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

[Nigelnaturist]

You are having some run of bad luck with the bike. Hope you manage to get a few miles in today.

Well the O.H. slept down stairs last night, so what chance do you reckon.

 

[philinmerthyr]

It looks like a perfect long ride day my longest so far is 50.4 miles back in January. With weather like this I may go further today.

Down to Cardiff Bay then over o Newport looks a good option

 

[Mo1959]

Well the O.H. slept down stairs last night, so what chance do you reckon.

Oh dear.....better keep in the good books then Single life seems so good most of the time. Nobody to complain what time you get up, eat, sleep go out on the bike, etc.

 

[Mo1959]

It looks like a perfect long ride day my longest so far is 50.4 miles back in January. With weather like this I may go further today.

Down to Cardiff Bay then over o Newport looks a good option

Sounds good. Hope you manage it. Can't seem to quite make the 50 myself. Start getting a bit saddle sore and achy before I get there.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Some big rides being posted, well done everyone.

Our lass grabbed me this morning and asked if we were going for a ride, so we did a 20 mile pootle. Cup of tea in Abbey Park half way through it, very sunny and very little wind, great morning for a ride

 

[Scotty1991]

Quality cycle today. Loved it!

http://app.strava.com/activities/49674961

 

[boybiker]

Quality cycle today. Loved it!

http://app.strava.com/activities/49674961

Nice ride and a good pace too!

 

[Mo1959]

Some big rides being posted, well done everyone.

Our lass grabbed me this morning and asked if we were going for a ride, so we did a 20 mile pootle. Cup of tea in Abbey Park half way through it, very sunny and very little wind, great morning for a ride

Sounds lovely. If I can keep it going and do the challenge I intend to start to take it easy and try and make my rides more leisurely. Maybe start carrying a camera and stopping several times along the way.

 

[boybiker]

Sounds lovely. If I can keep it going and do the challenge I intend to start to take it easy and try and make my rides more leisurely. Maybe start carrying a camera and stopping several times along the way.

Do that anyway, dont get too hung up on these challenges cycling is meant to be fun after all ... Although I wont take my own advice at times and stop to take a photo of the beautiful Kent countryside! *face palm*

 

[Reece]

Working today but had to get out in the weather, so rode a longer way work, then a short trip to my mums after then another 13.8 miles on a longer route home. The last leg was a good one, Garmin has me down at 18mph avg moving speed (although strava shows 17.7mph)​

http://app.strava.com/activities/49706713​

http://app.strava.com/activities/49706705​

http://app.strava.com/activities/49706716​

​

Sounds like everyone else has been having some good rides

 

[BrianEvesham]

Yes, beautiful day today, no wind and glorious sunshine and where am I ?
Yep in the factory all day.
Hopefully great weather to follow Sunday.

Getting closer to a Strava enabled phone.

 

[IanA]

My training is going to take a hit....Back from work, and spent an overnight in Marrakech, 37 deg, all very nice, but now I'm home and everything aches and the loo roll is in the fridge ! ! Damn and Blast !

 

[philinmerthyr]

My first 50 mile ride since January. My average was at 14mph until I hit cardiff city centre. 15 weeks to the London 100. I should be ok if I keep this up. My cadence has improved lately too. Over 80 is no longer a problem. Need to shift the weight quicker. Still over 21st but it is dropping but not quickly enough

http://app.strava.com/activities/49724609

 

[Typhon]

Most of the roads around here now are asphalt. My state, according to reports and from what I have observed in other states, does have nice roads. Some of the roads are still concrete with the seams, but most of them are being repaved with the smooth asphalt. We also still have some roads with potholes but those are mainly older ones that were poorly designed and constructed to begin with. The roads I dislike most are the country roads that they pour down the tar, spread gravel on them then run over it with a steam roller, I try to avoid them but once in a while I have to ride one for a few miles.

The area around the lake I am going to be riding more has the smooth nice asphalt. A lot of people are pulling boats to the boat ramps to go fishing and water skiing (not a good thing for cyclist IMO ) and the lake is owned by the US Army Corp of Engineers. It got some nice federal funding when it was designed and built and still even now for maintenance. It has been just a little out of my range to get to, ride around and come back home. It is about 10 miles for me to get there and it is about 16 miles long, there are not a lot of roads around it, so about any ride I would make around even some of it would be 40 miles plus. There are only one or two roads that actually cross over it with bridges. It is set up with camp grounds and a buffer zone all the way around it, no one can buy or build a house on it but there are several camp grounds all around it and even more man made beaches and boat ramps. All ran by the state.
Anyone can use it, camping is cheap, but you better book well in advance for major holidays during summer. There is a small fee to use the beaches but the boat ramps are free.(great entertainment to watch the inexperienced new boat owners try to back down and use the ramps during early part of the boating season ) .

I am pretty happy with the roads in my area, I think weather conditions here help them, but there are some that are still rough. Your roads may be rougher but we have basically zero mass transit. You can not catch a train from my town, you have to ride about 30 miles to get on one, then they only stop at big towns along the east coast of the US mostly. Many of the larger cities have buses but the majority of places here don't. You have to call a cab. We are still very reliant on the automobile in my area as in most parts of my state. They have been talking about a rail system around the central part of NC for YEARS. I think all the politicians have done is take the money to research doing it and stuff their friends pockets with it so they can tell them it is going to be very expensive to do it.

Sorry for the late reply, it's been a crazy week! I guess in a way America's car culture benefits you as a cyclist, no wonder they are spending so much on the roads when everyone is so dependent on cars. I live in a rural area so the public transport isn't great but there are two train stations within 7 miles and regular bus services. They're not well used though - I see buses all the time driving around with only 2 or 3 of the 50 seats occupied.

I have a similar problem with having to go a long way to get to the best roads. I'd have to do at least 40 miles as well. I just can't seem to find the motivation to go out for that long these days. Perhaps if we get more days like today (warm and sunny) I will. I just went and did my usual route and it was hard work though, not used to cycling in the heat and sunshine

 

[DaveyM]

good work guys, you are all getting the miles in I see.

I have been off line for a couple of weeks (due to a roofer burning through my phone line)
I have had a pretty good month putting in just over 300 miles thus far.
trying to get back on track