Absolute Beginners: Memoirs of a Cycling Novice
Commuter newbie and recovering petrol-head Abby reports on her first attempts at riding to work. Having not cycled at all within living memory, Abby's 16-mile round trip commute is no mean feat. Join her as she shares her cycling baptism of fire...
Sunday 2 August
Today was the day of Skyride Manchester - the first of five city centre traffic free cycling events taking place all around the country. Although I was there to work, I couldn't resist taking my bike along and was so glad that I did, there was a real buzz in the air and seeing so many people on their bikes was a great sight
Over 15000 people turned up including families, beginners, pro's, unicyclists and people on a whole host of weird and wonderful bikes, including one guy on a retro bike with a candle in a lantern rather than a light! Whatever next?!
I got to ride the 5 mile course with Ed Clancy and Jason Kenny plus the delectable Gethin Jones of Blue Peter/Strictly Come Dancing fame - it was great! I can't wait to ‘work' at the other Skyride events!
Check it out at www.goskyride.com
Thursday 6 August
Rest day today, and well deserved in my opinion as I cycled in on Tuesday and Wednesday - that's two days in the trot! My legs are feeling heavy, but in a good way, and I'm resisting the urge to ask people to ‘squeeze my thigh'. I've been sleeping really well too and feeling good, probably thanks to the fresh air and exercise.
A couple of other girls from the office have started cycling in to work now too and it's great being able to share our beginner's stories. It's also nice to have so many cyclists at work - it's like a little community and everyone is supportive of me and my (sometimes stupid) questions.
The plan is to ride in tomorrow, weather permitting, and apparently my chain needs oiling (it's making a noise anyway) and also my front brake is making a terrible shrill squeaking noise. So I'm going to find out how to stop the noises - I'll report back on what I find out!
Friday 7 August
Big day today! The chain has been oiled with minimal drama. Probably because I asked the lovely Spike (GB mechanic) to do it for me, but that's only because I needed to make notes so I know how to do it next time!!
Apparently, I was supposed to oil the chain after I washed the bike but I was not informed of this at the time, hence why it was making a horrible noise and feeling a bit clunky.
We (ok - Spike) lightly sprayed on a bit of ‘dry lube' onto all the moving parts (but not the chain). The dry lube contains Teflon and as such it remains slippy even when it dries (see, I am learning!!) He then dripped wet lube onto the inside of the chain. Wet lube repels water. If you lift the bike and reverse the pedals so the chain moves round, that way you can get the oil on all of the chain, and if you put it on the inside, when the chain rotates the lube doesn't spin off, or something, I don't really know, I'd lost interest at this point.
So basically - the things I need to remember are: drip it on lightly on the inside and don't get it on the brakes. Easy.
Day 6
Thursday 30 July
The weather has been pretty awful this week so I've not really been doing much riding which is a shame - I'm really missing it!
On one of the days that I did ride in, I was shamed into washing my bike which - given the fact I've never actually washed my car myself - was quite an achievement. The quick release wheels did exactly what they were supposed to and once I'd figured out how to get the chain off (spin the wheel and move the gears so that the chain goes onto the smallest sprocket) I was good to go. I whacked a bit of degreaser onto the chain and sprockets and then hosed the whole thing down before giving it a good old scrub with a bit of soapy water, making sure I got all the ‘unseen' places (eg under the saddle and around the pedals), before hosing it down and drying it (and myself, a little bit). By the time I'd done it was like a brand new sparkling bike...until I cycled home and got it muddy again....grrrrrr....
Day 5
Wednesday 22 July
I was meant to cycle in with V today but she text me to say she was running late and would ‘catch me up'....not on my watch! The competitive beast within me was awakened and I tore my way into work - perhaps a little too fast as I felt a bit sick, but at least she didn't catch me!
I've noticed that I'm much more confident than I was a couple of weeks ago and the short bits that I do on the road don't scare me as much as they used to. I also conquered my nemesis this morning - a cobbled descent, not too steep but very bumpy. Straight down!!
