Planet Rugby Forum

The average speeds they display on the main site are for moving average. I don't think they display overall average actually. You'd have a rough idea from the app as it displays your total time while it's running (although once you upload the ride that gets lost).

Re Calories - I don't really know how they calculate it tbh (or other stuff like power output), but anyway 600-odd calories a day isn't bad, if that is accurate. I thought it'd be a bit more myself, tbh.

As for poor weather - have you got mudguards yet? Honestly, they may look uncool but the first time you ride in the rain with a pair on, it'll be a revelation. They should be compulsory I reckon, as I get fed up with getting a facefull of spray from other cyclists...

Edit: and I mean proper mudguards, not those sticky-up tail ones that people use to try and retain an element of cool!

Chaps, some help/advice needed, if you'd be so kind.

It's been ten weeks now since I crashed, breaking my left hand and right elbow, and I am still unable to put much weight on either arm, and as a result, cycling has been completely out. Trying to do anything akin to a press-up (where your hands are bent back and the weight is going through the wrist) is impossible without shooting pain up the right arm particularly. The docs said it would be five to six weeks to heal, and while I can now lift things again, and most of the mobility/flexibility is restored to my forearms/wrists/hands, this is starting to bug me somewhat.

Anyone with experience of anything similar? Is it just a case of doing physio type exercises (if so any suggestions) and more recovery time required, or should I console myself with a lemsip, wank, and trip to the GP, although not necessarily in that order? I'm utterly bored of not being in the saddle now, especially as the weather seems to be extra shite on the weekends meaning that walking trips out on the hills are few and far between.

terryfinch wrote:I went for a bike ride this weekend on my cheap bike and did about 30 miles at average of 15 mph. It is pretty hilly with some bigger climbs and I was pretty happy. I then see the TdF TT where they averaged about 30mph!!! I only got to 30mph once and that was down a very steep hill cycling flat out and I thought I would crash! These guys are unbelievable.

The pros are insane and on a different planet for sure but if you transferred your effort to a light, rigid racing bike with skinny tyres pumped up to over 100psi you'd find that the reduction in rolling resistance would put you up to 20mph with the same workrate.

LP,

TBH, it probably is a case of a) patience, and b) doing physio-type exercises. And for the latter, I'd recommend going to an actual physio to find out what to do.

Is there no physio as part of the hospital aftercare? If not, a physio session probably runs to about £30-40 for half an hour. If you've got some kind of health insurance you'd probably be able to get it paid by that.

Womack,

thanks, much as I though. The hospital discharged me after an outpatients appointment, ostensibly because I "appeared to be a sensible chap", with the simple recommendation that I try to keep the joints moving as much as possible. At the time I had a round of exams looming and so my mind was rather elsewhere as opposed to quizzing him properly about exactly what I needed to do.

I'm covered through Mrs LPs insurance, so will have a look at that and some physio, I think.

LP, the plethora of rugby injuries I've experienced suggest that patience is the best healer. Keep the joint supple if you can, but don't worry about trying to build it back up until you're comfortable again. Light physio will probably suggest the same thing.

Womack wrote:The average speeds they display on the main site are for moving average. I don't think they display overall average actually. You'd have a rough idea from the app as it displays your total time while it's running (although once you upload the ride that gets lost).

Re Calories - I don't really know how they calculate it tbh (or other stuff like power output), but anyway 600-odd calories a day isn't bad, if that is accurate. I thought it'd be a bit more myself, tbh.

As for poor weather - have you got mudguards yet? Honestly, they may look uncool but the first time you ride in the rain with a pair on, it'll be a revelation. They should be compulsory I reckon, as I get fed up with getting a facefull of spray from other cyclists...

Edit: and I mean proper mudguards, not those sticky-up tail ones that people use to try and retain an element of cool!

I have got mudguards, not sure if you would consider them 'proper' but I don't get any water on me from the wheels so they do the job as far as I'm concerned. Always been a mudguard fan, ever since cycling to/from school as a kid. I don't even understand the uncool thing, what's cool about having a sodden arsecrack?

As I said I hurt my knee badly and got out of the habit of biking, I just need a run of a few nice days to get back in the swing of things but motivation is low when the weather is more November than July. I've also had a lot of meetings lately and taking laptop, jackets, shoes etc. in and out is a bit of a pain. I know, excuses, excuses. I am defo gonna do a run or two next week regardless!

