I cycled up to Framlingham (just past Ipswich) from Greenwich for the Easter Weekend...nearly 100 miles into a bloody headwind the entire way...6 hours or so of cycling and was knackered at the end... Am meant to be 'training' at the moment as am cycling from Antibes to Annecy in 7 weeks times, followed by an attempt at Ventoux 3x in a day in mid July (we were going to try for 6x in 24 hours but then realised that only about 75 people had ever done that and none of them were a group of blokes in their 40s...) but I just can't be bothered...have settled with a Greenwich to Cvt Gdn commute each day...am not sure that is going to be enough...doh! Had a couple of scares lately with people pulling out etc - I just get myself in front of them at the next opportunity and then sit there, staring at them and calling them a wanker, daring any of them to get out...typically it seems to be bus drivers and Addison Lee drivers....
Ha! That's the thing that puts me off tts. It's the thing I'd be best at if I took cycling seriously - I'm not a natural climber, and though i can do endurance rides, I'm better when I don't have to ride in a group. Nothing I like more than beating my own pb on a 15-20 mile route, but there are too many things outside your control on an open road tt, like traffic lights, cars pulling out and trying to kill you etc.
You know what the best thing to alleviate legginess is, don't you? Rule 5...
Jihaddison Lee. Them, bus drivers and black cab drivers. An absolute disgrace. What really f###s me off about them is that they're never in the wrong. Despite it being patently obvious, they're on the defensive the second you peel yourself off the road/extricate yourself from their wing mirror/slide off their bonnet. I'm with CC - that c### yesterday got bawled at for the whole length of Brixton Road. It's not clever, but the total lack of regard for peoples' safety is getting worse, not better.
Going back to that ride after the marathon, we had three near misses in 50 miles. I know that was the first time I'd been out on the bike in months but 3 in 3 hrs? It really is getting worse not better. Drivers just dont seem to give a sh*t.
Good old Rule 5. CC introduced me to "the rules". How many people would have even attempted a 50 mile ride after running 26 .2 miles? Not many, thats for sure.
The amount of people on bikes down my way is ridiculous - doesn't help that Cobham was on the Olympic cycling route - a lot of very sad Wiggins Wannabes
Yeah - imagine that. Out of order that all those people living near you should enjoy a popular pasttime like cycling. Bloody liberty as well - British cyclists being good at it too, thus encouraging even more people to join in. Disgrace.
Third f**wit in a fortnight. This morning's imbecile decides she's going to turn left across a bus lane, without indicating but (get this) AFTER looking in her side mirror. Swerved to avoid her - the poor sod inside me wasn't so lucky and went over her bonnet (albeit at about 5 mph). It absolutely beggars belief.
This might sound like a strange question, but I've recently got myself a road bike only to discover that I have a small inguinal hernia.
Can anyone tell me if it's ok to ride with such a problem? I have hardly any pain, just the odd sharp one when standing up from a low chair. I'd rather make sure it's ok than set myself back even longer with my training. I will be getting surgical treatment at some point, but it'd still be nice to remain active until then. Cheers.
I think the normal advice for a hernia in the groin area is to carry on as normal, but take care. Over time it'll probably get worse, but provided you don't overdo it, it should be ok. The surgery is nothing to worry about either - that said, I wouldn't put it off too long as you don't want to start developing an asymmetry in your muscles - this would probably lead to groin strains/tears further down the line.
If it was a hernia further up your abdomen, is suggest not doing anything strenuous at all until you get it fixed - higher abdominal hernias are prone to rupture and this can be very serious (fatal).
I used to get groin strains all the time when I was younger. I like to think it's because of my massive meat & two veg, but in reality, it runs in my family.
Thanks Leroy, think I'll give it a go then. It's frustrating as I'd been looking forward to getting started, only to be given the bad news the other day.
I know it's a very common problem, and apparently the operation recovery time has been greatly reduced in recent years, so hopefully I'll be back on the bike fairly soon after.
