Be Excellent To Each Other

Well done!
How was the ride back?

Be easy on yourself; I thought you were looking reasonably trim.

Ha! Postponed till Friday, that! I'm not so brave as to do it twice in a day, or at least not yet. Legs will get a shorter test by covering the 16miles or so to Surbiton tonight and back again tomorrow, and that should be alright. Wore my compression tights all day yesterday, so my legs feel basically okay.

How far is that?

We should take this act to the Fringe.

Or, at least, Radio4, we're 15 times funnier than the Now Show.

One slight detour, so I might knock a mile or two off, but the GPS tells me - 99.65km (61.9miles). Just under 5 hours, but I went slow to start (before hitting 25mph on the Dorking road near the end - got a bit excited with all the traffic) and had to routefind a bit, so can take at least half an hour off that next time, I hope.

Well done JBR!

Jesus, that's a fair distance. Well done, chap!

Thanks, chap! Back to the mountain bikes. Did you ever get a team together for that relay race thingy you wanted to do?

62 miles, bloody hell that's impressive.

Mine is 21 each way. It's pretty hellish doing both ways in one day on the racer, not least because the wind changes during the day so it's against you both ways
So I cheat and use the electric bike.

Can't blame you - my 16 mile old commute was just about right, and I was happy doing that 3 or 4 times a week. I've a friend in Epsom, and it's 20 or so from there and that's been just a bit too far - the last ten or twenty minutes are always a bit of a shag! And that's inner city so generally wind free, other than along the embankment. But with the option of letting the electric take the strain? Mmmmmm.

I still haven't managed to rack up anything near my max of 38 miles again yet. I think I'd be okay on a road bike, but the constant stop-start of the country trail I was on killed me. Bloody four-abreast walkers and dogs constantly trying to sniff your spokes!

Plus even rolling downhill needs a bit of concentration, so as not to hit anything that jars or knocks you off. On a road bike, get up some speed and then even a gentle downhill can be a 15mph roll for a mile or more, so you get more recovery time.

A guy at work has been doing a similar distance every day for the last 3 months because he lost his license. (20 miles each way that is, not 60!)
He spent top dollar on the bike (a big hybrid, with panasonic drive) and although the legal assist is pretty wimpy he's got his time down from 90 to 60 minutes each way.

It's the road condition I can't stand with a racer. My electric is a mountain bike which feels a lot safer. Next one will be full sus to be even better

I'm about to set off on a 50 mile ride so am annoyed at being "bested" before I even set off.

If anyone is driving in the New Forest today, specifically around Beaulieu, look kindly on any cyclists with red helmets. Thank you.

Hint taken

I actually have a large box now, but may remove the rear swing arm to fit it in — it'll be trivially easy to re-assemble it and I'll send you a picture of the rear shock mechanism which is also pretty straightforward to machine I would think — it's just three bits of aluminium.

No, I might go it alone, and then complain bitterly for a year about how fucking awful it was that I did it by myself.

2 hours and 22 miles in. Wish the bloody sun would come out for a bit.

Just back. Had to take a slight detour at the end to do an extra mile, but I indeed did hit the 50 mile mark!

Cycled for 4 hours 41 mins (although I was out longer than that as I stopped, had to run an errand and took a 20 minute sales call).

Distance from the GPS is 50.15 miles and calories burned 2994.

Not the longest ride I've been on in terms of time, but the furthest distance. Glad to say it never really became a slog either although the blasted sun never came out.

Good work!

Excellent riding. Hope you've since concentrated on getting those calories back in. In many ways that's the best bit.

That's not the intention!

Have done 93 miles since Sunday so will easily go over 100 miles this week.

Hmm, well, no - but some of those calories. Otherwise you'll fall over.

Pfft, I fucking drove further than that last week.

Went out. Did 14 miles in the rain. So that takes me to 108 miles for the week.



If I get the chance I want to try and cycle to the sea before the end of the month. Think it can be done.

I've just spent, gulp, £120 on a cycling jacket. It had better be good.

I currently carry a waterproof thing that cost about 15 quid. Packs away nicely but after 40 minutes of solid rain it starts to let the water in. It also makes me sweat like a pig. And people also point and laugh because it looks like I am cycling in a tent.

This new jacket should last a lot longer under bad conditions, is just as light but is far nicer to wear.

The shop also tried to sell me a cycling shirt to go underneath, but I went to the local sports discount shop that has had 5 year long closing down sale and got a similar one for 6 quid.

I know I could have got the jacket cheaper online but for that kind of money you want to be trying the kit on before you buy. For example we established with the jacket I wanted I really needed a large rather than a medium as if I wear layers underneath in winter (remember I go out in -5c and the windchill can be -15c) it wouldn't be big enough.

