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Exactly like riding a bike

upthe19th

Background

Up to November '11 exercise was zero. I took up running and some marathon training and completed DCM 2012. About 2 months ago the running was put on hold through injury. The injury has put pay to the running, so I'm going to give the cycling a go.

I'm a total newbie to the bike. I used it for some cross training in the past but that is as far as it goes. I've been getting bits and pieces for the past 12 months or so and recently made a modest upgrade in the bike.

In the last 2 weeks or so I've done about 200km at an average speed of approx. 25k/hr. 60km is the longest spin I've done so far.

Goals for 2013

1) Join a local club
2) Get in 3-4 spins a week, approx. 150km or more distance wise
3) Maybe a club event or 2 before the end of the year

Like I've said, I'm starting from the very start so all advice is welcome.

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upthe19th

A couple of days of manflu this week(thursday/friday) meant I only got out twice.

Wednesday 29th May
30k cycle. Nice weather. Pretty strong wind.

Distance: 30.09km
Av speed: 25.2km/hr
Max Speed: 50.9km/hr

Sunday 2nd June
Club cycle with local club. Thoroughly enjoyed. A really friendly bunch of lads and really kept me going. First time cycling in a group. A very nice route with a good profile, a bit of everything. Application form is filled out, Goal 1 almost complete.
No numbers for this one, I'm afraid. I had a bit of a computer issue. I was reliably informed by one of the others that it was:

Distance: 85km
Av. Speed: 27km/hr

Dilbert75

Good luck with the log J - I'm sure you'll be very successful. 85k though? You're out of my league already.

upthe19th

A very poor week. The dose of manflu I had the previous week took hold again on monday. I reckoned it would run its course, it didn't and developed into a nice chest infection. So I'm on 7 day course of antibiotics.

Club application handed in and membership paid. Got to see a few club races during the week and meet some of the lads again. Picked up a club jersey too.

Missed the club spin this week but got out on my own for one light cycle today.

Sunday 9th June

Distance: 24km
Av speed: 22.5km/hr
Max Speed: 48.7km/hr

upthe19th

The weeks are flying by. 3 cycles this week. Going to start including elevation gain in my stats. Got a few books for some training sessions.

Thursday 13th June
Not too bad. Managed to get my max speed up a bit higher.

Distance: 38.01km
Av speed: 25.6km/hr
Max Speed: 58.9km/hr
Elevation Gain: 270m

Saturday 15th June
Handy one. Mostly spinning the legs and a few short sprints.

Distance: 24.02km
Av speed: 23.9km/hr
Max Speed: 56.1km/hr
Elevation Gain: 161m

Sunday 16th June
Club cycle. Not too bad but I was fairly tired by the end. The thought of an ice-cream and a bottle of lucozade did not leave my mind for the the last 12km.
Found a brilliant place to do hill training not far from my house, giving me a nice distance to warm-up and cool down on the way there and back.

Distance: 83.51km
Av speed: 24.4km/hr
Max Speed: 51.9km/hr
Elevation Gain: 703m

Dilbert75

Fair going lad. Sounds like you're enjoying it. Kudos on the max speed - never got close to that despite trying very hard.

upthe19th

Birthdays and bbq's were the order of the day this week. Only got out twice.

Wednesday 19th June
This was a bit of a fartlek session, bit of everything. But I really tried to keep the speed up and attacked everywhere I could. A bit weird with the elevation gain being about 30m less, all the other numbers were identical from the last time i did it. Knocked 6 minutes off the course.

Distance: 38.00km
Av speed: 27.4km/hr
Max Speed: 55.1km/hr
Elevation Gain: 242m

Sunday 23rd June
Club cycle. Not as far as usual but good none the less. Really starting to feel comfortable in a group.

Distance: 71.65km
Av speed: 25.9km/hr
Max Speed: 55.4km/hr
Elevation Gain: 456m

upthe19th

4 cycles and a total distance of approx. 199km

Monday 24th June

Distance: 25.17km
Av speed: 27.2km/hr
Max Speed: 47.5km/hr
Elevation Gain: 171m

Wednesday 26th June
Handy one. Mostly spinning the legs and a few short sprints.

