Any of you Tossers ride a pushbike?

My Bro is cycling coast to coast off-road, starting tomorrow

From his FB:
Myself and 3 friends will be forging a defining line across Northern England. Over 3 days we will undertake a classic off road journey covering in the region of 190 miles from West coast to East coast. We will pass through the Lake District , the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorkshire Moors. We will endure 6 - 8 hours in the saddle each day and face vicious ascents, screaming descents and no doubt experience sore bums!!.


He is doing this to raise funds for a Breast Cancer charity.
MODERATORS: I'm Not asking for anyone here to donate :nono , I just wanted to post about it as I'm proud of him.
 
^^^They started this morning.
Any updates I'll post them up.
 
did 25 miles yesterday with my son. 25m is the most i have ever done on a bike. the ride went well but a couple of the hills had me going :eek but i got up them :thumb2

i got some new gear friday from Tweeks Wrexham. got bib padded shorts (fatties look shit in lycra don't they? :eek) a pair of shimano shoes and a set of spd cleats. i was worried about using the cleats but they proved not to be a problem and were a revelation to cycle with. the padded shorts were brill. :thumb2

averaged 15mph for the run, not fast but not done any riding for few years so work in progress. my son could have cleared off any time but stayed with me :D

more to do before the end of the month when i'll be doing the manchester to blackpool midnight ride with the lad.
 
Well done sir :beerjug:

Thank you, I rode from time to time with Sonia O'Sullivan, now she is a fit woman, she left me for good at 110KM... I finished about 5 to 10 minutes after her

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Thank you, I rode from time to time with Sonia O'Sullivan, now she is a fit woman, she left me for good at 110KM... I finished about 5 to 10 minutes after her

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Get some Oakley jawbones and a jersey in one size smaller and you'll be home in a boat :thumb
 
A note for any of you Tossers that have recently taken up cycling after a long lay off......possibly since you were a kid.

I can confirm that it still hurts if you fall off your bike onto a tarmac road.....You are unlikely to be wearing Dainese’s finest or your 400 quid Arai....and your Mam won’t be there to clean your knees and give ‘Mummy’s little soldier’ a hug.....:thumb
 
Took delivery of my new bike yesterday. Went for an easy 5 mile run to get used to the shift gears and the SPD pedals. The pedals and cleets feel really alien and although lots of people have said persevere, I had great difficulty even getting the cleet into the fecking pedal, never mind getting my foot out of it which seems to be the main problem for most people. A lot of the time, I wasn't in the pedal properly and my foot kept slipping off. It spoiled the first ride for me tbh.

I will persevere but I'm not too confident. Other than that, I really like the bike.
 

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You can adjust the gap on the SPD's to make it easier to get the cleats in and out. A little adjustment and yes, a bit of perserverance and you won't look back.
 
Went for an easy 5 mile run to get used to the shift gears and the SPD pedals. The pedals and cleets feel really alien and although lots of people have said persevere, I had great difficulty even getting the cleet into the fecking pedal, never mind getting my foot out of it which seems to be the main problem for most people. A lot of the time, I wasn't in the pedal properly and my foot kept slipping off. It spoiled the first ride for me tbh.

I will persevere but I'm not too confident. Other than that, I really like the bike.

Those clipless pedals are deadly. Last week I met another bloke who broke his femur, just as I did, because he couldn't get his foot loose in time. :reaper I finally went back to using regular pedals on my mountain bike. Unless you're racing, clipless pedals offer no performance advantage.
 
Those clipless pedals are deadly. Last week I met another bloke who broke his femur, just as I did, because he couldn't get his foot loose in time. :reaper I finally went back to using regular pedals on my mountain bike. Unless you're racing, clipless pedals offer no performance advantage.


I use SPDs on my bikes and living in a hilly area I think they help with the drive I need to get up the steeper ones. I've had a few moments with them though:D:D
 
I use SPDs on my bikes and living in a hilly area I think they help with the drive I need to get up the steeper ones. I've had a few moments with them though:D:D

My understanding (via the Internet) is that the SPDs vastly improve the power you can generate throughout the pedalling motion as opposed to normal pedals where most power is generated in the down motion :confused:
 
My understanding (via the Internet) is that the SPDs vastly improve the power you can generate throughout the pedalling motion as opposed to normal pedals where most power is generated in the down motion :confused:

Having used both types I much prefer clip less and most of my " moments " have been on the mountain bike, that said I'm going to buy some dual sided ones for the MTB as I'm fitting a front facing child seat to it this weekend so I can take junior rover out. Don't need any moments then or Mrs rover will have my balls cut off! :D

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-sh...ano-a530-spd-single-sided-touring-pedals.html
 
My Bro is cycling coast to coast off-road, starting tomorrow

From his FB:
Myself and 3 friends will be forging a defining line across Northern England. Over 3 days we will undertake a classic off road journey covering in the region of 190 miles from West coast to East coast. We will pass through the Lake District , the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorkshire Moors. We will endure 6 - 8 hours in the saddle each day and face vicious ascents, screaming descents and no doubt experience sore bums!!.


He is doing this to raise funds for a Breast Cancer charity.
MODERATORS: I'm Not asking for anyone here to donate :nono , I just wanted to post about it as I'm proud of him.


Anyone interested, they completed the route in three days as planned...had some terrible weather but enjoyed every mile of it.

They raised £1500 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer...to say I'm very proud is an understatement.
 
My understanding (via the Internet) is that the SPDs vastly improve the power you can generate throughout the pedalling motion as opposed to normal pedals where most power is generated in the down motion :confused:

A 20% power increase is typical with clipless pedals, but it comes at the cost of tiring you out sooner, since both legs are constantly working. With flat pedals, one leg rests while the other leg works. The advantage of being able to generate 20% more power for short bursts is vital in a race, but isn't noticeable during normal riding.
 
When I got my road bike five months ago I started with trainers, flat pedals and toe clips. I never got on with the toe clips and found it difficult to apply power as the trainers dind't support my feet. I switched to a proper pair of cycle shoes and SPD's and for me they made a vast improvement to the enjoyment of my bike. I don't care what the science is but I feel much more part of the bike and have the confidence to stand on the pedals and go as hard as I can up the hills without my feet wanting to slide off the pedals all the time. Luckily a friend told me to practice using them before riding off and so far I haven't had any issues with stopping. Its like everything else - its what works for you. It is funny on a club ride to hear all the clipping in when we set off.
 
Anyone interested, they completed the route in three days as planned...had some terrible weather but enjoyed every mile of it.

They raised £1500 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer...to say I'm very proud is an understatement.


Not a lot of pics due to the weather getting bad
The Route:
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Support vehicle/mobile B&B:
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The Journey:
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:thumb2
 


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