A wee hill climb

I explored a short little hilly loop starting with a nice steady hill climb, a great fast drop and then those two last hills before home again.

The first climb was steady enough though I should probably have gone for a little warm up first rather than hit it cold. Tough few moments to start then warmed into it. The police were out with their speed camera overlooking the A34. Nice moment realising I didn't have to fear them any more - I went as fast as I could past them just for fun :)

 Nice warm legs by the top (30m higher)so I enjoyed recovering on the straight towards Bagley Wood Road. That hill down into Kennington though! I felt bad watching the pain on a few coming up the hill as I sped down. Don't fancy climbing that one soon (a fair chunk climbing at 7%), I need to work towards it though.. I also need to get a bit more confident with the brakes, wasn't sure if they'd slow me enough at the bottom so held back a bit. I thought I was flying down the hill but others on strava were a lot faster.

 When I hit Kennington I came up behind a guy on a mountain bike. We were pacing nicely, I was about 6m behind, taking it easy but when we hit the hill I wasn't brave enough to fly past him (he was enjoying a nice freewheel) partly because I didn't want to seem to be a dick and partly because I'd no idea if he would then catch up and pass me on the way up the next hill with a Dr Evil laugh mocking my sweaty attempt to climb. So I held back behind him and then paid for it up the next hill. Another lesson learnt. Set my own pace and sod everyone else...

 I also discovered Strava 'flybys' This animates an icon of you and other riders who rode near you at the same time. Slightly freaky but very cool!

 

Maiden Voyage

First outing! A short trip to Decathlon to stretch my legs and pick up a pannier bag then off home.

A great ride but I never realised how many potholes there were or just how bad the road quality is around Oxford. Legs did well but boy did my butt hurt at the end. I gather that bit gets easier. I hope so, this is a 'comfort' bike after all.

I took the towpath route which was a little slow making way for pedestrians and tourists so I'll avoid that in the future. I wonder how many near misses there are where bikers nearly hit the water, or knock someone in... Great to see the Thames being well used though.

I discovered the sustrans route parallel to the Abingdon Road. Nice and quiet and the odd cyclist to try and pace against. It was an odd pleasure to get to use the subway under the new roundabout having watched it being built for so long.

Kennington hills are going to be an interesting way to end this ride each evening. Gentle rise through the village then two good rises followed by two nice dips just before home. I reckon if I can get faster down the hill each time I could eventually make it to the top of the next one without changing down so much. We'll see, nice target perhaps.. Hungry for more now :)

 

A new departure?

Why did I buy a bike?

Well, it wasn't for the lycra. I haven't had a body fit for lyrca since I was about 17. It's my 45th birthday so maybe that's reason enough?

Am I a mamil?  I hope not! That rather suggests I'll give up before the bank account recovers from the shock, sell the bike and buy a Harley..

I'm getting old. I'm not fit. The gym was starting to bore me and running fecks up my knees. Besides, I like speed and getting to nice places. The bike seemed an obvious next step since I need to do something to ensure I don't get absorbed into the office desk/sofa before it's too late. 

I hope it works out. I thought writing about it might help. If nobody reads it that's fine, I'll enjoy looking back to see how far I got or how soon I gave up, though I hope its the former.

Interim goals - 

1) Commute to work by bike.

2) London to Brighton next year.

3) LEJOG within 3 years.

4) Round Ireland trip within 5 years.

So I decided on a Dawes Galaxy Cromo touring bike. It has a steel frame but way lighter than the steel bikes I grew up with. It is built for comfort and long distance with the benefit of being able to cope with panniers and luggage. The steel frame absorbs more vibration than the others I tried and the seating position is very comfortable with the ability to get down low when you really want to. The payoff is less rapid acceleration and more weight to drag uphill. But the gearset is well matched to this with Shimano Alivio gears, as shared with mountain bikes, and triple chainset for those difficult hills under heavy load. Also on the plus side, if this works out then I can come back to the cycle scheme next year and get that super light carbon speed machine. By then I'll have thighs of steel pushing this beast about and will absolutely fly. Or something...