New Tim record that wasn’t to be, gutted! #cycling

This morning I had a gusty tail wind and a real drive to get to work quickly as the rain wasn’t fun.
I knew I was going well, I felt strong and pushed hard.
13 miles in my speedo stopped working, it doesn’t like rain on the sensor for some reason, anyway, I had a look and my average speed was 17.48 MPH, well on track for the Tim record, gutted!
All I could go on was my estimated time of leaving and arriving, 1hr 6 minutes to do 18.5 miles, that’s 16.8 MPH, if you include stopping occasionally at lights and junctions then that’s bound to be over 17MPH rolling average.

Maybe next time.
See also New Tim record

The thermometer that I’ve been wanting every winter #cycling #winter

“I wonder what the temperature is outside” is something I’ve often thought about when trying to decide how much clothing I should wear for the cold winter start.
“I’ll buy a thermometer when I remember” I kept on thinking.
Winters came and went, but the other day I was in Wilkinsons and saw the ideal thermometer for less than two pounds! I wasn’t of course looking for one and I had completely forgot about my Winter desire now we’d reached Spring it was out of my mind, but it was quickly whipped into the basket before the wife asked.

Next was to stick it to a window, “which window?” I thought. I was worried about removing the sticky patches at a later date, I didn’t want to spoil a good window and I’m used to being in rented accomodation where you’re trying not to damage anything. I then realised, hey, this is my god damn house, I’ll stick it wherever I like, the windows won’t last forever anyway, so here it is:

I’ve used it a couple of times already, it really is the small things that add to ones already wonderful day of cycling, being warm enough is one of them.

This morning was a lovely frosty morning #cycling #weather #winter

This morning was the first frosty morning in while and we’ve had good weather till now, but I’ve been rolling on ice tyres for some time, all prepared for worse weather that never came.

So this morning I set off from my house, feeling chilled but starting to warm up by the time I reach the end of the road, I flew past unhappy looking people scraping the ice off their car windscreens and I was reminded of how much I enjoy the feeling of watching others scrap their cars and shiver in winter. They are running late, the car won’t start, the car is iced up, everyone is rushing, everyone is angry. I’m happy, warming up with every stroke and not long before I’m overheating and stripping off to the envious looks of the ice scraping car lovers.

It was -2 celsius but I was still wearing shorts, for some reason it didn’t seem cold enough for tights, but it probably was

Winter is a nice time to ride (though I say that about any time to be honest) but it does require careful and planned cycling. My Schwalbe Marathon Winter tyres really do help gripping a frosty road, but even so, the best form of defence is “to go careful”, slow movements, no sharp turns, plan your route, plan your speed (and reduce it) and so on.

Today’s commute took some tenacity #cycling #wind #weather

Today’s commute took some tenacity, compared with a my normal speed ride in it took 15 minutes longer! At one point I was cycling up a hill towards the end of my ride at 5.5MPH thinking if the wind would start blowing me backwards at some point. The Met Office site says it was a head wind of 20MPH gusting at 45MPH, but I think that one was even more.
My bike felt so very heavy, but of course that will be the non-aero nature of my setup, cyclingcoder would have been fine.
Today might have been a good day for a rucksack and a road bike.

Some unfortunate property owner has four, yes four fence panels to fix, they weren’t even all together, it was one up and one down all the way along his/her fence. I’m just hoping my bike shed survives.

I still enjoyed the ride in, of course, but gosh am I feeling tired (and running late) now.

My tip for riding in windy conditions is to not ride in the gutter, you should never do that anyway, but ride even further out than normal to put cars off from squeezing past and give you that extra buffer when the wind buffets you.

Are you ready for winter?

Yesterday I cleaned the bike, chainset, sprocket and fitted a new chain. Here’s a picture taken at work on my lunch break (because it was dark when I finished and so I’ve dirtied it a little getting it here, but it still looks clean compared with normal):

The observant amongst you will have noticed the winter tyres too. Yes, as it’s also going to get more and more icy this week I’ve also fitted my winter tyres:

As you can see, the front rim is narrow and it is a bit of a pain to fit the tyre:

Everyone should ride winter tyres when the frosty season starts, I ride Schwalbe Marathon Winter tyres, I’m not sure if many other brands are widely available elsewhere, but in the UK there’s not much choice.

