Rode my bike to work this morning

[Part 2]

Hey, this was my thread and I'm supposed to be the fastest.

Still managing the to and from work, and done a visit today.

Tomorrow could be the big test, Friday, bad weather ahoy, and I've arranged a few visits around Manchester, probably 25 miles altogether.

 

[Crispy]

If we're doing speeds:

Last summer I did Brixton to Tottenham Court Road in 14 mins most days.. I can't remember my best time, but it was better than my boss and I was well pleased

Always try and keep over 23mph.

Yowch! You must have a quick bike, or legs like a condom with walnuts stuffed into it. I try and keep over 18mph, but there's so many traffic lights between Brixton and Old Street, it's knackering accelerating and decelerating all the time.

 

[geminisnake]

That is very fast for 8 miles I'm sure mine is about 2.5 miles and it takes me 20 minutes

I can walk quicker than that, but I've no idea how long it'd take me to cycle. I get earache if I cycle.

How about we do distances too and my hubby wins coz he can do an 80 mile round trip with a hillwalk in between in 10/11hrs.

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

If we're doing speeds...

...then I wonder if any anyone can top my top speed down the Col du Galibier in the 2005 Marmotte: 56.7mph.

 

[ChrisFilter]

that must have been fucking scary?!

Crispy: You can safely run most of the red lights between Brixton and TCR, so not too much slowdown required! but yeah, I've got a pretty nice racer, and that certainly helps. took me 19 bloody minutes tonight though, proper lung burn in this cold

 

[Cloud]

It's a bit bigger than a BMX, like this one

I have the seat high enough to mean I'm getting maximum pedal stroke but I can still stand up when I need to. Not that knackered really, done as little work as ever

Lights! there's the next thing I need. A muddy ride down the canal path on the way home then

Excuse me if I'm wrong but isn't it extremely cool to be riding an urban/street/jump bike around the town?

I used to use a Kona scrap and found it ace for the short journeys I used to take then I got a bit fitter and started longer rides and erm looking my age so I bought an XC machine

Nice bike btw

 

[Part 2]

It probably does look extremely cool, Kids are always looking at it and it would probably get nicked within seconds if I locked it up. It's just not designed for riding as far as I'm probably going to need to.

It's a race bike really, Ali frame which makes it a bit stiff too. Mine is a couple of years old, only difference is a few red bits, they're only about £220 but I prefer it to a lot of the custom built bikes I've ridden.

 

[WasGeri]

How about we do distances too and my hubby wins coz he can do an 80 mile round trip with a hillwalk in between in 10/11hrs.

He should apply for the Olympics with a speed like that.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

...then I wonder if any anyone can top my top speed down the Col du Galibier in the 2005 Marmotte: 56.7mph.

That would scare me witless

I get scared when I go even midly fast downhill - I don't like the idea of only having a fraction of a second to react to something in my way - don't fancy smacking into something at speed thanks very much

 

[ChrisFilter]

Even with a 2 month break from riding and only starting again last week I still caned everyone round the roundabout and over waterloo bridge today, mmmm, it was sweet!

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

That would scare me witless

I get scared when I go even midly fast downhill - I don't like the idea of only having a fraction of a second to react to something in my way - don't fancy smacking into something at speed thanks very much

One of my fellow competitors was killed on one of the cols previous to the Galibier - went off the edge and fell about 120 feet onto the bend below and managed to land on another decending cyclist (fracturing his skull and breaking his back). TBH Marmotte 2005 was such unpleasant carnage that I'm not sure I'll ever do it again.

As for 56.7mph - there were people going past me like I was standing still - I'm guessing at 70mph+. I was contending with overheating brakes and my hands were frozen from the top of the mountain. Where the Galibier joins the Lauteret theres a fairly straight downhil section of 8% where you can see ahead for 3 miles. The entire run south from the summit of the Galibier (2646m) down into Bourg D'Oisans (540m) is the second longest continuous bit of downhill road in the world at just over 22 miles in length. They're probably the quickest 22 miles I've ever done on a bike.

 

[pootle]

:Crispy: You can safely run most of the red lights between Brixton and TCR, so not too much slowdown required!

