Aren't Bicycles Great.

brat

KathyBerry wrote: »

wow that looks fun! Enjoy

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/948063035

It was fun Kathy, quite a bit of climbing in the 30 miles, a lot of 25% climbing and two stretches at 30% on either side of Hardknott.

But I didn't stop on any of the climbs, which was what I wanted to prove to myself!

The next problem is climbing these beasties in the rain with 95 miles already in my legs!

brat

Photos of my hilly ride! Click on pics for a bigger image.

Johnmcl7

That looks like fun, how high was the climb?

I have a Sram ahead mount for my Garmin which I discovered to my annoyance uses a Torx head to tighten the mount, it came loose around 16 miles into the cycle and I stopped to try and tighten it with allen keys before realising my error. Surprisingly it did stay on but it was getting so loose I was holding it while going over bumpy sections (pretty much anything but perfectly smooth tarmac while on the road bike!) to stop it going flying off.

The big bike at Loch Ness:



Cycle round the firth last night:



John

brat

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

That looks like fun, how high was the climb?

Not high John, just extremely steep. Both Wrynose and Hardknott Passes top out at about 1300 feet. Wrynose is a steadier climb, maxing out at 25% while Hardknott is a stinker with dog leg bends and a couple of 30% stretches. I'm glad I changed to a compact ratio now; my 34/28 ratio got me up with just a little to spare, although my front wheel kept lifting up at the +25% bits! :eek:

I have a Sram ahead mount for my Garmin which I discovered to my annoyance uses a Torx head to tighten the mount, it came loose around 16 miles into the cycle and I stopped to try and tighten it with allen keys before realising my error. Surprisingly it did stay on but it was getting so loose I was holding it while going over bumpy sections (pretty much anything but perfectly smooth tarmac while on the road bike!) to stop it going flying off.

I need to get a 'Garmin Edge', not sure whether to go all the way to the 1000, although I've heard it's not worth the extra over the 500. I've got a forerunner 910XT which can attach to my watch for running - I'm still a runner at heart - and it can be detached and put on the bike mount for bike rides. But it's not so easy to flick through to get access to data on the move.

The big bike at Loch Ness:



Cycle round the firth last night:



John

Like me, you live at (or near) a beautiful part of the world. I need to get up there sometime soon with the bike.

Johnmcl7

I've been looking into the Edge 1000 as well and I'm right on the fence over it, I have an Edge 800 at the moment which has been great - I find it useful having the data in front of me and the navigation can be useful although the screen is very small for that. I've bought a Vivoactive for more casual exercise and I find it fantastic the way it automatically uploads after a workout plus the phone notifications are handy as well so along with getting a larger screen the Edge 1000 is very tempting.

However I'm thinking it may be worth hanging on to see if they make another Edge 1000 that's compatible with ConnectIQ plus I'm a bit concerned about the 1000's durability since its screen is capacitive rather than resistive and someone warned about getting dirt in the buttons. On the other hand they may not replace it, I've seen a lot of comments about how pointless the Edge 1000 is as there's no need for one its size but it makes sense to me.

I'm definitely lucky where I live for cycling as you can go in pretty much any direction cycling out from the city centre and get some great cycling on both the road and mountain bike. I couldn't believe it when someone was complaining about the distance to trail centres from here given there's so many great trails here accessible without needing a car there's little need for a trail centre.

John

brat

A marvellous few days cycling!

Saturday over the two iconic passes, Yesterday, a hundred over Kirkstone, Matterdale, Honister and Newlands Hause in fantastic weather.

[STRIKE]Today[/STRIKE] Yesterday, a steady 45 staying below 1000 feet. (I never know what day it is when I'm on nights:))

Nightshifts getting in the way of longer rides...:cool:





Aren't bicycles great!! :T

brat

Hail, rain, wind and sun in equal measure today for my last biggie before 'The Fred' on the 10th May.

