I was bummed to read that he will not be pursuing the Green Jersey this July but will instead work for Farrar’s chances and only seek a stage win for himself.
Especially as the TdF organizers spoke about awarding the same points for each finish, not extra points for the flat stages and fewer for the mountainous ones. (does anyone know if that rule is actually in effect this year? Equal points for all stage finishes?)
Oman Shmoman – Paris-Roubaix . . . can’t come soon enough (but thanks for the image, he looks sharp, the bike too, in those stripes).
There’s a framed rainbow jersey mounted at my coffee shop. Signed by Thor himself, complete with the Cervelo name emblazoned across the front. Very nice, but rather small. Given that Thor makes most pro riders look so small, it was a wake-up call to see just how small he is nonetheless. Thor, the diminutive god of thunder, doesn’t really have the same ring to it.
@Rob
Yeah: I haven’t forgotten the look in his eye immediately after winning the Worlds. What was his goal for 2011? Without so much as a pause: Paris-Roubaix. I’m not sure I’d bet against him.
@Steampunk
My heart says Hayden Roulston for P-R. My head – well, the moderately statured deity of inclement weather shades him, I think. But a Thor-Roly one-two I could live with. And Li’l Sparty in 3rd would round things out nicely.
@Steampunk
SO SWEET! Man, that guy is 100% compliant. Even has the camelback bottles that we’re having Velominati bottles made up in.
frank:
@Steampunk
SO SWEET! Man, that guy is 100% compliant. Even has the camelback bottles that we’re having Velominati bottles made up in.
You’re making Velominati-branded Camelback bottles? Sweet.
@frank
Please say they’re not those sissy insulated things… insulated bottles are a slippery slope to full Rule 32 violation. Big bottles are a necessary evil (yes, I typically rock a 24 oz. bottle), but small bottles are best.
PS the only thing made by Spesh that I actually like are their bottles… branded for someone else, natch.
@sgt
Does Rule 24 extend to cover volume measures as well?
Surely litres and millilitres are the only way to go?
@Marcus
Speeds and distances, my friend… And don’t distract from the topic:
Insulated bottles; Casually Deliberate or abomination? Discuss…
I use the insulated ones for summer rides when I’m drinking Hammer Perpetuem. It has fats in it that go rancid if it gets warm.
For regular water I just use cheapie bottles that that my bike shop gives away.
My Gatorade froze on my last ride. That was a little disappointing. An argument, perhaps, for insulated bottles.
Steampunk :
My Gatorade froze on my last ride. That was a little disappointing. An argument, perhaps, for insulated bottles.
I would think that is a more compelling argument not to ride!
@Marcus
I really don’t need this easy a prompt. This isn’t about Rule 9; please see Rule V. Read your comment again, and repent. Maybe new and pretty Look bikes are just for looking at…
Ahh Steamy, your response was so predictable. If you are unlucky enough to live in a place that can freeze water bottles and you still ride, I say chapeau!
27 degrees and sunny right now – and I wore long sleeves this morning!
@Marcus
I am, yes, predictable. Alas. But I couldn’t let that go.
I guess we run the gamut here. It was -20c last week, and we’ll get up to 35-40c (with humidity) in the summer. I thank the Merckxian weather gods that I get to lay it all out in subjugation of Rule 9 for almost six months a year.
@mcsqueak
Never needed the insulated bottle for my pepetuem. I go with four hour bottles and fill right before I leave. For rides > 4 hours, I just leave a bottle with the powder only in the other cage. Of course, this necessitates breaking other rules, but it lets me do solo 300km+ rides, so I’ll take it.
How does your stuff go bad so fast? I’ve had mine out in 100+ degrees and had no problems.
@Steampunk
Yeah, it was -21C in Ann Arbor last Wednesday riding home from lab. Yesterday, I rode with just tights and arm warmers in a glorious 7C day. Temps keep you on your toes for sure.
How long were you riding for the freeze? I’ve found that I can get away with one bottle on the bike for the first 60-90 minutes, then I break out bottle two that goes in the middle pocket of the jersey under the jacket. It gets me through the last 30-60 minutes. My toes freeze too much to do more than about 2.5 hours when it’s under 30 degrees.
