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Freezing outside, motivation waning.

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  • December 1, 2019 at 1:32 pm #30310
    Organon

    It was freezing outside this morning and suddenly my yearly distance target seems not as important as before. I am currently on 8645km for the year and need 700km to beat last year. The magical 10KK never seems to happen. Either I break a rib or my bike is out of action for weeks. It probably doesn’t sound that far to some of you but I have to go to work and all the other things… I need to do the work in the summer and get close enough that I don’t wimp out in December.

    Also I was in a very expensive bike shop trying on a very expensive bike jacket, the kind that drys when you shake it. And it was lovely just sooo expensive, like most-peoples-bikes-cost expensive. The guy said his friend has one and is up in the Peaks and swears by it. I said I wasn’t much of a climber and that it was worth thinking about. I just imagine buying such a thing and then only having the motivaion to head out in the conditions it is meant for once a year.

    What gets you out on the road at this time of year?

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Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 35 total)
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  • January 10, 2020 at 1:19 pm #953333
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    Daveyraveygravey

    I have found a new source of

    I have found a new source of inspiration, courtesy of those Facebook Anniversary things that sometimes pop up.  It was a photo album from 12-13 years ago, of my wife’s 40th birthday.  My wife and our two kids, me, the in laws all sitting round a table in  a restaurant.  My son gleefully cropped it and enlarged the part of the photo with my face in it – I was over 12 kg heavier back then, and christ did it show! 

    January 4, 2020 at 8:11 pm #953331
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    Stratman
    Organon wrote:
    Thanks to all for the replies. I finished 2019 on 9122.8km (no festive 500 for me though, for er… reasons.] Now I only need 11077.2 to get to my 20200km target for 19/20 [Yes I know it is my own dumb idea.] I now have to cycle 30km a day, every day to hit the target. I did 5.8km today to the shops and post office. It’s those rainy winter Saturdays that are killing me. Guess I need to just keep going and see where I am come November. [So many people go so much faster and further than me, I don’t know how they fit work, sleep, music and the next best TV show that you just are supposed to watch but don’t, in. How do they do 200km on Sunday morning?!]

    Well done, 9,000+ is a good distance.  I missed mine this year due to a non-cycling caused trapped nerve in my neck.  Letting it go can be a bit difficult, and I’ll have to rebuild a bit of fitness.

    I fit the distance in by commuting, it’s a long way, and when it gets lighter I quite often extend it as well.  It costs me about 30 mins every day compared to driving as it takes about the same time getting in, but it’s quicker getting home in the evening in the car when I occasionally do it.  My job is also not 9-5, so I can bring work home if necessary and flex hours a bit.
     

    I also like the odd Audax, they can add some serious mileage.

    Good years have also included gentle weekend family rides, up to 60km, up and down the Derbyshire trails with cake stops.

    Good luck with next year’s target.

    January 4, 2020 at 7:04 pm #953329
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    Organon

    Thanks to all for the replies

    Thanks to all for the replies. I finished 2019 on 9122.8km (no festive 500 for me though, for er… reasons.] Now I only need 11077.2 to get to my 20200km target for 19/20 [Yes I know it is my own dumb idea.] I now have to cycle 30km a day, every day to hit the target. I did 5.8km today to the shops and post office. It’s those rainy winter Saturdays that are killing me. Guess I need to just keep going and see where I am come November. [So many people go so much faster and further than me, I don’t know how they fit work, sleep, music and the next best TV show that you just are supposed to watch but don’t, in. How do they do 200km on Sunday morning?!]

    December 10, 2019 at 10:35 pm #953327
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    Podc

    Hate what bad weather does to

    Hate what bad weather does to my bike. Maintenance seems to take more time than actual riding and getting the bike dry after a wash is difficult. Can’t help but worry about bearings, brakes and drivetrains when everything is covered in wet grit 

    December 10, 2019 at 9:32 pm #953325
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    matthewn5

    Commuting gets me out at this

    Commuting gets me out at this time of year. I actually like the feeling of rain on my face. I like the way the fairweather commuters melt away and there’s just a handful of regulars out on the roads on the dark and rainy days. The only downside is having to wear more stuff, which takes longer to put on.

    As for clothing, windtex clothing is absolutely brilliant. I hardly ever wear a waterproof jacket any more, with jackets from Sportful and Lusso and Parentini in regular use – bought near new off the forums – and absolutely brilliant worn as a single layer or over a sleeveless base layer. No more ‘boil in the bag’ and plenty warm enough even when getting wet. It’s by far the easiest and quickest way to work, anything else takes forever because I’m not near the Tube or a railway or even a single direct bus route to work.

    December 9, 2019 at 3:44 pm #953323
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    Judge dreadful
    hawkinspeter wrote:
     

    Is it just me or do others find it a lot more tiring when it’s cold?

    It will be, generally speaking people wear more kit when it’s cold, that adds weight, and makes it more difficult to move freely. You’re also breathing in colder,  damper air, which causes the alveoli  in the lungs to constrict, which makes breathing more difficult, which adds to the fatigue.

