Hi from Stockton...

[Cyrill666]

Hi,

So i'm a 42 year old dad of three boys, self employed and a Teessider born and bred.

I used to run, but a knee problem has scuppered that hobby. So I've recently dusted off an old mountain bike (16 years old and was about £80 when it was bought new) as my knee problem doesn't seem to present itself, even when I cycle hard, which is nice.

My last ride on Friday was 33km which took about 75 mins, i'm not sure if that's a respectable pace, but i'm only cycling against my own time and primarily to stay fit.

Over this weekend I've hatched a daft plan to cycle from Stockton to Robin Hoods Bay and back again, which according to the cycle setting on Google maps is about 80 miles in total. I'm hoping to achieve it this year at some point. Aim high right?

Anyhow that's me, so hello

Cheers,
Gary

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

Welcome aboard and to the cycling fraternity Cyrill666.
33k is a good start at any pace -especially for a smoggie

Joking aside though, good on you to set yourself that goal to RHB and back.
Ride at YOUR pace and just keep extending until you can get used to a good few hours in the saddle.

I came back to cycling at 46 after many years off and it's changed my life - and saved it.

So, keep going and do it how you want to do it.

Tony.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Hi Gary and .

33km in 75 minutes? I make that 20.5 miles at 16.4 mph average. Done on an £80 mountain bike that is a very respectible pace indeed, and faster than I could manage. (When using my knockabout bike my personal best is 15mph average over approx 18 miles.)

You clearly have a decent base fitness so building up to an 80 mile ride this summer should be possible. Let us know how it goes.

 

[ste.pearson]

hi gary welcome wow thats a great effort just starting out youre well faster than me thats for sure keep up the good work

 

[Cyrill666]

Thanks chaps

Confessions time - I've just checked my RunKeeper account and that last ride was actually averaging 15.75 mph - still proud of myself though

 

[theloafer]

hi Gary
aboard you have a great training area near (Yorkshire moors) robin hoods bay has a great chippy down a little bank which route are you taking

 

[Part time cyclist]

Hi and welcome

 

[Cyrill666]

Hi,
I'm banking on the chippy being open when I get there, haha.
I reckon the route would be something like this.
Cheers,
Gary.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Hi Gary and

 

[guitarpete247]

Hi and from someone jealous of anyone who can ride to the coast (easily). Less than 10 miles from me is the recognised (OS recently announced this) centre of England .

 

[jonny jeez]

Hi Gary and welcome to cyclechat.

That pace is better than good, on an old mtb with no cycle fitness its awesome! I'm averaging a fair few miles each week and i rarely managed to clock over 15 mph.

I dread to think how much quicker you would be on a road bike.

Please tell me you weren't travelling that fast on knobbly tyres....if you were, could you lie and say you were on city slicks, i'm not sure I could handle that!!

 

[jonny jeez]

Thanks chaps

Confessions time - I've just checked my RunKeeper account and that last ride was actually averaging 15.75 mph - still proud of myself though

I'm not familiar with run keeper and i dont know how you record your gpx (iphone, gps tracker?) but i do know not to hold too much stock in the accuracy of these sites. I'm an abuser of strava myself (check it out) and that seems to recalculate the same gpx differently, if i send it from different sources...all a bit frustrating.

But, tiny adjustments aside, they are a cracking way to motivate and train.

 

[steve52]

hi stockton,i rode up to norton from leicester last oct, so ya just down the road a bit lol

 

[paul04]

Welcome to the website Gary, like yourself, I did alot of running, but knee problems stopped that, so I started cycling and love every minute of it (and no knee problems any more)

 

[Cyrill666]

Hi - sorry Johnny but the tyres are knobbly, does that make a big difference? I only use runkeeper as it's got my historical data on the account - I tend not to use their app as it's prone to crashing on my phone and you end up with half a ride logged. Instead I stick with my Garmin Forerunner 205 which seems to map reasonably accurately as far as I can tell. I'll take a look at Strava though, thanks.