Availability of winter tyres is a bit random at times, they sell out pretty quickly when the slippy weather starts, but for comfort and safety I fit mine fairly early on and ride them until the weather is good again. Some people will get a season out of them, others will get several, I’m hoping to get three, but this will be number two, so let’s see how much harsh braking I do – this morning’s test doesn’t count

Currently I’m using KMC X8-93 as my chain of choice – for no particular reason other than it is supplied with a missing link and KMC have served me well thus far (definition = only breaking through neglect, I’m trying to avoid neglect now, so no more breakages since):

Chains really suffer in winter, the rain, filth and salt really eat through them, so do remember to look after your chain. I regularly check chain wear using a chain wear indicator, but generally ignoring 1% wear, only changing when the indicator won’t fit anymore (probably meaning 2% wear or more). Those with deraileurs need to replace at 1% wear

Clothing, everybody knows how important it is in winter. Everybody likes different things though, I don’t mind rain, but hate boil in the bag waterproof clothing – which is never waterproof anyway. So for me, waterproofs are an expensive waste of time. I do like windproof fabric though, my Gilet and winter jersey (which both have windproof fronts) are brilliant before the peak of winter. Once winter peak hits, it’s more about covering the legs and arms too. Until the freezing temperatures I still wear shorts and only have my arms covered by a base layer or jersey. Once it is freezing I wear warm unpadded tights with padded shorts underneath, that way I don’t need to change the tights everyday, but can change the shorts, hence I don’t need so many pairs of tights (which are expensive). I also wear a warm base layer and a windproof jacket, I carry my gilet and arm and leg warms in my bag as emergency clothing just incase. If it is -10 celsius like last year then I’ll wear an extra jersey or base layer under the jacket too. When I mention warm here I am specifically referring to Roubaix or Merino fabrics.
More on winter and clothing to follow I’m sure.

What day is it too foggy to overtake a cyclist on a blind corner?

There is nothing new in impatient drivers overtaking when they really shouldn’t, generally resulting in the oncoming traffic honking their horn in anger (or worse).
Drivers should take more care when overtaking on a foggy day, but a driver this morning was really taking a big risk. It was a really foggy start to the day and the road surface was damp and slippy in places. The road was an S bend and blind from where he/she began overtaking, I was in the middle of the road (my side if that makes sense) as I was shortly going to be taking a right hand turn (in the middle of the S bend). My road position should have been enough to indicate that overtaking wasn’t a good idea, but I think the oncoming car gave him/her realisation of this, luckily there was no collision and I was safe (I think).

I’m looking forward to computer controlled cars made out of polystyrene driving at 20 MPH since people are incapable of driving cars safely.

Underdressed but unwilling to give in

Last night the temperature on the ride home ranged from 6 degrees celsius down to 5 degrees celsius, now starting off in shorts and t-shirt with mitts it felt cold, but I thought, no probs, I’ll warm up.
Two miles from home (16 miles in) the cold eat into me with the temperature at 5 degrees celsius by this point, I was tired and the wind felt icy cold. I pulled over for a snack to give me a little energy, but I didn’t give much thought to the cold being the reason I was feeling tired.
I had a jersey in my bag, a gilet, a shirt, trousers, socks, the kitchen sink, everything I need to keep warm. Next time I’ll throw the jersey on when I feel like that even if I over heat afterwards.

This morning I was prepared for the near freezing temperature, I had finger gloves, gilet and a baselayer on – not cold enough for tights yet, so still in shorts. I was much more comfortable to say the least.

So don’t go underdressed for the weather and for goodness sake wrap up if you feel cold and tired.

