Look forward to the pics. Good luck!!
Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
It's been... uhm... 4 years.
Taping up your vents on the shoes can help, too.
I've got a pair of Madison gloves where the last two fingers are together and they're pretty toasty.
I find the gloves with the mitten cover works well. Keeps the wind off as its an extra layer, which seems to be the main issue with gloves, the same as toes. The more layers you can get on there the more you keep the wind off.
Oh I get that and he's totally right - I'll do the same as you regularly on Zwift and just 'know I can't follow' by looking at the numbers, rather than generally smashing myself to do so. But I guess much of that for me is wanting to finish most things and not DQ/utterly destroy myself for other things that week/weekend!He isn't against power as such but just of the opinion that you can sell yourself short. If you tell yourself your FTP is 300w for an hour or you can go 400w for 6 minutes on a climb but suddenly someone attacks and you have to do 450w for 6 minutes you will tell yourself you can't do it rather than just dig deep and smash it. It sort of happened to me in a race with my HR monitor on, hadn't really used it much and I look down and see 202Bpm and was like holy ****. It distracted me from concentrating on the race in front of me - now a few hundred yards in front
Positioning can save sooooooooo much wastage energy too, I'm fully aware that the back roundabout of the A80 is deadly so I take myself off the front and freewheel to the back to go slowly round it. The next section is pretty much a sprint to get back on the bunch. The opposite roundabout is safer so I tend stay top five so I can glue myself to the strongest guys wheel for when he decides to line it out without having to do a big effort and blow up.
It's like a mental block, or more accurately a 'data block'.
The TTT I did last thursday is a good non-example (40 minutes over my FTP), I went so hard chasing wheels/gaps I was generally 'ignoring' the data, the couple of times I looked (generally on the hardest ramps) I would then ease/taper my efforts slightly so I didn't blow up. The rest of the time I was at or utterly over my limit. I 'half' blew up at least 4 times where I felt I had no option but to ease, where I just dug deep and somehow held the wattage at my absolute limit. Blew up twice (properly) including throwing up! Serves me right for chasing good B & A riders on that damn hard Harrogate course!
The start of another Zwift race (not a TTT) last night is the example of it going the other way - I knew I was deep, chasing wheels after a hectic bunch start, but when things then strung out and I was still well over 300W just to hold wheels/chase gaps, I 'gave up' because of that and eased. I should have been able to hold that effort longer, or ease it to 300W and hold it longer. I got so annoyed I actually sat up and looked for something else to ride, drew a blank and continued. My ride afterwards doing pulls in a mixed B/C group and then later mostly 2up with a C confirmed I had the legs. Although I was riding later in the day (after a busy day) and under fuelled, I didn't really feel it.
That'll do it! TT (& TTT) efforts if done correctly are really very similar to an FTP test! Almost harder! Better to use the data from them as far more engaging and interesting than tests!
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Get a TICKR. Mine has been faultless and just TICK'd over 5 years old. Did pay £41 for it, but less than £10 a year even me thinks that's good value!
Put me down! Although spare holiday days from work is not something I'm going to have going forwards with damn school summer holidays! Might be a year or two before I can convince the other half my 5 year old needs a few days climbing hills in the Peaks...2021 OCUK does Tour de Peaks - Get signed up
GK's come well regarded for gravel but I think generally those with them in the UK don't find them grippy enough... Lets be honest, depending what trails you have, most of the UK 'gravel' trails during the winter are half mud...
This probably belongs in the Indoor riding thread. But is a known issue with many/most of the flywheel direct driven trainers. I actually used a separate cadence sensor with my Flux v1 because of it. Unsure if Zwift or Tacx fixed things since then, but my sensor has long died and I've not really felt the need to replace it's battery... I do still occasionally notice my cadence a bit 'sticky'.
Liners will help, if you've good gloves already. You really need gloves with good wind protection in the winter months as your hands are very exposed and not generally generating any/much heat as they're not moving much. It's very easy to get numb/slow hands and not even realise until they get painful, then they're some of the worst things to try and warm up! Raynauds makes them even worse!
Feet can be the opposite as they're moving a lot more, but equally most people who suffer from cold hands, also generally suffer with cold feet. Feet although moving are exposed to more - dirt & moisture can chill them regardless of any heat they're generating. One trick I do is to put toe warmers on, underneith overshoes. The toe box generally hits cold air so cools the most, so insulating it more can do wonders for your ride if you can keep more heat in. Taping vents and foil over toes are just extensions of that...
It's hard to judge as we're all individual, but personally I don't 'suffer' with cold or hot hands very often, nor with lack of breathability so I'll happily overly layer them up. During the autumn->spring seasons I'll always be in overshoes, even when it's over 20 degrees at times. I'll generally always be in merino socks too, so even if my feet get a little damp/sweaty they're still warm and I don't really notice until taking my shoes off afterwards.