Distance: 22.05km
Av speed: 25.3km/hr
Max Speed: 46.6km/hr
Elevation Gain: 160m

Thursday 27th June
Had the day off. Had the 72km done before 9am. Then the young fella tripped and fell, needed gp visit and cut was glued. Then I drove to galway when all was ok. Did I say "day off". Nearly broke 60km/hr for the first time.

Distance: 72.47km
Av speed: 25.9km/hr
Max Speed: 59.7km/hr
Elevation Gain: 422m

Sunday 30th June
Finished the week off with my very first sportive, the little dragon in enniscorthy (75km). Thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was brilliant i thought. Decent course with one particularly steep climb, if there had been a fella selling gears half way up i'd have bought 2 from him. The garmin clocked it at 80km and a time of 3:02 or so.

Distance: 80.23km
Av speed: 26.4km/hr
Max Speed: 52.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 696m

upthe19th

Thursday 4th July
Bit of everything in this one. Happy enough with it. Had planned 38km but there was a guy ahead of me up the road and I had to hunt him down.

Distance: 42.02km
Av speed: 27.5km/hr
Max Speed: 57.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 260m

Saturday 6th July
Nice cycle with a fellow boardsie (Dilbert75). The stats are a bit off cos I kept forgetting to restart the garmin a few times, rectified for the future with autopause:o. Finally broke 60km/hr.

Distance: 49.65km
Av speed: 22.5km/hr
Max Speed: 61.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 406m

Sunday 5th July
No rest for the wicked today. Need to get a few 100km cycles in before my next sportive in 2 weeks time. I was in the saddle at just after 6am. Did 98km. Home for shower, quick bite to eat and out the door to go marshalling. Some eye-opener watching today. Racing looks like being a long way away for me.

Distance: 98.35km
Av speed: 25.2km/hr
Max Speed: 51.1km/hr
Elevation Gain: 501m

upthe19th

Decent enough week. Wonderful weather. First week of over 200km, first of many I hope. First commute to and from work as well.

Wednesday 10th July
I had been threatening to cycle to work and back for a while. With the weather so good, I threw a bag on my back and headed off. Took a slightly different route on the way home which tagged on just a few more km. Enjoyed it, hope to maybe do 2 days next week. Stats for the both the "to" and "from" below.

Distance: 40.58km
Av speed: 25.4km/hr
Max Speed: 51.4km/hr
Elevation Gain: 345m

Distance: 44.34km
Av speed: 23.7km/hr
Max Speed: 52.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 367m

Friday 12th July
A cycle to where i plan to do a lot of my hill training. 1 climb and descent and then cycled home. Really need a lot of hill work. Very weak part for me.

Distance: 42.09km
Av speed: 22.5km/hr
Max Speed: 53.0km/hr
Elevation Gain: 380m

Saturday 13th July
Happy enough with this cycle. It was a warm one. Took on 2 litres of water during it. A lot of bikes out on the road. Felt reasonably comfortable throughout and happy to do it under the 4 hours. Hopefully a bit quicker the next time.

Distance: 100.97km
Av speed: 26.0km/hr
Max Speed: 51.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 606m

upthe19th

Happy with the week. Wonderful weather continues. Got 2 days of commuting and my first 100k sportive. Just over 270km for the week. Next week is an easier week, a few spins and maybe some hill work.

Tuesday 16th July
Work commute. Stats for the both the "to" and "from" below.

Distance: 40.59km
Av speed: 25.3km/hr
Max Speed: 50.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 308m

Distance: 44.41km
Av speed: 25.2km/hr
Max Speed: 56.1km/hr
Elevation Gain: 359m

Thursday 18th July
Work commute. Stats for the both the "to" and "from" below.

Distance: 40.60km
Av speed: 25.6km/hr
Max Speed: 50.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 341m

Distance: 44.41km
Av speed: 23.4km/hr
Max Speed: 51.6km/hr
Elevation Gain: 354m

Sunday 21st July
My first 100k sportive. Really enjoyed it. The organisation was brilliant, I think they really got it spot on. I found the climbing tough, but nothing new there. Felt strong after the first food stop and got in with a group of 4 from just before tullow to shillelagh. They stopped at the last stop for water and I decided to press on alone. Picked up a guy from club in Tullow just after sliabh bui and we travelled nicely together to the end. Overall happy with it and plenty of lessons learned, again, nothing new there.

