Saturday, December 31, 2011

Last ride of 2011

In the spirit of Hogmanay (or New Year for those of you not in Scotland) I met up with a pal this morning for my last ride of the year. As you know I usually ride solo so the prospect of a long planned ride with someone else made me slightly nervous. I shouldn't have worried. Vic's company is good at work and also on the hills. The bike is no exception.
He usually commutes 10 miles each way to work every day, but one of my training runs is another thing. However I suspect that he was kind today and went slower for the fatty cycling with him. He wasn't so kind in the amount of of mud spraying off his back wheel but I think I got my revenge in that department. And we survived the wind; encouraging each other along.
We met in Pitscottie and we split on arrival in Cupar. Well done Vic on your longer than usual ride. My ride home on my own was much less interesting without the company.
We had great views of buzzards and a lovely sight of a heron flying over us. A good morning out and a great way to finish the cycling year.
Happy New Year to you all!

The ride

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

No light

One of my pet peeves is cyclists who go out in the dark or poor visibility with no lights. So imagine my embarrassment when I found myself to be one of those self-same people. I'm now going to excuse my behaviour.
It happened last night on the way home from work. I left for home with functioning front and rear lights. My route home includes a short steep descent down a ramp onto a cycle path. With the recent wind there's lots of twigs and other rubbish at the bottom of the ramp and, as expected, I didn't manage to avoid it all. Cue lots of twangs and other unpleasant noises from the rear wheel. No trouble though and the bike and I just kept riding on. At the end of the cycle path I re-joined the road and about 400 yards further on I suddenly became aware that my front light was missing! I could visualise my emergency flasher sitting at home. Doh!
Here's where I should apologise to all the other road users. I'm sorry. I did not dismount and walk the short distance home. I just decided to keep going. My only justification was that it was ludicrously quiet out, but I'm not sure I would live with that if someone else gave it as an excuse. I could add that my rear light was still working, and I had on a fair amount of luminous yellow and hi-vis strips. No, you're right, I probably wouldn't accept that either.
Having got home I put on my spare front light and retraced my path. Thank goodness it isn't a long trip, although I did have a good idea where it might be. And, yes, there it was at the bottom of the ramp on the cycle path. It was still on, although the battery cover had come off (that was harder to find). My guess is that I probably didn't clip it on correctly at work, and then it came off when I hit the cycle path (the join is not smooth). I also suspect that it was one of the things I ran over!
What surprised me most was the length of time it took me to notice that it wasn't there. Or on, for that matter. It does go to show that cycling without lights is easy to do in a built up area. It doesn't make it any safer, or less stupid, though. And that's an opinion I'm keeping.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Turbo torture

Winter may have kept me from playing in the traffic this last weekend but I still did some training. I'm beginning to understand the psychological pain of working out on a turbo trainer. For those not in the know a turbo trainer is a device that accepts your normal bike and lets you ride as if you were on the road. Some really sophisticated devices have connections to computers that lets you watch your own virtual performance on mock climbs in France and the like. The one I'm using doesn't have that but you can change the resistance on the wheel to make it more like an actual ride up and down hills. And, except for the fact you can't freewheel for any great length of time (less than 10 seconds), it's pretty good.
What isn't good is the boredom factor. I have set it up in my porch with a view down the street. I can now categorically say that my street must be the quietest in the world. Nothing happens! At least when I pedal around the countryside there are ever changing views, inquisitive cows, drivers to shout at and of course the occasional human being to talk to. Not so in the porch.
I was warned about the dullness by other people and through internet searches. But there doesn't seem to be any alternative. You want to ride your own bike as it is best for your body to get used to that position and that machine. It helps keep the bike ticking over as well. Playing music helps but somehow it isn't right. Music shouldn't be available as I ride and somehow it is slightly intrusive, not natural.
The training is governed by time and pain. In the absence of anything to look at, I find myself at the mercy of the training pattern. Believe me riding on a turbo trainer for any length of time at a steady pace is the worst thing you can do. So we break down the time into intervals of different riding, large resistance with a slow cadence to simulate hills, lower resistances with a spinning cadence to simulate the flat or downhill sections. All this and all you can really do is wait for the current interval to be over. Because you aren't going anywhere the easiest pattern is determined by time. Now this might be a mistake, because on a real bike it doesn't work like that. Generally speaking you can try to go faster to get it over with, or you can slow down and accept it will go on a little longer but the with a little less effort. Not so with time-based interval training. Not only have you set a time goal but I usually set a cadence goal as well. And that hurts.
On the plus side it is nice to ride your own bike and the turbo trainer gives a slightly better ride than either the exercise bikes or the spin bikes at the gym but at least at there something will be happening.
And we won't talk (this time) about the condensation and the sweat. I think I need a fan.
We will touch on the fact that on Sunday I managed to climb, spin and sprint my way along for an hour or so, and if you include the 20 minutes I warmed up for by spinning the cranks in a similar way to what I do on a longer road ride, then I managed 25 miles without going anywhere. And without wind resistance which is a benefit I must admit. Honours even I think.
I will come back to the topic of turbo training. Hopefully with some constructive programs and tips gleaned from my own experience. But probably more tales of pain, suffering and boredom.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Cycling on Ice