When I have recovered from the amount spent today I might get MaliA's pedal system. + I need some waterproof trousers (mine have the same problem as my old jacket).

SPD's are awesome. Do it.

I dunno about modern fabrics, but if it rains, I don't go out. Simples.

My new bike frame has arrived! It's at the depot! I may get it this evening!

I have a couple of spare brand new sets of spds if anyone wants them.

@chinny decent cycling jackets are good, you'll still sweat though, so it's worth getting some running shirts or something similar from Sports Direct as they're waaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than the fucking ripoff cycling shops and good at wicking the moisture away from the body. Sizes are a weird thing in cycling gear depending on where the clothes are manufactured, that's why I always try something on and rarely buy clothes online.

Make sure you get some of the waterproof spray that the cycling jacket manufacturer recommends - I think you machine wash the jacket, then spray it with the spray and then tumble dry it. Otherwise even the most expensive Freestyle jackets lose their waterproofing.

Cleats, or pedals?

Way ahead of you there. The cycle shop tried to sell me one for 30 quid but I got one in the discount sports shop for 6.

They're both. They're platform pedals (small ones) around the cleats. They're Shimano I think, or at least one of the sets is. I actually have a metric fuck ton of spare bits and pieces kicking about in my shed, from cranks, arms, stems, pedals, handlebars, shifters and derailleurs.

I think the pedals are these...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=7808

I read that, but I was posting that for other people as well.

Do get some waterproofing spray though, as a couple of washes will diminish the coating on your new jacket quite considerably.

I have been looking online but can't see one from the company who make the jacket (Pearl Izumi).

The man in the shop said to refrain from washing the jacket unless absolutely necessary,

I've got some of them, or a similar model.

They're great with SPD shoes, but I find them to be completely useless with normal trainers on. That may be due to having fairly flat, unsuitable trainers and not ones with decent grip, mind.

I suppose you could just wipe it down if it gets muddy. I'd be inclined to look at what the core materials of the jacket are and then do some searches for that.

Are ones I have.

Work fine with a pair of trainers, but only for going to the shops.

How much? I don't need them yet (suicidal on the DMR & BMX), but my pal has an old racer/roady sitting out for me & they might be useful for it.

So, I bought that XC1.6, and it arrived flat packed, so I popped it round to my local bike shop where they charged (a reasonable imo) £25 to put it together for me. I picked it up about an hour ago, and rode (first time on a bike in almost 4 hours) it home. (about 1 mile and up hill most of the way). When I got on it was just like riding a bike! And I found it easy going on the flat (but I did have the concern about wanting more gears to stop spin out), and was able to keep up with the traffic, but when I got to the bottom of the hill and had to climb it, I only managed about 3/4ers of the climb, and had to get off the rest. I was walking like John Wayne when pushing the bike, and now I've got Jelly Legs!

It's going to take some time to get those muscles used to cycling again...

Malc

I've done 3 rides in the rain in my new jacket this week. It's really good. My arms (which were bare skin against the jacket) got a little sweaty towards the end, but other than that is was fine. Fully waterproof, keeps the wind out, really light and didn't catch the wind in such a way that it made cycling slower.

860 Bananas. It would be far higher if it wasn't for the obscene price.

I used to use a waxed fisherman's smock when it looked rainy and cold. Had added bonus of when crashing onto hard Cornish rocks, it didn't rip.

Thing is that your skin won't be able to breath so you'll sweat like a pedlo in Mothercare, and if there's a wind then it can catch it and really slow you down. I speak from experience of having cycled in a pacamac for the last 2 years. Not only does it become sweaty and unpleasant very quickly, but it is uncomfortable to cycle in and in windy weather the way the mac fits seems to catch the wind and make life difficult. And the fitting itself isn't conducive to cycling.

Basically the difference today was I was able to go out in rainy and windy weather and cycle as normal. Even though it was a very warm and humid day, it really wasn't uncomfortable at all.

I just use some Sprayway coat I picked up a year or so ago for hiking etc. Keeps the rain out and doesn't make me sweat too much. I've rarely had reason to use it, but it's more than adequately done the job so far.

Trouble with hiking gear is that you'll flap about like a whore in a henhouse (subs please check). The biggest difference I've noticed is that there appears to be no extra wind resistance.

Nah, my coat is quite slim and doesn't flap about at all. I've no complaints.

However, it was about £80, so isn't a realistic alternative if all you're after is a cycling coat. Suits me fine and stops me buying a dedicated coat is all.

My retina-combusting Altura jacket is nicely wind and waterproof, and didn't cause excessive (extra) sweating.

It's just a shame I only had shorts and forgot my helmet, after it was so gorgeous this morning, and then proceeded to piss down all day. My rear mudguard needs better-aligning though; not sure how to reconcile that with the reflector, both of which are seat-pole mounted.

Ditch the reflector.