Mind-body link

A friend was talking about a theory that the mind can have a big impact on the body. In particular, some niggles in the body can be a result of mental issues. The example they used was stress – manifesting in the form of back pain. The back may be perfectly strong, but to deal with the mental stress, the body deals with it by having pain in the back; furthermore it is claimed releasing this stress in the back is actually a good thing.

If you have have a fall, and injury your knee, it’s pretty certain what the cause is. But, if you wake up the day after a ride, and find a mysterious injury / pain – then it may be some mental cause – often unconscious, and not an underlying physical cause.

I’m no expert on this kind of thing, and I’m sure there are doctors who would disagree – but it is interesting. In particular, I’m sure there have been times when I’ve gained some kind of minor niggle, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the enforced rest did a lot to improve my long-term form.

One thing I should add, when I have had persistent niggles in knees – Physiotherapy did a  very good job in getting it better.

I also often think about to my early 20s, where I was injured for several years – meaning I only took up cycling in the late 20s. From a cycling point of view, this was hugely significant. If I’d taken up cycling 10 years earlier, my cycling career might have been quite different. I don’t have any regrets though because, in this lifetime, I am glad I didn’t become a professional cyclist.

kettering-fr-snow
Colds

The other interesting thing is that I nearly always get a cold in November / December. During the racing season, I try to hold off any cold. But, once the season is over, I let go of any resistance and almost invite a cold. It’s the best time of the year to have one. A week off the bike, and I’m enjoying it; it’s amazing how much time you have when you don’t cycle 250 miles a week.

It doesn’t always work. I’ve had inopportune colds, just when I don’t want it. But, I think there is something in the idea we can have a mental influence over the body – either positive or negative. My feeling is that we are only just touching the surface of this mind-body link. I’m sure in hundreds of years time, people’s awareness of this will be greatly expanded and we will gain greater intuition and ability to influence this link.

But, at the moment, it’s back to the Vicks vapour rub and snotty handkerchiefs – and dreaming of cycling up Col du Tourmalet in the Pyranees next summer.

How often to clean the winter training bike?

winter-mud

The racing season presents many dilemmas – how many days rest do you need in between intervals – should you do intervals at 100% or 99%?

The winter season presents a very different kind of dilemma – not least – how often are we to clean our winter training bike?

winter-training-bike
Winter training bike looking suspiciously clean

There are two main schools of thought in this direction. The first school suggests religiously cleaning the bike after every ride, with at least once a week complete strip down and degrease.

The second school of thought suggests the best interval for cleaning the winter bike is roughly once a year in early April before retiring the winter bike to the loft.

Those who follow the first school of daily cleaning are either professional bike riders or those who actually do very little winter training. They may pop out on the roads, should the weather be suitably inviting, but generally they prefer to keep their bike out of the wind and mud. No point risking anything when its 5 degrees outside and winter slime covers the road.

winter-mud
Winter mud, near Henley

Unfortunately, most of us are more likely to fall in between the two. We don’t quite want to commit to cleaning the bike after every ride, but once you put it off once, it’s very hard to get round to ever cleaning it – because you know within 12 hours it will be just as muddy as it is already. So you rationalise it by saying, well I might as well leave it another day. I’ll clean it when there is a week of dry, sunny weather forecast (i.e. never). Instead, we just learn to grow accustomed to the muddy winter bike; it starts to become a badge of our ‘old school’, cycling in any weather kind of mentality. It’s a strange logic and hopefully one that doesn’t spill over into personal hygiene. Though, I did have a school friend who claimed after three weeks his hair would start cleaning itself. We were a bit dubious, though we never got too close to inspect for ourselves.

Perhaps that is the next development in bike technology, forget electronic 12 speed which no-one needs – what about the self-cleaning winter bike with automatic greasing and repair maintenance? I’d buy one of those.

The problem with writing this piece is that the more I write about cleaning my winter bike, the greater the growing guilt about the layers of mud on my own down tube. It’s really not that hard to clean a bike, and it does give a wonderful sense of satisfaction when we rediscover the frame colour is a bright blue rather than a muddy brown. It’s just fortunate that I’m going to go out on  a winter training ride in a couple of hours – I might as well leave it until I get back….

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No training plan

At the moment, I’m riding without a plan – and it’s quite an enjoyable experience.

leafield

During August, September and October it was all tightly structured intervals. November is the complete opposite, unstructured and no intervals. As mentioned previously, I find myself riding around at 15-16mph wondering how on earth do you manage to come back from a ride with an average of over 17 mph.

