OK .. back to road bikes ..

[Chris Gerhard]

elyob wrote:
>
> Where else would you recommend a new 'roadie' to go looking for a good
> route?

Go out with a group. There is one I ride with from Molesey on Sunday
that is not to competitive and includes a breakfast stop but will get
you out in the Surrey hills.

7am Outside Friendly Triffids in East Molesey.

--chris

 

[Peter Clinch]

Chris Gerhard wrote:
> elyob wrote:

>> Where else would you recommend a new 'roadie' to go looking for a good
>> route?

> Go out with a group. There is one I ride with from Molesey on Sunday
> that is not to competitive and includes a breakfast stop but will get
> you out in the Surrey hills.

Riding with the local Chain Gang will not only show you good local
routes, it should be a *very* good way to improve your cycling prowess.
Riding in a pack allows a combination of co-operation (stronger riders
break the air, weaker riders draft) and peer-pressure coercion.

Much that I'm often rude about trad road bikes compared to sports
recumbents, one thing where a trad road bike really scores over anything
else is giving you easy[1] access to fast group riding. Seems a shame
not to take the opportunity if you really want to make the most of the bike.

Not all local clubs/chain gangs are created equal. Make sure you get on
board one which doesn't drop newbies them at any opportunity (sounds
snooty, but if you're trying to train up for competition there are very
good reasons to do that, but it isn't in anyone's interest to join such
a squad if you can't keep up).

If you just like going out on your own, not useful advice, of course,
but maybe worth giving it a go just to be sure.

Pete.

[1] you've got to do ******* amounts of hard work, of course...
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Nobody Here]

On Wed, 6 Jul 2005 11:56:33 +0100, Dave Larrington wrote:
> elyob wrote:
>
>> I'm going to run the road bike light, and probably fair weather only
>> too. My top speed on a MTB (off Ditchling Beacon) is 53.3mph. I want
>> to revisit with a big tow and see if I can break 70mph. I'm thinking
>> it's a fairly reasonable estimate.
>
> London Recumbents' Darth Oliver reports 70 mph on Ditchling, but that's on a
> Challenge Hurricane. Unless you are very close behind something large and
> fast, I suspect you may be disappointed...

Not as dissapointed as he'd be doing 70mph very close behind something
large and not very fast, though

--
Nobby

 

[dkahn400]

Peter Clinch wrote:
> Chris Gerhard wrote:

> > Go out with a group. There is one I ride with from Molesey on
> > Sunday that is not to competitive and includes a breakfast stop
> > but will get you out in the Surrey hills.
>
> Riding with the local Chain Gang will not only show you good local
> routes, it should be a *very* good way to improve your cycling
> prowess. Riding in a pack allows a combination of co-operation
> (stronger riders break the air, weaker riders draft) and peer-
> pressure coercion.

WHS. An alternative group would be one that leaves from the Sigma Sport
bike shop in Kingston every Sunday at 9:30. They generally have a
choice of fast or medium pace, with sometimes a beginner group too.
Some people might consider the medium to be fast and the fast very fast
though.

--
Dave...

 

[elyob]

"dkahn400" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Peter Clinch wrote:
>> Chris Gerhard wrote:
>
>> > Go out with a group. There is one I ride with from Molesey on
>> > Sunday that is not to competitive and includes a breakfast stop
>> > but will get you out in the Surrey hills.
>>
>> Riding with the local Chain Gang will not only show you good local
>> routes, it should be a *very* good way to improve your cycling
>> prowess. Riding in a pack allows a combination of co-operation
>> (stronger riders break the air, weaker riders draft) and peer-
>> pressure coercion.
>
> WHS. An alternative group would be one that leaves from the Sigma Sport
> bike shop in Kingston every Sunday at 9:30. They generally have a
> choice of fast or medium pace, with sometimes a beginner group too.
> Some people might consider the medium to be fast and the fast very fast
> though.

Well, it's certainly a more reasonable time of day than the 7am one!!

I'm also looking at doing themed cycles, e.g. Kingston -> Brighton ->
Kingston. How much planning would I need to do to get good roads to follow
and not keep stopping for map checking.

Thanks for all the advice so far!

 

[Chris Gerhard]

elyob wrote:
>
> Well, it's certainly a more reasonable time of day than the 7am one!!

In our defence, the roads are a lot quieter and more pleasant early on
and we stop for breakfast and we wait for stragglers.

>
> I'm also looking at doing themed cycles, e.g. Kingston -> Brighton ->
> Kingston. How much planning would I need to do to get good roads to follow
> and not keep stopping for map checking.

Go with someone who knows the way! This route would be good for you:

http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/chrisg?anchor=esher_2_brighton

Just don't do what we did and try and race the last 25miles into
Brighton. It makes the return much harder.

--chris