globecanvas

I have the blue cleats on one pair of shoes and the yellow cleats on another. I notice the difference but it's pretty slight. I prefer the blue cleats for racing.

topflightpro

When I had Look Keos, I once ended up with the 0 degree float cleats, instead of the 9 degree cleats I was used to.

One ride was enough for me to know that I did not like 0 degree float.

Also, if anyone is interested, Infinit Nutrition is offering buy one, get one 40% off on custom drink mixes this week. I find that two bags of the custom mix last me about a year. I only use it for rides that will be longer than 1.5 hours though. Anything less than that is just water.

globecanvas

Hey, my buddy is launching a new product. Watch the video, it's pretty well done I think.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...short-for-just

gerundium

anyone listen to the Velonews Fast talk podcasts? They had an episode dedicated about neuromuscular training. Basically advocating cadance drills etc as a possible avenue of improvement. Are there people here who do cadance work and do you think it had an impact on your riding? For me i don't really do any of it, and doing a little ride last weekend testing it i can't really hold 120 RPM for 1 minute comfortably. I am already bouncing a bit.

Edit: in the podcast some part of it is about sprint coordination work (small gear, big gear sprints). This i put into my training and know it really benefits me. I am more talking about max. sustainable cadance work?

Wylde06

Was going to do a race in Kentucky this weekend...until the forecast changed. It went from 65 and sunny to 35 and 1-3 inches of snow. lol no thanks

topflightpro

Well, it looks like my wife needs a new car.

Her Prius has been burning oil for some time - we've been putting in a half to a quart of oil a week. It's not leaking either. There are no oil spots on the driveway. And the car had been shaking and riding really rough. She insisted on taking it to the dealership for all her repairs, and they kept telling her nothing was wrong.

Today, she finally took it to an independent repair place. The guy spent 20 min. driving it and came back to tell her it's not worth putting any money in to repair the car. He said that he thinks oil has started coating the spark plugs, which is why the car shakes sometimes when she hits the gas. He suggested trading it in sooner than later, while it still has some value.

I'm pretty annoyed. The car isn't that old. We've had it 7 years, and she's put 150k miles on it. But it never operated that great in my opinion, and it was one of the Priuses that went through the big brake recall several years ago. So, I suspect much of this is due to poor build quality than anything else.

She does not want another Toyota.

abhirama

I do. I think the podcast is at a pretty good level (for me) and I find it useful. I find that it started helping me design my workouts a bit better. After listening to the episode you mentioned, I've started incorporating 1 cadence drill workout per week. I'm pretty poor at being able to hold a high (>110) cadence comfortably - my HR shoots up and I start bouncing a bit. Hopefully these drills will push the cadence threshold up soon.

I also found a few other episodes really interesting and have recommended it to some of my friends.

big john

Some people can ride without float and some cannot. If your knee is getting sore that needs to be addressed.
I use Look Delta pedals (yes, I'm a dinosaur) with red cleats (9 degrees) and have for decades. No knee problems despite my weight and a bunch of climbing.
I use spd pedals on the mtb and they don't really have enough float or adjustment for me but I don't spend much time on that bike.

Ygduf

I'm having my first real prolonged "I should quit cycling" moment.

Someone talk me out of it?

TheKillerPenguin

At some point it'll stop raining in California. You're going through what NE bros go through at the tail end of winter!

globecanvas

It's supposed to be fun. If it's not fun, take a break, or adjust what you want to get out of it.

himespau 

Take a break, but know that, with kids, at some point, the time will come when you need to leave the house for your sanity no matter how much you love them and how perfect they are. At some point, you'll need your alone time, and, when that time comes, your bike will be waiting.

caloso

I got hailed on Sunday. That sucked.

topflightpro

Last year, a new guy to the team came with us on our mountains training trip. He had only ridden in the mountains once before, so I told him not to feel pressured to do the longest ride each day. His response was something to the effect of, This is the first time I get to go ride my bike without having to be home by a certain time to appease my wife and kids. I'm going to ride as much as I can because I can.

But year, if you are tired of racing, take a break. You would not be the first to do so.

revchuck 

+1. As hard and as consistently as you've been going at it, the only surprising thing is that it took you so long to get to this point. Take a break. The bike's not going anywhere and your fitness won't dissolve in a week or two.

My biggest issue when I take a break is that I identify so much as a cyclist that I have a hard time figuring out what else to do. Of course, I'm semi-retired; you've got a wife and two kids, so filling your time off the bike probably wouldn't be a problem.

It'll be okay, Fudgy. You're just acting normal. Also note that taking a break =/= quitting.

miyata man

So you are joining the great hipster migration to Malmo.

Hope you enjoy the Catskills



Last night I was thinking about the couple pieces of structural hardware you earned. You really seemed to find the right formula after coming back the second time. Maybe returning from a happier event will keep the spark alive. Say if you were going to devote yourself to pulling a trailer around 24 months. Yeah, I could totally see you hauling the kids into the mountains on a disc endurance bike after you come to terms with the little voice asking you to take a break.

hack

I'm in a similar rut. I fear that if I stopped, I'd eat just as much food as I do now and then I'd need to buy new clothes.


Right now, training is just no fun, but racing is. Wish I didn't need to be fit to race.


Hmmm ... to talk you out of it, you'd have won with ease on Saturday if you'd have gone before/with the winner. That should be inspirational enough to get you through the first RedKite.

Ygduf

btw, how the **** does 1 dude solo at 25+mph in that wind on those roads for over an hour?

aaronmcd

Downgrade! Lol
Training a little bit is fun. Weekends are fun. Trying to accumulate 300 TSS around work on weekdays to get 700+ for the whole week isn't fun.

mattm

After X years of not resting, maybe it's time?

Take a week off completely (or just soft-pedal commute only), you'll be thirsty to ride again in no time. And fresh to boot.

hack

No clue. We weren't going full gas, but weren't dogging it either.
I've thought about it, but then I'd still do the 35+ 123 races. Did a group ride with the local club and a teammate tonight. Good fun, attack city. I'd rather do that than structured training right now.

wktmeow

Does anyone else get orthostatic hypotension? (Light headed when standing up quickly)

I get it pretty often when I stand up from sitting on the couch, esp after longer rides. This past weekend I had a particularly bad bout. Not sure if being at altitude exacerbated it. I got up to go to the toilet and as I'm finishing up my business everything starts to blur and next thing I know I'm getting up off the ground and my shoulder and hip are sore. I also had a very faint memory of possible convulsions? Kinda scary. I've only fainted from it once before as a teenager.

Anyway the freakiest part for me was that I'm only half conscious as I get up and so I end up standing there super confused for a couple of minutes as I piece together what the heck just happened (last time it happened it was the same thing. I wasn't sure if I actually got up off the ground or had been standing there the whole time, but my mom asked me later what the loud 'thud' she heard was )

tetonrider

pretty cool.

Flatballer

Yeah, I think that's relatively common among endurance athletes. Mine gets worse the better shape I'm in.

It can also be made worse by dehydration, like after a long ride perhaps. Make sure you're drinking adequately.

globecanvas

Yes, all the time. Like flatballer said, I think it's exacerbated by dehydration.