# And I call myself a cyclist!



## ColinJ (16 Feb 2011)

Flipping heck! I knew that I'd been neglecting my cycling over the past 4 years but I've just checked 2 years worth of my blog and am shocked at what I discovered ...

I used to average about 4 rides a week on the road bike and MTB, except for December and January when it might drop to about 2 rides a week. Let's call it (42 x 4) + (10 x 2) = 188 rides a year; about 1 ride every 2 days.

2009 stats: 43 road rides, 8 MTB rides = 51 rides total; about 1 ride a week. 

2010 stats: 22 road rides, 3 MTB rides = 25 rides total; less than 1 ride every 2 weeks!

2011 so far - 2 road rides!

Some of you cycle commuters are doing as much in 3 or 4 weeks as I did in the whole of last year. No wonder I've lost so much fitness and piled on the weight.

I think it's time to start taking the cycling more seriously again so I'll be organising a lot more forum rides this year!


----------



## dave r (16 Feb 2011)

I've gone in the opposite direction to you, I was doing 4-5000 miles a year, and over the last two or three years its gone up round the 5500 miles a year, mainly due to being further from work. Have you been to busy to cycle? Or just been lazy and not bothered?


----------



## 661-Pete (16 Feb 2011)

What do you count as a 'ride', Colin? I would have thought, totalling up distances, miles or Km, would give a more quantifiable measure. Have you got that data to hand?

Anyway, I suppose I out-score you on the basis of *number* of rides, if each 2-mile commute counts as a *ride*. But what of it? I feel quite pleased with myself, actually, this week so far (and it's only Wednesday) I've done three lunchtime rides from work - i.e. every day so far. It's been a good many months since I've been able to boast that (depression and all that sh!t taking its toll).

And one of the lunchtime spins was what I suppose I would call my 'hilly 10-miler'. Small beer to anyone domiciled in Hebden bridge, but hilly nonetheless! I managed it, dragging all of my 95Kg up the hills, though I was whacked.

I'm also seriously thinking that trying to lose weight is on - I was shirking back, with the feeling that it was going to be stressful and stress would lead to more d., and so on. But I think I can make something positive of it.

Perhaps we ought to work on this together, albeit at a distance and via the forum. We're more or less similar in age.


----------



## HLaB (16 Feb 2011)

I don't log individual rides but in 2009 it was 10,000 miles; last year just 5,000 and this year not even 50


----------



## potsy (16 Feb 2011)

ColinJ said:


> I think it's time to start taking the cycling more seriously again so *I'll be organising a lot more forum rides this year!*



Oh god, I'm only just recovering from the last one






Glad to hear you're about to 'get serious' again Colin, can't have these young upstarts like Bromptonfb taking all the glory





Have you got any figures for exactly how far you have ridden and not just number of rides? 
I know I did 3500+ last year (miles) and am hoping for more this year, so will be joining you in some more rides soon


----------



## ColinJ (17 Feb 2011)

dave r said:


> Have you been to busy to cycle? Or just been lazy and not bothered?


I _should_ have been too busy because I desperately need to earn more money but I can't use that as an excuse. I'm sat in front of my computer for hours a day not being very productive. I could easily spare a couple of hours to go out riding.

I'm very lacking in motivation. That's one reason why I organise so many forum rides round here. It's so much easier to make the effort when there are other people involved.

To be honest, there's depression too. I feel down a lot of the time. Lots of reasons for it, all perfectly good reasons, the kind of life stuff that most people cope with somehow; I think I just had too many stressful and depressing things happening one after another over a long period of time - _bam, bam, bam! _

I'm not lazy. When I do get out on the bike it is very hard for me being the size I am and living where I do, but I'm happy to put the effort in.



661-Pete said:


> What do you count as a 'ride', Colin? I would have thought, totalling up distances, miles or Km, would give a more quantifiable measure. Have you got that data to hand?


I could work out the total distance, but to be honest there is no way that the average distance would be more than 40 miles, so even if we said that, it would only be about 1,000 miles for the year, probably a bit less. That's probably my worst year since 1991!

It's a bit hard quantifying rides though isn't it? 25 miles with no hills done in 5 hours is ridiculously easy. A hilly 25 mile ride done in an hour would be ridiculously hard.

Mind you, when I ride by myself, I nearly always go at what for me is a hard steady pace. I wouldn't be able to utter complete sentences without drawing breath, but I wouldn't be gasping between words, That kind of effort.

Non-forum rides would typically be hilly and 2-3 hours. Sometimes as short as 90 minutes, occasionally 6 or 7 hours. The forum rides tend to be hilly 50 milers.



