New to cycling

[LG17]

Originally Posted by ratter

how high a cadence?

I try to average 90. Obviously I start off slowly till my legs get a bit warm and "loose" and then go from there. I do remember to warm down at the end too.
90 may not be high to you but to a broken down nearly 65yo on a hybrid bike I think it's a fair rate.

[blueoval]

haha, that's the trap there Rob. Sometimes trying to 'show' someone up by passing them usually ends up you having to hang on their wheel coz you underestimate how good they are. I used to be like that. But learned that if they are ok with it, you hang on their wheel and then pick your spot to burn passed them.

You'll get faster and faster as you spend more time in the saddle. If your doing Darlington hill daily, eventually you'll go up there and still have a 10 min conversation with a rider along side and not feel out of breath.

[LANKY 1]

Originally Posted by blueoval

You should come out one day with us Dan. We sometimes do Norton Summit if your keen.

Not so keen on riding up hills, Specially with the bike I have. (really do need to upgrade!)

[ratter]

Originally Posted by LG17

I try to average 90. Obviously I start off slowly till my legs get a bit warm and "loose" and then go from there. I do remember to warm down at the end too.
90 may not be high to you but to a broken down nearly 65yo on a hybrid bike I think it's a fair rate.

90 is a good cadence to aim for, obviously some can maintain it easily while others can't, but I found I used to only be able to do approx 70 and anything above was running me out of breath, slowly over time this has improved to where I can spin quite well on a good day, where I was leading to with the question is, you see a lot of bike riders grinding away at 60 or less, this will tax you more than spinning, but I assume you already know this from your answer

[TZENU]

Originally Posted by blueoval

But learned that if they are ok with it, you hang on their wheel and then pick your spot to burn passed them.
.

Perferably up a climb!

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by LANKY 1

Not so keen on riding up hills, Specially with the bike I have. (really do need to upgrade!)

Mate Im dead slow up hills bloke. I did Norton in 30mins. Average is 12-15mins on a 5% climb. Im not that good dude and if you have a MTB you'll have better gearing than me on the climbs. Heck, the last time I went up there I got passed by 2 dudes on MTBs!!! Talk about deflating. You should have a go. you might surprise yourself.

[ratter]

I hate inclines, too heavy for them (well that's my excuse), love declines though, Arthurs seat was a nightmare going up but coming down was great fun

[LANKY 1]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Mate Im dead slow up hills bloke. I did Norton in 30mins. Average is 12-15mins on a 5% climb. Im not that good dude and if you have a MTB you'll have better gearing than me on the climbs. Heck, the last time I went up there I got passed by 2 dudes on MTBs!!! Talk about deflating. You should have a go. you might surprise yourself.

well that is good to know, didn't think about the better gearing. the small rises along the river torrens bike path slow me up a fair bit.

Originally Posted by ratter

I hate inclines, too heavy for them (well that's my excuse), love declines though, Arthurs seat was a nightmare going up but coming down was great fun

THink my 18kg bike would be better suited to down hill too. but the tyres are literally gonna fall apart any second now, and the brakes don't stop all that quick even on flat ground.

[blueoval]

Definitely time for an upgrade then Dan. :-)

Depending on your budget, you could opt for a decent 2nd hand road bike or try your luck on an online frame with 105's for a bit over 1k. http://www.cyclingexpress.com/cycle/...road-bike.aspx

[LANKY 1]

what is 105's?
Nice bike, but don't think i'm committed enough to spend a grand on a bike even though it is nearly 50% off.
Think I would be happy with a decent 2nd hand bike. I would be looking at MTB or a hybrid I reckon
Need a free weekend too.

[Captain Stubing]

Originally Posted by prydey

moving right along...

my ride to work last night, and home this morning was creak free... woohoo, a minor win. it was 'click' free too so hopefully it lasts. was nice riding a nice quiet bike.

i got sucked into a bit of a trap too. riding solo to work (or anywhere) you go along at your own pace, particularly when going to work as i have a 9 hour shift ahead of me. turns out, regardless of the situation, i have a competitive streak in me... got passed early on by another rider, who seemed to streak away, but then i noticed he wasn't really gapping me so i decided to catch up and pass him again.... its slightly demoralising when you think you've gapped them and then you hear them right on your wheel also about the time that i realised i'd gone out fairly hard. d'oh. had to coast in to work after that so that i wasn't knackered before i even started my shift.

being a slow learner, the same thing happened on the way home. cruising on the flat this time, i got a red light and as it went green another cyclist flew past. of course i had to get up to speed as quick as i could and try to hang with him...

i guess i'm just used to riding on my own and going at my own pace, esp to and from work.

Rob, I've experienced the same thing a few times riding to work - even caught off guard by women. That's something that makes you wake up!

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by LANKY 1

what is 105's?
Nice bike, but don't think i'm committed enough to spend a grand on a bike even though it is nearly 50% off.
Think I would be happy with a decent 2nd hand bike. I would be looking at MTB or a hybrid I reckon
Need a free weekend too.

105's is the model of drive train Shimano uses. Its considered entry level racing spec. Ultegra is 1 above it. Tiagra is considered 1 below it. Just food for thought when you end up looking for a second hand bike.

Plenty of 2nd hand bikes out there on Bike Exchange website. The hybrids are decent, have an upright seating position and the tires are a bit more slick for faster speeds.

