of variation. With tracks that go through the town park and through other wooded areas and past playing fields and other open areas I find it quite good . You also have the advantage that you don't have to bother much with traffic.
The tracks are all paved and kept in ,for the most part, free of debris and in good repair. The tracks are suitable for road bikesand there is a good cycle track map to be found on Harlow Council website.
There that,s my take. I do not have any affiliation to Harlow Council but all credit to them for looking after cyclists.