Post by DHeadshot on Jul 26, 2010 16:29:31 GMT
I decided to start a sort of Cycling Blog. Rather than getting a blog to do it though, I thought I could just post it here instead - more potential readers and it's just easier.
I got a new bike for my 21st Birthday (11th July if you missed it - I did stick it on the forum calendar) and a new, highly accurate cycle computer. This topic/blog will therefore only document rides from the new bike (complete with stats from the computer). I did do a long ride on my birthday, but I won't necessarily write about that one (we'll see).
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So, yesterday I did a short run to my Grandmother's house. Few minutes - didn't note exactly how long - 0.89 miles. Second time I've been out on my new bike. I beat my previous top speed for this bike (of 23.5 mph) with a 25.5mph run on the reasonably flat ------ lake road [name censored to keep my identity a bit more private]. It has a slight downhill slope, but not much, so I was quite pleased with delivering enough power to get that fast.
Total Time: Unknown
Top Speed: 25.5 MPH
Average Speed: 8.1 MPH
Distance covered: 0.89 Miles
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Today, I took a ride across the common near where I live for 75 mins (30 on main common, 45 on canal towpath). because I joined -------- lake road later on this time I only achieved 23.5 mph. I tried to beat it down Queens Road [There are lots of roads with that name just in my county] but only reached 22mph. However, I did become aware of quite how awesome the new bike is for torque. Power is about the same as (and possibly less than) my old bike, but torque is awesome! I can go up a 45' slope with little to no effort on sprocket 1 and even on sprocket 2 I can cope with some quite steep inclines! It's insane! The gears on the new bike are really smooth, so I find myself using them much more than I have in the past. As a road bike, my old one was probably better, but they're both mountain bikes and comparing them as such shows just what I've been missing! Saddle on the old one was better though - I'll change them over when I get the time...
I decided to take a short ride down the canal towpath. To get there, there's a road that goes down into a valley caused seemingly by a tiny stream (it's actually glacial - the stream has arrived since) and back up to the canal (weird, eh?). This road has quite a steep hill going into the valley, though it doesn't go on for long and you still have to get up the other side. I decided to hammer it into the hill and contorted my body for the best aerodynamics on the way down. I was rewarded with a readout showing I'd hit 27mph, smashing yesterday's record by 1.5mph! I was really pleased with this!
I was going upstream on the canal, so there was no chance of breaking any records there. I stopped after a few miles or so and explored the opposite bank, using a nearby bridge (usually I'm on a long cycle down here, so I hardly ever stop). I sat for a while, enjoying the wildlif and the cool summer breeze wafting through the trees, carrying with it the wonderful aromas of the season through the hot surrounding air. I was amazed by a huge dragon-fly the size of my open hand and a colony of massive (but sadly biting) ants, each an inch long! After a while, I decided to head home. Because I was now going downstream, I decided to thrash it and try and beat my offroad (well towpath) speed record for the bike of 23.5 mph (yup, my first ride speed record was done on a rough canal towpath - awesome eh?). Sadly, they were doing repair-work up on the canal ahead and though it was easy to get through on my way up, the way was blocked on my return. As such, I hit 21.5 mph befor having to stop and wait for a Landrover (a 2004 Defender 110 V8 for anyone interested) complete with trailer to do what seemed like a million point turn on the narrow towpath. After a 5-10 minut wait I was off again and managed to clock 22 mph before I had to stop to cross the road (there's a bridge you can't get underneath, so you have to dodge traffic on the road over it). I didn't even hit 20 on the run to my turn-off but back on the valley road I got 21.5mph (not very fast considering the 27 I got before, but I was still rally pleased - partly because I had to dodge pedestrians which slowed me down, but mostly because after passing said pedestrians, I could hear from behind them discussing their amazement at the speed I had passed them, which made me feel really good. They might have known I could hear them and were just being polite, but either way...) I got back a few relatively uneventful minutes later, immediately downing a tall glass of drink in less time that it took to fill it from the tap - next time I go out on a long ride, I'll bring a bottle.
