These ones get us every year!
These ones get us every year!
The perennial problems of sporty cyclists in spring. We all will experience similar cycling dilemmas during this time, so here are a selection of some of the seasonal conundrums that we at The Prologue are asking ourselves at the moment. You may be too.
To shave the legs, or not to shave?
This is a classic cycling dilemma. The bare legs once again get exposed to light. Should we shave them or not? Well, there is an enormous amount of debate on this subject. And we will certainly not go into the whys and wherefores of this culturally-sensitive subject. But what we do know is this: if you enter road races, then having shaved legs makes you look like you take your sport seriously. It sends a message to the competition that says: “Watch out. I am a contender.” And if you believe that, then it’s certainly worth the effort.
If you are primarily a cyclotourist, then we can see little point in leg-shaving, unless you feel it’s necessary, in which case: shave away! Pro-tip: if your razorblades are too blunt for your face, they will still work fine on your legs. So don’t throw them away, just recycle them.
Leg warmers or no leg warmers?
Leg warmers, knee warmers or bare legs? This one is also a classic spring cycling dilemma. A lot of people new to cycling will strip off their leg warmers as soon as the sun shines. This is not necessarily a good idea. When cycling there is a lot of wind chill, and keeping leg warmers on will keep your muscles warm and therefore working most efficiently. You will never see professional cyclists training without leg or arm warmers if the temperature is below 18C. This basically means almost never in the Low Countries. And a lot of professional riders will start a race with them on, and only take them off once the racing gets up to speed.
However, if you want to get your legs a bit brown, and insist on exposing your (shaved or unshaved) legs to the elements, make sure your core is well-protected. An extra layer or even two, on your upper body will keep your core temperature consistent, and your body free from the chills. Knee warmers are an interesting half-way house. These are either for people who specifically like to keep their knees warm (duh) or those who simply can’t decided between fully covered or bare. Certainly on longer rides in unpredictable weather, just having your knees covered up can make the whole experience more comfortable. If you ride to local races and back, the normal procedure is leg warmers and an extra shirt or two on the way out and back, and bare legs during the race.
New chain, or new chain and cassette?
Your bike is back on the road and back in use after the winter hibernation. Suddenly, the chain starts to skip on your favourite gear. Darn! Time to replace the chain. Or is it the cassette? Or is it both the chain and cassette? What it the rule for this cycling dilemma? The first general rule is that the bike shop will always say replace both. This is not only because they want to make money—by replacing both the bike shop knows that the problem will certainly go away.
Chains and cassettes wear together, and the amount of wear depends on how clean you keep your drive train and how many kilometres you cycle. If you fail to replace your chain on time, then both will be worn out. And if a gear starts skipping, you do need a new cassette and chain. Most chains last between 3,000km and 5,000km. Most cassettes will last well over 10,000km, if you replace your chain regularly. It’s advisable to keep a log book of repairs to know when you should replace your chain. If that’s too complicated there are a number of ways to test your chain wear or ‘stretch’. Youtube is your friend on this, as well as on how to go about replacing both of them if you have not attempted this before yourself.
So, if you replace your chain regularly, your cassette will last longer. But if you replace your chain with a new one and the gears start skipping then that is a clear signal that should also replace the cassette. In short, replacing the chain regularly will better preserve both your cassette and the (often very expensive) front chainrings. If you leave it too late, a worn-out chain will wear out your cassette and chainrings faster than a new one: costing you a lot more money in the long run. Also, keeping your drive train super-clean also helps the whole system last longer. Never replace your chain the day before a big event or special ride: you may find out too late that your chain is skipping and the cassette needs to be replaced. There is no point in trying to switch a single cog. Even if only one gear skips, you have to replace the whole cassette.
Unsubscribe from Zwift or let it roll?
The weather just got a lot better. The clocks have changed so we can train on the road in the evenings. We’re all riding outside now. So, should we cancel our subscription to Zwift? Our answer: that depends. There are a couple of reasons to stop. And others to keep going. If you are training for a specific challenge such as the Marmotte or another cyclosportive, a triathlon, a specific time trial or a particular criterium at your local club, then it may be very wise to keep your Zwift subscription running. The online training programmes and structure that Zwift offers are excellent to motivate, measure and make sure you stick to your training goals.
Another factor worth considering is time: the levels of intensity which you can achieve on an indoor trainer in your pain cave are quite a bit higher and more constant than if you ride out on the road. Training for time trials, for example, is perfect on Zwift. There are probably fewer better ways to gradually crank up a higher FTP and work towards your key event, than all the fun which Zwift’s gamification and data points offer. There are also a bunch of training programmes for cyclosportives too. Also, if you are short of time, some say that one hour on the home trainer is equivalent to 90 minutes out on the road.
However, if you are a committed roadie, or someone who is getting fit and strong on Zwift in order to be better on the bike outside, then you can consider pausing your subscription for a while. A lot of people do this. The people at Zwift are smart enough to keep all your account data stored and ready for when you want to sign up again. To cancel and/or sign up again, go to Zwift.com > my profile > edit profile > billing. That’s where you then cancel to stop for a while and ‘upgrade’ to sign up for another month. If you cancel, you will be asked to fill in a small survey on whether or not you intend to sign up again.
Buy a power meter or not?
This is the number one wannahave gadget for all cyclists who are getting more and more serious about their training. But they also cost a lot of money. The least expensive yet reliable power meter is probably the Stages left crank meter. These cost around €350, depending on the type of crank. So we are talking a serious commitment. Are they worth it? The answer, as we might expect, is: that depends.
You can get a lot of information about your training intensity and performance from a simple old-fashioned (and cheap) heart-rate monitor. In the days before power metres became the standard measuring device for cyclists. There are several books on the subject of training with a heart rate meter. This is really the way to start, if you are thinking seriously about giving more structure to your cycling training. Cheap and cheerful.
But heart rate meters (HRMs) are not the most accurate indicators of your training. HRMs measure output. They measure what happened to your body as a result of the effort. But this ‘output data’ can be influenced by a whole number of factors. Power metres, on the other hand, measure input. The input of power to the pedals. This is a brutally honest data set. But if you are getting serious about training and can afford to make the big dent in your finances which a power meter will make, then buy one. You won’t regret it, and it will automatically make you more aware of your training and improvements, once you get into analysing the data be it via Golden Cheetah, Zwift, Strava or Training Peaks.
Continue gym workouts or train only the bike?
Core stability training, squats, cyclist squats and dumbbell shrugs — you’ve been doing them all winter right? So should you stop all that now and concentrate only on training on the bike? This is a tricky cycling dilemma. Obviously you will be getting more kilometres out on the road these days. But that does not mean you should stop the gym exercise. However: it is certainly a good idea to back off a bit.
You should continue to do regular core stability exercises all year round. Also consider yoga. If you have been using heavy weights during the winter, then use less heavy weights. If you don’t, you may find that your muscles ache so much after a workout that they impact your cycling performance. Not good. If you never use weights, don’t start now, but do start next winter.
Squats and lunges are always good. Think about doing these in the weeks when the weather suddenly gets bad and you don’t cycle as much as you had hoped to be able to. In short, off-bike exercises will always help you on the bike, as long as you don’t overdo it. Why would cyclists do dumbbell shrugs? To strengthen the neck muscles for getting low and aero on your road racer or time trial bike.
The perennial problems of sporty cyclists in spring. We all will experience similar cycling dilemmas during this time, so here are a selection of some of the seasonal conundrums that we at The Prologue are asking ourselves at the moment. You may be too.