Cycling - 2

[döm]

First spin out since September 2nd.


A gentle, flat 25kms but great to get back out again.

[Slim]

The roads were a bit wet and muddy early this afternoon, but I took the Boardman out for a Twycrosser. My right knee especially has been unusually painful this week despite not having undergone any particular exertion. But it seemed to cope OK with 23.6 miles.

Very nice out there later on when the sun came out, and the roads were a bit drier. A bit blowy but that was mostly a tail wind after Sheepy. I took a more honest GPS watch this time, and it agreed with the magnet-driven bike computer to within 0.03 miles over the whole distance. Good enough.

I would normally take the hybrid out in those conditions but I still haven't got round to fixing the gears. I don't believe it's had a run out all year. Shameful really. All that time I had off cycling in the summer and lots of nice weather to dig it out of the garage and plonk it on the stand. And I didn't bother.

Anyway that takes me to a modest 55 miles this month, and 2080 this year. Perhaps next time I take a bike out I shall contrive a route to take me to 2112 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1959071498

[Jonners]

Im thinking about getting an aero bike. The gains look quite significant compared to just getting a lighter bike.

Looking at either

https://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/road-bikes/ec-130e-aero-road

or one of teh Giant Propel range

[Nïckslïkk2112]

First time out in eleven days on the bike and it was like being a beginner again! I don't think the cold I've finally succumbed to has helped though, but I thought a ride out would be kill or cure. It was neither.
Took the winter bike out following its service. Can't say as I noticed much difference. It was lovely weather though, if a bit nippy towards the end, lots of others out and about on bikes today too, must be the weather. Lots of cars out and about too, never known the roads so busy. I suppose the early sunsets mean people are returning from their Peak District rambles earlier.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1970055299/

[Slim]

Nice day. Cold and a bit blowy, but the roads were dry, so I extracted the red Boardman from the garage and set off in the bright autumn sunshine. My right knee has been unusually sore for the last couple of weeks but it seemed to be subsiding over the last couple of days. So I thought I'd keep it down to 15 or so.


As usual I set off in the general direction of Twycross, through Heather.  Interestingly, the roads stopped being dry by the time I got to Snarestone. Must have had different weather to the west.


I took the right turn to Sheepy when I got to Twycross, but that route would have taken me over 20 miles in total and I thought better of it immediately, taking the left turn back onto the main road after a few metres. Down the A444, left onto Gibbet Lane and home through Bilstone, Shackerstone and Heather while listening to the footy on 5 Live. Happy days. Still listening now and it looks like the bloody Croatians have done us again, as I type.


I'd done 18.06 by the time I got home so I miscalculated a bit. Well actually I didn't calculate at all. I misestimated.


I decided to use the Strava app on my Android smartwatch this time. I took a spare as I didn't expect it to last the whole 15+ miles but in fact it did; I started the ride with the battery on 79% charge and it was down to 34% 18 miles later - despite being set to have the screen on all the time. I'm doing rather a lot of <25 mile rides at the moment, so that's useful to know.


It has a heart rate monitor built in that uses a little flashing LED on the caseback to take your pulse (I assume) somehow. 132bpm, Strava tells me, with a max of 180. I have no idea what the significance of those figures might be. Just had a look at Nick (S)'s most recent ride on Strava and I see that his average heart rate was 148bpm, but then again his average speed was 3.6 mph quicker.


I will keep my distances down to 15-20 miles or so for the time being, to be on the safe side. It's not like I'm missing out on long days and glorious weather.


https://www.strava.com/activities/1972041445

[Slim]

Oh yes, sorry to report that another mouse has had its residence in my garage terminated with extreme prejudice. Nice and quick again, right across the back of the neck.

[döm]

To calculate your peak heart rate during exercise you're supposed to subtract your age from 220.


Effective exercise is meant to be at 85% of your peak.


Not sure how accurate this all is. Surely in reality it will vary from person to person. And who's to say how accurate the monitors are anyway?


I did a pretty hilly cycle a couple of years ago and my fitbit monitored my peak heart rate at 199. Its been a long time since I was 21 but I don't think i suffered as a result

[Nïckslïkk2112]

There's an article here about heart rates and zones:

https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/heart-rate-monitor-training-for-cyclists-28838/

I've tried using these zones, but when they recommend long rides in zone 2 it's beyond me, my HR tends to shoot up to zone 3 as soon as I sit on the saddle! What I do know, is that when my HY gets to 165+ it means I'm struggling up a bloody steep hill. What I also notice, is that as the Summer goes on my average HR on the local hills gets lower and lower. Guess that shows I get fitter, don't get much faster though, although of course I would if I pushed my HR up to what it was in the early season.