Riding around Otmoor, I saw a mini chain gang of four riders hammering it on a late November afternoon. The guy on the front was on a time trial bike, giving it some welly. I felt no desire to latch on the end.

autumn-near-

I kept my steady pace. But after three weeks of nothing more than level II, I was curious to remember what it was like to go hard up a hill. On the way up to Brill from Oakley I decided to give it a go. For the first five seconds it was a bit of a buzz as you remember the speed and effort of cycling fast up steep hills. But, after 10 seconds it was also a reminder of the great effort needed; it felt painfully slow. I dragged the winter bike up in a respectable time, but it was nothing to get too excited about. Racing feels along way away.

hughenden-valley-aut

In a way, winter is a good balance to the preceding months. It’s like slow recovery rides are a good balance to hard intervals. Similarly a couple of months of just accumulating miles is a good balance to the work dedicated on the top end. Usually in January, I might consider different training methods, and more higher end work. But, that is always much easier to do when you have a good solid aerobic base.

Having said that – a good day of weather yesterday encouraged me to give my summer bike – the Trek Madone a final farewell fling before winter retirement in the loft. I’m not sure if it was the bike, weather or I was just bored of plodding. But I kept a very respectable pace all the way to Henley and back, averaging a very commendable November average speed of 18mph for the 55 miles. It still gave me time to think about the National Hill Climb splits. I’m not sure which is most impressive, how slowly I went up first half or how quick I went up the second half.  As Jimmy Hill used to say on the BBC Match of the day – It’s a game of two halves, Gary’.

I am in real mile munching mode at the moment. nearly 800 miles for November already and it doesn’t really feel like I’m training. Though I’ve been going very slowly up hills, I still can’t wait for next years hill climb season!

There is a virtual prize for any local rider who can identify the locations of the two roads. I would struggle and I took the photos

 

 

Winter miles

At the end of the hill climb season, you finish with great top end form, but the less exciting, base aerobic fitness has been given a bit of a back seat. Late October is not the time to be getting 5 hour slow, steady rides under the belt.

After a couple of quiet weeks, the top end form soon dissipates; or perhaps it’s just that you don’t have any motivation to see if you can still sprint up hills. Instead, my thoughts turn to all those miles I’ve been missing out on, and all the miles I need to be getting in.

30mph-barringtons

I was born in a frankly pre-historic, last millennium type analogue era. It was a time before heart rate monitors, power meters, Strava and all these notions of efficient training. I was brought into cycling on the traditional Sunday Club run. At the end of the 12 hour, 110 mile ride, you would just put your feet up and stuffed your face with food – there was no logging on to see how you were digitally comparing.

The greatest excitement for measuring performance was the annual Cycling Weekly mileage double spreadsheet. I used to cut it out and put it on my wall. There was a simple target to fill in as many miles as you could. The more miles the better. This is what is now called ‘Old School Cycling‘ – but we were real men in those days, no indoor virtual races from the comfort of an internet connected roller ride. And I would rather Cycling Weekly kept publishing a paper mileage chart rather than these adverts for Ritmo – which, on principle I have no intention of ever trying to understand.

***

Anyway, grumpy old man ‘things were better in my day’ complaint over.

For no particular reason, I get to winter and generate a target to try and do 1,000 miles in each of the winter months – November, December, January and February. There is no good reason for this; no scientific basis that the key to a 4 minute hill climb in October is doing 4,000 miles in the preceding winter. But, it’s good to have a target, especially one where it doesn’t matter so much if you miss out a bit.

To be honest, 1,000 miles a month does requires quite a lot of discipline – especially as the nights draw in and the weather turns remorselessly colder and wetter. I don’t think I’ve ever managed 4,000 miles for the four winter months, but I’m sure if I can do it this year, the 2015 hill climb season will be my best ever….

***

80 miles down – 3,920 to go

After two weeks of testing the waters – nothing more than the odd 32 mile ride (even if they did take 2 and half hours). Yesterday was chance to go out for a proper winter training ride. Five hours of plodding a lonely furrow through the Cotswolds.

If winter miles can feel a bit like a chore at times, yesterday was one of those great days for cycling, where you are just grateful to be out in the perfect autumn weather. If winter training could always be like this…

november-flowers
November 10th. I’ve never seen so my flowers still out.

