The Get fit club!

[Mark]

Nice one! Never done a multi day trip before :).

[schmenke]

On Sunday I ran leg 4 of this 5-person relay:
http://www.grizzlyevents.ca/Grizzly_Canmore.php


Toughest 7km I've done; 273m elevation gain to an altitude of over 1,500m. Temperature of 3 deg. C with a bit of snow in the higher elevations. Lot's of fun though. I think our team placed 53d out of 189 teams (still waiting for the official times to be posted).

[airshifter]

Sounds both fun and slightly brutal Schmenke. Those types of races are usually as much the mental as the physical, but seem very interesting.


I've been slacking badly this month and barely got on the bike. I have to make some time and give myself a kick in the butt. :angryfire

[J4MIE]

I have been seriously slacking as well, just hate (hate!) going out when it's cold never mind going out on the bike :s Still been doing quite a lot of tennis so just need to spend a bit more time in the gym, would like to go for a swim before work but I just can't get up in the morning early enough as it is :(

[Iain]

I have been seriously slacking as well
Same here. My motivation has taken a big knock for reasons I won't go into and I can't be bothered most days. Cold weather doesn't bother me, got a good base layer which helps a lot. :)

[Mark]

I have been seriously slacking as well
Same here. My motivation has taken a big knock for reasons I won't go into and I can't be bothered most days. Cold weather doesn't bother me, got a good base layer which helps a lot. :)

Same same. My motivation is well down at the moment. Partly health reasons and partly due to the weather.

[Gregor-y]

Cold weather is the best time. No sweat, a nice warm wool sweater, and far fewer people out on the trails.

[airshifter]

We had a lot of rain for a week or so, but it's not cold at all yet. For the most part I was just being lazy and lacking motivation. I finally broke that string lately when I decided I would ride in crappy weather. To my surprise the light rain stopped as I started my ride.

Might go knock out another 15 or so today. I always feel better if I get a ride in.

[schmenke]

Cold weather is the best time. No sweat, a nice warm wool sweater, and far fewer people out on the trails.

I agree. It's quite enjoyable running right now. Mind you, it's not yet -15 and snowing :s

[janneppi]

I've petty much skipped cycling too. Only one commute this week, I did put on new reflector tapes into rims, so I guess it's related to working out. :)

[J4MIE]

Well as it was a bit milder on Saturday I decided that despite the forecast rain I would head out to another mountain bike orienteering event about an hours drive away. After not being on the bike for a few weeks at least, I did struggle more than usual (which is a lot!) but managed to get caked in mud so pretty much stuck to roads after that. Was still last though, just need to get fitter. Was also nearly 8 minutes late to the finish but picked up 25 points on the way which made up for the 11 point penalty.

Definitely no more cycling until at least the springtime. Tennis, swimming and other indoor stuff will take over!

[Mark]

It's not that bad out. It just seems like that at the moment because it's been grey and dark every day.

Managed to get out over the weekend and managed to lift the black cloud from over my head so felt a lot better for it. Been out this morning too planned for 15 miles but felt good so added on another 10.

But it is frustrating at this time of year when weekend is the only time to get out. If you miss one weekend it can really set you back.

[airshifter]

I headed out today to do 15-20 on the fat tire mountain bike.

Did 43 instead. :D

[schmenke]

Ran a personal best of 49:17 in a 10km event on Saturday. Fortunately the weather was ideal for this time of the year. Sunny and about 12 deg.C.
On Sunday the snow was blowing sideways :p: .

[Big Ben]

Ran a personal best of 49:17 in a 10km event on Saturday. Fortunately the weather was ideal for this time of the year. Sunny and about 12 deg.C.
On Sunday the snow was blowing sideways :p: .

Nice to see you keep running :spin: . Good job. :D

Winter scares the hell out of me. I'm determined to keep running during the winter too but it's going to be tough. I dream of warmer places right now. :angryfire

[Mark]

I really need to get into doing some running. Don't have any time through the week but have an hour for lunch, so running is going to be the best way to keep some fitness up without having to faff on bringing a bike to work etc. I just wish I liked it a bit more, I'm hoping if I keep at it I might hate it a bit less :(.

I think if I can do an hour 2 or 3 times during the week and my usual bike ride on Sunday morning that should see me right.

[Big Ben]

I really need to get into doing some running. Don't have any time through the week but have an hour for lunch, so running is going to be the best way to keep some fitness up without having to faff on bringing a bike to work etc. I just wish I liked it a bit more, I'm hoping if I keep at it I might hate it a bit less :(.

I think if I can do an hour 2 or 3 times during the week and my usual bike ride on Sunday morning that should see me right.


It gets better :p. I didn't like it at first either. it took me sometime to build some resistance but now I see it more like a relaxation activity :D.

[Mark]

It gets better :p. I didn't like it at first either. it took me sometime to build some resistance but now I see it more like a relaxation activity :D.

Yeah I think it's the impacts etc as my body just doesn't like it, hopefully if I keep at it I can get past that point, certainly when cycling I have no issue putting in so much effort I can't see straight and then click up a gear and go harder; and yet with running any more than about 2 minutes my body is screaming at me to stop.

[schmenke]

Ran a personal best of 49:17 in a 10km event on Saturday. Fortunately the weather was ideal for this time of the year. Sunny and about 12 deg.C.
On Sunday the snow was blowing sideways :p: .

...Winter scares the hell out of me. I'm determined to keep running during the winter too but it's going to be tough. I dream of warmer places right now. :angryfire

Ditto. I'm afraid of degrading into a state of hibernation :D . So, I'm looking to sign up for at least one organised event per month to keep me motivated to have something to train for :mark: .
The bicycle will get little use during the winter months. We already have snow on our streets and pathways, let alone the offroad tracks in the woods :( .

[schmenke]

It gets better :p. I didn't like it at first either. it took me sometime to build some resistance but now I see it more like a relaxation activity :D.

Yeah I think it's the impacts etc as my body just doesn't like it, hopefully if I keep at it I can get past that point, certainly when cycling I have no issue putting in so much effort I can't see straight and then click up a gear and go harder; and yet with running any more than about 2 minutes my body is screaming at me to stop.

With running I think the worst thing that you can do is do too much too soon. Start off with a few light runs and ease your way into it to avoid any stress-related injuries (speaking from experience :erm: ). Even if you feel o.k. duing the run, you might feel the pain the next day :p: .

[Gregor-y]

With running I think the worst thing that you can do is do too much too soon. Start off with a few light runs and ease your way into it to avoid any stress-related injuries (speaking from experience :erm: ). Even if you feel o.k. duing the run, you might feel the pain the next day :p: .
Depending on your weight you may also need new knees in fifteen to twenty years.

[Big Ben]

i don't know about that. i've lost like 10 kg in 4 months of serious running. weight shouldn't be a problem for long if you take your running seriously, right? :p

[555-04Q2]

i don't know about that. i've lost like 10 kg in 4 months of serious running. weight shouldn't be a problem for long if you take your running seriously, right? :p

Well done boet :) Like I said before, soon we will be calling you Little Ben :D

[555-04Q2]

It gets better :p. I didn't like it at first either. it took me sometime to build some resistance but now I see it more like a relaxation activity :D.

Yeah I think it's the impacts etc as my body just doesn't like it, hopefully if I keep at it I can get past that point, certainly when cycling I have no issue putting in so much effort I can't see straight and then click up a gear and go harder; and yet with running any more than about 2 minutes my body is screaming at me to stop.

With running I think the worst thing that you can do is do too much too soon. Start off with a few light runs and ease your way into it to avoid any stress-related injuries (speaking from experience :erm: ). Even if you feel o.k. duing the run, you might feel the pain the next day :p: .

A bit of advice with regards to running. A lot of people are mistaken when they think the further or longer they run the more weight they will lose. In fact, a shorter more intense run will not only burn more fat, but build your body strength better too. Just a friendly tip :)

[Mark]

Weight loss isn't what I'm after - although it would be nice. It's improving my CV fitness in order to help my cycling.

[Big Ben]

Some people, like me, just prefer running longer rather than faster. And being an activity I enjoy I don't mind it takes more time.

Anyway, I'm kind of annoyed by the daylight saving time. Why do we save daylight when we have so little? Now by the time I start running it's already pretty dark and by the time I finish I barely see anything. I guess I just have to put my headlamp to some good use from now on.

[schmenke]

...
Anyway, I'm kind of annoyed by the daylight saving time. Why do we save daylight when we have so little? Now by the time I start running it's already pretty dark and by the time I finish I barely see anything. I guess I just have to put my headlamp to some good use from now on.

I have the same issue here. I usually run after work, and this time of year it’s starting to get dark early, even without the time change.
My main worry is being seen by motorists and cyclists. The limited reflective strips on my running gear don’t instill much confidence so I recently picked up one of these that I’ve started wearing around my arm. Seems to work fine, although it’s a bit awkward to get on.
http://www.mec.ca/product/5008-385/plan ... ed%2Blight (http://www.mec.ca/product/5008-385/planet-bike-brt-led-strap-light/?h=10+50002&colour=NOC02&f=10+50002+50079&q=led%2Blight)

[J4MIE]

My dad started doing a bit of running a couple of years ago, he regularly does park runs at weekends and the odd 5k/10k. He has lost a lot of weight but probably mostly down to counting the calories. As I only see him every couple of months it's still a surprise for me when I see him, if you didn't know then you'd think there was something wrong with him!

Would love to be able to run more, but don't particularly enjoy it and as with other exercise I suffer from a severe lack of stamina. I did watch a triathlon on tv the other week and thought it would be fun to do - then realised that I'm not a particularly good swimmer (and I HATE cold water), pretty slow on a bike, and don't like the running! :p:

Spent last weekend tidying up my garage and moving all the bike stuff out of the road, just need to give the bike itself a good clean before leaving it for the winter. Luckily I did this and put the car inside when the next day I found two tiles smashed on my driveway where it's usually parked :/

Played a bit more tennis recently, getting better and more confident and doing better shots. Still a lot of bits of technique I need to work on but will come with time I hope :up:

[Mark]

Would love to be able to run more, but don't particularly enjoy it and as with other exercise I suffer from a severe lack of stamina. I did watch a triathlon on tv the other week and thought it would be fun to do - then realised that I'm not a particularly good swimmer (and I HATE cold water), pretty slow on a bike, and don't like the running! :p:


You aren't slow on a bike, your bike is just slow on the road, big difference. We should go to Hamsterley Forest or somewhere where I can rent a mountain bike. Of course if it's too cold for you ;)

[schmenke]

I've run over 120kms in October. I think that's the most all year :) . Now... hibernation awaits :D .

[555-04Q2]

I've run over 120kms in October. I think that's the most all year :) . Now... hibernation awaits :D .

No! If you rest you rust! Keep at it :)

[Mark]

I've walked 110miles (177km) in October, a new record, exactly the same distance cycling 110 miles!

[J4MIE]

You aren't slow on a bike, your bike is just slow on the road, big difference. We should go to Hamsterley Forest or somewhere where I can rent a mountain bike. Of course if it's too cold for you ;)

Mark, I am definitely slow ;) Still need to see about maybe getting a road bike next year, been thinking about it quite a lot. Not been to Hamsterley much, I was down in Dalby a month or so ago and absolutely loved it, think I will get a forest pass for there next year and head down more often, probably the most enjoyable ride of my bike I've had and most importantly not too difficult!! If you fancy heading down sometime that'd be cool, but I definitely won't be on the bike until it warms up - need to give it a proper wash and polish this weekend, rallying the next weekend and then I am off to Kenya where there will be a severe lack of exercise :bounce:

Was on the exercise bikes in the gym a few times this week (nice and warm inside) and found it extremely hard work, only did about 5 miles each time but was totally dead with sweat dripping all over the floor :\

[Big Ben]

123km for myself... very far from the 199 done in August. And there were 158 in September. I must stop this trend. :angryfire

[Mark]

Mark, I am definitely slow ;) Still need to see about maybe getting a road bike next year, been thinking about it quite a lot.

Aha! You totally should! Massive difference in road vs MTB, and everyone should have both anyway! Just ask me because I know quite a bit about different road bikes etc now :D If you need inspiration to get road biking check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZmJtYaUTa0



Not been to Hamsterley much, I was down in Dalby a month or so ago and absolutely loved it, think I will get a forest pass for there next year and head down more often, probably the most enjoyable ride of my bike I've had and most importantly not too difficult!! If you fancy heading down sometime that'd be cool, but I definitely won't be on the bike until it warms up - need to give it a proper wash and polish this weekend

Nice! Haven't been there before but definitely up for giving it a go :D



, rallying the next weekend and then I am off to Kenya where there will be a severe lack of exercise :bounce:

You're always in Africa you!


Was on the exercise bikes in the gym a few times this week (nice and warm inside) and found it extremely hard work, only did about 5 miles each time but was totally dead with sweat dripping all over the floor :\

They are hard work! That's the point of them! Most gyms are far too hot. Excercise bikes should have built in massive fans really.

[airshifter]

I've slacked off this month. About 210 miles on the bike, and 14-15 walking.

But all the bike miles remain on the BOMB (Beat Old Mountain Bike). Maybe I should use a conversion factor to road bike miles, kinda like dog years? :D

[Gregor-y]

But all the bike miles remain on the BOMB (Beat Old Mountain Bike). Maybe I should use a conversion factor to road bike miles, kinda like dog years? :D
Or a golf handicap.

Endomondo indicates 635 miles for October. Only half of it is my commute, though:
http://imageshack.us/a/img20/7472/wpqf.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img13/9867/xnte.jpg
May I mention again how much I truly hate the image size requirements that are geared for resolution and bandwidth concerns that are over twenty years old?

