Pages tagged cycling
View list of all tags
Well, the ride this morning was MUCH more pleasant! I took it easy in the city, and this time when I got to the north end of the Harbour Bridge I didn't feel like I was going to die! Great Success! I pushed slowly but steadily up the Pacific Highway, then up Walker Street. There's a big hill at the end of Walker Street as you approach St Leonards Park, but there's a bit of a dip before that - so I accelerated hard (top speed - 34.2kmh according to GPS) which gave me enough momentum to get up the first steep part of the hill. I did end up pushing the bike up the rest of the hill, like I said - I wasn't going to overdo it. After that I went through St Leonards Park, crossed at the crossings on Falcon Street (across the freeway), then ducked down the first part of Bent Street, got some momentum for the hilly part of Yeo Street, and I was at work!
I think I'll stick to this route. It's not worth going over the overpass to Winter Ave from the top of Walker Street as it means you lose altitude down the overpass and stairs, and then have to go up two hills (Bent Street and Yeo Street) - I much prefer to use the hill at the start of Bent Street to gain momentum for Yeo. I'm sure it's faster too even though it's further. As I get fitter the hills will get easier and I'll cut time there. Can't complain at the moment, took me 35 minutes which is roughly the same as it does to walk / bus, and I got my cardio in at the same time! My goal is to do it in 20 minutes - but I think that's still a ways off!!
Posted by Marcin on
29/03/2007 @ 08:01 +1000
Tags: blog, cycling
Well, going home was a lot easier. I actually didn't feel too tired when I got home. I did discover that most of the way home is downhill, hence most of the way this morning was uphill. For example I noticed as I was almost at the main part of the bridge deck on the cycleway that the bridge is actually relatively flat from halfway north, and goes "downhill" from the middle south. The route I took was: Yeo Street, Bent Street, Winter Ave, Alfred Street (very briefly), footbridge, Ridge Street, Walker Street, some lane, Middlemiss Street, Alfred Street, Harbour Bridge, Kent Street, Erskine Street, Sussex Street, Pyrmont Bridge, Pyrmont Bridge Road.
So now I have to work out how to do it when I next ride in (probably skip tomorrow and ride Thursday). Most likely I'll do the route I took home in reverse, except I think I'll have to push my bike up that really steep bit of Walker Street. Maybe I'll see if Miller Street is any better - it's definitely uphill but might be a lower gradient for longer.
Walker Street downhill was fun! I was riding the brakes, I'm still getting my confidence back after not riding for 10 years, and according to my GPS still got up to 42km/h. Technically that's speeding since it's a 40 zone :) Most of the way I was doing around 20km/h, on the Harbour Bridge etc.
More updates next time I ride!
Posted by Marcin on
27/03/2007 @ 18:35 +1000
Tags: blog, cycling
Cycle Commuting: Day One (Part One)
Oh crap, what have I gotten myself into? Day One was not so fun, it wasn't any faster than catching the bus and I walked my bike up one of the steep parts in Neutral Bay. Actually it's not even over yet, because I'm at work and still have to get home! It's a combination of not having a huge amount of riding fitness (even though I have decent cardio fitness), a bit of stress due to it being the first time I've ridden in the city, and pushing it a bit hard during the first "easier" part and not leaving myself enough for the hills.
My new toy.
I'll see how I go on the way home, I'll take it a bit easier for sure (especially since the first part is all downhill to the water at Neutral Bay, but then there's a big hill up to Milsons Point). I think at this stage, until I get a bit fitter, I'll stick to every second day to ride in too.
Posted by Marcin on
27/03/2007 @ 08:33 +1000
Tags: blog, work, cycling
I've been doing some more research, and visited another shop, and now I have more things to mull over than just buying the first best bike that I chose before!
Continue reading Cycle Commuter II
Posted by Marcin on
21/02/2007 @ 20:53 +1100
Tags: blog, cycling
I've had to make some sacrifices to take this new job I start in 2 weeks. One of those is that I'll no longer have a 15-20 minute walk to work, but instead need to commute. Best case is about 35 minutes door to door, and involves either two buses or a 25 minute walk to Wynyard and then a bus over the Bridge (at least they're frequent - every 2 to 3 minutes).
My other option, which they actually mentioned that a lot of their staff do, is a bicycle commute. Read on for more gibberish, which is more of a brain dump than anything useful to the public.
Continue reading Cycle Commuter?
Posted by Marcin on
12/02/2007 @ 18:06 +1100
Tags: blog, cycling