Topic: The Cycling Thread

[Snowman]

Gonna put my bikes in my sig now 

[pi314]

Not sure if this belongs here on in the fitness thread

I have been biking on and off this summer, a lot of travelling so nothing regularly. Anyways Last week there was a 50% off sale on EVERYTHING at my local store... Though I was tempted to buy a new bike, I was creamed by an old man on an older version of my own bike so I decided I need to shed more pounds first  . What I did buy was a trip Computer to give me an instantaneous readout.

This week, I've biked every day. The trip computer combined with regularly using Strava ( on quadzilla's recommendation), I've upped my average speed on essentially the same route by 4 km/h in a week!. I'm still in the low 20 km/h range, but I can certainly attest to the value of getting measurable metrics and feedback. The weather has thankfully not given me an excuse to skip riding, and I hope it continues to be this way for at least another month

[Jaeger]

^^^ Good stuff.  Keep at it.

[rrocket]

New cycling record:

http://deadspin.com/cyclist-jens-voigt-breaks-record-with-over-204-laps-in-1636580763

[Jaeger]

Very impressive accomplishment - staying so focused and motivated for what is essentially a brutally long sprint.

I can't think of many places I'd be less interested in riding than an indoor track, though.

[quadzilla]

Here is some interesting info about the hour record.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_record

[blotter]

completed one of my favorite races of the year.

"Paul's Dirty Enduro"


I kind of sucked a couple of friends into the 60k distance.  Because I did that, I promised we ride it together.
So I decided I'd look at this as a group ride instead of a race.  We had some fast moments, but it was a serious challenge for these guys and it was sweet to see them complete it.  They've never even been on a trail ride that long before.   

While my Garmin clocked in at just over 50km (I forgot to start it right away) my friends both clocked about 65km.      The race (ride) included nearly 1300m of climbing!!!!!!!!!   I'd have to say that only 5k might not be single track trial.  It's trully epic!!!!

[blotter]

here's the fun:

[quadzilla]

  That sounds like a lot of fun.

[Snowman]

Wow...looks like a lot of fun 

[blotter]

^^^

absolutely.   the bonus of doing this with those guys, while it was slower than I'd personal prefer... it was a fun ride and I wasn't dying at the end.    It's the best way the ride the area, it's so vast, with a marked course you can't get lost.   You get 3 feed stations too.   While it's fun to race in a brutal kick your butt kinda way, if you just ride it, it's a lot of fun all around!!! 

One downhill we hit 40km/h!!!!!!!!

[Snowman]

Mapped out a 51 km in the city route and will attempt it this morning.

[johngenx]

Used my bike for the first 5km (10km round trip on the bike) of a backpack Sunday/Monday - and it was the roughest, rockiest, rootiest trail I've ever ridden.  Two benches to get over meant it was up/down/up/down and some of it very steep.  The $139 Coscto bike took a pounding and holy crap were my arms fried.  I was pretty beat by the time I parked the bike and set off on foot, and I still had 10km and 1100M of vertical left.

The terrain:

[pi314]

As Brigitte so rudely reminded me, cold weather is coming up.

As someone who gets cold relatively easily (and more easily as I shed the pounds), what do you guys recommend for colder weather biking wear?

To give you guys an idea of how cold I get... I wore a light windbreaker and golfing pants today in 24 degree weather when I went biking... 30 degrees is where I'm comfortable

[johngenx]

http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/mens-alti-mitts.html

[Brig]

As Brigitte so rudely reminded me, cold weather is coming up.

As someone who gets cold relatively easily (and more easily as I shed the pounds), what do you guys recommend for colder weather biking wear?

To give you guys an idea of how cold I get... I wore a light windbreaker and golfing pants today in 24 degree weather when I went biking... 30 degrees is where I'm comfortable

On really cold mornings, I wear Polar fleece longjohns over my shorts, then take them off when I get too warm.  Windbreaker is good, as long as it's packable once removed.  Then again, it has to be REALLY cold for me to feel cold.  I've always been a walking furnace, awake or asleep.  Anything over 21C ambient temperature makes me sweaty and cranky.   

[rrocket]

Used my bike for the first 5km (10km round trip on the bike) of a backpack Sunday/Monday - and it was the roughest, rockiest, rootiest trail I've ever ridden.  Two benches to get over meant it was up/down/up/down and some of it very steep.  The $139 Coscto bike took a pounding and holy crap were my arms fried.  I was pretty beat by the time I parked the bike and set off on foot, and I still had 10km and 1100M of vertical left.

My boss did this race:  http://www.transrockies.com/trc/

He said at times he was carrying the bike as much as riding it.

[Guy]

That's a brutal race.

[rrocket]

That's a brutal race.

IIRC, he finished 25th in his division.   

[Snowman]

As Brigitte so rudely reminded me, cold weather is coming up.

As someone who gets cold relatively easily (and more easily as I shed the pounds), what do you guys recommend for colder weather biking wear?

To give you guys an idea of how cold I get... I wore a light windbreaker and golfing pants today in 24 degree weather when I went biking... 30 degrees is where I'm comfortable

I use $30 scuba divers wet suit gloves when cycling in the cold. A lesson learned from working in the winter and sweating that involved snowmobiling, cutting wood, snowshoeing, ice fishing, etc. Hands never get cold even when really wet.