your daily bicycle log

Off to brave the wilds (not wild) of Surrey (flat). I will take my camera.

And I'm back. Longest ride I've ever done.

35.66 miles
2 hours 18 minutes riding time
Average speed: 15.43 mph

Here's the map (central London and Heathrow included for scale) - I cycled through Richmond Park on the way, and through Teddington, Twickenham and Richmond on the way back.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/biondino/weybridgecycle.jpg

The maps's slightly out as I cycled along quite a few miles of riverbank - the route should be about 5% longer. Like a nob I forgot my camera which is a real shame because the autumn sunlight on the river was beautiful.

Here's proof of the flatness of the route:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/biondino/Weybridgeelev.jpg

nice work mark. break those records!

W-I-N-D-Y 3 hours today. ouch.

H-h-h-h-haaaands c-c-c-old. Glove time.

I've been doing 10-14 miles a day this weekend -- Cavestomp at the Warsaw making up about 9m of that, plus some Prospect Park loops and errands. Tonight is the last of the shows, though.

Also just realizing that the park loop is like 3.6 miles and can be accomplished SUPAH QUICKLY relative to same distance on city streets. GAAH traffic, lights, stupidity.

you were in prospect today? i was there from 8:30 - 12:30 :/

park loop is 3.3 i think tho?

No, I went yesterday. Friend works there, met her and got tour of boathouse/nature center.

Good news: have established that my patent leather red flats and my pointy-toed black boots both fit into toe-clips. Sadly motorcycle boots do not, can't get feet directly over the pedals.

Also there's a bike lane all the way up Bedford now, which is no biggie if fast traffic doesn't bother you, but nice for everyone else.

yeah, im enjoying that bike lane through the hasidic wburg

OMFG 4 hours of a 3.3 mile loop. sorry for that. after 4 hours i bet you now exactly how long it is.

No biking this weekend. But I have discovered that the isle of white has miles upon miles of cyclable bridleway on good chalk downs. Need to get that cross bike, with a triple crank though.

Bike lane is awes b/c on the left you never have to fight w buses and it keeps the fast left-lane traffic out of your ass. However when the street is closed for a shtetl block party (LIKE LAST NIGHT), bike lane is less useful.

Why does the park loop hill always hurt SO much? My suffering seems out of proportion to other hills/bridges I'm used to.

OMFG 4 hours of a 3.3 mile loop. sorry for that. after 4 hours i bet you now exactly how long it is.

yeah it's not that bad because there are plenty of group riders chugging out the same mileage as you. unless you have the time to get out of the city, there aren't many options for traffic free, light-free, training rides. central park loop is 6 miles, so a little more variety, but the marathon was today.

Theres a local park in town where you can do hottie spotting laps of about 2.3 miles, but there's no way you could train there. If you were to try, you're a douchebag, because you end up with a bunch of 200 lbs treksters on your wheel, and you endanger scores of 4 year olds and geriatric rollerbladers. And cops are there with radar- 15 mph limit. So its good its not too hard to get out of town.

Do the NYC parks turn into training races or what? When theres that many people, and not too many venues, I envision like 60 rider packs in those joints.

Fifteen mph limit?? That's like a normal cruising speed, isn't it? God forbid there should be a downhill or a tailwind, apparently?

Well, 10 years ago it was sorta routine to have people doing 25mph+ plus laps, but the inappropriate nature of that speed produced either a lower limit, or increased enforcement, not sure which.

I've never seen the park loop that congested, there are SOME people obv training most times I've been there, but the biggest groups I've seen were 2-3 people. Maybe early mornings are different? I think that's when the SRS riders come out.

I guess the nearest match round here would be the reservoirs, one in SE Denver one in the S Denver, and they each have 10 mile "laps," and plenty of rec racers training. Good spots. But each are almost an hour's ride from downtown.

no there are def large group rides in both prospect park and central park. could be anywhere from 15-20 people sometimes...

the most popular group ride outside of NYC is the george washington bridge->piermont->nyack trip up 9W

To Greenpoint and back on the heavy-as-shit 3-speed. I forgot that riding a slow bike really isn't a problem cos they're geared low, as long as you don't mind poking along and not going too quickly. Nice out tonight, not too chilly. I do love drunken night rides when your energy is good and the cool air perks you up and hardly anyone else is on the streets.

