Viewing 17 posts - 1 through 17 (of 17 total)
  • City dwellers – winter weekday evening rides
  • bikesandboots
    Full Member

    Looking for inspiration – what do you do to get out? My fitness and my head could do with something midweek.

    Mud-induced faff on top of driving to the local woods just makes it too much overhead. It’s too far to pedal there. Local cycle paths are boring arrow-straight tarmac or manicured hardpack. I don’t want to do a long tarmac ride joining odd tiny lengths of unclassified singletrack, melting my tyres in the process. Roads, streets, and industrial estates are just as boring but also have traffic, junctions and traffic lights. Quiet unlit roads are miles out.

    I think I’m asking for the moon on a stick here really – interesting, maximum riding, minimum faff. The obvious answers of turbo trainer or move house aren’t really options or of interest.

    lucien
    Full Member

    Skareparks, BMX tracks, stairs, urban / pedestrianised areas for drop offs, kerbs, barriers erc. Its all there if you look around. Ever tried to ride up or down the stairs of a bridge that crosses a main road……its really hard.

    nickjb
    Free Member

    I think you need to look a bit harder. I’m sure there are cities with nothing but most have something. If there are riders then someone will be digging trails. There will also be patches of woods and scrub with paths. Getting out exploring will be a bit of fun in itself, then start linking up the better bits. We are lucky to have some pretty good trails on the edge of the city. Its still a few miles on the road so I don’t do it as often as I should but I enjoy it when I get out there. Making it a night ride adds a little spice too.

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    kilo
    Full Member

    Cx bike in south west London, gets rid of the drudgery of Mtb on road, plenty of tracks and trails even in town and the boring off road stuff is more fun a Cx bike.

    ta11pau1
    Full Member

    There will also be patches of woods and scrub with paths. Getting out exploring will be a bit of fun in itself, then start linking up the better bits.

    This, if you’re truly miles from any decent sized woodland, there’s bound to be some small wood/green patches with a little 30 second rooty section that leads into a set of steps that leads to a steep bank, and so on.

    After dark you’ll also have the added excitement of dodging the local scallys/youths and/or amazing them with your skills… 😁

    Doddy explains it well

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    The problem ( if you store your bike in the house) is dogshit.

    thenorthwind
    Full Member

    I understand your situation OP. Similar here.

    That video hits on a big problem: fun urban stuff really needs hills. As he says, Bath is in a valley, which makes it ideal. Near me there’s very little that isn’t flat.

    Mud is the other problem. Even if you take the absolutely minimal approach to cleaning bikes and kit (i.e. brush the worst of the mud off and keep the drivetrain moving) it’s still more faff than a short not-very-interesting ride makes worthwhile when it’s really grim out.

    ayjaydoubleyou
    Full Member

    The obvious answers of turbo trainer or move house aren’t really options or of interest

    (In true STW style of completely ignoring the question)
    I poo-pooed zwift for years. And now I love it.

    ta11pau1
    Full Member

    Yep, hate to say but if you can’t be arsed with the cleaning, faff etc that comes with evening rides, and you don’t have anywhere local to ride, well…

    Unless you want to battle traffic on a road/gravel bike, zwift is the answer to getting in the miles on a dark cold wet evening.

    tonyd
    Full Member

    Where do you live? There might be a velodrome nearby – doesn’t have to be a fancy olympics style one, just an old skool concrete/tarmac course with some lighting. Cheap/borrowed road/track bike and do a bit of mid week racing or group training. Velodrome on a fixed wheel is pretty fun, and can be very hard work.

    Alternatively, go for a run? I quite enjoy running round streets when it’s cold and dark, you might have hills nearby that are too small to register on the bike but could be good for hill reps on a run.

    SirHC
    Full Member

    Heatmap from our local winter rides, we ride a mix of alleyways, short trails, steps, multi storeys.
    20 miles, two hours.

    asbrooks
    Full Member

    Work on skills & drills?

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    What city are we talking? And how far to the local woods? If we’re talking 5 miles, just ride there.

    There’ll be something somewhere. I live just about in the city centre and there’s a little DH track in a nature reserve a mile away.