I wore my super winter Spatz 'Roadman V2' overshoes last Friday for the first time this winter. It wasn't as cold (1 degree) as it had been some other mornings, but they do work really well. Rest of the time I've been in generally thicker socks and basic Sealskinz overshoes for my commute (far easier & quicker to put on/take off for my <10 minute commute). If riding further I'd be wearing the Spatz. But they are overly expensive and easy to damage/tear so I'm quite conscious about only wearing them when really 'necessary'.
Agreed, winter boots work well as they're not made to be breathable like most shoes. I generally only dig mine out when there's prolonged cold mornings & evenings. Should probably have got them out 2 weeks ago...
Did @Calpol survive and ever consider doing it again?!
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Blast from the past!
It's an amazing event - really well organised and well worth the money at the time considering you got a bag full of goodies that included a Castelli jersey and gilet which I still use. The course is a bit of a brute but I did get all the way round. Probably my cycling peak! Anyway here is a pic of my struggling up the Mur de Giat - a nice little 13% kicker about 5km from the end!
wtf, I must have hit page one, oh well
Soldato
I ended up ordering Icebreaker Oasis Merino Glove Liners and SealSkinz Waterproof Extreme Cold Weather Cycle Split Finger Glove (lobster mittens). Will see how they go
Image doesn't work, think it's not public shared. Good to hear from you! Hope all is well? Still riding? Been a while since we saw you in here...Blast from the past!
It's an amazing event - really well organised and well worth the money at the time considering you got a bag full of goodies that included a Castelli jersey and gilet which I still use. The course is a bit of a brute but I did get all the way round. Probably my cycling peak! Anyway here is a pic of my struggling up the Mur de Giat - a nice little 13% kicker about 5km from the end!
Look quite good liners, I got some DHB ones a while back and sizing was so crazy I ended up with XS and they where still too big to wear under my normal Medium gloves... I actually wear them now under my chainsaw gloves!I ended up ordering Icebreaker Oasis Merino Glove Liners and SealSkinz Waterproof Extreme Cold Weather Cycle Split Finger Glove (lobster mittens). Will see how they go
Sealskinz gloves I've owned previously have been warm, but didn't like the fit/found the liners clammy & loose. They've been good waterproof gloves though.
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Briefly! Haha!
Stay safe out there guys, a Zwift teammate lost 5 of his friends yesterday in a horrific accident when their whole group was hit by a truck. Grim.
In other more positive news, WTRL TTT last night was brutal as we had 3 A riders along, thankfully a flat course. I had an energy drink while warming up and it seemed to do wonders for me as finished feeling strong. @Jonny ///M & @xdcx will be proud: Irn Bru!
Stay safe out there guys, a Zwift teammate lost 5 of his friends yesterday in a horrific accident when their whole group was hit by a truck. Grim.
In other more positive news, WTRL TTT last night was brutal as we had 3 A riders along, thankfully a flat course. I had an energy drink while warming up and it seemed to do wonders for me as finished feeling strong. @Jonny ///M & @xdcx will be proud: Irn Bru!
He messaged me to say. We share the same initial. I’ve not ridden for a month now really.
He usually rides/runs at least once a day, needs some TLC for his bike but can’t get over to do it as we are locked down.
Associate
o
oh dear ha haOh I do agree, you do find that most kit aimed towards 'commuters' does generally have a high-viz option. But... Just be careful with that can of worms
Yeah the initial is what made me look, then realised it wasn't you. Then a few minutes later he said something like "I think you know my son" and explained haha. He was riding well, if that was his bike needing some TLC then didn't seem to be holding him back!
Yeah just wanted to point out that things are not quite as black & white as some generally think. I don't necessarily agree - as I'm an advocate of high-viz and being visible. I see enough riders around who are not taking quite easy steps, even those riding on the roads, which personally I think is just creating additional unnecessary risk. No helmets, erratic riding, no awareness, no lights at night.
With the quality of lights and batteries these days its rare I don't ride with a rear light on any time of day or year now.
I have a slug of dark winter gear though as otherwise it just gets ruined with most of my riding now Gravelly and no mudguards but figure if you can't see my lights you won't be seeing me.
I have a slug of dark winter gear though as otherwise it just gets ruined with most of my riding now Gravelly and no mudguards but figure if you can't see my lights you won't be seeing me.
Associate
I find it hard not to go out with at least something on to keep me visible !
Soldato
Anyone on an antares saddle?
Had one. Hated it.
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 10,646
Never tried an Antares, little bit satisfied with my arione but not 100%.
This system six has a prologo dimension so we'll see how my fussy arse gets on with it.
Started building it today and routing gear cables within the frame is.... fun.
This system six has a prologo dimension so we'll see how my fussy arse gets on with it.
Started building it today and routing gear cables within the frame is.... fun.