Winter
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.
@chris
@Gianni
Thanks for the Heads-up @Chris! I was able to register online for the 230 k course this morning without trouble. I also threw in the Shuttle service for an extra 25 Euro as I have no idea of the logistics at this point.
@Gianni!!! Yes, I have met William and Alex and realize that you are most definitely correct about them probably not bothering to keep the websites current but still rocking and rolling the good life!
I will be in touch with them about my trip . For now, I am planning on sleeping in my car the night before and driving back the night after the ride–not exactly ideal but I imagine that hotels and lodgings will be few and far between without connections and I only live around 3 hours away. Maybe if there is no Keepers Tour I’ll make a multiday vacation of it to visit the whole Flanders region and have my lovely VMH and kiddos come along as well. I’m sure that William and Alex would be able to help set me up with lodging for seven.
But, I am bummed that there is no Keepers Tour on the horizon.
Time to set the office up for the rollers! Nothing like Sweating to the P-R and RVV Oldies on youtube in your office during lunch, eh?
@Rob
There is NOTHING good on the horizon in the States with this election. The time to get out is NOW and come back in 4-8 years!
@Buck Rogers
Just entered the slightly less V 130km route.
Have a look at booking.com for accommodation, the big advantage is that with a lot of it you can book without paying and then swap/cancel if you find better deals. We also looked at Airbnb for our now not happening Gent Six trip, lots of cheap and easy accommodation there.
@Buck Rogers
I’ve rode out the last sixteen years I think I can manage another four or eight, Recall what Warren Buffett said, “Your children will do better than you even if we elect three bad presidents in a row”. The best thing we have to look forward to with this election is that it will be over very soon.
BTW and FWIW: our Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is an avid mtn biker, has completed IronMans in Kona, has a marathon PR of 2:47, has scaled Everest and if he loses the election, I read he was planning to bike the Continental Divide. That’s the kinda cat I can get behind! Cheers
@Randy C
Ha! Yup! We’ll survive for sure, and doubly so as long as I do not bring any politics to the V site!!!
@Cary
In Vancouver/Seattle we really only have 2 seasons, raining, and not.
I’ll be indoors, turning left in zone 5 until March, at which point I’ll tackle the odd flat Spring Series course. And if the weather’s somewhat decent, I’ll bust out the Jake the Snake with road tires and ultra mega fenders.
Just an FYI for the Velominatus budgetatus out there with winter coming on fast. I was in my local Dollar General store on Saturday, looking for a cheap phone connector cable. Lo and behold they had front and back LED bike lights. Nice wee rubber hook-and-loop with two LEDs and three lighting/flashing modes. $1 each. Can’t go wrong at that price and if someone nicks them, then they’re easily and cheaply replaced.
@wiscot
Hey Wiscot! Good to see you’re out riding, even this time of year. At that price, better get three or four sets as you may as well look like a Christmas tree riding those Washington Country roads! Be well, and be safe!
Man, I’ve fallen out the back of all these comments, just like a typical cogal.
@Gianni: not Maui-esque, but to be in view of mountains at most times has filled a hole in my soul that I didn’t know I had. I carry Swiss francs in my left pocket and euros in my right. Life is complex that way.
@Rob good to see the toad back here on the board. Sell that damn house. Do the Eurotrash circuit.
@Buck: some day we’ll finish a ride together. Promise.
@Buck Rogers
Isn’t the sportiv the day before RVV? My advice is to drink a helmet full of malted recovery beverage after your ride, sleep in your car again, meet up with Alex and William for some serious spectating of RVV the next day.
Driving home directly is anti-V and you will fall asleep at the wheel and crash your sweet sweet eurocar.
@xyxax
You are a genius making that move. Go only knows I tried back in the GW Bush years to move to Europe but the IAEA was having none of it, bastards! But one of my best friends lives near Sion, not too far from you. He is no cyclists but can hike for days. All those huts with amazing food, why so civilized, swiss?
Just came back from cycling in Italian piedmont-langhe area, just on the other side of the alps from you. Momma! Great cycling and everything else there. V-report to be files post haste.
@Ruud
Hey there Ruud! It was in the 70s here yesterday! You bet I’m still riding. Found some great new roads in Washington, Dodge and Sheboygan counties. Lumpy but virtually traffic free. Hope you and the missus are doing well.
BTW it was Dollar Tree I found the lights in. Those $ stores all look the same!
@Gianni
Great thoughts!
You know, I think that I will contact them to see if I can square away a room the night before and after as well and watch the race!
Cannot wait!
Also cannot wait to hear about your Italian pilgrimage! Was it an Andy Hampsten ride? One of those is on my future “to-do” list. He has one where, in case the Significant Other is not a cyclist, the SO learns to cook great Italian food in the morning while you ride all morning and then you all hang out together and drink wine and take in the countryside for the rest of the day following a huge lunch. Sounds so fucking perfetto!
