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Cyclists Unite


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Hey Everyone...I just wanted to see how many people here a cyclists and what type of cycling your interested in...and maybe how you may incorperate lifting into your training. Personally I'm a road cyclists but a wannabe track cyclist but I have no track to ride on...I also used to be a lifter and plan on lifting again when I know it won't make me balloon like a pumpkin. Also it would be nice to see what everyones schedule is like...I tend to rotate days in my big gears and small...judging on pain to tell how hard I can ride...if I have a scheduled easy day and I feel good I won't take it and I'll see if the next day will be an easy day.

 

***With any luck we'll get people to convert from bodybuilding/lifting to cycling!!! Its obvious and everyone knows it but may not admit it but the truth is out...cyclists are better looking...especially vegan cyclists!!! Unfortunately that doesn't include me...I'm a shot putter in mind and working on being a cyclist in body.

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Hey man-

I am a mt biker primarily, but got a road bike a few months ago and am into that now as well. My mt biking is mainly XC, due to the terrain nearby (Cape Cod), with some freeride stuff mixed in. Road biking I do mostly on the road, except when squeezed off the road by impatient tourists in a rush to get to the KFC drive-through.

I have only been cycling seriously for a little over a year, so I'm still learning a LOT. I have a great network of mt bikers down here, but virtually no road ride buddies, so I always do that solo.

Do you follow a specific weekly training schedule? I'm trying to improve at both types of riding, and I am, but I don't have a routine per se. It's more like I rest on days I'm really sore/tired, and otherwise, I'm out on one bike or the other. Group mtb rides are usually an intense 2 hrs, solo mtb rides I usually work on certain hills or tech parts in addition to a 1.5 hrs or so ride, and then road I just ride as fast as I can for 1.5 - 2 hrs or so. Real scientific, eh?

Finn

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I am also primarily a mountain biker. But I do also own a road bike and I even ride it sometimes. Actually, I was on a road cycling team for one year ('05) and was in one race in which I came in just about last. But I didn't stay on the team because I realized I wasn't willing to devote as much time to training as I needed to. I wasn't willing to give up mountain biking and weight lifting.

 

So now I just ride my road bike now and then. My gf and I really want to ride every weekend, but on many weekends we end up not having the time. We need to do better at scheduling our time so that we can fit it in. She's quite new to cycling and needs to work up to longer rides so that we can do some nice ones that I know out in the county.

 

I do love being on a bike, whether it's a mountain or road bike.

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Actually alot of pro mountain bikers only ride trails a few times a week so they get most of their miles on the road...same with track cyclists. But if you have more fun in the mountains go for it As for time it'll be good when your girlfriend can put in some real miles...so then its not just logging training miles...its actually quality time at the same time. About half of my long rides are at a pace I'm comfortable talking at...the other half are fast pace intervals and when I don't do them alone the rest section consists of a bunch of guy cursing at eachother for going to fast or too slow so I guess thats conversation too Either way it'll be good for you...I tried my best to get my last GF into it...I even bought her a bike I couldn't afford that really put me in a hole but it wasn't gonna happen. Good luck trying to log more miles!!! I'm doing that now...but my body isn't so happy about it

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You'll love riding out in England even without the mountains. I've never done it but one if my friends went to school in London for a semster and said the cycling was great so you've got alot to look foreward to.

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You'll love riding out in England even without the mountains. I've never done it but one if my friends went to school in London for a semster and said the cycling was great so you've got alot to look foreward to.

Yeah? That's great to know. I know that they have a serious network of cycling routes in the UK, but I was a little worried about the London part of it. But I'm a little nervous about urban cycling in general. But maybe it will be easy to hop on a route and ride out of London.

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From what he told me it seems there are parks with good enough space for riding in London and logging decent milage...they have alot of circuit races in those parks too. As for the urban cycling it'll be much better than b-more. Everyone is used to cyclists pretty much everywhere in Europe and if anything happens it would likely be your fault because you'd likely be moving much faster than most of the cars. Outside of the the Manilla, Hong-kong and Tokyo I think London has the worst traffic(read this somewhere) on earth in terms of the length of time it takes to commute one mile to work. Good news for bikers but sorry if you've gotta drive to get anywhere:(

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I am mainly a road cyclist, I've actually never mountain biked

before... I am still working on my strength, going up hills and everything.

I am mostly just concerned with improving my endurance right now, and being able to go long distances.

(Since I am planning on doing the STP(Seattle to Portland) ride by

next year, which is over 200 miles)

 

I've only been biking for a few months, and I tend to bike with some

very experienced cyclists.. so it makes me feel like a wuss when I can

barely go 50 miles haha.. : )

Anyhow, I am primarily a runner, so cycling comes second.

