newbie training and developing

[brett sleger]

Hello everyone my names brett from southend in Essex.
Iv ridden bikes all my life but not so much over the last few years so iv been training to loose weight recently. Dropped a lot of weight over the last few months, almost 2 stone now.
Iv been riding a full suspension bike iv stiffened up the rear shock the whole way up added some schwalbe city jet road tyres.

I started off on 7 miles worked up 10, 12, 15, 18 and 24 mile rides. Last week I completed a total 65.31 miles. Top speed of 29mph avg speed around 12mph. 5min miles avg pace.

I have entered for the 28mile southend bikeathon on 1st sept

Looking to get more into it ideally get a road bike I must admit I did like the look of the retro racers thread on here i like the idea of an old peugeot or similar

 

[DaveyM]

hope that you continue to enjoy it, it can become a little addictive

 

[Gravity Aided]

French road bikes can be a bit dicey for parts and how those parts are threaded. Some of the older British bikes can also be rather eccentric as to how they are put together. (Thinking about Viscount/ Lambert and the "Death Fork") . But many Raleighs and Dawes are very fine bikes , from what I've seen here in the States. You might also consider some old Schwinns and Giants. Some of the Schwinn Road bikes from the mid-to-late 1980's were made of Columbus Steel, excellent steeds.

 

[brett sleger]

Haha yes i must say i am fairly addicted to it already @DaveyM .

Ahh excellent thanks for the advice @Gravity Aided. There is a fairly local shop to me that recycles bicycles in the way they take an older bike give it a service and a good check over and replace any broken parts then they sell it on. They said they do occasionally get what i class as a retro racer in there late 60s up to 90s bikes. So i am keeping my eye out there. They are usually around £70-80 and can be rode away!

 

[Gravity Aided]

That is a nice resource to have, especially with bicycles at that price.

 

[brett sleger]

Yeh it is. it is just random as to the stock that they might have in!

 

[brett sleger]

Just done a ride tonight 16.52 miles in 1:14:30. My avg speed was 13.32mph and my avg pace was 4.30min/per mile. My fastest mile was 3.40min slowest mile was 6.48min but thats a 30sec improvement on that same mile compared to last time which im happier about!

 

[Paul Gee]

Haha yes i must say i am fairly addicted to it already @DaveyM .

Ahh excellent thanks for the advice @Gravity Aided. There is a fairly local shop to me that recycles bicycles in the way they take an older bike give it a service and a good check over and replace any broken parts then they sell it on. They said they do occasionally get what i class as a retro racer in there late 60s up to 90s bikes. So i am keeping my eye out there. They are usually around £70-80 and can be rode away!

Which bike shop is that Brett? I am going to buy a road bike shortly and will want to dispose of my old Raleigh tourer, which I have had for a few decades now!

Wasn't aware of the Southend Bikeathon - it looks good. Unfortunately I live in Wickford so a round journey of about 35 miles, plus the bikeathon distance of 28 miles may just be a bit far for me at the moment. I am up to Sunday rides of around 30 miles at the moment. Will have to see if I can push on a bit.

Paul

 

[brett sleger]

Oh right ok Paul. It is called the southend recycle centre they are down progress road off the a127 near eastwood.
There is a 14 mile on the bikeathon you could go from wickford station to southend east I guess then a few miles to shoebury east beach would cost you tho!
Theres a few other rides on if you check southend wheelers I think they have some other rides going on but I dont know too much about them!
http://www.cyclesouthend.co.uk/index.php?c=6
http://www.southendwheelers.org/index.html

There are some links for you Paul

 

[brett sleger]

What condition is the tourer in then Paul?

 

[Paul Gee]

Brett, it is a Raleigh Stratos, have had it from new and bought from Bates in Westcliff (now gone) some 37 years ago. It is in ok condition for it's age. There is a thread on this forum about the Stratos, if you search..

Thanks for the info. I have been out for a couple of rides with a local CTC that rides from Wickford on sundays. If I can up my mileage I would rather cycle down to the Bikeathon if fit enough. We shall see! The Stratos weighs 15kg, if I bought a decent road bike I would cut that weight by a third. My average speed at present is 13.7mph and will be interesting to see what effect a lighter bike will make. I took early retirement last year and moving to a flatter county like Essex has rekindled my interest in cycling, can't get enough of it !!

At least you have (relative) youth on your side ... good luck with the bike hunt, rides and the bikeathon.

Just a thought, do local auctions sell bikes, there was one in Bucks that did when I used to attend it. (Unclaimed stolen bikes the police were selling mainly I think)

Cheers Paul

 

[brett sleger]

Ohh right i dont know how much the full suspension bike im riding at the moment weighs.
Thats not a bad average speed i dont think anyway.
How long have you been regularly cycling for?

Iv developed a lot in the past few months iv noticed a big improvement in avgs.

Yeh i will have to look for some auctions i checked out some local second hand shops but nothing really going on in the way of road bikes there tbh!

 

[Paul Gee]

Cycling regularly for about 3 months. Improved from very slow during that period, though cycling round the Hanningfield area there are a lot of very fast guys and gals to show me up. Practice makes perfect hopefully, I have only just started noting averages.

You could check ebay and gumtree also for bikes. Local bike shops may take in p/ex bikes possibly.

 

[brett sleger]

Haha there are a few speedy riders out in wakering i always pass one guy almost every ride i go on there! Still three months and going at an avg of 13mph cant be all bad! I weighed 16.5stone at the beginning of the year, started riding again in april lost a month due to other commitments but im down to 14st now n im feelin much much better for it!

 

[Paul Gee]

Great weight loss Brett - the less you weigh the faster you go ! And it will be lifestyle not diet that will keep the weight off.

Got overtaken today by a guy on a Dawes tourer, with 2 big panniers. My weight isn't a problem (well a few lbs maybe) but I suppose age means I won't be tearing up the roads any time soon. But the joy of cycling is in the journey, not the arrival - as it were.

I may treat myself to a new bike, about time, in which case I will do the Southend Bikeathon. Do they restrict the numbers do you know?