Tell us about your new improved government regulations compliant cycle part II

magicbastarder · 18-10-2017 07:33AM

well, summer is definitely over. google was claiming 4C in dublin when i left the house.
problem of cycling with even a small bag on your back - back ends up sweating like no tomorrow, while your fingers are starting to numb slightly. glad i bought those arm warmers in aldi though.

godtabh · 19-10-2017 08:13AM

Decided to try a different route into work. Came across a lad with a kid in the bike of his bike.

To put the child seat in he had to take off the saddle bag and of course he got a puncture.

To make things worse he had a medical appointment for the little lad and couldn't miss it.

Gave him a spare tyre and all the heat he needed to fix the puncture while the little lad told me about trucks.

I believe in karma. The man I helped told me that he recently gave a lift home to some one stuck on a bike on Sally Gap. That's karma right there!

Hopefully he made his appointment

Torres09 · 22-10-2017 12:12PM

45k around NCD and up Howth Head, glad I went with full bib tights, bit nippy this morning finger tips very cold, time for the full finger gloves I think...

Boscoirl · 22-10-2017 03:55PM

Went for a spin after lunch. Had planned ~50-60km. 5km out the road I realised I was too hung over, pushed on for a bit. Turned back @10km as I was really struggling.
Did 21km in the end. Now over in the pub for a cure

triggermortis · 23-10-2017 03:12PM

48 Km around NCD on the newly painted winter hack. Need new batteries for my Garmin sensors and another mount, but that's it now.
I was surprised by how mild it was out as I was dressed for much colder conditions and so had to peel layers off.

11wingnut · 23-10-2017 10:04PM

https://www.facebook.com/BBCSouthNews/videos/1523116067778978/

23-10-2017 10:24PM

11wingnut wrote: »

https://www.facebook.com/BBCSouthNews/videos/1523116067778978/

For anyone else clicking this who want's to avoid a permanent tic from rolling their eyes in quick succession DON'T READ THE COMMENTS!!!!!!!

triggermortis · 26-10-2017 11:14AM

https://www.strava.com/activities/1247486438

55Km around NCD. My legs are feeling a bit sore in places I'm not used to - must be the different bike that I'm not used to now. It was never a problem before but I must have got used to the Rose. Can't wait for better weather as I miss my Di2 already...

maryown · 26-10-2017 12:08PM

We go quite often to cycle Wicklow Mountains. Also open for other spins even somewhere further for 1-2 days.
Last leisure spin 58k.

Join our FB group and cycle together as it's completely different experience than on your own

https://www.facebook.com/groups/193790741147900/

smacl · 26-10-2017 01:27PM

Lovely lunch time ride up Cruagh direction to Masseys and back via Stocking lane. Still suffering badly with the shoulders so moving at a snail pace and getting off a fair bit, but it still beats the crap out of the turbo.

You'd know the Weevil boards crew had been through recently, wrecked the place they did!

secman · 27-10-2017 02:20PM

Had the day off today and have been off the bike for 2 weeks, a bad dose doing the rounds. Headed out to blessington and on to Poulaphouca , left turn around by the Poulaphouca house and on towards the lakes. On to valleymount and around the lake drive to Lacken. Back road to manor kilbride and home on n81.
70km avg 25.5kph, slowish but delighted to get out again.

Fighting Tao · 28-10-2017 02:24PM

96.7km Dublin to Drumintee, Co. Armagh for my commuter bikes first service. Had an awful headache most of the way and the headwind was punishing.

