Show us your.......newbie progress! [4 Sep 2012 - 4 Oct 2014]

[Supersuperleeds]

You'll be down mine and Chris' neck of the woods. Some nice roads in Rutland and that side of Leicester with some nice rolling hills

I'd say I'd ride over to cheer you on but I'll be recovering Sunday from "The Long One" sportive on Saturday.

I'm going to start doing more riding North of the A47, did 20 miles on Saturday and really enjoyed it, a little bit hillier than Gilmorton area

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Went out for a longer ride yesterday and came back with this and the 250k Junedoggle badge

http://app.strava.com/activities/62267530

The average speed did surprise me as the middle half felt quite slow due to it being mostly uphill. Although I have noticed that my speed stayed quite constant until the first climb (or lump in the road for some of you ) and then the speed graph isn't so smooth. Could that be because I was trying to push to much and had to keep slowing to recover?

View attachment 25247

On the subject of speed, does it just come over time? I ask because last week I felt like I was busting a gut doing about 25kph when another cyclist just breezed past me and he didn't look like he was even trying.

Oh, and sods law I get offered a free trial of Strava on the day I forget my heart rate monitor!

So they say - I'll let you know when it happens to me.

There's always a bigger dog on the block no matter how big a dog you are! Not worth worrying about.

 

[Reece]

I'm going to start doing more riding North of the A47, did 20 miles on Saturday and really enjoyed it, a little bit hillier than Gilmorton area

Some nice roads out that way. Planning in getting out Rutland way more often.

We've been riding gilmorton area more just lately and after this weeks sportive will be doing the Tuesday chaingang that way every week I can. Planning on increasing my ability at close knit riding and drafting as my new goal is to start racing the Malory park league in 2014.

 

[AndyPeace]

Tried out a different route into work yesterday, awful headwind from my front door for the whole route there and back, was a complete killer also my right knee is now constantly sore, been using a foam roller to relieve it so hopefully it buggers off soon! upside was I am now riding in the gear that i turbo in, think my avg speed was a tad pants, but I reckon thats due to the wind and drag caused by my svelt frame ;-)

all in all great to do another route, but wind please f right off!

Route: Work Via Wanstead Flats
Activity: Cycle
Started: 23 Jun 2013 16:11:38
Ride Time: 2:01:41
Distance: 19.21 miles
Average Speed: 9.47 mph
Fastest Speed: 25.86 mph
Ascent: 987 feet
Descent: 873 feet
Average Cadence: 32 rpm
Maximum Cadence: 113 rpm
Bike: Cannondale Hybrid

As Nigel suggested your cadence is low. It takes practice to build up a speedy cadence, but you should be aiming to raise that. I often find I go a lot faster, with a more even effort in a lower gear. spinning the cranks faster. It also puts less strain on your knees. Although not always possible in the beginning, you want to aim never to be below 60. ideal cadence varies from person to person, but on the flat 85-100+ is where most people find best. Find a gear that you can aim to do this in, your knee's will appreciate it!

 

[simmi]

You'll be down mine and Chris' neck of the woods. Some nice roads in Rutland and that side of Leicester with some nice rolling hills

I'd say I'd ride over to cheer you on but I'll be recovering Sunday from "The Long One" sportive on Saturday.

Good luck with "The Long One"
I've never ridden the roads in your part of the world but am really looking forward to it.
As far as I can gather there is nothing too steep put in places it's up and down like a fiddlers elbow.
It's looking like a group of 8-10 of us with a couple of slower riders so it will be quite steady with all of us staying together and helping each other round.

 

[Eribiste]

Cotswold Outing Audax Update. I had a most enjoyable day out on Sunday, although it was flippin' windy! Getting slightly lost a couple of times and doubling back got me up to 70 miles, done in just under 4 3/4 hours. Some good nosh at the end too, pasta, tea and lots of cake!

Next time I'll get a handlebar map mount for the route cards/maps, a saddlebag for all the bits and bobs, and a pen to write the answers to the control questions on the brevet populaire.

A big thank you to the Beacon Road CC for the event, I'll be back for more next year if not before, and thanks to you forum members for the encouragement.

 

[Reece]

Good luck with "The Long One"
I've never ridden the roads in your part of the world but am really looking forward to it.
As far as I can gather there is nothing too steep put in places it's up and down like a fiddlers elbow.
It's looking like a group of 8-10 of us with a couple of slower riders so it will be quite steady with all of us staying together and helping each other round.

I did an audax on some of your route back in feb. nothing taxing like you say (except the foul weather I had) just a lot of up and down. Lincoln is pretty flat though I believe.

