The Cycling Thread

Oh bugger, hope you’re not too bad.

Haha. Yeah luckily the brompton is fine. My knee and elbow not so much. Just goes to show kids look where you're going. Cycled that route more times than I can remember and if a car was behind me could have been different.

So I ride to work every day on a cross bike (straight handlebar) and I've been getting wrist/elbow/shoulder/neck pain on the right side recently.
I can't 100% narrow it down to cycling or computer use (or maybe sleeping position), but does anyone have any thoughts on tweaking the bike setup to reduce it.
I got cycling gloves with some padding in the palms, and that has helped a little.

I was thinking of raising the handlebars a little, but I think I'd need another of those spacer thingies.

I realized I'm kinda sliding forward on the saddle all the time. It's a kinda naff saddle.. more padded and wide at the back than a lot of sporty ones. I'm wondering if switching to a slightly slimmer saddle might stop that... or sliding the saddle forwards or backwards.

I think the stem is already in the orientation that'll give the highest bar.
My grips are a bit like Ergons in that they have flat palm rests, but they aren't flexible so they don't really have any absorption effect.

I'd rather throw as little money at it as possible, but we'll see.

Saddle fore and aft is a tricky one, everything is kind of inter-linked with saddle height and bar reach. It does sound like you have too much weight on the bars though, which generally means your saddle is too forward, ideally you want to be able to ride no handed without feeling like you're going to fall forward all the time.

Anyone have any cycling goals this year? Being a relative newbie I've set myself a target for the end of the year and will reward myself with treats if I hit them.

I want to do at least 2500 miles this year. I know it's not exactly huge numbers but seeing as I only managed 730 from August until the end it should be somewhat achievable.

If I do 2500 I'll treat myself to a power-meter. If I manage to get over 3000 then instead of a power-meter I may treat myself to some carbon wheels.

It's only 50 miles a week really and I have two routes nearby which would surpass that, so as long as I remain consistent I should be able to hit my targets.

I'm setting specific ride goals this year- I want to tick off South Downs Way and King Alfred's Way, plus a cycling buddy is keen to do the Coast-to-Coast. That ought to keep us busy/use up all my brownie points.

We had South Downs Way all booked in for late March 2020, so that's top of my 'unfinished business' list.

Want to do KA way also, and the Argyle one. Other than that it's try and get up for weekend club rides more than once a year, do a double imperial century and try and get a bit more off road stuff in. Power pedals on the cards for the end of Feb, when I want to start doing workouts outside, maybe some fancy pants wheels in the summer, maybe e-bike come summer too, purely for commuting and dropping the depressing car journey for half the year.

You're from the same region as me then as I live right on the cycletrack and do bristol and bath a few times a week (well, I did in the summer. do it at least once a week if i don't fancy my other route). If you fancy making it a bit longer you can go out towards 'the two tunnels' which are the longest cycling tunnels in the UK. Bring lights though, it gets very dark in there. You can then go along the canal path and end up back in the centre of bath, it's about 10 or 12 miles in total, then the ride back. It's all pretty flat though.

The ride up to Chew Magna is nice and the lake has a nice coffee shop for a mid-cycle stop. But it does mean cycling up the bastard that is Dundry and there is no way to make that part enjoyable, it's pretty tough. You can then cycle on to the Cheddar gorge which is great fun going down it and on to the strawberry path back towards Bristol. 

I've got a route planned out that I want to try, up the cycle path, through to the two tunnels and over to cheddar gorge and back to Bristol. It's 65 miles but should be doable with a stop for lunch

Not sure what I’m going to do cycle wise this year. Would like to do a century and a sportive at some point.

I was super up for some bikepacking but I can’t really afford a new bike this year. Just brought a new camera so can’t justify both. Was looking at doing West Kernow way and perhaps King Alfred Way later in the year. Will have to be next year now but something I can plan at least.

KAW was great, can recommend (well, maybe aside from the bit in / after Reading).

I'd like to do West Kernow at some point too.

I've cancelled all my races / trips this year though as I've been unable to train for two months thanks to whatever the fuck is going on with me after my most recent bout of COVID.

That’s a huge percentage increase, not least in three months. Not sure of your history, but, if you haven’t ridden much you can expect to make a big increase with a training program for the first couple of years, after that, it’s inching up, five watts here, ten there. I really wouldn’t worry about FTP- watts/kg is a better measure anyway.

Defo join a club though- nothing will bring you on more than being forced to go at something other than your own pace but more importantly it’s great fun blasting along in a group 😎

Give me the heat any time!

No outside cycling until march at the earliest, if not later for me.

I really can't recommend the Rapha base layer where it had the neck warmer built in. I've ended up buying another one because it's so warm in these conditions.

My toes still get cold even with thermal socks and overshoes on and even with glove liners and gloves my fingers aren't super toasty but it's nothing unbearable.

Went on a ride the other day whilst it was raining, that was not fun