The biking thread

shem
I just did some calculations on-line using time and distance and my average speed is around 20KPH give or at a few over 15K. Is that good or bad?
I thought I'd be faster but I haven't cycled for around 8 months.
Anyone recorded their average speed before?
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A lot depends on the terrain and the bike you're using.

As you can see Bram flies along at a pretty decent pace for quite big distances on his road bike. I average about 22km/h on my usual 16km hilly road route on my mountain bike but that drops to 12km/h on a proper off road mountain bike trail.
 
I ride on pretty normal roads, asphalt but full of potholes!
The bike isn't any thing special, just a front suspension mountain bike with slick road tyres and a lot of unnecessary weight removed.
It was my first ride of the summer and the temperature is around 40. I'm hoping after a few weeks my fitness will return to me.
 
I think you did fine then, I've only just started riding regularly after about a year and a half of laziness and my bike sounds quite similar to yours. If you've got an iPhone I'd recommend the Kinetic GPS app to track and log rides but I'm sure there are others for Android etc.
 
My iPhone isn't hooked up with 3G at the moment. I really have no need for it as most of my tracking is done on Google maps. I did consider buying a bike computer to track distance and speed but it seems like an unnecessary expense when I can calculate the data on the web.

I also thought about getting some proper riding gear. All the part time riders around these parts have thousand quid bikes with flashy Lycra clothing but only ride once a week at a snails pace. My T-shirt fairs OK but is drenched by the time I get to work and my shorts don't fair much better.
 
Kinetic GPS lite is free if you fancy it when you get your data back up and running. TBH I vary my routes a fair bit so any ride tracking is going to be a bit random but it's good to have each ride logged so I can see see how my average speed is improving.

Decent riding gear does help wick the sweat but it's no miracle cure to keep you dry unfortunately.
 
I'll try the Kinetic app when I get the chance. I usually ride only very few routes, the ones with the widest roads and least traffic. I don't suppose it helps that I cycle with a backpack that adds to the build up of perspiration on the back of my T-shirt.

What are you're feeling on wearing a skid lid? I personally don't use one but have considered it due to the stupidity of drivers on the roads I use.
 
20 kph is about 12.5mph. That sounds about right for someone who is starting out on the bike after a layoff.

Anyway, with the heat at 40 degrees, it would mean that you would go a fair bit slower than if you had milder temperatures (and if you don't want to sweat like a pig).

A lot also depends on the road with other cyclists, whether you're having to vary your pace or keep it the same pace all the time.

For example, my standard route is about 15 miles (24kph) and I do that in just under an hour. It has some hills on it, but nothing major. Depending which route I am going (and also how I feel) I can take the easier way or the harder way (manipulating the terrain to my benefit depending on how I feel). It it generally fairly steadily paced and quite consistent. Also, I do this on my own. If I did it in a group of riders that were the same level as me, it would be slightly faster too.


What is a skid lid?
 
Skid lid = helmet. :)

A term which is popular with motorcyclist, back when I rode one at least.

The hills here are more.....er, mountains than anything and that's really what saps my strength. It's like interval training going up and down those things. Today the biggest one must have been a 15m incline over half a mile, even the buses and cars crawl up it!

Do you road cycle Submerged or do you ride country trails?

One problem I have is not being able to maintain a slow pace. I set of at a certain pace in the lowest gear and only alternate the crank gearing to get up the hills, the gears on the wheel are too low for flat land. I have a speed and no matter what I do I feel I can't slow down. Maybe it's a mental thing but racing tuk-tuks is a lot of fun (even taxis on the down hill run).
 
shem
...I don't suppose it helps that I cycle with a backpack that adds to the build up of perspiration on the back of my T-shirt.

What are you're feeling on wearing a skid lid? I personally don't use one but have considered it due to the stupidity of drivers on the roads I use.
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When ever I wear my backpack the back of my shirt gets wet, there's not much you can do about that really.

Always wear a lid on the road. I've know of a few people coming off their bikes recently and splitting the lids in half, if they weren't wearing one that would have been their skull!

