Having collected my Specialized Secteur Elite a couple of weeks ago I've now been on a few 20 to 25 mile solo rides and my first ride (25 miles) with the gang I am doing a charity ride with in September. Compared with my old mountain bike I find the road bike such a joy to ride. Took a bit of fiddling to get everything adjusted right but i think i'm there now. I'm managing to average about 16mph over hilly terrain and a bit higher on flatter rides. Most of all riding in a group (5 of us) is great fun and my fears of being too slow/unfit for the others who are all long time road cyclists were unfounded, I found their pace a little slower than when I ride alone so very comfortable. Also I found the miles flew by in the group and felt i could have done 50 miles. Overall I'm finding cruising around peaceful country lanes such a pleasure after a stressful day in the office. I think I get it now.
Starting to enjoy this cycling lark
- Thread starter DaveW
- Start date
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O dear.
Give up your cycling friends immediately
Do not join a cycle club
Do not try out road racing, time trialling, sportive or an Audax
Do not read a cycling magazine
Do not browse online or in person any cycling shop
Do not go on a cycling holiday tour / training / cycling weekend away
You have been warned ignore my advice at your peril or you will end up sitting on a chair in a circle with other lycra clad beings saying Hi my names Dave and Im a cycleholic.
Glad you are enjoying it
Give up your cycling friends immediately
Do not join a cycle club
Do not try out road racing, time trialling, sportive or an Audax
Do not read a cycling magazine
Do not browse online or in person any cycling shop
Do not go on a cycling holiday tour / training / cycling weekend away
You have been warned ignore my advice at your peril or you will end up sitting on a chair in a circle with other lycra clad beings saying Hi my names Dave and Im a cycleholic.
Glad you are enjoying it
Fubar
Legendary Member
16mph over hilly terrain is very good! Similar to you I started on a mountain bike and progressed to a road bike (Btwin Triban 3) and what a difference - once you get used to it they are much more responsive. I'm definitely not as quick as you but enjoying my cycling and have enjoyed going out in a group a couple of times. Good, isn't it?
Richard Woodrow
Regular
- Location
- Norwich
I've recently bought a Giant Rapid and am loving it. Compared to my ill advised purchase of a mountain bike with suspension, this just eats up the miles and hills no longer fill me with dread. As a 44 year old who could do with losing a few pounds (OK stone) I'm averaging about 14mph and enjoying taking in the countryside along the way. It is also amazing how many different routes I can plot on minor roads from where I live. I'm mainly doing 10-15 milers are the moment but did 25 last Saturday. Found it OK other than the legs felt a bit like jelly when I dismounted.
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
PaulSecteur
No longer a Specialized fanboy
- Location
- Walsall, West Mids.
Good choice!
Strange one this weekend. Did a 23 mile ride on Saturday morning with two guys from work and it felt soo difficult. I was slower up the hills than them, legs felt heavy and I found the whole ride gruelling from start to finish. It was very windy and cold plus the route took in a lot of main roads so I guess this didnt help. Then yesterday I did 33 miles (my furthest yet) on my own in similar conditions. I felt i was taking my time as I was going for more distance and in fact felt I could have done more as i had no aches or pains. Yet I was surprised to see I did the same average speed as the ride on Saturday which felt so hard. I guess I was just having a bad day on Saturday. Anyway, next target is 40 miles in the next 10 days.
Dave - I have the sneaking suspicion that the reason you found it harder could have been that you pushed harder on the hills (and possibly elsewhere) to try keep up with your workmates than maybe you would have done if you attacked the same hills (and the rest of the route on your own. Effectively without knowing it you performed interval training on the Saturday (to keep up with your mates) which is a lot harder to do than just going out on the bike.
Average speed can give you an indicator but only if you rode the exact same route in exactly the same conditions. Measuring your heart rate or power would have given you far better feedback but then you are in the world of geeky gadgets and logging each ride territory. For example your average may well have been the same but if your sunday route was flatter than the saturday route you would have spent more time covering less distance (climbing) on the Saturday so you would have to rode the flatter bits even quicker to post the same average. If you do not have a garmin or other GPS you can check elevation for both rides on map my ride then make a better comparison.
I can go out and do 50 odd miles with the CTC (steady riding) and feel fresh as a daisy or I can go out on my club run and do half that distance yet my legs feel ripped to shreds.
There could be any other of different factors though wind strength and direction, fuelling/hydration or just a general feeling of I'm more up for this today than yesterday etc etc
Most of all you are increasing your distances, for all of us some days feel better/easier than others and you did a PB on distance and looking to better that distance so obviously you are not going backwards
Average speed can give you an indicator but only if you rode the exact same route in exactly the same conditions. Measuring your heart rate or power would have given you far better feedback but then you are in the world of geeky gadgets and logging each ride territory. For example your average may well have been the same but if your sunday route was flatter than the saturday route you would have spent more time covering less distance (climbing) on the Saturday so you would have to rode the flatter bits even quicker to post the same average. If you do not have a garmin or other GPS you can check elevation for both rides on map my ride then make a better comparison.
I can go out and do 50 odd miles with the CTC (steady riding) and feel fresh as a daisy or I can go out on my club run and do half that distance yet my legs feel ripped to shreds.
There could be any other of different factors though wind strength and direction, fuelling/hydration or just a general feeling of I'm more up for this today than yesterday etc etc
Most of all you are increasing your distances, for all of us some days feel better/easier than others and you did a PB on distance and looking to better that distance so obviously you are not going backwards
stephen.rooke
Senior Member
i started cycling as i saw a 13mile charity ride, though that was going to be really hard to get ready for, still a month to go, im doing atleast 20miles a day and find 13miles a bit boring because its too short, im now even tackling some big hills i found impossible a few months ago. also a lot of friendly riders out there who say hello when you pass, you dont get that when stuck in a car
Nearly there
Veteran
- Location
- Cumbria
Ive not ridden my bike for 4 days so im gettin a tad grumpy
