Cycling UK Forum

Or you could go up the Wirral, get the Ferry across the Mersey (cue for a song!) and then follow the coast road around to Preston.

The A5 is not too bad before Llangollen, depending on the time of day, day of the week. Most of the heavy traffic takes the A55.

There are 2 campsites that I know of. One in Douglas, behind the TT grandstand. The other in Kirk Michael on the western side of the island.

I think parking is cheaper if you sail from Heysham.

Edit: parking £3 per day at Heysham:

http://www.directferries.co.uk/heysham.htm

I use panniers, rack top bag and saddlebag on my touring and audax bikes. They both have a pannier rack on, which is essential for panniers and a rack top bag. For day rides and commuting, I prefer the rack top bag, as it doesn't wobble about and doesn't catch the wind. However, it has quite a limited load capacity and I can't get my work laptop in it, so I've recently reinstated my ancient Carradice Nelson Longflap, with a newly bought SQR. It does the job and you don't need a pannier rack. It does wobble a little bit but no much. My saddlebag has a greater load carrying capacity than my rackbag, so I can see myself using it more in the future. The SQR bracket stays on the bike but doesn't take up much space. The SQR frame stays attached to the saddlebag and it's a 2 second job to attach to and detach from the bike.

Mick F wrote:

karlt wrote:......... was enough to wear the left road cleat out in around 6 months. Was costing me a fortune in cleats. That's why I changed to SPD.

I keep records. A bit anal of me, but I do.

I last put new Campag cleats on my shoes late Oct 2011. Since then I have done a little over 5,000miles. The cleats aren't worn enough to think about changing them yet. The last ones lasted only 4,000miles for some reason. Maybe I just fancied changing them. Previous ones to those did 4,500miles, but before those they did only 2,000miles. What I haven't kept, are all the old ones to compare!

I have a brand new pair ready to fit if and when I want to. No doubt the ones I have on could see the year out.
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... amppedz200

My SPD cleats date from 2006. I must have done 20,000 miles at least on them.The pedals wear out before the cleats do!

On my road shoes I wear the left cleat out quicker than the right, because I unclipped and put my left foot down at traffic lights and junctions. I often just change the left cleat.

There are some stonking hills. The climb up to Injebreck from Douglas, the climb up Sulby Glen from Sulby and a few others are really tough. The TT course climb from Ramsey to the top of the Mountain is fairly gentle, steeper at the bottom with a couple of hairpins but it flattens out towards the top. The climb up to the top of the Mountain from Douglas is a long drag. The coast road from Douglas to Ramsey is undulating. The rest of the island is OK. There are some nice rides out towards Castletown and Port Erin, in the south west.

I've used just about every pedal system there is, over the years, except for Speedplay. I have 3 different types of pedals on different bikes.

Touring bike - mainly used for commuting and touring, I use clips and straps and Specialized Tahoe shoes. Find them better for shopping etc and walking to the office from the bike store. You have to learn the technique of flipping the pedal so you can get your foot in the clip, but this soon becomes second nature.

Audax/winter bike - also used for commuting and audax, club runs in winter. I use Shimano m520 SPD's on this bike, mainly because I find clipping in and out easier in traffic, than road clipless pedals and I have a bit of a walk to the office from where I leave my bike. They are easier to walk in due to the recessed cleat. I use Btwin MTB shoes with these pedals.

Summer/road bike - Used for summer club rides, racing and training. i use SPD/SL's. I used to use Look pedals but changed over as I found that Look cleats wear out quite quickly. SPD/SL's support the foot better than SPD and you can't feel the cleat. I recently has to use the SPD's on my summer bike and they were OK, but I could feel the cleat on the left shoe after about 2 hours riding in warm weather. I never get this with SPD/SL's. Disadvantage of SPD-SL and Look is you can't walk far in them, but they are OK for walking from the house to the garage or into the cafe.

I have also used Time Atacs, when I had an MTB.

Do people really still repair tubes? I just stick a new one in.

Until recently I had a box of punctured tubes that I thought I would one day get around to repairing. I never did and a month ago threw them all away.

If you like carbon, then Ribble do a Carbon bike that takes mudguards - the 365.

If you like Titanium, then I'd be going for an Enigma.

If you like steel, a friend has a Brian Rourke 953, which is absolutely stunning and only weighs 7 kilos for the complete bike in racing mode.

Brian1946 wrote:The OP may have made a concious decision to wear them, probably on the premise that it's his life. That's fine, there is a risk to others though, I've tried to get past riders with head/earphones, particularly on cycle paths, it's a nightmare, shout a warning, no response, again, still no response, right behind and still no response. Try to go past and it's a big surprise to them with all that the surprise entails.

I've had exactly the same with pedestrians on a shared use path (not being able to hear me because they had earphones). Perhaps earphones should be banned outright? Or perhaps we should all have an AirZound?

Personally, I'd use an in-ear headphone and a Buff to cover my ears and deflect the wind.

Is there a Decathlon near you? They do big sizes XXl/XXXL and are reasonably priced. Evans also do big sizes.

It's been a while since I've been but it's a delightful place to cycle. It's only 60 miles long and about 25 miles wide, but there's plenty of lanes to explore and some classic rides such as the TT course. You could do a long weekend or a week, either moving on or fixed base as nowhere is more than a day's ride if you're based in Douglas. Terrain can be very hilly if you are crossing the central mountain area and there are some hilly roads to the south west. There is also a flat coastal plain on the north west coast near Sulby.

Just don't go during TT week!

I don't know what Froome was messing about at. He was on Cav's wheel when Cav jumped across to the break, but Froome started looking around to see where his team mates were and let the break go and get a minute lead.

Well done to Cav and his team and also to Bertie and the Belkin boys for exploiting the situation to their advantage.

To those not familiar with it, the A453 is the main road between Nottingham and the M1 at junction 24. It carries something like 10,000 vehicles a day and is currently a single carriageway road. Hence, it is one of the most unpleasant roads to cycle on in the East Midlands.

Happily, there is a viable alternative slightly to the south (Clifton, Gotham, Kingston on Soar, Kegworth), which is lightly trafficked and hardly any further in distance.

The A453 is currently being upgraded to a dual carriageway. I still won't be cycling on it.

Doesn't answer your question but why do you ride on the A453?

There's a perfect alternative route via Gotham, Kingston on Soar and Kegworth.

If you need to get to EM Parkway then head north on the road from Kingston.

Have Spoons on my road and audax bikes and they're very comfortable, they don't break when a big bloke sits on them, and they're only £25 each.

But I confess that I nearly always wear padded shorts.