# The diary of a road bike newbie



## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T-2: got my bike fitted at the LBS, added lights, counter, saddle bag, water bottle, tiny air pump. I got out of the shop and went to practice attaching and detaching the clip-less pedals. The first few things I noticed were that the counter didn't work and I couldn't stay focused on the clip-less exercise. Fortunately I didn't fall, but I'm worried that my lack of attention will be an issue. The whole exercise ride ended in 10 minutes when it started raining.
I got back home and tried to fix the counter's sensor. I don't know if my adjustments did anything, because I haven't ridden it since, but during the process I noticed that there's a scraping sound in the front wheel. It only appears when the wheel passes a specific point and it's very short and quiet. I'll have to stop by the LBS to have it sorted out.
By the way I'm happy with the job that the LBS did on the bike - the derailleurs were properly set, the tension on the brakes and the rear wheel wasn't properly centered, so they fixed it.

P.S. if anybody is still reading here's a link to my introduction post. Also day T is going to be my first ride on my own road bike. I had my first ride a few weeks ago on a rented bike with regular pedals.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Ditch all the doo-dads and just ride your bike. Then add them one by one as you get more comfortable.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

I really have only the counter and that's for keeping a track of the millage so that I know when to service the bike. I'm not interested in average, current, top speed or anything else. At some point I'll get me a cadence sensor, but that will happen when I get more comfortable as you advise.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

gte said:


> I really have only the counter and that's for keeping a track of the millage so that I know when to service the bike. I'm not interested in average, current, top speed or anything else. At some point I'll get me a cadence sensor, but that will happen when I get more comfortable as you advise.


Service is not that critical and nothing is mileage based. If you go without your computer for a week or two, you're not going to rack up so many miles that it'll affect when you need to service your bike. 

In fact, service is an as needed thing. If your bike is running fine, there's really nothing to service.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> I really have only the counter and that's for keeping a track of the millage so that I know when to service the bike. I'm not interested in average, current, top speed or anything else. At some point I'll get me a cadence sensor, but that will happen when I get more comfortable as you advise.


For now, since this is all new to you, consider going with platform pedals. Learning basic bike handling skills and proper cadence comes before clipless (IMHO). It's not like you wasted money on them, because in fairly short order you'll have the confidence to go with clipless.

Re: the computer, IMO the real value for beginners is the cadence function, so consider adding that as soon as you can - after getting the computer issue sorted out, of course.

Re: service intervals. You have a ways to go before that's an issue. If the bike was prepped properly, the most you'll need in the next couple of hundred miles is cleaning/ lubing the drivetrain and minor adjustments to the front and rear der cables. 

Keep your tires properly inflated (based on tire size, your weight and road conditions). If you have any concerns of where to start with that, there are a wealth of threads on the topic here in the beginner's corner.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

tlg said:


> In fact, service is an as needed thing. If your bike is running fine, there's really nothing to service.


That's how I roll with my city bike, but I was thinking that the road bike will require more attention. Thanks for the tips.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

Ah, just caught where you've been a daily commuter for over six years now using a city bike in Athens, so scratch the part of my post re: being 'new to this'. I'm sure your bike handling skills are up to par, given your environment. 

You'll become accustomed to the clipless pedals in fairly short order. Key word, _anticipate_ (when to unclip) and you'll do fine.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> Ah, just caught where you've been a daily commuter for over six years now using a city bike in Athens, so scratch the part of my post re: being 'new to this'. I'm sure your bike handling skills are up to par, given your environment.


Yes, there are a lot of things I've learned over the years, but a road bike is quite different - I still have a long way to go.



PJ352 said:


> You'll become accustomed to the clipless pedals in fairly short order. Key word, _anticipate_ (when to unclip) and you'll do fine.


That's my key issue now. I know when to prepare to get off the bike, but I have to remember to unclip first. I'm not concerned that It will take some time, I'm just worried not to find myself on the asphalt in the process.


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## fuzzed (Sep 18, 2012)

gte said:


> That's my key issue now. I know when to prepare to get off the bike, but I have to remember to unclip first. I'm not concerned that It will take some time, I'm just worried not to find myself on the asphalt in the process.


For me the first time I hit the asphalt was all I needed to remember to unclip. Once after that, at the end of the ride, I almost forgot, but was able to recover quickly.


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## JoePAz (Jul 20, 2012)

gte said:


> ...
> I got back home and tried to fix the counter's sensor. I don't know if my adjustments did anything, because I haven't ridden it since, but during the process I noticed that there's a scraping sound in the front wheel. It only appears when the wheel passes a specific point and it's very short and quiet.


Sounds like computer sensor is hitting. It had been too far to get a reading then you adjusted it, but now it is too close. 

As for the clipless thing. These take time to learn and the get the muscle memory to release. 10 min is not going to do. You can always ride with flats for a bit and the move back to clipless when you have some miles on the bike.


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## JoePAz (Jul 20, 2012)

gte said:


> ..That's my key issue now. I know when to prepare to get off the bike, but I have to remember to unclip first. I'm not concerned that It will take some time, I'm just worried not to find myself on the asphalt in the process.


Yeah that will probably happen. Just get back up and don't let it bother you. I learned clipless on my mtn bike and fell over many times before I got the hang of it. Now I can unclip just as fast as flat platforms pedals rarely fall from that even over really nasty terrain.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T: 55 km ride in a team of 6 - ages from 19 all the way up to 45+ (I'm not sure how old the shop owner is, but his son is the 19 yo). Four of the guys do races, the shop owner is their trainer. I was afraid that the bike would be very harsh, but it was really nice - not a limo, but it didn't break any of my bones. The ride was on the beach avenue - not ideal, but not bad. I was fine with the pedals. The clipping turned out to be more difficult for me than the unclipping. There will be another team ride next Saturday and I'll probably go out during the week too.
The bottom line: I enjoyed the bike and the ride and I'm looking forward to do it again.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+1 (an unexpected ride): I went to the LBS today to buy extra water bottles. The guys asked if I was going to go for a ride and I said no, but when I left I thought "maybe I'll just take a longer way to home". I ended up doing 10km, 4 of them climbing a big hill.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+3: First solo ride out of town. The plan was to go with a coworker, but he backed down, so I went on my own. I loved the ride - I did just under 50 km. I read about the importance of stretching so I was doing some exercises and I noticed that my left leg is very stiff compared to the right one. During this ride it started to hurt which I suspect is due to the stiffness. I'll be doing more stretching and more riding and I'll see how it goes.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> Day T+3: First solo ride out of town.
> I noticed that my left leg is very stiff compared to the right one. During this ride it started to hurt which I suspect is due to the stiffness. I'll be doing more stretching and more riding and I'll see how it goes.


Depending on where the stiffness is (knee?) more riding could exacerbate the problem, so it's important to find the cause. This, of course, assumes it's a recent development. 

Keeping cadence up is a challenge for most noobs, so take care to do that, whether by counting or (preferred) get a computer with cadence.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> Depending on where the stiffness is (knee?) more riding could exacerbate the problem, so it's important to find the cause. This, of course, assumes it's a recent development.


It's the glut and it only appeared on this ride. But this was my first non-stop ride at this distance.



PJ352 said:


> Keeping cadence up is a challenge for most noobs, so take care to do that, whether by counting or (preferred) get a computer with cadence.