OH HAPPY DAY!

The tavistock place/torrington place bike lane is now cyclable end to end for the first time in years, I am sure they will be digging it up again by the end of next week.

look out for COMPLETE FUCKING MORAN pedestrians.

I had done of those on maple st at lunchtime and my only accident in recent years was caused by one on tavistock place.

yeah they are incredible. it's definitely the most well-marked, clearly separated "HELLO! BIKES COME DOWN HERE!" bikelane i regularly use, and also the one with the most fuckwit pedestrians walking into/along/over it.

Apparently there are no bikes allowed in the cemetery here; is that normal? I was so excited when I rolled in there, miles of crisscrossing empty roads, beautiful trees and mausoleums, I figured this would be my new favorite ride spot.

I did another 90 minuter this morning, but thanks to getting kicked out of the cemetery most of that was just Froggering in traffic; I'll probably ride to my buddy's house up past the JIF factory later if it isn't raining, where I will play drums and drink beer. That ride home is great; entirely downhill, ridiculously wide bike lanes, the great peanut butter smell of the factory.

Also me and the boy rode the whole perimeter of my grandparents' farm yesterday on a couple funky old Huffys, it took us about 2 hours, but we were stopping frequently to climb bails of hay, watch the neighbors run their horses, etc.

Lycra-clad dudes zooming around a cemetery doesn't really smack of proper decorum, so it seems fair enough.

Because dead people care.

cemeteries aren't for the dead though

No, you're right. Maybe some cops to enforce a speed limit and lycra-ban? Surely the nearest and dearest to teh deceased can't object to nice, staid, classy looking father-and-son bicycle outings on heavy old machines, it's practically an affirmation of everything the aged are supposed to stand for.

TOTALLY FUCKING EXHAUSTED

more after i eat all of the food in my house

Brrrrr. Although three layers actually too warm, could do with a thinner middle one. And a headband maybe.

Also, asshole in a Lexus doing some kind of idiot reversing in the main road manoeuvure, right into the path of traffic already backed up by temporary traffic lights.

what kind of layers are they?

http://www.kitchenlink.com/ch/2000/august/desserts1.jpg

thin wikking base/fairly thin mid/wind & waterproof.

kkck

I am gonna need something long-sleeved soon for when it does get cold and i don't wanna wear my waterproof all the time cos then it will get stinky

i was looking at long sleeved jerseys but i can't afford to buy like 6 of them or whatever

are they worth it?

maybe i should just go and get a bunch of long-sleeved ts from the charity shop...

There's always arm warmers as a stop gap measure. Or wear a warm base layer under your short sleeved jersey.

If you get the wicky cycling jersey,s emsk, you can rinse them out every night and they will be dry by morning. check eBay, there are normally loads of cheap ones there.

Tom I was fine in a regular long sleeve t-shirt yesterday. Waterproof? It wasn't even raining!

I kinda wish I'd cycled today - yesterday I just had so much energy (and my combined commute time was 56 mins - never done it below 57 before), and today the weather's nicer. But, I don't read scripts when I cycle and they're piling up (non WGA, I promise!!), so I took the train. However, I am wearing my Condor cycling jersey :)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2345/1580010955_3360df0efc_m.jpg

(weird, I img-ed that okay I thought. Anyway, it's a pic of my sweater)

I can see it. Con D'or eh?

There's always arm warmers as a stop gap measure. Or wear a warm base layer under your short sleeved jersey.

-- NickB, Tuesday, November 6, 2007 12:18 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

arm warmers! what? i have never seen these! i think 2 layers will be too many for me, even in coldest january after 15 minutes i'm having to stop to pull my top layer off. i think it's cos i always use a backpack in winter so it keeps my back warm.

If you get the wicky cycling jersey,s emsk, you can rinse them out every night and they will be dry by morning. check eBay, there are normally loads of cheap ones there.

-- Ed, Tuesday, November 6, 2007 12:20 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

cool thanks! sizing is all weird though..

Snood is definitely the way forward for me I think. Handy for snowboarding too.

Race-gimp arm warmers:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Images/Models/Full/18090.jpg

Those pictures spook me a bit, cos there is obviously an arm in there, but never any body or hand attached. Gah!