London Fixed-gear and Single-speed SJS Cycles

how dare you madam, those photos MrSmyth took of me were 'artistic' and not meant to end up in the pages of your monthy subscription to 'ChubbyChasers'

fatty reserves indeed, pfffft!

You're on the 1st team - far too good to be a fatty reserve or fatty substitute.

fraid not. i have some fatty preserves though.
very nice spread on toast with a glass of Brunello

links plz!

ride long and slow and short and fast, then long and fast.

[QUOTE=MrSmyth;1198606]"I couldn't do more than a couple of hours without feeling starving"

I think perhaps the most interesting thing here is that when a rider is suffering from 'bonk' they usually don't feel hungry - they just feel knackered and have to be ordered to eat.

Conversely the overweight, who certainly don't need to eat (they actually need to stop eating) will often state they are extremely hungry, and will believe they have symptoms of near starvation.

So I suggest 'feeling hungry' is a poor guide to one's nutritional state.

In the past I've spent quite a bit of time reading about feeding theories in connection with cycling. My mind wants me to be able to excel at 100's and 12's, but my body has never agreed with it, and complains bitterly after 50 miles of anything resembling racing speed.
For several years, after absorbing the opinions of a number of 'experts', I went in fear of 'glycogen crash' caused by eating sugar. I suffered a number of devastating attacks of hunger knock through various policies of only taking weird concoctions while riding; the worst of these was when, miles from anywhere, my 'nutritional' drink froze in the bottle.
Now I eat as much sugar as possible, not forgetting to add in a substantial dose of caffeine. I don't buy commercial energy bars, I use supermarket marzipan cut up into suitable sized lumps and wrapped in kitchen foil. This has proved to be the best strategy I've tried so far.

All the above only applies to riders in a hurry. If you've plenty of time, you can eat and drink whatever you fancy.

[quote=clubman;1199861]that's not actually me you are quoting there.

when i get the bonk it can happen quite quickly, i get agitated start rambling and it even affects my vision.
i came close to getting off the bike and lying down by the side of the road once, luckily a milky way from a corner shop saved the day.

[QUOTE=MrSmyth;1199986][quote=clubman;1199861]

that's not actually me you are quoting there.


Sorry, I hope you can accept my apologies for misquoting you. The quotation marks should have made it clear to me.

In my own case hunger knock usually shows itself first in trembling in the legs and arms, which I believe is a common symptom. I've taken good care to avoid this situation for a long time now.

@pascalo - i would recommend a 40miler to start as mentioned previously, perhaps with rolling hills, no major climbs.. also do you commute at all by bike in the week?

as i commute upto 100 miles per week on a fixie / winter training bike.. my geared road bike distances varies depending on:-

1. who i am with,
2. the weather,
3. time available,
4. where i'm heading as i have six routes from home (NW8),
5. demand for proper training,

bonking is a horrible feeling, as it affects you physically and mentally.. and once should be enough for anyone.. but we all need to be reminded of the risks, especially after a long spell
away from the road.

i am changing my food to suit my blood type A+.. This includes protein in the morning not evenings, no beer, no red meat 'c) anyway we will see how long that lasts..in the past i probably ate all the wrong things.. so i am carefully developing a seasonal diet to fit in with my cycle training, with incremental changes each week. As I need to get back up to 120+ mile weekend rides for this summer's 1000km alpine tour.

Also i think it is very important to develop a good posture for cycling and this is where a good bike fit and your core strength needs to be tip-top, so i'd say that yoga is probably worth investing time in. And learning to relax when riding, that is where you need a cycle partner and head out of town to a stress free area.

good luck Pascalo, PM me if you want.. hopefully see you on the open road soon..

Al

the couple of times i've really bonked have been very long or hard rides, but im not actually sure it was bonking;more extreme fatigue and feeling the need to either not stop untill i get home, or actually having to get off the bike and jsut rest.

The first was the ride to rye with the forum a couple of years ago, and my muscles were cramping so hard i was having to stop every 20 minutes and stop as the pain was too intense, once it got to about 10miles to go i was able to continue through the pain just by focussing on the next mile ticking off on the computer.

The second was the way back from the maths ride where the traffic lights on the way back to london and all the stop starting got too much for me and I just started running the red lights in a nose down head for home technique, luckily Jimbilly came with me at this point; i've never felt so good as when we reached archway and i was back in familiar territory.

the point is that you dont know what works till you try it, it's best to try and hydrate and eat little and often and to make sure you have bail out plans.

riding with a group is good as it gives you moral support and you have others around who can spot danger signs and help out if neccesary.

so try to go on some forum rides but between now and then, try to pick routes that give you easy bail out options and dont increase the distance too rapidly.