Distance: 105.90km
Av speed: 25.6km/hr
Max Speed: 58.6km/hr
Elevation Gain: 1100m

upthe19th

3 cycles this week. Much easier week and did a lot of stuff with the family. Finally have strava set up. Herself is sick to death already with talk of segments, pointing out segments in the car.....going to have to ease up a bit, there's only so much she will listen to.

Wednesday 24th July
Not too bad. Improved on a few segments.

Distance: 70.4km
Av speed: 26.0km/hr
Max Speed: 51.1km/hr
Elevation Gain: 629m

Friday 26th July
Same route as wednesday. Wanted to improve on a few segments, with mixed results. A bit of improvement overall.

Distance: 70.4km
Av speed: 26.9km/hr
Max Speed: 51.1km/hr
Elevation: 641m

Sunday 28th July
Club cycle. Good group and enjoyed it.

Distance: 68.0km
Av speed: 27.9km/hr
Max Speed: 57.6km/hr
Elevation Gain: 421m

upthe19th

265km for the week. I'm dropping max speed from the recorded stats, its pointless. Bit of everything and finished the week with my first ever 160km sportive. My farmer's tan has reached epic proportions, I've seen mahogany sideboards with less colour.

Monday 29th July
Spin to my hill climb training spot. One climb and descent and home.

Distance: 55.0km
Av speed: 24.6km/hr
Elevation Gain: 596m

Friday 2nd August
Very gusty. Aborted longer cycle for a handy spin to a lap of a local racing route and home again.

Distance: 25.8km
Av speed: 25.3km/hr
Elevation: 212m

Saturday 3rd August
The less said about this the better. Got a feckin puncture but did get one lap of local race route done before it.

Distance: 22.0km
Av speed: 26.5km/hr
Elevation Gain: 182m

Sunday 4th August
Did the coastal tour of wexford. Longest cycle I've ever done. Met a guy with about 55km or so to go and we travelled the rest of the way together. One of the soundest fellas I've met. I could not have made it without him.
Hell of a jump up in distance from 100km but manageable...just. When I got off the bike I swore that I did not want to see it again for a week, but I plan to go out in the morning to spin the legs for an hour or so. Should get things loosened out hopefully, well that and the red wine I'm about to start into here.

Distance: 162.4km
Av speed: 26.3km/hr
Elevation Gain: 1151m

upthe19th

Took the week off. Bike was out of action for repairs till Thursday and work was busy. Lack of motivation with the 160km sportive already completed. Next few weeks will be busy with work and the farm too. Plan is to start an 8 week training programme to work on certain elements with recovery spins in between. We'll see how it goes.

086Jazzy

Good man John. Don't take to long off, it can be hard to get back into it. Hope to see you on the road soon.

upthe19th

I've posted 10 weeks of training to date and absolutely loving the bike. The transition will be fully complete in a couple of weeks with a new bike, a substantial improvement on the current one and an investment for the future. Some sound advice from a fellow boardsie sealed my thinking on the upgrade, thank you if you're reading this. Of late I have been seeing quite a few people out on the roads. They don't have bikes and it's like walking but faster. I feel like I should know what they are doing but I can't seem to remember :P.

Having taken last week off and with 10 weeks under the belt, I decided to push it hard this week and get that average speed up and get most of it done in the big ring. God knows why I chose this week. Work was mental and I was harvesting some evenings. Wrecked.

Wednesday 14th August
Not too bad. The av speed was up a good bit and I was happy.

Distance: 28.0km
Av speed: 29.1km/hr
Elevation Gain: 251m

Saturday 17th August
When I started out the legs were tired and sluggish. First 10k was spinning the legs and then I pushed on.

