kingrollo
Guru
It doesn't have to be anything high tech - biscuits , bananas, malt loaf - on longer rides drink every 20 mins and eat every hour is roughly what I try to do.
How much cycling progress did you make since you first started cycling?
- Thread starter Anonymous1502
- Start date
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It doesn't have to be anything high tech - biscuits , bananas, malt loaf - on longer rides drink every 20 mins and eat every hour is roughly what I try to do.
I never bothered with looong rides, the max distances (continuous) I got maybe for 10 times ever were 80 km and a single time 110. I do average 60 km daily, lately with little variation, with some interrupts (shop visits etc).
Bikes singlespeed later on fixed, now a travelbike weighting 18 kg bare and 28 kg due to a variety extensions, spare parts, tools, backpack/frame, bags, water, tying material, etc.
I consider a distance target a demotivating one. When I leave I always have some location targets related to goodies/hobbies/work. I visit those, buy or pick up what people dumped and I can use, then back home. When enough food avail, I can ride all day long, the times of feeling it in the legs are long gone. I'm also out of food sooner. Such an all day hopping around (usually in vacation periods) I do some hundreds km. The next morning is then just another. This year was a zero on that kinda days, due to the government-forced cancellations / closures of all of my interest targets. It's just so boring/useless to ride 'round all day without any goal.
On the way I eat the same as at home: bread and cheese and some bottles water. Everytime I start to feel tired or temp lose sight (black) when heading up, I eat one and some minutes later it's over.
Combination of sport and interests, is my driver. Mileage is aside result.
Bikes singlespeed later on fixed, now a travelbike weighting 18 kg bare and 28 kg due to a variety extensions, spare parts, tools, backpack/frame, bags, water, tying material, etc.
I consider a distance target a demotivating one. When I leave I always have some location targets related to goodies/hobbies/work. I visit those, buy or pick up what people dumped and I can use, then back home. When enough food avail, I can ride all day long, the times of feeling it in the legs are long gone. I'm also out of food sooner. Such an all day hopping around (usually in vacation periods) I do some hundreds km. The next morning is then just another. This year was a zero on that kinda days, due to the government-forced cancellations / closures of all of my interest targets. It's just so boring/useless to ride 'round all day without any goal.
On the way I eat the same as at home: bread and cheese and some bottles water. Everytime I start to feel tired or temp lose sight (black) when heading up, I eat one and some minutes later it's over.
Combination of sport and interests, is my driver. Mileage is aside result.
Hocus
New Member
I have never been into cycling, but Covid has changed things. My first trip out I went 20miles a week later 35miles. I want to do a 60 mile plus trip this weekend but know the second hand facebook bike I have can not do that. 35 miles almost killed me lol. Hoping to make this regular so I'll keep you posted and scouring through all your advice and guidance.
Colin Grigson
Bass guitarist - Bad News
- Location
- Slovakia
I did my first 100km ride today exactly 3 months after getting back in the saddle after a 38 year break. I remember struggling to complete 30km not so long ago so it’s worth sticking at it ... the more you ride the easier it becomes for sure. Time was 3 hours and 31 mins for anyone interested. A day or two rest is in order now - well goosed but well chuffed 
Anonymous1502
Well-Known Member
You are a very fast cyclist l, did the place you cycled in have good roads? Was it mostly flat road?I did my first 100km ride today exactly 3 months after getting back in the saddle after a 38 year break. I remember struggling to complete 30km not so long ago so it’s worth sticking at it ... the more you ride the easier it becomes for sure. Time was 3 hours and 31 mins for anyone interested. A day or two rest is in order now - well goosed but well chuffed
Colin Grigson
Bass guitarist - Bad News
- Location
- Slovakia
Yes, the road runs next to the Danube River so is pretty much entirely flat and in good condition - still practically killed me though
. The only issue there usually is the almost constant wind which can make things more challenging than they would be ordinarily.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
On a flat road with a tailwind an average over 20 mph for several hours is not unknown.