Just one little thing... I live at the bottom of shooters hill... Wish me luck!
Thanks Leroy, think I'll give it a go then. It's frustrating as I'd been looking forward to getting started, only to be given the bad news the other day.
I know it's a very common problem, and apparently the operation recovery time has been greatly reduced in recent years, so hopefully I'll be back on the bike fairly soon after.
Just one little thing... I live at the bottom of shooters hill... Wish me luck!
Shooters Hill? Pah. Try Brasted Chart, Pebble Coombe, Whitedown or Cudham. Your groin will know about it at the end of those
Thanks Leroy, think I'll give it a go then. It's frustrating as I'd been looking forward to getting started, only to be given the bad news the other day.
I know it's a very common problem, and apparently the operation recovery time has been greatly reduced in recent years, so hopefully I'll be back on the bike fairly soon after.
Just one little thing... I live at the bottom of shooters hill... Wish me luck!
Live at the bottom of Shooters Hill, eh? You lucky wotsit, so do I. Fancy joining me for hill reps one night??? Thats Welling > London and back again six times both sides. 17miles in total.
Leroy is right though, reps of both sides of Toys and Brasted to finish off is the way to go
Bloody hell Leroy and JohnBoy, that's made me feel sick just looking at it! Might need to gradually work up to that, but would be great to join you at some point. I'm the Welling side of shooters hill, not far from you by the look of things.
Shooters Hill is actually a really nice climb - it's got enough bite in it to take something out of the tank, but it's not spiteful enough to ruin you to the point you don't want to do it again. Blackheath Hill, on the other hand, is horrible. Both up and down. Traffic thundering past you all the way up, squeezing you onto the kerb, and steep enough to make you shit yourself for traffic pulling out on the way down. I did Croydon-Brighton yesterday - believe me, Devil's Dyke or Ditchling are best NOT tackled at the end of a 70km blast in the pissing down rain...
Yeah, Shooters Hill always seems pretty tough when I see people riding up it. Blackheath Hill is just constantly busy in terms of traffic, so if I use the bike for work (Old Kent Road), I'll probably go up Maze Hill or through Greenwich Park.
Are there any decent cycling apps out there that you would recommend?
Strava is great - lets you compare your times on segments of routes against other people and against your own previous times. Very useful as a motivational and progress charting tool.
A GPS is essential as you get more into it. There are cheap ones and expensive ones - ans you can also get half decent ones for your phone (though the GPS chips in phones are far less reliable). If you do decide to go the phone route - even if it's just while you're deciding whether you want to spend the cash on a 'real' GPS - then mapmyride is well engineered and pretty good. The maps are decent and you can upload them to your phone after planning routes out ahead of time. You can also upload to Strava as well when you've finished your rides.
This last two days has been the most insane, frustrating, ballache of an experience on a bike I've ever had. I knew the tube strikes were going to mean chaos on the roads, but it seems every numpty on Earth has dusted off their dad's old Raleigh Burner and decided to bike it in. On top of that, the drivers have decided that they quite fancy ramping up the tension by treating London like Liberty City for a couple of days. I have literally lost count of the number of near-misses I've seen or been involved in - including, most memorably:
A family of five fat fucks deciding to cross five lanes of traffic at the top of Park Lane this evening, slowly, in the face of buses, lorries, cabs and cyclists because they didn't want to walk 50 yards to a pedestrian crossing An imbecile walking straight into the bike lane in Hyde Park this morning without looking to take a picture of his missus A BMW driver pulling straight into a bus lane at the Oval tonight without indicating, hitting a cyclist 5 yards in front of me An idiot on a fixie careering through the lights at the bottom of Vauxhall Bridge and coming within less than a second of obliteration by a bus A woman yesterday morning dawdling through red lights at Hyde Park Corner and almost being squashed by an artic (kudos to the driver for spotting her - an absolute miracle because she must have seemed to come from nowhere to him Countless people on Boris Bikes riding them like they were made of lead and veering all over the road as they tried to get them started from traffic lights
There was at least one highlight though. A drainpipe-wearing, skateboard helmet sporting Hoxton twat trying to trackstand on Oxford Street and landing on his face.