661-Pete said:


> Anyway, I suppose I out-score you on the basis of *number* of rides, if each 2-mile commute counts as a *ride*. But what of it? I feel quite pleased with myself, actually, this week so far (and it's only Wednesday) I've done three lunchtime rides from work - i.e. every day so far. It's been a good many months since I've been able to boast that (depression and all that sh!t taking its toll).


Ah, depression ... It's a bugger, isn't it! The stupid thing is that riding my bikes is one of the few things that makes me feel good, but feeling bad makes it hard to get out on the damn things in the first place! It's extremely rare that I turn round on a ride and come home prematurely. If I make the effort to go out, I do the ride. It's overcoming the inertia that is the problem.



661-Pete said:


> And one of the lunchtime spins was what I suppose I would call my 'hilly 10-miler'. Small beer to anyone domiciled in Hebden bridge, but hilly nonetheless! I managed it, dragging all of my 95Kg up the hills, though I was whacked.


I think one of my problems is that I tell myself that it isn't worth going out unless I'm going to do 20+ hilly miles and when I'm struggling to make the effort, that puts me off. I actually think that hilly 10 mile rides are great, and can be very beneficial. In fact, I was toying with starting to do one of my own. The Keighley Road climb from Hebden Bridge is about 4.5 miles in length and ascending about 1,100 ft. I could do a warm-up on my gym bike and then ride up the climb as fast as I could, then turn round at the top and enjoy a rapid descent. I could pretty much squeeze that into an hour. 



661-Pete said:


> I'm also seriously thinking that trying to lose weight is on - I was shirking back, with the feeling that it was going to be stressful and stress would lead to more d., and so on. But I think I can make something positive of it.
> 
> Perhaps we ought to work on this together, albeit at a distance and via the forum. We're more or less similar in age.


Go for it! I remember there being a weigh loss thread somewhere. I don't know if it is still running. I'll have a look in the morning.

I have tackled my weight a few times before. From experience, I know that for me, lots of beer, but no cycling = gain weight. Lots of beer and lots of cycling = slow weight loss. Some beer and lots of cycling = loss of about 1.0-1.5 pounds a week. Little or no beer + lots of cycling = 2.0+ pounds a week loss.

I usually give the beer up altogether and make rapid progress, but eventually I miss it and crack. I think this time I'll give myself a generous allowance of 10 beers a week and stick to it, though preferably not drinking the full allowance most weeks. 

Heck - guess what? I have beer in the fridge and am about to go downstairs and drink it! 

Okay, I'll turn over a new leaf starting on Monday. I have things to sort out before then so I know that I'm not going to make big changes in the next couple of days.

I'll try and do 3 or 4 rides a week outdoors, the easiest of which would be be a warm-up plus my 4.5 mile climb and descent. If the weather is crap and I don't want to go out, I can substitute a hard 1 hour ride on my gym bike.

I will do some walking on the other days. The shortest walk I normally do is straight up a steep hill to the village of Heptonstall, a 500 ft ascent. I start with a road that is at least 20% gradient and it hardly falls much below about 12% all the way up.



HLaB said:


> I don't log individual rides but in 2009 it was 10,000 miles; last year just 5,000 and this year not even 50


10,000 was great. 5,000 is probably more like what I used to do. 50 - er, even I have done 89 miles this year - get stuck in!

I think potsy has a target of averaging 10 miles a day. That isn't a bad target to start with, since I definitely haven't managed that since 2007. That means I'm about 370 miles down for the year to date!

(Blimey - talk of the devil - he's only gone and posted about it while I was typing this little lot out! Yes Dave. there's more to come ... )


----------



## 661-Pete (17 Feb 2011)

I've totted up about 230 miles so far this year, but it's been bits and bobs, mostly flat. Sussex is actually a very 'friendly' county so far as planning rides of about the right 'mix' goes - just about any circuit you do will have the 'average' proportion of flat and moderate hilly. Of course if someone perversely plans a ride just so as to go three times up and down Kidd's Hill on the trot, just for the bloody-mindededness of it .... 

But Hebden Bridge! I recall the crazy stuff that I used to do as a student! Typical might have been: Bradford-Skipton-Clitheroe-Burnley-Todmorden-*Hebden_Bridge*-Haworth-Bradford. I'm pretty sure I did exactly that circuit on at least one occasion: I can definitely recall touching in at Burnley (or maybe it was Blackburn) at least once. And I'm sure you know all those places - and all their hills  - like the back of your hand!

Good luck with working on it, anyway!