 

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Hey Finn...road cycling is a neccessity if you wanna be a good mnt bike racer...if not your having fun anyway. As for learning you'll keep doing that...I've ridden for 8months but have about 9000miles under my belt...most of those miles are solo too since everyone on my team trains for crit races which I'm not fond of. They do long rides in the winter but in the summer they do intense short rides that are just way to short for me. I tend to ride every day and only take a day off due to weather or if school forces it. I have a 50mile loop that can be stretched to 57 or 62 very easily. I tend to hammer the loop in long intervals until my heart beats out of my chest or I just can't pedal at a cadence over 85 without two downshifts...then I spin and recover. As for days off I really don't take them and when I feel really terrible I spin the loop...all at 98rpm and over other than hills where thats impossible. When I feel worse than that I spin a 35 mile loop. I try to ride no matter what and not really get a rest day. When I do feel bad enough to not stand I do a really easy 20mile joyride near a river here in Richmond...if I do nothing I feel worse...sometimes I don't wanna do anything after that but othertimes it actually loosens me up...when that happens I'll jump rope for 20-30 minutes and stretch out. I don't have a heart rate monitor(need to get one) so I base my training on percieved effort...I bonk all the time due to my diet but what can you do

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Wow you ride a lot. My road rides are usually 25 miles or so - I stretch or cut them depending on how I feel. You're just getting warmed up at that point.

 

I've been trying to figure out the diet thing myself. I think I was generally eating too much protein and not enough carbs, so I've increased my carb intake and am trying to re-load better right after rides. I actually take Luna bars and/or Clif shots on rides for an extra boost about an hour in. I know Luna bars are supposed to be for women, but clif bars sit like a rock in my belly.

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I buy whatever vegan cliff bar I can on ebay really cheap...eat a bunch of luna bars too. As for milage if you eat during your ride you'll have alot more energy...they say it hits you ten miles after you take it so that may help...eat at 15-20 miles and you may add 10 comfortably...I don't eat on anything less than 80 miles but thats so my body eats itself. I'll ride alot faster when I'm down to weight and can eat on my rides...most pro won't go without food for any race over 40 miles...some even less than that. As for food I tend to not purposefully eat protein until a couple hours before bed. I eat all carbs during the day other than sunflower seeds that I may throw in a salad or something....granted things like pasta have high protein anyway so you can't avoid it with that..same with brown rice. Plus I always have a raw oatmeal when I wake up then a smoothie minute before I leave for a ride...if I ride when I wake up I have my smoothie then my oatmeal when I get back...after I take a spoonfull of spirulina

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Mountain biking tends to be my thing... Mostly Cross country and free-riding, but I have raced a couple of Endurance races (12 and 24 hour stuff) which I quite enjoyed as bigger guys like me have a chance against the whippets... I love commuting to work as well, passing all the cars stuck in traffic jams always brings a smile to my face. I usually try and beat my best time, both to and from work (I am always faster on my way home from work, hmmm wonder why, lol)...

I respect roadies, for the speeds that they can reach (my fastest speed off road is only 70 kph, still it was fun) and for the skinny tyres and flexing frames that they ride...

Chris

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Those all day races are nuts...I'd love to do a road race like that or track race...they have 6 day relays...thats about as crazy as it gets

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They are a lot of fun and a good test mentally as well as physically.... The craziest race I have completed was called 12 hours of darkness, it was from 6pm to 6am and it got so cold people were thawing out their bikes in front of heaters because the rotars on their disc brakes had frozen to the pads. There was ice everywhere, and sections where you had to climb over logs and ladders with your bike...6 Day relays sound like fun... Chris

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I never knew it got that cold...the coldest part of the Philippines only gets in the upper 40s lower 50s and thats way way up in the mountains...I guess thats about 5-8 centegrade

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Yeah it the southern part of Australia it gets pretty cold. In the Northern part it is more like the Phillippines I guess, hot and humid... In the Australia alps, we have a reasonable ski season... We don't have tall mountains, but we usually get a reasonable snow cover...

Cycling in the snow is always interesting, well until you get wet and cold, then the fun sort of wears off...

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I've got the skinny tires so no snow for me...I've actually only had to leave riding in the rain once in about 9 months of cycling...and I've had it rain after I got out only about 3 times so I've been really lucky. I have ridden an english century with the temp at 22degrees though(maybe -5 centegrade for you) it was very painful and I had to carry my water in my back pocket because I did a 50 mile ride the day before and half way through the ride I couldn't drink my water because it was frozen

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Great man...get a bike. I've been in a car less than ten times in the last 9 months...its a great feeling....it does feel really weird to be in one though...even worse when I had to drive just 10 miles

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Hmmm frozen water bottles aren't fun, I'll agree with that...

I like riding in the rain sometimes, particularly mountain biking, all the puddles and mud can be a lot of fun (The 3 hours it takes you to clean your bike and then re wax your chain and oil all the bits that might squeak isn't, but you don't think of that at the time)

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Road cyclist here, primarily. I'm incorporating some weight training starting July 1 and will be racing (if all goes well) mainly criteriums starting January 2007. Anyone who comes to the Santa Cruz area, let me know--we'll ride! This is one of the greatest road riding areas in the country, IMO!

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