    December 3, 2019 at 11:26 pm #953321
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    Anonymous
    hawkinspeter wrote:
    Commuting – just be stubborn enough to ride in the cold and dark. I get the train when it’s raining or if there’s surface moisture and it’s cold enough to freeze as there’s always the chance of black ice.

    Is it just me or do others find it a lot more tiring when it’s cold?

    I enjoy my commute in all weathers. It’s only 30 minutes each way and there’s a hot shower at each end. It’s only when it becames more or less impossible, eg snow on the ground, that I relent. I suspect that as one ages one starts to appreciate and enjoy such things more than when one was young.

     

    December 3, 2019 at 11:19 pm #953319
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    Anonymous
    ktache wrote:
    Thank you Organon, I had never heard of the term Nesh.  Learn something new every day.

    Wiki has-

    Nesh is an English dialect adjective meaning ‘unusually susceptible to cold weather’ and there is no synonym for this use. Usage has been recorded in Staffordshire, the East Midlands, Lancashire, North Wales, South Yorkshire and Shropshire. There is a similar term nish used in Newfoundland.

    The word comes from Old English hnesce meaning feeble, weak, or infirm and is a cognate with the 16th century Dutch word nesch typically meaning damp or foolish. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that some etymologists have suggested a connection with Old High German nasc, meaning ‘to eat dainty food or delicacies’ (the origin of the word nosh), but it dismisses this connection as “unlikely”.

    Nesh was added, in 2011, to the British Library ‘wordbank’, a project to preserve regional dialect words and phrases

    (citations removed)

    I spent much of my childhood and teens in Derbyshire in the 70s. Nesh was very commonly used, generally meaning cowardly and weak.

     

    December 3, 2019 at 7:34 pm #953317
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    hawkinspeter

    Commuting – just be stubborn

    Commuting – just be stubborn enough to ride in the cold and dark. I get the train when it’s raining or if there’s surface moisture and it’s cold enough to freeze as there’s always the chance of black ice.

    Is it just me or do others find it a lot more tiring when it’s cold?

    December 3, 2019 at 6:25 pm #953315
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    Stebbo

    I no longer, in fact haven’t

    I no longer race, in fact haven’t for a few years. So at this time of year. I will go out if it’s decent, if not Turbo or gym bike followed by weights, then steam room, sauna and pool.

    I also do two Spin classes a week. 
     

    even when I did race I would rather turbo than go out in cold damp and/or foggy conditions.

    December 3, 2019 at 4:55 pm #953313
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    Liam Cahill

    My motivation has been

    My motivation has been lacking for about a month and I reckon the shoddy autumn has a lot to do with it.

    I’ve just got a smart turbo on test (review coming soon) and that has made mid-week sessions much easier. I like doing interval sessions as they squeeze a lot in and leave my weekend rides free to just ride. Plus I don’t have to deal with inclement weather AND dark evenings. I don’t mind riding in the rain at the weekend. But rain, dark, cold after a workday. That’s a no from me.

    December 2, 2019 at 11:51 pm #953311
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    ktache

    Thank you Organon, I had

    Thank you Organon, I had never heard of the term Nesh.  Learn something new every day.

    Wiki has-

    Nesh is an English dialect adjective meaning ‘unusually susceptible to cold weather’ and there is no synonym for this use. Usage has been recorded in Staffordshire, the East Midlands, Lancashire, North Wales, South Yorkshire and Shropshire. There is a similar term nish used in Newfoundland.

    The word comes from Old English hnesce meaning feeble, weak, or infirm and is a cognate with the 16th century Dutch word nesch typically meaning damp or foolish. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that some etymologists have suggested a connection with Old High German nasc, meaning ‘to eat dainty food or delicacies’ (the origin of the word nosh), but it dismisses this connection as “unlikely”.

    Nesh was added, in 2011, to the British Library ‘wordbank’, a project to preserve regional dialect words and phrases

    (citations removed)

    December 2, 2019 at 10:53 pm #953309
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    Organon

    Eton Rifle wrote:

    Eton Rifle wrote:
    srchar wrote:

    I don’t think it’s that cold yet. I’m still only wearing one layer! But then I am a northerner in London.

    That single layer being a T-shirt, presumably?

    The all new NESH range of undershirts. The Nesh shirt is made of a nanotube micromesh that is molecularly thin and transparent. Available in a range of fresh tones from cerise to gammon. Will keep you warm underneath a single outerlayer down to -10C. Forget about Assos, this Christmas get him NESH. [NeshFemme coming spring 2020.]

    December 2, 2019 at 10:44 pm #953307
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    Eton Rifle

    srchar wrote:

    srchar wrote:

    I don’t think it’s that cold yet. I’m still only wearing one layer! But then I am a northerner in London.


    That single layer being a T-shirt, presumably?

    December 2, 2019 at 10:38 pm #953305
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    srchar

    I don’t think it’s that cold

    I don’t think it’s that cold yet. I’m still only wearing one layer! But then I am a northerner in London.

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