Maiden Voyage

mkdon05

Hopefully getting out for my first spin on the new road bike this weekend. What sort of distance should i be looking to complete? I have a route from santry to swords to clarehall to coolock and back to santry that makes up 21k. Would this be reasonable for a beginner?
All input appreciated.

Raam

yeah that's plenty. Then you can build up by about 10% every week. You don't want to over do it at the start.

Hungrycol

That's great mkdon05. If it's a nice day and you're thinking of the morning time then I might even join you unless you want your first outing solo 21k is loads for your first voyage but do whatever you can and remember you gotta get home too. Bring a spare tube, leavers, pump and water.

What's your new bike?

mkdon05

Hungrycol wrote:

That's great mkdon05. If it's a nice day and you're thinking of the morning time then I might even join you unless you want your first outing solo 21k is loads for your first voyage but do whatever you can and remember you gotta get home too. Bring a spare tube, leavers, pump and water.

What's your new bike?

Cheers Hungrycol, I'd say it will be the saturday afternoon if its Dry out.
Well its a second hand bike but new to me. Its an Easton Frame with shimano gears campagnola wheels and hubs. Its the Girlfriends brothers old one. Its in the bike shop at the minute getting serviced up!

Hungrycol

Okey dokey. Hope the weather holds for ya. There's nice routes around the airport that are good a flat that will clock up some more kilometres. I too commute into and out of work from Swords each day but because of one thing or another I haven't been out for a weekend spin in a long time, in fact the Wicklow 200 was the last weekend spin I had and that was on the 10th June :eek: . I forgot to mention I'm a fair weather cyclist :rolleyes: and being a fair weather cyclist the enormous level of precipitation has halted and such weekend warrioring.

Lettuce know how you get on.....

mkdon05

Will do!.............
Maybe we could sort out some spins in the future!
Boards Wheelers:D

Hungrycol

mkdon05 wrote:

Will do!.............
Maybe we could sort out some spins in the future!
Boards Wheelers:D

AND......

blorg

Hungrycol wrote:

in fact the Wicklow 200 was the last weekend spin I had and that was on the 10th June :eek:

Ah yes, 10th June. Lovely day for it, sun beating down out of the sky and people complaining that it was too hot. And then it all started the next week. Well, HAPPY NOW !?!?!

Hungrycol

blorg wrote:

Ah yes, 10th June. Lovely day for it, sun beating down out of the sky and people complaining that it was too hot. And then it all started the next week. Well, HAPPY NOW !?!?!

Yes I think it was 49 continuous days of rain since then. Nope, not happy, 'dale has been hanging up in the utility room for over 2 months now :mad:. I still commute to work and got absolutely SOAKED yesterday on my way home. Couldn't believe the amount of water in my frame. I wasn't cycling home I was swimming home!

mkdon05

So This is what happened to me on Sat.
Was supposed to be trading in my car with a dealer, He says yea come out to me at 11. At 2 o clock the car i was supposed to buy still nowhere to be seen, the dealer keeps disappearing, I eventually tell him to shove it!

Bad start to the Day but not to worry, i'll head into dorset street to pick up my bike and go for my spin, clear the head and all that.
Get into town at 4 bells and bikeshop is closed :eek:

Havent had a day like it in ages though, so i guess i was due one!
Should be getting the bike back this evening though

cunnins4

Just got my first roadie too. Only done 250k on it so far, but I love it. You will too man. 21k would be loads for a first spin-i went out for my second spin on mine after a week in Malta, felt a bit bad for not training for a week and decided to do 65k when the most i'd normally do would be 45k. Needless to say i was in bits for days afterwards (i also brought no money, no food and just one bottle of water) Lesson learned. As hungrycol said, bring a spare tube, levers and a pump. I had to learn that lesson the hard way too!!!

mkdon05

Yeah i reckon i'll get the spin essentials tommorow evening,ie tubes, levers etc. I bought Some power bars and energy gels already (I reckon there my most essential items, I'll probably be slumped over the bike after 20 minutes )
As a matter of interest, what sort of time should i be aiming for to complete 20K ?

