Cycling UK Forum

I’m at 677 miles and 47,428 feet climbed so far this year which took me 48 hours and 22 minutes, which works out at an average speed of 14mph. 34 rides to date giving an average distance of 20 miles.

However over the last couple of weeks I’ve been recording fewer than 10 a day, due to various named storms and overall poor weather. January, normally the worse weather month of the year, was relatively benign. And I’ve taken up running again, 3 days a week after a long term injury, so it will be a struggle to maintain 10 miles a date for the year.

Jdsk wrote: ↑24 Feb 2022, 5:17pm

Gearoidmuar wrote: ↑24 Feb 2022, 5:12pm Fitness is muscle specific. Cardiovascular fitness is actually in the muscles you train.

And the heart and lungs.

Jonathan

Is the heart not a muscle?

Also I thought aerobic fitness was linked not only to the amount of oxygen you can inhale but also how much of it you can use before exhaling and deliver to the working muscles in various parts of the body.

Having spent (aka wasted) much time internet surfing today, I came across a new to me product, sealant for inner tubes. Similar to sealant in a tubeless tyre, the idea is it seals small holes in an inner tube preventing the need for a puncture repair mid ride. Just wondering if anyone has tried using inner tube sealant and what their verdict is.

That sounds similar to me. Age 63 when I'm riding at my own pace I generally have an average HR in the 140s (using a Garmin HR strap) & a resting HR of 47 according to Garmin Connect. Yesterday I was on my way home from Chester with my bike. On a whim I decided to not sit around for 35 minutes waiting for a connection to Wigan, followed by an 8.5 mile ride & I was feeling in good form so I rode the whole way home - 20 miles & pushed it a bit more than usual. Consequently my Average heart rate was 156, significant spells were over 160 & I peaked at 173 surfing the start of the evening rush hour traffic up the A49 past the M62 junction (before turning off at Winnick onto slightly quieter roads for those familiar with the area). I managed to keep my average speed over 15mph until the final half mile (which has about 250ft ascent!).

RIde home - elevation & HR.png

Good to hear I’m not on my own!

Could buy a Garmin watch with HRM, but not a cheap option. Chest straps are always going to be more accurate. Polar H9 is a good option. Can be connected to other devices via Bluetooth/Ant+

Psamathe wrote: ↑15 Feb 2022, 6:18pm I have an old Sunto chest HRM (which only talks to their own watch). I rarely use it these days but have always found I need to use electrogel to get it to work reliably. I assume there are other gelly things that might also work but I've only tried nothing (which is unreliable) and electrogel (which is reliable).

Ian

Simple plain water usually works

I have a plan but not one that lasts a full year. Nor is it rigid. At the moment I’m working on a month by month plan. Each month is divided into three 8 day ‘blocks’ followed by a 6 or 7 day block, apart from in Feb where the 4th block is only 4 days.

Each 8 day block consists of 4 bike rides with intervening days being either a short run or walk. During the winter months two of the bike rides are indoors on a turbo and consist of riding some efforts after a suitable warm up. The other two rides are outdoors weather permitting. Once longer days and better weather arrive I will abandon the indoor riding.

The fourth, end of month block, will consist of easier recovery sessions of reduced volume and intensity.

I do dabble with home based strength and conditioning exercises, but frankly lack the discipline to do so on a consistent basis.

As I mentioned the plan is not rigid. It’s adapted to fit within the rest of my life, social and family commitments, and also the weather.

So essentially I do not have a winter break off the bike but adapt by doing some of my rides indoors, in my garage.

The most important part of the plan is recovery as that’s when you actually become fitter and stronger, or at least maintain fitness and slow the decline as you age. The second most important is variety of activity to ensure freshness and mental stimulation.

Hi Jeff,

Running was my primary leisure/sporting activity for decades, but I’ve always cycled as a secondary. However as I’ve aged and suffered running injuries cycling has become more dominant and is now my primary exercise. To my mind they are quite different.

Running, or at least distance running, is almost entirely aerobic whereas cycling is also about strength and power. Running is more intensive than cycling as you can freewheel and recover especially on downhills; and unless you’re time trialling or similar cycling on the flat is easier than running on the flat. Running is more time efficient, and much cheaper in terms of equipment and clothing, and you’re not dependent on the vagaries of a mechanical device. Running in cold wet conditions is preferable to cycling as you generate a lot of body heat with running.

