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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G'rilla says:

Nov 8 2013 at 10:41 am
Teocalli says:

Nov 8 2013 at 11:09 am

@frank

@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.

Our winter training group in the hills use a similar rig but most of us use various combinations of Exposure lights. Stacks of power and on the odd occasion we hit road sections with half a dozen or so riders packing 2,000+ lumens between bar and helmet mounted lights cars have a strange tendency to stop in their tracks as we go by. See pic in The Rides for sample output from 2 bikes.
RedRanger says:

Nov 9 2013 at 12:52 pm

Cyclocross in Tucson is a sad thing
RedRanger says:

Nov 9 2013 at 12:52 pm
mouse says:

Nov 9 2013 at 2:16 pm

@RedRanger

Whoo, yes, not a huge variation in surfaces there but full marks for trying.
RedRanger says:

Nov 9 2013 at 2:35 pm

@mouse I think there was a total of 2 barriers. but oddly some of the people had some really nice kit. the other half raced on 29ers
G'rilla says:

Nov 17 2013 at 1:19 pm

Local promoter of Cascade Cross used to design a course every year at a multi-use city park.

The city would use the park as a dumping ground for various organic waste And the promoter would work these big piles of wood chips, boulders, etc into the course design.

One year there was a big pile of dirt so he set up some course tape to send riders straight over it.

Race day came and there had been a bit of rain. As the day went on, the rain became more intense and riders were covered in mud. The pile of dirt began to emit a horrible smell.

Then he realized this was no ordinary pile of dirt. It was a pile of manure.