Tell us about your cycle today part III

Wildly Boaring

Went for a run instead.

Shockingly good driving over near the parents while I was out. Kinda Skryne Walterstown direction. Not one close pass or dope swerving at the last second.

My own father didn't know it was me and gave me an acre of space. Fair play.

We'll see what the bike is like tomorrow.......

Wind was blowing a gale in my neck of the woods and it was absolutely freezing first thing this morning. Considered staying in the shed but wrapped up well and managed to get some bit of joy out of my spin.

First 20k were with a tailwind but it was too wild and gusty to put the boot down and so I took it handy. Stupidly chose a hilly route and headed for the coast so the wind only got worse. The last 30k were straight into a brutal headwind and were tough going.

Got home in one piece and was happy to get into a hot shower.

Overall, Garmin recorded 72k with 850m up at 28.2kph: https://www.strava.com/activities/6312407794

Garmin dropped out three times for some reason, so probably closer to 80k.

magicbastarder

fairly chilly out there this morning. barely made a dent in the water bottle, took one swig and i may as well have added ice to it, it was that cold. 55km around NCD at 27km/h.

there was a strange effect this morning where i'd be cycling on a bone dry road, swing onto a different one at a junction, and that road would be wet, and it would alternate like that. there seemed not to be a lot of consistency; it didn't seem to be down to aspect or tree cover, i was wondering might it be do to road gritting, as salt is hygroscopic.

speaking of which, i must go out and hose down the bike just in case.

68 lost souls

Nice 100km today out to Maynooth, been a long time since I’ve seen triple figures, was worth the extra lap around the block

secman

Went out with club touring group, out to Ferns, towards Enniscorthy but took the left turn just before scarawalsh roundabout, nice little draggy road all the way to The Harrow. On to Boolavogue, Ballyedmund, out coast road, Kilmuckridge,Ballygarrett, Courtown and back into Gorey. 70 kms 600m up @ 28.2kph. 🥶 enough.

Wildly Boaring

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118235366#Comment_118235366

Yeah noticed that everywhere too.

Was wondering was it heavy dew or fog in early morning??

Got in about 55k myself about south Louth.

Bettystown Drogheda Baltray Clogherhead Port Beach and back via Sandpit.

Few cyclists about. No groups at all. Very few cars. Very cold.

I was pretty obvious, Mistral's first day out. Got it on sale over summer. Veeeeery yellow

beggars_bush

52km at 26.6kph with 320m up.

grouchyman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118197493#Comment_118197493

Thanks for the welcome to the retirement club @Mercian Pro My target was to reach 6,500 kms this year. With the added opportunities that retirement gives for spins I hope I can beat that target. Just wondering how far beyond it I'll get. Being a member of a club is, to me anyways, the best way to cycle. Can't beat a club spin for a bit of craic and encouragement. I'd encourage anybody interested in cycling to join a club

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118237040#Comment_118237040

it was very humid this morning if strava is to be believed - 97% but at 3C maybe that's not as noticeable. one example i came across was i came down the mall (southbound from fourknocks) and the road was completely dry, but when i hit the oldtown-naul road, it was instantly wet; as in enough so you could hear a slight hiss of the water under your tyres.

grouchyman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118198415#Comment_118198415

Hi @Weepsie

Just wondering what route did you take for you spins between Abbey & Ballygar? Did you head for Glenamaddy & Creggs or through Moylough & Mountbellew, or some other way? I'm always looking for new routes 😀

grouchyman

Found it mild & wet this morning @ about 6.30 when I headed out to the shed for turf for the range before having the “Porridge” breakfast & heading out shortly before 8 for a 9 a.m. spin.

Came across a few horse boxes in Ahascragh. Didn’t realise that there was some class of a horse fair organized for today. Anyways didn’t cause me any problems.   

I was 20kms in by the time I hit Ballinasloe & I was well wet at this stage and it was turning out to be a truly miserable morning.  The first miserable one of the winter really.  

Anyways from Ballinasloe I headed for Dysart, Athlone & back to Ballinasloe about 60 kms in total.

With the weather being so miserable and the roads being very wet I was conscious of the conditions and so were most drivers, who to be fair, gave plenty of space when passing, however there was one headerball of a driver who tried to overtake just before the Supervalu on the Bealnamulla side of Athlone. The eejit came close to wrapping himself and his car around a bollard in the middle of the road.

I was cold getting on the bike after stopping for coffee and it took me a while to heat up. However, the rain had stopped and the weather had started to brighten so I think that helped.

At one stage I had a look at the dirt from the road that had splashed up & stuck to my jacket and I decided that there was no way I was drinking from the bottle on the bike.

Coming back through Ahascragh the horse fair was in full flight, but I got through the town no bother.

Anyways 101 kms done @ 25.1 kph. Happy with that.

As a point of interest I found the spin from Ballinasloe to home tough, so I checked the spin on ridewithgps –

20 kms into Ballinasloe @ 25.3 kph.

Ballinasloe – Dysart, Athlone- Ballinasloe 60 kms @ 26.5 kph. &

Ballinasloe to home 20kms @ 22.3 kph.

Hard work but enjoyable. Winter is finally here.

01Surveyor

I usually post about trips on the canals, but with the big 7 oh approaching the missus isnt happy about me 'acting the eejit on that bike' alone on the canal so its been back to the road for me with a great group of lads.

