That commute is actually really nice until you get to Putney Bridge. Then it gets a bit grim down the King's Road before turning down Edith Grove for the Chelsea Embankment/Grosvenor Rd sprint which is always nice and competitive - before a final horrendous section through Victoria and Park Lane. All told it's much much nicer than when I commuted from Croydon and, though not as quick, a much nicer route than when I was doing Chorley to Manchester down the A6
Yeah, I'd like to see what's going on with the tops too - do we have a design to see or have to cough up any cash yet?
saw the aftermath of a nasty stack in westcombe park road this morning - someone hit by a car (or hit a car) on a roundabout (maybe Beaconsfield road)...person flat on the floor in the middle of the road when I drove past, still there, not moving, when I came back about ten mins later..didn't seem to be wearing a helmet...never worth the risk... Do hope that they are alright. Cycle safe people.
saw the aftermath of a nasty stack in westcombe park road this morning - someone hit by a car (or hit a car) on a roundabout (maybe Beaconsfield road)...person flat on the floor in the middle of the road when I drove past, still there, not moving, when I came back about ten mins later..didn't seem to be wearing a helmet...never worth the risk... Do hope that they are alright. Cycle safe people.
I used to live very close to there as a kid. (Sorry, boring fact that no one gives a shit about).
They're not much good for collisions at speed. I only wear one because compensation can be reduced if you don't even if the injury would not have been prevented.
They're not much good for collisions at speed. I only wear one because compensation can be reduced if you don't even if the injury would not have been prevented.
James Cracknell was hit by a lorry and is only alive because he was wearing a helmet.
Agree that at £15 job isn't going to help much but a proper helmet could potentially save your life. I commuted for a year without one. Shudder when I think about that now.
That commute is actually really nice until you get to Putney Bridge. Then it gets a bit grim down the King's Road before turning down Edith Grove for the Chelsea Embankment/Grosvenor Rd sprint which is always nice and competitive - before a final horrendous section through Victoria and Park Lane. All told it's much much nicer than when I commuted from Croydon and, though not as quick, a much nicer route than when I was doing Chorley to Manchester down the A6
Yeah, I'd like to see what's going on with the tops too - do we have a design to see or have to cough up any cash yet?
Your average speeds are bloody good. No matter how hard I try I can't seem to average about 16.5 despite cruising at around 19-22. Bloody traffic lights make the ride so frustrating!
I'm using commutes as training for racing. I'm going to start crits next year - probably the oldest debut in amateur racing ever at 42!
Commuting to/from the sw is perfect race training because there's loads of lights so you have lots of fast accelerations (just like in a tight circuit or road race) and there are always hundreds of other cyclists on Chelsea Embankment/Grosvenor Road to practice your bunch sprints
Ride London was brutal yesterday, very stop start, was stuck at the bottom of Leith Hill for 45 minutes due to the fatal heart attack on the hill, then a 20 minute wait after a pile up in Dorking, then seeing a girl in a neck brace and on a back board after coming off just before Leatherhead.
Ended up on a 96 mile ride, in 6:29 according to the Garmin, so 50 minutes off the 2013 time
Knew it would be carnage. People who barely ride a bike on some of the pieces of shit I saw yesterday was asking for trouble. Frankly I'll be surprised if they allow that many people next year. The broom wagon must have been sweeping people up because apparently there were still people going up Whitehall at 6.00 - the pro race was only half an hour behind them.
I saw some extremely sketchy bike handling from my vantage point next to a tiny climb in Wotton - god alone knows what it would have been like on a busy corner on a narrow road. Heard about the heart attack - a mate was stuck behind that as well. Sounds like you were in one of the waves he was.
Yep, was flying to that point, got to Abinger Hammer, and we getting told to slow down, and then to a halt. Dorking was caused by people thrashing in on the descent and not realising it narrowed.
I'll be tempted to pull Leith Hill, the descent is far far to technical for most, add to that a serious lack of calls from people when overtaking.