My average HR today was 142bpm as opposed to yesterday's 148bpm and I was 1.5 mph quicker today, but that's all down to flatter roads and my cold having abated somewhat since yesterday. It was a nice day to be out on the bike, sunny, not much wind, dry roads. I'm within 250 miles of doing 6,000 for the year now. I don't set targets, but that would be nice to reach.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1972294595

[DavidL]

To calculate your peak heart rate during exercise you're supposed to subtract your age from 220.


Effective exercise is meant to be at 85% of your peak.


Not sure how accurate this all is. Surely in reality it will vary from person to person. And who's to say how accurate the monitors are anyway?


I did a pretty hilly cycle a couple of years ago and my fitbit monitored my peak heart rate at 199. Its been a long time since I was 21 but I don't think i suffered as a result

199bpm?! you must be a two-stroke!

[DavidL]

41 miles this morning. I lowered my saddle a tad to try to eliminate the tendon pain behind my right knee that has plagued me for a couple of months and it seemed to help. Even though I forgot to slather Deep Heat on my lower back, I did not suffer with back pain either. Quite chilly north easterly kept the average down to a shamefully low figure. Lovely morning though and thoroughly enjoyable but I was pooped by the time I got home.

[Slim]

Rather cold and gloomy, with a hint of mist this afternoon. But the roads were dry enough, so I wrapped up warm and took the first Boardman out of the garage, pausing briefly to eject another mouse corpse onto the grass outside (nice and quick, again. I think that's 14 now).

Intended to do a Twycross, but realised I hadn't brought a phone with me after a few miles, and unusually, started to get mildly paranoid "what if I get a mechanical" thoughts. Didn't fancy getting stuck in the cold. So I thought I'd keep it short, so I took a massive short cut down Derby Lane to Shackerstone and Congerstone. I did enjoy the stretch along Barton Lane between Congerstone and Barton. Picturesque, wide open and quiet.

Although none of this route was new to me, I hadn't done it in this particular form before - it's quite nice for a 16.2 mile ride.

Back well before sunset.

And that takes me past my  mile minimum requirement for 2018, to 2114 miles.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1982394227

[Nïckslïkk2112]

Thought today was going to be a miserable day weather-wise as it was pretty grey and grim this morning, but by two o'clock the misty clouds had parted and some watery sunshine was brightening the afternoon, which was nice.
I'm still suffering from the cold I had last week and spent a good part of the ride blasting out snot rockets. Not nice. I hope no fellow cyclists slip in the thick green mucous I've been covering the roads of NE Derbyshire with...
I seem to be plagued by youths in souped up small cars shouting things at me as they drive by. I can never tell what they say and don't really know as to whether they are words of encouragement or just derogatory, I suspect the latter. I gave the idiot today a two-fingered salute. He then responded by throwing an empty fag packet out of the window. I called him a "Twat". At a roundabout up ahead, the driver drove all the way round it so the moron in the passenger seat could give me more words of "wisdom". Twat. I hope that when these cretins crash they only remove themselves from the population. Chances are though that they will live and the innocent will die. Pity.

Apart from that it was an enjoyable ride - apart from completely running out of steam whenever the road went uphill. It did get a bit chilly though leading to severe hotaches in my fingers when I got home.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1982521449/

[Nick]

Stick a camera on your swede.

[Nïckslïkk2112]

Don't want no Swedes round here - filthy foreigners - it'll be pitchfork time for them come March 29th!

[Nïckslïkk2112]

Another uninspiring morning turned into a somewhat more inspiring afternoon - the cloud thinned and traces of sunlight appeared - so once again it was time to mount the valiant steed. Then go for a bike ride.
Thankfully the cold seems to be relenting, I was still blowing many a snot rocket and clearing phlegm from the lungs, but going uphill was more of a normal struggle, rather than a gasping for air and my legs won't move struggle. I did more climbing per mile than I did yesterday but managed a higher average speed, which is a good sign.
So, that's November's cycling out of the way. With my highest November mileage: 353 miles, biggest amount of uphill: 23,358 feet and my worst ever average speed for November: 16.5 mph.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1984558499