Apposite wrote:Cheers lads. I am using metal tyre levers, will get plastic ones when I go to the LBS.

@ Armchair, I don't think there's any way I could get even 25% of the tyre on without levers.

My theory is that the tyre is just way too tight, will let you know what the experts say.

When fitting tyres, I find a liberal application of talc (to the beads of the tyres, not me) really helps them slide over the rims.

Apposite wrote:Cheers lads. I am using metal tyre levers, will get plastic ones when I go to the LBS.

@ Armchair, I don't think there's any way I could get even 25% of the tyre on without levers.

My theory is that the tyre is just way too tight, will let you know what the experts say.

The first puncture I got on my new bike last year was caused by bit of plastic off someone else's tyre lever - must have cracked off in there when it was assembled. How I laughed!

I got one of these a few weeks back:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?&pID=83274
A Garmin forerunner 410 gps/hrm - £148 next day del from Amazon. I've used a hrm for a couple of years but this is a great way to see the actual numbers, rather than trying to remember what they were a month ago on the same hill. It makes me want to get out and record tracks, and I've trimmed 3 min off the trip back from my gf's in the last 3 weeks; 25min down to 22, and my av heart rate is lower on that same run as well. It's a bit fiddly to operate sometimes but I'm pretty happy with it.

London Pride wrote:Chaps, some help/advice needed, if you'd be so kind.

It's been ten weeks now since I crashed, breaking my left hand and right elbow, and I am still unable to put much weight on either arm, and as a result, cycling has been completely out. Trying to do anything akin to a press-up (where your hands are bent back and the weight is going through the wrist) is impossible without shooting pain up the right arm particularly. The docs said it would be five to six weeks to heal, and while I can now lift things again, and most of the mobility/flexibility is restored to my forearms/wrists/hands, this is starting to bug me somewhat.

Anyone with experience of anything similar? Is it just a case of doing physio type exercises (if so any suggestions) and more recovery time required, or should I console myself with a lemsip, wank, and trip to the GP, although not necessarily in that order? I'm utterly bored of not being in the saddle now, especially as the weather seems to be extra shite on the weekends meaning that walking trips out on the hills are few and far between.

Not what you want to hear I don't expect but I broke my wrist in 2000 and it still hurts now when I try to put weight through it, mostly becaue I ignored all the post op advice when it came out the cast. Get a referal from the frcture clinic to a physio. Do everything they recommend. Twice.

Homer wrote:

Apposite wrote:Cheers lads. I am using metal tyre levers, will get plastic ones when I go to the LBS.

@ Armchair, I don't think there's any way I could get even 25% of the tyre on without levers.

My theory is that the tyre is just way too tight, will let you know what the experts say.

When fitting tyres, I find a liberal application of talc (to the beads of the tyres, not me) really helps them slide over the rims.

Forgot to update you all on this.

Humiliation awaited in the LBS as expected. He remarked that it was quite tight, then partially inflated the tube and stuck it in tire while it was half on. Pulled the thing on with his hands effortlessly and got the whole shebang on without any tools whatsoever. Did it so quickly I didn't have a chance to really notice any sneaky tricks.

I expect I will be trying to emulate him on the side of the road in the pissing rain some day and it won't be quite as easy.

Womack wrote:LP,

TBH, it probably is a case of a) patience, and b) doing physio-type exercises. And for the latter, I'd recommend going to an actual physio to find out what to do.

Is there no physio as part of the hospital aftercare? If not, a physio session probably runs to about £30-40 for half an hour. If you've got some kind of health insurance you'd probably be able to get it paid by that.

Agree with Womack, a physio is the way to go. They will put together a plan of the right exercises and push you where you might give up or ease off on your own.

Ta, folks.

Disappointing lack of recommendations for a lemsip/wank combo, mind.

Womack wrote:Sounds pretty unpleasant, Spyglass! Enjoy!

Fecking Strava drives me mad sometimes. Have a look at this segment from this morning:

http://app.strava.com/rides/13251191#236980387

The segment's been set up so that it ends just before a set of traffic lights. So this morning, I set off like a greyhound from the traps (too fast really) and manage to cling on towards the end, keeping it above 25mph/40kmh, only to hit a bit of traffic and a red light right at the end, causing me to slow down and, well, stop. So despite caning it along at well north of 25mph for all but the last 100m or so, I end up with an average speed for the segment of 19mph/31kmh. Gah! And as a result of that effort I was a little bit f**ked the rest of the ride, for absolutely no benefit!

