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

[themosquitoking]

Whose that?

I got kindly tagged into @themosquitoking and friends London to Brighton ride and had a fantastic weekend. Up at 'Mo Time' (5am) left for Clapham just after 7, and started the ride at 8.30. The first 5 miles or so were a procession, and several bottlenecks along the way added 40 / 20 /20 minute delays, but at times got some riding in and had a hell of a time.

Was great seeing people cheering everyone on, with banners, and having their own little picnics on the pavement. As well as seeing the assortment of superheros, men in drag, and all manner of BSO's.

Due to the sheer volume of cyclists (around 60k) and that half the roads werent closed, it was never going to be a fast time / pace, we even stopped 2 times to get some tea and sarnies down us.

Got a new climbing record (a 735ft climb with mostly Cat 4 sections, but 1 Cat 3 bit), and a lot of experience with cycling in numbers which will stand me in good stead for RideLondon. But mostly, it was a great laugh, with great company.

Had a superb feeling at the end, coming in on the sea front on the last 200 meter stretch, with barricades either side full of cheering people, and the great big finish point. Felt like Cav for a short while!!

Big Kudos out the @themosquitoking for putting it all together, and his mate Steve for sorting transport back to London.

http://app.strava.com/activities/60824112

Yeah Steve is awesome, except for when he's punching 10 year old girls in the face.

 

[Nomadski]

I should add, I seem to have killed my Shimano SPD shoes, done the ratchet up too tight and now cant press down on the release to let the strap out. Back to flat pedals for a fortnight!

 

[themosquitoking]

I should add, I seem to have killed my Shimano SPD shoes, done the ratchet up too tight and now cant press down on the release to let the strap out. Back to flat pedals for a fortnight!

Try wiggling a small flathead spanner around into the clip and see what happens first.

 

[Nomadski]

Yeah Steve is awesome, except for when he's punching 10 year old girls in the face.

Poor lass. To be fair she did learn a valuable lesson in momentum, and what happens when you stand too close to someone high fiving a person doing 25 mph...

 

[themosquitoking]

Poor lass. To be fair she did learn a valuable lesson in momentum, and what happens when you stand too close to someone high fiving a person doing 25 mph...

Apparently he made her tooth wobbly, i'll make him buy her stuff next week to make up for it. Just so everyone is aware, there were some accidents between friends on the ride today. We are not talking about someone that should be in jail, at least not for hitting a child.

 

[Nomadski]

Apparently he made her tooth wobbly, i'll make him buy her stuff next week to make up for it. Just so everyone is aware, there were some accidents between friends on the ride today. We are not talking about someone that should be in jail, at least not for hitting a child.

Oooh poor girl. And she came out to cheer us on!

Your spanner idea worked! Just freed it. Bang on mate.

 

[themosquitoking]

Oooh poor girl. And she came out to cheer us on!

Your spanner idea worked! Just freed it. Bang on mate.

She'll be fine. She's known worse things in her life, like me, from birth, for example.
Good work on the shoe, i had no idea that would work. Lucky guess.

 

[themosquitoking]

Thanks for the advise, much appreciated. I had some left in the tank today so will try a 30 next weekend (weather permitting) & will also phone a friend! Thanks again.

Not that i want to discourage you to tackle hills, because i've found out that avoiding them is costly, but if you want to rack up miles the flatter the better.

 

[RWright]

In other news, as well as picking up a ticking noise from my wheel/derailleur I have a massive gash in my rear tyre. It's around 1cm long, and goes about 5mm into the tyre. To be honest I'm surprised I didn't get any more than 1 puncture when out Saturday. Any suggestions for the rubber to touch the tarmac?

I put a set of Maxis Re-fuse on my Trek, I haven't had a flat yet (1000 + a few miles), even riding on highways. I bought 25s, wish I had gone with 23s. I have Continental Ultra Sports on my Synapse (23s). Both tires are road/training tires. I got a flat the very first ride on the Ultra Sports (by a highway ) then no other punctures for over 1700 miles. I rode them a lot on country roads that don't have blown out truck tire carcasses with the little wires all over the place. Then, day before yesterday, I was on the highway and the p fairy paid me a visit (on the Ultra Sports). I was only a mile from home so I was able to just blast it with CO2 and get home. I replaced the tube and rode yesterday and all was fine but when I did the old pinch test before todays ride it was very low. I just switched the wheels with my Trek today rather than fix the tire.(I had been wanting to check out the 11/28 cassette with standard front rings anyway ).