Leith Hill is a bitch of a climb anyway for most weekend warriors. Serves no purpose other than to punish people - far better to send the route up Ranmore, where the climb is grim, but the descent much safer (and wider)
Tyres. Best defence against the pf. What do you use and why. As I mainly commute and just do weekend pootles of up to 80 miles and have no illusions re speed I use marathon plus 700x28 on my Diverge. You?
Tyres. Best defence against the pf. What do you use and why. As I mainly commute and just do weekend pootles of up to 80 miles and have no illusions re speed I use marathon plus 700x28 on my Diverge. You?
Gatorskins with kevlar. 700x23c. Brilliant commuting tyres. Even running them at 110 psi punctures are a very rare event.
After a couple of weeks cycling my balls are in agony... Does it not ease off?
It won't if you haven't got the bike set up correctly for you.
Could be a duff saddle or the geometry of the bike.
If you haven't got a saddle with the centre hollowed out I'd try that. Before you buy anything, go to Cycle Surgery and get measured. They will tell you what width you need.
When I first started riding a road bike after 8-9 miles it felt like I was being sawed in half. Got measured and changed the saddle and the problem was solved.
+1 for what Clem says. Get a saddle fit. If you are using a saddle with one of those gel covers to make it 'softer', ditch that - they make things ten times worse.
Also look at your position on the bike and the tilt of the saddle. If you're sitting too far back on the saddle to overcompensate for a frame that's too small, or the horn of the saddle is tilted too far upward these can both result in squashed bollocks
Re: Tyres. Conti GP4000s on both my road bikes. Had Gatorskins on one but got a puncture in a torrential gale and my hands were so cold I couldnt get the tyre back on the rim. Took me 30 mins or so, I was fuming.
Think GP4000s is the best trade off between rolling resistance and puncture resistance. Just keep them up at 110psi and you'll be fine!
I use gatorskins on commuting/winter bikes (25c), GP4000s on my holidays/sunny days bike (23c).
Use Fizik Antares saddles on all bikes...still find myself shifting position constantly during a ride, to give certain parts of my anatomy a rest, despite having several bike fittings...
Rarely get on to CL nowadays - but happy to see this thread.
On the Strava CL page - been top of the leaderboard a few times - that certainly makes up for my lack of KOM's just 1 :-(.
Living just outside London is good for cycling though - regular commute is just a 20k jaunt, but can often turn it into 40, 50 or 100k loops if i've had a particuarly rubbish day at work.
Have never done a big cycling event like Ride london - don't particuarly fancy it tbh. I've done a few audaxs recently though - did my first 200k one on Saturday, london cambridge london. Great fun, really good bunch of people doing it. Doesn't have any of the issues that people seem to get on bigger rides and they're dirt cheap. Saturday's ride cost £11 and that included free beer and a bbq afterwards! Unsupported but you get a route card/gpx to carry you through. aukweb.netsts all the rides, i'm probably going to do a 200k and 300k in september - will add another 20k onto the 300 to turn it into my first double (imperial) century. You can buy temporary membership (£2) to sign up for a ride, or an annual membership is less that £20 and if you sign up now it'll see you through till dec 2016.
Just started reading The Rider by Tim Krabbe - superb little story of a fictional bike race, with plenty of real history peppered in it. Highly reccommend it.
@Leroy Ambrose - interested to hear about your racing! i've got aspirations to do a few crits next year. From what i've heard cat 4 sounds absolutley mental but also really fun.
I have some design skills (have previously done some t shirts for clubs/societies at uni) so would happily knock something up for CL cycyling top if that's a serious proposistion.
I'm hoping to take up audax, it looks great to me. There's a series of rides on the steamrides web site and also there's audaxuk and the Hackney audax club.
Comments
Any news on the Charlton cycling tops?
Yeah, I'd like to see what's going on with the tops too - do we have a design to see or have to cough up any cash yet?
I look ridiculous in mine but I always wear it, especially on riding on London roads.
