Road Cycling

Shamrock said:
It did feel colder this morning than yesterday despite the forecast saying "feels like 10C". I could see my breath condensing!

Unfortunately, I will be in the country over Christmas this year so I'm not sure how I will manage getting my third Rapha Festive 500 badge. I can't do 500km in 8 days of British deep winter.:mad:
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Makes it more of a challenge :)

I think I almost hit 500 miles in the end last Festive 500 as I had hit the target before a planned trip to see a friend 55 miles away. I didn't fancy the train!
 
Steedie said:
Finally got round to trying an FTP test, a measly 173 :p

At least it gives me lots of room to improve
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FTP is nothing more than a measure of how you are at pacing 20 minutes of almost-max effort (if doing the 20 min test). You can 'train' for FTP tests with things like sweetspot and over/unders but some people are just better at it than others. Same as riding on the turbo, some people struggle (most do!) but others don't (I actually find my 'turbo FTP' and power are higher than my outside/road power).

Doing some sweetspot sessions (if you've not done many before) you'll see it improve massively!

Some treat it as an epeen kinda score and directly compare them against each other, which is wrong. It's a personal measure/number used to train with and then judge improvement with, nothing more.

For racing/comparison you'll find w/kg is the main measure. Certainly for things like Zwift racing w/kg matters much more! Compare w/kg! (after starving yourself for a few weeks - note, I'm not condoning this!) ;)

Shamrock said:
I'm already using Rapha Deep Winter gloves and it's not even below 10C yet! I've got a problem with my fingers.:(:o
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OMG icicle fingers! Long fingered here but felt cool this morning. If it'd had been windier I'd have considered my windproof/showerproof ones. Have only worn them once so far (in heavy rain) this autumn.
 
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BennyC said:
Full finger gloves year round crew ;) I just progress from my summer pair, then add liners, then my windproof pair, then add liners. Then I go full retard with winter gloves that resemble (and are no more aero than) oven mitts :D
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Hahahaa my winters are like ski gloves. Can't grip a thing! I'm still n fingerless, but wished I hadn't this morning when I was out. Bloody cold!
 
randomshenans said:
Hahahaa my winters are like ski gloves. Can't grip a thing! I'm still n fingerless, but wished I hadn't this morning when I was out. Bloody cold!
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Fingerless feel like a faux pas for me, even though they aren't seeing as it's a primary purpose :o I don't know I just feel like they belong in the 80's :p Full finger keeps the bar-tape nice and clean and provides plenty of padding. And there's also no transition to feeling disconnected when you eventually move to full finger gloves in the winter, just the loss of any sensation from the cold to take care of that instead :D
 
BennyC said:
Fingerless feel like a faux pas for me, even though they aren't seeing as it's a primary purpose :o I don't know I just feel like they belong in the 80's :p Full finger keeps the bar-tape nice and clean and provides plenty of padding. And there's also no transition to feeling disconnected when you eventually move to full finger gloves in the winter, just the loss of any sensation from the cold to take care of that instead :D
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Ha, I get really hot hands. I'm **** with making pastry, my hands are always too hot. So I like the 80s fingerless feel!

BennyC said:
It can get worse :eek: :p ;)
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Haha yea, but I am not going to let it! *chants to self in front of mirror*
 
randomshenans said:
At least it's a line in the sand, and can only get better!
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Keep telling yourself that! ;)

But I'll agree, this time of year it's a mark in the sand. For some of us it's to try and maintain over winter, for others it's something to improve upon.

BennyC said:
It can get worse :eek: :p ;)
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No! Don't say it! :o

I know for sure my old FTP of 273W (from spring '17) is outdated, many of my Zwift race results after then have had higher 20 minute efforts (around 300ish). Equally I'm fully expecting my current FTP to have dropped a little after the summer so need to take a measure of it, I'll then try to maintain it over winter to build up from in spring '18.
 
My track coach is pretty insistent it takes minimal effort over winter to hold onto your fitness.

Completely different story obviously trying to IMPROVE fitness over the winter!
 
Saytan said:
I wonder what my pannier bag does to my CdA. taking it off is certainly noticeable.

edit: for anyone who's interested in this issue https://www.cyclingabout.com/speed-...bikepacking-bags-aerodynamic-testing-results/
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Interesting.

I use panniers on a Friday when I'm taking clean clothes in for the coming week. The rest of the week I use a little bag that sits on top of my rack as all I'm taking in is my lunch. I definitely notice the difference in air resistance.

I imagine a rucksack would be better in terms of air resistance, but I absolutely hate riding with a rucksack.
 
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