Categories: Belgian AffirmationsThe HardmenTradition

Winter Training

There is drafting, and then there’s this.

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.

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

dissolved says:

Nov 1 2013 at 3:25 am

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.
dissolved says:

Nov 1 2013 at 3:56 am

@Mikael Liddy

@dissolved

@Buck Rogers

@dissolved

I was all set for the idea of heaven @deakus had set before us until I decided to try for a space on the RVV or LBL sportives, now it looks like the holiday period will be all velodrome and turbo sessions if the weather is beyond a stern application of Rule #9.

I can't wait!

You're signed for these??? Oh MAN! How awesome!!! If full course you will indeed be needing to kill yourself this winter! So jealous!!!

Buck the registrations open on November 1st (RVV) and 15th (LBL). I figure if I don't get in one I'll get into the other. If I don't get into those then I'll have to go for the P-R option. The most I've done in a day is 230km which was mainly flat so the training is going to be immense.

I was already training for a 4 day ride in June next year but RVV/LBL will be more pain than 4 days condensed into one I am absolutely certain. Excited already

You know what the true solution is? Keepers' Tour 14

would love to but more of a '15 goal in terms of time and finance I think.
Mike_P says:

Nov 1 2013 at 4:40 am

@dissolved

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.

Chapeau! Are you still aiming for LBL too? Do please be sure to give us all the gory details after RVV.
Buck Rogers says:

Nov 1 2013 at 5:32 am

@dissolved

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.

FUCK Yes!!! Awesome!!!
dissolved says:

Nov 1 2013 at 6:13 am

@Buck Rogers @Mike_P I don't think I can afford both but will definitely post how I get on in the RVV!
LiggettInMyEar says:

Nov 1 2013 at 4:52 pm

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.
paolo says:

Nov 3 2013 at 9:11 am

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?
DerHoggz says:

Nov 3 2013 at 3:21 pm

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?
frank says:

Nov 3 2013 at 4:28 pm

@DerHoggz

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?

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.
PeakInTwoYears says:

Nov 3 2013 at 5:50 pm

@frank

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.

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.