I am trying to keep my cadence up, but I have no idea where it is exactly. I'll just go and get that optional cadence sensor for my computer.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> It's the glut and it only appeared on this ride. But *this was my first non-stop ride at this distance.*


Classic overuse. Pay heed to it and dial back your duration/ intensity for a bit. NSAID, if needed. 



gte said:


> I am trying to keep my cadence up, but I have no idea where it is exactly. I'll just go and get that optional cadence sensor for my computer.


This is why I say the "preferred" method is to opt for a computer with cadence function. By the time we count, cadence may well have changed - especially with changing conditions (wind, climbs).

Considering what we put into this sport, it's a worthwhile (and minor) investment, IMO.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> Classic overuse. Pay heed to it and dial back your duration/ intensity for a bit. NSAID, if needed.


I don't think any drugs will be needed. The pain disappeared immediately after the ride. You must be right that I over did it. Next time I'm on a ride I'll take a break if the pain starts and/or dial back.
Thank you for the tips.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+5: I had to work out of the city so I opted to go there by the road bike. I took the longer route in the morning (~45 km) and the shorter route on my way back in the afternoon (~35 km). First use in transport mode.


Day T+7: Second LSB ride. Me and the 19 yo racer only. We did 62km in about 2h30m. Of course, I couldn't keep up with him so I was going slow and he was dialing back and waiting for me. The pain in the left leg is still here - it starts to appear after 30 km or so. This time I was changing positions and I discovered that when I'm on the drops with a lower cadence the pain goes away. I'm going to put a cadence sensor today and I'll experiment with my cadence to see where's the safe zone.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> Day T+5: I had to work out of the city so I opted to go there by the road bike. I took the longer route in the morning (~45 km) and the shorter route on my way back in the afternoon (~35 km). First use in transport mode.
> 
> 
> Day T+7: Second LSB ride. Me and the 19 yo racer only. We did 62km in about 2h30m. Of course, I couldn't keep up with him so I was going slow and he was dialing back and waiting for me. The pain in the left leg is still here - it starts to appear after 30 km or so. This time I was changing positions and *I discovered that when I'm on the drops with a lower cadence the pain goes away*. I'm going to put a cadence sensor today and I'll experiment with my cadence to see where's the safe zone.


Not knowing your cadence at the time, hard to say, but generally speaking low cadence leads to problems, it doesn't minimize them. When you get the sensor, aim for the 80-90 range to start, varying with conditions/ terrain. Unless you're on a descent, below 80 isn't ideal, IMO.

When you ride in the drops, pelvic angle changes, so (in some instances) I can see how that may help. That's why it's good to change hand positions frequently. 

It's likely you weren't fully recovered from the overuse injury. Given the mismatch in your (and your partners) fitness levels, you may have been pushing harder to keep up. 

My guess is you've done too much. too soon and now it'll take awhile for you to heal.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+9: The plan was to have a short and slow recovery ride. Something like an hour. I went to the LBS to get the cadence sensor and when they learnt that I'm going for a ride, they said "let's go together". Not only the ride ended up a being a big one, but there was no cadence reading either, because apparently Sigma sells the sensor and the magnet separately. The LBS didn't know either. I'll leave the recovery + cadence for another day.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+17: After a week off the road bike (I was too tired to ride) I went on a short ride today - 20km in one hour. It was nice, I didn't push and the pain in my left leg is almost gone. I still felt a bit of a tension, but not pain. Half of the route is right outside of Athens, the other half is getting in and out. It's a nice route and there wasn't much traffic today. I will do it for a few weeks until my leg is fully recovered and then I'll start adding distance.
There are a lot of ascends and descends on the route. I posted the view from one of the hills here


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+19: Second ride of the same route. First ride with a cadence sensor. I've been practicing spinning during my commutes since I read about the benefits of spinning a few weeks ago. It seems that it has paid off - my average cadence for the 20 km ride was 90 rpm. I can spin comfortably at 90-100 rpm and I seem to spin out around 115 rpm. I really enjoy this ride - it's short enough so it can be done after work and it's low traffic, good quality road. No pain in my legs either, yay!


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> Day T+19: Second ride of the same route. First ride with a cadence sensor. I've been practicing spinning during my commutes since I read about the benefits of spinning a few weeks ago. It seems that it has paid off - my average cadence for the 20 km ride was 90 rpm. *I can spin comfortably at 90-100 rpm* and I seem to spin out around 115 rpm. I really enjoy this ride - it's short enough so it can be done after work and it's low traffic, good quality road. *No pain in my legs *either, yay!


That's a very good cadence range for most road riders. Some can sustain a little above, others a little bellow. FWIW, track riders do well over 100. 

It's likely your pushed a little to hard earlier on, so something to be aware of. All in all, I think you're doing great!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> It's likely your pushed a little to hard earlier on, so something to be aware of. All in all, I think you're doing great!


Thank you! I really enjoy the rides. I guess I was pushing too hard in the beginning. I really can't wait to do longer rides and find some nice routes out of the city, but I guess I'll have to take it easy in the beginning.


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## trollcycle (May 17, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> Some can sustain a little above, others a little bellow.


I enjoy a little bellow myself on occasion! Lets 'em know you're coming through. 



...sorry, just messin' with you.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> Thank you! I really enjoy the rides. I guess I was pushing too hard in the beginning. I really can't wait to do longer rides and find some nice routes out of the city, but I guess I'll have to take it easy in the beginning.


Don't confuse intensity (pushing) with duration (saddle time). You can incrementally up your ride duration, just be aware of your pace, keeping it 'moderate'.

In other words, stay in tune with your body. It'll speak to you if you overdo.

@trollcycle, point taken. :wink5:


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+21: Another duo ride with the 19 yo racer. I was expecting a group ride and I was planning to stay with the slower riders, but nobody else came. I had to push more than usual to keep up with him, but the good news is that there was no pain although I got tired. We did 50 km in about two hours. I plan to do one short ride next (my usual 20 km route) and then another 50 km at my own pace.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+23: My 20 km solo. I was planning to take it easy but the ride felt nice so even though I wasn't pushing I didn't go as slow as planned. It's my best time for this route so far - 53 minutes with average cadence 92. I made no stops except for traffic lights which also pushed the time down. Next ride (in two days) is commuting to a town ~40 km away.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+25: The commute ride went fine. A total of ~70 km both ways. In the beginning I couldn't find my pace and I was pushing too hard so I started feeling some tension in my right knee. I backed down and saved it. The ride had a lot of climbing though not big inclination. I am getting better at climbing, yay! My average cadence was 92.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+30: One month on the road bike. This was an interval training ride 8 x 1 minute. It went better than I expected - I wasn't exhausted at the end. Maybe I didn't push hard enough. Average cadence of 84 because I was going lazily during the rests. The plan for this week is to ride every day because vacations start at the end of the week for two weeks and I'll be off the bike. So it is intervals, recovery, hill repeats, recovery, long (ish) distance.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+31: The recovery ride didn't go as easy as I planned it. I had energy and felt like going for it, so I ended up with a normal ride rather than a relaxing recovery. Maybe the hill repeats will convince me to do a recovery ride the day after.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+32: Hill repeats. I still can't figure out the maths behind hill grading. The online sources that I found say that a 45 degree inclination is 100% grade, but the same page says that you calculate the grade by dividing the total rise by the distance travelled (as in the hypotenuse). You can't get 100% this way. So I don't know what grade is the hill I climbed but for me it's quite steep. According to my GPS the total rise is 71 metres and the total distance is ~1.2 km. I did a 15 min warm up getting to the bottom of the hill. I don't know weather I was tired from the warm up or just unprepared but I couldn't get to the top on my first climb. The rest of the climbs were good. I felt that the third climb was the easiest and my GPS tracking supports that. All in all a nice training and best of all no pain anywhere despite the significant effort.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+33: Recovery ride - ~20 km in ~1 hour. My legs were very tired and felt stiff from the hill repeats, so I was going extra easy. The average cadence was 82 rpm, rolling on the downhills, doing about 70 rpm on the climbs. The plan was to do 50 km tomorrow, but I was feeling tired today, so I'll take a rest day instead (not entirely - I still have to commute) and leave the long ride for the day after.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> Day T+33: Recovery ride - ~20 km in ~1 hour. My legs were very tired and felt stiff from the hill repeats, so I was going extra easy. The average cadence was 82 rpm, rolling on the downhills, doing about 70 rpm on the climbs. The plan was to do 50 km tomorrow, but *I was feeling tired today*, so I'll take a rest day instead (not entirely - I still have to commute) and leave the long ride for the day after.