I am contracting, so it depends if/where I am working, but before I left for Oz I did typically commute around 100 miles a week I'd say.

Question about "bonking": Is this the same as going down with low blood sugar, with shivers, heavy breathing and feeling completely flattened? Had that a couple of times when I did MA training, and a nice supermalt would usually fix it.

As they say, if you're not sure whether you've bonked, you haven't. I got the bonk on the 2004 Dunwich Dynamo by trying to tag along with a group that was way too fast for me. It was really quite a feeling--luckily, it wasn't far to the feed station, but I remember riding through Sudbury barely being able to see, let alone turn the pedals. I'd never known it before and have not had it since.

That's her.

Want to buy a bridge?

I'd put Scientology as having a considerably stronger grounding in science than Blood Type/Group Diets. Just eat a healthier diet.

(The Blood Group Diet seems to work because each suggestion is a relatively healthy diet in its own right. You'll see similar results if you follow the suggested diets for any of the blood groups, regardless of your own group. It's been routinely panned by experts. Hopefully Ben Goldacre has it queued up.)

The usual cause of cramping is salt/electrolyte depletion. Very common on long rides as you sweat out the salts and don't replaceme them adequately (i.e. only drinking water to replace the fluid loss). Electrolyte tables like Zym and Nuun are the modern fix, I usually use Nuun tablets in every other bidon of water (every bottle on hot rides). The old school fix is a banana which is high in potassium.

Calcium is also pretty important. Part of what you sweat is calcium and it needs to be replaced to prevent some cramping. I advise chocolate milk.

Aren't calcium salts present in many electrolyte solutions?

For Nuun:-

Yes and Nunn will do this but on the other hand, Nunn tablets aren't chocolate milk.

Fair point.

Nuun ftw

as we all have different metabolisms our food requirements will vary considerably

when I have bonked my perspectve shrinks, cannot make sound judgement calls and I felt feint and severely disorientated - v v bad!

Don't worry about this though, get out and ride, you will need to try and experiment a little

nuun tablets are amazing though

You are probably right, but there are some foods i don't digest well or i have an allergic reaction.. i have trained for many years for marathons / triathlons / big rides and generally eat well and with moderation.. i just plan to adjust it whilst maintaining the energy levels i require..

like green tea instead of black tea..
reduce amount of red meat and dairy products..
drink red wine instead of beer..
protein in the morning, not in the evening..
organic root veg

this is already working, I don't plan to omit foods outright.. and i couldn't exist on just tofu, berries and nuts anyway.. it is all simple stuff really, nothing radical..

The main reason for this is i expect there to be long term benefits..

homemade flapjacks ftw..
marmite cereal bars definite no..
nuun tablets are the best

So, I started today by getting the bike and riding from eastbourne to brighton. Awesome day!







Set off from Pevensy about 11 and got to brighton maybe 13.30?
The hills just outside eastbourne were a killer, and I still need to get used to the gears and all that.
Powerade in Seaford, a Reese peanut bar in Peacehaven, that's all I consumed.

I started getting a cold feet around Peacehaven as well, not sure why that is. Felt like the blood supply in the toes was cut off from pushing on the cleats. Maybe time for some better shoes.

Good effort! Eastbourne to Brighton is a good ride. You're correct, East Dean hill out of Eb is a killer. After that it's a nice quick, scenic route. Love it.

I'm a bit confused about bonking, could someone please clarify what it actually is?
I searched it on google and received an urban dictionary definition - having sex.
The previous comments are pretty amusing in this context...

It may be better to look for "cycling the bonk" in google

Good example - Contador leading Paris-Nice 2009, bonks and loses the jersey, and the race to Sanchez:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2__pXSC4ofQ#t=1m21s

He's still a wee bit faster than the average cyclist when we get the bonk. :)

Needs more EPO.

Speak for yourself Oliver, my agent is negotiating my contract with Saxo Bank for 2011.

OK maybe it wasn't a brilliant example, but it shows the effects of not properly fuelling yourself, even on an excellent stage rider as Contador. Taking him from a chasing a breakaway, to basically stopping and falling behind the groupetto...Meh

I've heard of the marzipan-ball method before, it makes sense; giving something for your stomach to do in small, concentrated doses not to mention marzipan is full of almonds and sugar - perfect anti-bonk.

As for water - like mentioned earlier, little and often.

He's still a wee, well a lot, faster than me without the bonk. It is scary that even when bonked he'd slaughter me even on my best day (that said I am shit).

Typical Brighton photo...

http://www.twitpic.com/mqchw

The cutting above is taken from ‘Sporting Cyclist’ for November 1961. These orders come from the then honorary directeur sportif of the Auto-Cycle Sottevillais (Sotteville is a suburb of Rouen) Andre Boucher.

