England : Nottinghamshire Second audax

[graham bowers]

OK, now to planning the second, and this is a bigger undertaking (but still less than fubar's first ;-) Its the 113 Km Prison Run on 14th Nov out of Alfreton.

I have a month to double my distance and I feel generally OK with that. The sharp eyed will have noticed the conditional nature of my last sentence and here is my concern. The potential for adverse weather conditions.
http://www.myweather2.com/City-Town/United-Kingdom/Devon/Derby/climate-profile.aspx?month=11

If this was a 5 hour hill walk in Nov I'd be wearing good boots and gaiters and pack a goretex jacket and trousers and waterproof mitts - and plenty of spare clothes, bivvy bag etc etc.

I'll fit mudguards to the bike and I suppose I'll need to chuck some money at decent winter cycling footwear / overshoes and could use a general mountaineering jacket, but I'm sure there are tips and tricks that are cycling specific for grotty winter weather. The prospect of 5 hours biking in overtrousers is not appealing. And is there any specific need for keeping the knee joints warm? I only ask as I had big "knee bother" during a winter mtb trip many years ago.

Oh, and I'm looking at 100 Km events in Dec, Jan and Feb as well. So the context is, I suppose, 5 hour bike rides through the winter.

Thoughts please, not necessarily limited to my questions?

Graham

 

[Fubar]

OK, now to planning the second, and this is a bigger undertaking (but still less than fubar's first ;-) Its the 113 Km Prison Run on 14th Nov out of Alfreton.

I have a month to double my distance and I feel generally OK with that. The sharp eyed will have noticed the conditional nature of my last sentence and here is my concern. The potential for adverse weather conditions.
http://www.myweather2.com/City-Town/United-Kingdom/Devon/Derby/climate-profile.aspx?month=11

If this was a 5 hour hill walk in Nov I'd be wearing good boots and gaiters and pack a goretex jacket and trousers and waterproof mitts - and plenty of spare clothes, bivvy bag etc etc.

I'll fit mudguards to the bike and I suppose I'll need to chuck some money at decent winter cycling footwear / overshoes and could use a general mountaineering jacket, but I'm sure there are tips and tricks that are cycling specific for grotty winter weather. The prospect of 5 hours biking in overtrousers is not appealing. And is there any specific need for keeping the knee joints warm? I only ask as I had big "knee bother" during a winter mtb trip many years ago.

Oh, and I'm looking at 100 Km events in Dec, Jan and Feb as well. So the context is, I suppose, 5 hour bike rides through the winter.

Thoughts please, not necessarily limited to my questions?

Graham

Hmmm, potential is key, it could be -4 when you start and +10 a few hours in - could be calm or blowing a hoolie. Having ridden through the last 2 winters (though not audax, obvs ) I would say layers, and avoid getting your hands/feet wet/cold for as long as possible. If you have the storage a change of gloves, socks, headwear (i.e. tube) and base would be a thought - nothing worse than stopping at a cafe then putting back on wet kit. Overshoes yes, if you are wearing longs make sure they go on the OUTSIDE of the overshoes, saves your feet filling up with water. Same with gloves, I have a pair of sealskins but once water gets in it can't get out.

If the weather is forecast to be crap just accept you are going to get wet and mitigate as much as possible against it - windproof jackets are fine but have little ventilation and are heavy to carry once off.

Oh and back roads that get no sun are lethal for black ice (well, they are up here), trust me I know.

 

[Pale Rider]

just accept you are going to get wet and mitigate as much as possible against it -

I took this advice on a wet ride earlier this year, but only because I had to having no waterproofs.

Riding literally wet through was thoroughly unpleasant.

Exposure, albeit mild, is a risk.

I could detect my decision making was starting to suffer, so there is also a road safety angle.

You will have some waterproofs, which will probably keep you on the right side of abject misery.

But I reckon a lot depends on the rider's attitude.

If - unlike me - you are a hard arse, you will be fine.

 

[Fubar]

just accept you are going to get wet and mitigate as much as possible against it -

I took this advice on a wet ride earlier this year, but only because I had to having no waterproofs.

Riding literally wet through was thoroughly unpleasant.

Exposure, albeit mild, is a risk.

I could detect my decision making was starting to suffer, so there is also a road safety angle.

You will have some waterproofs, which will probably keep you on the right side of abject misery.

But I reckon a lot depends on the rider's attitude.

If - unlike me - you are a hard arse, you will be fine.

Not about being a hard arse, just accepting that even waterproofs are not guaranteed to keep you dry (or if they do they will retain sweat) - I suppose my advice was if you dont think that's for you...

 

[Scoosh]

Start now going out for a ride, say every Saturday morning (or whenever is suitable) whatever the weather.
2 main reasons for this:

1. it might be grim weather on the day of the ride but you will have ridden in that kind of weather (or worse ), so it shouldn't won't faze you
2. you have the opportunity to test out your clothing, wet weather gear etc, thus finding out what works for you. Some people ride 'hot', some ride'cold' so each one of us is different; find out what works for you. Most experienced audax riders know what kit works for them and how they like to use it, from bikes, saddles ... all the way to base layers, wind/waterproofs etc

You will probably do your 113km in around 6 hours, so it's not that long (though it may seem like it just now ) so make sure you have a wee safety light or 2 ... justin case !