It's important to listen to your body.

Oftentimes, yesterdays efforts are felt today, so it's good to schedule a recovery ride 'day after'. The problem (I think) is that your cadence is too low and won't sufficiently help your legs to recover. 

Try to aim for mid-80's on climbs. I think you'll see a difference in both (increased) endurance and (less) leg fatigue.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> Try to aim for mid-80's on climbs. I think you'll see a difference in both (increased) endurance and (less) leg fatigue.


I wish I could, but when the climb gets steep I easily run out of steam on my lowest 34x25 gear. I'll try practising easy climbs until my cadence goes up.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> I wish I could, but when the climb gets steep I easily run out of steam on my lowest 34x25 gear. I'll try practising easy climbs until my cadence goes up.


... or consider lower gearing till your fitness improves. You could probably go with a 27-28T cog without changing anything else.


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## 80turbota (Dec 3, 2011)

I am agreement here. I think you overdid it a little and your body was telling you about it. Seems you have gotten back on track though.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Day T+35: A great 50 km ride. I really enjoyed it. The weather was nice and I was feeling great.
Day T+49: After two weeks off the bike I went for an easy ride - 19 km with gentle slopes. I was aiming for high cadence and my average was 91 rpm. I felt tired at the end of the ride as I was obviously out of shape.
Day T+50: Too much traffic on my usual route out of the city, so I took a city route. This time I wasn't tired and managed an average cadence of 96 rpm. I am starting to feel comfortable at 110-115 rpm. I'm aiming to increase my flat road cadence in preparation for a higher climbing cadence.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

There isn't that much difference between one ride and another anymore and I usually go for my established routes so the diary switches to weekly digest starting now.


Week T+8: I started doing early morning rides this week. Pros: less traffic and less heat. I did two 20 km rides and one 60+ km ride. The long ride's route had new elements, including quite a tough climb. It was a great ride and even though I was in pain the day after, I'm looking forward to do it again. Average cadences for the week 90-95 rpm.


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## desertbiker92211 (Aug 18, 2013)

I agree, just enjoy your bike for a while then start to adding what you need/want such a counter, lights, etc. that sound you hear is probably the magnet on your front tire for the counter, just lower it down a bit and it should go away


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 9: Only two rides this week because I was away the second half of the week. Ride 1 - the usual 20 km route. Ride 2 - just under 70 km on a new route. I'm starting to prepare for a 100 km ride, so the 70 was the first step. The ride started with a great difficulty - I wasn't feeling strong and I (what felt like) strong head wind. I was thinking of giving up, but then something strange happened - around the kilometre 25 my strength got a boost and I was able to do the rest of the distance without any trouble. I even set a personal best time at the end of the ride on a climb that is part of my short route. Yes, I signed up with Strava - that's how I know. I'm 26th of 51 in this segment, but all I care about is my own stats. Anyhow it was a great ride, next time I'll attempt 80 km.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 10: Two 20 km weekday rides and one 78 km ride on Saturday. This was clearly my limit as I was feeling for the rest of the day and the next day. A little bit of muscle burn too, because the last 4 kilometres before I turned back have a 9% climb and I can't keep any decent cadence at such climbs. I'll take a hint and instead of going for 90 km on the same route next Saturday, I'll do 80 again on a route without steep climbs. Maybe I'll go out with a company too, so it will be slower as well.
Here are a couple of pictures from the top of the climb.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 11: I did four rides this week - one low pace ride 20 km ride, another 20 km ride with Tabata intervals, an 80 km ride without much climbing and a 50 km ride. I was planning on doing an easy 80 km ride on Saturday morning, because I had arranged for a group ride in the afternoon, but when I went out the weather was nice, the road was good, I was feeling fine and I pushed a bit harder than I intended. Then the group ride turned out to be a duo with a partner much more fit than me. I was at his wheel all the time, but it was still an effort. All in all a great week. My hamstrings are a bit sore now, but I survived unharmed.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 12: Two rides only, because I was tired from last week. The regular 20 km route spiced up with some Tabata and a Sunday afternoon/evening ride that turned out to be surprisingly long. I went out without any plans and started climbing a mountain that I haven't conquered so far. During the climb I decided that I'll push myself and get to the summit. Once I got there after an hour and a quarter I was thrilled by the view and proud with my "achievement" (being able to barely drag myself all the way up with a guesstimated average cadence of 40-50) so I decided to test a new route on the way back. I ended up with a ride of over four and a half hours with some pitch black segments and a dying headlight (lesson learned - always carry extra batteries). It was great fun though and I'm looking forward to do it again, but next time I'll skip the night ride part.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 13: This was a rest week because my legs were fatigued from the past two weeks. After being extra slow on my daily commutes I took my daughter out on a group ride. It's a big group that rides weekly in the city on all sorts of bikes. I go there on my city bike. We did 40 km which was much more than I intended, but it was slow so I didn't get tired. Then I finally took out the road bike for a spin and did ~55 km at a very good pace. I had the force with me after the week off and I even set some personal bests on the hills in the area.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 14: Two rides: Saturday 46 km and Sunday 104 km. Now I'll take a week off the road bike and I'll switch to shorter distance rides with higher intensity for the winter. I need to improve my climbing a lot, because I really like to ride in the mountains and I have only one route that's sort of flat and not in the city. My average cadence for the long ride was 79, because I had a lot of ascent and I can't go much higher than 60 rpm when climbing sometimes dropping all the way down to 40 on steep segments. I know - I need to harden up. A lot!


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> ... I can't go much higher than 60 rpm when climbing sometimes dropping all the way down to 40 on steep segments. I know - I need to harden up. A lot!


Not so much harden up, as spin up. If you need to lower gearing to do that while building fitness, I'd consider it.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> If you need to lower gearing to do that while building fitness, I'd consider it.


