your daily bicycle log

Did the Essex Roads 'Autumn Leaves' Sportive today. I did 94 miles which is the longest ride I've ever done (and slightly longer than it should have been due to a missing sign at one point - fortunately we came across some riders who'd made the same mistake and were retracing their route). My riding time was 5 hours 9 minutes - average speed of 18.2mph, which just goes to show the effect of riding with other people - not just drafting, but also the psychological impact of trying to keep up with people / trying to lead a group at a decent pace. My actual time (including stoppages) was just under six hours, but this includes at least 25 minutes waiting for a clubmate and helping him deal with a puncture. The weather today was absolutely fantastic - cloud-free sunny sky, but not scorching hot (probably low 20s).
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3219787 - this is more or less the route, but the start and finish is not quite in the right place

Sounds fantastic! I ended up spending this weekend riding in Hampshire and the New Forest with a friend. I was pretty glad she was slower than me as it meant we had a gorgeous, relaxing couple of days (average speed around 15mph). Got 88 miles done over the two days, and saw ponies, deer and a wild pig (!). What a perfect riding weekend.

Riding the new forest is so nice. One of my all time favourite rides is Salisbury to Lymington, which cuts right through the middle and has a lovely roll through the forest, takes in Beaulieu and Bucklers hard.

(Not having a train service out to the countryside is such a bind, I really miss how easy it is to construct rides like that with a cheap day return and an OS map)

Gbx, this is a question for you:

So I'm now going back and forth to chicago on a regular basis and want to get cheap bike for me and E to have there. Any advice other than craigslist and Yojimbo's?

Working Bikes rebuilds used bikes and sells 'em to fund their charitable work, which is sending bikes to Ghana and other developing countries

if yr looking for something new, then i can only recommend shops i happen to like: boulevard bikes (commuter-oriented, owner is the nicest), smart bike parts (25m from my old house, i'm friends with the staff, owner lent me a brand-new bike for one day so i could get around while visiting).

sometimes deals crop up on the chicago bike forum i still lurk, but it's likely to be flash track parts and not what you're looking for

so yesterday i stop for an iced coffee midride and who would be standing in front of me, the only other person in the shop dressed up in bike gear...?

noneother than Mr. Bobke Roll

tbh i didn't recognize him at first it wasn't until we were outside and i heard him talk i was like zomg! we ended up chatting about levi leipheimer who is hosting the ride we're both doing tomorrow. he was super bro-ish, no ego at all. gave me a fist bump as we rode off LMAO.

!

New tyres are awesome. Get some today.

just had my rear wheel tensioned/trued and has new (well, from other bike) tire on it = feelin fast

heavy though they may be, i <3 soma everwears

I have gone for no nonsense (and heavy) schwalbe duran plus and slimed tubes, winter is coming.

can't wait!

it's been 50F and spritzy ("soft" britishes) around here and it rules for biking, imo. well, except for braking, that's a little dodgier. but otherwise favorite biking/running/being outside weather for this guy

New tyres are awesome. Get some today.

― Mornington Crescent (Ed), Saturday, October 3, 2009 3:56 PM (1 hour ago)

so about 45 miles into my 103 mile technically non-competitive ride but dudes are ROLLLLLING today, front tire puncture. upon inspection, tire is just shite... pock-marked and sliced TWICE through to the tread weaving. I think to myself "i know this tire was on its last legs, why didn't i swap it out before this ride" hindsight 20/20 &c.

LUCKILY, i was able to grab a spare tire from one of the guys on my team and throw it on in a decent amount of time (~6mins, the beading was tight like young man's anoos).

moral of the story: throw on some new tires if you're gonna try and kill it, alt.: ED OTM.

durano plus is my winter training tire of choice

went for a run down 'cycling mecca beach road' today with work buddy. SERIOUS business. bikes everywhere, lots of packs going at different speeds so you could follow a wheel and get some help. u all would be feelin it. got dropped by pack and work buddy when i slowed for a drink, nearly caught them again only for guy in front to break a spoke and do emergency stop which killed momentum; blew up. run back the other way a bit more sedate, thank christ. maybe close to 70km door to door? feel pretty good considering i've spent all week being an alcoholic.

15 miles this morning in beautiful chill glasgow sun, 1hr4mins, 14mph avg - this is my best avg ;_; but I do feel like my legs are getting stronger

smoked some dude mashing like a fanny on an MTB too :D

I'm exhausted (but not from cycling). I had to get up at 5.45am to go and be a marshall for a time trial. I was on the sofa last night (to avoid waking everyone up when I got up), but got little sleep due to noisy neighbours waking me up at 2am. Drove up the M11 at the crack of dawn, rode 12 miles to a roundabout, stood there shivering and directing riders for an hour and a half, then rode another 12 miles back to the HQ.