Agree that at £15 job isn't going to help much but a proper helmet could potentially save your life. I commuted for a year without one. Shudder when I think about that now.
A helmet is not to protect you from getting squashed by a tipper truck, its there to protect your head from smacking off the road in a fall/collision.
Commuting to/from the sw is perfect race training because there's loads of lights so you have lots of fast accelerations (just like in a tight circuit or road race) and there are always hundreds of other cyclists on Chelsea Embankment/Grosvenor Road to practice your bunch sprints
Ride London was brutal yesterday, very stop start, was stuck at the bottom of Leith Hill for 45 minutes due to the fatal heart attack on the hill, then a 20 minute wait after a pile up in Dorking, then seeing a girl in a neck brace and on a back board after coming off just before Leatherhead.
Ended up on a 96 mile ride, in 6:29 according to the Garmin, so 50 minutes off the 2013 time
I saw some extremely sketchy bike handling from my vantage point next to a tiny climb in Wotton - god alone knows what it would have been like on a busy corner on a narrow road. Heard about the heart attack - a mate was stuck behind that as well. Sounds like you were in one of the waves he was.
I'll be tempted to pull Leith Hill, the descent is far far to technical for most, add to that a serious lack of calls from people when overtaking.
Anyway, chuffed with the time
Try cycling on CS2 everyday
Best defence against the pf.
What do you use and why.
As I mainly commute and just do weekend pootles of up to 80 miles and have no illusions re speed I use marathon plus 700x28 on my Diverge.
You?
Could be a duff saddle or the geometry of the bike.
If you haven't got a saddle with the centre hollowed out I'd try that. Before you buy anything, go to Cycle Surgery and get measured. They will tell you what width you need.
When I first started riding a road bike after 8-9 miles it felt like I was being sawed in half. Got measured and changed the saddle and the problem was solved.
Also look at your position on the bike and the tilt of the saddle. If you're sitting too far back on the saddle to overcompensate for a frame that's too small, or the horn of the saddle is tilted too far upward these can both result in squashed bollocks
Selle Italia Filante
Pic won't load, it feels to be in a fine position just really batters the bits!
Or have surgery, you have got kids already haven't you?
Think GP4000s is the best trade off between rolling resistance and puncture resistance. Just keep them up at 110psi and you'll be fine!
Use Fizik Antares saddles on all bikes...still find myself shifting position constantly during a ride, to give certain parts of my anatomy a rest, despite having several bike fittings...
On the Strava CL page - been top of the leaderboard a few times - that certainly makes up for my lack of KOM's just 1 :-(.
Living just outside London is good for cycling though - regular commute is just a 20k jaunt, but can often turn it into 40, 50 or 100k loops if i've had a particuarly rubbish day at work.
Have never done a big cycling event like Ride london - don't particuarly fancy it tbh. I've done a few audaxs recently though - did my first 200k one on Saturday, london cambridge london. Great fun, really good bunch of people doing it. Doesn't have any of the issues that people seem to get on bigger rides and they're dirt cheap. Saturday's ride cost £11 and that included free beer and a bbq afterwards! Unsupported but you get a route card/gpx to carry you through. aukweb.netsts all the rides, i'm probably going to do a 200k and 300k in september - will add another 20k onto the 300 to turn it into my first double (imperial) century. You can buy temporary membership (£2) to sign up for a ride, or an annual membership is less that £20 and if you sign up now it'll see you through till dec 2016.
Just started reading The Rider by Tim Krabbe - superb little story of a fictional bike race, with plenty of real history peppered in it. Highly reccommend it.
@Leroy Ambrose - interested to hear about your racing! i've got aspirations to do a few crits next year. From what i've heard cat 4 sounds absolutley mental but also really fun.
I have some design skills (have previously done some t shirts for clubs/societies at uni) so would happily knock something up for CL cycyling top if that's a serious proposistion.
happy riding.
There's a series of rides on the steamrides web site and also there's audaxuk and the Hackney audax club.