I know I need lower gearing and originally I wanted to buy a triple, but I ended up settling with was was easily available. Now I'm reluctant to make modifications because of the cost. I still have plenty of equipment to buy - winter clothing, heart rate something (maybe a Garmin computer), rollers, I'm also not impressed with my Sora thumb shifters and these aren't cheap either. It adds up to a nice amount. I'm not sure that's the wisest way to spend my money, but it's certainly the most appealing. I will try to put more strength training to help me spin up the hills as I clearly lack aerobic capacity.


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

Compacts are not much off of triples. I had a triple on a junk bike. The Sora compact was better. And I do not like Sora at all. 
Try smaller hills first and work your way up. I can hit hills now without breaking a sweat that made me want to cry when I started.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 15: Rest week. No activity on the road bike, just the regular commute on the city bike.

Week 16: Saturday - 2 hours ride, high intensity. I'm very pleased with the results - avg speed 28 kph, avg cadence 91, total elevation gain 490 metres. Conclusion - rest really works! Sunday - a duo ride with a colleague of mine. It was supposed to be a recovery ride, but I ended up setting a higher pace, so I would say medium intensity, 3h15m. I also tried "carbing up" pre- and post-ride and it really works for reducing muscle burn and fatigue.


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## SMiller (Oct 15, 2013)

Completely new to this, I enjoy your thread and hope you keep it up. 

Steve


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

SMiller said:


> Completely new to this, I enjoy your thread and hope you keep it up.
> 
> Steve


Thank you Steve. As my thread's title says I'm just as new, but it has been a great experience so far. I hope you'll come to love it too.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 17: Life got in the way so I couldn't take out the road bike. Instead I took my daughter to a Friday night city ride. We did about 55 km and she handled it quite well. She hasn't quite grasped the concept of gear changing yet, but she enjoys the rides.

Week 18: A two hour Saturday ride with the friend who gave me the road cycling bug. He's been away the whole summer, but now that he's back we'll be hitting the road together more often. The ride was quite intense, but without any serious climbing. I thought I wasn't going to be in a good shape, because I was compensating for last week's lack of riding by pushing my daily commute rides. In the end it seems that all the practice payed off and I was on top of my game.
Now Sunday goes for resting and hopefully next week will see some mountain action.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 19: No rides. I didn't manage to get out during the weekend.

Week 20: Two hours, medium intensity ride on Monday (a public holiday here). I was going mostly easy, pushing only on the few climbs of the route. I did some high cadence exercising and I was able to keep 120 rpm for about a minute. Average cadence was 94 at the end of the ride and I'm quite pleased with this result. I had great sunny (but not hot) weather and a very nice ride. Plan for the week: easy commute rides, possibly a group ride on Friday night with my daughter. Weekend plans: unclear.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 20 (continued): I rode again on Saturday morning - two hours low intensity. Average cadence 97! That's a welcome deviation from my usual routine of pushing too much. I'll do it again, especially when I'm out with friends. The only place where I had to give it all just to keep the bike going was a short, steep climb. I needed a few minutes after that in order to catch my breath. When I can climb this hill without crying I'll know I've made it.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 21: A mountain ride on Saturday with my friend S. We were out for 4h26m out of which 4h06m was riding. This was my second time on the route and there's a 6.5 km climb that averages 7.4% grade. I improved my time there by over 10 minutes! S had to wait for me at the end of the climb for 3 minutes. :/ This climb made me investigate the option of upgrading my crank set to a triple and changing my cassette too, but I can't swallow the price. Maybe just the cassette at the beginning.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 22: This Saturday I rode a pure training ride on my own. I was set to practise prolonged climbing out of the saddle and in doing so I checked out a local hill. It turned out to be quite a nice climb (albeit bad asphalt) with great views from the top. I also set personal bests on the first couple of climbs while my legs were fresh. The only thing that didn't go as well was clothing - I hesitated to put an extra layer and in the end it turned out that I really needed it. I was quite cold after the descends and in the climbs that followed I was way below my best results. Now with legs fatigued from the ride my commute rides will have to be a bit more calm. And next time extra layer and perhaps a wind breaker for the descends.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

Beautiful shot... thanks for posting!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

There are actually two shots - you can click on the "next" link when the first one is displayed. The second one features the sea and some sun.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> There are actually two shots - you can click on the "next" link when the first one is displayed. The second one features the sea and some sun.


Didn't catch that... thanks! Looks like you've got some great roads to ride. Glad you're enjoying the sport.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> Didn't catch that... thanks! Looks like you've got some great roads to ride. Glad you're enjoying the sport.


I do indeed. The traffic is a bit of a problem though. I have to ride for quite a while to find some quiet roads. Nevertheless I love doing so and I still have a lot of unexplored areas around.

Also thanks for the thumbs up - it's good to know that I'm not the only reader of the thread and that people enjoy my rather wanting phone camera pics.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> ... thanks for the thumbs up - it's good to know that I'm not the only reader of the thread and that people enjoy my rather wanting phone camera pics.


FWIW, I've read each one of your posts. That aside, with almost 6,700 views, I think it's safe to say other members are following along. 

Great to see firsthand experiences documented. A refreshing break...


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

I've been following along quietly! Loving it.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

@PJ352, @expatbrit: Thanks guys! That's some extra motivation to keep the diary rolling.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

Glad you're doing it. My own riding is nowhere near as interesting!!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

expatbrit said:


> My own riding is nowhere near as interesting!!


Make some changes to your routine/route to make it more interesting or you might get bored out of it. It's supposed to be fun. I hope you don't mind the unsolicited advice.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 23: A solo ride on Saturday morning. I was tired this week and had some sore muscles so I went for a shorter, easy ride - 1h30m of mostly flat roads. Even so I set a new personal best for 1 hour - just over 30 km. My fitness is improving. I set a personal best on a short climb as well - at the end of the ride! I did push the climb with all I had though.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

gte said:


> Make some changes to your routine/route to make it more interesting or you might get bored out of it. It's supposed to be fun. I hope you don't mind the unsolicited advice.


Oh, my riding is good. Not 'interesting', per se, but I'm enjoying it -- if that makes any sense. It's just great to follow along with yours!


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## StarTrekBiker (Oct 16, 2013)

expatbrit said:


> Glad you're doing it. My own riding is nowhere near as interesting!!





gte said:


> Make some changes to your routine/route to make it more interesting or you might get bored out of it. It's supposed to be fun. I hope you don't mind the unsolicited advice.





expatbrit said:


> Oh, my riding is good. Not 'interesting', per se, but I'm enjoying it -- if that makes any sense. It's just great to follow along with yours!


Newb here too. Love reading about your rides.

Have you guys ever thought about using Strava? I've found it extremely helpful in self assessment, and keeping my training on track. It's free (although there are extra optional features that you can pay for if you want), and records all your rides, and lets you know if you've beaten a personal record. It also allows you to see who else has ridden your route, and gives you comparison times. It works with many GPS devices, but if you don't have one, you can use the GPS on iPhone or Android smartphone (which is what I use). Check it out.
Strava | Running and Cycling GPS Tracker, Performance Analytics, Maps, Clubs and Competition


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

I do, in fact, use it. I like it.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

StarTrekBiker said:


> Newb here too. Love reading about your rides.


Thanks!



StarTrekBiker said:


> Have you guys ever thought about using Strava?