----------



## numbnuts (17 Feb 2011)

2005 - 4487
2006 - 4800
2007 - 4487
2008 - 3285
2009 - 3067
2010 - 1762
2011 – 167
Total 22,055
getting less and less as I get older and older


----------



## tyred (17 Feb 2011)

I did just short of 3,000 miles last year and had really intended to up the mileage this year. I've done about 300 so far, and now I have a chest infection so can't at the moment


----------



## 661-Pete (17 Feb 2011)

Numbnuts,
You have said in other threads, that you have a disability.
Your are managing pretty impressive stuff, notwithstanding!
I take my hat off to you, sir!
The 'getting less and less' does not look, to me, like a tailing off to zero miles. Keep it at the level you think is suitable for you, just so long as it isn't 'zero miles' you can be pleased with that!


----------



## numbnuts (17 Feb 2011)

661-Pete said:


> Numbnuts,
> You have said in other threads, that you have a disability.
> Your are managing pretty impressive stuff, notwithstanding!
> I take my hat off to you, sir!
> The 'getting less and less' does not look, to me, like a tailing off to zero miles. Keep it at the level you think is suitable for you, just so long as it isn't 'zero miles' you can be pleased with that!


What is knocking the miles down is my emphysema, I get so out of breath these days and my rides are taking much longer than they use to, but my doctor tell me to keep going as it will strengthen my lungs more and may give me a slightly better life later on, and also my incontinence_ (due to spinal damage)_ is not good either having to sit in a damp/wet nappy is not good, but this is my life so I have to make the best of it


----------



## tyred (17 Feb 2011)

Numbnuts, you are an inspiration to us all.


----------



## potsy (17 Feb 2011)

ColinJ said:


> (Blimey - talk of the devil - he's only gone and posted about it while I was typing this little lot out! Yes Dave. there's more to come ... )



Any flat ones planned?




On the plus side I have lost 2 or 3 lbs since our last Waddington ride, another 2 or 3 before the next one and I might have a chance


----------



## HLaB (17 Feb 2011)

numbnuts said:


> What is knocking the miles down is my emphysema, I get so out of breath these days and my rides are taking much longer than they use to, but my doctor tell me to keep going as it will strengthen my lungs more and may give me a slightly better life later on, and also my incontinence_ (due to spinal damage)_ is not good either having to sit in a damp/wet nappy is not good, but this is my life so I have to make the best of it



I take my hat of to you sir (well I would but I don't wear one); I've got little or no excuse  for my paltry miles. I'm supposed to be working on my dissertation but with the amount of time I've wasted on the net I could have easily fitted a few rides in.


----------



## ColinJ (17 Feb 2011)

tyred said:


> Numbnuts, you are an inspiration to us all.


I second that! Actually, I third it because HLab beat me to it.



potsy said:


> Any flat ones planned?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


We are still aiming to do the Waddington ride again on Sunday 27th aren't we? (Subject to acceptable weather conditions.)

I would like to arrange an imperial century ride in Cheshire in the spring. Kevin (tubbycyclist) has offered me a lift if we decide to start a ride from somewhere other than Hebden Bridge but I don't know how Shaun (bromptonfb) would get there. 

I've done the Manchester 100 lots of times and like about 75 miles of that route, but I wouldn't start our ride from Wythenshawe Park. It's okay riding out in the morning before the traffic picks up, but the last 20 miles or so are too busy coming back in the afternoon. I'm sure that I could reroute it to start and finish at a Cheshire village.


----------



## numbnuts (17 Feb 2011)

tyred said:


> Numbnuts, you are an inspiration to us all.


I don't look at it as an "inspiration", I thank you all for it, but I could lay down roll over and die, but we are not made like that we all have a survival instincts and the will to carry on no matter how bad we feel, 
where there is hope, there is a life


----------



## Banjo (17 Feb 2011)

Your doing more miles than a lot of fit youngsters do. 

Theres a guy in the touring club Im in who has a similar problem, was an incredibly fit man until recently but now struggles on hills. He is buying an electric front wheel kit for a hybrid bike. It doesnt do all the work. you still have to pedal so he will still be getting exercise but wont be holding the group up or over stressing himself on hills. 

If your interested I will ask him for more details on it.


----------



## dave r (17 Feb 2011)

ColinJ said:


> Ah, depression ... It's a bugger, isn't it! The stupid thing is that* riding my bikes is one of the few things that makes me feel good, but feeling bad makes it hard to get out on the damn things in the first place!* It's extremely rare that I turn round on a ride and come home prematurely. If I make the effort to go out, I do the ride. It's overcoming the inertia that is the problem.



Yes I sometimes have problems with that one, usually about this time of year, Its a sod because if I've not gone out as originally intended it ends up making me feel worse.


----------



## 661-Pete (18 Feb 2011)

I probably ought to confine my mentions of the D-word to the "Health" section of the forum, despite it threatening to 'take over' at the moment. Not something one should wear on one's sleeve. At least I've managed to book myself some psycho*...

