The "Where did you ride your bike today?" Thread...

[King Boonen]

Sometimes it can seem like no-one on this forum actually likes bikes or bike riding, what with the constant arguing, the discussions in the clinic and the focus on the pro racing, but I know many people here do ride and surely must enjoy it! So lets have a thread where we just discuss the simple joys of riding our bikes, including pictures/videos if you've got em.

Yesterday was a bank holiday here in Scotland, so I got out for a single speed ride with a friend of mine. 66 inch gear and 45 miles heading North from Glasgow to Drymen over Queens View, across to Balloch on the shores of Loch Lomond and back through Dumbarton and Old Kilpatrick to my local cycling cafe. Nothing really tough, no more than 10-12% gradient at any point (usually around 6% I think) and a pretty constant headwind until we turned back East but blazing sunshine, very few cars and the simple pleasure of riding a bike. Was an easy ride averaging about 26-28kmh, could probably have run a longer gear but I don't have any other freewheels! The guy I was out with is older and slower so I spent a good amount of time in the wind but it was great fun and a single gear seems to make you settle at a pace and just enjoy the scenery around you. I find myself reaching for this bike a lot at the moment, sometimes getting out on the road bike can feel too much like training with little attention paid to where I am and more attention to heart rate and speed (and traffic of course!).

That's my Lemond Fillmore behind the bench.

Hopefully this thread doesn't just turn into my cycling blog, so everyone please share! You never know, you may find you connect with people who you completely disagree with on other parts of the forum...

 

[Archibald]

Yesterday morning, the first ride after 5 weeks off (due to racing crash and hospitalisation).
Just a casual commute to work - early doors chilly morning,
across both the iron cove and Anzac bridges,
the sun coming up over the horizon,
looking out across parts of the harbour with the city skyline silhouetted in distance...
So nice to be back on a bike.

 

[Jspear]

Did a 25mile/41 K bike ride today. Sunny, temperature was in the upper 80's lower 90's F. - it was very humid. The terrain was "rolling"...not flat, not too hilly. On a work day I'm happy with getting to do 25 miles. A little bit of exercise, no crashes, no problems with angry drivers , a good day for me.

I don't take video's or pics really (the camera on my phone is junk!). The only video I have is from when I rode parts of Skyline Drive - part of that vid is in my signature. I ride a Specialized Allez - Aluminum Frame, Shimano Tiagra components, Selle Italia seat (a good seat is one thing I must have!), crank brother pedals. Right now I'm using Continental Grand Prix 4000 tires...can't complain...my last set of these tires lasted me a little over 4,000 miles.

Edit: And oh ya, this is a great thread idea.

 

[BigMac]

Nice thread. Fortunately school and exams are almost over so I'll have more time to go out and ride. I use to ride with a group of friends, some made on the road, others long timers. It's always nice to pedal alone, too, on week days. We normally do 50km rides on weekends, but some times one or two pals get overly excited and drag us to longer tours. Lisbon is of course where we put on the most mileage, but the crazy drivers and the infinite amount of tram lines often lead us to Cascais and Sintra via the Marginal. The most enjoyable (and irresponsible) ride I did had to be the 120km's from Comporta headed south to Odemira, under Alentejo´s scorching heat. I ride a entry-level B'twin Triban 500 with some minor alterations including a downgrade from Tiagra to Sora, as I didn't notice any real difference in both, which helped me change tires from the original Hutchinsons to a pair of Michelan Pro4. Planing to ride more this summer after going face down last winter, rain and Lisbon's cobbled streets don't go well together. Will share the stories and pics for sure.

ps: sick vid Jspear.

 

[Jspear]

Did pretty much the same route (25mile/41 K) as yesterday...just a local ride in the Manassas/Prince William County area...roughly 45 minutes southwest of DC. Temps were a little better - 85 F. Still it was very humid...didn't feel to good. Allergies have been bothering me late into the year - only averaged 17.4 mph/28 kmh. Anyone else REALLY hate wind? This is when I wished I had a team riding in front of me. Unfortunately I don't have any riding buddies right now so I have to brave the wind alone.

 

[King Boonen]

I don't mind wind too much, it's pretty much guaranteed around here so averaging between 25-30kph depending on route and weather is about the best I can hope for.