I use Strava as well. It is motivating me to improve my climbing and lose a few kilos.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

Exactly! Collecting some PBs and going a bit faster is awesome .


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 24: Bad, rainy weather. No rides.

Week 25: It's Saturday morning and I have a plan - improve my 100 km best time. Take an hour off of it. How hard could it be? My current best is over 5 hours set on a mountain ride. So the plan is simple - go for a flat(ish) ride, push as hard as I can - ta-da! Weather forecast for Athens - sunny and not too cold. And while I'm at it why not test a new route that looks like it won't have much traffic. I'm taking my rain shoe covers just in case. Rain jacket too as I don't have a thick winter jacket, so the Rain jacket plus two thermal layers and a long sleeve jersey should be warm enough.

The ride starts fine - sunny and I'm not cold even on the first descend as I escape from Athens. There's only one concern - black skies in the direction I'm heading. But that's OK - the forecast said no rain. Yet, around kilometre 25 the roads are quite wet. It must have rained just before my arrival. The sky is gloomy too. I'm feeling lucky for picking the right hour to start the ride. At kilometre 30 the I enter unknown territories. The road is quiet as I expected it to be, but it's wet, muddy in places and it's not flat. It starts with a small climb but after pushing for over an hour to get here I don't appreciate it. It doesn't help than I'm a bad climber either. Plus it's not the first climb on the route - it's the third one and I've pushed the first two with all I have. So down my average speed goes.


At kilometre 40 the quiet road enters a town. I take the wrong turn and I end up going through the town's centre. Good bye speed. I stop for a refill and it starts to drizzle. On with the shoe covers, something I really should have done much earlier, because my shoes are a mess now. I ask for directions and follow my instincts to go back on track. I get lost. I always get lost when I follow my instincts. My instincts suck - I wonder why I never learn not to follow them. Now the ride turns into stopping every 5 minutes and checking with my phone's GPS where I am and how to find the right road. My plan is broken in more pieces than I can count. At least the drizzle stopped.


Finally I find the road and what do you know - it goes up. Not much farther up the road it starts to rain properly. On the positive side I'm finally out of the town and there's little traffic. I reach a place where the road splits in two. To the right, about 50 metres ahead I see 5 dogs on the road. I turn left. A little later the climb gets steeper. It's still raining. My legs hurt. I'm not giving up though - my counter says I've done over 50 km, but I need to get them to 55 before I turn back, because I got lost and I don't have that many kilometres on the *proper* way back.


At last 55 km just before a steep descend. I'm glad I won't have to go down and then up again. I turn back and now it's all downhill. Through the town again, this time without getting lost. The rain stops, and the clouds give way to a bit of sun. Because they are blown away by a strong, cold wind! Ouch! I swear I didn't need this. I add to being wet and muddy being cold. Oh, and I'm going up again. The wind blows in my face adding injury to the insult. With all the action so far I'm behind on food and while I haven't forgotten about it, I just couldn't find the right moment to eat. Well, the right moment found me - I started feeling light headed and dizzy so I stopped, sat down and ate all my food. All while the wind kept blowing and making me even colder.


Time to resume the ride. I'm now on a road that I know and I make a change to the route. Instead of going back the way I came from, which is full of small ups and downs, I head all the way down to the sea to save some energy that I will need for the remaining over 30 km. The descend is steep and the wind is hitting me sideways, making me shift quite a bit. The first gust caught me by surprise and made my stomach roll. So down to the sea, fighting the wind and reflecting on the mistakes of the ride. I learnt today that the weather in Athens (and the forecast thereof) is not the same as the weather 50 km away. I also learnt that I shouldn't make plans that are too ambitious, like say explore unknown roads in the winter while setting personal bests. I got to know myself better too - I now know that I don't like riding in the rain and the cold. I also know to run away from black skies instead of riding towards them. I no longer wonder what's that "sufferfest" thing I keep reading about on the Internet.


By the time I'm done counting my mistakes and pitying myself I'm 15 km away from home and onto the last climb of the day. Everything in Athens is as I left it - sunny and nice, dry roads, not even a hint of rain. And as I'm enjoying the sun a tiny little grey cloud above me starts to drizzle on me - just for good measure. I never knew that such clouds could make rain. It must be trying really hard, just for me. Thank you little cloud - not!


I'm writing this now a few hours later, reviewing the GPS log of my ride, feeling all fatigued. I see that I've done more than one wrong turn during the ride making it ever more... uhm exciting. That left turn I took to avoid the dogs for example has gotten me on a path I didn't plan to take and I suspect had more climbing. Total ascend ~1000 metres. Ah well. At least I'm a tougher man now than I was this morning. I won't let this stop me from getting a set of rollers to ride at home when it rains outside. Do you hear Santa?


P.S. I almost forgot - I did improve my time by 40 minutes! Yay... ouch.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

Adventure is adversity told at leisure, huh??

Congrats on beating the time! I'm jealous of riding outside; snow, ice, and below freezing has this n00b on an el cheapo trainer!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

expatbrit said:


> Adventure is adversity told at leisure, huh??


I can testify to this first hand!



expatbrit said:


> Congrats on beating the time! I'm jealous of riding outside; snow, ice, and below freezing has this n00b on an el cheapo trainer!


I'll probably be stuck at home pretty soon too as the weather is getting bad. However I opt for Kreitler rollers which I hope to use for many years to come. If I manage to buy them locally.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

gte said:


> I'll probably be stuck at home pretty soon too as the weather is getting bad. However I opt for Kreitler rollers which I hope to use for many years to come. If I manage to buy them locally.


I rather wish I had a better trainer, but this is what I have. I've had it for a few years; used it a lot for Tabata intervals. It seems very low resistance, it's very noisy, and so on. Good for cadence training, though.

Enjoy the outside riding; thanks again for keeping on sharing.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 26: I opted for a city ride by the beach this Saturday. I don't really like the route with all the traffic and the traffic lights, but it's my only option for a flat ride. Needless to say I needed a flat ride after last Saturday. So a couple of hours out with the goal of going easy but keeping the cadence at a minimum of 100. I did that and I got back home without any drama. I'll take a week off now (commuting doesn't count) to give my legs a bit of a rest.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 27: Rest week. Only one small deviation from the rest due to this:









I was planning to buy the 3" rollers but the shop only had the 4.5" ones. They had them on a great offer though and I went ahead and got them. I'm a bit disappointed with the resistance they offer. I'm not saying that I can spin out my biggest gear (50x11), but I'm worried that my fitness might improve past their resistance. I bought them form a non-LBS since my LBS didn't carry them and the shop owner gave me the rollers with a discount and a tip - spin for 15 minutes, three times a week, first thing in the morning. And that's how my rest week ended an almost rest week.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Week 28: I practised pushing a big gear on Monday. 1h45m ride with average cadence of 78. It's been a while since my last low cadence ride and it felt easier, but it wasn't any faster and my knees didn't thank me for it. I guess I'll stick to higher cadence. Then on Thursday I went out for an aerobic capacity workout - climbing at high cadence. It was going really well, I was averaging 101 rpm and then I got tired with two climbs to go. My cadence dropped to 50 on the steep sections and by the time I was done my average cadence was 95. Still not bad however next time I'll do a shorter ride.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 29*

Bad weather kept the road bike at home this week so all I managed to do was two interval workouts on the rollers. I use GCN's 20 minute workout video for the rollers - it works really well. Unfortunately the 4.5" rollers don't offer enough resistance for all out efforts. I can spin my highest 50x11 gear at over 110 rpm for a minute and even though I finish the workout soaked in sweat I'm not as wasted as the GCN guys at the end.