You've got to really convince yourself that a spin on the bike is going to be a _do-you-lots-of-good-make-you-feel-lots-better_ sort of feeling. Otherwise it won't work. My rides are very short, but even after ten miles I've come back feeling a damn sight worse because I didn't set off with that _feel good _buzz. But not always. This afternoon I put in 22 miles and _felt a bit better _mentally - though physically cold and with a nasty cramp in one foot. But I can handle the physical bits and pieces.

Numbnuts, if, say, you can manage a 10mph average over a ride of some 20-30 miles, why not PM me we could meet up somewhere? Southampton and Mid-Sussex aren't opposite ends of the Earth.


*-_therapy_, that is, not -_pathy_...


----------



## Garz (19 Feb 2011)

The positive side to cheer you up whilst cycling is after slogging up the steep inclines there's nothing better than cruising along some sweet scenery and descending down blowing the cobwebs at speed. I often find once I'm on the bike and out of the house the hardest part has been done as there's nothing worse than putting off rides for poor excuses which we can all be guilty of.


----------



## ColinJ (19 Feb 2011)

I've got a good excuse today!

I was supposed to be riding the mini North West Passage but the weather forecast was for sleet and snow on high ground and that put me off. Forget high ground - it is snowing here at 100 m altitude!

It is supposed to blow over later but I won't trust the high roads. I'll probably go for a walk instead.


***********************


I've decided that potsy's target of averaging 10 miles a day is a good one for me. It's a big step up from the last couple of years but I used to average 4k-5k miles a year so it is doable.

They will be road miles. I won't count any gym bike 'miles' or MTB miles - they will be extras, as will be my hilly walks.

So, I need to get stuck in. It will take some time before I can catch up on the miles I've missed so far in 2011, and I'll need to build up a surplus by November to allow for the inevitable winter hiatus (I'm never going to do much cycling on slushy, icy roads).


----------



## HLaB (19 Feb 2011)

I had decided to get myself out on a club run too. It wasn't good when I woke up Heavy Rain with sleet, it then turned to Snow. My mate called off so I decided to meet him at the Bikestation (a bike charity) instead; he was looking at getting a cheap commuter. So my cycling was restricted to 12.9miles but that's mammoth in respect of my latest totals 

Enjoy your walk Colinj.


----------



## ColinJ (19 Feb 2011)

HLaB said:


> I had decided to get myself out on a club run too. It wasn't good when I woke up Heavy Rain with sleet, it then turned to Snow. My mate called off so I decided to meet him at the Bikestation (a bike charity) instead; he was looking at getting a cheap commuter. So my cycling was restricted to 12.9miles but that's mammoth in respect of my latest totals
> 
> Enjoy your walk Colinj.


It all counts - that's 12.9 miles more than me!

As for the walk - it looks like it is just going to be to the shops and back! I got totally distracted and now it is cold, dark and wet. Oh well ...


----------



## potsy (19 Feb 2011)

Better get cracking Colin, Mycyclinglog tells me I should have done 498 miles by today to be on track with the target.
As I have actually done 567 I can have a few days rest now






Why don't you sign up as an added incentive?


----------



## ColinJ (19 Feb 2011)

potsy said:


> Better get cracking Colin, Mycyclinglog tells me I should have done 498 miles by today to be on track with the target.
> As I have actually done 567 I can have a few days rest now
> 
> 
> ...


I've just done it and requested to be let in to the CC group!

PS - I'm in! (That was quick.)


----------



## potsy (19 Feb 2011)

ColinJ said:


> I've just done it and requested to be let in to the CC group!
> 
> PS - I'm in! (That was quick.)



And I was going to say that Helen won't know who you are due to your lack of riding




Get adding all those hilly miles you've done so far, then look at how many Shaun has done


----------



## Norry1 (19 Feb 2011)

and MTB miles count


----------



## ColinJ (19 Feb 2011)

Norry1 said:


> and MTB miles count


I'll probably set myself a separate MTB goal, maybe to average 1 MTB ride a week. I haven't done that much MTB riding for at least 4 or 5 years. Nearly all of my local MTB routes are pretty tough. The shortest one I do takes me at least 90 minutes. Others could be a lot more than that.


----------



## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (19 Feb 2011)

potsy said:


> Get adding all those hilly miles you've done so far, then look at how many Shaun has done



gutted tho about today, the nwp would have got me back into the top 10.


----------



## potsy (19 Feb 2011)

bromptonfb said:


> gutted tho about today, the nwp would have got me back into the top 10.



Slacker



Still 12th, I am 30th



Colin has yet to log a ride, and I know he has been out at least twice this year


----------



## ColinJ (20 Feb 2011)

potsy said:


> Slacker
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have been out on the bike exactly twice this year, both times with you and Shaun!

I've logged the rides now. 

Hey, I'm not last!


----------

