The start of something....
Post by Denny at Sat, 2007-11-10 23:01
Okay I'll post first...
Having ridden MTB for a couple of years then taking a couple of years out of the saddle (cos I'm lazy!!!) I decided to get back on my bike and commute to work. Using my MTB (Which is a Giant XTC4), was okay, on a good run I could post times of about 15mins to do the 3.5 mile to the depot where I work, but I wanted to go quicker....so after a couple of weeks I decided to get a road bike, I didn't want to spend too much as the wife couldn't see the point in having an MTB and a road bike.
Anyway I seen a pic of the SCR4 and fell in love straight away. I'm a firm believer in sticking with what you know and having a Giant already I knew what the build quality would be like. So off I went to my nearest Giant dealer who had one in stock, Biketraks of Gt. Ayton (thanks to Roger and Tom for their excellent customer service). I decided to ride the 16 miles back home and gave myself 2 hours to complete the ride and promptly completed it in 90 mins stopping once only to phone the missus and tell her I wouldn't be long!!! Well 100k's in and I'm absolutely smitten with my SCR.
Well I think I've got the hang of it and I'm posting times of 11.30 to do the 3.5 mile journey and 20 - 22 mins to do the 4.5 mile journey back with a cadence of 63 - 87 rpm. I'm looking to lose a lot of weight (I'm currently a touch over 20st) but more importantly I look forward to every ride (rain or shine) if you've got the right gear all rides are dry rides!!! Well that's it for now let's see a few more posts.
Denny
Comments
Criterium Training
G'day all, I've had a roadie for just over a year now and have done a few crits. I would really like to hear from anyone who has some advice on crit specific training as I've searched around the net and can't find a thing. Any advice would be hugely appreciated cos I'm getting sick of getting dropped off the back.
Enjoy your riding and Happy New Year
Ringojim
climbing
Hi, got a good bike, Litespeed siena, ultegra set up, but want to improve my climbing. Good on long drags up, but useless on short steep climbs, any help out there? I'm 5 10", 13 stone but not fat, just a bit built up, help?
criterium training,
hello ringojim
sadly, i also suffered your problem earlier last year in my local crit league, and i too couldn't find any ways to train specifically for crits.
however what I did find was that instead of doin my local 20mile training route, I shortened it to a 1.5 mile loop,no major traffic with long flat sections and short climbs, i'd repeat the ciruit between 5-10 times depending on weather and how I felt that day.
I began to notice that I was no longer getting dropped and actually staying with the front half of the bunch.
And from speaking to the 'faster' riders at my league they all seemed to agree with me that the cornering and short climb on my training route where training me to become faster.
e.g. corenring quicker therefore not losing distance coming into the straight sections, and the short hill where like intervals which got my legs used to the sudden jumps of pace when the front of the group accelerates out of a corner, maybe trying to find a similar route local to you may help you, my other suggestion would be to find a local club who rides weekly on a crit circuit for taining and see if you can join in.
hopefully i've been helpful in one way or another.
Joe
Hi all
Hi there - I just bought my first road bike a month ago. I love it! I've mtn biked now for about 3 years. I had done it before but never very competitively or on tough terrain. I love mtn biking but it was hard at times to load the bike up and drive out to the trails which are about 20 - 30 mins. from my house. So with a road bike, I can hop on and get in an easy hour without adding any travel time. It's great!
I'd like to do a century ride sometime this summer but need to build up to that, of course. Looking forward to learning more about the sport and getting more involved!