Is Spring here?

New Tech

Given the lack of road miles during March April has positively boomed with opportunities. It really started on the last day of March with the chance to go out and do a few more miles than I've been getting in recently. It was also a chance to try out my new purchase. With the plan to ride 200 miles in one day this year I decided to buy a proper saddle bag. After much deliberation I picked the Carradice Super C Audax Saddlebag along with the SQR Quick Release clamp  from the same company. Installation was relatively smooth, the only bug bear being the requirement to remove the seat post every time you want to put the clamp on and off. This may seem a minor point but my small saddle bag doesn't fit onto the bike with the clamp fitted. However, the small bag is almost at the end of its life (holes everywhere) so maybe I can find one that will fit with the clamp.
The quick release part is ingenious meaning that the bag just clips on and off. It does, of course, add a little weight to the bike which is noticeable at first but I got used to it. I'll just need to get fitter! For my test ride I popped my small bag in along with my waterproof and my small camera. For a day trip it will be just fine. Jersey pockets will still be used for food etc with the bag being used for the extras. Here's a couple of pictures of it attached to the bike.

From the back. See how it sits away from the saddle.

And from the side. Mudguards and bag - audax anyone?

When riding I felt no interference from the bag at all or any feeling of it swinging around. All very pleasing. Given I have a beard does this make me a typical audax'er?

Rides

The throes of winter are still not over and we have been plagued with easterly winds despite the weather being generally better. Living on the east coast that means that most of my rides recently have finished with me battling against the elements to varying degrees. The ride with the bag mentioned above had me in full tuck for a lot of the ride home from Newburgh trying to keep the speed up against the breeze. Hard work for me and my less than supple back.



The next ride was a bit of a departure for me. Straight from work with my colleague Vic, with whom I am doing a Sportive this month. 86 miles in and around Glencoe. With the weather not conducive to training, I have done little while Vic has only been doing his normal commute. By normal I have to say that 100 miles a week is pretty impressive, especially given the recent conditions. To give him some extra miles and hills we went out work. Good fun, especially the fast start. Of course, into the wind on the way home was not so nice.



Making the most of the weather I got in a mid week ride, again with a difference. I had the afternoon off, so left work, came home and went out. I got back to St. Andrews in time to pick Vic up again and repeat some of our earlier route before I came home once again and, of course, into the wind once again. My first 100km ride of the year and one that had an almost apline feel to it as the banks of snow were piled up high on the higher roads.



Sadly winter reared its ugly head for the next training ride. A flat spin around the Howe of Fife again with Vic; just trying to get some longer rides into his legs but this time wit nothing strenuous. The cold, the wind and the rain made it plenty tough enough, thanks. It beat being stuck at home and it is always good to have those kind of experiences tucked away for later. Into the wind on the way home again has to be hardening me up for something!



One way and another it was another 5 days before I got back on the bike. And this time it felt almost spring-like. I was still dressed for winter, the one concession being a short-sleeved shirt sandwiched between my windproof and base layers. It made a change from the long sleeved ones I have been wearing. A beautiful day with mostly dry roads apart from the the Hazelton walls to Newburgh stretch which was soaking wet. It's funny how road conditions can change so suddenly.
The one notable part of the ride was a new hill. I've come down this stretch of road plenty of times and always wondered what it would be like to go up. Now I know. It will definitely be attempted again. Now I know what it is like I'm sure it will be fine to do again. But it wasn't easy. No sir! For those of you interested it is the hill on the way from Freuchie to Kennoway via the back road, just after the A911. Try it if you want but you have been warned; it's not easy.
The customary wind had risen while I was out to make the ride home from Kennoway "interesting" (or slow as I like to call it).



I think Spring may be on its way. All I need now is for the wind to blow from the west to make my ride(s) home easier....

Observation

I've been trying quite hard recently to make sure my heart rate stays within reasonable bounds as much as possible. This should have the benefit of keeping me fresh for the latter stages of the ride as well as keeping my legs in good shape. Obviously, when your a bit more of a Clydesdale than a waif, hills are never going to be easy places to achieve this but I've been trying to set a good slow tempo (speed) before I need it in the hope that my heart rate will rise more slowly. The results are interesting. I am slower, especially on the hills, but I feel better for it. And it does appear to give me more for when I really need it. Like the hill described above.
And surely it's better to be able to cycle along and enjoy the view, the environment and the exercise than feeling like your insides are about to explode. Not that this will stop me pushing it on the turbo, or at spin class. But I suspect that's the place for it.