Last weekend was the last hurrah of the English summer. Today was tights and long-sleeved top temperatures, but at least it was sunny.

^ maybe a few too many 'up's in that first paragraph

I'm taking it relatively easy at the moment now the racing season's over. No work on Wednesday morning, so I did a 20-mile ride. For a change I went into London (instead of heading out to the countryside). Most of the ride was on main roads with bus lanes, which was alright on the way in and the way back (the A10 from Tottenham down into the City, and Camden Road / Seven Sisters Road on the way back from Regents Park), but riding around The City and The West End was crap (endless jams and traffic lights).

Today I did 23 miles, mostly quite gentle except for a practice for the Hill Climb race I'm going to do in November. I managed that in 2.39, knocking 12 seconds off my previous best. I tried following some advice from a coach, so I used higher gears than I normally would and rode the last tough bit on the drops instead of the brake hoods. That time would have got me second place last year (but only nine people did it!).

did 37 miles today (furthest I've rode)

feeling a bit disheartened today w/gains from new regime but enjoying being on the bike

need a new bike, stat.

n+1

That's the rule!

n+1?

ended up doing 42 miles yesterday cos I rode to and from the train station just after I'd posted

what a sad infuriating thing, this guy

http://www.sacbee.com/500/story/2229294.html

yeah i figured he relapsed again, his results stopped in july

n+1 is always the amount of bikes you should have, where n is the number you currently have! A wee joke.

oh ha, sorry, was being dumb

in other news, I did fkn squats on thursday and the muscles just above my knees on the front are still fkn killing me today

i haven't fully recovered from my thursday gym work either...

Hey cozwn, what kind of average speed do you ride at? Just wondering if maybe we could organise a Glasgow ILX FABR (Fancy A Bike Ride)...

I'm probably around 15mph, ball park, depending on the distance. Seen you've been riding some of my usual routes you see.

my arms/neck are still sore from slackline ragdoll maneuvers on thursday, and swimming pretty much all week

swimming rules, btw

I ride about 14mph average but I'm blaming the bike and its non-narrow tires : (

maybe rain check till I get my new bike? we can def fabr then

No problem. I'm nowhere near intimidatingly fast - I'm always on fixed and lugging a great big bag and don't don lycra, so not too scary, hopefully. Give me a shout whenever you want. I'm usually free on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the day.

no worries, will do. I'm stupidly competitive so I'm sure tht instinct wd keep me honest on the current bike but I'm done riding tht thing now for more than an hour unless I can't help it

had good ride on saturday - beach rd to black rock and back again, then past casino to docklands, then footscray, then williamstown, then retrace to footscray and head to flemington, then home. the beach rd run was fairly intense, but much of the rest was just brisk cruising along on bike paths. also two coffee stops and lunch!

altho on the absolute last climb of the day (up the incline to the apartment) the bike spat the chain off during a gear change and ran rough all the way to work this morning. twisted link, sez the chap at the bike shop!

I did an century today, tried to take it easy in Heart Rate Zone 3 (130-158bpm), even harder when you throw a massive moutain in the mix:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/4003316045_4fe497d167_o.png

Felt really good but I overhydrated at one pointwhich meant having to take a nature break every 20-30 minutes for miles 60-80 (up the mountain, where I was averaging ~10 min/mile).

err ~10mph

(krakow, did you see that decathlon are opening a bike in glasgow next month?)

No, I didn't. Up at the Fort I see now though. What are Decathlon shops like?

they are a lot of fun to hang out in and try out sports equipment you will never use

i spent an afternoon in the sheffield one, mostly practicing my forward defensive stroke with 300 quid bats

(wow guys vdb is dead at 34. man did his star burn bright for like 2 seconds.)

im now like the people magazine of pro racing.

vanderbroucke is dead?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vandenbroucke-dies

yup.

thurs night - coming home from pub, had flower bomb thrown at me by high school students on 'muck-up day'! arseholes. i saw a bunch of private schoolers got suspended from final exams for that sort of shit though, hahahaha.

today - went and watched herald sun tour final stage - crit near where i work. b. wiggins never in doubt. should've checked twitter tho, rapha condor team getting rid of full dura ace-d condors for $3k and a bit :0

i should've taken the camera, there was hott bikes everywhere - had a good look at one of those specialized TT bikes, some of the nice local brands like baum and teschner, good selection of bianchis, etc etc. also: sram make good muffins!

At least it wasn't a flour bomb.

Up early today and joined a couple of clubmates for a 60-mile ride - home by midday. It's getting a bit cold out there - might even be time for proper gloves and overshoes.