The biggest downside of running v cycling is that running is much harsher on the body than cycling (crashes excluded!). The impact of running causes more damage to muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints than cycling. It takes longer to recover from running than cycling, which is one reason why there are no three week multi stage races for professional runners! The result of the extra stress that running causes to the body is that injuries are very common amongst runners. Personally I find mixing it up the best option as that avoids the risk of repetitive strain caused by either activity, and gives more variation and mental stimulation.

Wrt to your comments on running shoes. You should be able to buy a pair of quality shoes cheaper than £150. Try looking for previous year’s models. Often there are just minor updates (not always for the better), or just different colours. And I would definitely advise replacing more than every 2 to 3 years. Keep a check on mileage and replace after 500 miles or even less if you notice heavy wear.

“ Well, after looking at a few anatomy images of nerves and blood supplies to the human bits and pieces of both sexes I realised that all these cut out saddles that have the middle missing seem completely useless”

Surely usefulness of cut out saddles is dependent on their purpose. For me it’s a question of comfort. I find them comfortable and therefore not useless.

Well this week has certainly been putting the headwind theory to the test. And I can testify it’s bloody awful.

Slowtwitch wrote: ↑28 Jan 2022, 9:38pm I've been trying this for nearly a month (it comes in concentrate liquid form, easy to dilute with water). It's supposed to ease inflammation, joint pain, aid restful sleep and act as a very powerful anti oxidant.

A lot of older sports stars swear by it. I can confirm that it really does ease joint pain, my knees have never been better, and after years of disturbed and disruptive sleep I've been sleeping the whole night through. For once I am really impressed by a supplement. It's not cheap, but it certainly does what it says on the tin.

Why does it have to be sour? Does sugar destroy these remarkable health benefits?

Jdsk wrote: ↑27 Jan 2022, 8:33pm

David2504 wrote: ↑27 Jan 2022, 8:29pmThese are general guidelines based on a sedentary lifestyle. I am aged over 60, and I know I can maintain a HR of around 160 to 170 BPM for a good while, though I wouldn’t be talking to you, and a rate above 170BPM for a few minutes for example when cycling up a steep hill. I’m comfortable at below 155BPM. I can do that because the heart is a muscle and like all muscles it is strengthened through stress caused by exercise, and I have exercised most of my adult life, long distance running and cycling.

Sounds good. I have no idea what those guidelines are supposed to add in your situation, or those of many others.

Happy cycling

Jonathan

Thanks for your comments.

My first thought when noticing the spike post ride was that it was not real, an artefact as you described it. Nevertheless it was a little disconcerting to see a spike above 200BPM even if only momentarily, so I started the thread. Think I’ll monitor for a while and if it’s repeated regularly contact my GP to discuss. If not, just forget about it.

Carlton green wrote: ↑27 Jan 2022, 4:05pm I had thought that the maximum heart rate during exercise was 220 less your age, so 160 a maximum of bpm for a sixty year old.

The British heart foundation have some guidelines and a heart rate calculator here: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo ... heart-rate

“Your target heart rate (THR) is between 50% and 70% of your maximum heart rate. You should aim to exercise with your heart rate between these two figures. Your target heart rate will make sure you increase your fitness and strength safely.”

For a 60 year old those (BHF) exercise rates would be 80 - 112 bpm.

There’s some interesting data here too, if from a well known but reputable commercial organisation : https://www.polar.com/blog/running-hear ... es-basics/

These are general guidelines based on a sedentary lifestyle. I am aged over 60, and I know I can maintain a HR above 160BPM for a good while, though I wouldn’t be talking to you, and a rate above 170BPM for a few minutes only, for example when cycling up a steep hill. I can do that because the heart is a muscle and like all muscles it is strengthened through stress caused by exercise, and I have exercised most of my adult life, long distance running and cycling.

What’s more my resting HR is 47BPM. The NHS would describe that as Bradycardia, and did, when I had a short stay in hospital a few years ago. Indeed at first, until I explained my circumstances they were worried about it.

Depends on the strength of the wind and steepness of the hill. And there there’s riding uphill into a wind.

Tiggertoo wrote: ↑26 Jan 2022, 10:16pm

to consume my jam sandwich lunch

Presumably with peanut butter under the jam? It's what I often take on rides.

On this occasion it was mixed jams, marmalade and grape, both gifts of home made products from friends, the grape jam being made from home grown greenhouse grapes. However I am an aficionado of both peanut butter and jam so will experiment with that combo. Thanks for the idea. Any particular flavour of jam you find works best?