Road Cycling

[Junglist]

Was a lovely weekend for riding and the track was bizarrely quiet with how nice the weather was. Hopefully the incoming heatwave puts more people off going outdoors!

I'm so glad I don't have to worry about sun-tan lotion. My friend was pretty red come the end of the morning!

 

[fez]

Its far too hot for riding at the moment. My alabaster skin shys away from even a hint of sun let alone the full angry gaze at the peak of the day. I am contemplating a ride this evening but it would have to be about 8pm before I dare venture out.

 

[labbby]

Just bought a sleeveless castelli cycle top to prevent silly tan lines. I’m starting to notice the traditionalist cyclists have been giving me evils

 

[DarkShadow]

My seat arrived last week, hoping to get a ride in the next few days:

I'm a bit like that, the saddle on my old bike didn't seem to cause as much discomfort as my new saddle. However, as you say they're so expensive that it could be a very expensive experiment to find another. Unsure whether to persevere with the new one, or just switch back to the old.

Had a bike fit this morning. Was done by a local physio and just done by eye/manual, rather than one of the fancy ones which record all kind of measurements. Bonus being a i can claim it back from work as "physio" rather than spending £200 elsewhere! Plus he used to be a triathlete for GB so feels like you're in good hands!

He's lifted my saddle, moved it forward a bike and also dropped the stem. Said i might benefit from a shorter stem too as mine is bizarely long apparently. Explains why i tend to hold the edges of the bars rather than being properly up on the hoods as it's a further reach. The previous owner was obviously an ape!

Hoping the weather stays dry to get out tonight for a decent ride.



Annoyingly, he had both a wheel on turbo and a Kickr core with climbr, i was chatting about considering buying one and he told me i was stupid to consider a cheap turbo and i should just buy the Wahoo and not tell the wife. Definitely a bad influence!

This is a good idea. Hate my work healthcare, I've been moved has moved from BUPA to vitality and they're really poor.

Have you been out for a ride yet? What size stem did you drop to?

 

[Martynt74]

Ah see, i used to be with Vitality and thought it was great, although no experience of Bupa. I took full advantage of the cinema tickets/waitrose/Amex cashback etc though. Now i've just on a Health cash plan

Not changed stem yet, i don't mind mine too much, so not sure i can be bothered changing!

 

[fez]

Just bought a sleeveless castelli cycle top to prevent silly tan lines. I’m starting to notice the traditionalist cyclists have been giving me evils

Thats because most cyclists are either middle age with a spread that would make lurpak proud or they are noodles that try and hide their pipe cleaners as much as possible. I would be tempted by the tank top design. Haven't seen many though.

 

[labbby]

Thats because most cyclists are either middle age with a spread that would make lurpak proud or they are noodles that try and hide their pipe cleaners as much as possible. I would be tempted by the tank top design. Haven't seen many though.

Haha so true it’s the castelli entrata v sleeveless I bloody love it. Hard to find in stock in black now though.

 

[AndyCr15]

Just bought a sleeveless castelli cycle top to prevent silly tan lines. I’m starting to notice the traditionalist cyclists have been giving me evils

It's right up there at #7 I get a little stick for it too. (Although I've not worn sleeveless for a couple of years probably) My argument is, most cyclists shouldn't, but I don't have cyclist arms

 

[SoliD]

Awful awful clothing choice. Get out you dirty triathletes.

 

[labbby]

Awful awful clothing choice. Get out you dirty triathletes.

And here we go

 

[SoliD]

 someone had to get it in. I actually can't stand vests on their own.

 

[jpaul]

Cheaper tyre patches - had a number of punctures recently, bought a sheet of weldtite rubber/£1.50, bargain I thought.
at home then did an IPA cleanup/sanding/waiting 10 minutes/weighted during drying, for several inners
two inners I patched blew out, came back to the bike in the heat yesterday(is that contributory?) and tyre was flat(one weeks use), and another patched tube I put back in at home would not inflate.

I’ve never bothered trying to patch inners, once they go it’s in the bin for them although I do use latex inners

saw this suggestion I will try

To add to Rookie's guide above, I always put the patch on with enough air in the tube that it's roughly the size that it'll be inside the tyre, that way the patch isn't being stretched when you do fit & inflate it. I'd also drop the 7-8 strokes to inflate it and test it before fitting; if you've fitted the patch properly it'll hold. There's no need to test a known process that's worked for the best part of 100 years. And vulcanisation is usually adequate within a couple of minutes so it's ok to fit the tube then, instead of leaving it a couple of hours. Never needed to put heavy weights or books on a tube either, just a firm pressing action between thumb & forefinger to attach the patch evenly all over. One last thought - avoid all contact with both contact surfaces, the thin smear of glue needs to be tacky enough but not dry, and the patch must be completely free of any contaminants from your fingers. And use the smallest patches possible, the ones smaller than the size of a 1p piece are best.

 

[DarkShadow]

Went out for 31 miler w/ 1500ft inc in just under 2 hrs, man did I find that tough in the heat!

 

[labbby]

 someone had to get it in. I actually can't stand vests on their own.