[airshifter]

Great photo. I wish I had something that interesting to ride to locally. We do have some nice areas, but the roads here are taking your life in your own hands. Though I'd cover more distance and see more on a road bike, I think I'll stay off of most of the roads around here. It simply isn't worth it.

But really as long as I get the exercise I don't mind the distance factor. As it is now we have several areas I can bike to and do a little exploration on the trails and such that wouldn't be suitable for a road bike. I might be able to get away with a not too skinny semi road tire, but slicks are out of the question unless I want to stay to the roads.

[Big Ben]

72km in 6 consecutive, out of which 4 were work days.. and a long run of 20km... so yeah, in your face stupid autumn! :p

[Mark]

Getting cold and icy here. But yesterday I still managed to go out and do my longest ever ride from home - 66 miles, 11 miles further than I'd been from home before. And only 2 miles shorter than my longest ever ride :D

I'd really like to work up to doing a century ride, but daylight is against me this time of year, yesterday it was only just getting light when I set out, and it was starting to get dark again when I was getting back.

[schmenke]

Snow and ice makes for tricky running nowadays, as does, as mentioned, limited daylight.

Looks like the (boring) treadmill in the basement will be put back into commission :mark:

[555-04Q2]

Snow and ice makes for tricky running nowadays, as does, as mentioned, limited daylight.

Looks like the (boring) treadmill in the basement will be put back into commission :mark:

Don't despair old man! Put a TV in front of the treadmill and watch a movie, sport etc while you slog away, makes the time go faster ;) :)

[Gregor-y]

-2 is not so bad. I just need something a little thicker to keep my toes from getting numb.

[airshifter]

-2 is not so bad. I just need something a little thicker to keep my toes from getting numb.

Do some extra miles for me, as I won't be out biking if it's much below freezing... then maybe for a short not too quick ride. :D

Chances are the elliptical in front of the flatscreen will get more use in the colder, crappier months ahead. In all fairness though we don't get much harsh weather, so I should be able to get out some. And I really need to invest in some crap weather compatible workout gear, as I've gotten to used to warm weather stuff.

[schmenke]

Snow and ice makes for tricky running nowadays, as does, as mentioned, limited daylight.

Looks like the (boring) treadmill in the basement will be put back into commission :mark:

Don't despair old man! Put a TV in front of the treadmill and watch a movie, sport etc while you slog away, makes the time go faster ;) :)

Yes, the treadmill is positioned in our basement in front of a television, but I still find running stationary boring. I’m still trying to run outdoors but, with the city’s disinterest in any kind of meaningful snow-clearing, I’m invariably running through icy patches risking a tumble (I guess you don’t have that problem 555 :p: ).


I have a 10km trail race coming up in about a week’s time. Never participated in one during the winter so I’m hoping my recent icy pirouette training will come in handy :p:

[Mark]

I would expect warming up in all senses of the word before the race is going to be key?

I know when I'm cycling even in the summer I struggle until I've managed to bag a reasonable sized hill. In the winter I'm struggling and freezing cold too!

[Big Ben]

C'mon people... I know times are tough, winter is coming and all that, for most of us at least but don't give up :p.

I did my longest run this weekend, 30km in around 2h 40 minutes. Mapmyrun couldn't make it to the end. It died a few meters from the (imaginary) finish line.

It's interesting the mental process during these long runs. I run for half an hour and realize I've only done 20%... and the finish line seems so far and I really doubt I can do it. And then another half an hour goes by and I'm not even halfway through... but once i get over the mid point and then it starts feeling like the distance to finish is getting shorter and shorter with every lap. By the time I start my last 10k I feel like I'm in some kind of trance and could go for as long as I want... but it's getting dark and I there's some place I have to be at 6 pm and I'll just leave the marathon for another day :p

All in all I added up 65 more km to my monthly total so with the other 72 I did the previous week I've had the most efficient 2 weeks so far.

[schmenke]

C'mon people... I know times are tough, winter is coming and all that, for most of us at least but don't give up :p...

It's -16 C here today BB. I draw the line somewhere :p:

I do have a 10km event coming up this Saturday but mercifully it's supposed to warm up to +5 :)

[Big Ben]

It's true that we don't have that kind of winters over here (not too often at least) :p

[555-04Q2]

C'mon people... I know times are tough, winter is coming and all that, for most of us at least but don't give up :p...

It's -16 C here today BB. I draw the line somewhere :p:

I do have a 10km event coming up this Saturday but mercifully it's supposed to warm up to +5 :)

So you still live in the global cooling part of the world :p:

[schmenke]

I wouldn't mind some more greenhouse gases right about now... -20 C here this morning :p: :mark: .

[555-04Q2]

Eish! Pull out the thermal underwear boet before your Johnson falls off! You wont look to good in your speedo without it :laugh: ;)

[schmenke]

Alas, the speedo's packed away for the next few months, and Johnson's gone inverted :p: .

[555-04Q2]

:p: :rotflmao: :p:

[janneppi]

I've recently been moving from get fit to fat git club.
I've given up on cycling almost completely due to weather, work stuff and laziness. I just can't be bothered to go riding in dark, muddy trails when I could be watching tv. :D
I try to do two to three 1-1.5 hour walks every week to keep at east some activity up.

I might have to get new running shoes since the ones I have now don't feel quite right.
The problem is that local shops only have children's sizes and I have to get the UK13 size shoes from web shops so it's always a bit of gamble. :(

[Mark]

Walking is at least something :). Especially once you get over an hour in duration.

I noted on my Endomondo feed that Ibby (erstwhile of this parish) did a 16 mile walk in London yesterday. Now that is good going!

Pretty cold here too but still hope to get out on my bike when I can. The media keeps talking of a horrendous winter, but no sign of it just yet. I just hope the snow stays away long enough so I can ride to the cycling club Christmas dinner in a few weeks time. It's about a 40 mile round trip into the hills, which might be sketchy!

[janneppi]

I'm hoping we'd get snow soon, last winter I went snow shoeing with my brother almost twice a week, really good fun, and took 1.5 to 2 hours each time. Before stomping in the dark with only a headlamp for lighting I would have thought it's impossible to get completely lost 2km's from where I live. :D I had to buy a compass to make any sense direction.

[airshifter]

Thumbs up for Big Ben calling us out.... even in the cold people can find something if they keep the motivation up enough to exercise inside. It seems Gregory isn't bothered much by the cold either.


That said, I've been major slacking due to nursing my back. I've actually had some good/great weather for going riding and not many cold days at all. I'm easing back into some walking and hoping to get back on the bike soon after some physio for the back.

[Big Ben]

Well... November has been the best month for me so far and there's still one more week left of it. Anyway, I have to admit I didn't have to deal with the sort of cold schmenke has to put up with. I only had to deal with single digits temperature thus far(talking Celsius of course) This week the temperature is supposed to get beyond the freezing sooo.... it's going to be very refreshing

[schmenke]

Managed a personal best of 48:39 in Saturday's 10km, finishing 34th out of 130 participants. Thankfully the weather was decent, about -4 C and clear.
The forecast is for relatively mild (above freezing) temps this week so I'll be trying to take advantage and get a few kms in before another deep-freeze (and hibernation) sets in :p: .

[Gregor-y]

Thumbs up for Big Ben calling us out.... even in the cold people can find something if they keep the motivation up enough to exercise inside. It seems Gregory isn't bothered much by the cold either.
I save a whopping $4.50 each day I don't take the train. Then I spend $4 on coffee and a muffin. It's probably why I have yet to lose any weight after six years.

[Mark]

So much for losing weight, since the weather turned cold I've been so hungry all the time!

[GridGirl]

I have been busy with work, ill and then busy working away to do much exercise lately. Plus I haven't been able to track some of the exercise I have been doing as it would pinpoint my client's location. Grrrr

I was back home last night and had a quick session on the Turbo. First time I have used the turbo since we changed our spare room into a 'pain cave' a la Sufferfest. Watching tv on the IPad was ok but it made me realise that we need to invest in a new tv for the cave to be a successful exercise room over winter. Dear Santa....

[Mark]

I have been busy with work, ill and then busy working away to do much exercise lately. Plus I haven't been able to track some of the exercise I have been doing as it would pinpoint my client's location. Grrrr

I was back home last night and had a quick session on the Turbo. First time I have used the turbo since we changed our spare room into a 'pain cave' a la Sufferfest. Watching tv on the IPad was ok but it made me realise that we need to invest in a new tv for the cave to be a successful exercise room over winter. Dear Santa....

You still up for doing the route of Stage 1 next year then? ;)

[GridGirl]

Course, although I will definitely need to speed up to keep up with you these days. :p

[Mark]

Course, although I will definitely need to speed up to keep up with you these days. :p

LOL, I'm getting the same thing off Ibby like I'm some sort of Wiggo these days; far from it :(. Both times we've ridden together you've kicked my ass ;)

[schmenke]

...I was back home last night and had a quick session on the Turbo. First time I have used the turbo since we changed our spare room into a 'pain cave' a la Sufferfest. Watching tv on the IPad was ok but it made me realise that we need to invest in a new tv for the cave to be a successful exercise room over winter. Dear Santa....

Um... what's a Turbo?

[Mark]

Turbo Trainer - allows you to use your own bike indoors

http://www.fitzcycles.ie/content/images/thumbs/0002380_tacx_bluemotion_turbo_trainer.jpeg

[Gregor-y]

But it's just getting good outside. The first snow of any significance fell yesterday:
http://imageshack.us/a/img707/9633/imzf.jpg
And here's another commuter's perspective last night. Apparently the bike lanes on the main roads were hit and miss. Or more like slip and miss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyD8lLsvNMw

[GridGirl]

I ran 2km today with my niece in a Park Run. She is 7 and smashed her personal best by over a minute. :D I haven't ran in months but think I need to get some practise in before I get roped into doing another with her so will be dusting off my running shoes.

Turbo session planned for later tonight.

[Mark]

I ran 2km today with my niece in a Park Run. She is 7 and smashed her personal best by over a minute. :D I haven't ran in months but think I need to get some practise in before I get roped into doing another with her so will be dusting off my running shoes.

Turbo session planned for later tonight.

Still trying to do some running. Managed to run for a mile slowly - no laughing! Tried again a few days ago and ran out of steam at 3/4 mile :(

Meanwhile I did a 50 mile bike ride today!

[Big Ben]

I ran 246 km in November and I've done my longest run so far... 30km... so all in all it was a pretty good month. Now lets see what December has prepared for us :D

[schmenke]

Damaged my knee about a week ago. Hurts like heck. Haven't been able to run at all :( . Physiotherapist said it's a common ailment :mark: .

[Big Ben]

I have some issues with my right knee too. I can still run but there is some minor pain there... which I feel more after sitting for long periods of time.. than after running. I've read somewhere that it is something quite common to get this condition when you go over 40 miles per week... which is something I did twice the last month... it also says the pain is more intense when you run downhill... this sounds strangely familiar too. Anyways, I'll just wait and see how it evolves... :rolleyes:

[schmenke]

... which I feel more after sitting for long periods of time..

Yep, I feel the same sensation.

[Iain]

I need to do 16 miles to do 1000 miles for the year, but I'm working from 7-7 every weekday until Christmas, so not sure how I'll fit it in!

[Mark]

I need to do 16 miles to do 1000 miles for the year, but I'm working from 7-7 every weekday until Christmas, so not sure how I'll fit it in!

One bike ride should see you right for that!

Myself I've got another 24 miles to go to get to 3000 miles for the year - which I would be very happy with :D

[janneppi]

Indoor cycling season begins next. :)
Just washed the sand of the road bike and brought the trainer and trainer wheel from the storage locker.
Maybe tomorrow I'll swap out the commuter pedals for proper road pedals do a short "ride".

[J4MIE]

I haven't done any exercise at all for 3.5 weeks having been on holiday, so I think it'll be a tough evening of tennis tonight :s

[Mark]

I haven't done any exercise at all for 3.5 weeks having been on holiday, so I think it'll be a tough evening of tennis tonight :s

You've been running around on rallies etc so I don't think you'd have been doing too badly ;)

[Big Ben]

I've ran over 1200km since April. I thought I could round it up to 1300 before the holidays but unfortunately the track's covered with patches of ice and during the week I can only run after sunset so..... breaking legs or something else wouldn't count as getting fit :laugh:... Anyway I'm satisfied with my first year of serious running. I won't lose much sleep if I'm done for the year :p

After the holidays I shall start swimming again and focus more on the gym... that should do the trick till warmer and happier times.

[janneppi]

I played badminton today for the first time since 2007. I played against a lot lighter coworker who plays every week. Wasn't a pretty result. :D
I think in the four sets we played in 35 minutes I got two points. Then when began to feel a bit woozy we slowed down to a 50% game speed for the rest of the 25 minutes, it was even worse since now the plays took a lot longer.

I'm expecting massive muscle ache for the next two days. :D

[Mark]

Just passed 3,000 miles of walking & cycling for the year :D

Of that 2,214 miles cycling and 786 miles walking (mostly in work lunch hour)

[BleAivano]

Just passed 3,000 miles of walking & cycling for the year :D

Of that 2,214 miles cycling and 786 miles walking (mostly in work lunch hour)

wow well done Mark http://www.ian-brown.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/applause.gif

[Big Ben]

I ran 0 km last week. That's rounded up.

[schmenke]

I ran a total of 15km on the treadmill :dozey:

Like I said, I'm in hibernation :p: .

[Iain]

I need to do 16 miles to do 1000 miles for the year, but I'm working from 7-7 every weekday until Christmas, so not sure how I'll fit it in!

One bike ride should see you right for that!

Myself I've got another 24 miles to go to get to 3000 miles for the year - which I would be very happy with :D

The weather at the weekend lately is not suitable to doing anything outdoors sadly!