At 10 degrees, it was as good as it gets in mid-November. I took a meandering route to Bourton on the Water and Lower Slaughter; these have been voted the prettiest villages in England, and for good reason. It does make a refreshing change to be spending Sunday cycling through the late Autumn fall – rather than stopping off at a motorway station on the M6 after a brief 4 minutes of torture up some hill climb. I like the off-season – a reminder there’s more to cycling than racing.

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Recovery rides

I used to do recovery rides at 18 mph, I now seem to do them at 14-15mph – is this a sign of progress? I’m not sure, but probably is. Earlier this year, my recovery rides got as low as 11mph, a combination of NY traffic lights every 50m and the American heat.

nyc-greenway-cunningham-park

The basic principle of recovery rides is to make sure your muscles do actually recover from the micro tears that you subjected them to in harder rides the day before. Hard training only works, if there is sufficient recovery afterwards. The temptation for the over-enthusiastic rider is to ride hard every day and never allow the super-compensation to occur. Using a power meter for the first time this year was of interest. One thing that stood out is that if you want to get a higher power figure, you needed a good period of recovery. It was after this 2-3 days of recovery that you saw higher power figures. Bashing yourself everyday gives a plateau at best. It reminded me of the Obree Way – Obree used to train incredibly hard and then wait 3-5 days to train again. It seemed ridiculously minimalist training and I thought I’d never want to train once or twice a week, but I can understand why it worked now.

How hard to do recovery rides?

I don’t particularly like wearing heart rate monitors, so only do when necessary. On a low intensity recovery ride, 60% of maximum heart rate is a rough guide to avoid going too  hard. For me, this is often coming back at an average speed of around 15mph. I do recovery rides purely on feel, and don’t really look at a computer. It is an effort, where you could engage in light conversation without getting out of breath. In terms of power, they tend to be in the range of 100-200 watts. (with a rough threshold one hour power of around 320 watts)

Are recovery rides better than sitting on the couch?

Sometimes it’s good to have a complete day off the bike, if only for the mental and psychological break. But, generally, low intensity recovery rides can be better than doing nothing. Gordon Wright felt that these rides were of substantial benefit.

  • Firstly low intensity rides help a good blood circulation to the legs to aid in recovering the muscles.
  • Low intensity rides help prevent the muscles closing down and really going into rest mode. This means that your next training session will be more profitable. (This principle is why Grand tour riders can go out for up to 3 hours on their ‘rest’ day.
  • Aerobic conditioning. If you are an endurance athlete, any small improvement in base aerobic fitness can help general base fitness. As a very rough rule of thumb, the pyramid principle suggests most training should be done at a low intensity. Smaller quantities at the highest intensity. If you are a time pressed athlete, you could ditch some of the low intensity rides and focus on the intervals, but if you have the time, low intensity can help. I see it as the Yin and Yang approach. On the one hand, really intense intervals which stretch the body out of its comfort zone and limits – to act as a balance, steady low intensity riding.

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Lezyne L-Caddy Saddle bag – review

I bought a Lezyne saddle bag recently to replace an Altura Saddle bag that had worn away.

Firstly, it’s a relief to be reviewing a proper cycling product. i.e. reasonably priced, of interest to most cycle users and bought for it utility  and not because it weighs less than 50 grams. When buying this, no weighing scales involved – just a mater of whether it does the job or not. lezyne-saddle-bag

Simple design, fairly sturdy. Looks good on the bike.

There is the main compartment and a second layer underneath. In this lower layer, I put one inner tube and a multi-tool. It would be a good place to carry a mobile phone as it would get quite a bit of protection from rain and it would fit the thin compartment quite well.

One thing with a saddle bag is that I’ve often had multi-tools get wet and rust. This is because the saddle bag can pick up spray on long rides. I’ve started putting multi-tools in plastic bags to help protect against this. Early testing suggests that the neoprene covering on the back and bottom helps to keep spray out. I haven’t been on long 4 hour wet rides yet. But, given the qualities of neoprene I’m expecting an improvement.

lezyne-inside-saddle-bag

Inside there are three pockets. The $ pocket takes up a bit of space, but, they are useful for keeping things a bit tidier and easier to find. Also, I once punctured both spare inner tubes with a sharp multi-tool, leaving me stranded, so it is good to keep tyre levers and inner tubes separate.

