Short But Sweet
My lungs feel my favorite way my lungs can feel. Every breath I take tells me the whereabouts of each alveolus. They feel raw, like they were scraped clean and opened up anew after a period of dormancy. Every breath tells me their exact shape and depth, where my lungs end and where my diaphragm begins. I feel high, as though my freshly cleaned lungs are letting too much oxygen into the system and it’s not quite sure what to do with it other than to make everything feel more Awesome.
Cycling is, unequivocally, without question, a drug.
At my back lies a winter of frustration; my training has been behind all year with me neither having nor making the time to get the hours in that I am used to. I’ve never been a thoroughbred, but this winter I haven’t even been a donkey. I’ve been a mule. It feels good to say it out loud, actually.
“Hi, my name is Frank. I’m a mule.”
“Hi, Frank.”
I’ve always favored the 2 hour ride over one, three hours over two, four over three. The best rides are sun-up to sun-down endeavors that have me crawling into the kitchen or pub for a recovery session. On one notable occasion I got off my bike and sat at the side of the road in the pouring rain, just to contemplate how I might manage to ride up the final steep ramp to get back home. (Spoiler alert: I finally arrived at the conclusion to climb aboard my bike and pedal up the hill, something that seems a lot more obvious in hindsight than it did at the time.)
I’ve become more opportunistic in my training since arriving at some basic condition through getting my head kicked in for nine days at Keepers Tour. Since then, I cherish those small windows in my schedule that allow for a quick ride and jump at the opportunity, even if it’s just for an hour. The shorter the ride, the harder the ride. No mercy. Stop lights? Interval to the next one, like some idiot Cycleway Hero. Climb? Hit it until the lights go out. False flat into the wind? 53×11 and out of the saddle until the legs turn into Jell-O.
Today’s ride was 90 minutes. Full gas, start to finish; I was a Cat 5 on Race Day, born again. If I was stopped at a light, it was a double-down sprint to make up for lost time like a dog let off its leash trying to catch up to where it would have been if it had been loose the whole time. Everything my mind asked for, my body gave. Everything my body needed, The V provided. Today was a reminder that if quantity and quality are on offer, take them both. But if you have to pick one, quality will go a long way to make up for quantity. I’d rather ride a little every day than not ride every day. And a short ride, done right, can put you in the box just the same.
In the immortal words of The Prophet, “Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.”
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
Wise words. Just don’t ride into the back of parked cars. That’ll hurt. Does get you, on the NHS, a free massage as the doctor checks if you’ve ruptured your spleen. That’s riding that’s not at all worthwhile.
(The bike, amazingly, was OK, but then the commuter is a tank)
Interestingly, I sent an article to Gianni with similar subject matter; for a little while due to family commitments I was only being able to get out for hour long rides.
It ends up feeling like time trial, unrelenting from start to finish to wring the uttermost out of the time you have in the saddle.
That said, training for an event means that I’m trying to up the distances. Did 100kms on Friday night, and survived.
Sounds very familiar. My winter training was productive despite a box-fresh Velominipper because he was sleeping through and my VMH was well rested and happy for me to go ride. All that ended when the VMN forgot how to sleep, the VMH was sleep deprived and the luxury of weekend rides was swapped for quality time with the wee man while the VMH caught up on missed sleep. Training went out the window, performance stagnated and my only two wheel time became the daily commute. These are now attacked with vigour. The luxury of easy miles no longer exist; if I’m going to maintain any sort of form I have to ride like I mean it. I’m not sure how, but it’s working at the moment – it’s neither fun nor pleasant but that’s no surprise. What does surprise me is that my enthusiasm goes up with the intensity and being able to see gains from fewer kms is keeping me going.
For now…
Hurr hurr, you said alveolus…
After years of hoping, the VMH finally said last week, “I’d like to do some road cycling with you.” Wow! In the past I bugged her to come out, then let it go. What a lovely surprise! Country roads, an hour of spinning along, a beautiful Sunday morning. She gets plenty of exercise from work and walking the dogs, but doesn’t do much plain ol’ exercise for fun or fitness. Much to my surprise, she called me yesterday morning and said on the walk with the dogs, she decided to do some jogging! I had her hooked! I’ve long told her once you get all that oxygen in ya, you are hooked. YEP, it’s a drug to feel the rush in your lungs.
This article fits in with my life since last October. Took a new, full-time job, which I’m enjoying. Also has me finally pushing to get the hell out of grad school, since working two jobs sucks. Ride time has gone from “Dissertation OR…five hours of cycling?” to Sunday morning and M-F commutes. I felt guilty for awhile. Then I realized…I’m still riding 7 days a week and I finally have some goddamn money. Oh, this ain’t so bad.
