your daily bicycle log

At this time of year I seem to go through them faster. It's hotter so the rubber softens. I'm also heavier, which is harder on them. I've been group riding more which means I'm locking the rear wheel more.

I'm guessing I'm averaging somewhere int he 1500-2000km range but this rear has lasted a lot less

xp ditto

checkin back in from nobikeistan to say i rode cruiser bike one handed to railstation today, 1.2 miles woohoo. back in tha game.

i've been walkin it but walking 18 mins each way seems so...pointless.

great out the back of the saddle fart half an hour ago, ftw, fyi

Rode with someone way better than me today, 87km and 1191m of climbing got some great PRs on strava, probably my fastest long ride to date.

Why walk anywhere when you can bike, even one-handed? So slow, so much wasted effort.

Staten Island is very hilly.

got out for an hour in the sunshine around 1pm. spring!

might try for a longer one tomorrow morn.

Man on Brighton beach riding a new Pinarello Prince with toe clips and Vibram Five Fingers, ur doing it wrong.

thank you nick for that priceless mental image!

Lysol in my eyes

I too use Conti GP4000S tyres. I'm on my third set in a year, so probably about 4000 miles a time, with no skidding.

I've had some bad luck punctures on this new set though already, so they may not last as long.

luv GP4000s, 25s especially

Yep, rolling the 25s here.

23s for me

When I was into cycling first time around (88-91 ish) tyres were much narrower, iirc. I think 21 was standard for racing and you could even get 19 or 18. Now 23 seems to be as narrow as it goes.

Went out today for the first time in a week due to some minor surgery. I was absolutely flying, like I'd had a brake rubbing for the rest of the year. Unfortunately my ride was cut short by breaking a spoke on my rear wheel, the second in three weeks. I'd run this wheel into the gap between concrete slabs and I guess that didn't do it too much good. The braking surface is looking pretty worn, the wear marker is almost gone so it may be new wheel time.

too hot here to commute in the summer. back in the saddle this am. my bum hurts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cjwidQJNGo&feature=colike

Did a race on the Hillingdon circuit on Saturday. I can be mostly seen at or near the back of the bunch in that video. The pace was quite high (average speed 25.3 mph, but well over 26mph for the opening 8 miles or so) but I felt pretty good leg-wise. I had plenty left at the end, but as usual my lack of nerves of steel meant I was positioned nowhere near the action for the sprint finish (I think I managed to nail that all-important 24th spot).

http://app.strava.com/rides/21601720

ride 85km, do 3km of PAAAAAAAIN, then ride home again. i like to think we'd have gone a couple of hours quicker but my pal had THREE flats - luckily one was like 1km from the end. also we had to take lolzy detour up over a hill due to roadworks ("the road through there's collapsing, boys!").

Looks nice.

Fancy a pint week of October 1st?

yes!

Haitch, Tuesday, wednesday, Thursday all good that week. Hit the webmail link and we can work something out

Also do you know anywhere I can rent a bike? I'm being told to amuse myselfon sunday 30th so E can prep for her class. Would like to get a ride in. Thought about bringing mine but getting it there is almost half way to buying a new one.

Did a 25-mile time trial this afternoon and got a new PB (1:05:42). Since I got the heart rate monitor I've done a PB in two out of three time trials - it really helps to try to keep me at my threshold, and neither overcook it on the climbs or go too easy on the descents (or when I start daydreaming).

I wasn't planning to ride a townie 30 miles today including 4 bridge crossings, but sometimes these things just happen.

I'll rouse the other melb peeps, ed!

re a rentabike, try these guys or this lot.

cool, thanks

I rode to Mars today. Also my first sub 4 hrs 100km, I'm more impressed because it featured 1800m of climbing

http://app.strava.com/activities/22209318

Hey, gbx, you could do this tomorrow

http://www.voiceplaces.com/ride-with-professional-cyclist-tom-danielson-minneapolis-st-paul-2584900-e/

oh man group rides with actual roadies make me nervous

Just back from 56 miles and 4500 feet of climbing over Dartmoor. Bloody windy and hard work.

Something a bit different for me tomorrow...

Glasgow's second annual Harris Tweed Ride!

I have procured Victorian cycling gent style clothing and am really looking forward to the day out. It's a friend's birthday outing too, so should be especially fun.

It was great!