I do dislike wind more than the rain though, I'm a fairly big fella for a cyclist (183cm, 76kg) so I certainly catch it more than others do.

I was quite ill last night, so probably no riding outside for me tonight but I will do a turbo session. fitted a new cassette and chain last night (11-25) as the 12-28 A) wasn't quick enough and B) was too gappy.

Main ride out will be on Sunday and the weather is meant to be horrible

 

[carton]

Today's panorama view from my workday pre-Giro training ride. Just a nippy little out and back on the local climb (my bike isn't the one pictured ).

 

[King Boonen]

MTB or road biking tomorrow..? Can't decide...

 

[ray j willings]

I did one of my usual short routes [ North London] taking in a few short climbs Muswell hill, Crouch hill " small lump" etc
Then headed out to Elstree via Finchley ,Barnet turning left at the top of the long rise in Barnet as the road is a lot more lumpy and some decent elevations to get some good efforts going.
Weather is fantastic today and less wind than previous days so almost Ideal.
London is not to bad on days like this.

 

[King Boonen]

I went out to the local country park, Mugdock, yesterday with a group of mountain bike riders I know fairly well, all awesome guys and girls and great people to ride with. I've ridden round Mugdock once, 2 years ago and didn't find much except the West Highland way. I could never see what all the fuss was about as I've heard great things.

Well, having a guide (or guides) made a massive difference! Everything is fairly short but there is some ridiculously rocky, rooty, technical, STEEP, stuff in there that would be enough to trip anyone up who hasn't ridden it before! Had a brilliant time, came off a few times but nothing big, rode some stuff that looked impossible at first and had some good fun on what was basically a mud slide (wheels going in tow different directions). Bonus is it's extremely close to my work, so I can head out there now we have very light evenings. Very please.

Only downside is I didn't feel like I got much of a workout legs wise, will be a few turbo sessions this week to make up for that.

 

[HDS1963]

I did the Norwich 100 on Sunday, having a couple of rest days Monday/Tuesday then I am aiming to do 75k tomorrow then do the Tour of Cambridgeshire Gran Fondo on Sunday which is 79 miles or 124Km.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

I did the Norwich 100 on Sunday, having a couple of rest days Monday/Tuesday then I am aiming to do 75k tomorrow then do the Tour of Cambridgeshire Gran Fondo on Sunday which is 79 miles or 124Km.

Sounds great. My brother lives in Burwell, I should have paid attention more as I probably could have ridden the Cambridgeshire ride.

 

[Jspear]

Cloudy, in the 70's and breezy. Rolling terrain.
Did 50.5 K/31 miles. Averaged 29.5 kmh/18.3mph.

Just curious. When you guys/gals go out purely for exercise, do you ride on trails or on the roadside? I ride purely on roadsides. The trails in my immediate area aren't taken care of and generally you've got people riding them at a pretty slow pace. I don't think it's safe to mix slow riders up with people riding a little faster.

 

[MarkvW]

From Marblemount to Winthrop over the N. Cascades Highway, fully loaded. One of the most awesome rides on the face of the Earth. Sloooowly.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

Cloudy, in the 70's and breezy. Rolling terrain.
Did 50.5 K/31 miles. Averaged 29.5 kmh/18.3mph.

Just curious. When you guys/gals go out purely for exercise, do you ride on trails or on the roadside? I ride purely on roadsides. The trails in my immediate area aren't taken care of and generally you've got people riding them at a pretty slow pace. I don't think it's safe to mix slow riders up with people riding a little faster.

What do you mean by trails? Shared paths? Or mountain bike trails? If you mean bike paths I pretty much never ride on them unless the road is unsafe. As far as I'm concerned on shared paths we are the cars and it's our job to slow down and pass people and animals at a speed that means we can stop in an instant. You need to take into account that people don't have rear view mirrors and aren't expecting people to ride past quickly. Dogs and other animals my run out or under your wheels no matter what the owner is doing. This obviously means it's very slow going if it's busy. I also hate seeing cycling clubs speeding along in groups on shared paths.

If you mean mountain biking then I occasionally do mountain biking for fitness, but usually it's for fun and I'm generally the fittest rider there so it's a pretty easy day out.


I am blessed with very quiet, fantastic roads to ride round here though (apart from all the potholes...).