Just installed my Thor Hushovd Signature Vibe 7 stem; lookin’ good, brings me up 1cm – right between the 17deg stem and the too high 6 deg – based on positioning feedback from @Rob and @Oli Brook-White. Guess what’s on the front of the stem?
That’s right, a big fuckin’ V.
More:
@frank
The gerbera (sp?) in the third photo are a nice touch. Not candles, mind, but still nice. Cervelo red and maillot jaune yellow. You think of everything.
Looking good Frank, but I’ll wait for the next video before I sign off on your new position for good. ;-)
G’phant:
@frank
The gerbera (sp?) in the third photo are a nice touch. Not candles, mind, but still nice. Cervelo red and maillot jaune yellow. You think of everything.
& is that a Belgian vase they be in? Can’t quite make out the brand. Ooh la la mon ami
Very sweet as in pretty, not sweeeet flowers mate. Lovin’ the V on the stem
Oooh wow, the white WC jersey and the black shorts look sharp as!
Can someone offer me a quick lesson on how Frank’s 17 to 6 degree switch brings him up 1cm? I’m confused at the math here.
And I’ve actually always been a bit confused by stem rise. Happy to read an article on it, if anyone has a link. Thanks.
Nice big fuckin’ V at the front, by the way, Frank! Cool pick up and swap out.
Second that! V-branded camelbak bottles sound great.
As far as insulated bottles – yep, I used the camelbak ones in the summer. They work and they look the best out of the insulated ones. When it’s 105*F for three months in a row, I’ll chance the Rule violations for a cold drink.
Outside the summer I just use regular bottles, usually camelbak. I like the nozzle and have gotten used to it. Keeps drips off of yer nice jerseys.
Insulated bottles; Casually Deliberate or abomination? Discuss…
Really? Are we talking about this? Abomination, obviously. (Sorry, @Ron.) They will be the regular bottles, but with the rad valve at the top. Just like the ones Thor is riding.
Does Rule 24 extend to cover volume measures as well?
It only technically applies to speeds & distances, but – as has been the convention here – we like to see people discuss all measurements done in the metric system. Because it’s mo’bettah.
@Steampunk
That is, without a doubt, the great coffee house in the history of coffee.
EDIT: greatest
I was wondering when a Velominatus was gonna drop a nickel for a Thor “V” stem. Nice, Frank.
My feeling about bidons–small is best, tall is acceptable but looks bad on bikes, and any bottle that is insulated and so expensive that you can’t afford to lose it is just FUCKING INSANE.
At one point, I had five grocery bags full of the old standard sized bidons. I probably had 7 or 8 of the Coke ones. When I quit riding, I gave them to teammates, except one. I still have one Shiner Bock regular sized bidon from when Shiner was one of our sponsors. I will put up a photo if I can find the bidon.
Bidons should be like cycling caps and musette bags–small, cycling specific, inexpensive, pure advertising, and 100% functional. If you can’t get it for free or give it away, it’s not a bidon.
Oh, and another thing. If your bidon is so fucking technologically advanced and expensive that you can’t chuck it to the side of the road in a race (because it’s empty or you’re coming up to the sprint), then it’s not a bidon–its a perfume bottle.
And you can use that in the Lexicon. “Nice bike. And check out the perfume bottles in the cages. So haute.”
A bidon is a business card for a bike shop. A standard 500ml bidon with the shop’s logo should go out the door with every purchase of $50 or more, no questions asked. It’s pure marketing. Every cage on every new bike that goes out the door should have a 500ml bidon in it. Every bike repair of $50 or more should go out the door with a 500ml bidon in it. It puts the word out for the shop and makes the customer feel good. Within a year, the bike shop logo will be at every cycling event with 50km. And if its a normal 500ml bidon, it doesn’t cost the shop much. It’s the best cheap advertising in cycling.
Lots of good comments, Jeff, on the bidons. After using tons of free/cheap ones over the years I’m quite happy with the camelbak ones. I use the 500 mL ones most of the year.
Like I wrote, if I’m heading out for really long rides and it is as hot as it was last summer (months in triple digits) I go for the bigger insulated camelbaks. I normally respect the Rules, but if I can ride longer and harder due to more liquids and the soothing coolness of them, I gotta take the Rule penalty on this one.
