Categories: ExportLa Vie VelominatusMusings from the V-Bunker

Winter

The Prophet gets pumped to ride. Hopefully that thing isn't going to find its way onto his bike.

As Cyclists, we are uniquely subjected to the changing of seasons. The green canopy of forest that we ride through in Summer gives way in Fall to one of orange and yellow that mimics the fire of sunset. Just as those hues give notice to the changing from day to night, so do they now signal the change from Summer to Winter.

It is also a time of transition in our riding. The rides are first wetter, then cooler. Soon, we’ll be rooting about the kit bin for gloves and a wooly hat. Shorts become three-quarters and three-quarters become fulls. There might be a shadow of trepidation in bidding the warm months adieu, but there lurks some excitement, too. Wearing long sleeve jerseys and leg warmers signals to us that the fight for peak form is behind us and our rides now have a sense of insouciance about them; it is freeing to embrace the lack of structure to our rides. We ride, once again, simply for the pleasure of riding.

There is something else. The longer days of Summer almost afford us too much liberty in our training. The sun rises early and sets late; the possibilities to train are endless; the morning ride is skipped for the likelihood of riding in the afternoon. The afternoon schedule fills up and the ride is missed and the training takes on a more frenetic nature. The shorter days of the winter offer less choices, so the rides are fought for more vigorously. Choice can lead to indecision while restriction often feeds discipline.

I embrace the coming Winter and its accompanying discipline. Besides, after the Winter come the Spring Classics, and we loves ourselves some cobbles. Vive la Vie Velominatus.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

fenlander says:

Oct 24 2016 at 4:51 am

Mmm;pics still not working then I take it,,,,
Teocalli says:

Oct 24 2016 at 5:09 am

@fenlander

Or it was very foggy. The start of my ride yesterday was a bit like the current pic postings.......
KogaLover says:

Oct 24 2016 at 5:17 am

@Teocalli

The start of my ride yesterday was a bit like the current pic postings…….

Can you imagine my agony? Daddy's got a brand new bike and I cannot post it!!!!
ChrisO says:

Oct 24 2016 at 6:21 am

I do have the winter bike out and ready to roll, and post-cogal the TCR has been cleaned, greased and put away.

I've started some base training and committed to leading a 3hr turbo ride on Zwift every second week. 3 hours seems like nothing on the road but it's bloody hard on the trainer, physically and mentally.

Of course yesterday was the first one and also a lovely sunny autumn day when it would have been perfect to go out. Oddly the Zwift course that day was London and it was very weird to see it raining in virtual London while I could see sunshine out my window.

No doubt next week when I can go out will be utterly miserable and I'll ride the trainer anyway. Cold I don't mind, rain (and ice) are cause for discretion above valour.
Grimpeur says:

Oct 24 2016 at 7:09 am

The Prophet's bike has clearly just come out of a garage or a car. Note the position of the downtube levers - at the end of a ride* it was de rigour to push both of the levers forward to take the tension out of the cables; something I learnt from a club elder in the early 80's.

*When I went out on my bike it was called a 'ride', whereas in the case of The Prophet an activity which involved a bicycle will have been called 'the crushing of souls'.
Ron says:

Oct 24 2016 at 7:46 am

First road bike ride in far, far too long this morning. Having a four month old has seriously cut into riding time. Oh well, the little guy is pretty fun to be around (sometimes!). Anyway, nothing like riding in full kit on a pristine road bike after a few weeks of only riding the commuter bikes.

For the first time in around 14 years I've had to use a car on a regular basis. I really, really don't like how motorists behave, from ignoring the laws to plain ol' selfishness. (Until I can put the lil' guy in a bike trailer, I have to take him to his dayKeeper, a good friend of ours). Goddamnit, people. Turn signals aren't optional. Neither are lights in the dark or rain. And you don't block a fucking intersection because you chose to run a red light.
Ron says:

Oct 24 2016 at 8:05 am

I run front/rear lights at all times when on open roads. At this time of year, with the sun at odd angles, it blows my mind that many cyclists don't use lights. I was out yesterday and I EXPECT (meaning I look for them in order to pass them in a very safe manner) to see cyclists and saw three different groups of proper road cyclists in all black, no lights, as the sun was getting low. If you're a drunk guy with bum bars, I get it. But if you're on a $3000 bike in brand new $ kit, you have no excuse to not ride with lights. I just don't get it. $50 and it might save you from getting run over.

A local director of transportation was hit in a hit and run last week. Guy who did it is 33 years old and he's been arrested 18 time. Have to believe he was extremely unsober, as he was spotted driving around with the bike still on his windshield/roof...
kixsand says:

Oct 24 2016 at 10:42 am

"Wearing long sleeve jerseys and leg warmers signals to us that the fight for peak form is behind us and our rides now have a sense of insouciance about them; it is freeing to embrace the lack of structure to our rides. We ride, once again, simply for the pleasure of riding."

This sums it up for me - quite nicely I might add.

I've really noticed these past few weeks that I'm favouring enjoyment over making sure that I'm ticking all the training boxes...

...sometimes I ride slower and it doesn't even bother me that I'm doing so.

...power meter, heart rate monitor? Meh.

I've been exploring some new routes and taking in the sites along the way and it has been very nice.

Base Training doesn't start again for a bit yet. Taking some recovery time now is likely the very best thing that I could do to ensure that my body gets the most from the base training that awaits me over the winter months.
kixsand says:

Oct 24 2016 at 10:47 am

Much less bike traffic on the roads as the temperatures fall. I must admit to getting some satisfaction from this.
Teocalli says:

Oct 24 2016 at 11:03 am

@KogaLover

That's gotta hurt!