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## StarTrekBiker (Oct 16, 2013)

gte said:


> I use GCN's 20 minute workout video for the rollers - it works really well.


It's a favorite of mine as well. I use it all the time (well, when I'm indoors that is). But I have a standard trainer, so I'm "done" by the end.

Maybe you should try a heart rate monitor. See how high you can get your HR. If the workout is not enough, try it twice in a row.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

I actually managed to cause myself pain by using a higher gear for the recovery periods. HR is in the plan, but not in the budget yet. I'm thinking of a Garmin 500 or 510 if 500 is out of stock by the time I'm ready to shell out the buck.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 30*

One climbing training on Monday for 1h30m - a couple of laps on the local hills. It went well. I set some personal bests on two climbs improving previous max effort times. Other than that it was only rollers. Three 20 minute interval workouts. I have to use my top gears to get a good workout of the 4.5" drums, but it works for now.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 31*

Saturdays and Sundays are out of the riding schedule for the next few months and finding time for riding out is difficult. This week I didn't manage to go out at all, so it was only rollers. Which is a real pity because the weather was great. Anyway I did intervals again - 3 times for 20 minutes.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

gte said:


> Saturdays and Sundays are out of the riding schedule for the next few months and finding time for riding out is difficult. This week I didn't manage to go out at all, so it was only rollers. Which is a real pity because the weather was great. Anyway I did intervals again - 3 times for 20 minutes.


Glad you got a few miles in, even on the rollers.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 32*

I had to go out after riding only indoors for two weeks, so I took Monday off and went for a nice long ride. The weather was great, but the ride turned into another sufferfest due to rather strong headwind for the first two-odd hours. Fortunately my friend S. joined me after the first hour of the ride and we were doing turns at the front. The problem was that I didn't pace myself properly so I was going two hard against the wind soon after we turned back my legs started to hurt. I'm noticing that every time I overdo it my left glut and hamstrings and my right quads hurt. I think the left leg problem is lack of flexibility and the right leg being the dominant ends up doing more pushing and therefore tired quads. Lessons from the ride - more work on flexibility and pacing. My cycling todo list now says: improve strength, climbing, flexibility, pacing and lose weight. I'm not going to run out of things to do on the bike anytime soon. After this ride I had a new personal best for 100km (just under four hours) and sore legs for the next few days. Therefore I didn't do much on the rollers - one easy spin for 20 minutes a few days later and half an interval training. Half, because I had my first crash on the rollers. When I'm riding hard there's a very noisy vibration from the rollers so I was trying to find a way to go more quietly. It turns out that the closer to the edge I ride the quieter it goes... ahem. Then suddenly it got very loud - the noise of me falling on the ladder next to the rollers. More lessons learnt - don't mess with the rollers. Damage report - lower leg burn from the belt, hip and finger scratches and a shoulder bruise from the ladder, burned carpet in the living room from the tires, and finally - destroyed workout. And that's how another week of training wraps up.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

Ouch; I hear of roller crashes and fear them -- though I only have a fairly crappy magnetic myself.

Congrats on the new record, too -- did my first 100km (well, 98.5) myself yesterday!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

expatbrit said:


> Ouch; I hear of roller crashes and fear them -- though I only have a fairly crappy magnetic myself.



I was thinking rollers would be very difficult to use based on some youtube videos I've seen, but I was able to ride them without a problem from the very first try. It was overconfidence and pushing my limits that got me.




expatbrit said:


> Congrats on the new record, too -- did my first 100km (well, 98.5) myself yesterday!



Cool, congrats! You really should have made a couple of laps around the block before going home though. My first 100 also ended being just below, but the thought of riding around a bit to get there didn't even occur to me at the time.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

Well... I was at 61.something miles; I did the math in my head and thought I'd hit 100km. That'll learn me.

I've been lucky this month; the weather has been good for outdoor and I've got a decent number of miles in.


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

gte said:


> I had to go out after riding only indoors for two weeks, so I took Monday off and went for a nice long ride. The weather was great, but the ride turned into another sufferfest due to rather strong headwind for the first two-odd hours. Fortunately my friend S. joined me after the first hour of the ride and we were doing turns at the front. The problem was that I didn't pace myself properly so I was going two hard against the wind soon after we turned back my legs started to hurt. I'm noticing that every time I overdo it my left glut and hamstrings and my right quads hurt. I think the left leg problem is lack of flexibility and the right leg being the dominant ends up doing more pushing and therefore tired quads. Lessons from the ride - more work on flexibility and pacing. My cycling todo list now says: improve strength, climbing, flexibility, pacing and lose weight. I'm not going to run out of things to do on the bike anytime soon. After this ride I had a new personal best for 100km (just under four hours) and sore legs for the next few days. Therefore I didn't do much on the rollers - one easy spin for 20 minutes a few days later and half an interval training. Half, because I had my first crash on the rollers. When I'm riding hard there's a very noisy vibration from the rollers so I was trying to find a way to go more quietly. It turns out that the closer to the edge I ride the quieter it goes... ahem. Then suddenly it got very loud - the noise of me falling on the ladder next to the rollers. More lessons learnt - don't mess with the rollers. Damage report - lower leg burn from the belt, hip and finger scratches and a shoulder bruise from the ladder, burned carpet in the living room from the tires, and finally - destroyed workout. And that's how another week of training wraps up.


Lol... the way you ended cracked me up. Glad you are ok. I haven't been following for a bit, but it looks like you have made some serious progress, congrats man.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Rashadabd said:


> Lol... the way you ended cracked me up. Glad you are ok. I haven't been following for a bit, but it looks like you have made some serious progress, congrats man.


Thank you, Rashadabd! Yes, I've made some progress. I'd hesitate to call in serious when I look at how much more there is ahead, but at least I'm going forward.


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

gte said:


> Thank you, Rashadabd! Yes, I've made some progress. I'd hesitate to call in serious when I look at how much more there is ahead, but at least I'm going forward.


My pleasure. Hey, we all have a ways to go, if we are honest with ourselves. All it takes is one solid cat 3 or 4 climb or a really fast group ride to remind us of that usually. Keep on riding man.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 33*

Only two rollers workouts this week. I was rather nervous the first time on the rollers after the crash and the bike was quite twitchy. The second time was better, but my confidence isn't back 100% still. To compensate for the lack of training on the road bike I have extended my commute ride to a little over 20 km (round trip). I'm also considering replacing the city bike with a road bike, but this will not be so easy. I want the commuter bike to have racks, fenders and 28-30 tires. This means that I need a cyclocross bike. I'm also unwilling to spend much so we're talking used one. Clearly a challenge given the very low popularity of cyclocross here. My LBS offers to swap the steering bar of a fitness bike with a drop bar. I'm not sure this will be a better deal than a used cyclocross bike price wise. Looks like I've practised more shopping research than riding this week. Oh, well...