If only I had time to set endomondo at work and because I've walked for miles these past 6 weeks! But it's just too busy and I need my battery.

Congratulations on the 3k.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk now Free ('http://tapatalk.com/m?id=10')

[J4MIE]

Bloody hell, well done Mark (and Iain!). Bet neither of you would have thought you could do that this time last year! You'll need to better it in 2014 though ;)

I need to try harder for next year, will more than likely be doing some mountain bike orienteering events again as I found it quite good fun, should really get out to a few more trail centre type places too, and would like to try some running though that is maybe asking a but much.... :s All that in addition to more and more tennis!! :bounce:

[airshifter]

With the new year right around the corner, it might be a good time to start a year long forum challenge. Maybe calories rather than miles, or mix it up and do several challenges for bikers, runners, etc.

Just a thought.... if we have enough categories I'm sure I won't suck at at least one of them!


I'm slacking lately. Some back issues reared up and I'm just getting back to normal. The doctor keeps telling me if I keep abusing my body I'll be walking with a cane by 55 or 60, but being boring and not working out is just... boring!

[Mark]

Good idea. Certainly when you do miles only it gets skewed towards cycling and calories doesn't seem to work properly.

Perhaps two categories one for cycling one for everything else?

[Mark]

Bloody hell, well done Mark (and Iain!). Bet neither of you would have thought you could do that this time last year! You'll need to better it in 2014 though ;)

I need to try harder for next year, will more than likely be doing some mountain bike orienteering events again as I found it quite good fun, should really get out to a few more trail centre type places too, and would like to try some running though that is maybe asking a but much.... :s All that in addition to more and more tennis!! :bounce:

You still thinking of getting a road bike? A lot easier to get out on that straight out your front door and you live near some really good cycling roads.

[J4MIE]

You still thinking of getting a road bike? A lot easier to get out on that straight out your front door and you live near some really good cycling roads.

Still fancy it but will be moving to Sunderland at the end of March so saving for that just now. Wouldn't use it until the summer anyway!!! ;)

[janneppi]

Not really about excising or getting fit, but something for future. New project really kicked in when Post man Pat brought a Shiny RAL5024 coloured Salva Vaya frame. :D
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11791273/teas.jpg

Nex I need to make some decisions for what components I'll be getting and what I can get from the old roadbike, Sram drivetrain and shifters and Avid brakes are in the purchasing pipeline.

[Mark]

Which one is it? :confused:

[janneppi]

The one on the back, lurking behind the others. :D

[Gregor-y]

What will it be used for? I was looking at a Vaya frame last summer but went with another Surly because the Salsa uses disc brakes and I had all the components from my old bike to use. I rode to work this morning because the temperature was only -6.7, but with the headwind it was more like -14. It's supposed to reach zero today at some point, though, so I'm hoping my return trip will be nice.

[janneppi]

It replaces the old road bike for summer riding/commuting. Also should be able to run with cx tyres for riding in gravel roads when the trails aren't rideable and studded tyres for winter use.
Disc brakes were the first thing in my list for this bike.

[GridGirl]

I have got back into exercise with avengence this month. I've covered over 425km so far and should hopefuly hit the 450km barrier before the month is out. Best moment of the month by far was when I helped my 7 year old neice to a new 2km Parkrun PB of 14 minutes 13 seconds on a wet and muddy course, smashing her previous PB on the course by 50 seconds. :)

[janneppi]

Nnnghh.

First ride to work this year, took the mountain bike for s spin. But man I'm slow, It probably took at least 45 minutes to ride the 11km to work. Bikepaths were in descent enough shape so no excuses there. :D

If I'm dead tomorrow, it was the lurking lungplague that was slowing me down today. :)

[Gregor-y]

It's been too cold or too messy for commuting on the bike more than once or twice a week, but I've started cross country skiing on the weekends. A two hour class followed by about three hours on some groomed trails pretty much wore me out today. I'm going to look into a very basic set of skis for riding up and down the lake. For now I need to take a pill and go to sleep.

[Mark]

Finally got out for a 50 mile ride yesterday - despite it being freezing and hurricane winds! But it felt good after having to miss the previous three Sundays because of bad weather & illness.

[janneppi]

I finally managed to finish the build of the new bike and did a 10 minute shakedown with it last night. Seating position seems ok, brake setup still needs work. Components mostly Sram Apex with Avid BB7 brakes.

weight is around 11kg's, not too bad for a size 58cm steel frame/fork bike with disc brakes.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11791273/proj_22_02.jpg

[rjbetty]

Finally got out for a 50 mile ride yesterday - despite it being freezing and hurricane winds! But it felt good after having to miss the previous three Sundays because of bad weather & illness.

Good stuff. :)

I haven't really ridden a bike for almost a year now... ;(
It's been broken, loose wheel, loose handlebars, now rusted chain. And the pedal came off last year. It was really weird. The pedal had broke off at the bit that goes into the bike frame (can't remember what it's called). The cut was clean through with no roughness like some sort of predator weapon had sliced through it, even though it snapped. :eek: People at Halfords and the Trek shop said they'd never seen anything like it. :confused:

Hopefully I can think about fixing it by summer (have lots of stuff to deal with financially first) as I miss my cycling, and have now gotten very unfit. *sob*

[rjbetty]

Not really about excising or getting fit, but something for future. New project really kicked in when Post man Pat brought a Shiny RAL5024 coloured Salva Vaya frame. :D
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11791273/teas.jpg

Nex I need to make some decisions for what components I'll be getting and what I can get from the old roadbike, Sram drivetrain and shifters and Avid brakes are in the purchasing pipeline.

[as T-1000]: "Say, that's a nice bike."

(I have a black one too)

[Mark]

Did 86 miles last weekend ;)

[J4MIE]

So after I finished cardio tennis this morning and was walking back to my car in my shorts, it was a nice sunny day and hardly any wind, so I thought I'd go home and go out on the bike for a bit.

However, in the end it was still a bit on the windy side and got steadily stronger the rest of the afternoon, so I didn't bother with it. More cardio tennis tomorrow morning!! :bounce:

[Iain]

I had done approximately 60 miles on bike by this time last year, in February alone. Haven't done a thing this month as the weather is awful. Not good!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[GridGirl]

I had planned on cycling 120km yesterday but 21km in a friend had a fall and I had a nice ride in an ambulance and a sit in A&E for 4 hours with her. My friend will be fine but I was gutted as I was feeling really good and without really trying I had already been told to slow down. It was going to be my first decent ride of the year but as it was cut short I don't now know how far I would have got before I really began to tire. Will try and get out next weekend for a long ride. Otherwise my first sportive on the year is in two weeks.

I ran 2km junior park run with my 4 year old niece in sub 19 minutes this morning. It's actually harder than it sounds to run with little steps and still look like your running and it really tires you out. Then went for a 5km run when I got home but was faced with a massive headwind on every climb. Still got my third fasted 5km of the year though so pretty happy overall.

Cool looking frame Janneppi. :)

[airshifter]

I finally got out for about 8 miles on the bike today. I did some damage to my back over the cold season and then slacked off due to crappy weather. So 8 miles is better than nothing. Going to take it easy until I'm sure my back can take it.

[Mark]

Not so good this weekend. Went out with the club and for whatever reason didn't have any strength in my legs. Managed to stay with them over the first couple of climbs, but only by staying at the back and completely redlining, but then 13 miles in the first 'real' hill appeared and that was that I blew up and grinded up the hill. One of the guys waited for me at the top but I told him to push on without me, and I did a loop back to home - although I meet my wife at the garden centre and I did a nice scone so not all bad :)

http://www.strava.com/activities/115438828/overview

[Mark]

I had done approximately 60 miles on bike by this time last year, in February alone. Haven't done a thing this month as the weather is awful. Not good!


Yeah weather has been awful ever since the middle of January, cold, rain, and blowing a gale all the time. It's at least getting warmer now but it's still wet and windy.

It's always this time of year, just going into March that I get right fed up with the 'winter'.

[janneppi]

Did the first training ride today, 37km's and two hours. Not very good start, despite strong headwinds and a hilly route, I'm not in a good shape, unless one thinks round is a good shape. :D

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11791273/march2.jpg

Weather is really strange this time of the year, I don't think I have ever ridden a 100% tarmac ride in March.

[Mark]

After spending most of the winter trying to go on club rides and then getting dropped pretty quickly, it was nice going on my first sportive of the year yesterday where I actually was able to keep up with people, and overtake quite a few too! The first ride out with short sleeves too :D. Did 77 miles although I was feeling super weak towards the end as it was quite a hilly course.

[Gregor-y]

Yesterday was probably the last day I could go skiing for the season, about five and a half miles on some very crusty snow an hour north in Wisconsin. Today the piles of snow on either side of the trail meant there were plenty of mini lakes that slowed me down. But still it's nice to ride without lots of layers. The brakes are totally shot, though and I have to put on some new pads soon. I only wish my car's brakes were as inexpensive since those need replacing, too.

[GridGirl]

After spending most of the winter trying to go on club rides and then getting dropped pretty quickly, it was nice going on my first sportive of the year yesterday where I actually was able to keep up with people, and overtake quite a few too! The first ride out with short sleeves too :D. Did 77 miles although I was feeling super weak towards the end as it was quite a hilly course.

You dropped me within the first 3km, rub it in why don't you. :p ;) You have improved no end and should be proud if your abilities now compared to a year ago. :)

I did a mere 50 miles yesterday. I felt OK on the flat but seriously need to improve on the hills as my legs had nothing to give. However, I was quite please with the ride considering yesterday's ride more than double my outdoor cycling mileage for the year. :) Plus I didn't need to accompany anyone in an ambulance so an improvement on my last ride regardless.

[Big Ben]

so what's up guys?

any runner out there? :p

I've started running more seriously lately (did a 24k run on Saturday). The winter was pretty mild here but I did slow down nonetheless. Now it's time to go for that marathon. :D :bounce:

[J4MIE]

After looking at the forecast, I've entered my first mountain bike orienteering event of the year on Saturday, starting at the top of Sutton Bank :\ I can foresee it being a bit of a struggle as I'm really out of shape, but will be good to get a few miles under my belt and get back into the swing of things.

[Mark]

Awesome! Sutton Bank isn't so bad if you're just going down? If up too then ouch! ;)

[J4MIE]

Start and finish is at the car park at the top - no doubt there will be checkpoints on the lower side, I can see myself quite happily losing out on those points, we'll see how it goes. Looking breezy :(

[Mark]

Start and finish is at the car park at the top - no doubt there will be checkpoints on the lower side, I can see myself quite happily losing out on those points, we'll see how it goes. Looking breezy :(

Yeah, 20mph Westerly forecast for Sunday, considering all the nice weather we've had, that's annoying.

[Mark]

Yeah, 20mph Westerly forecast for Sunday, considering all the nice weather we've had, that's annoying.

And it was bloody horrible riding into the wind. Forecast for more of the same for this weekend :(

[janneppi]

I'm trying jogging again first time in five years. :) I'm trying to be sensible at it and do very limited distances at first to protect knees and other body parts. Luckily my bad shape comes quite handy in limiting the run time. :D

[Mark]

I think I'll give this service a go http://blog.endomondo.com/2014/04/01/endobeautify-launched-to-help-users-look-good/ it'll make me look a bit less lazy :D

[schmenke]

I'm trying jogging again first time in five years. :) I'm trying to be sensible at it and do very limited distances at first to protect knees and other body parts. Luckily my bad shape comes quite handy in limiting the run time. :D

Yep, jogging is a high-impact activity so the joints take a beating (I know :uhoh: ). Take it slow at first and gradually work your way up the distances :) . Investing in a pair of good shoes helps.

[schmenke]

so what's up guys?

any runner out there? :p

I've started running more seriously lately (did a 24k run on Saturday). The winter was pretty mild here but I did slow down nonetheless. Now it's time to go for that marathon. :D :bounce:

Good for you BB!
After a couple of months of semi-hibernation, I'm gradually getting back into it. Ran a couple of 10k's during the last week. Felt moderately comfortable but have no plans for anything close to a marathon :erm: .

[schmenke]

Question for the cyclists...

I’m planning on ditching my well-aged mountain bike for a new one in the next couple of weeks (thankfully my company benefits package will reimburse a good portion of the cost :) ).

It seems that a 29in wheel size is the norm these days, although the 650b is also popular.

What do you all ride? Having never ridden one, why would I want a 29in vs. a 650b wheel size?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Mark]

Can of worms!

Ok I'm a roadie so I don't profess to know much about MTB perhaps Jamie can add something.

But 29er isn't the standard they are still pretty niche I think they are for more open terrain when you want to blat along pretty quickly. I'm thinking upland moors etc. it's the same sized wheel as road bikes I think.

But the standard if there is one is still 26" which is best for the technical trails.

650b is half way between the two so professes the best of both, or worst of both depending on your point of view!

[MrJan]

I still don't do a lot of exercise but, thanks to changes in my diet (mainly cutting back on beer!), I've managed to go from 16st9 at the start of the year down to 15st7 now. Even though I'm 6ft I'm still well overweight but hopefully into the summer that I'll have more free time (been crazy busy at work) to actually start being active too, my aim is to be down to 14st9 by the end of the year. In theory I could crash diet to get there but I'd far rather be in a position where the weight that I lose stays off, so it's more about adjusting habits and lifestyle :)

[janneppi]

Question for the cyclists...

I’m planning on ditching my well-aged mountain bike for a new one in the next couple of weeks (thankfully my company benefits package will reimburse a good portion of the cost :) ).

It seems that a 29in wheel size is the norm these days, although the 650b is also popular.

What do you all ride? Having never ridden one, why would I want a 29in vs. a 650b wheel size?