I do fully admit the big, insulated bottles look like fucking garbage and make my Elite cages want to revolt.
We all can’t have Gianni following us up the mountain…and we all aren’t Italian camels like Pedale, who don’t even require cages.
Oh, and I also have a Tommasini-only bidon, a sweet as Tacx-made, Campagnolo branded one. I’ll never put an insulated camelbak on that bike.
Also never paid more than $5 for a bottle. Always get them on sale.
Great ideas, Jeff on getting a bottle free with any work over $50 or on any new bike.
I’ve had it start to go bad at the end of a 3-4 hour ride before in hot weather when I used just a normal bottle plus ice. After that I started making it the night before and freezing it in an insulated bottle, which keeps it cold for an entire ride. I just take it out an hour or two before I start and it’s fine.
Granted, I could probably freeze it overnight in a normal bottle and have it work fine, but I tried it in an insulated bottle and it worked so I just stick with it. During the winter it’s not a worry obviously, and I just mix it into a normal bottle right before I leave with some ice, and it’s fine.
I mix it thick enough that I only need one bottle for all my nutrition during an entire ride, so I just want to make sure it lasts. I save my other bottle for plain water, and I don’t take any extra mix with me on rides… but I don’t do 300km solo rides, either!
@Ron
Seriously, nothing personal, Ron. I’ve got big bidons, too. I just think they look like shit on a bike.
What gets me is how expensive high-tech bidons got over the last year. Example: My wife doesn’t ride bikes. She rides horses. But she takes a bottle with her to the stables. Outside of the bike industry, these insulated beasts are selling for close to $20. And the metal industry has the PC crowd freaked out about plastic, so they market metal canteens shaped like bidons, for $20–in pink with flower stensils, to chicks.
It’s a free market, and everyone should charge what the market will bear.
I think the loss of a good, cheap, 500ml bidon is a shame. It’s such a great business card.
@mcsqueak
Bananas, bread, and water!!!!! There might be Clenbuterol in that witch’s brew you use.
Oh, wait. The Spanish say Clenbuterol is perfectly acceptable in very small amounts.
Yeah, I’m no camel either. I consume tons of water during warm-weather riding, and quite often during the summer I ride with my jerseys mostly unzipped for extra airflow. I get really, really hot, I sweat a ton and I never have to stop for “natural breaks” during rides because I sweat all the water out that I can consume. Not having to stop is pretty great, actually…
Bananas are a staple for me. I eat them often before rides and as a snack at work. I eat light before a ride, and generally, unless I’m doing a really long ride and I need all the calories I can get, I hate eating during a ride. It just feels gross to me.
Eh, a little Clenbuterol wouldn’t be so bad for me… I’m not racing so I don’t have anyone to tell me otherwise…
Also, I think BPA was only found in hard, clear plastics, such as those large water bottles from REI everyone use to carry around. Soft plastics, and those that are opaque do not contain that chemical. However, I could be wrong.
@mcsqueak
When training, we used routes where we could stop after 50-60 miles. We were regulars at certain gas stations. We’d refill and buy a snack or a Coke. And it was obligatory to fuck with a teammate’s bike while he was in the restroom. His fault for not having a wingman outside. Made for good bonding, esprit de corps and all that.
@mcsqueak
I’m with you on the water. I ride with guys that are good with two bottles for 4 or 5 hours and no food. It fascinates me. I just don’t understand. I consume 225-300 calories/hour + 20-30oz of water/hour to keep going strong.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Hammer is cool. No evil in their products. And clearly no Clenbuterol, else I’d have lost that extra kg I’m battling.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
From a work related perspective, I think there are very legitimate grounds to be exceptionally afraid of plastic bottles””this isn’t a marketing ploy. That said, I do have a couple of plastic 500ml Cannondale bidons stuck on the bike. For anything less than 100k, one bottle will suffice, along with a power bar.
For anything less than 100k, one bottle will suffice, along with a power bar.
Really, I can’t make it 30k without finishing at least one bottle. My last 100k ride I carried two bottles, and refilled them during the ride. Do you just regularly take yourself into deep dehydration in order to harden up?
