An Assortment of Questions

humbert

As I mentioned in a previous thread I've bought a Specialized Allez Double recently, which is a considerable upgrade from my previous bike.

It's probably quite basic by the standards here but I'm really starting to love it as I get used to the dropped handlebars.


The first question is about locking it up. I don't have room to keep a commuting bike and a recreational bike so the old one has been stowed away and I'm commuting with the new one.

Probably the dodgiest place I'd be locking it is outside Cineworld on Parnell St at night (9 - 11 pm). I've a Kryptonite New York lock which I put through the back wheel and the cycle rack. Then just a crap cable lock around the front wheel.

Is this something I need to stop doing pronto or can I consider it fairly safe(I'm aware that if a well prepared thief wants it they'll get it but I don't know how exactly or how easily).


The second question is about my level of fitness. I'd beed doing a bit of cycling around the Carlingford Mountains in Louth about two years ago but since I've moved back to Dublin it's just been a short weekday commute.

I attempted heading south of Dublin a couple of weeks ago and on flat ground things were going fine, but the first hill I encountered wiped me out disturbingly quickly. Did the same a second time and it was the same story.

I really like gaining a bit of altitude on a cycle, as much as anything for the views. Is it just general fitness I'll need to get back, or am I going to have to grit my teeth and throw myself at hills until I can get up them?
I realise there's a much different level of intensity for climbing that cycling even vigorously on flat ground might not prepare me for.


Lastly, having looked at the route put up by el tonto in the "Saturday May 2nd [Dub/WW] Spin" thread I have to ask, how long and what sort of preparation do you guys need to do to get the sort of fitness to be able to do that??


Oh, and completely lastly, I don't really feel comfortable switching to clipless pedals for commuting through Dublin rush hour traffic but they are supposed to be great for climbing. I was looking at pedals like this that allow normal and clipless use. What's the general opinion on that sort of thing? (It's not something I'll be doing anytime soon, just wondering)

Thanks for any info!

Lumen

Assume when you say "lock through the back wheel" you mean this, i.e. through the rear triangle. Read the rest of this for locking tips.

Someone on boards reported an evening theft from that location (Cineworld on Parnell St) a few weeks ago.

The Kryptonite lock is probably unjackable if you fill it well enough, but power tools will get through it in seconds (with a lot of noise and sparks).

Don't bother with single-sided SPDs unless you have an ongoing need to use normal shoes. You'll get used to them in the course of a single weekend ride and never go back.

Hills are all about pacing and gearing. How many teeth on the largest sprocket of your rear cassette? Try and go at a pace you can maintain continuously, and never stop on a hill. Hvaing to stop indicates that you are pushing way too hard.

You don't need to train on hills to get better at them, as it's mostly about your aerobic fitness, which you can train on the flat with a bit of discipline and occasional low cadence sessions.

A heart rate monitor is useful to measure effort if you like gadgets, or you can use perceived effort.

To really improve your aerobic fitness, you need to be regularly training at "Tempo" pace, which is the pace at which conversation is awkward but not impossible to maintain (i.e. no heavy breathing). Any harder than this and your recovery times will shoot up, and if you don't get enough recovery you'll get injured.

Don't do everything at Tempo - a good base of Endurance training is good. This supposed to be the "all day" pace, except that when you're new on the bike you probably won't be able to cycle all day regardless of how slow you go, because your body is adapting to the new position.

Try and finish every ride comfortably knowing you could have done more, as it's easier to overtrain than undertrain. While racers may have to do 20 hours a week to be competitive (or not), you only need a fraction of that to improve when starting out. Listen to your body, and "if it hurts stop doing it" and work out why.

Think about doing some off the bike flexibility and core strength training (e.g. pilates), and this will help you be more comfortable and go faster. This takes ages to develop, so it's better starting now than in six months time when you're injured.

FWIW it took me seven months to go from couch potato to my first 150km spin the the mountains, including bouts of winter idleness and injury. YMMV.

Gavin

Re the locking, as Lumen says, lock it correctly though the rear triangle. Your locking area is a HIGH CRIME ZONE. Your bike will not last long. It will either be stolen or more likely trashed.

No where at all you can put in inside? Hang it on a wall, take the wheels off and store it somewhere?

If you have no choice, replace the cable lock with a good chain and perhaps take the front wheel in with you, to at least prevent it getting kicked in.

dmigsy

I live in the city centre and there's nowhere in town that I'd leave a bike like that on the street. My bikes live in my sitting room. A great source of domestic strife:).

Some car parks have bike sheds. See the wiki for secure locations :

http://wiki.boards.ie/wiki/Secure_bicycle_locations

Temple Bar car park would be the closest to Parnell - not great, I know. Not being able to use a nice bike around town without being paranoid or carrying 12 different types of locks is one of my main dislikes about Dublin.

