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

[Nigelnaturist]

I see you and Rocky have knocked some mileage out of the Strava Challenge, I reckon you are easily going to do it. Ticker fixed as well.

I am not sure I can keep this pace up (family), that wind last night was as difficult as any I have ridden in recently, flat open fields, the miles I do are not quit as difficult as recent months, though the rides are comparably due to the incresed distances each day. though I try and split it into two rides morning and evening, but the O.H. had a right go at me last night, all I am concerned about is me and bike ect..., seems to forget all the stuff I have shifted and rewired thrown out ....

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Well, I am still a struggling newbie even although I am pushing myself as hard as I can. Squeezed out 40 miles this morning but my lower back was getting really tight and sore. Think 40 may be my limit for a while. I've never been blessed with a very strong back so I'll just have to see how it goes.

Pleased enough with the ride though. Wee bit slow but a reasonable amount of climbing so I suppose I should be happy.

Likewise Mo, and no-one say bike fit to me as I can't afford one. I did 100Km in Nov, and quite a few 40-60 mile rides, but not this year.

 

[Mo1959]

I am not sure I can keep this pace up (family), that wind last night was as difficult as any I have ridden in recently, flat open fields, the miles I do are not quit as difficult as recent months, though the rides are comparably due to the incresed distances each day. though I try and split it into two rides morning and evening, but the O.H. had a right go at me last night, all I am concerned about is me and bike ect..., seems to forget all the stuff I have shifted and rewired thrown out ....

I'm already struggling after cycling 9 days in a row. I could be in danger of doing myself more harm than good keeping going without restdays I think. I do quite a bit of walking with the dog so it's not as though I'm not getting any exercise if I don't go out. I am at least on my own so no one else to consider, unless you count the dog and cat!

 

[Snarf]

Just back from 16.16 miles in 1 hr 27 mins 19 secs, which is an average of 11.10 mph (I think). This is a couple of mph slower than I usually average and this is due to the tremendous head wind which I had to cycle into on the way back from Birmingham. It felt like I was pedalling at 15mph just to stay upright - I don't think I've ever felt a head wind that bad before, it has really taken it out of me. But its 2 miles more than I did on Sunday, so there is the positive and I also have a nice healthy glow from wind burn!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Well, I am still a struggling newbie even although I am pushing myself as hard as I can. Squeezed out 40 miles this morning but my lower back was getting really tight and sore. Think 40 may be my limit for a while. I've never been blessed with a very strong back so I'll just have to see how it goes.

Pleased enough with the ride though. Wee bit slow but a reasonable amount of climbing so I suppose I should be happy.

A "Forty" is a damn good effort - good on you.

 

[Typhon]

Same as what happened to mine roughly. Cadence recorded perfect but speed didnt work would just auto puse and resume constantly and not record any route data. Ended up turning it off and waiting on the warranty replacement from garmin. I set it to no cadence/speed sensor and using GPS for speed. Although it seems to work again today

Well as I was going to have to buy another sensor for the focus anyway I went ahead and bought it and replaced the faulty one on the Triban. It works perfectly again now and I did 20 miles with no problems. However I have just rung Garmin and they say that the sensor isn't faulty. They say I need to do a factory reset and see if that would solve the problem and flat out refused to send another sensor. Pretty pissed off to be honest, clearly the sensor is faulty if it works with a new sensor. Yet they've now put it on me to try something no more sophisticated than turning something off and back on again. They send they'd send me e-mails with instructions of how to reset it and restore my data but it's 2 hours later and there's no sign of it.

Tempted to just buy another sensor but that's another 30 quid and it's the principle of the thing. Poor customer service seems to be a bit of a theme with bike related companies I've found. Decathlon were terrible and took 3 attempts to fix the gears on the bike and never managed it. I arranged a test ride at a Specialized store but they didn't bother to order the bike in (need 58cm and they didn't have any in stock) and they didn't bother to ring me to tell me not to come either. At least wiggle and chain reaction have been good so far, although all I've really asked of them is to put something in a box and send it out. We'll see what happens when something goes wrong....

 

[kerndog]

Hi All

I just went out for a quick one earlier, well it was going to be really quick but i ended up doing my usual route of 23 miles with an elevation of 2093 ft in 1 and a half hours.

Anyway recently i've not really felt like ive been improving, avg speeds sticking around 13mph, not breaking many PB's etc, but I have been riding with other people a lot and haven't been out on my own for a couple of weeks... so today I went out thinking I'd do a really quick, quick as I can, really busy with work, push my self hard, 10 miles. It turned into 23 and I pushed my self really hard all the way - and it paid off, I saw a massive improvement on the last time I did this ride solo.

http://app.strava.com/activities/47991816

My avg MPH was 15mph (well 14.9 according to strata, 15 according to my bike computer) which is loads for me, i couldn't seem to break 14 before. I got 14 PB's, a KOM on a 19 miles segment with only a few people on it, and a 10th on a 15 mile segment with 50 people on it. Stoked I love strava for showing you how you improve!