Ive been doing 100k+ spins since May but only managed a 60 and an 80 the last two Sundays so yesterdays 110+ was a bit of a shock and the oul legs are very sore today. It wasnt as cold as we expected and certainly better than last weekend.

I've been shocked at the behavior of motorists since my return to the roads, I've been cycling for 40 years and I reckon its got worse despite the safety campaigns, the Garda need to get actively involved. Cycling two abreast and having a bit of chat has become a risky activity most of the time, Ive even had a car veer across the road straight at me and swerve back again at the last second, much to the amusement of the driver and his pal.

I'll have to persuade the Missus that the canal is safer......might give the Deep Sinking a miss though.

magicbastarder

good strong WNW wind so i decided to go for two PRs on my midweek loop around the airport. got one, but frustratingly the wind dropped off considerably for the second segment.

also frustratingly, i just noticed that if i'd tried even a tiny bit harder on the segment i did get a PR on, i'd have jumped into the top ten.

had to stop halfway through to ring fingal council - the roundabout at the western end of the main runway has significant debris on it, some stones and lumps of concrete up to the size of a shoe.

beggars_bush

Cycle to train station this morning 18 mins

25 min train journey

Cycle out to work, 15 mins

Cycle home afterwards with some added km 1hr40mins

Forgot the bike computer but an enjoyable cycle. Surprisingly mild

smacl

First night cycle for me this year, out to Enniskerry and back. Front shifter decided to die half way out so stuck in the small ring, but taking it handy enough getting used to cycling unlit roads again so not a major problem. Blowy enough but still grand out for the time of year and just wasn't in the frame of mind for the turbo. Off for the booster jab this morning so further cycling today looking unlikely.

magicbastarder

that was one of the toughest days i've had on the bike in a while. 4C and nearly 40km/h winds. got in 95km around NCD at 25km/h.

maybe the beers last night didn't help, but i ran out of steam with about 20km to go; recovered a little 5 or 10km from home.

monkeyslayer

Side swiped off my bike by a go car coming up to the bend just past the hell fire club on stocking Lane yesterday. Literally drove past me like I wasn't there, sending me shoulder first into the wall, luckily I'm slow but quick to react. They didn't stop, I doubt they even looked back. Still angry 24 hours later.

columbus_66

A bit icy this morning around Lucan so turned around, might be OK in another hour.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118271061#Comment_118271061

any damage to yourself?

monkeyslayer

Bit of a bruise on my shoulder and a scratch on my brake lever, winter gloves probably saved me some skin. I powered up the hill after hoping they'd stopped at the viewing point but nope, probably a good thing looking back, just wish I'd gotten the reg for the gardai.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118271085#Comment_118271085

the frost still hasn't cleared from the roof of the car yet here, and it's been exposed to the sun for about an hour. tired legs from yesterday anyway, so that's decision made not to head out this morning.

Luxman

It was fairly sketchy out there. I decided on just an hour spin but still had to cross 4K of backroad and it wasn’t pleasant. Happy to get to the main roads and get home. Lovely bright cold day to be out. The right temperature to make you keep working/warm

Citizen2011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118271245#Comment_118271245

It’s worth a shot. I know at the outset of a go car booking there’s a “locate my car” function on the App so they must have some sort of tracking. I wouldn’t let it go if that happened to me. It’s like mad max on the roads now. The amount of driving through red lights is off the charts. Huge amount of car drivers don’t give an absolute damm about the impact of their driving.

retalivity

Up to Sally Gap via stocking lane, back down round Kippure estate and the army camp. Cold and patches of frost in places, but roads were generally fine. Mostly sunny, with the exception of very weird, localised fog at Sally gap, was a lot colder there too than literally 500m away.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6346128012

monkeyslayer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118271800#Comment_118271800

Yea maybe, tho I guess getting that data even if it existed would be a legal battle in its own right, especially as id have no registration, no witnesses and no injuries so to speak. All I have really is that it was a gocar in the shape of vw golf. I'd get the reg on a road facing cctv camera on that road maybe but even that's illegal. Just have to suck it up and just use more space on that road next time. There'll be no getting past me now 😂. The most annoying thing about it is I'm convinced the driver had no idea what they did and could have caused.

bazermc

Skipped the usual spin this morning, too cold for my liking And went for a long walk

Of course, guy passed me on race bike with just shorts and top on. There’s always one!!!!!

beggars_bush

70km this morning at 27.4kph with 310m up. Was constrained time wise as herself wanted to go shopping

Was a lovely morning once not on a back road

gn3dr

Had my first fall on a road bike in years yesterday. Back wheel totally went from under me on a wet hairpin near Caragh Lake. In hindsight the road was probably greasy from the Historic Rally that ran through there last week.

Happened so fast. Got the left leg out but bike was already down and sliding so left foot dragged along road, left knee I think mashed straight into the tar while right leg still attached to bike made me do involuntary splits 😬

Can barely walk today with swollen knee. Going down stairs is interesting.

Tore the bar tape, the side of my SLR saddle that I only fitted a few weeks ago and wore about 3mm off the left Favero Assioma power meter pedal. It still works though but have ordered a new pedal body from Cigala.

grouchyman

Spent some time setting up a smart turbo, then downloaded a course onto my garmin & cycled it as a training exercise. Still not quite sure what I'm at but anyway 7kms @25.8 kph (virtually)

buffalo

Took the little fella out, found a friendly horse.