Summer’s gone, days spent with the bike and sun

Yes, yesterday was a gilet day, today was a gilet day too, so the rubbish weather has started.
Some people miss summer and give up cycling for the winter, but winter has some lovely cycling days and they are really missing out. Rain, snow, ice etc are just variations of weather and I like them all in small doses. I have tyres for ice and rain or snow won’t stop me either, cycling is fun, in winter I slow down a tad, but it’s still more fun that any traffic jam I’ve ever been in. Oh, the thing I do love about winter is watching people scrap ice from their cars, there is an immense satisfaction I get from cycling along with a smile enjoying the elements and stripping off a layer to cool down whilst people shiver as they scrap the ice off their cars and glance at me all warm looking.
So, here’s to winter, welcome old friend and adversary.

What is a gilet day you ask?
It’s when it just too chilly (below 8 degrees celsius) to start the ride with only t-shirt and shorts so I sling my gilet on too.
What gilet do you have you ask?
Well, I am pretty happy with my gilet, it is one of these:
dhb Windslam Gilet
(in black)
Some people don’t see the point of them, but at this temperature I just need something to give me warmth until I’ve got a couple of miles in and I’m stripping it off or unzipping and feeling like a superhero.

My commute is 18 miles each way, but there is no shower in the office

This post was born out of a comment on a blog post by cyclinginheels

My commute is 18 miles each way, but there is no shower in the office!
So I had to make a decision, drive 50 minutes and hate 40 minutes of the journey or cycle for 1hr 15 minutes and love (almost) every minute of the journey (but work around the lack of shower issue).
Well, I chose to do my hobby 10 times a week and I’ve never looked back.

No shower means unfortunately the best I can do is a sink basin wash, change into work clothes and shoes, re-apply deodorant and style my hair.
I find changing clothes does a lot for my personal hygiene as cycling clothes breathe well and absorb the sweat away from my skin, sweat drying on the skin is what makes us sweaty, therefore I’m not that sweaty after a wash and a change of clothes.

Hairy arm pits retain sweat too, so if you aren’t a regular arm pit shaver then maybe try it and see if that helps too. If you are a man reading this then don’t be shy, try it you smelly coward

The wash is naturally more involved on horrid wet and dirty days, but that’s fine, I’m not wearing my work clothes, I don’t need to protect them from rain, so I don’t wear sweaty waterproofs either. My feelings on waterproofs are that they make me feel hot, sweaty and unhappy. I see others cycling slowly in waterproofs trying (but not succeeding) to not overheat. I’m in my cycling shorts and short-sleeved jersey and not really bothered by it, yes, I get to work wet, no more than had I been wearing waterproofs though. Waterproofs work for short cool weather rides in my opinion, but I avoid them at any temperature. Also breathable waterproofs are not really that breathable and rely on humidity differences, when wet on the outside you’ve got no chance, sweaty on the inside, even less chance.

Another key to arriving in comfort is to not overdress, on cooler days, start off feeling cold and you will soon warm up. At 6 degrees celsius I will still start and end my ride in shorts and t-shirt! If I started off wearing anything more I’d be stripping it off 2 miles down the road due to overheating. Arm and leg warmers can help, but I find them a bit too much of a faff.

When my cycle commute was 22 miles each way I did have use of a shower, that was nice, I do miss that, but it’s not a deal breaker.

What was the temperature on that ride?

I’ve got into the habit of recording the temperature of each ride and noting what clothing I’m wearing, this helps me guess what clothing I’ll need but also gives me some statistics of what clothes are doing the mileage. I naturally also record the mileage, this gives me an idea of when certain maintenance activities (e.g. Rohloff oil change) are due.
I can see I wear cycling shorts more than any other item of clothing and only at temperatures above about 9 celsius. Anything lower and I need leg warmers, anything below freezing and I opt for roubaix tights. So if the forecast is minimum 12 degrees celsius then I know I can ride comfortably in shorts.

(In the UK) The Met Office has a good website for checking the weather and it also has 24hrs of observations under the “Latest/recent” section. This is my primary source of temperature statistics, yes it’s not as accurate as carrying a thermometer and recording the temperatures myself, but that would be OTT wouldn’t it