Inquiring minds want to know.


I have a 26" full suspension bike with 160mm of travel in both ends, for my riding it's intended for xc rides and the occational enduro/bike park riding. The terrain in my area is quite technical with lot of roots and rocks. If I was looking for a new full susser, I might give a 27,5" bike a try. I probably wouldn't buy a 29" bike unless moved into a area with smoother trails.

My thoughts on the different wheel sizes.
I'm talking about bikes that are intended for actual offroad use, not the occasional ride in a smooth gravel path around the fish pond or downhill racing. :)
26" bikes nowadays are marketed for "fun" riding
- travel mostly 140mm-180mm (hard tail or full suspension).


27,5" (650b) is the between the the two, nowadays getting quite a lot of manufactures on board.
- travel mostly 120mm-160mm (hard tail or full suspension). Not as much choice is in tyres at the moment but increases if the standard catches on.


29" Most of them are intended for xc use or for longer rides, the geometry is a bit steeper than 26" which makes it a bit sketchier on steep downhills but works better on uphills.
- suspension travel around 120mm
- tyres roll better over small obstacles but isn't as nimble as a 26" around tight stuff.

The most important thing is to pick a wheel size and be a Richard about it. ;)

[Big Ben]

Mapmyrun is $h1t. I went on Saturday for a long run (28-29km) and it was too much for it. Again. At first it went fine but when it got a little cloudy and it started raining the measuring went berserk. My pace jumped from less then 6 minutes per km to 8. I know I lose pace as I add km but not like this. And by the 25 km mark it stopped working altogether. Only God knows what this crap measured so far. Maybe some of the km ran thus far have only been ran in my imagination :rolleyes:

[airshifter]

I have a 26" full suspension bike with 160mm of travel in both ends, for my riding it's intended for xc rides and the occational enduro/bike park riding. The terrain in my area is quite technical with lot of roots and rocks. If I was looking for a new full susser, I might give a 27,5" bike a try. I probably wouldn't buy a 29" bike unless moved into a area with smoother trails.

My thoughts on the different wheel sizes.
I'm talking about bikes that are intended for actual offroad use, not the occasional ride in a smooth gravel path around the fish pond or downhill racing. :)
26" bikes nowadays are marketed for "fun" riding
- travel mostly 140mm-180mm (hard tail or full suspension).


27,5" (650b) is the between the the two, nowadays getting quite a lot of manufactures on board.
- travel mostly 120mm-160mm (hard tail or full suspension). Not as much choice is in tyres at the moment but increases if the standard catches on.


29" Most of them are intended for xc use or for longer rides, the geometry is a bit steeper than 26" which makes it a bit sketchier on steep downhills but works better on uphills.
- suspension travel around 120mm
- tyres roll better over small obstacles but isn't as nimble as a 26" around tight stuff.

The most important thing is to pick a wheel size and be a Richard about it. ;)


The hard part for me is finding a good way to do some direct comparisons. At some point I need to get rid of the POS I've been riding, and being most of my riding is in milder terrain, I'm leaning toward the larger wheel sizes. But I really don't want to trade off if it results in sketchy handling.

I don't do what I would consider any hard core off road riding, but what I do is more rooted up, with quite a few logs here and there to cross as well. I really don't know if going to a suspended front end will ease the body beating on this riding enough, or if the larger wheel size would ease the beating even more.

I wouldn't think most people would find the change in tire size is enough to really make handling seem slow in the really tight stuff, as it's still not a very big wheel really. I guess this would be more affected by the rider size.


From everything I've read I think I'll end up going with a 29er if I buy new. Being I've beat up my back over the years the possible trade off in low speed tight stuff handling should be overcome by the larger tire soaking up transitions and obstacles a little better. I'm still torn between buying full suspension or hardtail. Most of my miles would actually be on trails and paved stuff, but as I said anything off road around here has tons of roots and small stuff that shakes you to death at anything above a crawl on a non suspended bike. I'd hate to lose efficiency in the road stuff due to rear suspension, but it would be nice to have something to soak up some of the quick jolting transitions at curb cuts and such as well.

[schmenke]

Mapmyrun is $h1t. I went on Saturday for a long run (28-29km) and it was too much for it. Again. At first it went fine but when it got a little cloudy and it started raining the measuring went berserk. My pace jumped from less then 6 minutes per km to 8. I know I lose pace as I add km but not like this. And by the 25 km mark it stopped working altogether. Only God knows what this crap measured so far. Maybe some of the km ran thus far have only been ran in my imagination :rolleyes:

I’ve never had an issue with the app, other than it’s simply not as accurate as my GPS watch. Mapmyrun consistently reads my mileage too high, consequently providing an overly optimistic pace. For example, during my run last evening, when the app read 10km my GPS watch was reading only 9.5km. Doesn’t sound like much of a difference but it’s significant in that Mapmyrun resulted in an average pace of 4:53/km whereas the GPS watch I was wearing at the time read 5:04 :s .
From the few timed events I’ve done, the official time is always closer to what my watch reads.

[schmenke]

The hard part for me is finding a good way to do some direct comparisons. At some point I need to get rid of the POS I've been riding, and being most of my riding is in milder terrain, I'm leaning toward the larger wheel sizes. But I really don't want to trade off if it results in sketchy handling.

I don't do what I would consider any hard core off road riding, but what I do is more rooted up, with quite a few logs here and there to cross as well. I really don't know if going to a suspended front end will ease the body beating on this riding enough, or if the larger wheel size would ease the beating even more.

I wouldn't think most people would find the change in tire size is enough to really make handling seem slow in the really tight stuff, as it's still not a very big wheel really. I guess this would be more affected by the rider size.


From everything I've read I think I'll end up going with a 29er if I buy new. Being I've beat up my back over the years the possible trade off in low speed tight stuff handling should be overcome by the larger tire soaking up transitions and obstacles a little better. I'm still torn between buying full suspension or hardtail. Most of my miles would actually be on trails and paved stuff, but as I said anything off road around here has tons of roots and small stuff that shakes you to death at anything above a crawl on a non suspended bike. I'd hate to lose efficiency in the road stuff due to rear suspension, but it would be nice to have something to soak up some of the quick jolting transitions at curb cuts and such as well.

Same issue here, although I’m leaning towards the 650b as it sounds like the better compromise. Most of my riding consists of XC with a few cruising trails from time to time.
I’m worried that with the larger frame of the 29er will be less stable over the bumpy stuff. I'm not looking to break any time records, I just want a comfortable and stable ride.

Airshifter, get yourself a hardtail, you won’t regret it, especially considering that nowadays they are available with a suspension that you can lock out.

[Big Ben]

I’ve never had an issue with the app, other than it’s simply not as accurate as my GPS watch. Mapmyrun consistently reads my mileage too high, consequently providing an overly optimistic pace. For example, during my run last evening, when the app read 10km my GPS watch was reading only 9.5km. Doesn’t sound like much of a difference but it’s significant in that Mapmyrun resulted in an average pace of 4:53/km whereas the GPS watch I was wearing at the time read 5:04 :s .
From the few timed events I’ve done, the official time is always closer to what my watch reads.

what GPS watch do you use?

[janneppi]

I wouldn't think most people would find the change in tire size is enough to really make handling seem slow in the really tight stuff, as it's still not a very big wheel really. I guess this would be more affected by the rider size.
It's not just the wheel size that affects handling, 29" forks have a different rake to 26" forks which affect the steering input.
The difference isn't apparently very massive.




From everything I've read I think I'll end up going with a 29er if I buy new. Being I've beat up my back over the years the possible trade off in low speed tight stuff handling should be overcome by the larger tire soaking up transitions and obstacles a little better. I'm still torn between buying full suspension or hardtail. Most of my miles would actually be on trails and paved stuff, but as I said anything off road around here has tons of roots and small stuff that shakes you to death at anything above a crawl on a non suspended bike. I'd hate to lose efficiency in the road stuff due to rear suspension, but it would be nice to have something to soak up some of the quick jolting transitions at curb cuts and such as well.

If I hadn't tried a good full suspension bike three years ago I probably would be riding a 29" hardtail with a longish fork. Something along the lines of Kona Honzo. If you don't want full susser, don't try one. ;)

[schmenke]

what GPS watch do you use?

I used one of these:

https://secure-nikeplus.nike.com/plus/products/sport_watch/

Pretty basic GPS watch. I purchased it only because it was cheap :mark: .

[Big Ben]

I used one of these:

https://secure-nikeplus.nike.com/plus/products/sport_watch/

Pretty basic GPS watch. I purchased it only because it was cheap :mark: .

Maybe I'll invest in one of those but not right now :P:. I've tested a few apps and they all have their own measurements (on the same track of course).... so I know now not to take that info too seriously. The thing with mapmyrun is that its measurements vary quite a lot sometimes.... up to 10%... So if we go with the most pessimistic numbers then some 130km out of the 1300 measured last year were imaginary.... quite a sad thought actually

[schmenke]

...I've tested a few apps and they all have their own measurements (on the same track of course).... so I know now not to take that info too seriously. The thing with mapmyrun is that its measurements vary quite a lot sometimes.... up to 10%...

Agreed, that’s why I bought the watch. It’s far more consistent and accurate. It comes with a Nike software that’s very similar to that of Mapmyrun. The only negative is that it doesn’t automatically sync your workouts through wifi like my phone does (you have to physically plug it into a USB port). Also, because it uses satellites (unlike your phone that uses a cellular network) it takes a minute or two to sync up to the satellites at the start of each workout. But, like I said, this was a cheap watch and there are other more expensive ones out there that probably work better :mark: .

[schmenke]

Definately time for a new bike :( .

Went for a ride the day before last and the rear thumbshifter is no longer working - can no longer downshift to a lower gear. Uphills were a challenge :rolleyes: :dozey:


In better news, I managed a 10km run in just under 50 minutes yesterday. Not a personal best, but not bad considering the less-than-ideal conditions yesterday :mark: .

[Mark]

Phone GPS does not use the cellular network. It uses the same satellites your GPS watch uses. The only difference is that phones have a better idea where they are in the world so the first fix is faster.

[Mark]

Definately time for a new bike :( .

Went for a ride the day before last and the rear thumbshifter is no longer working - can no longer downshift to a lower gear. Uphills were a challenge :rolleyes: :dozey:


In better news, I managed a 10km run in just under 50 minutes yesterday. Not a personal best, but not bad considering the less-than-ideal conditions yesterday :mark: .



Of course there's always a good reason to buy a new bike but chances are your fault is easily fixable by a bike shop. You might just need a new cable.

[schmenke]

Phone GPS does not use the cellular network. It uses the same satellites your GPS watch uses. The only difference is that phones have a better idea where they are in the world so the first fix is faster.

Hmm... I was under the impression that the phone uses cellular data to triangulate position and reverts to GPS only where a cellular signal is not available. This is why the phone doesn’t have to take the time to “sync” or acquire a satellite signal prior to a run (unlike a GPS watch).

[schmenke]

Of course there's always a good reason to buy a new bike but chances are your fault is easily fixable by a bike shop. You might just need a new cable.

No, it’s not the cable. It’s definitely the shifter mechanism. Hard to explain the lever simply freewheels with no resistance at all. It’s like the internal ratchet mechanism is not engaging. I re-indexed the gears with no improvement.

The bike is simply old and needs other fixes, not the least of which is new tires. I no longer want to invest in fixes/upgrades to keep the thing road worthy :mark: .

Besides, as mentioned, my company will reimburse, at least a good portion, of the cost of a new bike :)

[Mark]

Hmm... I was under the impression that the phone uses cellular data to triangulate position and reverts to GPS only where a cellular signal is not available. This is why the phone doesn’t have to take the time to “sync” or acquire a satellite signal prior to a run (unlike a GPS watch).

The phone uses Assisted GPS which uses a combination of cell tower positioning and downloading the current satellite position data in order to get the first fix. But this is literally only the very first position point. From that point on it's exclusively satellite reception based.

[airshifter]

No, it’s not the cable. It’s definitely the shifter mechanism. Hard to explain the lever simply freewheels with no resistance at all. It’s like the internal ratchet mechanism is not engaging. I re-indexed the gears with no improvement.

The bike is simply old and needs other fixes, not the least of which is new tires. I no longer want to invest in fixes/upgrades to keep the thing road worthy :mark: .

Besides, as mentioned, my company will reimburse, at least a good portion, of the cost of a new bike :)

If I worked for a company that would reimburse some of a bike, I'd have already made a choice and be riding new. That's really hard to beat.

As for the shifter, I really don't mind fixing stuff myself. It's just that my bike is so old it won't take the abuse I give it. I actually have Shimano grip type shifters on my bike, and love them. I prefer them to thumb shifters as they are so seamless you don't have to even think about it. On the front rings the twist angle is more than should be needed, but for the rear gear selection it's great. They are also firm enough that I've never accidentally shifted due to grip position changing over obstacles or such, but when you want to shift it's instant.

I'm often amazed at how anyone other than a cycling maniac could possibly justify the cost of some components when the WalMart level cheap stuff works just fine even when 15-16 years old with probably at least a couple thousand miles of wear on it.



I'm still torn on what direction to go, though at the moment having other financial priorities is giving me more time, which is probably a good thing. I wish I had a way to test various frames with different wheel sizes.

[Mark]

If you've ever ridden top line kit you'll realise why it's better than a Walmart bike.

[airshifter]

If you've ever ridden top line kit you'll realise why it's better than a Walmart bike.

I'm not talking about the overall bike, but simply individual components that people go crazy over. Here in the US it's almost become trendy to overspend just to have bragging rights. Regardless of the budget I have available, I don't find paying 400 to 500% more for a component that works the same something to brag about. I've owned and ridden much better bikes than I have now, I'm just boggled at the trend of spending thousands for something that is no better.