I’m at a great point. All the cycling I do, I thoroughly enjoy. Yeah, my fitness isn’t there, but my life has a lot more balance than this time last May. I can’t complain
Its not just your alveolus, your epidermis is showing too….
Nice socks
Control levers are mounted too high.
Very nice piece, sir Frank – and very timely: I’ve been working like a maniac these past weeks (hence the almost total radio silence), but the occasional 1- to 1,5-hour rides I’ve managed to squeeze in at odd times have been precious – and yes, they did proceed at more-or-less constant full throttle until the lights went out. Bliss. Quality over quantity, indeed.
That is one heck of a long-sleeved jersey right there, by the way. Wouldn’t mind one of those…
@unversio
Definitely close on a Rule #46 violation. In fact they really look as though they are mounted where someone who spends all their time on the hoods would put them don’t ya think?
@unversio, @Teocalli
Get fucked.
Am actually going to be doing this sort of thing now;short sharp* commutes in with a bit longer ones home every now and then.
Of course long rides will still be on the agenda(did a 100k last Sunday) as there are a few sportives booked(Cambridge swarm,Suffolk spinner and etape London are some I’m doing);an all day-er has also been talked about at some stage.
*well less blunt.
@Teocalli
Didn’t anyone see the Rule #52 violation? 2 different bidons… and if this picture represents a short ride, then double whammy “Two cages can be mounted, but only one bidon on rides under two hours is to be employed”. Or is the black one on the seat tube a container for tools? Yet Frank’s jersey pockets do not seem to be too full? Am confused…
@Teocalli
or someone who is trying to spear things.
A lot of sprinters go for a similar shifter mounting position. Is Frank a sprinter? I know that Sprinter = “can’t climb” but I hadn’t realised that “can’t climb” = Sprinter.
It would make me quite happy if it were so.
@KogaLover
I think the rearmost bidon is cut down to take his spare tubular.
@fenlander
The Tour of Cambridgeshire could be a good one, a lot off people riding but it’s closed roads. Flat Out in the Fens is good if you don’t mind the chance of 240 km of flat with head winds.
@Chris
Yeah, I thought about the tour but having no car makes it a pain to get to and I’ve used my hotel budget for the etape London;also have our club sportive which should be happening in october.
Live in the fens so I’m used to the winds,well as used as you can get to them anyway;our club road captain had the best psychology about riding in strong winds,you just use them as a training tool(and take advantage of any tail winds).
Mind you any windless days have seemed few and far between so far this year.
@fenlander
I thought you lot in the fens were supposed to be hardmen? Is that not what your club name Hard Riders refers to?
It’s only 50km from Ely to Peterborough.
@Chris
Doing a charity ride the end of June from South Ockendon to Newcastle Upon Tyne over 3 days. Are the flat lands really that bad? Used to riding along the North East coast so winds are an everyday occurrence. Day 2 is the longest and flattest, Peterborough to York.
@Chris
Well I did think about doing that but to be honest the real reason is it’s close to me and the vmh’s anniversary so for my own health I booked the swarm later in the month instead which I will be riding to.
The hard riders thing is the early season TT.
@KogaLover
Not a bidon; second spare tub for the customers, in addition to the one under the saddle. It was an unsupported ride to the Malteni brewery.
@VeloJello
Dunno what the route is but yep it can seem a bit bleak and relentless;hopefully the weather will have calmed down for you by then.
@frank
…although if you didn’t have tubs you were walking home
@frank
We also discovered that the Lion of Flanders has very strict Rules about beer and cycling and we broke those in abundance
Screw the brake levers, what about that kit. Love the kit. Want the kit. Need the kit. Riding to the brewery sounds like fun too.
@frank
Got it. Already fucked.
@frank
I see we are getting through to @fronks compassionate side………….
@Teocalli
Is Frank really gagging in the photo ?? A gnat at that exact moment.
@unversio
Your levers are mounted too low, below the bottom of the bars. Disgraceful. Good angle on the bars themselves though.
@unversio
The photo was a pisstake. Notice the spokes are all perfectly visible.
I wish I’d have had the presence of mind to photoshop in a beer bottle on a stick in front of me.
@frank
These just might be perfect. Rotundo!
@frank
You might be right. That was my first thought once I accused you of mounting your control levers too high. I did install them myself though — focused on the transition from the ramp section to the hood. I think of it as riding down on the hoods now. And then staying in the drops, where I spend 60 percent of my time now.
@frank
You always tell people to get fucked when they are right and you are wrong?
