Winter Training
Merckx famously professed that after a night of sinning, the body must be cleansed. He obviously meant this figuratively, not literally, because those mud guards on his bike aren’t going to take a big bite out of whatever that lorry has to offer him by way of a Flandrian facial.
Winter is a tough time for those of us pawing about in search of our climbing weight. With the shortening of days, the nesting instinct awakens. Darkness falls in late afternoon and when we wake, we are greeted by the same darkness that wrapped us all through the evening. Nature urges us to combat the darkness with food and drink; summer’s dinner salads are replaced by slow-cooked meat and potatoes served with a side of pasta and bacon and washed down with a few bottles of red.
Weight defies the conservation of mass; it is more easily gained than lost. Fitness occupies the opposite realm; it is more easily lost than gained. Riders like Kelly, Merckx, and De Vlaeminck were famous for their discipline throughout winter; training long and hard to lay the groundwork for their Spring and Summer campaigns. With a sea of months between us and next season’s goals, there is little urgency to train properly. But keeping our weight down and putting in the long base kilometers will reward us throughout the season. Besides, it hardens the character to train in the cold, wet winds that characterize the winter months. The training we do in summer feels a luxury by comparison.
I cherish the winter months when my training is peaceful and free of pressure. I look forward to the sun warming my muscles, but for now I am content to stock up on fresh Flandrian Best, prepare the bike for the winter roads, and submit to the solitude of the cold training hours that lie before me.
@Chris
I bought a Boreas Larkin for that exact reason. it’s got a curve in it, and is very comfortable againt my back, and dare i say, doesn’t look horrible.
@Weldertron
I commute with a Boreas Lagunitas. Awesome bag and the suspension keeps the back cool and ache free. As far as the design goes, it’s pretty sleek and I think it looks pretty cool.
i considered that one, but figured i only need enough room for a shirt and my lunch. The top load aspect can be a bit of a hassle, but overall i’m very happy
comes in v-orange to
It also has a port for a hydro pack for the mountaineers, or those who ride to group cyclocross training with no cages. (and haul modular barriers)
@wiscot Please get over to the “riding without data” thread and confirm whether I am right about who is the Belgian champ in the photo is, because we need to highjack that thread and turn it into the AOP it should be, instead of another discussion about having data while riding, or not.
@Chris
I will only start caring about your back when I can feel the pain myself; your argument is therefore invalid.
Backpacks can be and should be selected for aesthetic and functional qualities and have the benefit that after you arrive at the office and lean your bike against the wall, it will still look the tits And be everyone’s envy.
My solution to the backpack weight problem was to buy a portable closet where I could hang my clothes and kept a few pairs of shoes there as well. I had a locker with towels and toiletries. I also bought a power source for the office which meant all I carried was a pair of underwear, socks, and the laptop itself.
@frank
“There is a pain between my ears that I do not understand?”
@Weldertron
Similar to a sporty Tusken Raider papoose!
@frank
I’ll remember that when the next mtb riding cx’er rubs alongside me for warmth.
@xyxax
I loved the kid getting bowled over. Does that make me a bad person?
@gaswepass
and finesse, well, yeah… i am slowly refining but it ain’t gonna equal finesse. thats ok- bell shaped curves need all the components to look right
Rack v. pack… Last summer the VMH and I did a four-day, from the front door ride that involved four ferries and four (I think) islands and three nights in B and B’s. Fun times. I set myself a 10-pound weight limit for packing, and cleared that by three pounds. The question was how to carry the seven pounds. I decided, holding my nose, to try a stem-mounted rack.
Oh my fucking god did I detest that thing. I had, already in my possession, a little 900 cubic inch day pack that had been used on a 15-pitch climb in Yosemite and would have been perfect for this job, and instead I spent three of the four days with that piece of shit making my bike look like it had a grotesque cancer and feel like it had battleship up its ass.
@Steampunk
That, and the weinerdog going all cat-against-the-wall on the hedge. It doesn’t stop being funny. I pressure-tested the theory. It does NOT stop being funny. Fact.
@PeakInTwoYears
That story is worth a gold star right there. +1 badge hasn’t been awarded in a while. It’s time.
@frank
Thanks. I’ll wear it with pride.
The weinerdog, though, damn. I felt his pain. I have bounced off that fucking hedge so many times.
@PeakInTwoYears
I thought you were the pot-bellied yorkie who nailed the left-hander.
@frank
I’m going to take that as a compliment and have another glass of wine and another cookie.
@dissolved
Oh now you’ve done it. Think that you have just solved my problem of maintaining motivation this winter.
Do or die I guess.
Andy
@Steampunk
Absolutely not. I’d say it’s a metaphor for life, if I knew what “metaphor” meant.
@Puffy
To answer seriously, your coach is right in the absolute sense of whatever gets you on the bike and finish a training. As someone with increased square-footage, the big difference for me is the exponential effect of wind resistance, even ignoring wind direction.
Wind resistance and gravity: two of the 4 horsemen of the Isuckalypse
and not seriously: you’re living my dream.
The other two being age and V-lessness
@xyxax
Four Horsemen of Isuckalypse.