In the case of the shifter I was speaking of, I've seen people spends hundreds and hundreds on rear derailleurs and various thumb shifters that just don't.... well... shift very well. These are simple devices, and people over complicate them thinking throwing money at it makes it better. Proper adjustments and simple parts keeps these things working great for a long time. There are trigger shifters that work well, but most simply aren't very ergonomic when you change grip position from sitting vs standing, which you do more frequently on a mountain bike. With a grip shifter, shifting is easy and natural regardless of grip position.

Don't get me wrong, as I understand that overall quality often costs some money. But for the bikes most buy, there are really only a few companies in the world making the majority of them. Often branding and minor component selection differences changes the prices to the extremes. One of the mountain bike forums I was using for some thoughts seems to have a crowd that thinks more cubic dollars will always buy better gear. Some of them were quite disappointed when they found out that their $1800-$2000 bikes were built by the same company that sells almost the exact bike under another name for $400 or so. There was one example where a "big name" bike had the exact same frame, and research showed it was designed by the parent company. This the "big name" had little at all to do with making the bike... they were just clicking order buttons.


I actually get a good laugh out of it when people spend huge money on the equipment hoping it will overcome their lack of fitness or ability. I often see people riding bikes in the thousands of dollars, that they drive in with specialty racks on their cars, only to ride at the levels of people that bike to the trail areas on much cheaper bikes. The same seems to hold true with many street riders in my area, and it's actually rare to see people riding hard, but they want to put on the impression that they somehow justify the money they spend. In reality I don't think half of them know the difference.

I also talk to a lot of people that can't do the most basic adjustments on their bikes. If you ride any decent amount, it only makes sense to be able to maintain your equipment.

[janneppi]

The big difference comes from the 400$ walmart bike and the proper bike shop 700$ bike, after that the difference decreases. But there's no point comparing that 400$ to a 4000$ bike. They aren't meant for the same people.

My mtb would have cost around 4000Eur new(I bought it second hand) and my new "road" bike cost around 1600 Eur to build. I'm not really that fit or skinny, certainly compared to people who usually would ride them. But after riding mtb's and road bikes for 18 years I'm not going to buy a poorly performing or uncomfortable bike just to make the training harder. I value my pleasant time on the bike more. :)

Bike's are my money pit, I manage to justify the cost to myself and don't look back. ;)
I was looking for chairs on my apartment balcony today and was shocked at the prices, 70 Eur for a chair, 500 Eur for a table and four chairs. WTF? I'm sure some one else would think that's a small price to pay. :)

[airshifter]

The big difference comes from the 400$ walmart bike and the proper bike shop 700$ bike, after that the difference decreases. But there's no point comparing that 400$ to a 4000$ bike. They aren't meant for the same people.

My mtb would have cost around 4000Eur new(I bought it second hand) and my new "road" bike cost around 1600 Eur to build. I'm not really that fit or skinny, certainly compared to people who usually would ride them. But after riding mtb's and road bikes for 18 years I'm not going to buy a poorly performing or uncomfortable bike just to make the training harder. I value my pleasant time on the bike more. :)

Bike's are my money pit, I manage to justify the cost to myself and don't look back. ;)
I was looking for chairs on my apartment balcony today and was shocked at the prices, 70 Eur for a chair, 500 Eur for a table and four chairs. WTF? I'm sure some one else would think that's a small price to pay. :)


With the direct sellers now, I find that often the bike shop bike comes with a much greater price, and local support. Not much more in a lot of cases. Naturally they have to make their living and local support is very important for some who don't do their own work, or those that do but might need parts support and not want to wait for an item to ship.

And in your case, just the posts I've seen on this thread indicate at least moderate use, in various conditions, and working on new bikes as well as obvious maintenance on your older bikes. I remember mentions of boulder fields, commuting, etc... actual use of the equipment you pay for. What I don't recall is any chest thumping over what your purchases were, only mentions when asked, where appropriate, etc. Many of us have money pit hobbies of some sort (ours tends to be concerts) but to me there is a huge difference between tossing money at something you actually enjoy, and those doing it just to say they did it.

The people I'm referencing are often spending this money based on what they heard, as none of them even rides enough to make their own decision. I see bikes for sale locally that advertise mileage of maybe a couple hundred, on bikes that are 4-5 years old. On top of that, they reduce the price only 5-10% over what they paid retail.

[schmenke]

In a vain attempt to keep my bike roadworthy I dismantled the dodgy thumb shifter in hopes that I could find something obviously, and easily repairable, in the innards. All I saw was a multitude of tiny levers, screws and springs, not too dissimilar to a Swiss watch. Well, thinking myself somewhat mechanically apt, although by no means a watch maker, I proceeded to disassemble the bits for a thorough degreasing and lube, making sure I kept track of the reverse order for reassembly.

Well, that was the original plan :uhoh: . A couple of beers along the way may have somewhat hampered quality control...

To make a long story short, it’s debatable if the reconstructed shifter is now any better off… :erm:

[Gregor-y]

I tried dismantling the STX "Rapidfire' shifters from my 94 Trek with no success. There are a lot of soft plastic bits in the ratcheding mechanism that just wear out and can't be reached. I bought a pair of slightly older Deore LX thumbshifters from craigslist and they're nowhere near as complex and look even more retro. Plus they can switch from index to friction like the bar end shifters on my normal bike.

[J4MIE]

Having been back out on my bike a couple of times recently, after hearing a few creaks and groans that weren't produced by myself, I fear that I'm going to have to read up about 'maintenance' as apart from oiling the chain and giving the whole thing a wash every few months (whether it needed it or not!) Ive not done a thing to it at all. I kept on hearing about brake pads that ran out every couple of rides but seem to be fine after a year - I guess I'm not going fast enough to wear them out.

I suspect that any part that I touch will end up with the same result as schmenke, is it more or less cost effective to take it into a bike shop?

[schmenke]

My new ride. Unfortunatley the weather is not cooperating :( . Wet and snowing since last night.

Kona Cindercone, aluminum, 27.5", Rockshox air, Shimano SLX. More than sufficient for my cruising :D .

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5185/14100553245_3b3c09c4d8_k.jpg

I normally wouldn't have splurged this much on a bike, but like I mentioned, my company "fitness account" is reimbursing a good portion of it :)

Hopefully the weather improves tomorrow!

[Mark]

Having been back out on my bike a couple of times recently, after hearing a few creaks and groans that weren't produced by myself, I fear that I'm going to have to read up about 'maintenance' as apart from oiling the chain and giving the whole thing a wash every few months (whether it needed it or not!) Ive not done a thing to it at all. I kept on hearing about brake pads that ran out every couple of rides but seem to be fine after a year - I guess I'm not going fast enough to wear them out.

I suspect that any part that I touch will end up with the same result as schmenke, is it more or less cost effective to take it into a bike shop?


Washing: Spray all over with muc off and then hose it down. Pretty effective!

Chain and cassette: try some some spray on degreaser on the chain and cassette. Then hose off. Then get some chain oil and put one drop on each link and then wipe clean.

Other than that a spring service at the bike shop isn't a bad plan.

[Mark]

Last week I was on holiday in the North York Moors and tried a spot of mountain biking. Blimey it was hard work! I did a couple of practice rides when towing our two year old which was hard enough and the nerd day did a 20 mile off road loop. My legs were hurting 2 days later!

The previous week I had done 60 miles on my road bike and felt no effects afterwardshttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/04/4y8uvasy.jpg

[janneppi]

My new ride. Unfortunatley the weather is not cooperating :( . Wet and snowing since last night.

Kona Cindercone, aluminum, 27.5", Rockshox air, Shimano SLX. More than sufficient for my cruising :D .



Good job! That should work for you for many years.

During my last mtb ride the free wheel stopped working properly on my bike, yesterday I finally thought that I'll take it apart and re lube it. Much to my surprise the cassette/freewheel body dropped to the floor when I took the axle quick release off.

The hub axle had broken in two. :(
After a quick search I discovered that i's a quite common thing with the Hope hub and Maxle axle.
A design flaw in the hub and a unfortunate axle shape.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11791273/maxel.jpg

[Gregor-y]

Any idea how many years or much distance was on the axle before it broke?

[janneppi]

The bike is 2011 model, it doesn't have that much ride in it, as also the the first owner was fat. :D In 2011 there was enough talk about it to make Hope switch to regular Maxle. I talked with bike dealer who has Orange in their line-up and he recognized the issue. I'll propably get them to inspect the hub and and straighten the rim as well.

[Mark]

Did 106 miles today. My legs hurt now!

[Mark]

May was a bit of a poor month for me, getting the bathroom refurbished as well as family engagements etc., 227 miles cycling,. although that's flattering a bit because 105 of that was in one ride! I'd done 307 the month before.

Walking has been the worst, after doing 111 miles in a month in I've managed only 15 miles in both April and May, and I can feel it hurting my overall fitness as I feel rather lethargic, and I've put on 10lbs during the period.

I need to get things together!

[schmenke]

Hang in there Mark!

I ran a timed 10km yesterday morning, placing 206th out of over 3,000 participants. Although not a PB, I was pleased with my 48:22 time :) .

[Big Ben]

Well boys and girls I have bought myself a bike but I think its frame is maybe a little small for my own frame. I was maybe a bit optimistic when I bought it... but mostly cheap.... i went for the cheapest bike in the store. I did a 35-40 km ride the first day then spent the following day mostly standing or on my belly. I did came to work on it but over here that's quite an adventure and survival is pretty much what I aim for when I'm out the door. I don't really like to do this as an extreme sport but what can I do?

In the meantime I also did my longest run ever. I don't think I bragged about it in here. I hope not... it would be pretty embarrassing :laugh:. I did a 34km run a few weeks back. I was going through a rough patch on a personal level and did it more like therapy than anything else. It only works when I go beyond 20 km. Up to that point my mind is still doing its thing but beyond that it slowly starts to empty itself. By the time I was done I had nothing in me... I didn't long for anything, didn't miss anything, no ambitions, no targets... I only wanted to lay down somewhere and rest

Yesterday I went to my first trail race. I went just for fun.... to be able to say that I participated at one of these events. I have no ambitions whatsoever to compete at any kind of level. I did the 20k in 2h6m. Not really mind blowing :laugh: but considering I got lost in the forest and that before the race I had thrown up everything I ate (don't eat eggs you don't remember when you bought them! :laugh:) it was ok

[GridGirl]

I have been very much slacking this year as I have been working in an office quite a distance away and have spent alot of time travelling. Now I'm back working ony 10 minutes from home I am back on the bike (turbo and outside). In a moment of boredom and quite possibly madness I have also signed up to run a half marathon. I have never run further than 10km, dont particually enjoy running and haven't run quite a while so will be starting form a nil base pretty much. Oh well, best stop moaning and get fit instead. :)

[Mark]

I have been very much slacking this year as I have been working in an office quite a distance away and have spent alot of time travelling. Now I'm back working ony 10 minutes from home I am back on the bike (turbo and outside). In a moment of boredom and quite possibly madness I have also signed up to run a half marathon. I have never run further than 10km, dont particually enjoy running and haven't run quite a while so will be starting form a nil base pretty much. Oh well, best stop moaning and get fit instead. :)

What you doing a half marathon for? That's madness ;). Do a full marathon instead, on a bike ;)

Even though I've put in some miles on the bike every week I still feel like I've let things go massively, this morning I went out for my first workday ride for 6 weeks and it felt like a struggle, normally when I get back I can feel the burn in my legs, but not this time, I can only figure my heart and lungs are the weak link at the moment! And I'm thinking of doing a 100 mile ride over the tour de france course in a couple of weeks! Hmm.

[janneppi]

Last week was an ok week, cycled twice to work, went to the gym, did two one hour walks. This week not so much, i'll be spending five days in Warsaw gettin some SAP tools training, beer and hotel food it is. :(

[Big Ben]

I'm sorry but I'm not going to let this thread go to the second page :p.

I hope you guys are just too busy running, riding bikes or going to the gym to have time to spend on forums :p

[GridGirl]

My half marathon training was dealt a blow on Saturday when I paced by 7 year old neice to a 5km PB of 34.30 minutes. Now, dont get me wrong as I can run 5km quicker than that and I was also taking the tougher route to help her to a good time but the damn kid has an awesome kick for a final sprint finish where she left me overtook another woman and finished 5 seconds and two places ahead of me where I was giving it 110% just to keep up with her sprint. There was me thinking i'll let her beat me and she just left me for dead. :laugh:

Have been doing a bit on the bike over the last few weeks but cycing has been put on hold for the next week as the Tour de France is coming to town. As they say, if you cant beat them....watch them. :D

[Mark]

Have been doing a bit on the bike over the last few weeks but cycing has been put on hold for the next week as the Tour de France is coming to town. As they say, if you cant beat them....watch them. :D

I'm still pondering what to do for the tour! I actually have Leeds Colton travelodge booked but I doubt I'm going to use it. I might park somewhere around Barnard Castle and cycle over to Reeth or something; but none of my normal cycling friends are interested.

What have you got planned?

[J4MIE]

I've really been slacking recently despite all the good weather I've not been out much, too busy at work although playing tennis a couple of evenings a week. Have the next 4 weekends free so aiming to get out on the bike a bit more, got a new tyre but not even got around to fitting it.

Iain is streaking ahead of me in the miles challenge so have to do something about that :s

[GridGirl]

I'm still pondering what to do for the tour! I actually have Leeds Colton travelodge booked but I doubt I'm going to use it. I might park somewhere around Barnard Castle and cycle over to Reeth or something; but none of my normal cycling friends are interested.

What have you got planned?