Distance: 55.2km
Av speed: 28.4km/hr
Elevation Gain: 528m

Sunday 18th August
This was going to be the real test. A much longer cycle and still try to maintain some of the intensity. About 85% was spent in the big ring and in spite a stiff breeze on the way back, I was happy with the av speed. Managed to fall off the bike while stopping for lucozade:o, the old "clip out the right and fall to the left" routine. Very embarrassing and I was up off the ground in seconds. Managed to cut my right leg above the ankle, about 2 inches long and pretty deep too. Nobody really around thankfully. A few minutes later there were quite a few cyclists around who had pulled in on the way to the wexford 2 day events.....that would have been very embarrassing.

Distance: 97.5km
Av speed: 27.9km/hr
Elevation Gain: 605m

nilhg

upthe19th wrote: »

Sunday 18th August
This was going to be the real test. A much longer cycle and still try to maintain some of the intensity. About 85% was spent in the big ring and in spite a stiff breeze on the way back, I was happy with the av speed. Managed to fall off the bike while stopping for lucozade:o, the old "clip out the right and fall to the left" routine. Very embarrassing and I was up off the ground in seconds. Managed to cut my right leg above the ankle, about 2 inches long and pretty deep too. Nobody really around thankfully. A few minutes later there were quite a few cyclists around who had pulled in on the way to the wexford 2 day events.....that would have been very embarrassing.

Distance: 97.5km
Av speed: 27.9km/hr
Elevation Gain: 605m

One of our guys managed to do exactly the same thing a week or two ago, at first it looked very little but he finished up in A&E getting 5 stitches, quite a bit of oil/gunk from the chainring was in there, might be no harm to get it looked at.

upthe19th

nilhg wrote: »

One of our guys managed to do exactly the same thing a week or two ago, at first it looked very little but he finished up in A&E getting 5 stitches, quite a bit of oil/gunk from the chainring was in there, might be no harm to get it looked at.

Cheers man. Its grand there today, it was just a lot deeper than I would have expected. Cleaned it up yesterday and covered it and it seems to be fine now, albeit sore. Not ideal for jumping up and down off harvester this evening, but needs must and all that.

upthe19th

Crazy week but I knew it would be. Work, harvesting, a wedding, a 60th birthday and marshalling. I only got in one cycle. Got a few more bits and pieces accessories-wise and gave the bike a full overhaul.

Wednesday 21th August
This was a tempo session, a case of sticking her in the big ring and trying to keep as high a tempo as possible but one I could hold. When I was doing this distance 8 weeks ago and pushing it, av speed was 27.4 km/hr, So I'm pretty happy with a 3 km/hr improvement.

Distance: 38.0km
Av speed: 30.4km/hr
Elevation Gain: 306m

upthe19th

6 cycles this week. Decent week overall, well at my level anyway. First week over 300km and some gains as regards average speed.

Monday 26th August
Tempo session. Pushed it up a bit and broke the 30km/hr for av speed.

Distance: 38.0km
Av speed: 30.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 300m

Tuesday 27th August
Recovery, just spinning the legs for an hour. Nice and relaxed

Distance: 24.0km
Av speed: 23.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 210m

Wednesday 28th August
Tempo session. Good session and pushed it while trying to keep it steady

Distance: 38.1km
Av speed: 31.1km/hr
Elevation Gain: 308m

Friday 30th August
Took a spin down to hill training place. One climb and descent. Happy with it and took nearly a minute off my seg time. Still suffering a bit from what I like to call "Hill Panic":o. Fartlek session on the way home.

Distance: 49.0km
Av speed: 26.4km/hr
Elevation Gain: 489m

Saturday 31st August
Tempo session with a bit of fartlek thrown in to keep things interesting. Tough but worth it. Nice to get some distance and keep the av speed up.

Distance: 80.2km
Av speed: 29.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 509m

Sunday 1st September
I was wrecked when I got up. I needed to be done by 10, so was on the bike just after 7. First 10km were tough cos the legs were tired. This didn't help as the I wanted to improve on a seg which starts 5 km from home. After 10km I felt looser and stronger. Got second overall for the seg, delighted with it. Finished out the cycle as a fartlek session.