@xyxax
xyxax!!! Any chance that you and the wonderful VMH would be able to ride a shorter version? We could have our own mini-Tour (call it the “Sleepers Tour” or “Weepers Tour” instead of Keepers Tour). @Chris is riding the 130 K, I believe. We could hit up Alex and William for a room and food for Friday and Saturday night and viewing the Pro RVV on Sunday???
Sounds farktastic to me!!!
@wiscot
Full early winter mode (Holland-style) here. On the commute in this morning: shoe covers, tights, full gloves, head band. Could have added the winter jacket. I know I’ll enjoy it again in a few weeks; now, we’re still just leaving the nice weather behind. Helpful at this time: just about all the fair weather commuters, let alone tourists, have vanished. The roads and bike paths are mostly my own again.
@Ruud
Haven’t got into cold weather yet in Wales – rode home last night in just jersey, arm warmers and shorts.
Granted, I’m tough as shit and actually wouldn’t have minded having my knee warmers on.
Supposed to be getting colder so I’d better dust off the full-finger gloves and bib tights.
@Buck Rogers
Hmm – the RVV looks interesting might well look to sign up this evening too.
@RobSandy
We’ve had a decent frost the last couple of mornings in Cambridgeshire.
Angus was at BC coaching session for youth roadies at the Lee Valley Velo Park last night and everyone was rugged up. He wanted to ride bare legged but was told to wear knee or leg warmers. I’m sure that if I hadn’t one of the coaches would have.
On any other site one might add a hash tag about the inevitableness of seasonal change…
@chris
We’ve been all over the map here in WI in the past week. Shorts and long sleeved jersey on Saturday. Monday was knicks, oversocks, LS jersey, windproof gilet, cap under helmet, full gloves as it was in the low 50s. Tuesday was shorts and a thin LS jersey as it was in the low 70s.
I’d imagine # would be as welcome around here as emoticons!
Weekend weather looks decent but work will kill any chance of a ride on Saturday and the hour goes back this weekend . . . cue very sad-looking emoticon.
@Teocalli
ABSOLUTELY!!! The more the merrier! If we can get xyxax, his VMH, Chris, you and possibly Ivor (forgot his name around here but he goes every year to the pave in early April) and any other Velominati then we can make a lively fucking party out of it!!!
I will be taking that Friday and Monday off of work and will drive up on Friday, eat my weight in food that night, ride all fucking day Saturday and then eat AND drink my weight Saturday night, sleep like a stone and then get up for a big breakfast and watch the real RVV and then head home. I invited my VMH but she said that I would be useless the whole weekend and better to go with the Mates instead. Yeah, she’s a saint and a genius!
I will get a hold of William and Alex and start to see if they can set me up. If anyone wants to go in on a package deal (i.e. The Weepers Tour) then we can give them a head count and see what it will cost. Even if no one goes in with me, I hope to pay them to help me set it all up.
What do you think???
@Buck Rogers
Definitely worth investigating the option.
@Teocalli
Ivor is @the_engine or something like that.
I’ll be heading over on the Friday and staying in staying in Ghent, not sure where yet but one of the hotels.
I’ll be with the guys from my club but would love to catch up for a beer with anyone in the vicinity or on the course on Sunday. I’m also hoping to get over early on Friday so if anyone fancies a muy tranquilo coffee ride that would be good.
@chris
Will do some looking at the geography/logistics this evening……..
@sthilzy
Strapped + zipped a DeWalt 12V work light { articulating } below bar ends — until Exposure light set come in
@Hank
Hank, I’m no fan of Trek but the Bontrager Flare R light is the most visible I’ve come across. It’s designed as a day running light to make me visible to the dumb drivers around these parts. Trek say it’s visible from 2 km away in the day and I’ll say that’s about right. 270 degree visibility is useful for those merging without looking.
Uncommonly useful is that it will fit aero as well as round seatposts so I can use it on my steel steed or the Pinarello if I am working.
@sthilzy
I like to ride early in the morning before any traffic to speak of. I just got a Cygolite TridenX 1300 and a Light and Motion Vis 180 that pulses, and an older Cateye 50 tail light to blink. I can be seen from a number of parsecs down the road. The Cygolite is really, really effing bright. I wonder if I am blinding folks. It mounts in front of the bars, so no protuberance above and below. Built like a rock. I mean it, it is like a river stone, expensive but so worth it to be able to see so well and so far on descents. Big buttons for glove use. I ordered a black Specialized Airnet helmet and they sent me ion black, fucking dayglo yellow. I felt like my mom bought it for me. I didn’t wait to go without a helmet (my sweetie rides, she is learning the rules so will soon be a VMH – she would withhold who knows what if I tried to ride without a helmet. That is NOT a double entendre!) so I kept it. Glad I did for night riding, I got a dayglo yellow riding coat so I am pretty visible. I notice that for the most part vehicles give me a wider berth in the dark than they do during the day.