On Saturday we are going to walk or get the bus into town to watch the start in the city center and probably just hang out in town for a bit afterwards. On Sunday we are parking in Huddersfield and will cycle to an as yet undecided destination but probably on the hill out of Elland. On Monday, I have no idea where we are watching it from but it will be central London somewhere as we're eating at Claridge's that night. In other words....I'll just follow Ibby. :p

Mind after seeing Froome-dog big ringing it up Holme Moss last month I quite fancy doing that as my next cyling challenge as i've not ridden up there yet. I shall be selecting a much easier gear.

[schmenke]

Like others I've been slacking a bit for the last 2 or 3 weeks :erm: .
Did manage to slog through a few muddy trails this morning though :D .

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5074/14365629580_f400b32d25_k.jpg

(Truck's nice and clean though :erm: )

[airshifter]

I've been a major slacker lately.

Last bike ride I got another puncture, and managed to bend up some brake hardware a little bit. Discovered that I no longer had any rubber cement to fix the puncture, and that ended up creating another big gap to repair as I was too busy to go out and find the stuff. I had some patches that required no cement, and they seemed to work fine until about 25 PSI then promptly blew off the tube. :laugh:

I've got the cement now and the puncture is fixed just waiting to put the tube back in the tire and double check things. Couldn't find any more patches locally either so now I'm down to minimal spares. I still need to get an under seat bag to hold a tube or two and some tools so I can take care of basic problems on longer rides. Finally put a pump on, but still need to find room for more water as well. This thing is going to be heavy by the time I'm done!


While the bike was down I did some cleaning, as I'd let the chain and rear gearset get mucked up offroading. I discovered that I had two almost full cans of Liquid Wrench, and the stuff works great for cleaning the affected parts. It's also a lube, and after a proper cleaning it seems to work fine if I put some on the chain only. I'm going to try an approach of not as much lube and see if it helps keep things cleaner.


Sadly on my last ride I discovered that some of the only fun off road areas near me have now been posted as private, due to the people on 4 wheelers rutting things up again. I'm hoping I can catch one of the land owners to see about working around that..... it worked years back.

[J4MIE]

I bought a replacement track pump after the old one exploded a few months ago, and after I got home last night decided to pump up both tyres as they seemed a bit on the squeeze side. They were around 15psi!! :eek: So pumped up to 40 now, see if that makes a difference. Still using my old (very well worn) tyres, got a pair of new ones waiting to go on but making the most of the old ones in the meantime. Will need to get a better quality pump for carrying with me as my Tesco one just isn't up to much.

Did 21km last night despite stopping when I happened across a gorse fire, first time I've ever had to call 999 :s

[schmenke]

Also, as of Saturday I'll have golfed 54 holes in 4 days. Does that count? :mark: :p:

P.s. what's a "gorse"? :cornfused:

[J4MIE]

P.s. what's a "gorse"? :cornfused:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulex

Particularly common in the UK in late spring/summer.

[janneppi]

Did the first mtb ride in a month, I figured all the beer, all the sausages in the previous week and 28c temp would a bit stressfull son I took it short and easy and stayed of the really technical stuff. I also packed light and left the knee pads and heavier helmet home and took the road lid which has much better ventilation. Luckily I didn't crash but did almost vomit on top of a steep singletrack climb. :D
I think my heartrate was above 150bpm most the 60 minutes.

[GridGirl]

Luckily I didn't crash but did almost vomit on top of a steep singletrack climb. :D
I think my heartrate was above 150bpm most the 60 minutes.

I'm pretty sure I have kept my heart beat in excess of 170bpm for 60 minutes when doing Sufferfest video's on my turbo. Technically I should be dead. hahah Sounds like you took on quite challenging climb so I bet coming down was fun. :D

[janneppi]

There was no real downhill on the other side. Just bare bedrock and a couple of rock gardens which one has to ride down quite carefully. Not the best trail to ride when almost unconscious. :)

[Mark]

I bought a replacement track pump after the old one exploded a few months ago, and after I got home last night decided to pump up both tyres as they seemed a bit on the squeeze side. They were around 15psi!! :eek: So pumped up to 40 now, see if that makes a difference. Still using my old (very well worn) tyres, got a pair of new ones waiting to go on but making the most of the old ones in the meantime. Will need to get a better quality pump for carrying with me as my Tesco one just isn't up to much.

Did 21km last night despite stopping when I happened across a gorse fire, first time I've ever had to call 999 :s

Wow low pressures. I usually run 100-110psi and I can really notice when they start to get below about 85-90.

[Gregor-y]

Depends on the size. I ride on 700x35s around 65 psi. I spent a week in Colorado and tried one of those public bikes that are springing up in many cities in the US. For $8 it was a vile, hateful thing limited to half hour commutes or grocery runs. And I can do both much better with my own bike.

[airshifter]

Depends on the size. I ride on 700x35s around 65 psi. I spent a week in Colorado and tried one of those public bikes that are springing up in many cities in the US. For $8 it was a vile, hateful thing limited to half hour commutes or grocery runs. And I can do both much better with my own bike.

It's all a matter of size vs pressure.

If I ran my mountain bike fatties at 55 PSI it's just spine jarring hard, even on the rear. On a smooth road it would fly, but even the average road around here would beat you to death.

I haven't ridden in a while. I used up all my patches and need to pick up a couple tube and more patches. I hate flats!

[janneppi]

I run my mtb tyres, 2,35" wide just under 3bar(43psi), Current road bike tyres, which are 35mm wide are about 4 bar 60psi. I probably could run the mtb tyres at 2.5 bar to get more traction, but I'm a bit lazy and don't want to fix punctures, mind you I'm quite heavy. If I weight aroind 80kg, I'sd propably run below 2 bar pressures.

[Mark]

Was quite tired last weekend after doing 80 flat miles so doing 85 crazy hilly miles probably wasn't my best idea. Shattered now!

[J4MIE]

If I ran my mountain bike fatties at 55 PSI it's just spine jarring hard, even on the rear. On a smooth road it would fly, but even the average road around here would beat you to death.

Yes I can confirm this, they were far too high and was actually really unpleasant, so will have to reduce them and try to find out what works best.

I've not had that many punctures, and luckily always been at home so never had to repair when I'm out and about, just a matter of time though I guess.

[airshifter]

Yes I can confirm this, they were far too high and was actually really unpleasant, so will have to reduce them and try to find out what works best.

I've not had that many punctures, and luckily always been at home so never had to repair when I'm out and about, just a matter of time though I guess.

I've reached a point where I've had so many punctures that I don't like to get more than 4-5 miles from home until I get a good bag to hold some basic tools and a spare tube or two. My luck just hasn't been great. :(

I've got about 1200-1500 miles on my knobbies, and there isn't much left of the center tread. I might see if I can find something that is a better compromise for the road riding. There really aren't hardly any places to ride off road around here any more.

[janneppi]

What kind of punctures are you getting?
I haven't used anything but puncture protected tyres for years now when riding on the road. As you pondered yourself, maybe you could do with a switch to tyres intended more towards road use.
For example I think my brother uses these for his commuter bike. I don't remember him complaining about punctures much
http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/big_apple_plus

[airshifter]

What kind of punctures are you getting?
I haven't used anything but puncture protected tyres for years now when riding on the road. As you pondered yourself, maybe you could do with a switch to tyres intended more towards road use.
For example I think my brother uses these for his commuter bike. I don't remember him complaining about punctures much
http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/big_apple_plus

So far I've had a variety of punctures, but to be honest most probably wouldn't be overcome by better tires, unless they were super tough. I had a finish nail on one, a few from big thorns when off the road, one that I never determined, and one blew out a crease on the tube which seemed to exist due to one of the previous flats.

I am going to have to get tires soon regardless, and would like something tougher than I have now. Great link, and I'm going to look for something like that, but probably with a bit more off road bite on the tread. Being it's an old crap mountain bike I don't mind loosing some speed/ride when on the road, as I'm not going that quick. But when I can get off the road we often have a lot of slick stuff, so something with a little more tread would probably keep it from being too treacherous.

[J4MIE]

So I've finally caved in and ordered a road bike, which I'll hopefully pick up tomorrow after work.

After spending about two weeks trying to change to a single chainring on the mountain bike, finally took it into a shop in town to get sorted out. Wish I'd got them to do it in the first place!! :(

Gutted that I've not been able to get out this weekend, perfect weather for it!

[schmenke]

...After spending about two weeks trying to change to a single chainring on the mountain bike, finally took it into a shop in town to get sorted out. Wish I'd got them to do it in the first place!! :( ...

Sounds like a lot of work J4MIE :s

Wouldn’t both derailleurs and shifters have to be swapped out as well?

What size chain ring are you installing?

How many sprockets in the rear?

Why are you doing this? :p:

[J4MIE]

Got a new rear derailleur, front derailleur and front shifter got removed as it's no longer needed!

Fitted a dropper seat post so now have a button to press when I want to change the seat height, saves stopping and getting off and resizing every time I want to chicken out of throwing myself off a big drop, then putting it back up again :s

New front ring is 32t, same as previous middle one, but is a "narrow-wide" so I hear the chain is far less likely to come off when I'm pushing the bike along rough sections :s

Ten gears at the back still, but the 17t is substituted for a 40t so that it's a bit easier to get up the hills. Will have to try it out when I get it back and see how it goes.

In other news, went to pick the new road bike up today but it wasn't ready, was told to go back after 12pm tomorrow. Not pleased as I tried phoning them several times before travelling there but nobody picked up. Was not pleased at all!!

[airshifter]

Got a new rear derailleur, front derailleur and front shifter got removed as it's no longer needed!

Fitted a dropper seat post so now have a button to press when I want to change the seat height, saves stopping and getting off and resizing every time I want to chicken out of throwing myself off a big drop, then putting it back up again :s

New front ring is 32t, same as previous middle one, but is a "narrow-wide" so I hear the chain is far less likely to come off when I'm pushing the bike along rough sections :s

Ten gears at the back still, but the 17t is substituted for a 40t so that it's a bit easier to get up the hills. Will have to try it out when I get it back and see how it goes.

In other news, went to pick the new road bike up today but it wasn't ready, was told to go back after 12pm tomorrow. Not pleased as I tried phoning them several times before travelling there but nobody picked up. Was not pleased at all!!

Maybe I'm missing something, but why do you need a front derailleur if you removed the front shifter? You're only running a single front sprocket correct?

The comment about the dropper post is funny. Maybe not having to slow down and think about it as much will keep you going and make the drop.

Those big rear rings do seem handy. I was riding with a guy one day on some trails that had some fairly steep short climbs. With that big rear ring he could keep traction much better, as using the "normal" low gear resulted in spinning more often as you had to really torque hard on the downstroke, and it would break the tire loose much easier. With that crawler gear he could stay in the saddle and pedal up most of them without any traction problems.

[Mark]

He didn't "Got a new rear derailleur" "front derailleur and front shifter got removed"

Most bikes I've seen the brake (in the UK the rear brake) is integrated with the shifter, is there now a shifterless brake in place of it?

I can understand going to a single front ring, with flat bar shifters going up to a bigger chainring always takes a lot of effort - on my hybrid I ended up just riding in the middle ring all the time (reducing myself to just 7 gears!) because upshifting chainrings was really difficult, you practically had to stop and do it two handed.

Good luck with the new road bike; meet you 7am Chester-le-Street market place, 82 mile ride into Northumberland. Don't worry I'll let you draft me all the way ;)

[schmenke]

... front derailleur and front shifter got removed as it's no longer needed!..

Duh, of course. Silly me :crazy:

[schmenke]

...
Those big rear rings do seem handy. I was riding with a guy one day on some trails that had some fairly steep short climbs. With that big rear ring he could keep traction much better, as using the "normal" low gear resulted in spinning more often as you had to really torque hard on the downstroke, and it would break the tire loose much easier. With that crawler gear he could stay in the saddle and pedal up most of them without any traction problems.

Do you know what size sproket your friend had? Mine is a 34T and I rarely use it when in the front granny-gear (i.e. 1st gear), even on the steepest of climbs. I find, as you said, the rear tire just brakes traction and I lose all forward momentum. I'll generally stay in 2nd or 3d gear and try to power up the hill, with my lungs ready to burst :s

[schmenke]

...I can understand going to a single front ring, with flat bar shifters going up to a bigger chainring always takes a lot of effort - on my hybrid I ended up just riding in the middle ring all the time (reducing myself to just 7 gears!) because upshifting chainrings was really difficult, you practically had to stop and do it two handed. ...

:cornfused:

Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

[airshifter]

He didn't "Got a new rear derailleur" "front derailleur and front shifter got removed"

Most bikes I've seen the brake (in the UK the rear brake) is integrated with the shifter, is there now a shifterless brake in place of it?

I can understand going to a single front ring, with flat bar shifters going up to a bigger chainring always takes a lot of effort - on my hybrid I ended up just riding in the middle ring all the time (reducing myself to just 7 gears!) because upshifting chainrings was really difficult, you practically had to stop and do it two handed.

Good luck with the new road bike; meet you 7am Chester-le-Street market place, 82 mile ride into Northumberland. Don't worry I'll let you draft me all the way ;)

Doh... completely missed what he was saying for some reason! :laugh:

I actually prefer the brake lever and shifter to be separate, as you can adjust them better for whatever angles you like. I tend to like my brake levers almost rotated so the lever is down on the bar quite a bit, and that would make shifting tricky at that angle.

As for the front chainrings, it is more effort, but with my shifters really not all that bad. I have twist shifters and they do take more rotation, but the effort isn't all that much.