Total time: 75 mins
Top speed overall: 27 MPH
Average speed (bearing in mind I was offroad most of the time): 8 MPH
Distance covered: 9.48 miles
I got a new bike for my 21st Birthday (11th July if you missed it - I did stick it on the forum calendar) and a new, highly accurate cycle computer. This topic/blog will therefore only document rides from the new bike (complete with stats from the computer). I did do a long ride on my birthday, but I won't necessarily write about that one (we'll see).
-----------
So, yesterday I did a short run to my Grandmother's house. Few minutes - didn't note exactly how long - 0.89 miles. Second time I've been out on my new bike. I beat my previous top speed for this bike (of 23.5 mph) with a 25.5mph run on the reasonably flat ------ lake road [name censored to keep my identity a bit more private]. It has a slight downhill slope, but not much, so I was quite pleased with delivering enough power to get that fast.
Total Time: Unknown
Top Speed: 25.5 MPH
Average Speed: 8.1 MPH
Distance covered: 0.89 Miles
--------
Today, I took a ride across the common near where I live for 75 mins (30 on main common, 45 on canal towpath). because I joined -------- lake road later on this time I only achieved 23.5 mph. I tried to beat it down Queens Road [There are lots of roads with that name just in my county] but only reached 22mph. However, I did become aware of quite how awesome the new bike is for torque. Power is about the same as (and possibly less than) my old bike, but torque is awesome! I can go up a 45' slope with little to no effort on sprocket 1 and even on sprocket 2 I can cope with some quite steep inclines! It's insane! The gears on the new bike are really smooth, so I find myself using them much more than I have in the past. As a road bike, my old one was probably better, but they're both mountain bikes and comparing them as such shows just what I've been missing! Saddle on the old one was better though - I'll change them over when I get the time...
I decided to take a short ride down the canal towpath. To get there, there's a road that goes down into a valley caused seemingly by a tiny stream (it's actually glacial - the stream has arrived since) and back up to the canal (weird, eh?). This road has quite a steep hill going into the valley, though it doesn't go on for long and you still have to get up the other side. I decided to hammer it into the hill and contorted my body for the best aerodynamics on the way down. I was rewarded with a readout showing I'd hit 27mph, smashing yesterday's record by 1.5mph! I was really pleased with this!
I was going upstream on the canal, so there was no chance of breaking any records there. I stopped after a few miles or so and explored the opposite bank, using a nearby bridge (usually I'm on a long cycle down here, so I hardly ever stop). I sat for a while, enjoying the wildlif and the cool summer breeze wafting through the trees, carrying with it the wonderful aromas of the season through the hot surrounding air. I was amazed by a huge dragon-fly the size of my open hand and a colony of massive (but sadly biting) ants, each an inch long! After a while, I decided to head home. Because I was now going downstream, I decided to thrash it and try and beat my offroad (well towpath) speed record for the bike of 23.5 mph (yup, my first ride speed record was done on a rough canal towpath - awesome eh?). Sadly, they were doing repair-work up on the canal ahead and though it was easy to get through on my way up, the way was blocked on my return. As such, I hit 21.5 mph befor having to stop and wait for a Landrover (a 2004 Defender 110 V8 for anyone interested) complete with trailer to do what seemed like a million point turn on the narrow towpath. After a 5-10 minut wait I was off again and managed to clock 22 mph before I had to stop to cross the road (there's a bridge you can't get underneath, so you have to dodge traffic on the road over it). I didn't even hit 20 on the run to my turn-off but back on the valley road I got 21.5mph (not very fast considering the 27 I got before, but I was still rally pleased - partly because I had to dodge pedestrians which slowed me down, but mostly because after passing said pedestrians, I could hear from behind them discussing their amazement at the speed I had passed them, which made me feel really good. They might have known I could hear them and were just being polite, but either way...) I got back a few relatively uneventful minutes later, immediately downing a tall glass of drink in less time that it took to fill it from the tap - next time I go out on a long ride, I'll bring a bottle.
Total time: 75 mins
Top speed overall: 27 MPH
Average speed (bearing in mind I was offroad most of the time): 8 MPH
Distance covered: 9.48 miles
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