4hrs 17min moving
22.6kph

https://www.strava.com/activities/1250392546

Daroxtar · 28-10-2017 07:34PM

First spin apart from the turbo in a fortnight and to be honest the turbo sessions were only half hearted spurts just to spin the legs.
I was trying to get a few of the club mates to come up the hills with me but alas they all pulled out one by one.
I headed off on my lonesome this morning. Forecast said up to 15 degrees and dry so that was all I needed to know. Threw on the sexy new Santini Angliru jersey, Gilet in the back pocket and away off with me. I went up bohernabreena and on across by the firing range, Scurlocks leap and onto the Sally Gap. Now up top of the bohernabreena road was a bit foggy at that stage but it was still not too bad but by the time I got to the Gap crossroads it was a dirty mist and time to turn back. Which I didn't.
I went down to Laragh for coffee and cake. The fog thinned out a bit by the time I got round by the waterfall and a bit of a breeze picked up so I thought it might blow it off.
The coffee and sticky toffee cake was the business, although probably not in any respectable training manual.
The return up to the top of the Gap started slowly but I picked up the pace a bit as I got higher up and then the crosswinds, mist and misery started to play fck with me. From the crossroads over past Kippure was torture and freezing. Descending was treacherous. I am a confident enough descender but I was blown all over the road coming down by the lake. Then the featherbeds....
I don't think I have been as close to getting off the bike in a very long time and that includes some serious suffering in Spain a few weeks ago. The life was just sucked right out of me, doing less than 10kmh and my face was going into spasms on the left side with the cold wind and heavy mist. I could not even face goin the whole way over, as soon as I got to the Cunard road I bailed. And lo and behold, halfway down the road, it was dry and warm, just as forecast.
It took me ten minutes sitting in the car before I got enough feeling back in my hands to tie the bike on the rack. I'm sure it will help me build character or something but I'm still not right after it.
85km, 1358m climbed in a pitiful 3:45, average temperature 7 degrees

https://www.strava.com/activities/1250471846

magicbastarder · 29-10-2017 01:39PM

first time out on my otherwise usual sunday morning NCD spin, in about five or six weeks, but cut it short due to that northern wind and a head cold. 40km, and it took it out of me. felt like i was missing the last 10% capacity in my lungs.

magicbastarder · 29-10-2017 02:43PM

It wasn't that it was hellishly windy, more that I was heading north for the first half and my legs were complaining.

dahat · 29-10-2017 03:25PM

Club spin today, ended up down around Kilkenny and i must say road surfaces there are almost perfect, not a pothole to be seen for km after km.

121km at 29.7avg and I'm in a ball here, today was my official start to winter training and 2018 race season.

Now to stay away from the cupboard!!!!

C3PO · 29-10-2017 04:26PM

Had a really nice spin around Dublin and Wicklow today ... Including a coffee stop in the Happy Pear!
100kms/1850mts elevation!
Lovely bright day!

grouchyman · 29-10-2017 05:50PM

60 kms this morning. As it was my first time on the bike since 1st September. The legs and back are stiff and sore. I had to stop at 58kms as I got cramps in the back of my legs. Glad I did it though. Hopefully now get back with the club for the Sunday mornings.

AndrewJRenko · 29-10-2017 07:12PM

Glorious 2 hour spin out the Featherbeds, down Glassmucky and back home via Tallaght, touching 79kmph on the road into Tallaght, 647m elevation - hardly a breath of wind on the Featherbeds at all - only problem was sweat coming down into my eyes and stinging - I think I need Bjorn Borg style headband or something.

29-10-2017 07:34PM

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Glorious 2 hour spin out the Featherbeds, down Glassmucky and back home via Tallaght, touching 79kmph on the road into Tallaght, 647m elevation - hardly a breath of wind on the Featherbeds at all - only problem was sweat coming down into my eyes and stinging - I think I need Bjorn Borg style headband or something.

Smidgen of valsoline should do the trick, friend of mine who boxes suggested it to me years ago and I've used it since.

magicbastarder · 29-10-2017 07:41PM

this was mentioned here before; not sure how well it would sit with a helmet on your head too.

https://www.sweatgutr.com/

Fighting Tao · 29-10-2017 07:45PM

Yr.no promised me a tailwind coming back to Dublin today. It lied! I don't think it predicted much sun either. I got sunburnt!

Apart from that I realise that my commuter bike saddle is not good enough for 185km in 2 days. Let just say "it hurts".