Personally I don’t care about any rules but if Rule #46 exists @Teocalli is right, you are definitely violating it. It’s really easy to see, without even wasting time to measure it with a spirit level. That’s the reason @unversio thinks your ergos are too high, because you have too much tilt on the bars. You add tilt to create flat transition to the hoods. Getting pretty close to Brett’s tilt on his Merckx which is definitely wrong as far as bike handling goes, even though it might feel comfortable.
@TommyTubolare
Get fucked!
@unversio
I’m not going to engage in any pedantry regarding the angle of your hoods as Rule #46 is way too much trigonometry for me at this point. I will, however, covet that cockpit.
Yup, I’m on the interwebs coveting another man’s cockpit.
@unversio
One of the reasons I’m resisting going to 11spd is the levers are so long which makes you mount them very high if you align them to the bottom of the bars like Roger DeVlaemink did.
@TommyTubolare
In all seriousness, having the hoods lower does little more just put pressure on the wrists. While the lead photo looks more extreme (a better angle below) having the hoods at such an angle that it feels very neutral is, in my opinion, much more effective and does fuck all to screw up the handling; it improves it, if anything.
So glad we’re talking about this stuff and not the drivel in the article!
@frank
Primarily need to keep the right thumb lever comfortable when sprinting in the drops — and continuing to shift. One big reason that I prefer Campagnolo is the thumb lever on their controls.
It’s a 2-fer article for me coz:
and
@frank
Is that true? I had not noticed that my 10Sp Campag on the #9 are significantly different to my 11Sp. I’m away at the moment so can’t leap up and measure them but will now look when I get back home. They are certainly longer that 1970s Nuovo Record, granted. While I was mainly poking fun originally (obviously) I think the serious point here is that if you want to use retro style bars then you need to accept that if you mount the levers at the top it will look odd as the levers will not hang vertically. The curve on modern bars is sculpted for the modern trend of the levers being level with the top of the bars. My point is reasonably illustrated below that I posted a little while back where current 11Sp is matched to retro bars. For me the other point is that my fingers are as vertically challenged as my legs so if I mounted the levers per @frank then I’d never reach them from the drops. Then again I guess the riposte I’d expect to that is if you are on the drops why the f are you trying to brake?
re: frank “get fucked” it’s a mite pedantic, I might say, stuff your ruler and position trumps all, or, shall one say, “eat my dust”
@TommyTubolare
I was at a church picnic last year and our priest was (three sheets to the wind) saying some very non-Catholic things (and likely coveting a few things enough to violate a commandment here or there). I kept my yap shut but did enjoy the show…
That said, bib makers are producing some fuck-long bibs and component makers have hoods which require some creativity in putting them in the proper location (not the super high, fop position of some pros). Perhaps a hack saw to shore up the lever length and restore the universe to harmony?
@frank
Makes sense – but why carry two telegraph poles in your jersey – something to lean on after sampling the beer?
@Gianni
Now we’re talking! Malteni kit, very nice! William is sending you some but might suck as much at shipping stuff as I do!
@unversio
I love the idea of being fast enough in a sprint that Go-Button Position matters. I am a Rouleur, not a Puncheur.
Well,did a hard-ish one today into a head/side wind and the excuse of a pair of guns I have are now complaining a tad but a 7th overall Strava segment(actually for the most of the ride)means I must be doing something right.
Oh and this is how you carry a beer in style;
And drinking on the move;
@Teocalli
Because when I’m on the drops it’s often when I’m descending like a demon. Or shitting myself, so a handful of brake is essential.
I can descend quite quickly due to my massive bulk but I think my imagination is too good to be a really good descender. I can picture too easily the consequences of hitting a damp manhole cover, or pothole, or loose bit of surfacing…that said, there is a local road where I touch 80kms/hr each time I descend.
@frank
Eh? I’ve got both 10 Spd (centaur) and 11 Spd (record). The levers are the same size, I measured. I like my shifters dead level thusly.
@frank
You for real or you’re acting dumb?
I never questioned your personal set up and don’t care what rules you follow, obviously you missed that in my post. No ergos talk, 10 or 11 and how they are positioned. You added this shit later just to confuse what matters – bar angle.
But if you want to fucking pretend and lie that the angle of your bars is between 180 and 175 then fucking do it, but you’re either blind or don’t know what horizontal is.
So, Mr. Compliant, next time you make rules with your hippie friends you might consider actually following them, cause you’re clearly super fucking pissed and obnoxious when somebody points out violations.
And I’m gonna pretend that this thread never existed.
@TommyTubolare
Have you mislaid your sense of humour or piss take capability or have you just worked hard at it?