 

[King Boonen]

Had a brilliant ride last night, when the weather is good here there really isn't anywhere else I'd want to be on a bike. Work has a retreat coming up so I went out to the place its going to be held as it's only 35km away. 500m climbing mainly in two climbs and I managed a 30kmh average on the way there so pretty happy. Didn't take any food and lunch was 7 hours previous however so completely bonked on the way back! I'm sure pushing myself through it has helped the legs though. I also managed to set off two of the slow down electric signs on the tight corners, should have taken the video camera. Photies:

Queens view:

Pipe track:

 

[BigMac]

Those roads, just wow. Love your steelie 853, must be quite a stiff ride on that tarmac. I envy you.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

Those roads, just wow. Love your steelie 853, must be quite a stiff ride on that tarmac. I envy you.

You still get the classic steel ride from it so it's supple over broken up surfaces, but the 853 tubing is stiffer than most so it doesn't feel sluggish or slow. It's also the pro-race tubing set which I think means it's drawn thinner and triple butted so soaks up even more vibration. I don't race, I'm not much interested in light-weight stuff and I like to own one road bike at a time that will last so steel is basically the perfect material for my bike to be made from


Yeah, we're blessed with some brilliant roads for riding around here. Lovely scenery, very few cars (which means they tend to be more considerate I find) and when the weather is like this you can't beat it!

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

From Marblemount to Winthrop over the N. Cascades Highway, fully loaded. One of the most awesome rides on the face of the Earth. Sloooowly.

I just looked this route up. That looks utterly fantastic!!!

 

[Jspear]

Rode from Manassas, south west to Culpeper. Was visiting some family down there.
62 K/38 miles. The wind was real bad. Sustained 15.5mph/25kph. It was hard because it was a head wind the entire time. That's one thing I don't like about routes that only go in one direction. If the wind is wrong it can make for a hard ride. My average wasn't very good. 27kph/16.7mph

 

[Flinstone]

First post for me on this board. I have been reading many parts of it for about a year or so. I finally decided to post something.
I have had a horrible time this year finding time to get out on the roads. Seems as though every time I get a few rides in something interrupts my plans. I was finally into a schedule of riding 4 to 5 times a week and I hurt myself at work. So it has been almost 4 weeks since I rode last. That sounded like I was sitting in a confesssional telling a sin. Today I was feeling good enough to go for an easy ride. I started out with no goal but to ride. I headed east into a 10 MPH wind. I figured I would not push it but go till I was hurting and enloy the ride back with the wind at my back. 15 miles out and I had enough. The 15 back were the payoff. That was early in the morning. As of now the ride has not agravated the injury. Tomorrow will be a hot afternoon ride. I will try to post some pictures of the scenery of my rides in future updates.

 

[Jspear]

Great! I hope your able to continue without pain. That's one thing I do like about cycling. You can still do gentle/easy rides and not hurt your body (usually). I always tease my friends that jog. I let them know that I'll still be enjoying my rides once they've quit cause of joint pain.

 

[Flinstone]

Road over the hill behind my house to get a picture of the valley on the other side. 93 degrees out with a good amount of humidity. We call these days triple H weather. Hazy Hot and Humid. Oh yeah that hill is 1000 ft of elevation and 4 miles to the top. Makes for a bit of a sweat but worth the view.

Total ride was 31 miles with almost 2400 ft of elevation.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Road over the hill behind my house to get a picture of the valley on the other side. 93 degrees out with a good amount of humidity. We call these days triple H weather. Hazy Hot and Humid. Oh yeah that hill is 1000 ft of elevation and 4 miles to the top. Makes for a bit of a sweat but worth the view.

Total ride was 31 miles with almost 2400 ft of elevation.

Nice bike! Is that a Tarmac?

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

Road over the hill behind my house to get a picture of the valley on the other side. 93 degrees out with a good amount of humidity. We call these days triple H weather. Hazy Hot and Humid. Oh yeah that hill is 1000 ft of elevation and 4 miles to the top. Makes for a bit of a sweat but worth the view.

Total ride was 31 miles with almost 2400 ft of elevation.

Nice bike! Is that a Tarmac?

Endurance geometry plus the ZERTZ pseudo techonology on the seat stays, I think it's a Roubaix.