Why should we pay any attention to his views? Well it was Boucher who, in 1953, first introduced a young normand to the larger cycling world – Jacques Anquetil. In 1961 he had just produced another successful young rider: Jean Jourden, who had won the world amateur road championship that year.

It’s hard to know how much of Anquetil’s success was due to Boucher’s advice since he had the reputation of a man who had no time at all for rules, especially those relating to sex, drugs and alcohol. Perhaps he was more pliable as a teenager, but it’s clear that he still respected Boucher at this time, and had come back to Rouen for a training session with his old task master pacing him on a Derny three days before his record breaking win in the Grand Prix des Nations that year.
Apparently Jourden was more inclined to obedience.

Forum readers will note the advice on gearing. I must admit I am surprised to see fixed wheel training bikes being recommended in France as late as 1961.

If you were confused by conflicting advice on food further up this column, you’re probably in a complete tizz by now. What is to be learnt here is that opinions tend to change with time, and so all ‘experts’ should only be listened to with a degree of scepticism.

But remember, don’t waste any alcohol by rubbing it on your legs.

Unless there was a surprising amount of cannibalism in old fashioned cycling clubs then I can't see why women might be considered forbidden food.

Greenbank, that's a great Brighton shot. Was tempted to call it nice first ... probably not the best word.

On a long ride, follow your appetite - it will tell you much more accurately than any nutritional plans what you should be eating and drinking. Eat real food little and often - nutritional products are pure marketing, nothing else. The trick is to make sure you have the right range of foods with you, but personally I have never gone wrong with bananas, marmite sandwiches, rice cakes, chocolate and water.

I used to take a tupperware box of jugged hare, but it made me throw up after twenty yards or so...

@ clubman - dover or lemon?

Forbidden -- all dishes NOT cooked in butter or sauces?? Now that's a diet I could do.

hmm jugged hare

my dad does that amazingly well, so rich and gamey, possibly not the best cycling food, but magnficent after a cold day in the country

Yes, this is one of the oddities here. I don't really know the answer, but I can make a guess.

The best explanation I can offer is that there is a connection in the French mind between sensual pleasure and food. The English, traditionally, famously lack this. Although there a many literary examples of this idea, I'll offer just one: from the aphorisms of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) 'A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman who lacks a eye.'

Your guess is as good as mine. Most of the list doesn't make much sense to me, but there are some things that do still seem right. Fatty food is discouraged and carbohydrates listed under the 'very good' section.

Self massage (nothing to do with sex) after training is, I'm sure, highly beneficial, especially if you intend to ride the next day. The object here is to help to remove the lactic acid from the muscles and it is quite possible to massage one's own legs - if you've still got enough energy, that is.

There is a wikipedia article on Andre Boucher which adds some detail.

'Sporting Cyclist'
Originally called 'Coureur' this was published from the mid '50's until 1968 and was editied by Jock Wadley. All riders of my age group (ancient) will know about this magazine which I think was the best cycling periodical ever published in English. For me, the genius of Coureur was that it put continental professional racing and the English club scene next to each other, as if one might lead to the other. And in a few cases it did.
Because of the quality of Coureur, both in content and production, many copies still exist - if you get a chance to look at one, do so!

Finally, I'm surprised no one complained about the ban on caviare - I'm going to cut it out completely and substitute pigeon. With this dietary tweak and my new woolly undervest I'm certain to be a sensation in the 2010 season.

recommend the following for breakfast to avoid 'the bonk'
porridge oats c/w treacle or honey, one boiled egg, one peanut butter on toast..
this keeps me on the bike from 8.00am - 11.00am (brief bacon sardnie stop) home by 2.00pm
+80 miles from north london via brixton, crystal palace, bromley, biggin hill, toy's hill, ide's hill, chiddington, sevenoaks, star hill, orpington, blackheath, city....

I see you have noticed that women are forbidden food.

How Spartan a diet was this ?

shameless spamming

http://www.lfgss.com/thread38700.html

if only because i went out there last year after a couple of months of doing long rides and had a great time

If anyone is keen, around 45 of us are meeting at Richmond Green opposite Richmond Underground Station next Saturday 27th March at 9.30am to cycle 45 miles to Reading along the Thames Valley. There are free t-shirts up for everyone taking part - will post details tomorrow. The route will be signposted all the way.

I am by no means a long distance expert, having only done a handful of 60odd mile rides last year, but i found that dried fruit and nuts and enough water really helped me keep going.

This looks ideal! Is there a thread in rides & races? Where do I sign?