Longest ride to date!

[caimg]

I'm sitting on my sofa, legs and bum numb after my longest ride. At 23 miles it pales in comparison to pretty much everyone else here, but as someone that usually does short rides around North London this was a new experience and awesome fun!

Did a loop from Gospel Oak in NW London down to Putney, through Chelsea and central London and back home again. Some great climbs and slopes, hit a highest speed of 50km/h and only had 2 or 3 close calls during the ride (including a courier motorcyclist who dipped inside my left hand turn, b*stard).

Great fun though, when my legs have recovered I'll try to do something longer. I had no water or snacks with me so my energy was on the floor by the end...

 

[caimg]

Oh but must add...stunned to see the high amount of cyclists on the road that ignored red lights (as they'd decided it was safe to do so) and were without a helmet. The helmet thing is IMO just plain stupid and the red lights thing is what then puts my life at risk that little bit more as, rightly so, it pisses off the people in the big fast things that can kill you in an instant. It'd be nice to see a few more cyclists act responsibly enough to adhere to the same rules drivers adhere to.

 

[HLaB]

Well done Caimg

 

[CopperCyclist]

nice one, I remember my first 25 miles and the milestone I felt I'd acheived. You really should take water with you on a ride of that length though, even though you am think and feel as though you can do it without, it's not good for you as you'll almost certainly have dehydrated yourself!

 

[caimg]

Thanks guys...may well head north next time - is it easy enough to explore further without hitting dual carriage ways and such?

 

[MattHB]

Well done! 23 miles probably separates you from a lot more cyclists than you think . Great stuff

 

[WorcesteRob]

Well done! I'm just starting to increase my distances (on MTB) at the moment and anything over 20 miles is good going, won't be long before you do a 30 then working towards a half century.

 

[caimg]

Yeah 30 I guess is my next target...on a MTB that's pretty awesome! I'm on a hybrid and it was tiring enough!

 

[gettingintoit]

longest ive hit on a mtb is 17 miles but i havnt ever tried to go further ... i know alot of fit people who cant do 23 miles on a cycle so 23 miles is a big distance

 

[WorcesteRob]

longest ive hit on a mtb is 17 miles but i havnt ever tried to go further ... i know alot of fit people who cant do 23 miles on a cycle so 23 miles is a big distance

I don't have the funds at the moment to get a road bike so the mtb was upgraded with some marathon extreme tyres and all my training at the moment is on that. When the weather improves and I have some spare cash a roadie will be purchased.

 

[MickeyBlueEyes]

Well done Caimg, nice one. With spring just around the corner you will soon be onto 30, 40 then your half century. Keep it up!

 

[Grizzly]

Don't compare yourself to others, I'll never be Mark Cavendish but it does not mean my achievements are any less important to me. Your doing great, 23 miles is a big task if you've never done it before so give yourself a big pat on the back. I remember an ultra runner being interviewed after winning a race, he said that everyone should respect the efforts of those that were still running, for those that would not finish the race until tomorrow, he said he could never run for that length of time. Respect to all those that keep on trying.

 

[Part time cyclist]

Well done mate good distance

 

[bucksgill]

You should be proud, no reason not to be. One of the best pieces of advice I have seen on these forums was to finish a ride wanting more; that way you will go out again and again and you'll see your distances go up and up and up well done and keep it up.

 

[Badgeroo]

Nice one, I'm planning a 22 miler tomorrow, only had the bike a week, and put ten tentative miles on it last weekend... Looking forward to it.

Longest ride before was 18 miles on a MTB, mostly of forest roads.