Thinly-veiled 'I put in a decent effort and want a bit of acknowledgement, dammit' post. Sickening.

Womack good effort, with the segment being so short (0.7 miles) you are always going to be scewed by a slowdown or worse a complete stop.

Don't take too much notice of the calories burnt calc, Strava is generally considered to be around 30% high, the only was to get accurate numbers are with a power meter. As a reference a typical cyclist averaging around 18mph on the flat with no wind effect with burn around 600 calories/hour. Wind, gradient, weight, etc. will all affect this.

London Pride wrote:Ta, folks.

Disappointing lack of recommendations for a lemsip/wank combo, mind.

That's a given remedy for all situations

Spyglass wrote:

Womack wrote:LP,

TBH, it probably is a case of a) patience, and b) doing physio-type exercises. And for the latter, I'd recommend going to an actual physio to find out what to do.

Is there no physio as part of the hospital aftercare? If not, a physio session probably runs to about £30-40 for half an hour. If you've got some kind of health insurance you'd probably be able to get it paid by that.

Agree with Womack, a physio is the way to go. They will put together a plan of the right exercises and push you where you might give up or ease off on your own.

Yes definitely go to a physio. I have metal plates holding my arm together, broke in 3 places. It's been 18 months since I broke it. The pain didn't stop for 9 months so I started going to a physio. A month of massage and exercise and the pain stopped. The arm still aches sometimes when I lift weights, but I think most of it is psychological. Still weaker than before but again it's mostly a mental thing.

If only I'd gone to the physio earlier I may have cut down on the 9 months of pain. I thought I was being patient.

Helped a young woman with a slipped chain yesterday, and what a number she'd done on it! Took me more than five minutes to pry it out with my hands. I reckon she turned it around another time when it came off as it was wrapped around once more and wedged in with another down by the bracket.

She said she'd just taken it in for the same thing, but the shifter was really loose - touch down and it dropped all the way - and the front dérailleur was definitely too far inward for the chain to come off like that. Didn't think until later to tell her to take it somewhere else! (But given it was a shit old bike, I did say that she'd be better off with something better or a single speed)

Weird, Wired have an article on Strava today!

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/07/s ... ewall=true

It wasn't great TBH. And the mentions of complaints led me to this.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/ar ... 657025.php

Aye, but unlike my pro-nanny state stance when it comes to food production etc, I tend to think they're not to be blamed if people are idiotic about how they use the thing. I never abandon what I consider safe riding practice in order to get good Strava times, you just suck it up and wait for another day if something slows you down. Increasingly I don't use it on my commute anyway, as it's too much of a temptation to flog myself in pursuit of glory, and I'm too busy doing jobs at home atm to be overly knackered. I'm sort of thinking I'll only end up using it on recreational/training type rides.

You do wonder how long it'll last though. For example, a lot of the KOMs on my route are actually breaking the speed limit, if anybody cares to check! And I'm sure that's true all over.

I use Garmin Connect.

Gospel wrote:I use Garmin Connect.

Agreed, I use Garmin as my main site too, it provides much more data for perfomance analysis. I still upload rides to Strava for fun, KOM's, etc.

Apposite wrote:Weird, Wired have an article on Strava today!

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/07/s ... ewall=true

It wasn't great TBH. And the mentions of complaints led me to this.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/ar ... 657025.php

The cyclist mentioned in there who hit and killed the elderly pedestrian made headlines when it happened, and is currently up on charges of vehicular manslaughter (proper order). When reading up on it, I found out that apparently there's a route through SF called the "Wiggle" (because of the winding route it takes through city blocks) that commuters use to avoid the hills in the city, and it's pretty treacherous for pedestrians to cross at stop signs during rush hour because cyclists don't stop.

I hate people who whine about cyclists as much as the next guy. But I hate cyclists who fudge about and give me a bad name even more.

My younger son has been pestering me to get him a road bike for ages. After touring the local bike shops, I bought him a Triban 3 from Decathlon. I was very impressed with it for the money and for a 12 year old's first road bike it's perfect. He's hardly been off it since he got it, and he now wants clipless pedals.

DOB wrote:

Apposite wrote:Weird, Wired have an article on Strava today!