So the second day of my trek was a little strange. One minute I felt like I had loads of energy, the next none and my legs refusing to work. However, an average of 24.5kph leaves me happy.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1252266598

nilhg · 29-10-2017 09:06PM

Muck, slop, back roads, russet leaves, beautiful autumn sunshine, Hollywood Glen, Donard, Blessington, Grangecon, good company, plenty of slagging, half of the lads getting lost, a headwind all the way home, all part of a good Sunday club spin.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1252122921

secman · 29-10-2017 10:17PM

Missus has very bad asthma so didn't get out yesterday and just a short spin today. Headed to Kilmuckridge and out by Wells to main road, next left turn back to Kilmuckridge and around coast road to Ballygarrett, down to Peigs bar and left for killenagh and home. 35 km avg 28.3kph hopefully she feels better soon and I'll get a half decent spin tomorrow. Looks a nice day tomorrow with little or no wind

On the sweat in eyes... I suffered greatly with this problem, bought 4 Nike sweat bands and definitely works... using one at a time

dahat · 29-10-2017 10:28PM

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Glorious 2 hour spin out the Featherbeds, down Glassmucky and back home via Tallaght, touching 79kmph on the road into Tallaght, 647m elevation - hardly a breath of wind on the Featherbeds at all - only problem was sweat coming down into my eyes and stinging - I think I need Bjorn Borg style headband or something.

I've always used a headband especially during summer bit lately with drop in temp I'm using a cap reversed and it's doing an excellent job.
I shave my head twice weekly with a mach 3 type razor so need something to stop the sweat.

Mercian Pro · 30-10-2017 09:09AM

Hadn't been up the mountains for a while so when a friend suggested going for a spin yesterday, I thought Sally Gap and maybe Laragh. YR was showing 11 degrees at Laragh so I went with shorts, base layer, ss jersey and arm warmers. It looked a bit odd with winter gloves but I thought I'd get away with it.
It wasn't a bad combination for the climbs on the Old Long Hill and Lugala but up at Sally Gap the Garmin was showing 6 degrees despite the sunshine. As forecast, the NW wind had eased off but it was not a place for hanging around. We decided to head back to town as it was only going to get colder and were cheered up (if not warmed up) by the Reservoir Cogs lads coming up by Lough Bray as we flew down. It took 15min in the shower later to get back to normal temperature.
It's that time of year again when choosing the right clothing is becoming critical especially if you don't carry too much natural insulation! Time to root out the tights and even the Mistral jacket and accept that Winter is on its way.

LollipopJimmy · 30-10-2017 09:39AM

40kms, out the canal and on to Celbridge. Longest run since doing Galway - Dub, I've found it really hard to motivate myself to get back in the saddle. Heading out again today so we'll get back into the routone

AndrewJRenko · 30-10-2017 02:09PM

Thanks for all the sweaty advice - must get a sweatband or two for a start.

godtabh · 30-10-2017 03:43PM

Havent done any long distance in a while.

Did the usual Athlone Dublin today but fcuked my back up just as I was about to leave picking my my 5 year old. Stiff as hell now

LennoxR · 30-10-2017 03:52PM

After a long (and tough) road ride yesterday, I tried doing the Royal Canal path on the gravel bike today. Started at Cross Guns bridge in Phibsborough and finished at the bridge near Lucan. Then came off and came back by the strawberry beds and Phoenix Park.

To be honest I wouldn't recommend the Royal Canal at all. From Phibsorough to Castleknock the surface was ok, but too many gates and far too many walkers (don't worry I was polite). The next bit, which I believe is called the Deep Cutting, I wouldn't do again, except on a mountain bike, preferably with full suspension. Really narrow with a sheer drop on the right hand side and loads of roots and rocks. If it was in the woods, you could belt along and the worst that would happen would be a slow moving crash, but with a deep canal on one side? No. Especially not with the odd walker coming the other way. Had to walk some of it.

And even once you get past that point ,after brief gravel/shale sections, it's mostly grassy, muddy and rocky as far as I could see. Had intended to go to Maynooth but gave up near Lucan.

The grand canal has its rough stretches too, but in general it's much more cycleable in my opinion than the Royal.

Tell us about your new improved government regulations compliant cycle part II

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