The Cycling Thread

[maviczap]

I swapped a few bits around the other day, spent the best part of the morning fitting a pair of 10 speed 105 levers to my Litespeed.

These are the new hidden cable ones, which were an Ebay purchase last year sometime. Came without instructions, man were they a pain to fit the gear cables to.

I'm thinking about a nice light pair of wheels for my Wilier, but no funds at present.

What would you regular bi cyclist's reckon would be the longest you would commute to work on your bikes ?

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by stewie

What would you regular bi cyclist's reckon would be the longest you would commute to work on your bikes ?

Depends on if you work shifts and the kind of route you have to ride as well,plus most important, is the facilities at your work place to get showered after your ride in.

On occasion I ride 20 miles into work, give or take a few.

The short way is about 8 mile which is too short but as I work flexi time, it's better for me to rush in as I can leave earlier

8 miles takes on average about 24/25 minutes without going flat out. I would potentially do more than 20 but would need a day off inbetween for sure as my legs don't recover that fast yet!

As Mavi said, a lot of it comes down to you and your route. If you're reasonably fit and just starting cycling I'd say anywhere up to 15 miles would be okay - just be prepared to start slow.

One of my friends recently started commuting 15 miles each way. He started by cycling one way in and then getting the train home to build up his fitness. Now (after a few months) he cycles in and home 3 days a week and says he loves it.

Great way to destress before/after a days work I find.

[maviczap]

Also depends on your job, and how physical it is, I know there are some days I wouldn't like the idea of having to ride home,even though I only live 5 miles away. But I do 12hr shifts, so doesn't help my motivation to ride in.

Some of my colleagues do it once or twice a week in the summer but no more than that.

It would spoil my enjoyment of my cycling, if I rode into work everyday, but like Dave says it is a good way to de-stress

Destress--------------surely you mean distress

Originally Posted by maviczap

It would spoil my enjoyment of my cycling, if I rode into work everyday, but like Dave says it is a good way to de-stress

I should point out that I rarely cycle to work everyday and normally I'll do 3 days a week in summer but tend to do some longer cycles home.

I can cycle into work faster than I can drive in the car, and marginally slower than the motorbike. It can be annoying when you're at work and the weather changes and it starts tipping with rain.

The bike you have will also make a huge difference - a mountain bike with full suspension and knobly tyres on will make the whole thing a lot harder over road, whereas a decent hybrid or road bike will make the ride a lot easier.

Cheers guys, thinking of buying a bike to help with my fitness and to give my knees a bit of a rest from running, I work approx 14 miles from home and was thinking of using the bike a couple of time's a week, I work perm nights on a 4 on and 4 off basis so was going to use it on night 2 and 4, well thats the plan anyway, just got to get the bike now, cheers

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Jabba

The Etape du Cymru...

Well I wouldn't bother if it is organised by the same crowd as last year, all the tales of roads not closed, no food, no marshals, no directions etc. are true. If you want to do the route, come up for a weekend and ride it yourself.

I can recommend the Wild Wales sportive though, but it is a bally hard route this year! Luckily for me it is after the trip to the Alps, so maybe the climbs won't feel quite as bad!

I only do 6 miles a day each way, and its still well worth it, lost over a stone last year and now the weather is better I cycle everyday I don't need my car,

I shower before I leave and wash when I get there with no complaints yet.

any exercise is good exercise..