Next target on the list is to get through a motorcycle barrier thingamajig.
Day 4
Monday 20 July
So today I decided to take advantage of where I work and tricked the Olympic Mountain Bike Coach, Phil, into giving me a lesson. We went to the reservoirs in Longendale Trail in Glossop - my first experience of a trail centre and well worth a visit if only for the views. Phil demonstrated extreme patience worthy of sainthood and put up with my strops with just the faintest hint of a smirk.
Here is what I learnt:
- Set your bike up properly. My seat was too low, and even though it felt weird when I raised it, I soon saw the difference - I actually felt much more in control.
- Drop into an easy gear before you start going uphill, not during.
- You only need to use the back brake when going downhills
- When you're going downhill - stand up, elbows out, knees out, bum out. Easy! (Ok, I got off the bike and walked/stropped down, but I now know the theory of how to do it)
- Carry a bike pump etc - the inevitable happened, my first puncture!
- Make a note of where the car park is...
- When you can't find the car park and there seems to be a shortcut through a field of cows and a humungous bull - don't do it!!
Day 3
Tuesday 7 July
It rained. I drove. What can I say; I'm a fair weather cyclist!
Day 2
Monday 6 July
Despite my best intentions to go for a ride over the weekend, my legs still felt like lead and so I decided to count them as ‘rest days'.
Monday morning was soon upon me and with my ride buddy and motivational guru Verena on annual leave for the week, I was left to fend for myself. Navigating my way through the labyrinth of cycle paths and canal paths turned out to be not as daunting as I thought as, thankfully, the route was very well signposted. I did, however, come across a patch of path that was covered in broken glass - I prayed I didn't get a puncture as I wouldn't have a clue what to do! So I need to learn some basic bike maintenance, and also maybe purchase some kind of equipment, just in case....?!
The route home saw me get all technical and use a GPS to map my route. I wasn't finding the distance too difficult and had initial thoughts to extend the route home to get more ‘exercise'. However, when I saw the time/distance ratio (I'm too embarrassed to admit what it was!) I decided that maybe a better goal for me would be to do the same route but to aim to do it quicker... Bring it on!!!
Day 1
Friday 3 July
Today was a very significant day in my cycling career as it was the first time that I have cycled to work and, at a 16 mile round trip, it was also the furthest I've cycled, ever.
Having only taken delivery of my bike less than a week before, and having not ridden a bike for a good fifteen years, I set off rather shakily in search of my ‘leader' - my colleague and experienced cyclist Verena (aka V) who, rather conveniently, lives just around the corner.
The first stretch of the journey involved cycling on a busy main road - something that I didn't really enjoy given that I was still a bit wobbly. Thankfully though, we soon reached the Fallowfield Loop, a converted railway line in the South of Manchester, and after then it was plain sailing....or cycling in this case!
V set a fast pace for me (although for her, it was more of a pootle) and I really enjoyed the exhilarating feeling of going fast. V was able to flick and fly her way through the bollards, but I lost us precious time by having to stop, dismount and carry my bike through most of the obstacles - something that I need to work on! By the time we arrived at work I was absolutely ravenous and in desperate need of a shower, but very content in the knowledge that I had done more exercise before breakfast today than I had done in all of the month of June.
I found myself to be even hungrier than normal during the day. However, the guilt I usually feel whilst eating chocolate had disappeared! I found myself looking forward to going home, possibly because it was the weekend, but also because I wanted to go on my bike again! It had rained quite hard during the day and at first I was a bit apprehensive of going through the mud and the puddles (what if they were really deep?!) but on V's advise of ‘just pretend they aren't there!' I actually quite enjoyed splashing my way through them! I arrived home caked in mud and with legs which felt they may give way any time, but secretly very proud of myself for achieving something which my friends and colleagues thought they'd never see!!
Have you recently started cycling, either for transport, fun or fitness? Tell us your story using the Comments section below!