Harpz

I recommend taking off your front wheel and locking placing it between your bike and the pole/bikerack. Then thread the lock through the rear triangle and both wheels.

ROK ON

Sleep easy at night.
Store your bike in your gaff.
Please do not leave it in Parnell St.
It is an invitation to all those who frequent the are to rob or maim your bike.
C'mon now. A business that is allegedly operating as a fence for stolen bikes is apparently on that street.

Ghost Rider

Do you know if your chainset is a regular double or a compact double? If you're just starting to take your cycling beyond your commute, a regular double will make hills harder. A compact chainset has a smaller inner ring so it will give you lower gears for powering up hills.

Either way, the hills are hard when you first start out. But you do get better at them, even if you're not getting up into the mountains three times a week. Your muscles just seem to develop the ability to do hills. I don't know what the physiological process is...

On the pedals question, clipless will definitely make a big difference to climbing. Don't be afraid to try them if you can spare the cash. You could always try selling them on if you hate them, but I suspect you'll appreciate the extra power they give.

humbert wrote: »

The second question is about my level of fitness. I'd beed doing a bit of cycling around the Carlingford Mountains in Louth about two years ago but since I've moved back to Dublin it's just been a short weekday commute.

I attempted heading south of Dublin a couple of weeks ago and on flat ground things were going fine, but the first hill I encountered wiped me out disturbingly quickly. Did the same a second time and it was the same story.

I really like gaining a bit of altitude on a cycle, as much as anything for the views. Is it just general fitness I'll need to get back, or am I going to have to grit my teeth and throw myself at hills until I can get up them?
I realise there's a much different level of intensity for climbing that cycling even vigorously on flat ground might not prepare me for.


Lastly, having looked at the route put up by el tonto in the "Saturday May 2nd [Dub/WW] Spin" thread I have to ask, how long and what sort of preparation do you guys need to do to get the sort of fitness to be able to do that??


Oh, and completely lastly, I don't really feel comfortable switching to clipless pedals for commuting through Dublin rush hour traffic but they are supposed to be great for climbing. I was looking at pedals like this that allow normal and clipless use. What's the general opinion on that sort of thing? (It's not something I'll be doing anytime soon, just wondering)

Thanks for any info!

petethedrummer

humbert wrote: »

cycling around the Carlingford Cooley Mountains in Louth

Fixed that for you.

Lumen wrote: »

You don't need to train on hills to get better at them,

It's debatable.

I have got better up hills mainly from my long daily commute which is flat, but there's nothing like practising on hills to get used to hills. And if you've already been up a hill its much easier to go up it the second/third/fourth time. You get better at judging how much effort you have to give to get up without consciously thinking about it.

ROK ON

petethedrummer wrote: »

It's debatable.

I have got better up hills mainly from my long daily commute which is flat, but there's nothing like practising on hills to get used to hills. And if you've already been up a hill its much easier to go up it the second/third/fourth time. You get better at judging how much effort you have to give to get up without consciously thinking about it.

Big +1 on this.
Psychology and familiarity are a big factor (for me anyway).

humbert

Thanks a million for all the input.

I just want to clarify; my bicycle sleeps inside at night, but I go to Cineworld on Parnell St. quite often and usually at around 9/10pm so I was wondering if it was madness.

I did read about the other poster who got their bike stolen from around there which is one of the things that made me nervous.

I had been locking it through the rear wheel and the segment of the frame above the back axle. I read that article the Lumen linked to and that way seems good too but I don't really understand why it's better?

The perceived effort article was very good too and I've gone out a couple of times since and used it as a guide. While I'm sure it'll take practice it has helped me keep a good pace. Before I think I was either going to easy or much too hard and so really wasn't getting the most out of the cycle in terms of enjoyment or fitness.

My chainset is a double, I don't know about compact. It's a specialized allez double. I do have to get off the saddle for really steep sloaps but I think for the moment it's a compination of a lack of fitness and strength holding me back.

As I said, thanks a lot for all the help and hopefully being able to manage a decent trip on the bike isn't too far off.


Oh and I really want to get clipless pedals but I use the one bike for everything and so sometimes it would be a bit of a sacrifice not to be able to wear normal shoes.

humbert

humbert wrote: »

Oh and I really want to get clipless pedals but I use the one bike for everything and so sometimes it would be a bit of a sacrifice not to be able to wear normal shoes.

My commuter (Giant FCR) is the only bike I have too. It takes a small bit of time to change it from the weekly commute to the weekend spin, but stuff like changing the pedals are simple and quick to do.

blorg

To be honest the only real way forward is to get a second bike, something cheap that looks pretty crap, for cycling around town. I went down this route after having four good bikes stolen in the space of two years around 2000-2002- have been lucky enough not to have any go missing since.

Look for secondhand hybrids around the €100 mark.

This will also solve your clipless pedal dilemma