The Cycling Thread

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by krhall

Do any of you commute in all weathers? What gear do you have that make it more palatable?

You get wet, no matter what you wear eventually if you are out long enough you will get wet.

I've got medium weight rain jacket for the winter, cycling tights with a windstopper barrier down the front and neoprene over shoes, that do the job, having mudguards on your bike also helps a tremendous amount. I found with the right wet weather gear on / proper cycling clothes even if I get wet I dont actually get cold and you also dry out again quite quickly once the rain does stop.

Originally Posted by krhall

Also how do I improve my riding now I am commuting 12 miles each way to work?

What do you want to improve, just by putting miles in you'll get faster and stronger, if you've only just started that length commute just keep it up.

If you want to get faster then vary how you ride it, i.e. sprint / go flat out for a section of it, then ride one section slower then sprint again. Google for interval training.

Remember that rest / recovery is just as important as riding the bike is, so build recovery time in to what you are doing or rest at weekends.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

You get wet, no matter what you wear eventually if you are out long enough you will get wet.

I've got medium weight rain jacket for the winter, cycling tights with a windstopper barrier down the front and neoprene over shoes, that do the job, having mudguards on your bike also helps a tremendous amount. I found with the right wet weather gear on / proper cycling clothes even if I get wet I dont actually get cold and you also dry out again quite quickly once the rain does stop.



What do you want to improve, just by putting miles in you'll get faster and stronger, if you've only just started that length commute just keep it up.

If you want to get faster then vary how you ride it, i.e. sprint / go flat out for a section of it, then ride one section slower then sprint again. Google for interval training.

Remember that rest / recovery is just as important as riding the bike is, so build recovery time in to what you are doing or rest at weekends.

agreed my commute is only 6 miles and I found my times have plateaued so I am now out of the saddle for sections, trying to ride my lungs out of my chest..

need to change my tyres for slicks and give the bike a service and get some spd's now

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

I've never done nutrition for cycling so hopefully won't get all this horribly wrong! I can't go out straight after breakfast though can i?

Eat brekky, prepare bike / get changed, go out on bike. First 20 minutes is warm up for me, so by the time we are riding hard (ish) brekky has gone down.

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

I suppose i should get some cages and bottles then as I currently just use a camel back.

Bottles are better than a camelbak as your back doesn't get hot, plus easy to access on a road bike.

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

Does it have to be a specific energy drink or does robinsons count?

not sure if you are yanking my chain on this one...

Well what i mean is what counts as an energy drink, are sugary dilute things ok to be going on with or do i need to be getting big tubs of specific powders to mix with water?

[Luckypants]

A drinking squash is quite 'sugary' but does not contain the amount of energy you may need. For a 2 hour ride they would be fine, but for longer rides you need to keep your carbs intake up as these will be used for exercise.

The amount of calories you burn basically depends on your effort level and your size (shifting a bigger body takes more effort) and typically will be 600-1200 an hour for a man while cycling. As an example, on a moderately hard hilly ride of 45 miles on Saturday I used just over 2000 calories on 'effort' (I'm reasonably fit, unfit folks burn more) in 2hours 40mins - obviously more are needed to maintain the body's metabolism at the same time, but that can be discounted while thinking of exercise nutrition. Where does that come from? Well stored glycogen probably provided half of it (500cal in liver and similar amount in muscle) then my muesli and orange juice breakfast provided a further 400, leaving a deficit of around 600 calories. The sports drink I use gives around 280cals a bottle, so the two I drank topped me up. Now some calories come from converting fat for energy during exercise, so it is OK to have some deficit, but not too much otherwise you run out of energy and bonk (aka hunger knock) so thinking about nutrition before a big ride is necessary IMO.

The advantage of a sports drink is that they are isotonic, so easily absorbed and can also contain electrolytes to counter the salts lost through sweating. I sweat like a *******, so I use electrolyte drinks otherwise I start to cramp and get dizzy spells.

So this is long way of saying that IMHO Robinsons is not enough for longer / intense rides.

Ok then, i'll go and have a look at edinburgh cycles.

Is there a brand that you recomend? I don't need any of the caffeine loaded rocket fuel type stuff do i? Just an isotonic thing.

I found these

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwP...c003133c003194

which do you think is a winner?

Tubs of powders remind me of my bodybuilding days, except it was all proteins and creatines then!

[Luckypants]

I use SIS Go electrolyte drink, works for me. Try a few a few and settle on the one that 'agrees' with your stomach, some may make you feel bloated. you can usually buy sachets to try/carry with you of most makes.

Thinking of changing my recovery drink away from SIS, as theirs is a little chalky.

Wiggle have a wide range of this stuff if you need to shop online like me.

I'll try a handful of different ones, Edinburgh cycles is just down the road.
I'm hoping my new bits turn up soon pedals, shoes, tyres etc to give the bike a bit of a makeover. Quite looking forward to trying a 50 on the weekend!

[fizzwheel]

If like me you dont really get on with the SIS stuff ( I find it to sweet and after drinking alot of it, I end up feeling really sick which is no good on along ride ) then try some of the Nuun tablets, seem to me much less sugary and I find them more palatable.

[Luckypants]

Fair enough Fizz, but Nunn tablets are electrolyte only with no carbohydrate. That is fine if you can fuel yourself with various foods / gels, but don't think that Nunn tablets are the same thing as a sports energy drink.

For electrolyte only drink I use High 5 Zero as it's cheaper per tablet than Nunn and easier to get. I use it at spinning because I really sweat in that! I also use it for my bottle after a cafe stop on a long ride, to avoid overloading my stomach with carbs/sugar and getting that sick feeling.