Swept Away

"cfsmtb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Problem: Windy weather. I keep getting literally blasted off bikes.

I nearly put my bike into the gutter a couple of weeks back.. I don't remember riding in such windy
conditions...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone some simple effective solutions or advice? I'm a reasonably petit cyclist, but far from
the smallest on the road. Failing that, I'm seriously considering start paying $$$ to someone
bigger to ride ahead, so I can draft off 'em.:p

ME.. ME.. ME... PICK ME!!!! :-D

95kg of pure wind-blocking, ego-fuelled power at your service!

hippy
- chases anyone for money, until lung forcibly removes itself from body...

Sure, it's the tail end of Show Week here in Melbourne & the combined
: effects of silly Spring weather and the equinox are kicking in, but I'm really #$%!ing sick of it.

I like a good solid wind sometimes. Don't like annoying wind but a good strong sucker is sometimes a
real challenge. Mixes it up a bit. I like hills and I like a good swiling gale. However like
anything you can get sick of it. Probably faster than that rare time you get a little tail wind.

:
: After a lengthly dose of 'flu and the resulting loss of aerobic fitness (and the opportunity to
: ride ATB, grrrrr), getting back on the bike is proving to be problematic & more than slightly
: dangerous.

I have just had the same thing happen. I got the flu and was sick for weeks (stupidly did a ride
with it before I really got it... Should have known better.) I like you, have also struggled getting
back to fitness and therefore had a lack of enthusiasm. I found going for a slow casual ride with a
couple of friends that did not regularly cycle has sparked it up again. Firstly, I hung it up for a
month. Then I did a couple with slower mates and I found I started going for it now and then waiting
for them. I just have to be in a situation where I am not trying to beat my best time but just
complete a ride. Sure I am a lot slower. This has happened to me a few times before and you just
have to work through it and build up your fitness again like you enivatably once did.

I think I remember hippy having the same problem after an injury or something.

:
: Has anyone some simple effective solutions or advice? I'm a reasonably petit cyclist, but far from
: the smallest on the road. Failing that, I'm seriously considering start paying $$$ to someone
: bigger to ride ahead,

hehe. I weigh 100kg. I normally commute 220km a week and then do a weekend ride up to 100k. I used
to do a lot more when I was younger but then I had more time to do it.

: so I can draft off 'em.:p

Well I think you have to not try and do the times you have done when you were at your last peak. You
have to train yourself back in. If you are having enthusiasm problems. Start small again. Make your
goal to finish a ride that is smaller than what you used to do or do your normal ride but reset your
head to what the stats should be. See the improvement again.

Hope this helps.

Pete

bigger to ride ahead,
: > so I can draft off 'em.:p
:
: ME.. ME.. ME... PICK ME!!!! :-D
:
: 95kg of pure wind-blocking, ego-fuelled power at your service!
:

Probably good choice as I think I remember you had a similar problem recently (injury or
something?). Then you can provide on hand experience for morale support as well.

Pete

cfsmtb <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Problem: Windy weather. I keep getting literally blasted off bikes. Sure, it's the tail end of
Show Week here in Melbourne & the combined effects of silly Spring weather and the equinox are
kicking in, but I'm really #$%!ing sick of it.

After a lengthly dose of 'flu and the resulting loss of aerobic fitness (and the opportunity to
ride ATB, grrrrr), getting back on the bike is proving to be problematic & more than slightly
dangerous. It's happened several times on three different bikes, road, MTB and BMX.

Has anyone some simple effective solutions or advice? I'm a reasonably petit cyclist, but far from
the smallest on the road. Failing that, I'm seriously considering start paying $$$ to someone
bigger to ride ahead, so I can draft off 'em.:p

Yah, I know exactly what you are talking about. For the last 3 friggin weeks it has blowing a gale
in Melbourne more often than not. I am currently unsuccessfully hiding out in Tassie waiting for it
all to pass, coz the wind drives me COMPLETE BLOODY MAD!!!!@!@!!!!