Steampunk :
@Jeff in PetroMetroFrom a work related perspective, I think there are very legitimate grounds to be exceptionally afraid of plastic bottles””this isn’t a marketing ploy. That said, I do have a couple of plastic 500ml Cannondale bidons stuck on the bike. For anything less than 100k, one bottle will suffice, along with a power bar.
Wow! I seem to always have a 750 ml bidon per 60-90 minutes of riding, and will take three on my longer rides. And I still feel dehydrated. I cannot imagine what I will do when I get to Texas this summer!
@razmaspaz
Yeah, I usually take 2 big bottles with me, unless it’s below about 12 C, when I often will just take one on a typical 45-60 kms ride. If it’s over 24 C I’ll need to refill somewhere. I generate a lot of heat and sweat like a pig if it’s warm, and when I get back from the ride, I want to go straight to a cold beer, not a bunch of water.
It took 9 bidons to get up Haleakala. I drink 1-2 per 30-40K if i can. I’ll regulate if i know i cant get more water somewhere, but i almost always can. I carry spare nuuns with me if i plan to refil.
Small bottle only, though. Big ones are too ugly, but I’ll use ’em if i have to. Ugly but alive is, however marginally, better than being dead but pretty. MARGINALLY.
Comparatively speaking, I did a 3 hour ride today. 30 minutes of it was easy commuting to and from the course. About an hour of it was rolling moderate with a riding mate who is having some horrible procedure done to his bladder in the morning (he’s 60 and starting to have “issues”), so he just wanted to roll and chat to get some anxiety out. The rest was near race-pace V. Good, consistent sufferfest with a few intervals to really turn up the pain.
I use a V-meter, but I estimate I rode 80-85km.
It’s 22c today. I took one small bidon of water and a Cliff Bar (chocolate chip, AWESOME). I ate the bar with an hour to go. I didn’t quite finish the bidon.
Now, in fairness, I am a skinny fucker. I am 179cm tall, and I weigh 63.5kg. I can dissipate heat. (It’s the cold that I have to contend with.)
But it’s not about survival. And it’s only kind of about performance. However, it’s always about looking PRO.
Just remember, DIE PRETTY.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
“I am 179cm tall, and I weigh 63.5kg.” Bastard. (Nothing personal.)
With the new bikes, I thought we had a connection Jeff. But I was wrong. You shouldn’t be riding a Look, you should be riding a racehorse.
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@Steampunk
Agreed. Looks perfect.
I was bummed to read that he will not be pursuing the Green Jersey this July but will instead work for Farrar’s chances and only seek a stage win for himself.
Especially as the TdF organizers spoke about awarding the same points for each finish, not extra points for the flat stages and fewer for the mountainous ones. (does anyone know if that rule is actually in effect this year? Equal points for all stage finishes?)
Oman Shmoman – Paris-Roubaix . . . can’t come soon enough (but thanks for the image, he looks sharp, the bike too, in those stripes).
There’s a framed rainbow jersey mounted at my coffee shop. Signed by Thor himself, complete with the Cervelo name emblazoned across the front. Very nice, but rather small. Given that Thor makes most pro riders look so small, it was a wake-up call to see just how small he is nonetheless. Thor, the diminutive god of thunder, doesn’t really have the same ring to it.
@Rob
Yeah: I haven’t forgotten the look in his eye immediately after winning the Worlds. What was his goal for 2011? Without so much as a pause: Paris-Roubaix. I’m not sure I’d bet against him.
@Steampunk
My heart says Hayden Roulston for P-R. My head – well, the moderately statured deity of inclement weather shades him, I think. But a Thor-Roly one-two I could live with. And Li’l Sparty in 3rd would round things out nicely.
@Steampunk
SO SWEET! Man, that guy is 100% compliant. Even has the camelback bottles that we’re having Velominati bottles made up in.
Here ’tis!
You’re making Velominati-branded Camelback bottles? Sweet.
@frank
Please say they’re not those sissy insulated things… insulated bottles are a slippery slope to full Rule 32 violation. Big bottles are a necessary evil (yes, I typically rock a 24 oz. bottle), but small bottles are best.
PS the only thing made by Spesh that I actually like are their bottles… branded for someone else, natch.
@sgt
Does Rule 24 extend to cover volume measures as well?
