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

[stevey]

That is a sexy looking bike, nothing beats black, well done for choosing the colour and enjoy your new toy!

It doesn't matter which one you choose, it will change with terrain and fitness levels. You will use the small ring mainly for uphills combined with the larger cogs at the back and the big ring on flats and descents combined with the smaller cogs at the back (take it easy until you are comfortable stopping the thing, especially with new brake pads). Obviously there will be overlap so the middle range of cogs could be used with both but your cadence should dictate which one to use.

Thanks for that dude, brake pads are a bit soft so hopefully will bed-in

 

[stevey]

MTB and road bikes are like chalk and cheese. I was very wobbly at first on my road bike compared to my hybrid.

I managed to do todays ride without dropping to the smaller ring

Now i am impressed

 

[Supersuperleeds]

this is my 9 week anniversary as a cyclist have come so far in that time...had a borrowed scott hybrid for the first 5 weeks then treated myself to a triban 3...first commute to work of 20km took 1 hr 30 mins but now down to 55mins for the same route...average kph now 20kph took the long way home tonght from work 35km in 1 hr 45 mins so chuffed didnt even have to stop managed water bottle one handed lol...now to get mycyclelog sig loaded to push me a bit to doing more miles in my new saddle ouch...

Well done, there is a very big commuting section on here full of tips and friendly support. Commuting is a brilliant way of notching up the miles, also makes you get used to the weather as well! Definitely get on mycylinglog, also take a look at Strava as well.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I guess you will soon be leaving this thread and go ride with the pros. Congratulations on the achievement and enjoy the recovery

Chris rides more than some so called pros.
@stevey it's been mentioned, as you get fitter you will naturally use higher gears, I have a triple and at the min I am switching between middle and outer quite a abit, mind it is a 52 outer, compared with compact doubles of 50, so is naturally higher, my middle ring is 40th so again is higher than a 34th, I only ever use the 30th when climbing, and please dont think of it as a granny gear, as the gear range is about the same as a compact double, I just lose out a little on the top end a t the moment, due to it being a 7sp.my low 30x26 is just a tad lower than a 34x28.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I guess you will soon be leaving this thread and go ride with the pros. Congratulations on the achievement and enjoy the recovery

Not leaving this thread for a while yet! I got to around 80 miles and was thinking how the hell do the pros do these distances (and a lot more!) day after day.

Great job @Supersuperleeds, well done on the 100 miler, hell of an achievement especially at that speed!

@stevey lovely looking bike! Congrats on that, hopefully will serve you well.

You use the front chainrings however you want mate, the idea is to keep a constant cadence (RPM) regardless of elevation, so if it starts going uphill and your struggling on the front biggie, switch to the smaller one. Depending on how your gears are setup you may want to make the switch when the chain on the rear cassette is somewhere in the middle, to avoid "chainrub".

The speed surprised me, the last 20 miles or so I felt I was riding through treacle.

 

[MaxInc]

Not much change on the training side of things, other that I am quite enjoying taking it easy and I'm slowly getting to the point where I was when pushing hard in terms of speed.

I did reach an imprtant milestone today though, which is my target jeans size of 32 down from 38. Never imagined myself wearing this size Double sales at Debenhams meant that I got my first 32 pair of Lee for about £26 (down from £65) which only adds to the joy

 

[boybiker]

It's my first week back at work and have been cycling in every day as per normal. That will help me get my mileage back up to where it was before the accident!

Ride in: http://app.strava.com/activities/61359358
Ride home : http://app.strava.com/activities/61446738


I have also been on cycle chat for 5 years now !!!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Good day for me.

Nice weather - pretty hot really.

12.03 miles at average of 15.49 mph - my best ever average. Wasn't trying it just happened but I think my new stem must've helped - see separate thread in Beginners.

Have a good evening all.

 

[Goonerobes]

Good day for me.

Nice weather - pretty hot really.

12.03 miles at average of 15.49 mph - my best ever average. Wasn't trying it just happened but I think my new stem must've helped - see separate thread in Beginners.

Have a good evening all.