Unfortunately it looks like we have a few more weeks worth at least. We've gotta move that city
somewhere better...
---
DFM

"John Doe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:iExdb.127350$bo1.89865@news-

Quoted message said:

I have just had the same thing happen. I got the flu and was sick for

weeks

Quoted message said:

(stupidly did a ride with it before I really got it... Should have known better.) I like you, have
also struggled getting back to fitness and therefore had a lack of enthusiasm. I found going for a
slow casual ride with a couple of friends that did not regularly cycle has sparked it up

I think I remember hippy having the same problem after an injury or something.

Yep. Broken collarbone in Feb as well as recent cold/flu/illness thing...

Hippy's recovery tips:

I would say to you... "Don't sweat it". Ride when you feel up to it. (should be 24 hours a day..
unless you're not a nutcase like moi ;-))

It's hard to get back on the bike when you are not as fast as you were or when small hills feels
painful when you used to fly over them. I found that I just had to tell myself to get on the bike
and ride. It was easier to do that with the collarbone broken than the cold/virus thing because a
sore arm doesn't make you feel as [censored] as a severe cold. Take it easy. Don't rush to get back to
your previous level. At the same time.. don't lock your bike in the shed scared that you will make
yourself worse. Test yourself. If you feel worse after a ride, take a break for a day or whatever..
If you feel better, ride more.

Buy something. Yep. People treat themselves to new bikes/parts when they are doing well and it tends
to make you want to ride more. Why can't you do this when you are not riding much? You can! New bits
might give you that little bit of motivation you need. For me, I finally built up my singlespeed as
well as scoring a track bike. The SS especially got me back riding hard. It forced me to work harder
just riding my normal commute and so long as I wasn't getting sicker ue to a virus, I was improving
quite a bit.

Race everyone. If someone passes you on the road - chase them! I don't care if I'm on a BMX, wearing
jeans and a t-shirt, not even able to pedal a full circle because the bike is too small and they are
riding a $10k De Rosa in full kit. Give it all you can.. scare them! :-) Make them think that you
are Robbie McEwan secretly training on your kid's bike...

Forget riding, watch a video. If you are tired have a rest and watch a video. Specifically I'm
talking about a motivating vid. For me, watching people throw down some crazy moves on mountain
bikes generally pumps me up enough so that I want to ride asap! Some people might find similar
inspiration from watching Museuw win a Paris-Roubaix or Lance win another TdF.. whatever floats your
boat! It could even be Home and Away.. when you're done throwing up you will do anything to get away
from the cursed TV! 😉

Quoted message said:

hehe. I weigh 100kg. I normally commute 220km a week and then do a

weekend

Quoted message said:

ride up to 100k. I used to do a lot more when I was younger but then I

had

Quoted message said:

more time to do it.

Time.. oh sweet time.. I wish I was in school again...

HTH hippy
- should race more, but enjoying being a "bike bum" ;-)

"John Doe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:EGxdb.127354$bo1.23919@news-

Quoted message said:

: 95kg of pure wind-blocking, ego-fuelled power at your service!

Probably good choice as I think I remember you had a similar problem recently (injury or
something?). Then you can provide on hand experience for morale support as well.

Yep. Well I hope my post is useful. It took time but worked for me. I've given some of the faster
guys in our small bunch a run for their money a couple of times lately. Nothing is said, but I'm
grinning ear-to-ear on the inside and I'm sure they are telling themselves to train harder so they
can "get 'im" next time.. ;-)

While we are on the mental pep talks.. does anyone have a simple cure for work stress? (Sorry, not
"beer".. I've prescribed that for myself too often already!)

hippy
- Hey! $160 per keg is cheaper than pre-mix Gatorade. :-P

While we are on the mental pep talks.. does anyone have a simple
: cure for work stress? (Sorry, not "beer".. I've prescribed that for myself too often already!)

