Alida

somehow, on the Hub, this does not surprise me

NOTE TO SELF: INVEST IN A BOTTLE OF VASELINE

Grappie - your post makes me glad I decided to turn off and do the short route

Thanks Chilli - guess my bike is male too!!

My cycle this morning ... you know you just get those days when no gear feels comfortable and your saddle feels like a cactus?

Mmmm that sounds good - the operative word there was "chocolatey" I'm so let down - was looking forward to collecting my race pack today and eating my Bar-One on the way back home

Tough one ... What I've done in the same situation is pulled-up next to the rider/s and asked if it's ok if I join in and if they say yes then I'll go to the back and wait my turn. Never gotten a no so I don't know what you'd do then I would also just like to mention that it is very rare for ME to catch THEM so I wouldn't go on my advice alone

You're joking!!! No Bar-One??? I only enter races for the free Bar-One in the race packs

Do the Cobra but tell yourself it's a training ride and take it easy.

Ok - so no "downhills" in the spinning class then!

That's true - I never suffer as much in a spinning class as I do on the road.

Great - thanks guys. I am used to quite an intense training program during the week so I don't want to "lose" everything I've worked for now that I can't make it on to the bike everyday. So as long as I go and spin when I can't ride then I'll still feel the benefits? You've made my day!!

Hi all ... Due to time constraints (involving my job which I do to afford my cycling ) there are some days that I just can't get out on my bike so I do a spinning class instead. I go out on bunch rides on weekends and put in my couple of hundred kms but during the week sometimes spinning is the only thing I can do. When I get back on my bike after a day or two of spinning I can definately feel the difference in setup (although I am always grateful to be sitting on a proper saddle again). So here's my question ... does spinning help with your cycling fitness or is it more just overall fitness that it improves? I push myself quite hard in the spinning class to (hopefully) simulate what I would be doing in the bunch but I'm just not sure whether spinning helps my cycling fitness or not. Any opinions?

And that, says it all

Mmmm not so impressed with myself anymore. I see that a number of ladies have jumped up to the next classification.

Brilliant!!! I haven't done any of the races and I jumped up 4 places. Top twenty here I come

One of my friends saw her one year - he tells me it was very pleasant. Will have to take his word for it

Never heard of any ... I'm also curious to know ...

I love the way this thread has gone from a junior that hasn't learnt the finer things in life yet to how to get a guy with beer and a complete lack of clothing

I step away for a while to do some work and this turns into 5 (or is that 6) pages!!

Um no, I don't think that was the point either. We don't want them hurt which is why we wish they wouldn't ride in such a manner as to suggest that they are actually suicidal

I think we're all grossly aware of the senseless violence in our country but Big Ben's post was about the junior that was cycling like a hooligan. Most of us have little control over the bigger picture in the country but where we can make a difference is within our own personal "environments". As cyclists we see other cyclists breaking the law or just behaving like hooligans and there we have the power to say the person concerned that such behaviour is not on and it's ticking the motorists off and in so doing endangering all of us. So the point is not that senseless killings do not bother Big Ben because I'm certain that they do, but rather that one of "our own" is crossing the line and something should be done about it. End of rant

Hi Ben I don't want to start a "moan about the juniors" argument by I must say that I have on more than one occaision seen juniors riding recklessly in traffic and whilst I haven't noticed any finger signs, there have been one or two shaken fists etc. Unfortunately these "fine young gentlemen" have also been wearing sponsored kit so one would assume that they would - if not for their own safety - have some sort of responsibility towards their sponsors to behave in an acceptable manner. It's very sad - as you say these guys will grow up to be the ones wondering why motorists have an attitude towards cyclists. I've had a couple of run-ins with motorists driving as close as they possibly could to me and hooting at me from about 2kms back but I know that flipping a finger is most certainly NOT going to improve the situation.