Submerged
What is a skid lid?
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As Shem said it's a helmet which is what I used to call them when I had a motorbike...they must not be called hats!!!
 
Neal
Always wear a lid on the road. I've know of a few people coming off their bikes recently and splitting the lids in half, if they weren't wearing one that would have been their skull!
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Like I said, I considered it but I have a feeling that the quality standard of Chinese gear is going to be poor. The only other option is to buy a Giant lid, they're available here easily enough, but my hair is so big I'm not sure it'll fit. And I have some seriously big hair (jewfro) unless it's tied back, in which case the lid will not go on due to the pony tail.
 
Greycap
I stripped off all the stickers and painted it gloss black all round. New stickers coming when I find the time to go to have them applied.
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Well, consider that done.

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Pretty well disguised as a higher end thing than it really is. :P 300€ for the base, around another 300€ for all the modifications and I'm not sure if I could have bought a 600€ bike this good. Now I'll just need to ride more... the average speeds over ~20 km distances are between 25 and 30 km/h, nothing ground breaking but (at least I hope so) reasonably good for what is essentially a mountain bike in the hands of a "Sunday rider".
 
Funky spokes...you need to be careful what you ride through with that water bottle position!
 
shem
Like I said, I considered it but I have a feeling that the quality standard of Chinese gear is going to be poor.
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Well everyone else in the world is royally 🤬 then :lol: Most bike related items on the Chinese market are just un-branded products from the same factory they make several brands parts from.

If you can source stuff well then you can buy genuine carbon road frames for a fraction of the cost simply because it hasn't had the stickers put on it yet. Fake frames are fairly common though, Pinarellos are such popular fakes that known bikes are often referred to as Chinarellos.

Some guy with a sense of humour branded his own fake Chinarello:
Chinarello.JPG
 
^^:lol::lol:The Chinarello BS DogPoo:lol::lol:^^


My dad recently found this:
img56273364.jpg


It's an antique 80's Motobecane Super Mirage 10-speed bike.
At 25$, it was quite a deal! The only issue is the height: I'm only 5'5, and the top bar goes through my belly! 27" rims don't help either...:nervous:
 
What a day...

Started: 30. juli 2011 13:45:42
Ride Time: 1:59:24
Distance: 55,86 km
Average Speed: 28,07 km/h
Fastest Speed: 64,86 km/h
Ascent: 572 meters
Descent: 554 meters
Calories: 18400
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://sh...36/4e22/701b/Runmeter-Cycle-20110730-1345.kml

Started out with a burning sun and the wind fully from ahead, but came home with the wind in my tail and in the pouring rain.

Back in Norway and on my own bike. Need to adapt again to my 58" frame as my dad has a 62" frame I rode on in Belgium. Yep, my dad is that high.

Runmeter doesn't send the speed or elevation graphs but the height difference between km 0-8 is 110 metres, of which probably 70-80m the difference being between km 6-7,5. My legs felt like a bomb on that climb of said km marks on the way back. I usually ride up on the inner blade but today I smashed it on the outer blade.

What a ride! 👍
 
I've also had a cracking ride today although a little more modest than yours, it was mountain biking though but still a fairly short ride in comparison.

The last time I did it I got a stitch with 10 minutes and was pushing the bike up some of the hills as well as having plenty of stops. Today I cleaned the lot without any pushing, hardly stopped and didn't use the granny ride :D

Also it wasn't a race but I beat my mate everywhere and was even overtaking other people...going uphill!

EDIT: I think the app I use gets the total ascent wrong big time.

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Well, I don't think I'll be riding for a week. I was out on 26k run, nothing too strenuous, through the mountains on pretty good roads. I came to the halfway point where I turned back and was feeling fitter than circus chimp.

Got to within all but 20 meters of where I live and decided a bottle of water would be nice. I hopped a leg over the cross bar like a postman would and coasted to the shop front where a stupid kid walked right into my path with out looking. I was able to get my feet on the floor and stop the bike but not before feeling something in my knee come out of place.

I've been walking around all day with a limp and I'm scared to straighten my leg with any weight on it for fear of my knee going pop. Will have to see a doctor if I doesn't clear up. I did buy a stretchy bandage which is helping a lot.
 