Unfortunately I too suffer from this. It causes me to lose sleep. I find the commute ride is a help
but I still have it. I do a lot of very long days. I was thinking of trying yoga.

Pete

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by cfsmtb
Problem: Windy weather. ..

Has anyone some simple effective solutions or advice? I'm a reasonably petit cyclist, but far from the smallest on the road.

The problem you're dealing with isn't the wind as such, it's the gustiness of it. A steady headwind just makes the trip slower, the gustiness just is a pain in the butt.

One solution is to ride a slightly smaller gear so that when you lose 10kph of speed in a matter of seconds you're not stuck in a 53x12.

The wind makes for a good strength workout though....

And don't worry, once the wind goes the heat will come....

"John Doe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Unfortunately I too suffer from this. It causes me to lose sleep. I

find

Quoted message said:

the commute ride is a help but I still have it. I do a lot of very

long

Quoted message said:

days. I was thinking of trying yoga.

Full of protein, that stuff. I like vanilla-strawberry.

hippy ;-)

Much thanks for the response lads. I feel inspired now. Gonna buy new bike stuff, watch TdF vids, get my other half to either draft or make me practice drills/climb hills etc. Last fridays CM saw the ride being pelted by cats & dogs, and as a result, one large Hello Kitty stuck to my helmet. Don't mind rain, but the sheer force of it, like the recent gale-like conditions, was bloody disconcerting.

Putting myself in training for the Single Speed Worlds, but going to be practical about it. ie: think about event for a few months, build SS a fortnight out from SSW, do a couple of half-hearted boglaps of Yarra Boulavarde as training, do ONE lap of single track circuit at Castlemaine, then retire to the gun club for a coupla quiet little drinks. Have fun, participate & level out the gender inbalance.😉

"hippy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

<...>

Quoted message said:

Yep. Broken collarbone in Feb as well as recent cold/flu/illness thing...

A friend's father in law (soon to be) had an accident and broke his arm and jaw. He continued
cycling (with his jaw wired and arm in cast) doing his daily 20km comute each day, and road from
Gisbon to Sydney with this getup.

That's what I call commitment! ;-)

(some would say madness!)

Tim

"cfsmtb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Putting myself in training for the Single Speed Worlds, but going to be practical about it. ie:
think about event for a few months, build SS a fortnight out from SSW, do a couple of half-hearted
boglaps of Yarra Boulavarde as training, do ONE lap of single track circuit at Castlemaine, then
retire to the gun club for a coupla quiet little drinks. Have fun, participate & level out the
gender inbalance.😉

Hey I was thinking of doing that! Idea thief! :-P

Gender imbalance? M or F or U(ndecided)? :-P

With the recent consstruction of my GTSS and the apparent lack of sserioussnessss of the SSW
eventss, it ssounded perfect, just sso long ass(hehe) I could sstay on the bike and not have another
OTB vissit to Wesstern General! ;-)

I'm really quite happy riding my SS but I'm sstill yet to take it off road. 32/15 iss a bit high
methinkss.

Have you got a bike for the converssion?

I work near the Yarra Bool. I've got ssome cassssettess too if you need rear ssprocketss...

hippy

Shabby said:

The problem you're dealing with isn't the wind as such, it's the gustiness of it. A steady headwind
just makes the trip slower, the gustiness just is a pain in the butt.

One solution is to ride a slightly smaller gear so that when you lose 10kph of speed in a matter of
seconds you're not stuck in a 53x12.

53x12? Wuss :-)

Quoted message said:

The wind makes for a good strength workout though....

If you're going round a velodrome, it's like interval training.

Quoted message said:

And don't worry, once the wind goes the heat will come....

Soon. I hope.

A friend has a temporary solution. He's going to Surfers for a couple of weeks.

