It’s Official: the Big Gray is now upon us.
Not “real” winter (is this like “real” Virginia?) yet, but close enough. You know, stretches of rainy-showery days, during which only the self-flagellaters and the Certifiable ride, and those back-to-back-to-back dry-but-cold days when the saner Velo-ites among us clip in and head onto the road.
Let’s call this pre-Winter, pretty much what we PDXers get for maybe the next 6 weeks——if 2008, unlike last year’s meteorological purgatory, is a “good” year. Let’s assume it is, and that we’ll be out on our bikes as often as not well past Thanksgiving.
So. Some things to be aware of, to Do, and Not Do.
#1: TAKE YOUR CUE FROM THOSE REVELERS IN ‘THE STUDENT PRINCE’ (Ah, Broadway Musicals! The only thing Ty likes better than bike riding) and “DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!!!”
Listen up. No, seriously, LISTEN UP. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’ve heard it all before. Still.
L.I.S.T.E.N. U.P.
During a 2-plus hour summer ride, you will (or should) drain a pair of 24-ouncers. But during a leaden-skies Maggie’s Loop in mid-November? Ha. You maybe, MAYBE, pull de-cage your bottle twice, end up back at Longbottom with it still 2/3s full.
”Well,” you say, pathetically, “I never felt, you know, thirsty, so I . . . . I mean, jeez, it was so cold . . . and all . . . “
Dumb.
How come? Because fluid replacement needs, despite subjective feelings, don’t vary much at all between hot and cold temps. “Don’t be fooled because it’s cold and you feel you don’t need to drink,” warned the late Ed Burke, cycling coach and exercise physiologist extraordinaire. “Obviously, you still sweat on winter rides, and a considerable amount of fluid is used during breathing. Inhaled air {more so even on cold, dry days} must be moistened in your throat and lungs. When you exhale, fluid is lost in that cloud of steam you see. To make matters worse, you also lose more fluid through increased urine production in cold temperatures.” Moreover, Burke adds, that while there is “No need to significantly increase your caloric intake during cold weather, you may want to have a snack before you ride. Digesting it will add some heat to your body via metabolism, sort of like putting another log on the fire.”
Consider yourself apprised.
#2: HEED THE WORDS OF PAUL SIMON: “SLOW DOWN, YOU MOVE TOO FAST . . . “
Cold air is thicker than warm air. Baseballs don't fly as far in cold air. A field goal attempt that clears the crossbar from 52 yards out on a 70-degree day falls 5 yards short on a 35-degree day.
Everything moves through cold air more slowly. Including you in the saddle. The same pedaling effort just doesn’t propel you through cold air as fast. If your steady state summer speed is, say, 19-20 mph, you’ll need same effort to maintain 17-18 in the winter. Also, your body expends more energy just keeping your ass and adjacent appendages warm in the winter, so this, too, compromises your capacity for kickass cranking.
You see where we’re going here, right?
In winter, ride medium hard sometimes, even hard in selected bits, if you want to. Nothing wrong with that. Breaks up the monotony, maintains a subtext of stamina until the warm weather returns that makes the transition back to faster riding that much smoother. Just don’t use speed as your guideline in the winter. Dial it back. Focus not on miles-per-hour, but on EFFORT. Plan on, and accept, that you just aren’t going to go as fast in the winter and don’t fight it. Your winter mantra: No Need For Speed. At least not summer velocities.
# 3: PROCTOLOGY 101. MINUS THE EXAM.
A nifty little trick passed on to your Fit Bit columnist by one of the resident female medical professionals who comprise our Portland Velo Nursing Corps: For cold weather glove liners, snap on a pair of those super-thin latex gloves. I’m sure you know the kind.
They take up almost no space, so your regular gloves fit as they normally do. Unlike heavier glove liners, they don’t “bulk up” your hands which can make braking and shifting difficult. And, mainly, they keep your digits amazingly toasty. Oh, your hands will be wet when you pull them off at the end of the ride, but they’ll also be warm. These things are cheap, too. You can even pick them up at places like Home Depot in bulk packages.
#4: DRESS (BUT NOT OVERLY) FOR SUCCESS
One personal observation, nothing scientific here, based on 14 years of competitive running and 11 years of cycling. Yes, layer up in winter. MUCH better than wearing some honkin’ heavy jacket. Traps and retrains body heat better, allows you to peel like an onion if the weather warms, as it often does over the course of a 2-3 hour ride.
But. One tip to consider. If you are not a little cold at the start of a ride, that is chilly enough to think “Damn, I should have worn another base layer. Or two,” then you are most likely overdressed, a realization that will surface 10 minutes into the ride. If you are hot tub-comfy at your first clip-in, you’re probably too bundled up. Better mildly uncomfortable at the start.
Anyway, give it some thought.
Next Month: Maximizing Time on the Trainer. Or “45 minutes, and Done”.