Today I learned that I can't ride a bike down an icy slope. At least I learned that if I try to I fall off. Luckily I wasn't going very fast and it didn't hurt. The slide down the slope having achieved a more-or-less horizontal position just added to the fun. And lastly I wasn't on the road bike either so I haven't damaged the precious thing; my town bike is made of much sturdier stuff I'm glad to say.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Cold and windy but gorgeous

Yesterday's ride was one of those where you feel the gods have smiled on you. After last week's no-ride weekend I was desperate to get out at the weekend. The weather was not great on Saturday so I decided that bike maintenance took precedence and so that left Sunday.
It was still windy, but less so than Saturday, but it was definitely colder. Once I had changed the turbo tyre to the road tyre I was ready to go, albeit with one fewer inner tubes. I hate changing tyres; it appears that I'm not talented at it. Hopefully skill will appear as I do it more often.
On the road the first few miles were tough as it was straight into the wind but I consoled myself with the thought that I'd end up coming home with it on my back. I was more correct in that than I knew. I got to Cupar alright and headed up the hill towards Craigrothie. I stopped just short of the top to take this picture of the snow dusting the Lomond Hills.
Lomond Hills
On the way into Ceres by the back road I was a little disturbed to see some frost and ice, so a change of plan was required. I decided to stay on the main roads, do a little loop of roads I'd already seen and then head for home from Cupar.
Once I'd done the loop to come back to Craigrothie I stopped for some more photos.
The road to Ceres - lovely downhill
Fife farmland

Hill of Tarvit
After photos a lovely downhill section into Ceres, the small climb followed by a lovely descent into Cupar and then the long road home. But as I predicted I got the breeze on my back from the hill above Blebo, and I enjoyed putting the hammer down and racing for home. 2 miles in less than 4 minutes is fast enough for me!

The Ride



Road User of the Day

This week's winner is definitely the lorry that took its time overtaking me on the hill from Cupar to Craigrothie. He made sure it was safe, gave me plenty of room and passed safely. All I want really. Thank you.

Idiot Road User of the Day

This award is shared this week by the two drivers who decided to pass me just before a bend on the way up the hill from Pitscottie. No thanks to these two.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Hoping for a nice weekend

After last week's very windy weather I am hoping for a better weekend this week. Sadly it doesn't look like we are going to get it. Apart from snow and ice (they will definitely keep me off the roads) wind is my least favourite weather component. It is both physically and mentally sapping and downright dangerous if it is really strong. It takes the pleasure away from the ambling around the countryside on the bicycle.
Turbo
Last Sunday I was desperate enough to pop the bike on a turbo trainer. What this blog hasn't touched on, so far, is the amount of non-road cycling training I do. Four times a week you will find me in the gym, mostly cardio work with a couple of sessions of weights as well. So I thought I'd be ok with the bike on a turbo in the front porch. I made sure I had drinks, eats, and music because I suspected it might be quite dull. I was right. Despite my best efforts, in changing resistances, cadences etc, to try and make it like a real ride it came down to 2 hours of pedalling in one place. I'm glad I did it thought and, if need be, that's where you'll find me again this weekend. I need to keep the legs turning over, and a bit of Status Quo never goes amiss.
Maintenance
The one downside of not going out on Saturday was that I decided to give the bike a thorough check over. I've now changed the chain and after examining the wheels I reckon I'm going to have to service the hubs. So, if it is really horrible this weekend, you'll also find me up to my elbows in tools and ball bearings. I hope there's nothing nasty going on in there. Just another thing to thank all that mud for....
Let's hope that next week brings another report of nice road miles, but I'm not holding my breath.