Do you know what size sproket your friend had? Mine is a 34T and I rarely use it when in the front granny-gear (i.e. 1st gear), even on the steepest of climbs. I find, as you said, the rear tire just brakes traction and I lose all forward momentum. I'll generally stay in 2nd or 3d gear and try to power up the hill, with my lungs ready to burst :s

He was just someone I ran into on the trail, and really have no idea how many teeth the sprocket was. It seemed very large to me, but it's possible he had smaller high gears making it seem that way. I know it was substantially lower than my gearing. Similar to you I was using 2nd or 3rd most of the time and loosing traction as I powered the crank down while out of the saddle. He was spinning a high cadence in the low gear and staying the the saddle, so I think the weight transfer and consistent power allowed him to climb stuff that I would break loose on.

When we stopped I took a better look at his back tire, and I think mine really had better knobbies for the conditions. Maybe there was more of a trick to it, but he was making it look easy.

[J4MIE]

Yes sorry my, grammar, could have been a bit, improved there ;)

Yes, the brakes and shifters are separate, so easy just to remove the front shifter. It was never hard to change mine anyway Mark, sounds really strange!

Picked the bike up from the shop today and all sorted out, well nearly, they said the mech hanger is bent slightly so might have been the cause of my previous shifting issues. Luckily I bought a new one to carry as a spare, so will switch them.

Also picked up the new road bike, just getting a bit organised then will practice unclipping a few times before heading out for a short ride :)

[Mark]

On both my hybrid and the MTB I hired they had the same type of Shimano shifter for the chainrings and I found it super stiff to push into the big ring with my thumb sometimes having to push so hard I ended up steering into traffic!

Probably a fault but I got a road bike before I could investigate further.

[schmenke]

...He was just someone I ran into on the trail, and really have no idea how many teeth the sprocket was. It seemed very large to me, but it's possible he had smaller high gears making it seem that way. I know it was substantially lower than my gearing. Similar to you I was using 2nd or 3rd most of the time and loosing traction as I powered the crank down while out of the saddle. He was spinning a high cadence in the low gear and staying the the saddle, so I think the weight transfer and consistent power allowed him to climb stuff that I would break loose on.

When we stopped I took a better look at his back tire, and I think mine really had better knobbies for the conditions. Maybe there was more of a trick to it, but he was making it look easy.

Did you notice if he had a lockout on the suspension? That helps on the uphills.

[J4MIE]

Went out and did about 12km, was quite worried about unclipping as practicing in the house was pretty shocking! Anyway, found it quite easy in the end. Absolutely delighted with the bike, very happy! Can see myself using it more and more, just busy now until next week :( Also need to look at how to carry stuff with me as I feel naked without a bag full of stuff :s

[Gregor-y]

Also need to look at how to carry stuff with me as I feel naked without a bag full of stuff :s
Get a rack, take the weight off your back!

[Mark]

Nah just carry less stuff!

Friend of mine who just got a road bike less than a year ago did all his rides with a massive yellow backpack. I swear he had a duvet in it or something; we manages with a small saddle bag and jersey pockets as that's all you need.

[airshifter]

Did you notice if he had a lockout on the suspension? That helps on the uphills.

Doubtful. It was an older hardtail with what appears to be fairly basic front suspension. TBH I wouldn't have noticed if it was locked as I was just wondering how he was making the climbs. :laugh:

[Mark]

Did OK last month but I could have done much better. Felt like I was sitting around doing nothing most of the time, but then I managed my best ever cycling milage total - not sure how!

Got my 'Gran Fondo' in early this month with an 85 mile ride up into Northumberland, but it was a hellish headwind on the way back :(.

Next weekend if the weather is ok I'm fancying doing a one way ride, like 100 miles and get the train back.

[Big Ben]

I didn't run much in July (about 100km) but I did Le Tour Du Mont Blanc and a side trip before that near Matterhorn... so all in all something like 200 km, climbing and descending about 15000 m in 2 weeks carrying my home in a backpack. I lost more than 3 kg and that's not really a good thing since I feel I'm dropping below the line.. but thank God I'm never out of a good appetite :p

[Big Ben]

I didn't run much in July (about 100km) but I did Le Tour Du Mont Blanc and a side trip before that near Matterhorn... so all in all something like 200 km, climbing and descending about 15000 m in 2 weeks carrying my home in a backpack. I lost more than 3 kg and that's not really a good thing since I feel I'm dropping below the line.. but thank God I'm never out of a good appetite :p

Got a little excited there... Just 12000 m up and down :laugh:

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[GridGirl]

Went to watch the Commonwealth Games up in Glasgow last week and saw both the mountain biking and time trial events. There was one particular Kenyan woman who had entered the mountain biking, I am sure, purely on the basis that she could ride a bike. I have never seen such a look of fear in anyones face as I did on hers. Her bike looked like it was worth about 50p, had no suspension, and old school V brakes. Many of the athletes from African countries had taken in their bikes for service whilst in Scotland and were told they were unserviceable and were either loaned or given new bikes which does make me think how lucky I am to have all the bikes I have. :)

Have done a bit of mountain biking lately but have mostly been trying to concentrate running. I managed to run 9.15km in an hour on Sunday with my training plan requiring me to run 11.2km this Sunday which is further than I have ever run before. So far everything in my plan has been doable but I think I need to run faster which I find very difficult to do on my own. Think I need to get the other half to come out with me on a bike so i'll run faster. Having said that, my fastest ever hour record is 9.2km which was set more than 18 months ago when I last ran semi-seriously so I am not doing to bad. I am thinking about going out to run a 5km best tonight but we'll see. :D

[schmenke]

Went to watch the Commonwealth Games up in Glasgow last week and saw both the mountain biking and time trial events. There was one particular Kenyan woman who had entered the mountain biking, I am sure, purely on the basis that she could ride a bike. I have never seen such a look of fear in anyones face as I did on hers. Her bike looked like it was worth about 50p, had no suspension, and old school V brakes. ...

That sounds odd. Was there no qualification requirements for that event? :s

[GridGirl]

Nope, I believe that it was up to individual countries to select and enter an athlete unlike the Olympics where specific times need to be met or certain events need to entered etc. I really felt for her but on the other side I am thinking about entering myself into the mountain biking event in 2018 for the country of my fathers birth as I could do with a holiday to the Gold Coast.

Tonight I am going to attempt to run 11.25km or 7 miles. Never run that far before but I am going to give it a go. :s

[steveaki13]

Nope, I believe that it was up to individual countries to select and enter an athlete unlike the Olympics where specific times need to be met or certain events need to entered etc. I really felt for her but on the other side I am thinking about entering myself into the mountain biking event in 2018 for the country of my fathers birth as I could do with a holiday to the Gold Coast.

Tonight I am going to attempt to run 11.25km or 7 miles. Never run that far before but I am going to give it a go. :s

Good Luck

[schmenke]

...Tonight I am going to attempt to run 11.25km or 7 miles. Never run that far before but I am going to give it a go. :s

Indeed, good luck. A bit of advice: Don't worry about your pace. Just focus on endurance and completing the distance. Your pace will gradually improve with each successive run. Record and try to improve your pace only once you've progressed to the point when you can run the distance comfortably. I'm sure it won't take you that long :)

[Mark]

Back in March I got down to 12 stone with high hopes to get down to 11 stone before the end of the year. Unfortunately it feels like the last 6 months has been a never ending sequence of 'events' and I'm currently at 13 stone :(

[steveaki13]

Back in March I got down to 12 stone with high hopes to get down to 11 stone before the end of the year. Unfortunately it feels like the last 6 months has been a never ending sequence of 'events' and I'm currently at 13 stone :(

Your lucky.

When I was working full time and playing football last year I was about 12.5-13 stone which was my natural fit weight.

Breaking my foot and sitting for 3 months put me up to 15.5 stone :(, I am down to about 14.8 stone, and now dieting in the hope of getting back to 13 at least.

Its a lot harder to get to 13 than it was to get to 15.5

[schmenke]

Ran a ~10km route yesterday in a large park, which I don’t frequent often, in the south end of the city.
The park has many trails through wooded areas.

The squiggly red line is my route plotted by my phone GPS. Needless to say I didn’t quite know where I was going at times :p: .

[Big Ben]

So what's up people? What have you been up to lately? I just checked up the stats :p for August and I've done some 150km of running. My left foot still hurts after the mont blanc tour so all in all it's not great but it's decent given the circumstances.

Other than that, I did this previous weekend some serious hiking. I visited 4 peaks over 2500 in 2 and a half days. I lost 2 kg in the process. I had problems eating. I lived mostly on apples and crackers. I had problems sleeping... i didn't really sleep much... so by the end of this trip I was feeling as burnt out as one can feel.

But enough with that... it's time to get back on the horse :p

[schmenke]

Hey BB, that's great. I only managed about 110km running in August, with a few muddy bike trails thrown in to mix things up a bit.
I really should have tried for more as I have 3 events, two 10km and one 15km, coming up in the next two weeks days :uhoh: . A weeks vacation and a couple of long weekends in August didn't help... mostly BBQing and swilling beer :s .

Where were your hikes?

[J4MIE]

Yes as usually I've been neglecting things on the exercise front, been extremely busy at work trying to get most of my workload out of the way before going on holiday next week. I get back for a couple of days then have a week booked in Dalby forest, so hoping to get quite a few long rides in that week despite not having any recent practice :s

[Big Ben]

Hey BB, that's great. I only managed about 110km running in August, with a few muddy bike trails thrown in to mix things up a bit.
I really should have tried for more as I have 3 events, two 10km and one 15km, coming up in the next two weeks days :uhoh: . A weeks vacation and a couple of long weekends in August didn't help... mostly BBQing and swilling beer :s .

Where were your hikes?

It's nice that you participate to all these events. I only went to one race where I didn't race that much :p.

My hikes were in the famous Fagaras mountains :p. You can find some nice pics here:

http://www.carpati.org/jurnal/varful_moldoveanu_de_la_balea_si_retur_de-o_zi/2742/

that's the hike I did on Sunday.

The pics are not mine

[schmenke]

I had a run cancelled on Saturday morning so I decided to take my bike out to a nearby park that I often frequent. This is a sample of what I had to struggle through :s . I was cold and soaked, especially my feet. Needless to say, it was an abreviated bike ride :mark: .

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3920/15041133950_3db83c490b_b.jpg

[Big Ben]

So i guess then that 23 degrees is not that bad after all. I get a little downbeat when I think the summer's over but I see now it could be much worse :p

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[GridGirl]

Yesterday I managed to run my first ever half marathon. My build up had been less than ideal with me picking up a shin injury about 5 weeks ago which resulted in me having a two week break from exercise and then me limiting myself to doing a 'long run' at a very slow pace on the 2 weekends runnig up to yesterday's race. I had originally intended to try and beat 2hrs 15mins which then got extended to 2hrs 30mins after the injury.

Race day was very warm, so much so that I could quite happily have given up due to the heat after 3km. I eventually crossed the line in 6547th place at 2hrs 35mins and 54 seconds which I am really quite pleased with as I am most certainly not a runner.

My brother-in-law finished in 249th place at 1hr 29mins 20sec crossing the line when I was still at 6 miles (althgouh it was a staggered start). I now plan to semi-retire from running and go back to cycling. :D

[airshifter]

That's a much better time than never running a half marathon. I did one once, and it will probably be the only time. I can't remember my time, but it was when I was much younger and still in shape.

But I have no desire to do it again.


I'll join you in some biking, though lately I've slacked on that very bad as well. I started a new job and have to make the time which I have less of again.

[Malbec]

I did my second half marathon this weekend in Ealing which is quite hilly. Took it slowly in the first half but still found myself running out of energy and walking for a bit towards the end. Managed it in 1:45:13 which is precisely 30 seconds quicker than last year. One whole year of training to shave off 30 seconds off my time... feeling a bit demoralised and not in the mood to run again for some time.

[schmenke]

Good for you both GG and Malbec! Even with all the running I've been doing (I logged 160kms in September) I don't think I'm even close to particpating in a half.

[schmenke]

This was my second year participating in this 5-person relay event, although this year I tackled leg 3. A "5/5 difficulty" leg, 12km with a 510m elevation gain, climbing to a peak of over 1,500m. Was the hardest 12km I've ever ran, but quite satisfying :) .
Our team placed 15th overall out of 130 teams.

http://www.grizzlyevents.ca/grizzly-ultra-marathon---relay.html

Very enjoyable with great weather and fantastic scenery. Looking forward to next year (to retrieve the lung I left behind :uhoh: ).

[Big Ben]

I ran 204km in October, around half of them in the last 10 days of the month. I have 1628km this year. I wonder if I can run 2000 by the end of the year... probably not.

I did quite a long bike ride on Sunday for my standards. I went from my very famous home town, Oradea, to the even more famous town of Berettyóújfalu and back... about 80km. By the end of it it was quite horrible. I hoped to be back home by 6:30. Instead it took me almost 2 hours more than I thought which meant 2 hours more in the dark and the cold. I could barely move my hands when I got home. Well, you live and learn... at least I'm living.

[Mark]

Well we're into the cold weather now so it looks like I'm going to have to fit my winter wheels and tyres to the bike which should be on for at least the next 4 months :(. During that time it's just going to be doing what I can on Sunday mornings. No more setting out at 6am to bang in 80 miles before lunch.

[airshifter]

At least you're still racking up miles Big Ben. I've been a slacker lately. Are you on a road bike or mountain bike?

[schmenke]

Well we're into the cold weather now so it looks like I'm going to have to fit my winter wheels and tyres to the bike which should be on for at least the next 4 months :(. During that time it's just going to be doing what I can on Sunday mornings. No more setting out at 6am to bang in 80 miles before lunch.

Didn't realise you change wheels too. What's different about the wheels? I assume the rear is equipped with an identical gearset?

