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New to Cycling

philly169

philly169

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I've recently bought a new bike, first for about 12 years! After a lot of searching I decided on a Boardman Performance Comp Hybrid, sadly Halfords have exclusive rights and built it for me.. I ended up taking it back the day after collection as they'd built it wrong, but now its up and running I love it!

I'm only doing short cycles around town and up to football training but I'm keen to get into longer rides and maybe doing some races, not to win, but to take part. I saw the Ride London this weekend and I'm keen to apply for the ballot for next year, did anyone do it or do other races similar, what is your experience?

I'm going on a 25 mile ride this weekend as I'm fairly close to Grafham Water which is 10 mile around, plus getting there and back so quite excited! I think I've found a new hobby!!
 
sev112 said:
Watch out mate - the marketing in cycling is worse than in golf
Click to expand...

This. So many urges to buy stuff since starting about a month ago! Luckily having no money helps kerb that! Still need clipless pedals and shoes, and fancy some new wheels already too! :D

The Boardman bikes are lovely, just a shame they're exclusive to Halfords.
 
Big organised rides are a nightmare.

Ive done London to Brighton, but would never do it again. Way too many idiots who have no idea of road safety. People cycling in a bunch looking backwards while on the phone. Then wondering how they end up in an ambulance. Saw loads of this. It's carnage. One girl face planted, and would have needed a lot of surgery. Not nice.

Also impossible to cycle up hill, as 90% walk, and block the road.
 
murphthemog said:
Big organised rides are a nightmare.

Ive done London to Brighton, but would never do it again. Way too many idiots who have no idea of road safety. People cycling in a bunch looking backwards while on the phone. Then wondering how they end up in an ambulance. Saw loads of this. It's carnage. One girl face planted, and would have needed a lot of surgery. Not nice.

Also impossible to cycle up hill, as 90% walk, and block the road.
Click to expand...

Good to know. If I was doing a "big" ride (i.e. London to Brighton), I think I'd like to do it on my own terms rather than something huge and organised.
 
Hybrid type cycles are great for commuting and leisure rides. Certainly the right type of bike to start with. Stick with it and if you find real enjoyment from covering decent distances and want to get faster, fitter and more competitive then a proper road bike is the way to go. If, once you've progressed to a road bike, you do want to get in to racing then hook up with your local cycling club. I believe that St. Ives and St. Neots both have good ones as does Cambridge (which has a couple, I think). As mentioned, very large, organised rides are not all that. Your local CC will run very organised ones with distances to suit all abilities plus you will be able to start competitive racing through them, if you reach that level.
 
philly169 said:
I've recently bought a new bike, first for about 12 years! After a lot of searching I decided on a Boardman Performance Comp Hybrid, sadly Halfords have exclusive rights and built it for me.. I ended up taking it back the day after collection as they'd built it wrong, but now its up and running I love it!

I'm only doing short cycles around town and up to football training but I'm keen to get into longer rides and maybe doing some races, not to win, but to take part. I saw the Ride London this weekend and I'm keen to apply for the ballot for next year, did anyone do it or do other races similar, what is your experience?

I'm going on a 25 mile ride this weekend as I'm fairly close to Grafham Water which is 10 mile around, plus getting there and back so quite excited! I think I've found a new hobby!!
Click to expand...

I used to cycle to a reasonable ( Cat 1 Road ) level untill 1995 when i broke my knee in 7 places and that was the end of that, so things may have changed a bit.
The first thing to do is join a local cycle club and they will do longer training rides at weekends of around 80 miles. This will help improve how you ride and get tips on races etc. Most clubs will also run weekly 10 mile time trials, usually one evening during the week. To take part in races you will need to get licence and you will have to start with a 3J, which is cat 3 and juniors and those races used to run on restricted gears and would usually be over 50 miles may be less now that there are all sorts of leg had been brought in since i last raced.

Good luck and prepare to be blowen out the back of the first few club rides.
 
I've spent so much money since I got into it earlier this year, got a Cannondale carbon road bike which was very expensive. Don't want to add up how much it all comes to..eyes watering!
 
I took up cycling about 2 months ago, originally bought the Boardman hybrid comp but also got a Cannondale Synapse 105 Flatbar off ebay, took the Boardman back as the Cannon is much better.

I've put in about 50 miles a week on average (10-20 mile rides) don't think I have the time to disappear for half a day but am going to take it up to 30miles soon. I'm a serious about staying fit through biking at the moment, whether I decide to race or join a club in the future is another thing.
 
I've just upgraded my bike today from a Giant Defy 4 to a Focus Ergoride 3. I got into cycling last year and been bitten by the bug big style. Like Murph, I did London to Brighton, a fantastic experience but probably wouldn't do it again as it's just too mobbed.

I've started doing a few sportives around the 40-50 mile length, these are good fun and really well organised.
 
Sadly my Garmin Forerunner told me Grafham was in fact 8.75m round :smirk: After that training runs had to include half-way along the dam and back!
 
I can see a GM forum cycling meet needs to be arranged ...

Ay suggestions for dress code - perhaps thick hand knitted woollen jumpers ...
 
The London to Brighton ride is renowned for being a nightmare. Look for sportive rides, generally they will not be as mobbed, and they have nicely way-marked routes, feed stations etc. They aren't races though and usually are not on closed roads.
 
I had my first ride on my new bike last night.....OMG I'm in love!

I have a benchmark 8.6 mile circuit, previous best time round it was 29m 54s on my old bike, lapped it in 26m 45s last night.

Is this the cycling equivalent of shooting 59? :whistle:
 
no... i think the rec for 10 miles is something like 15 mins somthing. I even managed an 18 min 10 of the f5 course in Milton Keynes a few years ago and i was a terribel tester;)
 
Aztecs27 said:
Anyone with a smart phone, I highly recommend using Strava to track your rides: www.strava.com

It's free, easy to use and records all the rides you do. Really good motivator.
Click to expand...

I tried Strava and one of my mates uses it but I couldn't get on with it, I use mapmyride instead. Also free from the appstore :thup:
 
drive4show said:
I had my first ride on my new bike last night.....OMG I'm in love!

I have a benchmark 8.6 mile circuit, previous best time round it was 29m 54s on my old bike, lapped it in 26m 45s last night.

Is this the cycling equivalent of shooting 59? :whistle:
Click to expand...

I think I'm a similar level to you, took it up in June, still riding solo, first 10 miler was in 34:30, just did 29:50 2 days ago, still nowhere near flat out but it's my first target out of the way. I reckon in race conditions there would be another couple of minutes knocked off too.

It's probably the cycling equivalent of getting below 100 :D
 
I tend to do a 50 km and a 40km each weekend, but have been struggling to get any mid week rides in

Really enjoying the countryside at a sensible pace
 
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