The last two days have made my mind up - there should be a compulsory cycling proficiency test for anyone entering central London on a bike.
Now that we're safe and next year's season tickets have been paid for, if there's any spare coins of the realm floating around I'd appreciate if you could throw a couple this way.
All for a good cause, Guide Dogs. Thanks for looking
I won't ever do the commute by bike again now. Just far too dangerous. Fair play to all those that do, you've got more balls than me and I consider myself a proficient cyclist!
Leroy - I noticed the same...too many numptys.. I came off yesterday at the top of Tooley Street, where you turn left to go down Borough High Street...fucking idiot just stepped out into the road without looking, right in front of me..I went straight over the handlebars, almost perfecting a forward roll, complete with bike as was clipped in to the pedals, ending up sprawled in the middle of the road, still attached to my bike... Fortunately no damage done other than a bruised wrist and fingers, but could so easily have been a collar bone gone (or worse..). Not sure who was most shocked... Sometimes I do question my sanity for commuting by bike but it's still the 'least worst' option at the moment....
I'm doing four days a week at the moment. Overall it's definitely getting worse, but I'm pretty used to it now. As a relatively experienced cyclist, I am absolutely dumbfounded at some of the stupid things I see inexperienced and, frankly, shit cyclists doing. What on Earth possesses someone without a helmet, riding a Boris Bike, to ride up the inside of a truck with a left turn coming up less than 50 yards away, for instance?
You are always going to suffer from arsehole drivers - whether you're a cyclist, another motorist or a pedestrian. Accidents are going to be a fact of life cycling in London. The risks I see some cretins taking though make my toes curl - I'm sure 90% of the fatalities on the road fall into the category of 'cycling idiot' rather than 'driving idiot' - and it's not 'fast' cyclists that are at most risk, it's 'slow' ones.
Last night on my way to work coming up Denmark hill from camberwell green where you go round the back to cross Denmark hill towards Brixton lights green for me apporoaching them when all of a sudden a stupid bird comes flying across the red light in front of me on a death wish had to stand on brakes not to take her clean out, shouted abuse out of window to be told calm yourself down and fuck off, next time love I won't bother you can have a BMW badge imprinted in your forehead grrrrrrrr.
I have to admit to losing some confidence on the commute to work, due to the poor road skills of other car, motorcylists and cylists alike. I think there's a lot to be said that most cyclists are drivers, but not all drivers are cyclists. Having been a cycling for 50 or my 61 years, I've found that for the past 10 years it has got noticeably worse, and not just on the commute.
The only way I can approach the commute now is to try and make it as interesting as possible, and ignore the others who are trying to turn it into a race, or a PB. Adopt the rabbit persona, big ears and small mouth, and concentrate that little bit harder.
The fun riding is at the weekend, and the thought of the Gregg's sausage rolls now on sale at the Cafe in Avery Hill Park at the end of the ride, is the key motivator.
Do you cyclists ever try Eglinton Hill or Plum Lane as part of your hill training?
Never done them. Just looked them up - from the gradient they look pretty tame. Is there something horrendous about them that makes them difficult?
I mention them because you mention Shooter's Hill. Although from memory shorter they are rather steeper and I found them both harder with my Sturmey Archer 3 speed Hercules. I used to manage Shooter's Hill in third but had to change right down to first on the other two.
I've not cycled for a good few years now and hills might be easier these days with modern bikes and multi gears but I reckon you'd know you'd done them even so.
I was planning on switching the road bike back to summer tyres this weekend and getting it ready for the commute again but recent posts in this thread are making me question my sanity
Aldi's special buys starting this Sunday will be their cycling range, normally some good stuff in there
Comments
You know what the best thing to alleviate legginess is, don't you? Rule 5...
