Show us your.......newbie progress! [4 Sep 2012 - 4 Oct 2014]

[Nigelnaturist]

Everybody has different circumstances which can greatly effect mileage.

If you like to watch your mileage, join mycyclinglog (it's free) plus get the mycyclinglog graphic into your sig, is very motivational watching your mileage going up, thinking another "x" miles and I have hit "y" really gets you doing more.

So true, but every mile is an improvement, so well done to everyone thats put the mileage in. Times get better and in the same time you go further.
Forgot about that today.
again i am not fast compared to some of you younger guys, but i am still improving, plus i think I still carry more on the bike than anyone , however there is a guy around here thats just gone and scalped most of my KOM around here, so I think it's time to strip the rack and mudguards off for a trip.

Todays ride i was really pleased with, as i say not as fast as some of you, but still an achievement for me 31.3 miles @ 14.17mph, 2nd day in a row over 14mph, however this one had an extra 20ft per mile climbing, which i now prefer to the flat, and on some of the climbs I could really feel the benefits of recent rides. 9 p.b.'s which came in the later half 18 miles +
Campsall Sprint 8's improvement 13.5mph to 14.6mph
Quarry Ln to Bank Wood Rd 41's improvement 16.1 to 17.9mph.
Fishpond to Dovecote Park 34's 12.2 to 13.8mph
Darrington A1 to Marlpit Ln Lights. not a major improvement but when I started in June I could hardly do this at 10mph today was 14.1mph.

The Coach House To Swanhill again not major but a tough little climb after you've done some miles, I am pleased with because it was toward the end of the ride.
finally if i havent bored you
Cobbles Ln Up 7's quicker 0.8 mph improvement, but what's interesting is I wasn't really trying as I was a little tired.
So 3,000 miles on strava, first extreme suffer score, which is surprising since it wasn't that far.

 

[Kins]

i put an advert on my local gumtree for a cycling partner and tdy(being a good day ,thought it was a great day to go out on bikes)before this we hadnt met each other so i didnt even have a clue if he/she was male /female ,a few emails and i set out ,
now this person had said to me they had limited exp and werent very confident on road ,,so i wanted to go to decathlon for a new jacket and i sorted out a fairly quiet route in my head ,i cycled down to meet them (opp direction from where we were heading )
met up (girl ,early 30s ,a bit heavy ,on a singlespeed )i was on my road bike ,the girl informed that she came from islay ,had never drove and was scared by traffic ,great start!
so we set off (top speed 7mph )and about a mile up the road i could see she was struggling so i suggested we stopped for a breather .this was repeated 4 times in three miles until she admitted defeat and phoned a friend to come get her (who wasnt in -more on that later) (apart from the speed she was really close to the kerb and parked cars ,very apprehensive around any sort of moving traffic and even got off her bike in the middle of a junction and walked across causing more hassle than she needed to (her defence was she was too stressed out -bearing in mind i was behind her and no need for panic at all)
so we were halfway to decathlon and i was thinking her plan was a good choice as i didnt want her to get out there and not able to cycle home .so ,phoned a friend ,no answer and i said id cycle back with her and make sure she got home ok
the route back was much the same(stopping ,speed ,junction walk offs ),anyway got her back to a wee cafe next to her house no drama (well ,you know ,no offs or anything )
she was well impressed when i told her we done six mile (her biggest cycle was prev to the shops and back(less than a mile along the canal path )
dont think iv ever been at that stage but if i was iv came on leaps and bounds !i mean im no pro and im rubbish but compared to her ,,,,anyway iv been in confusion as some posts in here are by people whos stats are a bit much for a beginner ,what struck me tdy was how relative beginner actually is ,!
canal path from now on !

I think if I started back riding on a single speed I would have given up riding by now! Fair play to her getting a cycling buddy. Does sound like she needs it but hopefully a few more rides like today and she'll be confident enough to do similar distances by herself.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

,what struck me tdy was how relative beginner actually is ,!
canal path from now on !

Great tale Jim, considering circumstances, but take this from it, is that she was chuffed having done so much, it's all it takes to get people motivated sometimes.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

hey guys ! just totted up on map my ride , And i know its p**s poor compared to some of you lot but iv'e done over 80 miles since the 2nd week of January lol

Considering the weather, some people haven't done that. So well done.

 

[jim55]

Great tale Jim, considering circumstances, but take this from it, is that she was chuffed having done so much, it's all it takes to get people motivated sometimes.

yeah i was trying to encourage her all the way (weve all been there ,your doing well,blah,blah,blah )i hope she doesnt give up but i said to her (in the nicest way )that her bike skills need a bit of practice and we need to get her fitness level up ,i mean on the flat we were doing 7mph and she was struggling ,any gradient at all(even<1%)and she had to stop ,but it can only get better

 

[Creakyknee]

Managed my first 100km today, at the moment I'm feeling like I'll never do another : ) or walk again.
And if anyone mentions rule 5 I won't be responsible for my actions, assuming I can get off the sofa.
http://app.strava.com/activities/41256649

 

[RWright]

I've got Friday off (but will be at work Saturday)... it's a possibility my heads up for doing it, my body is still thinking it over. If I'm up early on Friday I will likely go for it, though would do it with 3 or 4 stops at friends for coffee... would make a great day off! 100km's was a challenge back in December and I rode that, not realising at the time that my Bottom Bracket had completely blown it's bearings... the worse of that ride was sore feet, which I put down to the BB and partly bad cleat position.