GoodLifeSpud
Über Member
Interesting read this.
Like many, I've returned to cycling due to Covid. I live in Horsham, West Susssex, and found a 10-mile loop that at most would result in a 45-minute walk home if the need arose. I started doing this on a single-speed I bought about 8 years back with the intention of cycling to the station every day (it never happened). This is mostly residential roads.
At the start of lockdown I was quite slow, 11-12 mph average but have now got that up to 15. There's plenty of slowing for traffic etc, so I don't think that too bad. Having got a taste I dug out a Raleigh restoration from my shed and have started to venture further out of town and have got up to 25 miles - typically on a Sunday. I did this by heading out into the country a bit more and then adding on some extra loops of the town a the end.
The limiting factor for me (aside from being on blood pressure medication for half my life, which I might be using as an excuse) is the A roads around me, and my lack of confidence in fixing punctures quickly (I can do it, it just takes me time and I have a problem with the dexterity in my hands). My aim was to up my mileage to 30 to 35 miles and see how comfortable, or otherwise, it is.
From cycling as a teenager, where I'd disappear up the South downs without so much as a spare inner-tube or phone, for four hours or so I've been dogged by the the "what ifs". I now carry some spare tubes and some basic tools, so I'm hoping to up the mileage bit by bit. I'd like to do the London to Brighton in a year or two when things return to some level of normality.
Like many, I've returned to cycling due to Covid. I live in Horsham, West Susssex, and found a 10-mile loop that at most would result in a 45-minute walk home if the need arose. I started doing this on a single-speed I bought about 8 years back with the intention of cycling to the station every day (it never happened). This is mostly residential roads.
At the start of lockdown I was quite slow, 11-12 mph average but have now got that up to 15. There's plenty of slowing for traffic etc, so I don't think that too bad. Having got a taste I dug out a Raleigh restoration from my shed and have started to venture further out of town and have got up to 25 miles - typically on a Sunday. I did this by heading out into the country a bit more and then adding on some extra loops of the town a the end.
The limiting factor for me (aside from being on blood pressure medication for half my life, which I might be using as an excuse) is the A roads around me, and my lack of confidence in fixing punctures quickly (I can do it, it just takes me time and I have a problem with the dexterity in my hands). My aim was to up my mileage to 30 to 35 miles and see how comfortable, or otherwise, it is.
From cycling as a teenager, where I'd disappear up the South downs without so much as a spare inner-tube or phone, for four hours or so I've been dogged by the the "what ifs". I now carry some spare tubes and some basic tools, so I'm hoping to up the mileage bit by bit. I'd like to do the London to Brighton in a year or two when things return to some level of normality.
- Location
- London
and then told me I was too slow for my own ride
Well...hope to see you in November for the Old Crocksand then told me I was too slow for my own ride
Rusty Nails
We remember
- Location
- Living in the slow lane
I cycled a lot through my teens and very early twenties then stopped for 40 years. I started again at the age of 63 and, despite what I would like to think, I know I was slower than I was when young.
I think I improved for 6/7 years after starting again, although I don't record rides or times, but I must admit that the graph has peaked and I'm on the downward slope (and even going slower downhill!).
I've had a couple of hospital visits, operations and extended periods off the bike as a result of falls and recovery has been harder after each one.
I think I improved for 6/7 years after starting again, although I don't record rides or times, but I must admit that the graph has peaked and I'm on the downward slope (and even going slower downhill!).
I've had a couple of hospital visits, operations and extended periods off the bike as a result of falls and recovery has been harder after each one.
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
I had one of those. Absolutely hateful to ride. I experienced the chain slipping too, and more worryingly a steering failure travelling at speed down a busy road, which nearly pitched me under a bus. I never trusted it again after that.
- Location
- London
please PM me with details.
If around I may lurk along bringing up the rear.