Cycling, a mini victory today

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roxylola
roxylola Posts: 540 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So my gym membership finished and I plan starting up again in September but in the meantime I came back from holiday with a tapas and beer baby! Along with not a lot of cash and an empty petrol tank. So I need my car for the longer journeys but my 5 miles to work and home I reckon I can cycle. So I dug out my bike, pumped my tyres as best I could, they are really not great but they are holding air which impressed me! Stuck a bit of oil on the chain and away we go

And I did on Tuesday, and home again. Unfortunately both directions are pretty hilly, home worse than work and I had to push once on the way in and once on the way out. Took me about 30 mins each way. I used to cycle a lot and generally average at around 13 to 15 mph so not a great speed but better than nothing.

Wednesday I had a car day as I had a bit to carry.

Today I cycled again. Without stopping this time, although if anyone had heard me muttering "Attack Attack" to myself along with the "Do it do it" style pep talk I think I might have fallen off in embarassment. Now tonight I am cycling to the OH's house which is much flatter and 5 miles in the opposite direction. This means in the morning I have 10 miles to cycle home. I may then drive to work lol.

Pretty pleased I managed to get up all the hilly bits this morning though and with less gear changes. However my poor old dog of a bike definitely needs a lot more air in the tyres than I can get in with a hand pump. Can you use car inflator things you get in petrol stations? I was thinking of setting it to 30psi as the tyres say between 25 and 40 is ideal. Also need to really think about some new actual tyres, the one on the front is great but the wheel is a bit big and I can't use too much steering without tripping up. The back is really stuffed and not much grip. The gears have never been quite right. Basically it changes on the back but on the front gear changes tend to lead to the chain coming off. So if I stick with it I may need to replace my (t)rusty steed but otherwise it is all good

Replies

  • missheathier
    missheathier Posts: 6 Member
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    You can use the tyre inflators at a petrols tation. Check google with your exact tyre info befor eyou go, there are different setting for wet weather and dry weather!

    Well done on your recent cycling victories, i am a cyclist and it feels good to beat the hills!
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
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    I think you may be a bit optimistic that my google would even remember the tyres I have (no idea what the back is but I reckon it came when the bike was new which is at least 15 years ago)
  • chaddzartman
    chaddzartman Posts: 1 Member
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    Be careful if airing up at the petrol station, it is easy to overfill the tire until it goes BOOM! I know from experience.
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
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    I considered this and it worries me. I have a fear of bangs - fireworks and balloons :noway: I am under the table! However we have these digital ones so they just go to whatever you set, not like the old fashioned jobs with a dial on there! I am still thinking if I set to 30 then I am on the lower end of the recommended amount on the tyre so should be ok?
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
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    And another today!

    I cycled from my OH's house to mine - 11 miles with the last 4 being all up hill. I never walked once, I conquered hills I could not on Tuesday. I stopped just once to get some air in my tyres part way in to the journey (the back was flat and the front was at 13psi) and felt much better once I got them up to 30. I may chance 35 in a week or so. Hoping I don't have a slow puncture on the back and it was just all the potholes that flattened it. I was certainly relieved it stayed up and got me home.

    And then I tried to tackle going down stairs... lol - alright now I have had my breakfast and legs have relaxed though.
  • cwsikes
    cwsikes Posts: 86
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    Sounds like a tune up form a local bike shop would be very good for you and would probably fix your shifting issues. As for the tires, I would never use anything but some kind of hand pump as I would be afraid to blow my tires. If your tubes are losing air that quickly, you probably have a leak and should probably replace them. As for pumping them up, it shouldn't be that hard with a decent size bike pump. I have road tubes that have to be pumped up to like 100 psi and I can get them to 70-80 psi before I really start struggling (and I am the weakest of the weak when it comes to upper body strength).
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
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    But I get bored of pumping lol - well worth my 20p. I think they probably do have some sort of slow puncture as they had been sat in the shed for over 5 years but for now it is doing me well

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