Surely litres and millilitres are the only way to go?
@Marcus
Speeds and distances, my friend… And don’t distract from the topic:
Insulated bottles; Casually Deliberate or abomination? Discuss…
@sgt
I use the insulated ones for summer rides when I’m drinking Hammer Perpetuem. It has fats in it that go rancid if it gets warm.
For regular water I just use cheapie bottles that that my bike shop gives away.
My Gatorade froze on my last ride. That was a little disappointing. An argument, perhaps, for insulated bottles.
I would think that is a more compelling argument not to ride!
@Marcus
I really don’t need this easy a prompt. This isn’t about Rule 9; please see Rule V. Read your comment again, and repent. Maybe new and pretty Look bikes are just for looking at…
@Steampunk
Ahh Steamy, your response was so predictable. If you are unlucky enough to live in a place that can freeze water bottles and you still ride, I say chapeau!
27 degrees and sunny right now – and I wore long sleeves this morning!
@Marcus
I am, yes, predictable. Alas. But I couldn’t let that go.
I guess we run the gamut here. It was -20c last week, and we’ll get up to 35-40c (with humidity) in the summer. I thank the Merckxian weather gods that I get to lay it all out in subjugation of Rule 9 for almost six months a year.
@mcsqueak
Never needed the insulated bottle for my pepetuem. I go with four hour bottles and fill right before I leave. For rides > 4 hours, I just leave a bottle with the powder only in the other cage. Of course, this necessitates breaking other rules, but it lets me do solo 300km+ rides, so I’ll take it.
How does your stuff go bad so fast? I’ve had mine out in 100+ degrees and had no problems.
@Steampunk
Yeah, it was -21C in Ann Arbor last Wednesday riding home from lab. Yesterday, I rode with just tights and arm warmers in a glorious 7C day. Temps keep you on your toes for sure.
How long were you riding for the freeze? I’ve found that I can get away with one bottle on the bike for the first 60-90 minutes, then I break out bottle two that goes in the middle pocket of the jersey under the jacket. It gets me through the last 30-60 minutes. My toes freeze too much to do more than about 2.5 hours when it’s under 30 degrees.
Just installed my Thor Hushovd Signature Vibe 7 stem; lookin’ good, brings me up 1cm – right between the 17deg stem and the too high 6 deg – based on positioning feedback from @Rob and @Oli Brook-White. Guess what’s on the front of the stem?
That’s right, a big fuckin’ V.
More:
@frank
The gerbera (sp?) in the third photo are a nice touch. Not candles, mind, but still nice. Cervelo red and maillot jaune yellow. You think of everything.
Looking good Frank, but I’ll wait for the next video before I sign off on your new position for good. ;-)
& is that a Belgian vase they be in? Can’t quite make out the brand. Ooh la la mon ami
Very sweet as in pretty, not sweeeet flowers mate. Lovin’ the V on the stem
Oooh wow, the white WC jersey and the black shorts look sharp as!
Can someone offer me a quick lesson on how Frank’s 17 to 6 degree switch brings him up 1cm? I’m confused at the math here.
And I’ve actually always been a bit confused by stem rise. Happy to read an article on it, if anyone has a link. Thanks.
Nice big fuckin’ V at the front, by the way, Frank! Cool pick up and swap out.
@mcsqueak
Second that! V-branded camelbak bottles sound great.
As far as insulated bottles – yep, I used the camelbak ones in the summer. They work and they look the best out of the insulated ones. When it’s 105*F for three months in a row, I’ll chance the Rule violations for a cold drink.
Outside the summer I just use regular bottles, usually camelbak. I like the nozzle and have gotten used to it. Keeps drips off of yer nice jerseys.
@sgt
Really? Are we talking about this? Abomination, obviously. (Sorry, @Ron.) They will be the regular bottles, but with the rad valve at the top. Just like the ones Thor is riding.
@Marcus
It only technically applies to speeds & distances, but – as has been the convention here – we like to see people discuss all measurements done in the metric system. Because it’s mo’bettah.
@Steampunk
That is, without a doubt, the great coffee house in the history of coffee.
EDIT: greatest
I was wondering when a Velominatus was gonna drop a nickel for a Thor “V” stem. Nice, Frank.