Good old Rule 5. CC introduced me to "the rules". How many people would have even attempted a 50 mile ride after running 26 .2 miles? Not many, thats for sure.
Can anyone tell me if it's ok to ride with such a problem? I have hardly any pain, just the odd sharp one when standing up from a low chair. I'd rather make sure it's ok than set myself back even longer with my training. I will be getting surgical treatment at some point, but it'd still be nice to remain active until then. Cheers.
If it was a hernia further up your abdomen, is suggest not doing anything strenuous at all until you get it fixed - higher abdominal hernias are prone to rupture and this can be very serious (fatal).
I used to get groin strains all the time when I was younger. I like to think it's because of my massive meat & two veg, but in reality, it runs in my family.
I know it's a very common problem, and apparently the operation recovery time has been greatly reduced in recent years, so hopefully I'll be back on the bike fairly soon after.
Just one little thing... I live at the bottom of shooters hill... Wish me luck!
Leroy is right though, reps of both sides of Toys and Brasted to finish off is the way to go
Are there any decent cycling apps out there that you would recommend?
A GPS is essential as you get more into it. There are cheap ones and expensive ones - ans you can also get half decent ones for your phone (though the GPS chips in phones are far less reliable). If you do decide to go the phone route - even if it's just while you're deciding whether you want to spend the cash on a 'real' GPS - then mapmyride is well engineered and pretty good. The maps are decent and you can upload them to your phone after planning routes out ahead of time. You can also upload to Strava as well when you've finished your rides.
A family of five fat fucks deciding to cross five lanes of traffic at the top of Park Lane this evening, slowly, in the face of buses, lorries, cabs and cyclists because they didn't want to walk 50 yards to a pedestrian crossing
An imbecile walking straight into the bike lane in Hyde Park this morning without looking to take a picture of his missus
A BMW driver pulling straight into a bus lane at the Oval tonight without indicating, hitting a cyclist 5 yards in front of me
An idiot on a fixie careering through the lights at the bottom of Vauxhall Bridge and coming within less than a second of obliteration by a bus
A woman yesterday morning dawdling through red lights at Hyde Park Corner and almost being squashed by an artic (kudos to the driver for spotting her - an absolute miracle because she must have seemed to come from nowhere to him
Countless people on Boris Bikes riding them like they were made of lead and veering all over the road as they tried to get them started from traffic lights
There was at least one highlight though. A drainpipe-wearing, skateboard helmet sporting Hoxton twat trying to trackstand on Oxford Street and landing on his face.
The last two days have made my mind up - there should be a compulsory cycling proficiency test for anyone entering central London on a bike.
All for a good cause, Guide Dogs. Thanks for looking
www.justgiving.com/joe-dray-tri2014
I won't ever do the commute by bike again now. Just far too dangerous. Fair play to all those that do, you've got more balls than me and I consider myself a proficient cyclist!
You are always going to suffer from arsehole drivers - whether you're a cyclist, another motorist or a pedestrian. Accidents are going to be a fact of life cycling in London. The risks I see some cretins taking though make my toes curl - I'm sure 90% of the fatalities on the road fall into the category of 'cycling idiot' rather than 'driving idiot' - and it's not 'fast' cyclists that are at most risk, it's 'slow' ones.
The only way I can approach the commute now is to try and make it as
interesting as possible, and ignore the others who are trying to turn it into a race, or a PB. Adopt the rabbit persona, big ears and small mouth, and concentrate that little bit harder.
The fun riding is at the weekend, and the thought of the Gregg's sausage rolls now on sale at the Cafe in Avery Hill Park at the end of the ride, is the key motivator.
Sorted!
I've not cycled for a good few years now and hills might be easier these days with modern bikes and multi gears but I reckon you'd know you'd done them even so.
Aldi's special buys starting this Sunday will be their cycling range, normally some good stuff in there