[blueoval]

Prydey did his first ride with the Adelaide Cyclist crew on Saturday. I must say the bloke did pretty well for someone new in the saddle. Well done Rob. Hope to see u out on some more rides mate.

[MercurySilver]

cyclists everywhere already in our neck of the woods
all riding two and three abreast and not in the bike lane (its not as smooth as the road so they wont use it)
tour down under starts this week

i booked the week off and plan to only go out for a drive if i have to
absolute nightmare on the country roads
how on earth someone doesnt get killed, especially the weekend riders i dont know

nothing like coming around a corner doing 80 and 4 cyclists are all over the road in front of you

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by MercurySilver

cyclists everywhere already in our neck of the woods
all riding two and three abreast and not in the bike lane (its not as smooth as the road so they wont use it)
tour down under starts this week

i booked the week off and plan to only go out for a drive if i have to
absolute nightmare on the country roads
how on earth someone doesnt get killed, especially the weekend riders i dont know

nothing like coming around a corner doing 80 and 4 cyclists are all over the road in front of you

i know what your saying, its an inconvenience but extra care needs to be taken this week.

[sgt_doofey]

Who else is doing the TDU on Friday and what are your goals?
I'm doing it and hope to do the full 127kms in somewhere around the 6 hour mark. Most likely the far side of 6 hours.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Prydey did his first ride with the Adelaide Cyclist crew on Saturday. I must say the bloke did pretty well for someone new in the saddle. Well done Rob. Hope to see u out on some more rides mate.

thanks mate. was lots of fun.

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Who else is doing the TDU on Friday and what are your goals?
I'm doing it and hope to do the full 127kms in somewhere around the 6 hour mark. Most likely the far side of 6 hours.

All the best Sam. I wont be this year. The 5am leave to get from home out to Modbury scared me off. Im not an early riser at the best of times. Plus I am pretty flat out with work.

[MercurySilver]

agreed and yup i take that bit extra care as theres nothing like coming around the corner to 3 wide cyclists
the security guard at my work is teaming up with some fellow workers and he plans to do the 127km in just on 5hrs
i called him freaking mental
said he did 104km not long ago and did that in 4hrs

reckons he has tried checker hill road just out of kersbrook 5 times
made it up and back once
got home and was that rooted he couldnt get his foot out the pedal clip thingy and just fell over in the driver
the guys in his 40s and is freakin huge and fit as hell
he said if its too hot on the day he is going to start riding at 5am and get a head start
think they might be raising money for a local charity, not sure
anyway as much as they **** me off around my way (had it again today turned right and they just cut across the road like a pedestrian causing me to brake for them and just stuck their hands up yelling thank you, and got the bird in reply) i hope he does well, gets his time of 5hrs and raises some money

[LG17]

Very wet ride this morning up here!
Saturated in less than 5 mins.
Oh well, once you're wet you're wet.

[blueoval]

to do 104km in 4 hours is pretty insane if hills and traffic lights are included. Decent effort. I know if I were to do 100km it would take me a good 5 hours min at best.

[ratter]

are you guys talking total time or actual moving time?

[blueoval]

i would have thought moving time. total would be too hard with traffic and all.

[MercurySilver]

dunno
only spoke to him briefly about it
id say it would be moving time
look i know bugger all about cycling but knowing the guy and how fit he is i cant see him stopping to much
ill catch up with him next week when im back at work and see how he went
and there wouldnt be too many traffic lights up that way lol
from my joint thru to kersbrook and then down to st agnes there isnt any until you come to st agnes shops somewhere i reckon
i can only imagine trying to get up checker hill road...that thing is insane!
fun in the car tho.
have to pop out today and i reckon it will start to be getting packed
can usually hear them all yelling and egging each other on down Yettie Road but i dont think they actually come that way this year?? not sure.

[blueoval]

Isnt Checker hill like 18-20% over 800m or something like that? I hear its a ball breaker

[[Buckets]]

hey guys, figured I'd post a couple of pics of my bikes. I'm a pretty avid mountain biker but I do get on the roadie every now and then and I've done a couple of Sydney to Gong rides.

Cannondale CAAD9, full Dura Ace and light as a feather


My bitsa MTB, started its life as a Giant Yukon but was pretty much rebuilt from the frame up, mix of XT and XTR.

[blueoval]

nice rides mate.

[MercurySilver]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Isnt Checker hill like 18-20% over 800m or something like that? I hear its a ball breaker

not sure
but it certainly is a ballbreaker
wheres the other one i heard of yesterday that i think they ride today (?)
corkscrew road?

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by MercurySilver

not sure
but it certainly is a ballbreaker
wheres the other one i heard of yesterday that i think they ride today (?)
corkscrew road?

yes, someone told me corkscrew is 8.2% average over 2.5km. If you have ever ridden up Willunga hill, thats 7% over 3km as a guide. You wouldnt think 1.2% difference would be anything bad, but it can break people.

[prydey]

TDU mountain summary

Stage 1 - Checker Hill - 13.3% 0.6km

Stage 2 - Corkscrew Rd - 9.0% 2.4km

Stage 3 - Eagle on the Hill - 4.0% 3.7km

Stage 4 - Humbug Scrub - 4.0% 6.3km

Stage 5 - Old Willunga Hill - 7.5% 3.0km

Stage 6 - Montifiore Hill - 2.52% 0.635km