Some beautiful scenery though. This was Ennerdale from Kirkland, with snowcapped Pillar in the background.



4,000 calories in one ride. How many beers is that!? :beer:

Johnmcl7

brat wrote: »

Photos of my hilly ride! Click on pics for a bigger image.

I was down in Yorkshire (just near Halifax) in a super hilly area and was thinking of this picture as most of the roads were super steep, even in the car never mind a bike. I was planning to take a couple of bikes with me but didn't think I'd really have the time for it so left them in the end. I was back out on the fat bike tonight although after being concerned about the trails being too dry, it was plenty muddy tonight so the fat bike was quite happy...well until I got it stuck on the top of a drop and threw myself over the handlebars, I've no idea how but managed to land without injury aside from the damage to my pride having done so in front of an audience.

John

armyknife

Popped out yesterday early evening and did a nice 60 miles trip up the valley to Stonehenge and back. Lovely cycling weather.

Johnmcl7

I like how some of you just casually drop in these huge mileages, I've been cycling regularly now for a while but still don't really do longer distances. I think I'd be more up for it if there was a group I could go with but I'm not fast enough for the road bike groups and don't like that cycling style.

Anyway for a couple of years now I've really wanted to cycle all the way round Loch Ness but never managed it due to injury, falling out with the road bike, weather or braving the busy road on one side of the Loch. The weather hasn't been very good here the last few days but although it was wet, it wasn't cold (which I find is what makes the rain so much worse on the road bike) and the wind wasn't too severe and was blowing north up the Loch which is the way I'd want it - headwind on the easier side, tailwind on the tougher side coming back home.

I'd read a good sportive guide recently which stated the obvious I guess but I'm terrible at pacing myself hence liking group rides, I always go storming out the gate and power hard up the hills and unsurprisingly struggle to maintain pace. The guide pointed out to take it easy at the start, don't push hard up the hills and to rest yourself on the downhills to keep your energy.

As I left Inverness I switched the Garmin to the map mode as I don't like seeing the distance at the start of a ride as it can be a little depressing seeing how slow the numbers are counting up. I scaled the map to show Drumnadrochit which is about a third of the way down the Loch as a target and when I reached that I set Fort Augustus (the very bottom of the Loch) but I had to zoom out a lot further than expected. I set intermediate targets where there were main junctions but thought I must have somehow misjudged the distances.

The Loch seemed to be narrowing and I could see the three bars to indicate an upcoming 30 mile an hour limit which I was desperately hoping was actually Fort Augustus. Thankfully it was, the road that leaves Fort Augustus is a small one and you don't see it unless zoomed right in on the map.



Coming out of Fort Augustus and back up the east side of the Loch is an absolutely hellish climb, it's hard going in the car and I knew it was going to be tough even though hill climbing is usually my strength. I have a compact chainset but rarely need to go into its lowest gears but this time I needed first gear, even then it was a slow struggle up the hill. Finally reached the top and it's a marvellous view:



Better yet it's a gentle descent so you don't waste all that climbing and I had a tail wind, it felt fantastic going from struggling to average 3mph to moving up the top end of the gear range and cruising at over 35mph with ease. Gradually it drops back down the Loch side where it's more sheltered although the rain started coming down a lot heavier by then. However I know the east side a lot better than the west as it's quieter so it's the one better suited for cycling so I could mentally tick off each location as I passed until finally I reached the bridge across the River Ness that I'd started on several hours back.

I was pleased with my pacing managing an average 14mph over the 70 miles and legs feel absolutely fine today which I guess means I should have been going faster Bum and wrists are a little sore when back on the bike today although it's by far the longest I've been on the bike continuously so not too bad at all.

The funny thing is I remember in 2012 when I was pleased to have managed a 26 mile cycle much easier than the previous year when I'd first bought my bike however speaking to a new cycling friend he'd just been round Loch Ness that morning. I was amazed at that and knew it was something I'd never be able to do myself but here we are

John