Hungrycol

Anything under and hour and a half for 20k would be a good achievement. Having said this if it takes you over 2 hours don't worry about. It's not a sprint so don't knacker yourself in the first 5 k's. I've done this many times in the beginning not knowing how long 20 or 30 or 40 kilometres actually is. Do the route, get to know the terrain, traffic lights, etc and next time aim to do it faster. I think it was American 80s cyclist Greg Le Monde said "it doesn't get easier, you just go faster".

(PS I like watered down Lucozade Sport, half and half, as its very sweet on it's own. Don't like the gels too much but Power bars can be nice a chewy.)

cunnins4

It really depends on your fitness tbh. I've been cycling my whole life, and the first time i went out on a long ride (about 32k) it took me 1hr20-and i was absolutely knackered afterwards. If you have a speedo, find a speed that you can just keep on top of and go with that. Anything under an hour i'd say would be quite good if you're out for your first time, but that said, it really depends on your fitness buddy. Give it a shot and see how it goes. Then you'll know where you stand and you can set goals accordingly.

The key to cycling is enjoying it though! Unless you're training for a race, just go out and find somewhere quiet with nice roads (kinda hard sometimes!) and enjoy it. Cycling's fun and a good way to clear your head, so just go out and take your time with it.

Oh, and those gels are manky! The tropical fruits one is the only flavour i find even slightly tollerable! Some of the bars are very very chewy, and take a while to eat. Try a banana too-i find them good, and those Cornyo bars everywhere's selling are only 80c and easy to chew.

mkdon05

Well i cycle to work every day which is 7.51km each way. Generally takes 25 minutes. Although the home journey is pretty much all uphill (City centre to Santry) and can take 28-30mins. So i'm gonna set myself a target of 1hr 20mins for the first go at it!
Thanks for all the input Lads!!!

Sean02

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dylbert

mkdon05 wrote:

As a matter of interest, what sort of time should i be aiming for to complete 20K ?

I only started cycling myself, been out about 5 times. I'm doing 20km in about an hour, Swords to Malahide along the estuary, then along the coast to Portmarnock, then cut across to Malahide Road and back to Swords. It's a nice route, very little traffic.

mkdon05

Well finally got out for the maiden voyage last night Done 23k in 50 minutes so was chuffed with that! It was the first time i had used clipless pedals too and i have to say, they are the dogs b*ll*x

I can feel a bit of a love affair brewing

cunnins4

mkdon05 wrote:

It was the first time i had used clipless pedals too and i have to say, they are the dogs b*ll*x

I can feel a bit of a love affair brewing

yes, yes they are. Bravo on the time. If it was your maiden voyage you'll very quickly have that time knocked down a good bit. I think that's about 27kph. Ya should set a goal to average comfortably let's say 30kph by the end of october or something like that and go at it. Ya'd be amazed how quickly you can build up. Rest is as important though, so make sure ya let your legs rest after each heavy ride.

Hungrycol

Wow that's excelent! 23k in 50 mins.. jeeze.

Once you've caught the bug there's no turning back. I'm completely hooked... and with weather like this cycling is all the more enjoyable.

Beware, everyone falls in the early days of using clipless pedals, normally a comical fall stopped at traffic lights and keeling over. Happened me twice, once stopped on a left hand bend, the came the "oh sh*t, oh sh*t, oh sh*t" then the embarrassment and spinning the back wheel with your hand in a "the bike did it not me, there must be something wrong!" scenario.

Anyway, what colour's your new bike I'll give you a wave if I see you on the road around Santry.

mkdon05

yea, i have to say i was delighted to do it in that time! I couldn't believe how the road bike just devoured the kilometres. Huge difference to my hybrid!
Im not lookin forward to my first fall! Hopefully it will not be in front of a huge audience
I'd love to go out again this evening in that sun but unfortunately cant , so hope the weather is as good thursday evening!

The bike is a greyish blue with bright blue grip tape! Or just look for the lad with a big tired look on his face:D