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 34*

I did two rollers workouts this week. The second one was my first attempt at 2x20. Since I have no power or HRM I had to go by speed. Now on my 20 minute GCN workouts I average 37-38 kph so for 2x20 I decided to go with 32 kph. I was extra careful not to blow myself out in the first 20 minutes and pushed a bit more in the second 20s. I think I didn't do that well, because even though I was tired at the end and I don't think I could have gone faster I wasn't really fatigued after the workout. I'll try going a bit harder next time.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 35*

A few intense weeks kept me from posting updates, but here we go again.

2x20 for a second time. This time I went up a gear or two and the workout was much better.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 36*

One five hour ride with my friend S featuring a 5 km climb at average grade 6%. I did a good job at pacing this time so Ι was able to push hard at the end of the ride and even tried to go for a new hour record, but didn't quite make it. Here's a shot from the hill







and here's me taking pictures







.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 37*

Another five hour ride with S going from sea level up to 780 metres in the mountains. I tried to spin my 34x25 gear on an 8% climb which resulted in knee pain and I got tired long before the end of the climb. I have no idea how I did compared to previous rides, because the phone app that tracks my rides had crashed at some point and I have lost most of the ride. Next thing to do - get a 11x30 or 12x30 cassette, because I won't be able to climb properly on 25 anytime soon (if ever).


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Week 38*

After 6 days completely off the bike I went for a 2x20 on the rollers. Of course I was out of shape and couldn't do a very good workout.


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## SPlKE (Sep 10, 2007)

Agree with tlg -- service is an as-needed thing. You know when your gear cables are stretched because your shifting won't be as accurate. This problem is easily remedied by giving the cable adjusters a turn or two until all is well.

My only other pieces of advice: Inflate tires to proper pressure before EACH ride. Don't push too tall of a gear; it's not good for your knees. To maintain a speed, focus on keeping your cadence (pedaling RPM) fairly consistent. You don't need a cadence computer for this. You can kind of sense it after a while.


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## Mckdaddy (Feb 8, 2014)

SPlKE said:


> Agree with tlg -- service is an as-needed thing. You know when your gear cables are stretched because your shifting won't be as accurate. This problem is easily remedied by giving the cable adjusters a turn or two until all is well.



Clock-wise or counter? Full-turn, half-turn?

thanks.


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## SPlKE (Sep 10, 2007)

Mckdaddy said:


> Clock-wise or counter? Full-turn, half-turn?
> 
> thanks.


You want to lengthen the adjusting barrel to put more tension the cable.

Turn it the opposite of the way they turn it in the southern hemisphere, or vice versa, until you achieve the desired result.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

gte said:


> Another five hour ride with S going from sea level up to 780 metres in the mountains. I tried to spin my 34x25 gear on an 8% climb which resulted in knee pain and I got tired long before the end of the climb. I have no idea how I did compared to previous rides, because the phone app that tracks my rides had crashed at some point and I have lost most of the ride. Next thing to do - get a 11x30 or 12x30 cassette, because I won't be able to climb properly on 25 anytime soon (if ever).


8% grade is rough on us newbs! I can get up my local 2 miles, 900' in 34-27, but it's not pretty.

I was just thinking about this thread on my work break ride today, and wondering what was up!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*I'm back*

A lot of time has passed with me being off the bike and even more without posting any updates here. So I've been riding again for the last five weeks and I'm getting slowly back into shape. I did my first long ride today with plenty of elevation gain, the biggest one from sea level to over 600m in the mountain. My legs hurt now but I'm very happy with my performance - a personal best on a tough climb is totally worth the pain. Speaking of climbing and pain reminds me of the reason for all the pain - I'm climbing at a 34/23 combination which is way too high for me. Until a few weeks ago I thought I had an 11-25 cassette, but when I took the bike for servicing at the LBS and I asked for a 11-30 cassette the guy said "What do you have now? 12-23?". I was like "no - 11-25", but when he checked it was indeed 12-23. I'm still no good as a climber but at least it's partly the cassette's fault! So I'm waiting for an 11-30 cassette now and I'll be revisiting this climb.


In other news the city bike got retired in favour for a fixie. I was thinking that with the limited time I have for riding I could do a better use of my commute and double it as a training. Therefore when Ι saw a Kona Paddy Wagon at a discount around Easter I couldn't resist it. Now my N = 3. I think I caught it... what can I do?!


Well, let's put a lid on this quick and chaotic update and leave the pics for another one.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

gte said:


> I'm climbing at a 34/23 combination which is way too high for me.
> 
> In other news the city bike got retired in favour for a fixie.


Was thinking about you the other day, so it's nice to see your post.

I'm hoping you know this, but don't take your fixie on that (or most other) climbs. Your knees will NOT be happy!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> I'm hoping you know this, but don't take your fixie on that (or most other) climbs. Your knees will NOT be happy!


Heh, yes I know. Although on this climb my knees would probably be fine with the fixie as I'd be walking it all the way up.

Actually the fixie is just a commuter and there aren't any tough climbs on my route. I only took it once for a non-commute spin on the beach road (as in pancake flat).


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

As with PJ, was thinking about you. Nice to see you update; you're a better man than I climbing in 34/23!!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

expatbrit said:


> As with PJ, was thinking about you.


Thanks guys. I didn't mean to disappear like that, but things got hectic and I was out of time to both ride and post. Now it's a bit better so I'll be keeping the updates coming.



expatbrit said:


> Nice to see you update; you're a better man than I climbing in 34/23!!


Not so much climbing as suffering at a cadence of 50-60. I'll be climbing once the LBS gets me this MTB cassette. Then I'll be going for the real climb: Strava Segment | ?????? Climb. I can already feel the pain.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

Wow. Yeah -- that looks 'fun'. I've one like that locally I'm working up to!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Quick update*

So I've been riding again since the beginning of May and I've done about 800 km, but I have had a nagging pain in my left glut. While nothing has changed in the bike fit, it was a basic fit right from the start and I've decided to get a better fit at some point this summer. And while I'm waiting for a convenient time for the fit I also decided to take a week off from the road bike, since it's quite obvious that I'm overdoing it. During this week I've been running just a little every day. I'll take on running even more in the future because I need to drop a few kilos and I'm concerned about bone density too. I'm also doing stretching twice a day - my flexibility leaves a lot to be desired.

I took an exception from the "no road bike" today though. I had to deliver my daughter to a school mate's place which I did using the city bike - she sits on the top tube. On the way back I just had this irresistible itch so I swapped bikes and went for a short, easy ride.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

My 11-30 cassette finally arrived. I had no problem fitting it on my short cage Sora RD. Of course my first task was to do that 13km 6% avg grade climb. Even the new 34-30 gear didn't help me spin the steep sections, but I made it all the way up. I'll try to fit this climb in my weekly program from now on - it's an excellent training and it will be a great progress monitor. Other than that I'm doing 4-5 daily rides for an hour or so. The leg pain is gone for now, but I'll keep the rides short until my form improves and going for a long ride doesn't feel risky. The LBS gave me a San Marco Concor saddle to test. It's much easier on my butt than the stock one, so I'll likely order one soon.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

Nice! Glad to hear the legs are better.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

Thanks for the updates. Yeah, gearing helps with cadence, but it's ultimately the 'motor' that gets us up the hills.