You'll be fine - it always seems more of an undertaking than it will be ! Ask @Fubar !!! - he creamed his wee ride (which was a 400 by now ... )

 

[graham bowers]

Jolly sensible replies, I don't suppose there is a "magic bullet".
I'm popping up to Decathlon in Nottingham later for some winter wear - then will wear it in the winter............
Graham

 

[Dogtrousers]

My suggestion is to sink your winter budget into a good pair of winter cycling boots. Lots of the other stuff - clothing layers, gloves, beanie hat, socks and so forth can be non-cycling specific things already owned/cheap from an outdoor shop.

On cold days I use hand warmers - those little teabag-like things you can get from outdoor shops, and their slightly less effective cousins the foot warmers. They keep the chill off for a while.

 

[totallyfixed]

Another tip, daft as it sounds, keep moving, as in if it is cold / wet do not ride with someone much slower. When doing longer distances in the cold months ride at a pace that keeps your body comfortably warm, go too hard and you will sweat, not good if you have to stop for a puncture / mechanical, ride too slow and you will feel the cold more than necessary. Sounds obvious but trust me, I have given aid to enough cyclists on winter days to know the truth of it.

 

[ColinJ]

Another tip, daft as it sounds, keep moving, as in if it is cold / wet do not ride with someone much slower. When doing longer distances in the cold months ride at a pace that keeps your body comfortably warm, go too hard and you will sweat, not good if you have to stop for a puncture / mechanical, ride too slow and you will feel the cold more than necessary. Sounds obvious but trust me, I have given aid to enough cyclists on winter days to know the truth of it.

Indeed - I know that from previous winter rides and I have had a couple of reminders of that truth over the past 5 days ...

A mate had a couple of punctures on our 100 km ride last Friday and I got chilled standing around in a NE wind while he fixed them. (I should have walked round to the other side of a nearby wall to get out of the wind, but I wasn't expecting him to take as long as he did.)

I went for a ride yesterday and got a good sweat on, and then called round at my nephew's house on my way home to help him fit a shower curtain. It was a fairly mild day and I was indoors but he did not have any heating on so it was only about 12 degrees in his bathroom. Once my body lost the warmth from the cycling, I started shivering and didn't stop until I got home and had a hot shower.

 

[graham bowers]

Thanks for the tips, they all make perfect sense and have been duly noted. Winter boots are on the list as I know I need them.

 

[graham bowers]

105 Km training ride completed today at 21 Kph. Metric century and imperial half all in one go! Bike setup, clothing and lighting prep in hand. Feeling prepared and looking forward to it.

 

[graham bowers]

Is anybody else on here willing to admit they are going to be doing this ride?

 

[graham bowers]

It was successfully completed :-)))

Probably best described as a triumph over adversity as the plentiful rain that was forecast did arrive, fortuitously a little later than expected. Nevertheless I'm not complaining and would do it exactly the same all over again.

I met up with a guy of similar vintage to myself in the car park at the start, Dave, and we rode together all day. We seemed to have a similar outlook on life and got on very well. He was fitter and faster than me having being cycling for longer and being somewhat thinner, but not so good at route-finding. A generally nice guy, so un-spokenly we seemed to accept each other's strengths and weaknesses and had a great day out. And his rear gear cable broke, which left him in small rear sprocket and so large chainwheel ( he didn't want to use crossed gears) - so that slowed him down a bit for the last 25 miles ;-)

My learning points:

1) My new Garmin 810 is brilliant, but a quick test around the block yesterday was not enough to fully learn how to use it. I have no idea why, but it decided to switch its self of at one point - could ground induced vibration have caused that as the cyclepath was a bit rough????

2) I took OS maps but ran out of time to colour in the route. I must be more prepared and mark up my maps.

3) Rain falling on the Garmin made it hard to see that resulted in a couple of minor nav errors. I need to improvise a shelter for the Garmin.

4) Take a gear cable inner, and hope never to need it.

5) Get some waterproof gloves.

6) The Rainlegs http://www.rainlegs.com/en/home were worth having.

I have entered another, my third, just down the road from me: http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/15-738/

7) I am a glutton for punishment ;-))

Cheers

Graham

 

[Buck]

I've just caught up with this Graham and well done!

Sounds like you had good company, enjoyed it and want more of it!

 

[Scoosh]

, and !

Great stuff, @graham bowers - it's addictive, this audax lark !

One of the joys of rides like these - and CC Forum ones - is that you meet more experienced people, who are prepared, gently, to offer counsel and wisdom, without making you feel bad about anything.

Sounds like you are getting an addiction - for which there is no known cure ... LEL 2017 ?