    Otherwise, using a gravel bike with decent mudguards can be a great way to not mix with traffic and get some riding in. Canal towpaths, old railway lines, active cycle routes, farm tracks at the edge of the city – all of them become more interesting, and if they’re too far to ride to on an MTB it’s unlikely they will be on a gravel bike. As a bonus it’ll get you fitter for the MTB.

    zerocool
    Full Member

    Pump and BMX tracks.I live in Bristol and there’s millions of them some pretty small, crappy and basically for toddlers on balance bikes, right up to Velosolutions (with snake runs) and a full BMX race track. But all you need is a half decent one for some fun and trust me (not) pedalling around one is way more tiring than you’d think it would be.

    It’s good for the skills as well as investing found that a lot of people I ride with (even pretty quick guys and gals) aren’t actually very good at pumping and flowing through trails and generating extra speed through it.

    You don my even need a BMX or hardtail, just take whichever bike you have, stiffen up the shock and fork (or not bother) and go for it.

    Combine that with some ‘active’ commuting by bike for extra training and you’re sorted.

    Olly
    Free Member

    Find enjoyment in exploring and making a route?

    Go out for a spin, but take the back alleys, and shortcuts. try and work out a nice “XC” loop, but enjoy the process of working it out as much as you would just having it presented to you?

    Ride a rigid single speed too, so it all become more difficult. small sharp hills become lung busting challenges. Rough bits of crap wasteland still beat you up a bit.

    bikesandboots
    Full Member

    Skareparks, BMX tracks, stairs, urban / pedestrianised areas for drop offs, kerbs, barriers erc. Its all there if you look around. Ever tried to ride up or down the stairs of a bridge that crosses a main road……its really hard.

    Just found a BMX track and a couple of skateparks online, worth scouting them out for bike suitability on the way past. I wouldn’t want to be hanging around long or making myself a predictable regular at them though with the bike I have. There is the odd bit of stairs, there are actually several fantastic sets but they’re too risky for yourself or pedestrians. I feel I’m too old enough to know better about pedestrianised areas, and a lot of urban architecture looks quite a recipe for getting hurt. Done some overpass step bridges both ways but the steep ones are impossible up and risky down.

    I think you need to look a bit harder.

    Find enjoyment in exploring and making a route?

    Go out for a spin, but take the back alleys, and shortcuts. try and work out a nice “XC” loop, but enjoy the process of working it out as much as you would just having it presented to you?

    What I need to do is go looking in daylight. I do like researching and planning routes.

    Doddy explains it well

    I remember watching that one before, some good ideas.

    That video hits on a big problem: fun urban stuff really needs hills. As he says, Bath is in a valley, which makes it ideal. Near me there’s very little that isn’t flat.

    Bath’s a better place than here – hills, more green areas in and just outside the city, less densely built-up, it’s a city whereas here is an urban conurbation.

    Mud is the other problem. Even if you take the absolutely minimal approach to cleaning bikes and kit (i.e. brush the worst of the mud off and keep the drivetrain moving) it’s still more faff than a short not-very-interesting ride makes worthwhile when it’s really grim out.

    It’s a mega PITA for me as I store bikes indoors and have no garden or suitable place with water to clean up at home. Maybe making tarmac/hardpack routes more interesting is the way to go.

    Yep, hate to say but if you can’t be arsed with the cleaning, faff etc that comes with evening rides, and you don’t have anywhere local to ride, well…

    Unless you want to battle traffic on a road/gravel bike, zwift is the answer to getting in the miles on a dark cold wet evening.

    Mud or travelling is fine, but not both unless the ride is worth it – so summer evenings are fine, as are weekends in any season as the rides are longer and in more interesting places. Think I’d rather do cycle paths than indoor training, being outside is a big part of it for me.

    There might be a velodrome nearby … Alternatively, go for a run?

    No velodrome. I try running for a few months every couple of years, it’s just not interesting for me.

    Work on skills & drills?

    Could form part of the ride, doing a bit here and there.

    What city are we talking? And how far to the local woods? If we’re talking 5 miles, just ride there.

    12 miles. If it was 5 I’d always ride.

    Otherwise, using a gravel bike with decent mudguards can be a great way to not mix with traffic and get some riding in. Canal towpaths, old railway lines, active cycle routes, farm tracks at the edge of the city – all of them become more interesting, and if they’re too far to ride to on an MTB it’s unlikely they will be on a gravel bike. As a bonus it’ll get you fitter for the MTB.

    4 miles of road followed by 5 miles of old railway line gets me to an area with a patchwork of short bridleways and country lanes. Just getting there and back is enough for a MTB ride, it’d be no fun with the winter tyres on either.

    p7eaven
    Free Member

    + 1 what both nick and olly said

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