Re: the glut pain, I have experienced similar and attribute it in part to overuse and also lack of flexibility. I think the lower gearing will help here as well and (as you've learned), backing off a bit on intensity/ frequency also helps. Good you're planning a refit and stretching.


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## expatbrit (Oct 16, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> Thanks for the updates. Yeah, gearing helps with cadence, but it's ultimately the 'motor' that gets us up the hills.


Sometimes, in my case, very slowly!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

Thanks for stopping by, guys. Here are some bonus shots from the top.

















Btw despite being sunny it was quite chilly up there (17C) and since I had no wind breaker my teeth were rattling on the way down. Tomorrow I'm getting a wind breaker for sure!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

This week it was the usual uneventful daily rides - four of them. Then today I went for the big climb again. It was very windy, but most of the climb was shielded by the forest and the mountain. There were however some sections where I had to climb in full aero tuck. This time I had a wind breaker for the descend, but wind this strong simply can't be broken. While I wasn't cold, I was knocked off the bike in one turn. Luckily it was a very slow speed turn, so I when I saw that I couldn't make the bike go in the direction I wanted, I turned my back to the wind and unclipped. The next burst knocked the bike from under me, but I managed to stay on my feet.


What I found most surprising this time was that only a week after my first attempt I did far better this time and wasn't out of breath nearly as much. As a result I shaved 10 (ten!) minutes off my previous time.


I also went a bit further up this time. All the way to the military base's gate that closes the road. Being right next to the base I was reluctant to take out my phone and take some pics, but the scenery was awesome. I'll work up the courage to do it next time. The wind up there was so strong, that it was swaying me as I was standing and taking a breath.


I went to the LBS earlier in the week and swapped the Concor saddle with a Mantra Racing one. It's even more comfortable. After all the climbing today there aren't any sore/numb areas.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

We all have good and not so good days. This particular one seems like a better one for you. All in all, sounds like an awesome ride. 

Kudos to you for riding in such gusty conditions. My limit is winds gusting to the high 20's. Beyond that, I'm most fearful of crosswinds blowing me into a lane of traffic. 

Glad you solved the butt discomfort issue. Not pleasant.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

PJ352 said:


> Kudos to you for riding in such gusty conditions. My limit is winds gusting to the high 20's. Beyond that, I'm most fearful of crosswinds blowing me into a lane of traffic.


I've probably made it sound worse than it really was. The wind was strong but not so strong as to move me around the road. It was just this one spot were it knocked me down - it must have been amplified somehow by the mountain right there. Everywhere else it was manageable if strong.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

One more time I went up the big climb this week. This time however with a cold, a running nose and a sore throat. Not fun. I still did OK, matching my last week's time, but after I got home I couldn't pick up my pieces. Now a week of well deserved rest with a little bit of running to stay in shape.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

It's been a while since my last update. I've been training hard and improving various best times, but I always do the same routes so nothing much to report.

Except today I did great at the Ymittos mountain. I knocked 6 minutes off my best time. Yay! All hail the KoM! Well, the heir. The 46th in the line. Ahem...

The climbing went good, I was giving it all I had. I guess I could have squeezed a few more seconds if I hadn't been too generous in estimating my water needs. I ended at the summit having drank less than half a bottle and having carried two. Maybe I should have had more water, but I could barely catch my breath so drinking wasn't easy. I would've never believed the amount of sweat dripping from my *head* all the way up if I wasn't watching it.

I will now take a nice week of rest and see if I can repeat this performance. I'm also signing up for a brevet in late September. So the training will begin right after the break.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

Nice to see another update and that you're staying with this. Didn't really doubt that you would though, based on your previous posts.

Hydration needs vary, and I fall on the side of needing less versus more, but it's still important to intake what we need, _before_ we need it. I also like rides in the 80's to low 90's, so can relate to watching water drip off my face. 

I know you're sensitive to overdoing/ overuse, so will just say judging from the view count on this thread, you're an inspiration to many. 

Stay safe out here and keep us updated!


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

I'm still here and still riding, but I haven't been on long rides or explored new routes in a while, so nothing really exciting to report.

I'm seeing small gains in speed on flat routes and short climbs, but my next goal is to improve my speed on longer distances. Speaking of long distances I sadly won't be doing this brevet in September.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

*Bike woes*

So Ι took my bike for a routine service at the LBS a couple of weeks ago. They called me to tell me that my BB (I guess a Sora) is almost gone. I was quite surprised, because at only 6000km, with no more than a couple of rain rides or so and with a rather meek engine the departure of the BB was rather untimely.

Well, I had them put the Tiagra BB that they suggested and went for a ride only to have my taillight detach and fall on the road while going over some rough surface. I stopped and turned around, but before I could reach it, it got ran over by a car. This was my second taillight. The first one got caught in the spokes earlier in the summer. I have to buy a new one too, because riding in the dark is the theme of the season now. I don't like the direction where my taillight bill is heading.

Phew, I got this off my chest!


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## SPlKE (Sep 10, 2007)

That doesn't sound right for BB wear.

Was it loose when you were riding the bike?


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

SPlKE said:


> Was it loose when you were riding the bike?


Nothing that I've noticed.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

So I had a blast of a ride today. A good warm up on my way back from work, then a bike switch and off I went. Perfect soft weather and no wind plus some good legs and lungs (I wonder how I have them given the low amount of riding lately).

On my way back some guy let me know how unhappy he is with me riding in the middle of the lain by using his horn. After he passed closely by me, driving on the white lines instead of changing lanes, I let him know what I thought of drivers who behave this way by using a hand gesture. Then all of a sudden he wasn't in such a hurry anymore and slowed down so we can "chat". I was happy to oblige and I went to the middle lane so we can discuss our feelings a bit more. We did so using a rather limited vocabulary and parted ways. I was pumped so full of adrenaline that I actually broke my hour record quite a bit.

I guess the moral of the story is that sharing your feelings is a good thing to do.


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## NJBiker72 (Jul 9, 2011)

gte said:


> So I had a blast of a ride today. A good warm up on my way back from work, then a bike switch and off I went. Perfect soft weather and no wind plus some good legs and lungs (I wonder how I have them given the low amount of riding lately).
> 
> On my way back some guy let me know how unhappy he is with me riding in the middle of the lain by using his horn. After he passed closely by me, driving on the white lines instead of changing lanes, I let him know what I thought of drivers who behave this way by using a hand gesture. Then all of a sudden he wasn't in such a hurry anymore and slowed down so we can "chat". I was happy to oblige and I went to the middle lane so we can discuss our feelings a bit more. We did so using a rather limited vocabulary and parted ways. I was pumped so full of adrenaline that I actually broke my hour record quite a bit.
> 
> I guess the moral of the story is that sharing your feelings is a good thing to do.


I had a very similar story, only the guy ran me off the road onto the shoulder twice and threatened to follow me home until I pointed out that I was recording him on my Contour camera.


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## gte (Jun 7, 2013)

NJBiker72 said:


> I had a very similar story, only the guy ran me off the road onto the shoulder twice and threatened to follow me home until I pointed out that I was recording him on my Contour camera.


Oh, I wouldn't have had the courage to engage him if I wasn't riding on a heavily trafficked city road. Even then he was threatening me verbally and swerving towards me in attempts to intimidate me.


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