Amazing coffee, bloody marys, fish & chips, great local beer, oysters, whisky, vietnamese noodle soup, Scottish gin cocktails, pulled pork rolls, whisky cocktails.

And the merest hint of cycling.

Are you going to ride in tweed for the forseeable future?

That really sounds amazing.

haitch, when where should we meet next week?

ha, i thought webmail was being flaky yesterday - tried sending something twice and no good. tuesday night FAP is a goer if you're still available for that?

Tuesday, sounds good.

I DMed my email address to you through twitter

OK, no I didn't because you don't follow me

Marshalling duties today: up at 5.45am after very little sleep, rode 10 miles from race HQ to a roundabout with the temperature just 4C - had to wear some winter stuff for the first time since the spring. Did another 24 miles after the race but there was a howling wind so it wasn't much fun.

So yes, I am the proud owner of a tank of an MTB, but as soon as I started riding it a month ago...I realised that I am woefully out of shape.

Been just doing very short rides with QGP, trying to get in shape on the ol' shared paths before "shredding" those "sweet trails". It's woefully embarrassing how I'm going atm, bottom 10% of Strava sectors...but I'm on an absurdly heavy MTB, if that counts.

Had a very good but short ride on Sunday, through. Felt quite good after it, which is promising.

Fell down stairs while trying to get bike ready for race last night - sore at the bottom of my back and brusied elbow. Slept badly. Drove up to race HQ in freezing conditions. Garmin said -1C when I got on my bike to ride to the start. Only had fingerless mitts - my hands went through pain to total numbness in the opening miles. Then my chain came off when I tried to change up on a gentle descent. The same thing happened about 5 miles later. Finished time trial in sweltering temperatures (approx 5C) with a time more than two and a half minutes slower than my PB a few weeks ago. Not a great day. Next week: the Catford Hill Climb.

cycling!

I got doc permission to road ride just in time for an unending schedule of 14 hr workdays including wknd. (and 25 degree weather) :^(

sounds like you need some PT, i prescribe three full days of riding, i'll write a note

Cold and raining, just right for a ride across town to a lobster boil.

30 miles up the canyon- first ride since Aug 11. very pleasant, perfect weather.

One-handed or are you recovered?

Did the Catford Hill Climb today, it was brutal. I was trying to ride within myself on the lower slopes, but when it ramps up at >20% you instantly find yourself in a world of gasping pain. The road was wetter and muddier than last year so the back wheel kept slipping. I finished about a second slower than last year, but I'm happy with that. Beat Sean Yates too :-)

cool nbs.

two handed, but not without pain in my wrist and knuckles. i'm hoping it was good therapy.

mostly i felt fat and shitty, but then as i descended out the mouth of the canyon, i looked at the cottonwoods, all yellow and lining the drainage, and the sun on the corn and hay fields. fuck me, i'm the luckiest motherfucker ever.

Had to drag the summer bike back into service this morning for my club's hill climb championship. The conditions were terrible: torrential rain, stading water 6 inches deep in places on the way there, cold (3C) and a headwind. I took one look outside and decided to drive. It wasn't even certain that it would go ahead until the last minute - with my seven minutes to go I was frantically putting my cycling shoes on in my car. Freewheeled downhill and saw number 1 was just about to start (I was number 5). Rode a few hundred yards, turned around, got to the start, took off my waterproof top and realised it wouldn't fit it in my back pocket, starter ran to stick it in his car, I struggled to get my gloves back on, managed to clip in to pedals about 3 seconds before I was pushed off. I caught my minute man within sight of the finish so thought I'd done pretty well, but I finished second again (same as 2009, 2010 and 2011) to the same guy who always wins. Rode straight back down, grabbed top, rode back up the hill again and straight into the car. Today's ride: 3.4 miles.

Did my first mtn bike ride since injury- since mid summer really. Fantastic to be onsingletrack.

Flatted and missed the group yesterday, and as I was sitting in the park fixing the flat, I realized I was burned out on heading north for one of the same eight routes. Instead, did a few laps around the lake and then climbed a bunch of hills in the city. Did plenty of "I wonder where this road will take me?" and standing at the top of one hill, scanning the surroundings for the next hill to climb. 43 miles, only 2.7k feet of vert but some of that was damn steep.

Good, if chilly, 80km today. Started to feel very cold on the run back in, temperature had dropped a little but it hasn't been over 4˚C all day. Think I was running out of energy, Need to remember to eat more when its cold. Also need to buy a few more warm things for this winter