Reply to: Cycling advice

[Ticktock]

Talking about punctures, what's the general impression on Slime?

I bought a couple of bottles, but haven't put it in yet.

[RedSauce]

Loads of useful stuff here;
Training for Cycling Time Trials - Aerobic Base
Time Trial Training for Cyclists- Aerobic Base Training Period 2

Thank you, I will have a look through this evening.

[Mich the Tester]

Loads of useful stuff here;
Training for Cycling Time Trials - Aerobic Base
Time Trial Training for Cyclists- Aerobic Base Training Period 2

[Mich the Tester]

This is my Tacx, basic one: Wiggle | Tacx Sirius Folding Cycle Trainer | Turbo Trainers

In the 100 you can pick: twins, the malaysian one or the blonde boob-job.
Leave me the Navy guy please but after 5 hours of intervals - you'll do anything .....

Don't worry, I won't take your navy guy.

[Dallas]

Umm, is this Tacx-compatible eye candy?

Does it include Liz Hatch and Giada Borgato? I'd quite like to ride behind those two.

This is my Tacx, basic one: Wiggle | Tacx Sirius Folding Cycle Trainer | Turbo Trainers

In the 100 you can pick: twins, the malaysian one or the blonde boob-job.
Leave me the Navy guy please but after 5 hours of intervals - you'll do anything .....

[Mich the Tester]

If you are sick in the head there is the Hardcore 100 where Coach Troy will take you on a century ride: they generally have eyecandy for everyone in the group

Umm, is this Tacx-compatible eye candy?

Does it include Liz Hatch and Giada Borgato? I'd quite like to ride behind those two.

[Dallas]

If you are on a budget a basic turbo under £200 + dvds

If you want to improve your technique get some rollers, I have these: they are foldup: wiggle.com | Elite Ghibli Parabolic Rollers | Turbo Trainers

These are 8 week build-ups, I have all of these and recommend - but do start at the beginning because they are hard:
Wiggle | CycleOps Realrides Training DVDs | Training DVDs

Everyone knows Coach Troy, the Jane Fonda of indoor cycling: Spinervals.com
If you are sick in the head there is the Hardcore 100 where Coach Troy will take you on a century ride: they generally have eyecandy for everyone in the group

If you go down the turbo trainer route take a look at the turbo specific tyres and consider getting another wheel for easy changeover.

[Mich the Tester]

Thank you all for the responses. I will get some lights tonight while there is still a bit of daylight but leave the riding to the weekends or WFH days throughout the winter and pick up evening riding again in the spring.

I hadn't actually thought of joining a club, I think the thing that puts me off is that i am not very fit at the moment, but I guess that will come with practice. I need to get my peddling sorted, try and do a ride where I am peddling constantly and not coasting. My next purchase is a cycle computer that measures cadence and possibly heart rate as well.

The Tacx products looks brilliant, love the idea of cycling TDF stages from my living room in the middle of winter, quite pricey though.

Do it; you need to learn to ride in a group 'in the wheel' of the guy in front; it doesn't matter if you can only keep up for 10 minutes to start with, next time it'll be 15 minutes , then 20 and by the end of the winter you'll be completing the ride with them.

Try out a couple of clubs first though; as with any sport, there are clubs full of pretentious onanists, and clubs with enjoyable people who'll accept and help a beginner, and as with other sports this bears very little relation to the standard they've actually achieved. In cycling, just as was my experience in rugby, there are amateur show-offs who think they're the greatest when actually they're just average fish in a very small puddle, there are top class professionals who are the nicest folks you can meet and enjoy helping a beginner and there's everything in between; try to find a club where you're happy with the people and the progress will come as you go along.

[RedSauce]

Thank you all for the responses. I will get some lights tonight while there is still a bit of daylight but leave the riding to the weekends or WFH days throughout the winter and pick up evening riding again in the spring.

I hadn't actually thought of joining a club, I think the thing that puts me off is that i am not very fit at the moment, but I guess that will come with practice. I need to get my peddling sorted, try and do a ride where I am peddling constantly and not coasting. My next purchase is a cycle computer that measures cadence and possibly heart rate as well.

The Tacx products looks brilliant, love the idea of cycling TDF stages from my living room in the middle of winter, quite pricey though.

[Mich the Tester]

One more thing; if you spend the next couple of months working on basic fitness, riding an hour or so 3 nights a week or maybe spinning classes and a long slow ride (2 to 3 hours) at the weekend , then you can move on to building speed. One way to improve your speed quickly from basic fitness is by following a time trial training programme; the sites I know well are all in Dutch, but google is your friend.

Dallas probably knows a bit about time trial training as she rides triathlons.

[Mich the Tester]

I just stick the radio on

Not Dutch radio though. Dutch radio is tulipe

[Mich the Tester]

In my first race I was really quite surprised by how fast it started and I was really about to give up, thinking 'I'm not ready for this', when it all calmed down a bit, and then I just stayed in the group. Serious though, in any sport, join a club, do the training, prepare as well as you can and remember that your competitors are human beings too, so if they can finish the race then before long you'll get up to standard too as long as you keep training.

[DaveB]

The tacx trainers have Virtual Reality training including steering, or you can buy tacx videos; I bought the Milan-San Remo video and did some 2 hour rides on that without the boredom setting in; might even do it all in one day sometime if I can persuade Lady Tester to spend a day handing me towels, bottles and energy bars.

I just stick the radio on

[Mich the Tester]

What everyone else said about pace and cadence.

Riding at night is not fun, especially in rural areas. It's actually easier in built up areas where the street lights are a big help. Good lights and high vis are a must.

If you want to ride through the winter then personally I'd stick to weekends and invest in a turbo trainer for weekday evenings. You can ride whatever the weather and they are great for structured sessions where you need to be able to ride a specific pace for a specific time without having to worry about the road conditions. They do get boring after more than an hour though. I tend to use the MTB to get out at weekends over the winter and use the road bike on the turbo, then hit the roads again when the weather starts to improve.

The tacx trainers have Virtual Reality training including steering, or you can buy tacx videos; I bought the Milan-San Remo video and did some 2 hour rides on that without the boredom setting in; might even do it all in one day sometime if I can persuade Lady Tester to spend a day handing me towels, bottles and energy bars.

[DaveB]

What everyone else said about pace and cadence.

Riding at night is not fun, especially in rural areas. It's actually easier in built up areas where the street lights are a big help. Good lights and high vis are a must.

If you want to ride through the winter then personally I'd stick to weekends and invest in a turbo trainer for weekday evenings. You can ride whatever the weather and they are great for structured sessions where you need to be able to ride a specific pace for a specific time without having to worry about the road conditions. They do get boring after more than an hour though. I tend to use the MTB to get out at weekends over the winter and use the road bike on the turbo, then hit the roads again when the weather starts to improve.