Cycling UK Forum

It is worth bearing in mind that Covid can hang around in your body for a good while, and exercise can bring on some symptoms. If this happens it is best to rest until symptoms have gone, and then try again with exercise for up to one hour. Then two or three days off. If no reaction then repeat, and be patient. After much trial and error I succeeded with this approach last year, and then read an interview with a pro cycling coach who had used the same method for his athletes.

The body doesn't produce lactic acid when exercising. It produces lactate, which is used as a fuel, and furthermore there is increasing evidence that lactate is a co-ordinator of whole-body metabolism.

Lactate is lactic acid less one proton. About 75% of lactate produced during exercise is used as fuel. As you exercise at a higher level your body produces more lactate to prevent muscle damage. When the body can no longer produce enough lactate you have passed your lactate threshold and this could be the point where you feel a "burn". Training to develop a higher lactate threshold will delay the onset of this burn. All athletes are an experiment of one, but some combination in a training period of short hard intervals and longer amounts of training time at threshold pace, or just below, should develop a higher lactate threshold. Provided you build enough recovery into your training.

This journal article might prove interesting: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8225492/ The opening line states: "Since its discovery in 1780, lactate has long been misunderstood as a waste by-product of anaerobic glycolysis with multiple deleterious effects."

Recent research also shows that the body produces lactate in the gut after a carbohydrate meal, and the lactate enters the bloodstream before glucose. Lactate is not a toxic by product of hard exercise, but rather an important source of fuel, and a buffer to avoid glucose spikes in the bloodstream after consuming carbohydrate. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/other/ ... r-BB1mrleP

I reckon this discussion would benefit from a NY Times article about a research paper entitled: "The Moralization of Effort.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/opin ... ality.html

From the article: "Human beings evolved in societies that valued cooperation, the theory goes. People who work hard tend to be team players. So working hard in primitive societies was a costly but effective way of signaling one’s trustworthiness. As a result, our brains today are wired to perceive effort as evidence of morality. “Just as people will engage in unnecessary prosocial behavior to differentiate themselves as a superior cooperative partner,” the paper says, “displays of effort, including economically unnecessary effort, may serve a similar function.”"

I have a Big Agnes Skyline UL Stool. I think it weighs just over 500g. It is very comfortable and a nice height for sitting over the cook pot.

Could try Shimano multi-release cleats. These let you unclip by twisting your foot to the left or the right, or by lifting your foot up and twisting the heel.

Interesting article on Afib in Cycling Weekly: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/m ... about-afib

What stands out for me is that above ten hours a week of exercise you might be starting to put yourself at greater risk of Afib.

EV's aren't saving the planet, they are saving the car industry.

The other issue to bear in mind is that it will likely damage the battery if you try to recharge when the battery itself is below freezing.

At the start of the first Covid lockdown swimming pools were closed, but off-licences were declared essential businesses. I thought then that perhaps my country has a bit of a problematic relationship with alcohol.

I recently fitted some of these to my gravel bike and am very happy with them as they are easy to fit, have a neat system for adjusting the length of the stays, and do not rattle at all:
https://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/bont ... c8be84f255

One criticism is no quick release attachment where the stays attach to the fork.

Maybe one of these would be suitable:

https://www.alpinetrek.co.uk/vaude-chap ... -man-tent/

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15989931/v ... t-15989931

I haven't tried either of them.

I have a Big Agnes Skyline UL Stool that I take sea kayaking. It is just over 500g and extremely comfortable. I would be tempted to take it cycle touring.

Perhaps removing the battery will make it light enough to lift onto a stand like the one suggested earlier in the thread. I have tried my motorcycle paddock stand with my ebike but it is not a very simple or secure procedure.

I would recommend the Arran ferry route. Also, though I haven't tried this, you could get a ferry from Tarbert across Loch Fyne and then follow NCN 75 (via a ferry at Dunoon) to Glasgow.

I have been a keen cyclist for many years, and raced at a high level in my younger days. This year I bought myself an ebike and it is the best thing I have ever owned. I live in the North Pennines where it is very hilly and often windy. This is the same for the OP, and the ebike will make hills and wind a much more pleasant experience.
I did more cycling this year than in recent years, where struggling with hills and wind had put me in a downward enthusiasm spiral. I also used my regular bikes from time to time, if it was a pleasant calm day.
For a hilly commute it will also be helpful to go up the hills at a faster speed and not have quite so much traffic flashing past.
I would suggest buying the most powerful battery possible. For the bike suggested by the OP I think that is 500Wh. In my experience that would be good for about 45 miles in hilly and windy terrain, probably less for the OP until fitness is built up.
Finally, you need a safe place to store the bike at work.