So to summarize my review after having used both tires on the same bike is: I prefer slicks, like the Ultra Sports, I like the way they ride and I like 23's, they roll better to me. If puncture resistance is higher on the list of priorities the Maxis Re-fuse haven't let me down yet. Personally I would go with the 23s next time. I run everything at max recommended PSI. Both sets of tires still look good to me too, even the Ultra Sports with 1700 miles on them. I just need to find that damn slow leak now, the past few months have been wonderful for me puncture wise. I just hope I haven't jinxed myself. Read some reviews on other tires too. There are a lot of good ones out there. Don't just buy the first set you see with green and white stripes.

I also noticed that you used the word "gotten" in one of your post a little earlier, I thought that was like illegal or something over there. I always thought it made me sound kind of British when I said it. You would not believe how heartbroken I felt when I found out y'all hardly even use it. Now I see you using it and it boosted my moral tremendously! I think a British accent saying gotten would sound about as cool as hearing them say aluminum.

 

[deadpool7]

Another record distance of 22.7 miles for me today. Not far by some of your standards but little acorns & all that........& it may have been more if I hadn't cocked my route up & turned left too soon which left me fafing around for extra miles near the end!

http://app.strava.com/activities/60708893

Great job!

Great rides this weekend, everyone!

I didn't make it out at all. Was busy yesterday and woke up late today and just wasn't feeling it in the evening. On the plus side, I'll be getting my stitches out of my elbow this week. Wooooo!

 

[MaxInc]

Whose that?

I got kindly tagged into @themosquitoking and friends London to Brighton ride and had a fantastic weekend. Up at 'Mo Time' (5am) left for Clapham just after 7, and started the ride at 8.30. The first 5 miles or so were a procession, and several bottlenecks along the way added 40 / 20 /20 minute delays, but at times got some riding in and had a hell of a time.

Was great seeing people cheering everyone on, with banners, and having their own little picnics on the pavement. As well as seeing the assortment of superheros, men in drag, and all manner of BSO's.

Due to the sheer volume of cyclists (around 60k) and that half the roads werent closed, it was never going to be a fast time / pace, we even stopped 2 times to get some tea and sarnies down us.

Got a new climbing record (a 735ft climb with mostly Cat 4 sections, but 1 Cat 3 bit), and a lot of experience with cycling in numbers which will stand me in good stead for RideLondon. But mostly, it was a great laugh, with great company.

Had a superb feeling at the end, coming in on the sea front on the last 200 meter stretch, with barricades either side full of cheering people, and the great big finish point. Felt like Cav for a short while!!

Big Kudos out the @themosquitoking for putting it all together, and his mate Steve for sorting transport back to London.

http://app.strava.com/activities/60824112

This sounded like great fun, just by reading your post it makes me wish I was there! Maybe next year

 

[stevey]

This sounded like great fun, just by reading your post it makes me wish I was there! Maybe next year

Likewise have nothing like that around here not that i know off anyway

 

[stevey]

I think the O/H is wanting a road bike too

 

[Ciar]

Lots of fun yesterday did 8.4m ride off road on the mountain bike, lead by the guy who i train with and friend, really enjoyable nice and muddy, we were getting in practice to cross streams from high banks, they went via the steep bank, me i went via the slightly lower yet 3 times the speed so I could get up the other side, ermm nope! slid back into the stream, which infact was lovely and cool as i was boiling by then had a few encouters with some brambles one accent of 35% so my friends app told me, all in all muddy fun and loving the fact I can now do back break skids without removing feet from the pedals, not done those for years!

small reminder, must remember to switch cyclemeter back from indoors to outdoors, otherwise I doesnt record much....

 

[boybiker]

Thanks for coming out and cheering everyone on, it did make us all want to go faster just so know you weren't cheering for no reason. Whereabouts along the route is smallfields?

Pretty near the start its just outside Horly/ Gatwick .