I wear bib shorts with it mate, don’t want to get arrested

 

[Roady]

Awful awful clothing choice. Get out you dirty triathletes.

/seconded.

Sleeves should not just be on your vinyl collection, Hipsters.

Be proud of your tanlines!

For a more serious opinion - I don't generally wear a tshirt with a shorter sleeve than my cycling tops so doesn't cause me an issue. The only sleeveless things in any of my wardrobes are 'summer base layers' for cycling! To be honest Zwifting in this weather I don't bother with a jersey, just one of these wide mesh types. Think this is the current version (but I wouldn't pay more than £20/25 for one). I have actually found they keep me cooler than without - less channelling of sweat. So the increase in airflow (running 4 fans in summer - 1 of them a KICKR Headwind), seems to cause more evaporation (I'm maybe less aero, so more wind is caught against my torso?) so I'm less 'soaked' than riding without a base layer. I did short hill climb efforts (maybe only 90%) on KOM's as part of a race series last night in a 26 degree (ambient was 28) garage. Also wearing the same base layers outside when the afternoons are like this (25+).

Went out for 31 miler w/ 1500ft inc in just under 2 hrs, man did I find that tough in the heat!

Zone 5: The Red Line Zone - Heart Zones

If you’ve made it to the Red Line zone, with heart rates from 90% to 100% of your maximum heart rate, you have arrived at the top of the heap.

www.heartzones.com

You shouldn't be able to hit your Zone5 in anything than an absolute max effort. To stay there for that period of time would either imply you are incredibly VO2Max adapted (should be a Pro velodrome endurance/sprint rider), suffering from some kind of heart defect, had a faulty HRM, or just plain don't have your HR zones setup correctly (I hope it's the last one).

This is me doing a 'max HR' type Z5 ride - returning from Holiday, elevated HR due to no riding for 20 days and then riding at power levels I was doing before the break. Basically bouncing around my 'blow up territory' (over 180bpm) with my max HR being set as 190bpm (which I hit and hadn't hit for several years).

 

[fez]

Yeah, I feel like I might have my heart rate zones a little wonky as well. On my last ride which wasn't exactly a brutal effort I spent:
2% in Zone 3
66% in Zone 4
30% in Zone 5

 

[SoliD]

@Roady did your wahoo fail ? if so after how long? Had mine go after like 9 months! been replaced but bit annoying as was hoping after the comments on here it'd last a while, although I can't fault the warranty process.

 

[DarkShadow]

/seconded.

Sleeves should not just be on your vinyl collection, Hipsters.

Be proud of your tanlines!

For a more serious opinion - I don't generally wear a tshirt with a shorter sleeve than my cycling tops so doesn't cause me an issue. The only sleeveless things in any of my wardrobes are 'summer base layers' for cycling! To be honest Zwifting in this weather I don't bother with a jersey, just one of these wide mesh types. Think this is the current version (but I wouldn't pay more than £20/25 for one). I have actually found they keep me cooler than without - less channelling of sweat. So the increase in airflow (running 4 fans in summer - 1 of them a KICKR Headwind), seems to cause more evaporation (I'm maybe less aero, so more wind is caught against my torso?) so I'm less 'soaked' than riding without a base layer. I did short hill climb efforts (maybe only 90%) on KOM's as part of a race series last night in a 26 degree (ambient was 28) garage. Also wearing the same base layers outside when the afternoons are like this (25+).

Zone 5: The Red Line Zone - Heart Zones

If you’ve made it to the Red Line zone, with heart rates from 90% to 100% of your maximum heart rate, you have arrived at the top of the heap.

www.heartzones.com

You shouldn't be able to hit your Zone5 in anything than an absolute max effort. To stay there for that period of time would either imply you are incredibly VO2Max adapted (should be a Pro velodrome endurance/sprint rider), suffering from some kind of heart defect, had a faulty HRM, or just plain don't have your HR zones setup correctly (I hope it's the last one).

This is me doing a 'max HR' type Z5 ride - returning from Holiday, elevated HR due to no riding for 20 days and then riding at power levels I was doing before the break. Basically bouncing around my 'blow up territory' (over 180bpm) with my max HR being set as 190bpm (which I hit and hadn't hit for several years).

Zones are definitely off. I've only just started using Garmin setup over the last 5 rides, so I'm still getting the hang of things. Right now my zones are auto set up based on a prev max of 187 which puts Zone 5 at 163. I think Zone 4 is probably more realistic.

Will the system automatically update based a true max effort?

In another life, I was an elite lifter and I have a resting heart rate of 38.

P.s. Mesh nets are cardinal sin

 

[AndyCr15]

I've just found out I have a work trip to Porto in a couple of weeks. Anyone cycled out there? I'm thinking of just renting a bike for an evening perhaps and doo some exploring.

 

[Shadowness]

I think Zone 4 is probably more realistic.

Zone 4 is threshold effort. Again, unless you're pro, I doubt you rode at threshold for 90 mins.
Added to the fact you spent no time at all in zone 1 or 2, leads me to suspect something's not quite right.