Nice one. I was just gonna post that I did a leisurely 17 miles today at 15mph & then realised that 6 months ago neither 17 miles or 15mph was particularly leisurely !!

http://app.strava.com/activities/61420978

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Well contrary to all of you who liked this evening, I wasn't best pleased with the last couple of miles, mind I did forget to take my fig biscuits.
First 5Km (3.1miles, its what I have my laps set to so I know how many Km's I have done, without having to think about it) @ 14.5mph traffic through Cas.
7 laps 35Km @ 16 and 17mph laps, the next 2 about 15mph and the last 13.9mph.
So 50Km (31. miles) @ 15.8mph just over 1,000ft according to the unit, HR 135/160 cad 80
But as Steve just said I couldn't have dreamed of that 6 months ago let alone 12 months.

 

[Mo1959]

Well contrary to all of you who liked this evening, I wasn't best pleased with the last couple of miles, mind I did forget to take my fig biscuits.
First 5Km (3.1miles, its what I have my laps set to so I know how many Km's I have done, without having to think about it) @ 14.5mph traffic through Cas.
7 laps 35Km @ 16 and 17mph laps, the next 2 about 15mph and the last 13.9mph.
So 50Km (31. miles) @ 15.8mph just over 1,000ft according to the unit, HR 135/160 cad 80
But as Steve just said I couldn't have dreamed of that 6 months ago let alone 12 months.

It's so easy to start forgetting what it felt like several months ago. Funny how we start getting discouraged at the slightest drop in speed now. I often have bad days when I struggle to maintain what I consider a reasonable speed too and try to remind myself that it is still so much better than when I started out.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

It's so easy to start forgetting what it felt like several months ago. Funny how we start getting discouraged at the slightest drop in speed now. I often have bad days when I struggle to maintain what I consider a reasonable speed too and try to remind myself that it is still so much better than when I started out.

It wasn't so much I was discouraged, just a little disappointed in the last 5Km, there was a little bit of a breeze which telled, but even then there were moments when I looked and was surprised how fast I was going as it did feel slow.
Lots of people out, most said hi, apart from a couple of road bikes, one in Sky Kit.

Not as much as you or Chris do Mo, but that clocks up 100 miles since Monday evening, in 6hrs 13mins, not a patch on Chris today.
Total time was 7:17

 

[Smotyn]

Hi all thought I had better introduce myself.

I have been riding for about 2 months now on a trek nico hybrid. I have lost half a stone on top of the 4 and half I lost before so 5 down and only have another 9-10 to go lol. I have managed to ride 24 miles in one go so far but now have less than a month before I do the 58 mile tame ride organised by the Peterborough cycle club im doing it in aid of the make a wish foundation. Scared much but determined to make it! Despite getting a selle italia saddle which is a vast improvement on the stock one im sure I wont be able to sit for a week lol getting a proper bike fit on sat as struggling with my knees but after some good advice and that hopefully will improve. Well thats me will keep you posted.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Hi all thought I had better introduce myself.

I have been riding for about 2 months now on a trek nico hybrid. I have lost half a stone on top of the 4 and half I lost before so 5 down and only have another 9-10 to go lol. I have managed to ride 24 miles in one go so far but now have less than a month before I do the 58 mile tame ride organised by the Peterborough cycle club im doing it in aid of the make a wish foundation. Scared much but determined to make it! Despite getting a selle italia saddle which is a vast improvement on the stock one im sure I wont be able to sit for a week lol getting a proper bike fit on sat as struggling with my knees but after some good advice and that hopefully will improve. Well thats me will keep you posted.

Well Tracey, you've come to the right place for encouragement, many of us in here, started off like you have, and have just kept cycling, a few in here through this last winter. Improvements, well come over time, and sometimes it will feel you are getting nowhere, if you feel like that, just bob in here, someone will gee you up. Then there will be times where you just seem to make leaps and bounds in progress.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Just to add, I managed 46 miles in one day in just over a month after I started @ 12.63mph, my first two rides were 8.5 miles @ 9.32mph and 18.2 miles @ 9.77 mph