My cycle would be much quicker if I didn't have to keep stopping for the red lights, and cycling slowly down pavements where the traffic snarls up AND the demolition of St Agnes Place means a detour too.

I need to find another new route that means I can actually continuosly cycle on my journey from Loughbrough Junction to Borough. Maybe I'll have to go back to cycling up Brixton Road. Bah!

 

[2wheeledathiest]

...then I wonder if any anyone can top my top speed down the Col du Galibier in the 2005 Marmotte: 56.7mph.

Dunno. I may have been, but at those speeds my eyes start streaming and I cannot see my trip computer anymore. Oh and it is scary. I have always prefered descending behind someone who knows the route so I can match a safe speed on the corners.

I only live two miles from where I work, but I take a twenty mile route in so I get a decent ride. We have showers and stuff so it is quite cool.

Tyre wise my road bike has 23mm tyres. I put on 25mm 4-season tyres for spring/autumn. My winter/touring bike has 28mm tyres. My hybrid has 32mm tyres. The road tyres are the fastest but they have no tread. The touring bike goes downhill quite fast but it is heavy.

It is when you get above 35mph that your bike starts telling you whether it can handle it. Some start shaking or the front starts losing the plot completely. Not nice. I have had problems with the set up on carbon forks, a bit of adjustment and some trial and error tends to sort it out. Gets a bit hairy at the time though.

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

I could only tell that was my top speed afterwards - my computer recorded it as its maximum. I was trying to stay alive at the time so there was no way I would have risked looking at the speedo!

The bike needs to be properly set up for these speeds. You need bedded in brake blocks and clean rims with no brake residue. Your bars need to be millimeter prefectly in the middle of the stem clamp and your forks straight. If you pump your tyres up too high the heat on the rims from braking will cause the inner tube to explode or the tyre itself to pop off the rim and before you can say Jesoba Beloki you'll be home to mum in a wooden box. I ran 23mm Vredestein Fortezza tricomps at 100psi rear / 90 front. These tyres can go to 145psi so theres plenty of headroom for the pressure to increase and they grip like a very grippy thing and give the bike razor sharp steering.

 

[Part 2]

Right , over 3 weeks on and I'm still riding to work as often as I can.

I've been managing at least 3 days a week to work so about 50/60 miles. I've also been riding bmx in the evenings maybe twice a week. I've been surprised that I have the energy for this but in fact my riding seems better because of it. I've not been so eager to get to work, often taking my time and can still be there in 35/40 minutes comfortably.

Yesterday however, I woke up for the first time with aching legs. I rode to work though as it usually just takes them to get moving to loosen up again. Not so. Again this morning they're a bit heavy, aching above the knees and a bit in the calf.

I've felt a bit of a cold coming on but nothing really. My diet hasn't changed although I've lost over half a stone. I eat fairly healthy, possibly not as much protein as I could. I'm a fish eating veggie but have been thinking a lot about eating meat. I probably need to sleep more, only get about 7 or 8 hours.

Any ideas why it has taken 3 weeks for my body to feel like this.

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

Any ideas why it has taken 3 weeks for my body to feel like this.

You say you haven't been commuting everyday so really your body should have had an opportunity to rest...because this sounds like a classic case of your muscles not getting recovery time - eventually they need more and more time to warm up to the point where they don't warm up at all and just hurt. I think the medical term is glycogen depletion - you've exhausted stored energy in your muscles.

The only cures are rest and good food

 

[Part 2]

Thanks Sigmund, I was hoping you'd have some advice

I did have Wednesday off. Hated driving that day.

I don't tend to do any distance at weekends either just the bmx if anything. I've wondered whether I should be eating more because I'm doing more exercise but through the day I don't want to feel weighed down by food.

I'll have a look at my diet and see where I can make adjustments, and start getting to bed a bit earlier.

 

[2wheeledathiest]

You do need fuel to ride. Even if you do not feel like it. I went out yesterday and thought I could manage 80 miles on an energy bar and drink. Got faint on a hill and had to call in at a farm shop. I put a cake on the counter `do you want a bag for that? ' the manager asked me. `no thanks, I am going to eat it now'.

Got me home though.