My feeling about bidons–small is best, tall is acceptable but looks bad on bikes, and any bottle that is insulated and so expensive that you can’t afford to lose it is just FUCKING INSANE.
At one point, I had five grocery bags full of the old standard sized bidons. I probably had 7 or 8 of the Coke ones. When I quit riding, I gave them to teammates, except one. I still have one Shiner Bock regular sized bidon from when Shiner was one of our sponsors. I will put up a photo if I can find the bidon.
Bidons should be like cycling caps and musette bags–small, cycling specific, inexpensive, pure advertising, and 100% functional. If you can’t get it for free or give it away, it’s not a bidon.
Oh, and another thing. If your bidon is so fucking technologically advanced and expensive that you can’t chuck it to the side of the road in a race (because it’s empty or you’re coming up to the sprint), then it’s not a bidon–its a perfume bottle.
And you can use that in the Lexicon. “Nice bike. And check out the perfume bottles in the cages. So haute.”
A bidon is a business card for a bike shop. A standard 500ml bidon with the shop’s logo should go out the door with every purchase of $50 or more, no questions asked. It’s pure marketing. Every cage on every new bike that goes out the door should have a 500ml bidon in it. Every bike repair of $50 or more should go out the door with a 500ml bidon in it. It puts the word out for the shop and makes the customer feel good. Within a year, the bike shop logo will be at every cycling event with 50km. And if its a normal 500ml bidon, it doesn’t cost the shop much. It’s the best cheap advertising in cycling.
Lots of good comments, Jeff, on the bidons. After using tons of free/cheap ones over the years I’m quite happy with the camelbak ones. I use the 500 mL ones most of the year.
Like I wrote, if I’m heading out for really long rides and it is as hot as it was last summer (months in triple digits) I go for the bigger insulated camelbaks. I normally respect the Rules, but if I can ride longer and harder due to more liquids and the soothing coolness of them, I gotta take the Rule penalty on this one.
I do fully admit the big, insulated bottles look like fucking garbage and make my Elite cages want to revolt.
We all can’t have Gianni following us up the mountain…and we all aren’t Italian camels like Pedale, who don’t even require cages.
Oh, and I also have a Tommasini-only bidon, a sweet as Tacx-made, Campagnolo branded one. I’ll never put an insulated camelbak on that bike.
Also never paid more than $5 for a bottle. Always get them on sale.
Great ideas, Jeff on getting a bottle free with any work over $50 or on any new bike.
@Collin
I’ve had it start to go bad at the end of a 3-4 hour ride before in hot weather when I used just a normal bottle plus ice. After that I started making it the night before and freezing it in an insulated bottle, which keeps it cold for an entire ride. I just take it out an hour or two before I start and it’s fine.
Granted, I could probably freeze it overnight in a normal bottle and have it work fine, but I tried it in an insulated bottle and it worked so I just stick with it. During the winter it’s not a worry obviously, and I just mix it into a normal bottle right before I leave with some ice, and it’s fine.
I mix it thick enough that I only need one bottle for all my nutrition during an entire ride, so I just want to make sure it lasts. I save my other bottle for plain water, and I don’t take any extra mix with me on rides… but I don’t do 300km solo rides, either!
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Almost Rule-worthy, this. Nice work.
@Ron
Seriously, nothing personal, Ron. I’ve got big bidons, too. I just think they look like shit on a bike.
What gets me is how expensive high-tech bidons got over the last year. Example: My wife doesn’t ride bikes. She rides horses. But she takes a bottle with her to the stables. Outside of the bike industry, these insulated beasts are selling for close to $20. And the metal industry has the PC crowd freaked out about plastic, so they market metal canteens shaped like bidons, for $20–in pink with flower stensils, to chicks.
It’s a free market, and everyone should charge what the market will bear.
I think the loss of a good, cheap, 500ml bidon is a shame. It’s such a great business card.
@mcsqueak
Bananas, bread, and water!!!!! There might be Clenbuterol in that witch’s brew you use.
Oh, wait. The Spanish say Clenbuterol is perfectly acceptable in very small amounts.
Nevermind.