[schmenke]

I haven't used my bike much lately. Been pounding the pavement/trails more than anything, although nowhere near as much as BB.
Managed 160km in October, and about the same for September.
It's getting harder this time of year, with the shortening daylight hours, and the pathways and sidewalks are starting to get icy :mark: .
I should just give up and go in to hibernation until the spring :p: .

[J4MIE]

I have been in Hibernation mode since the end of September, I just have no interest in getting outside at this time of year, until May :s

I played squash for the first time on Monday evening, it ended up lasting for 2.5 hours. Brilliant workout but I am still struggling to move :s

[Big Ben]

At least you're still racking up miles Big Ben. I've been a slacker lately. Are you on a road bike or mountain bike?

A very cheap mountain bike. There aren't too many bike lanes over here and the roads are not very safe so I chose this one because it was cheap and I can use it everywhere... but I prefer tarmac :p. If we had better conditions I would have gone for a road bike.

[Big Ben]

I haven't used my bike much lately. Been pounding the pavement/trails more than anything, although nowhere near as much as BB.
Managed 160km in October, and about the same for September.
It's getting harder this time of year, with the shortening daylight hours, and the pathways and sidewalks are starting to get icy :mark: .
I should just give up and go in to hibernation until the spring :p: .

Actually 1600km in 10 months is 160km/month :p. The truth is that winter really discourages me too. We have much softer winters here but anyway, soon enough, it will be dark when I get to work and dark when I punch out.

But I'm trying to look at the bright side of things. I just can't wait to get back on my snowboard :D :p

[janneppi]

Good to see so many people being active.
I cant seem to be able to do nothing except walking, 3-4 hours pee week. I tried some joga exercise last weekend for the first time in a year :)

And I did sell my old road bike yesterday, hopefully to a good home. :)

[airshifter]

A very cheap mountain bike. There aren't too many bike lanes over here and the roads are not very safe so I chose this one because it was cheap and I can use it everywhere... but I prefer tarmac :p. If we had better conditions I would have gone for a road bike.

Conditions are similar here, and when it's dry I enjoy being able to do more riding on trails, even though they are very limited in this area. And as far as cheap mountain bikes go, I'd bet I could challenge you for that title. There are very few close places to ride on or off road for any distance without dealing with some traffic problems.

If I keep at it I'll probably upgrade to something with front suspension though, as it would ease the hard hits and take less toll on my back.

[Big Ben]

Conditions are similar here, and when it's dry I enjoy being able to do more riding on trails, even though they are very limited in this area. And as far as cheap mountain bikes go, I'd bet I could challenge you for that title. There are very few close places to ride on or off road for any distance without dealing with some traffic problems.

If I keep at it I'll probably upgrade to something with front suspension though, as it would ease the hard hits and take less toll on my back.

I'd like to go off road more though not extreme stuff, but the truth is that my butt doesn't like it one bit :laugh:

my bike was around 125 euros... new. It has suspensions but it makes plenty of funny noises when the terrain is not very smooth.

i actually hoped I would use it more to come to work but now that winter is almost here I put that on hold for a few months

[Big Ben]

For some unknown reasons November seems to be a very good month to run for me. I ran 115 km over 9 days and had in those 9 days my 'best' week ever running wise, 89km in 7 days.

I used to run with a friend but she's away for a few months. She was my voice of reason. I was always counting km and trying to run more and more while she was like forget about km and lets just run. It feels like she was doing it to feel good and I was looking for misery.

[airshifter]

I'd like to go off road more though not extreme stuff, but the truth is that my butt doesn't like it one bit :laugh:

my bike was around 125 euros... new. It has suspensions but it makes plenty of funny noises when the terrain is not very smooth.

i actually hoped I would use it more to come to work but now that winter is almost here I put that on hold for a few months

My bike was only about $130 new. It's quite the piece of crap. :laugh: Actually it's held up well considering the abuse. I have finally managed to bend the back rim a bit too much. The shifters and brakes work well, and actually I like the shifters more than many much more expensive bikes.

Around here we get a lot of roots on the off road trails, and they can be bone jarring if you try to keep any real pace. Part of me wants to get a full suspension bike to make the off road stuff more fun, but the other part knows that it will just make the road riding less productive.


And lately, I've not been riding it. I need to get off my butt and start working out in some way again, as laziness can be addictive.

And really, I think your friend is right Ben. When it becomes too much of a goal you can suck the life out of the fun you are supposed to be having. Though I admit using a fitness tracker and joining some challenges does motivate me to get out and do more, I still have to keep it in the realm of having some fun and feeling good for myself.

[schmenke]

I am really glad I purchased a new bike earlier this year to replace my old POS (that I had owned for about 10 years). The new bike is so much easier to ride with the aluminum frame and larger wheels. The components work properly too :erm: .
It’s far more enjoyable to ride, especially on hills. I’m now riding up hills in my middle chain ring whereas previously I’d be chugging along the same hill in the granny gear :mark: .

Airshifter, avoid the full sussy unless you want to mostly ride downhills. A front suspension with lockout is what I use.

As for running, well, with the snow and ice covering the sidewalks and trails, the next few months will be pretty much limited to the treadmill in the basement ( :s :dozey: ) .

[Mark]

How's everyone got on with their plans for 2014? As my bike is probably going to be off the road until the end of the year it's a reasonable time to take stock.

I've ridden a total of 2,693miles in 2014, around 400 more than in 2013 and I've done a lot more long distance rides this year, I ended 2013 with my longest being about 65 miles I think.

I did ok over the winter, going out with the local cycling club quite a bit, but I haven't done a ride with them for a long time after I kept getting left behind!

A big motivator has been the Gran Fondo competition which Strava has been running, to get you do to 130km (81 miles) every month, I managed my first one with a friend in February and that was a massive struggle, but then I went onto do complete the challenge again in May, June, July, August and September.

I did my first century ride in May, 106 miles! I was well pleased with that and I'd planned to do at least a couple more but I found once the 100 miles was out of the way, the distance target didn't bother me any more, so haven't done it again.

By far my best ride of the year was somewhat shorter at 68miles, but was memorable because myself and a friend rode over the middle section of Stage 1 of the Tour de France, just a couple of weeks before the pros. That was amazing, to be on those roads, on a lovely day with loads of other cyclists doing the same, then to watch the stage a couple of weeks later having done it myself. I'm planning to go and do it again next year!

Apart from not just generally riding further and being faster the main thing I didn't get done in 2014 which I want to do in 2015, is the C2C ride from Whitehaven to Sunderland, which is about 130 miles of big hills. Most do it in 3 days but I want to do it in 1 day! Didn't work out mostly because of the logistics of getting to Whitehaven to start the ride!

Hopefully either the weather will get nicer soon or I'll get over my dislike of the cold, and start riding again!

[airshifter]

I've been a slacker through 2014, not riding nearly as much as I did in 2013. In all fairness I wasn't working for a period of 2013 and had time on my hands. But really I've made too many excuses and not got out as much as I could have this year. I did find out about some new riding areas recently, and the completion of a certain road allows to to get there without as much hassle as before.

The BOMB (Beat Old Mountain Bike) is finally showing some real wear, and I'll have to either start replacing some things or get another bike at some point. For a cheap box store bike it has held up well and owes me nothing, but I think with my back I'll be looking at something with at least front suspension and pick up a suspended seat bar.

[Mark]

So what's your goals for 2015? To do a particular distance or take part in a particular event?

My first one is to get down to my target weight of 12 stone, I was only two pounds off that last May but I'm at 13 stone 5 just now :(

We've just ordered an exercise bike so hopefully that will help.

[steveaki13]

When I broke my foot, I ballooned up to 15.5 stone.

Before Xmas started I had reached a whisker over 12.5.

I dread to think what I am back up to over Xmas.

My aim for 2015 is too get to 12. Or into the 11's. :p

[airshifter]

So what's your goals for 2015? To do a particular distance or take part in a particular event?

My first one is to get down to my target weight of 12 stone, I was only two pounds off that last May but I'm at 13 stone 5 just now :(

We've just ordered an exercise bike so hopefully that will help.

More than anything, I just want to work regular exercise back into my schedule. My job has slightly changed, but I've realized that I just have to make the time and do it, and that the time still exists.

I don't like working out at home. We have a gym quality elliptical machine and it will give you a hard workout, but the distractions are too great. It's easy to not work out as hard with a big flat screen in front of me. And I can get out and burn more calories per hour if I get on the bike.

As for goals, I'd like to get to the 195-200 lb range, so I guess 14 stone is a good target.



When I broke my foot, I ballooned up to 15.5 stone.

Before Xmas started I had reached a whisker over 12.5.

I dread to think what I am back up to over Xmas.

My aim for 2015 is too get to 12. Or into the 11's. :p

That just goes to show how much any injury can play into things. I've got to watch my back as I've started to do damage over the years, so now working out includes preventative measures.


An interesting question for those working out or otherwise just trying to not be too lazy. At what weight do you feel the best? Personally I feel the best when in the 185-200 lb range, but both are considered on the verge of, or overweight by most modern models. I was naturally thinner back in my military days, but felt healthier overall when I put on some weight after getting out of the military.


http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=52&csex=m&cheightfeet=6&cheightinch=0&cheightmeter=180&printit=0&x=38&y=11

The above link has a bunch of different ideal weight calculators, body fat calculators, etc.



I've also thought about getting a Fitbit or similar device this year. My body doesn't respond to caloric intake standards in a usual fashion, and I think it might be due to not getting my heart rate up enough during exercise. Don't ask me why, but for my age and fitness factors, my heart rate stays lower than most. I even maxed out the treadmill when getting a heart test done.

I use Endomondo on the bike, and now have a basic bike computer that I just need a battery for. I'm hoping I can see how much cadence vs heart rate, etc plays into the picture.

[Mark]

Just looked at the year end numbers. I cycled further than in 2013, 2,700 miles as opposed to 2,260 miles
I didn't walk as far, 540 miles in 2013 as opposed to 807 miles in 2013, mostly because I do the bulk of my walking in work lunchhours which I'd gotten a bit lazy with.

[Tazio]

When I broke my foot, I ballooned up to 15.5 stone.

Before Xmas started I had reached a whisker over 12.5.

I dread to think what I am back up to over Xmas.

My aim for 2015 is too get to 12. Or into the 11's. :p
I feel your pain Steve ;) It is 13 months since my accident, although I have managed to avoid surgery, my thumb and knee are still on the mend. I ride my hybrid to work, when I don't spend to much time in the am on the computer :dozey: but I spent 6 months without working out. I have a naturally high metabolism, and I only gained about 8 pounds before I got on my bike, and started walking (distance) again. I could stand to lose 10 pounds, but otherwise I am feeling very good about my physical condition.


Airshifter, avoid the full sussy unless you want to mostly ride downhills. A front suspension with lockout is what I use.

As for running, well, with the snow and ice covering the sidewalks and trails, the next few months will be pretty much limited to the treadmill in the basement ( :s :dozey: ) .
TBH I really think my fully suspended Motobecane is tits, and I've been riding it since 2008. It is true that I need to lock out the rear suspension when riding up hill, I generally don't lock out the fronts unless I am on very smooth terrain. Mission Trails Park is where I do the majority of my mountain biking, and it is a great mix of terrain. I look forward to riding there soon, but I still am concerned about going down hard and exacerbating my injuries. My goal is to be back on the trails by June, until then I will stick to the street with my biking.
Better health to all in 2015!

[janneppi]

From fitness standpoint, 2014 was probably the worst it's been in years.
- Lack of snow last winter prevented snow shoeing, I replaced it with eating kebabs
- Did only about 500km's of bike riding, it was either too rainy, too hot, or I was too lazy. Did manage to drink a lot beer.

I did manage to go to a gym three time last year, twice in December, will be doing more of that this year.
It doesn't look good for snowshoeing, but I might be able to do some walking instead.

[J4MIE]

YesI too have severely slacked in 2014, mainly due to laziness as the summer weather was fairly decent, just didn't do much. Only used my new road bike 2-3 times for (very) short rides, the last of which I cursed at the damn pedals for about 3km as I couldn't clip in, will probably just swap to flat pedals for this summer as I'm far more comfortable with them.

Nursing a bit of a shoulder injury at the moment, don't know what I've done but quite painful at times, so not much opportunity for too much exercise for the immediate future :(

[Big Ben]

I ran 1950km in 2014, a lot more than in 2013 but I became pretty efficient at it so while in 2013 I had started to worry I was losing too much weight too fast, in 2014 I had to start watching out again what I eat. Even with all this running I gained weight last year. And beside running I also did a lot of trekking, Tour du Mont Blanc being the highlight of the year but I also did some trekking in Fagaras (beautiful places) and some places close to my hometown. I didn't monitor these but I'm sure they add up to more than 300 km.

I did also some cycling and went to gym a few months.

I didn't weigh myself recently but I'm pretty sure I'm somewhere around 90 kilos right now, about 14 stones using your funny units :p:. I'm 190 cm tall so I'm right there, at the border of being overweight. I'd say that 86 is probably close to my ideal weight but that's not the only thing. It's just as important for me the weight distribution. Even though I got down to 84 kilos at some point I still had some love handles and a little muffin top left. So for me a good goal for 2015 would be to finally get ready of that muffin top.

Other than that I won't be counting km anymore. I was curious to see how much can I run in a full year. Now I know, time to move on :p:

[Mark]

Well first official day of the New Years diet today. I'm 13 stone 4 (84kg) which is a pound down from last week which is something.

My target this year - as last! - is to be 12 stone (76kg) before summer, and with any luck 11 stone (70kg) before the end of summer. Ideally I'd like to keep my weight between 11 and 12 stone, which I don't think is unrealistic if I'm properly careful. Last year just life got in the way :(

According to the height weight charts 11 stone is the maximum considered healthy for my height anyway!