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2014 season

The 2014 season didn’t make the most auspicious start. Getting knocked off the bike at 30mph by a kamikaze Portuguese dog. It was a shame because cycling in the Algarve was fantastic apart from the crazy dogs. It gave a taste for long European climbs, something I’d like to do more of sometime.

From early March until late October, I’ve been racing fairly consistently, though the change from doing 100 mile time trials to hill climbs is as good as rest in a way.

Early season classics

Stouts Hill - Rich Lewton
Stouts Hill – Photo: Rich Lewton

For me the highlight of the TT season are the early season hilly classics. I did the Circuit of Ingleborough for the first time and other hilly races like Circuit of the Dales. A highlight of season was doing the Bristol South Megahilly for the first time. This was a dream course for a hill climber – five long climbs of around 10%. Over 1,100m of climbing in less than 28 miles.

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Do I need a new bike?

Yes.

That’s the short answer, but if you ever need justification for buying a new bike –  these are some reasons to help you dip in the wallet and buy the new bike you deserve!

Of course, no real cyclist ever needs justification to buy a new bike, but this might be helpful for dealing with those family members who may not share the same understanding of the scientific and emotional benefits of the new 2015 Shimano Dura Ace di2 groupset.

bike-by-ocean

Good reasons to get a new bike

  • Because manufacturers inform you this years model is 20% more rigid, 12% lighter, 7 % more aerodynamic and only 33% more expensive. If you buy, everyone’s a winner!
  • If you don’t buy a new bike, it means you will be riding a bike that is potentially slower than you could be riding. How painful is that thought?
  • Why spend all those hours training in the wet and cold when you could be getting the same marginal gains whilst sitting in the office doing overtime to pay for your new bike?!
  • Because there will definitely be someone on the start line of your race / cyclosportive /  Strava leaderboard – who will have that new bike. You wouldn’t expect Lewis Hamilton to turn up to a Formula One race, in a 1920s Ford Model T. You need the best to have a fair competition.
  • You need a cheap commuting bike to reduce the scare of getting your 33% more expensive new bike stolen. This is brilliant, You get a new bike that is so expensive, you have to get a cheaper bike to complement it. Two reasons for the price of one.
  • Cheaper than upgrades. If you took a bike apart and tried to buy the components separately, it would be twice as expensive.  If you find yourself buying a new component like a new stem or new pair of wheels, you might as well just go the whole hog and buy a new bike!
  • The last bike you will ever need. The next bike you buy is so good, it will be the last bike you ever need. Manufacturers have been making bikes stiffer, lighter and more aero for years. But, this technological progress has to stop sometime. If you buy a bike, bike manufacturers are likely to say ‘that’s it, bikes can’t get better than this. (P.S. I have bought seven ‘last ever bike I will need’)
  • New bike gives new inspiration. There is a great feeling in riding a new immaculate bike. If you’re struggling with inspiration to train, buy a new bike and the next week of training will be really high quality because you are so happy to be riding a new bike. Admittedly, a weekly new bike could be stretching even the most enthusiastic resources of the most ardent ‘buy a new bike’ type person. You should save this for desperate times like the middle of winter.

Colnago_C50

  • Because it looks good. Who said a new bike needs to be faster? It’s not as if you’re going to win an important race anyway. Bikes are all about looks. That 1980s Colnago C50 will have plenty heads turning on the club run, and if that’s not worth taking out a £5,000 loan – what is?

Poor excuses not to get a new bike

bike-house
Bike in house. A kind of modern art.
  • There isn’t room in the shed. This is a very poor excuse. There is always room to accommodate a new bike. Who said bicycles have to be stored in the garage? Take down your David Hockney from your living room, and in its place put your new living modern art (aka – your new Colnago) on the wall. In this way you’ve killed three birds with one stone:
    • You have a motivation to clean the bike after every  ride
    • You have joined the modern art movement of spending a lot of money on the unexpected!
    • You have your new bike!
      If all else fails, you could always consider selling an old bike. But, this is really a last resort, because it’s much better to accumulate an ever increasing number of bikes.
  • You haven’t got the money In the days of Wonga, credit cards and quantitative easing, there’s always money somewhere. Your granny may have told you money doesn’t grow on trees, but if the UK can have a national debt of £1,432.3 billion and Q.E. of £350bn money creation, do you not think you deserve a very small extension of credit for helping the economic recovery? Think of it as expansionary fiscal policy – any good Keynesian economist will tell you that your consumer spending is a selfless act for the greater good.
  • Family unconvinced. This is slightly tricky – your partner is not convinced that you need a 12th bike when the last family holiday was a budget hotel in Skegness in 2009. But, still with a new bike – every day is a holiday. All we need is that 12th bike and we will become a beacon of happiness and cheerfulness (until the next seasons models come out) – so everyone is a winner really. Note the emphasis on shared ownership. You may ride the bike, but really it belongs to everyone.