@Ron
Yeah, I’m no camel either. I consume tons of water during warm-weather riding, and quite often during the summer I ride with my jerseys mostly unzipped for extra airflow. I get really, really hot, I sweat a ton and I never have to stop for “natural breaks” during rides because I sweat all the water out that I can consume. Not having to stop is pretty great, actually…
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Bananas are a staple for me. I eat them often before rides and as a snack at work. I eat light before a ride, and generally, unless I’m doing a really long ride and I need all the calories I can get, I hate eating during a ride. It just feels gross to me.
Eh, a little Clenbuterol wouldn’t be so bad for me… I’m not racing so I don’t have anyone to tell me otherwise…
Also, I think BPA was only found in hard, clear plastics, such as those large water bottles from REI everyone use to carry around. Soft plastics, and those that are opaque do not contain that chemical. However, I could be wrong.
@mcsqueak
When training, we used routes where we could stop after 50-60 miles. We were regulars at certain gas stations. We’d refill and buy a snack or a Coke. And it was obligatory to fuck with a teammate’s bike while he was in the restroom. His fault for not having a wingman outside. Made for good bonding, esprit de corps and all that.
@mcsqueak
I’m with you on the water. I ride with guys that are good with two bottles for 4 or 5 hours and no food. It fascinates me. I just don’t understand. I consume 225-300 calories/hour + 20-30oz of water/hour to keep going strong.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Hammer is cool. No evil in their products. And clearly no Clenbuterol, else I’d have lost that extra kg I’m battling.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
From a work related perspective, I think there are very legitimate grounds to be exceptionally afraid of plastic bottles””this isn’t a marketing ploy. That said, I do have a couple of plastic 500ml Cannondale bidons stuck on the bike. For anything less than 100k, one bottle will suffice, along with a power bar.
Really, I can’t make it 30k without finishing at least one bottle. My last 100k ride I carried two bottles, and refilled them during the ride. Do you just regularly take yourself into deep dehydration in order to harden up?
Wow! I seem to always have a 750 ml bidon per 60-90 minutes of riding, and will take three on my longer rides. And I still feel dehydrated. I cannot imagine what I will do when I get to Texas this summer!
@razmaspaz
Yeah, I usually take 2 big bottles with me, unless it’s below about 12 C, when I often will just take one on a typical 45-60 kms ride. If it’s over 24 C I’ll need to refill somewhere. I generate a lot of heat and sweat like a pig if it’s warm, and when I get back from the ride, I want to go straight to a cold beer, not a bunch of water.
It took 9 bidons to get up Haleakala. I drink 1-2 per 30-40K if i can. I’ll regulate if i know i cant get more water somewhere, but i almost always can. I carry spare nuuns with me if i plan to refil.
Small bottle only, though. Big ones are too ugly, but I’ll use ’em if i have to. Ugly but alive is, however marginally, better than being dead but pretty. MARGINALLY.
@razmaspaz @Buck Rogers
Hmm. I guess I do most of my hydrating not on the bike. I drink ~2 liters of water a day, and am rarely parched or wanting too much fluid when I ride.
@frank
No. DIE PRETTY. It’s too easy to die ugly.
Comparatively speaking, I did a 3 hour ride today. 30 minutes of it was easy commuting to and from the course. About an hour of it was rolling moderate with a riding mate who is having some horrible procedure done to his bladder in the morning (he’s 60 and starting to have “issues”), so he just wanted to roll and chat to get some anxiety out. The rest was near race-pace V. Good, consistent sufferfest with a few intervals to really turn up the pain.
I use a V-meter, but I estimate I rode 80-85km.
It’s 22c today. I took one small bidon of water and a Cliff Bar (chocolate chip, AWESOME). I ate the bar with an hour to go. I didn’t quite finish the bidon.
Now, in fairness, I am a skinny fucker. I am 179cm tall, and I weigh 63.5kg. I can dissipate heat. (It’s the cold that I have to contend with.)
But it’s not about survival. And it’s only kind of about performance. However, it’s always about looking PRO.
Just remember, DIE PRETTY.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
“I am 179cm tall, and I weigh 63.5kg.” Bastard. (Nothing personal.)
@Jeff in PetroMetro
With the new bikes, I thought we had a connection Jeff. But I was wrong. You shouldn’t be riding a Look, you should be riding a racehorse.