johnridley (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
johnridley) wrote2005-03-29 07:26 pm
johnridley) wrote2005-03-29 07:26 pm
Winter riding payoff
Riding all winter (at least occasionally) pays off. I had my first ride of the year with the winter equipment off (studded tires, most of my winter clothes) and in not unusual conditions (the usual slight headwind, 60*F temp), my ride time went from the winter norm of 45-50 minutes to 37 minutes, which is a tad more than 1 minute faster than my fastest time last year.
Another interesting part is that I finished the ride in good shape, and felt great the whole ride. Most of my rides in the last 4 months have ended with considerable muscle fatigue, to the point that it was really starting to hurt, for the last couple of miles. My best theory now is that it was caused by insufficient oxygen; the air was quite cold and I probably wasn't breathing as deeply as I could have. Or it could just be that my muscles were cold. They didn't feel it but I could be wrong. It's possible they were tensing enough in the cold to keep the blood flow down a little.
I still need to remove the 12V system; battery, headlight and strobe. I shouldn't need them again until next winter, and that's good for 4 pounds and a bunch of cruft.
It's also a little weird not hearing the raaazzz of the carbide studs on pavement. It'll be even nicer when I get things adjusted. My tires just barely fit within my full fenders, and they rub occasionally especially on potholes and rough corners. On the way home they rubbed a lot as I broke another spoke on the morning leg. The deraillers are really dirty, the shifting is sluggish, and the bike is filthy, though the chain and freewheel are clean, having been taken off and cleaned only about 80 miles ago.
I will now rebuild my rear tire; I was just waiting for another spoke to break. I have a new rim, new spokes, and some better ideas on what I was doing wrong (insufficient tension in the spokes caused them to break), so we'll see how this goes. I may put on narrower tires too but for now I'm just messing with the wheel.
Odometer: 2800 miles (wild-assed guess - 2350 Jan 1)
Another interesting part is that I finished the ride in good shape, and felt great the whole ride. Most of my rides in the last 4 months have ended with considerable muscle fatigue, to the point that it was really starting to hurt, for the last couple of miles. My best theory now is that it was caused by insufficient oxygen; the air was quite cold and I probably wasn't breathing as deeply as I could have. Or it could just be that my muscles were cold. They didn't feel it but I could be wrong. It's possible they were tensing enough in the cold to keep the blood flow down a little.
I still need to remove the 12V system; battery, headlight and strobe. I shouldn't need them again until next winter, and that's good for 4 pounds and a bunch of cruft.
It's also a little weird not hearing the raaazzz of the carbide studs on pavement. It'll be even nicer when I get things adjusted. My tires just barely fit within my full fenders, and they rub occasionally especially on potholes and rough corners. On the way home they rubbed a lot as I broke another spoke on the morning leg. The deraillers are really dirty, the shifting is sluggish, and the bike is filthy, though the chain and freewheel are clean, having been taken off and cleaned only about 80 miles ago.
I will now rebuild my rear tire; I was just waiting for another spoke to break. I have a new rim, new spokes, and some better ideas on what I was doing wrong (insufficient tension in the spokes caused them to break), so we'll see how this goes. I may put on narrower tires too but for now I'm just messing with the wheel.
Odometer: 2800 miles (wild-assed guess - 2350 Jan 1)