Fuck’in Golden right there! Great stuff!
Glad I live in a place where there is only 20mins of daylight and 1 deg C temperature difference between Summer and winter and dont have worry about seasons……
@frank
The “Stunt Double” in the movie was Gary Rybar; at the time a Cat 1 racer out of Indianapolis. We were told through the grapevine Gary was clocked at 85.3 KPH while drafting the Cinzano truck. The scene was filmed on a flat section of Indiana highway 37 between Indianapolis and Bloomington. To note, also, one of the Cinzano riders was John Vande Velde, father of Garmin rider, Christian Vande Velde. John, in his own right, was a 1968 and 1972 Olympian.
@teleguy57
Hey, if you’re in the area, a bit of company on such rides would be welcome. I generally ride solo but having a riding buddy would be nice. I know most of he roads in the area pretty well and can tailor a ride to whatever distance might be desired.
@fixedgear66
We get some super truck drafts here – big 5,000 gallon water trucks that you know aren’t stopping in a hurry – and I’ve been up to mid 70s on a compact before I spun out.
With a cooperative driver, good roads and a standard 53-11 it wouldn’t be too difficult to hit mid 80s I reckon. Edgy, but possible.
@teleguy57
That was exactly my response–a mere 5 miles east of my present location (up over the Escarpment, or the Ledge” as the locals refer to it) is “Seven Hills Road.” There are seven hills. And they each have their own level of suck. My first time riding up 15% gradients (albeit only for very brief periods). 10 miles further east gets you into the Kettles and their uppy-downy-foresty goodness.
Unfortunately, rides to take advantage of my newfound enhave been few and far between of late, new kid, new house, new job, new town, etc., and all that. Hoping to have a good off-season and hit it pretty hard-core come next spring.
This article really made me waiting for the start of base training. Time to build my winter training bike!
@fixedgear66
Coolest thing I’ve read all day.
@dissolved
You know what the true solution is? Keepers’ Tour 14
@frank
I sincerely hope you never will.
@frank
This is all part of the plan but I’m still not putting it on my back.
Ok so I got a place on the RVV.
“Sorry I can’t make christmas dinner this year, I’ve got a meeting with the man with the hammer”.
ace.
@Mikael Liddy
would love to but more of a ’15 goal in terms of time and finance I think.
@dissolved
Chapeau! Are you still aiming for LBL too? Do please be sure to give us all the gory details after RVV.
@dissolved
FUCK Yes!!! Awesome!!!
@Buck Rogers @Mike_P I don’t think I can afford both but will definitely post how I get on in the RVV!
Looking forward to the days when even the man with the hammer is wearing a coat. Those are the days that make summer rain taste even better.
I had to don the arm warmers the other day until 10am. I dont suppose that gives me any credability on this subject at all does it?
Now that we are all happily back on UST, what front lights work very well for rides up to 3 hours or so entirely in the dark?
@DerHoggz
Check out The Eye of Sauron which I wrote on the subject last November:
http://www.velominati.com/technology/the-eye-of-sauron/
Lezyne Mega-Drive on the bars, Lezyne Super-Drive on the helmet. Like riding in your own pocket of daylight. I cover the handlebar light when a rider approaches, but honestly when a car comes, I hope they’re blinded. Better that than they don’t see me at all.
Both lights come with a spare battery; 3 hour rides are not problem with the spare.
Strangely; I notice that it seems to be the combination of headlamp and barlamp that makes cars really notice me, so even if you’re doing lower-power lights, I suggest the combination. Must be something to the movement. But when missing either one or the other, I find cars darting out in front of me when they shouldn’t.
You may laugh at all this, but when it comes to being seen at night, I’m not about to fuck around.
@frank
Who’s laughing? This all makes total sense. Those two lights, in their vertical spatial relationship and with one moving more than the other, is something drivers aren’t accustomed to, so it’s bound to get more attention.
The only possible improvement I can think of would be to add a third light: a 600-lumen strobe briefly activated by a trigger and your right index finger.
@frank
Our winter training group in the hills use a similar rig but most of us use various combinations of Exposure lights. Stacks of power and on the odd occasion we hit road sections with half a dozen or so riders packing 2,000+ lumens between bar and helmet mounted lights cars have a strange tendency to stop in their tracks as we go by. See pic in The Rides for sample output from 2 bikes.
Cyclocross in Tucson is a sad thing
@RedRanger
Whoo, yes, not a huge variation in surfaces there but full marks for trying.
@mouse I think there was a total of 2 barriers. but oddly some of the people had some really nice kit. the other half raced on 29ers
Local promoter of Cascade Cross used to design a course every year at a multi-use city park.
The city would use the park as a dumping ground for various organic waste And the promoter would work these big piles of wood chips, boulders, etc into the course design.
One year there was a big pile of dirt so he set up some course tape to send riders straight over it.
Race day came and there had been a bit of rain. As the day went on, the rain became more intense and riders were covered in mud. The pile of dirt began to emit a horrible smell.
Then he realized this was no ordinary pile of dirt. It was a pile of manure.