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Zipp SL + SLC Handlebars

I’ve been looking into handlebars for the hill climb bike. I need to buy another pair because I want to chop the ends off (I won’t be using drops in upcoming hill climbs). It’s not the most efficient way to save 50 grams, but it might be easier to pull on the hoods as well.

I looked at the Zipp handlebars, as usual there is a confusing array of names Zipp SL, Zipp Contour SL, and Zipp SLC. There’s not a huge variation in each. Zipp SL the lightest. Zipp SLC the most rigid. Also, be careful – Zipp sizes are centre to centre. A 42cm ZIpp (Centre to centre) is a 44cm in most other brands.

 

Zipp SL

zipp-sl-main

Zipp SL is the lighest handlebar it is 31.8 only in the middle of the bars allowing a more aerodynamic profile away from the centre.It means that you can put clip on aerobars on them. Zipp specificially say you can’t – it isn’t built with suitable clamping point. This is more of a climbers bar, with focus on lightweight, but they are still reasonably stiff.
Features:
• Weight (SS 42 cm): 170g
• Clamp Diameter: 31.8
• Clamp Width: 48mm
• Short-Shallow Bend: Yes
• Clip Compatible: No
• Max Brake Lever Torque: 8NM
• Max Torque Clamping to Bar: 8NM
• Drop style: SS

RRP €313 – Zipp at Zipp.com

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Combe Gibbet

Combe_Gibbet_views_joolz-_east

Combe Gibbet is number 25 in 100 greatest hills.  It is a  fairly short climb, averaging just under 10% to take you to the top of Combe Gibbet / Walbury hill.

I rode up Combe Gibbet on Sunday purely by accident. I was racing up Walbury hill which is an alternative ascent to the top of that hill. The weather was too hot to warm up on rollers so I preferred to warm up on roads instead. I took the road from Inkpen and went in any direction that was uphill and not on the race course. From Inkpen there is a gradual ascent, and then a bit of downhill before the short, sharp shock of Combe Gibbet. It averages 9% for 0.5 miles. But, towards the end of the climb, there is a good section of 16%. Pre race I was trying to ride up the climb, without going over 300 watts- which is a bit difficult to do without going at low cadence. I don’t like warming up too hard, I prefer to keep it fairly steady.

Combe_Gibbet_views_joolz-_east
Photo Joolz

The weather was perfect so I enjoyed the climb and view from the top. The climb was quite quiet, very few cars, and the odd horserider. If I’d known I was riding Combe Gibbet I may have taken some photos. But, I also had a race to concentrate on.

Combe Gibbet

  • Distance 0.5 miles
  • Average gradient: 9%
  • Max Gradient: 16%
  • Summit Height of 889ft / 270m
  • Height gain 259ft / 79m
  • Strava segment – official 100 climbs of Combe Gibbet

After the race I went back up Combe Gibbet to do a bit more training. From the top of the hill, I headed south in the general direction of Andover. It was a strange descent, you kept thinking you would come to the bottom of the descent, but it kept on going down. One thing about hills in this part of the country is your never sure where the starting point is. It’s a great part of the country to cycle around. Quiet lanes, interesting roads, decent climbs, but nothing too taxing.

Combe Gibbet points of interest

Combe Gibbet is a popular tourist attraction. Wikipedia tells us a gibbet was erected in 1676 for the purpose of gibbeting the bodies of murderers – George Broomham and Dorothy Newman. The gibbet was placed in such a prominent location as a warning, to deter others from committing similar crimes. So if you want to see a replica of a Seventeenth Century Gibbet, there’s an added motivation to climb the hill.

Walbury hill is the highest point in Hampshire.

Combe Gibbet from the south

Combe Gibbet from the south is a good climb. If you want there is a several mile incline averaging about 1%. But, the climb proper only lasts for the last 1km.

The last 0.7 miles averages 7% and it gets steeper towards the top. The last half a mile averaging 10%

  • Distance 0.7 miles
  • Height gain: 240ft / 73 m
  • Max gradient: 12%

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