 

[Typhon]

Anyway, on a better note I got 2 PBs on my ride. One which puts me 16th out of 270 people and another 12th out of 187. It's No KOM but I'm quite happy with those. I think with strava it's relative, soon after I signed up I got a 7th place but only 9 people had ridden that segment. So even if I got the KOM on that it wouldn't mean much.

Another 1 second quicker and I'd have been in the top 10 for both. I don't get on with the saddle on the Focus at all but I've ordered a Charge Spoon so hopefully that'll be better. When I get it and the wind is blowing the right way I'll have to see if I can edge nearer to the podium

 

[RWright]

Well as I was going to have to buy another sensor for the focus anyway I went ahead and bought it and replaced the faulty one on the Triban.

My sensors seemed to be acting a little funky, I think it was because I did not change the bike setting before I went for a ride. I think you have to have it set to the bike you are riding at the time, just checking to make sure you checked that. I had mine set to a different bike that had no sensor and when I put it back on the bike with the sensor, it would not work until I changed the bike under the bike settings/bike profile menu.

 

[Billy Adam]

Ooh! I see I've got some catching up to do . https://www.strava.com/activities/48015732

 

[RWright]

I'm already struggling after cycling 9 days in a row. I could be in danger of doing myself more harm than good keeping going without restdays I think. I do quite a bit of walking with the dog so it's not as though I'm not getting any exercise if I don't go out. I am at least on my own so no one else to consider, unless you count the dog and cat!

Don't hurt yourself for a "digital finishers badge on your dashboard". I have been getting in more miles because the weather here is prime riding weather right now. I am trying to do more miles as sort of a test for myself before it gets really hot here. Everything sort of fell into place since I have been getting all my bikes dialed in for a couple of months and ready for more miles in the spring, plus I found the used Synapse that really seems to suit me all at the same time. Also I think the planets are in perfect alignment, my car and truck are filthy and I have some flowers I dug up and brought home and have let them sit for a few weeks and they have not died yet. So, unlike Nigel, I have neglected a lot of stuff. It is warm enough now that I can leave my bathroom window opened and my cat can come in and out as he pleases now, he and I are both really happy about that. I did manage to remember to put his frontline flea and tick drops on him today, and he will let me know if his food situation is not to his liking. I also scheduled work to have a lot of free time this month. Things are just sort of falling into place, well, besides the filthy autos and messy house. I am going to plant the flowers this minute, late I know but maybe they will make it.

 

[RWright]

Flowers securely in the ground and watered, that was too easy, I hope they live.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

In

I'm already struggling after cycling 9 days in a row. I could be in danger of doing myself more harm than good keeping going without restdays I think. I do quite a bit of walking with the dog so it's not as though I'm not getting any exercise if I don't go out. I am at least on my own so no one else to consider, unless you count the dog and cat!

Instead of doing one big ride, can you do two smaller ones a day instead? I think you will find it easier and you probably end up doing more miles as well.

 

[Mo1959]

In


Instead of doing one big ride, can you do two smaller ones a day instead? I think you will find it easier and you probably end up doing more miles as well.

Was half thinking that myself. Especially with my saddle and back issues. Have actually been feeling a bit rough this afternoon and I think it's just with doing a wee bit more than I am ready for.

Flowers securely in the ground and watered, that was too easy, I hope they live.

Ha, ha.....I hope so. My Dad is a great gardener but I detest it, probably as my back doesn't like bending very much! He is 83 and still cuts his grass and plants loads of vegetables and has 2 greenhouses with beautiful tomatoes every year. Can't think of anything better than walking into the greenhouse and picking tomatoes straight off the vine. They are so sweet.

 

[RWright]

Was half thinking that myself. Especially with my saddle and back issues. Have actually been feeling a bit rough this afternoon and I think it's just with doing a wee bit more than I am ready for.

Ha, ha.....I hope so. My Dad is a great gardener but I detest it, probably as my back doesn't like bending very much! He is 83 and still cuts his grass and plants loads of vegetables and has 2 greenhouses with beautiful tomatoes every year. Can't think of anything better than walking into the greenhouse and picking tomatoes straight off the vine. They are so sweet.

That is great your Dad can still do all that. My Dad passed away this past July at 80. My Dad never once mowed the yard again after I was about 12 years old. He did buy a riding mower right after I left home for college but then he hired a kid from up the street to mow it with the riding mower I had begged for about five years or more for. He said something about it being good for me using the push mower or something like that. I still do my own yard mowing because I am so used to it.