You could try this. Say the forecast for Saturday is fine with 40 km/h northerlies. Take the early
train to Ballarat. Brekkie in Ballarat. Ride to Geelong down the Midland Hwy. Lunch. Take the train
back to Melbourne. Simple :-)

Regards, Richard.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Richard Sherrat

53x12? Wuss :-)

I took off the 11 tooth cog because I'm teaching myself to spin over winter.

Shabby said:

Richard Sherrat said:

53x12? Wuss :-)

Quoted message said:

I took off the 11 tooth cog because I'm teaching myself to spin over winter.

I'm only running my 11-23 casette because I haven't got around to cleaning my 13-26.

Regards, Richard.

"Lost For Life" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

cfsmtb <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Problem: Windy weather. I keep getting literally blasted off bikes. Sure, it's the tail end of
Show Week here in Melbourne & the combined effects of silly Spring weather and the equinox are
kicking in, but I'm really #$%!ing sick of it.

After a lengthly dose of 'flu and the resulting loss of aerobic fitness (and the opportunity to
ride ATB, grrrrr), getting back on the bike is proving to be problematic & more than slightly
dangerous. It's happened several times on three different bikes, road, MTB and BMX.

Has anyone some simple effective solutions or advice? I'm a reasonably petit cyclist, but far
from the smallest on the road. Failing that, I'm seriously considering start paying $$$ to
someone bigger to ride ahead, so I can draft off 'em.:p

Yah, I know exactly what you are talking about. For the last 3 friggin weeks it has blowing a gale
in Melbourne more often than not. I am currently unsuccessfully hiding out in Tassie waiting for
it all to pass, coz the wind drives me COMPLETE BLOODY MAD!!!!@!@!!!!

Unfortunately it looks like we have a few more weeks worth at least. We've gotta move that city
somewhere better...

Just heard on 3AW this morning that September is apparently the windiest month for quite some time -
missed the timeframe. They had some BOM guy on talking about what the causes were.

Tim

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Tim Jones
[Just heard on 3AW this morning that September is apparently the windiest month for quite some time -
missed the timeframe. They had some BOM guy on talking about what the causes were.Tim [/B]

sheesh, that was the problem, not my mightly 53kg girly frame!
hey, hippy, will get back to you about the sprockets.

still attempting to track down a smallish frame (17"?) & do this SS on the xtra cheap. I'm big on concept, short on expensive components(and height) Saving beer money for the SSW wk/end is more important.
Nice day today in Melbourne, just luv those bluestone pitchers on Bridge Road.....

"cfsmtb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

sheesh, that was the problem, not my mightly 53kg girly frame! hey,

You need to get off that bike and start chowing down on some nice healthy pizza's, donuts, chocolate
and beer. Hey... sounds like my training diet!

Quoted message said:

hippy, will get back to you about the sprockets.

No sweat. They are just LBS chuckouts, ie. free, but I'm using one on mine and its been fine.

Quoted message said:

still attempting to track down a smallish frame (17"?) & do this SS on the xtra cheap. I'm big on
concept, short on expensive components(and height) Saving beer money for the SSW wk/end is more
important. Nice day today in Melbourne, just luv those bluestone pitchers on Bridge Road.....

Hmm... try trading post, fat tyre flyers forum (ftf.com.au), local bike shops, garage sales, Cash
Converters, other bike sites, etc.

My LBSG insisted that a SS should not have money spent on it so I used a bike I already had (sort
of) and binned parts. Their powers combined = SS. 😉 Of course, I've seen some custom-built,
titanium, full XTR, total bike-[censored] machines too...

Yeah, nice day to be sitting in an office (not). Whatcha mean bluestone pitchers?

hippy

"hippy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Whatcha mean bluestone pitchers?

You know, pitchers. Big lumps of bluestone, they pitcher of her bike :-) Actually another name
for cobblestones, the curse of Melbournes tram routes. I didn't know they still had them on
Bridge Rd though.

Cheers Peter