I just mapped out two of my regular routes, extended a little, and got a 37 mile route. I want to try to keep it not so far from home because I will be doing it by myself and without back up, at least I will plan it that way because I don't know who will be around or out of town or whatever, should I need to call someone if something major breaks. I may try to do a metric century and if I think I can finish the imperial then go for it.

I can stop at home after lap 1 or 2 and refuel the engine that way too if I need to. I can also stop and say maybe some other day. A lot depends on the weather that day, and if I can get my bike dialed in enough between now and then. There is a good chance I will only get 50 miles or a metric century in that day but it might be fun to do, even if I fail the power trip.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

yeah i was trying to encourage her all the way (weve all been there ,your doing well,blah,blah,blah )i hope she doesnt give up but i said to her (in the nicest way )that her bike skills need a bit of practice and we need to get her fitness level up ,i mean on the flat we were doing 7mph and she was struggling ,any gradient at all(even<1%)and she had to stop ,but it can only get better

So true, I dont think i was ever that bad, though our lass might be, but i dont think thats ever going to happen. but if she had done what i have she could have lost upto about 4st

 

[RWright]

Managed my first 100km today, at the moment I'm feeling like I'll never do another : ) or walk again.
And if anyone mentions rule 5 I won't be responsible for my actions, assuming I can get off the sofa.

Very nice
Someone said what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Would be nice to have whoever said that around sometimes and give them some extra strength.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Looking back at my first post on CycleChat where I said I was tired out after cycling two miles seems mad. Yesterday I cycled 50+ miles and ENJOYED IT

 

[simmi]

I just mapped out two of my regular routes, extended a little, and got a 37 mile route. I want to try to keep it not so far from home because I will be doing it by myself and without back up, at least I will plan it that way because I don't know who will be around or out of town or whatever, should I need to call someone if something major breaks. I may try to do a metric century and if I think I can finish the imperial then go for it.

I can stop at home after lap 1 or 2 and refuel the engine that way too if I need to. I can also stop and say maybe some other day. A lot depends on the weather that day, and if I can get my bike dialed in enough between now and then. There is a good chance I will only get 50 miles or a metric century in that day but it might be fun to do, even if I fail the power trip.

You've got the miles in this year so should have them in your legs if you take it steady and perhaps have one or two breaks you'll be fine!
Thats what I'm telling myself anyway!

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Managed my first 100km today, at the moment I'm feeling like I'll never do another : ) or walk again.
And if anyone mentions rule 5 I won't be responsible for my actions, assuming I can get off the sofa.
http://app.strava.com/activities/41256649

Good speed as well, well done.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Just weighed my bag and kit 3.2Kg plus weight of the rack and mud guards might total 10lbs. So I am going to strip it and have a crack at those times KOM's I lost.

 

[bainy16]

Weather today was great, had to take it steady on a few decents because of icy patches but otherwise near perfect.
63 miles in 4:14:30ish @ about 14.9mph
http://app.strava.com/activities/41245168

My garmin gave me a time of 10:30 for a mile I was doing at least 15mph for so not sure why that happened.
Nice club ride a few good hills to start (need to loose some more weight)
Followed by a flat 2nd half.
Main incident was a newbie cutting straight out at 90 degrees in front of me, I had nowhere to go so pilled straight into him was OK though as I landed on him so no harm done.
Also in attendance was fellow CC member bainy16 which was nice to meet face to face after talking on here for a month or so.
It is starting to get a bit easier this is my third 100k and the first where I could have gone on.

Hi simmi yes was nice to meet toady really enjoyed todays ride few little hills at the start was good too looking forward to next week all ready,nice to see few new faces as well, shaping up to be a nice little club hopefully i can get fit enough for the snake pass ride later this year, will you be doing that one?

 

[simmi]

Hi simmi yes was nice to meet toady really enjoyed todays ride few little hills at the start was good too looking forward to next week all ready,nice to see few new faces as well, shaping up to be a nice little club hopefully i can get fit enough for the snake pass ride later this year, will you be doing that one?

You seemed plenty fit enough to me mate, with me I don't think it's a question of fitness can keep up with most on the flat, it's my weight, think I will have to shed a stone or so before our Snake Pass ride.
Good little club forming there, just need to watch out for the 2 old boys in the hi viz gear they were lethal, will try to keep away from them until their group riding improves.