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/07/s ... ewall=true

It wasn't great TBH. And the mentions of complaints led me to this.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/ar ... 657025.php

The cyclist mentioned in there who hit and killed the elderly pedestrian made headlines when it happened, and is currently up on charges of vehicular manslaughter (proper order). When reading up on it, I found out that apparently there's a route through SF called the "Wiggle" (because of the winding route it takes through city blocks) that commuters use to avoid the hills in the city, and it's pretty treacherous for pedestrians to cross at stop signs during rush hour because cyclists don't stop.

I hate people who whine about cyclists as much as the next guy. But I hate cyclists who fudge about and give me a bad name even more.

Was stuck behind two slow-pokes yesterday during rush hour, but didn't feel it safe to pass so fell in behind and lumped it. Woman in front of me grumbled at one point as the leader went through a red. I was about to have a sympathetic chat with her about that being a pet peeve of mine but she flew the next red light!!!

Had a bit of a service of the commuting steed yesterday, sorted out the ill-fitting rear mudguard with a bit of judicious hacksawing, adjusted the front and rear derailleurs so that they are both changing smoothly and the chain doesn't rub in almost all gear combinations (I decided madness lay down the route of trying to eliminate chain rub in the small ring/smallest sprocket configuration), even gave it a good clean so it is looking all sparkly and new.

All very satisfying, but the thing that prompted me to start working on it in the first place was the rear wheel, which has a bit of a kink in it. I tried to sort it out with spoke tension, and it did help a bit, but there is still a bit of a wobble in it and I've now ended up in a situation where in the area where it wobbles out and in, the two spokes on the concave side of the wobble are ridiculously tight, and the spoke on the convex side of the wobble is actually rather loose.

I'm thinking this can't be good but not too sure what to do about it. I assume that loosening all the spokes and starting again will result in disaster, given my non-existant wheel-trueing skills and lack of equipment. There are bike shops fairly near my work who would presumably true it - the nearest one is an Evans, any idea if I walk in with it one lunchtime, say, would they do it within that day? I don't really want to be off the road for too long.

Depending how much they charge, the final option would be to buy a new one, but I am loathe to do this as this is already the second wheel I'm on since getting the bike less than a year ago - the perils of riding a road bike at 18 stone + on London's potholed streets.

Womack wrote:Had a bit of a service of the commuting steed yesterday, sorted out the ill-fitting rear mudguard with a bit of judicious hacksawing, adjusted the front and rear derailleurs so that they are both changing smoothly and the chain doesn't rub in almost all gear combinations (I decided madness lay down the route of trying to eliminate chain rub in the small ring/smallest sprocket configuration), even gave it a good clean so it is looking all sparkly and new.

All very satisfying, but the thing that prompted me to start working on it in the first place was the rear wheel, which has a bit of a kink in it. I tried to sort it out with spoke tension, and it did help a bit, but there is still a bit of a wobble in it and I've now ended up in a situation where in the area where it wobbles out and in, the two spokes on the concave side of the wobble are ridiculously tight, and the spoke on the convex side of the wobble is actually rather loose.

I'm thinking this can't be good but not too sure what to do about it. I assume that loosening all the spokes and starting again will result in disaster, given my non-existant wheel-trueing skills and lack of equipment. There are bike shops fairly near my work who would presumably true it - the nearest one is an Evans, any idea if I walk in with it one lunchtime, say, would they do it within that day? I don't really want to be off the road for too long.

Depending how much they charge, the final option would be to buy a new one, but I am loathe to do this as this is already the second wheel I'm on since getting the bike less than a year ago - the perils of riding a road bike at 18 stone + on London's potholed streets.

That is my exact experience with truing wheels, its very tricky. I've been told you need to build a set or two to understand them. My best truing workYou might be able to book workshop time in advance, so you know they can take it at a certain time?

Yeah, I suppose I'll call in today and find out what they can do. The other possibility is the rim is bent, but it doesn't look damaged in any way.

I thought I'd cracked it, as my initial spoke tightening reduced the wobble significantly, but then it just got to the point where I couldn't tighten any further without breaking something!

Womack wrote:
I'm thinking this can't be good but not too sure what to do about it. I assume that loosening all the spokes and starting again will result in disaster, given my non-existant wheel-trueing skills and lack of equipment. There are bike shops fairly near my work who would presumably true it - the nearest one is an Evans, any idea if I walk in with it one lunchtime, say, would they do it within that day? I don't really want to be off the road for too long.

Quite a few of the Evans' shops in London don't do any servicing in the shop - you need to book the bike in, get it to the shop the evening before or first thing in the morning then they transport it to a central servicing depot and return it to the shop later in the afternoon. If you want a quick lunchtime fix then I'd have a chat with an independent shop, not one of the chains.