Started: 2. aug. 2011 15:09:06
Ride Time: 2:02:48
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 56,40 km
Average Speed: 27,56 km/h
Fastest Speed: 59,78 km/h
Ascent: 260 meters
Descent: 223 meters
Calories: 1951
 
Mondays journey - BBQ and back.

I went for a BBQ at my dads house and decided I'd cycle there while my wife took a taxi with the beers and ribs. Who would arrive first? Her of course, within 45 minutes, but I arrived only 15 minutes later. Here was my route of 17.8km -



It's flat for the first stretch until across the river when it becomes a step incline all the way for the rest of the journey. I couldn't push too hard because I've just healed my knee from a few weeks ago.

By the time I'd rode home (drunk and very slowly) my chain was ready to be replaced, it's been grinding on the de-railer for weeks and has began to file itself down. Off to the bike shop in the week to pick up a new one.

Due to the ridiculous pollution from traffic in this city I had to buy one of these -

T18QBvXX8LXXbAK_Q9_104701.jpg_310x310.jpg


All in all a good bit of exercise, around 35km. I did get burnt by the sun though because it was far too hot too ride with a shirt on, the temp was around 35 and there was no breeze!
 
Just finished cleaning my drivetrain including a complete strip of the rear mech and the old ram your chain in a bottle with warm water and degreaser trick. Also used lots of GT85 and degreaser to get my cassette looking brand new. Maaaan it's shiny now! :D
Also took a couple of links out of my chain whilst I'm waiting for the outer roller guard for my chain tensioner coming from Hong Kong...
Also set up my suspension properly now that I got a shock pump. Feels nice now! :P
Off to Glentress on Wednesday hopefully with one of my mum's friends from work. She is an XC whippet who does quite well in the British stuff and has done a couple of World Cup rounds... Pffft! Easy meat on the climbs with my single ring up front and a bike that's probably twice the weight of hers. I'll be flying downwards though as long as my chain stays on! Just been bouncing and jumping around the street doing about 10 bunny hops in a row and jumping off kerbs to try and get my chain to fall off... It didn't, so job well done this morning.
Now where's my bacon rolls dad? :(

I'll try and remember to track my ride with Endomondo but chances are I'll either forget or run out of battery... :lol:
 
Lucky! I wish I could ride with British racers sometimes. Anyway I've been learning to Footjam Tailwhip over the last few days, massive fail.
 
Floats
Lucky! I wish I could ride with British racers sometimes. Anyway I've been learning to Footjam Tailwhip over the last few days, massive fail.
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Yeah I can't wait! She came 8th overall in the Elite Women's last year in the British XC Champs and 2nd in the Scottish Champs. Maybe I should put my granny ring and front mech back on.... :lol:

Yeah that looks hard. 💡
Let me guess, you've missed the pedals lots and gouged half the skin off your calves and shins?
 
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Aldo
Yeah that looks hard. 💡
Let me guess, you've missed the pedals lots and gouged half the skin of your calves and shins?
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I've smashed my knees on my bars a fair amount and my toes really hurt now. It gets worse as you get better because as the bike comes round it side swipes you :lol: I've got to work on my timing and rotation.
 
Floats
I've smashed my knees on my bars a fair amount and my toes really hurt now. It gets worse as you get better because as the bike comes round it side swipes you :lol: I've got to work on my timing and rotation.
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Ouch! I'll maybe try one of those after I get the wheelie dialed... After all, its a natural progression.

Forgot to say that I fixed the very annoying scraping noises coming from my front disc with a bit of luck, 2 washers and some fiddling!
Next up tomorrow is a front hun strip and regrease as to quote the guy in the bike shop "It really shouldn't do that..." :lol:
 
Floats
Anyway I've been learning to Footjam Tailwhip over the last few days, massive fail.
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Are you using a BMX? I learnt that on BMX, took a few days. I can't imagine doing it on a mountain bike as the frame is so much bigger!

Aldo
Now where's my bacon rolls dad? :(
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That's the spirit!
 

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