Slowly reacquiring cold weather gear. I got coats and insulated tights for when it gets very cold. I am ordering a couple of merino base layers and long sleeve jerseys when it’s warmer. Winters here in Asheville, NC aren’t too bad as far as how long they last. For a couple of months, though, it does require having some good layers to deal ride comfortably.
@chris
I’m hoping to be there for lunch on Friday so an easy 40 k roll with some espresso afterwards to loosen the guns and check out the bike sounds amazing!
I will be in contact with William and/or Alex hopefully within the week and I will price the weekend for myself with the caveat that a few more might want to join in but as of now it sounds like most folks have their own plans already set for lodging/meals.
Anyone that might want to do a bit of a “package deal” with me for Friday night/Saturday/Sunday through the race let me know as soon as you can.
But we should all link up while we are there if only for espresso and/or short Friday ride and beer! As we get closer we can establish head counts, phone numbers, times, etc.
So FUCKING psyched!
@Buck Rogers
Jesus wept, no wonder you lot are trying to choose between Hilary and Donald. Should really insert a don Logan clip here.
Espresso first, beer after.
Tsss… Was I asleep when these 128 messages happened?
I think we have the light-discussion every year… From my experience of driving, riding and commuting I’ve boiled it down to this: you need to be seen and you want to see, so you need two types of lights, a very decent but not blinding light to get you out of town and a super-bright blinding light for unlit country roads. Don’t use the superbright light in town, direct it a bit downward and shield it when someone is driving/cycling towards you. Furthermore, lights should be visible from an angle, are preferably not blinking (although exceptions can be made for a rear light when not riding in group) and should be mounted at bike-height (but a second or third light can be mounted on the helmet).
Oh, and whoever wanted to sleep in his car before RVV, you’re welcome to contact me, I might be able to help you out.
@bea
Ha! That would be me but I seriously doubt it will come to sleeping in my car. I just need to touch base with the Pave’ Boys and I think I will be alright. My budget is not so tight that I cannot spring for a room and some decent food. It was more of a logistics thing.
But, if hell does break out, I might be sending you a message!
Thanks!
@chris
Oh no, no beer for me on Friday.
I am going to be royally fucked on Saturday riding the full cyclo as I have a grand total of just over 4,000 k’s in my legs so far this year and 3 extra kilo’s on my gut, no need to add hangover and dehydration into the mix!
Now, as for Saturday night ….
@Buck Rogers
We’ve talking casual beer not a session.
Obviously, the session will come after the ride on Saturday and if handled correctly, you’ll wake up at the viewing point of your dreams on Sunday without knowing how you’ve got there.
@chris
Wonder whether it would be possible to get the Train/Tram from Ghent to Oudenaarde in the morning.
@Teocalli
Hmm – 29 mins by train every 30 mins from 6:00 am.
I’m not sure what our groups plan will be, probably drive down but this far out from the day, a gentle 30 – 35 km warm up down the cycle path by the river sounds good.
Booked up.
@Teocalli
130 km route?
@chris
Yup – seems saw toothed enough for that time of year https://ridewithgps.com/routes/6331545
@Teocalli
Eurgh! 10km is not enough warm up. This is looking even more attractive…
@chris
Ha Ha! Yes I found that too wondering how far it was to ride from Ghent.
@Teocalli
That’s one I put together over lunchtime. It could do with a bit of tweeking to avoid hi puncture risk areas in Ghent and you could probably take a more direct route but it’s be on main roads but the riverside route looks pretty good for a easy build up before the main event. And even a gentle ride back…
@chris
Certainly a stiff penalty if you overdo the Recovery Ale………
I found it by drilling down in here
@Shemsuddin Millard
Best time of day!
@universo
Hopefully not a strobe light! Hate a bunch ride with the dude with the 98k of lumens on the rear light!
@chris
@Teocalli
It’s exactly 30km along the Schelde from Ghent to Oudenaarde. The route is free from traffic and very beautiful. By train it will take you just under an hour (the 30 min train only runs on weekdays).
@Teocalli
@chris
(sorry, the previous message was gone too quickly)
I can only recommend you to take the route along the Schelde. Het jaagpad itself, which is very beautiful, flat and completely free of cars, is 22km, then it’s another five on a decent cycling path into Oudenaarde. Taking a more direct route will take longer because you have to stop at traffic lights, there are cars, etc.
The Schelde is the playing ground of a lot of cyclists (including me) and that will be even more so on the RVV Saturday. There will be a lot of cyclists there, but in my opinion that makes it fun.
I live in Ghent, so if you want some help or advice, I’m here.
@chris
And now I’m officially spamming, but I only saw the route just now. You should take the other bank of the river, the path is much better.
@bea
Thanks, good to know.
@bea @Teocalli
It’s official then, we’re riding to and from Oudenaarde along the Schelde. That make it up to a V-worthy 200 km or there abouts.
@chris
Enthusiasm (from a distance) and peer pressure are dangerous bedmates………