Distance: 72.0km
Av speed: 27.3km/hr
Elevation Gain: 606m

upthe19th

Not too much to report. 2 cycles this week. I had a lot of other stuff on. The BB on the bike was shagged, so she's in the LBS for repair. The garmin edge is working out well, a nice upgrade from my auld forerunner 205.

I've finally settled on a new bike. Full carbon and a serious jump up from my current bike, which will serve very nicely as a winter bike. Should all be sorted in next week or two. Can't wait to give it a good lash on the road. It will be interesting to see if there is much of a difference in my overall performance. TBH I'm not expecting a massive amount and that is not because of the bike, as I'm still the limiting factor in this equation. It'll be a case of me improving and the bike waiting for me:o.

I'm already checking out carbon wheels and tormenting myself......there's just no end to it. What have I gotten myself into?

Tuesday 04th September
Fartlek session. Modest at best.

Distance: 53.1km
Av speed: 29.4km/hr
Elevation Gain: 425m

Wednesday 05th September
Recovery spin.

Distance: 24.0km
Av speed: 24.2km/hr
Elevation Gain: 192m

Dilbert75

And there was you thinking a few pairs of trainers, some race entries and a bit of Physio was an expensive hobby!

Nice progress though - looks like you've found your sport.

upthe19th

Dilbert75 wrote: »

And there was you thinking a few pairs of trainers, some race entries and a bit of Physio was an expensive hobby!

Nice progress though - looks like you've found your sport.

Not so much expensive as painful....can't all be skinny feckers;).

Progress is ok, but it remains to be seen if I can ever be reasonable at it. It's all still to be done....nothing worthy of note achieved yet but not for the want of trying. We may get an auld spin together. I see the calves are giving you bother.

Dilbert75

upthe19th wrote: »

Progress is ok, but it remains to be seen if I can ever be reasonable at it.

Sure none of us will be heading to Rio, unless we're spectating. But as long as we're enjoying it, that's the main thing.

upthe19th

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Sure none of us will be heading to Rio, unless we're spectating. But as long as we're enjoying it, that's the main thing.

True. Still like to be somewhat handy at it though. No doubt that Im enjoying it.

upthe19th

4 cycles this week.

Tuesday 10th September
Short fartlek session.

Distance: 26.4km
Av speed: 27.0km/hr
Elevation Gain: 206m

Thursday 12th September
Short fartlek session.

Distance: 26.4km
Av speed: 28.2km/hr
Elevation Gain: 205m

Friday 13th September
Fartlek session. Not a bad session.

Distance: 38.0km
Av speed: 31.0km/hr
Elevation Gain: 293m

Saturday 14th September
Steady distance and a bit of recovery. Lovely morning for a spin.

Distance: 90.2km
Av speed: 28.0km/hr
Elevation Gain: 560m

blockic

Any Sunday? :P

upthe19th

blockic wrote: »

Any Sunday? :P

Nah....sure sunday is a day of rest;)

upthe19th

Work was very busy so cycling was restricted to the weekend. Just passed through 2500km on strava. Have a little bit more than that done but only started recording properly on strava in middle of June.

Saturday 21st September
Some Fartlek and just spinning the legs for rest of it.

Distance: 55.2km
Av speed: 26.8km/hr
Elevation Gain: 531m

Sunday 22nd September
Wanted to put in a long cycle. Hadn't done any 100km+ distance since tour of wexford. Wanted to do it a good bit quicker than I did.

Distance: 128.0km
Av speed: 26.9km/hr
Elevation Gain: 961m

upthe19th

Very little to report training wise I'm afraid. Work was busy and a day at the ploughing championships meant I was tired. Tried to get out this morning once the rain subsided, got 5km from the house and rode through a pile of glass puncturing both wheels......not a happy camper.

On a lighter note, I got the new bike and got it out yesterday for a spin. I felt guilty about splashing out on it up until about 2km into the ride and then all guilt quickly disappeared. Its a dream to ride. Very quick and responsive and its glued to the road. Very happy with it.

Saturday 28th September
Nice spin on the new bike. Nothing serious, just scoping it out.

Distance: 60.4km
Av speed: 28.3km/hr
Elevation Gain: 429m

wirelessdude01

What bike did you get?