Hmmm. Any recommendations for such a shop in the City or nearby?

Which end of the City are you? If you're convenient for Holborn, you could try Condor Cycles on Grays Inn Road.

A decent bike workshop should be able to true a wheel in an hour or so.

duke wrote:Which end of the City are you? If you're convenient for Holborn, you could try Condor Cycles on Grays Inn Road.
A decent bike workshop should be able to true a wheel in an hour or so.

Won't they openly laugh in my face for showing up with a low-mid range bike shod with non-hand built cheapo wheels, before chasing me from the shop throwing exquisitely hand-filed steel lugs at me?

I'm the other end really, but could be an option if I could be reassured as to their snobbiness levels.

Womack wrote:Hmmm. Any recommendations for such a shop in the City or nearby?

Pretty well all the bike shops I know in the city are chains (Evans and Cycle Surgery) There is a very traditional bike shop called Bikefix (www.bikefix.co.uk) in the Holborn/Chancery Lane area and if this is handy, I'd try them. They are also close to Condor. The Condor shop has lots of bike porn but I don't know what they are like for quick servicing jobs. Look Mum No Hands cycling cafe on Old St also has a workshop and there is another bike shop just down the street from them called The Bicycle Man. There are a few places around Brick Lane/Shoreditch that seem to mainly cater for hipster fixie types and I don't know what they are like for general servicing.

If you bring up where you work on google maps then search for bike shops you should see all the options.

Never struck me as being snobbish - the times I've been in there they've been very down to earth unlike some other bike shops who regard you as a sub species if you don't have the latest carbon fibre flying machine.

Not sure about the other end of the City, foreign ground for me.

I use the cycle surgery in Spital Sq. as it's over the road to work.
I think it was £15 for a wheel trueing, the last time I had it done which was money well spent IMO.

Don't think they do while you wait, but you could phone them up and ask...they're quite accommodating usually.

Swift Cycles on Strype St, just off Middlesex St is a really good LBS, they should be able to sort you out. I believe it's run by an Aussie who got fed up with accounting and decided to open a bike shop instead. They claim to have the lowest workshop rates in the city. Went in there looking at road bikes and found them most helpful. They do organised cycles on Saturdays from the shop also.

http://www.swiftcycles.co.uk/

Cheers guys, so it looks like the answer lies somewhere around the Spitalfields type area.

My experience of a couple of Cycle Surgeries (but I haven't used that particular branch...) is you need to book things in advance to get them to do anything.

Completed London to Cambridge in 3:43 yesterday at an average of 16 mph. Really quite happy with that.

Excellent stuff Beals - that's a decent average for a ride of that distance. How did it compare to L2B in terms of crowds, atmosphere, and difficulty?

Weird sense of deja vu this morning. Last year I watched Cav win on the Champs Elysee, then the next morning I donned a green jersey and flew into work, destroying all comers on London Bridge (our equivalent of the Champs Elysee) in tribute to the great man.

Did exactly the same this morning, was wearing the same jersey and everything - it wasn't deliberate, must just have been a subconscious impulse at work.

I also stopped off to cheer the Olympic torch on its way, bit of excitement on a Monday morning!

L2C is a much less congested ride than the L2B...probably less than 6000 all told. This, in combination with the weather, made it feel like a 'better' event, although significantly less fun and more serious.

We left at 8.15 or thereabouts and, after experience on L2B, decided to get a good 30 miles under the belt before stopping (that's the Strava update from yesterday...had to stop as the iPhone's battery was down to 40%). Quick water refill and banana chomp and carried on.

There's nothing like Ditchling on this ride. The hardest climbs are out of the Lee Valley at Nazeing and at Elmdon, but they were both pretty easy (although didn't feel it at the time). Despite repeated promises of beer stops, we were too early for the pubs, so it was only at Duxford that we stopped for a couple of pints of Timothy Taylors, after which we only had 10 miles left into Cambridge.

Got into Cambridge around 1-ish, met the wife, drank about 5 pints and ate a large bowl of paella while sitting in glorious sunshine. Lovely day all told.

I think Wiggo, Froom and Cav will inspire a huge amount of people to start cycling. I don't follow the Tour, but you can't fail to take pride in something like this, and if I see a green jersey bearing down on me I think I'll just get out of the way!