from zero to to hero

[reacher]

results of this experiment are as follows for any one thats interested , not ever haveing owned a bike before , i rode one a bit as a young lad to play around on , so i was able to pedal around ok with out falling off ,
took the bike out 2 days ago with toe clips for the first time , pretty average as i was all over the place with the gears , and the bike to be honest , finally worked it all out after about 45 mins , job done ,
changed to cleats this morning to tackle the course set by my mate ,
his time is 55 mins for the exact course i was doing , although he got the distance wrong , its less than he said according to my bike computer , if its accurate , and i think it is according to car distance ,
how ever its quite a ride , pretty undulateing and he was right its a good testing run , and very , very cold , the wind blows straight off the estuary all the way their and back , its a straight run their and back no traffic lights , circuit as you boys say ,
my time was 1 hour dead , exactly the same distance , average speed was 17 .5 mph for a 17.51 distance
i'm absolutely certain i could knock 5 minutes off this time on a warmer day ,
biggest problem was the sheer cold , my feet were completely numb and my hands were so cold i could'nt feel to shift the gears comeing back ,
body was ok as i was wearing a jacket , in fact i was so cold when i got off the bike i fell over my feet were so numb ,
i'm 52 so now i'm hooked on cycling i guess , never too late ,considering he is 42 and has been cycling this course for a good few years i thought it was a fair effort , what do you reckon ?

 

[Garz]

Not bad at all reacher, keep up the enthusiasm and I'm sure you will come on leaps and bounds!

Next up though would be aquiring some appropriate warmer winter clothing to begin with.

 

[Banjo]

Sounds a good result for a beginner. I have been riding about 2 years and couldnt do better than that. You obviously have the fitness for it , once the cycling muscles get built up a bit you will be flying.

 

[PaulSecteur]

Sorry for the slight thread hijack... but it s sort of relevent.

Wasnt there a program on a while back where an average Joe signed up to train with a cycle team (Army, navy or RAF) to do a trans America race?

I only Saw the last 10 mins, and as I was at someone elses house I didnt get to hear all of it. From what I remember the chap trained hard but wasnt deemed good enough to be in the race. The team finish 3rd or 4th with an average speed of 18mph. The chap that couldnt race was a bit grumpy as he was told he needed to do 25mph, and could nearly do 18mph.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Well done, just keep it up and your time should improve!

 

[reacher]

cheers guys , what i did'nt realise , an now i do , is what happens to your fingers and feet on a bike in freezing cold conditions , clearly my cycling gloves that i had for xmas from asda are not much use in the cold ,
and over shoes are a must , although in fairness my buddy did warn me that this would happpen , i just thought he meant they got a bit cold , not totally frozen ,

 

[reacher]

here we go then part two , after a pathetic effort on the road , i now can address all the weak points , again in the gym , my buddy has agreed that april may be a target date , give me chance to train ,
road fitness was a big issue as you all pointed out it would be , so this time i'm hopeing to get a ride in once a week or once every two weeks at worst , so i'v got a nice 6 mile hill to tear up and the plan is to reach a good average mph on this as a base line , then a couple of longer runs before the race , as i know he is a good climber and the race route will require some good legs as that was a definate weakness i slowed a lot on the hilly parts ,
but pretty much it will be 7 sessions in the gym to 1 on the road best case , worst 14 gym sesions to 1 on the road for the next 12 weeks , i'm confident that i will average 20 mph now i know what to expect ,
dont know if i will beat him though as he has improved some what since as well , but its a good target to aim for before i take to the road proper in the summer

 

[Garz]

Distance you aiming to ride in this 'race'?

 

[reacher]

the distance i did was 17 .51 miles but it will now have an extra climb at the end of 1 mile , and a bit longer at the turn a round , which will take it up to just under 20 miles , on the day i will have an exact reading .
pretty much i know what the target is against one person , i know his best time , i just need to train with that in mind ,
in reality i think he wil be hard to beat evan if i stay on him the final climb after the pace he will set , will be mighty tough , but i'm working on this aspect now i know what to expect , but what it will do is give him a training partner and me for the summer on a near enough leval footing , considering i could only sit on a spin bike for around 5 minutes before i started