 

[Ciar]

As Nigel suggested your cadence is low. It takes practice to build up a speedy cadence, but you should be aiming to raise that. I often find I go a lot faster, with a more even effort in a lower gear. spinning the cranks faster. It also puts less strain on your knees. Although not always possible in the beginning, you want to aim never to be below 60. ideal cadence varies from person to person, but on the flat 85-100+ is where most people find best. Find a gear that you can aim to do this in, your knee's will appreciate it!

That's the plan, but even 32 cadence for me is low, been recoding it for a month now, when I turbo do road, wishing could do offroad but only have the one wahoo, it's usually above 32! I put it down to backstreets way too many stops, tomorrow I am riding a long straight route into work, we will see how it fairs, will do my Best to keep it above 60 :-) cheers for the tips...also raised my seat tonight feels more comfortable already.

 

[MaxInc]

I don't think you should be concerned with the average cadence over the total trip time but the average cadence when you are actually pedalling. I am comfortable spinning at 90-95rpm and sometimes 100+ but for the trip I average sometime 60-75 due to downhills and stops etc. I never actually spin this low unless is a very steep incline and I ran out of gears. The higher the rpm, the lower the force required to push on the pedals and easier on knees and tendons. Try riding in a lower gear that you normally do.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

My RD hanger was straightened today so I will be back out tomorrow even with my sore hand, shoulder & chest - jeez, what a total hero!

My mech' was a tiddly bit out of skew and affected shifting but it was impossible to see any bend in the hanger itself.

LBS used his clever Park Tools device and the pointer was 0.75" difference off the rim at the top vs the bottom. Quickly adjusted and now it is straight and shifting perfectly.

I'll now be able to fly up and down my cogs even if I can't fly up the blooming great hills round here.

Sleep tight all - tomorrow is nearly here and will hopefully be another great riding day!

 

[RWright]

I just did a nice slow pace cruise this evening, enjoying the scenery. Nothing really exciting going on. Near the end of the ride I was passed by a moped. Being a little bored, I thought, why not. I went after him, I don't know how fast we were going but I reeled him in. He is just lucky we were on an incline and I was more tired than usual, and didn't quite have enough juice to pass him. If it had been a quarter mile on down the road on a the slight decline, I would have blasted by him and let him eat some dust. .

 

[Ciar]

Lovely ride into work this morning, bit better than my last effort

Route: To Work
Activity: Cycle For Distance
Started: 25 Jun 2013 05:53:17
Ride Time: 44:18
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 9.20 miles
Average Speed: 12.47 mph
Fastest Speed: 23.68 mph
Ascent: 725 feet
Descent: 417 feet
Calories: 793 (discount!)
Average Cadence: 56 rpm
Maximum Cadence: 149 rpm

Bike: Cannondale Hybrid

 

[Phoenix Lincs]

It's been so long since my last ride I would not be surprised if my wheels had seized up.
Work, work, work and a bit of golf (stupid sport with sticks and little white balls)
I need to put in a few miles this week as me and a few from my club are doing our first sportive.
The St Barnabas Grimsthorpe Challenge,108 miles around Lincolnshire, Rutland and Leicestershire.
I hope i'm ready for it

Reading over the last few pages most of you have been putting in some serious miles.
I need to pull my finger out as you will be leaving me behind. (both literally and figuratively)

I might aim to tackle Grimsthorpe next year, hope it goes really well for everybody

 

[Phoenix Lincs]

Good luck with "The Long One"
I've never ridden the roads in your part of the world but am really looking forward to it.
As far as I can gather there is nothing too steep put in places it's up and down like a fiddlers elbow.
It's looking like a group of 8-10 of us with a couple of slower riders so it will be quite steady with all of us staying together and helping each other round.

Must be nice to have a group all riding together. No matter how many riders seem to be in the events I do, I don't seem to find anybody going at the same pace. I cycle a bit, get dropped (not rudely, I just say 'off you go'" when I don't want to hold them up) then get overtaken by faster ones, and seem to spend most of my time alone. Seeing as how I do most of my mileage alone while training it's sort of normal for me I suppose, but it would have been nice to have had some company, particularly near the end. Hopefully it'll be different in London

 

[Nomadski]

Must be nice to have a group all riding together. No matter how many riders seem to be in the events I do, I don't seem to find anybody going at the same pace. I cycle a bit, get dropped (not rudely, I just say 'off you go'" when I don't want to hold them up) then get overtaken by faster ones, and seem to spend most of my time alone. Seeing as how I do most of my mileage alone while training it's sort of normal for me I suppose, but it would have been nice to have had some company, particularly near the end. Hopefully it'll be different in London

Well if you see a silver Cannondale with blue wheels TYRES(!) (I will wager there wont be many of them) say hi!