A cold night ride to Whitstable that brought on Covid

[TrevA]

I’ve considered investing in a packable down jacket, that will fit into either a pocket or a large tool bottle. There are occasions where you either have to ride slowly or stop unexpectedly and I think such a jacket would be useful. Katie Butler (Katie Kookaburra on YouTube) uses a Patagonia one that packs up small but it’s really expensive. I’ve been looking at the Decathlon Forclaz Trek 100 which is £50 and gets some good reviews.

I too had COVID 4 weeks ago. I had a sore throat for 5-6 days and had 12 days off my bike, but I’ve not noticed any long term effect from it. I did a 100k Audax with 3000 feet of climbing, on Saturday and managed to get round with a 14.6 mph average, despite the horrible wind.

[ndmbike]

I’ve been looking at the Decathlon Forclaz Trek 100 which is £50 and gets some good reviews.

https://www.sportsdirect.com/karrimor-j ... e=44340303

Any good?
I have an older version which is good for the money and has been excellent.

https://www.phdesigns.co.uk/waferlite-down-shirt
If you're flush!

[Pendodave]

I’ve considered investing in a packable down jacket, that will fit into either a pocket or a large tool bottle. There are occasions where you either have to ride slowly or stop unexpectedly and I think such a jacket would be useful. Katie Butler (Katie Kookaburra on YouTube) uses a Patagonia one that packs up small but it’s really expensive. I’ve been looking at the Decathlon Forclaz Trek 100 which is £50 and gets some good reviews.

I too had COVID 4 weeks ago. I had a sore throat for 5-6 days and had 12 days off my bike, but I’ve not noticed any long term effect from it. I did a 100k Audax with 3000 feet of climbing, on Saturday and managed to get round with a 14.6 mph average, despite the horrible wind.

I travel with a uniqlo down gillet and omm windproof top. Both crush down to nothing and offer great protection. They are ideal for breaks if you've got warm, but it's a bit chilly when you stop.

[Carlton green]

This is offered as a cautionary tale, from someone who thinks that we massively over-reacted to Covid, wrongly spent a fortune on it and believes it to be a secondary issue compared with events presently unfolding.

Thank you for sharing your experience which nicely illustrates how easy it is to get caught out by events beyond one’s own control. It’s easy enough for any of us to say what you should have done and what mistakes you made but to my mind that’s not supportive of someone who’s sharing a bad experience. A bit too near victim blaming and the OP will have in mind what to change in the future.

For me the key ‘take home’ from the OP’s experience is the reminder that life throws the unexpected at us and particularly so when other people influence how something is done. If only ‘they’ had acted differently then none of ‘this’ would have happened, but ‘they’ have their own reasons too and hence conflicting needs end up causing chaos and distress. We all make some assumptions in our daily life, it’s a normal action but at times we’re also bitten by them too; never assume because it makes an ‘ass’ of ‘u’ and ‘me’ ...

[thirdcrank]

I’ve considered investing in a packable down jacket, that will fit into either a pocket or a large tool bottle. There are occasions where you either have to ride slowly or stop unexpectedly and I think such a jacket would be useful. Katie Butler (Katie Kookaburra on YouTube) uses a Patagonia one that packs up small but it’s really expensive. I’ve been looking at the Decathlon Forclaz Trek 100 which is £50 and gets some good reviews.

I too had COVID 4 weeks ago. I had a sore throat for 5-6 days and had 12 days off my bike, but I’ve not noticed any long term effect from it. I did a 100k Audax with 3000 feet of climbing, on Saturday and managed to get round with a 14.6 mph average, despite the horrible wind.

I travel with a uniqlo down gillet and omm windproof top. Both crush down to nothing and offer great protection. They are ideal for breaks if you've got warm, but it's a bit chilly when you stop. (My bold)

I think this goes to the heart of it: if you are warm from riding and stop, especially for something unexpected like a puncture, the body's cooling systems especially evaporating sweat will quickly make you cold so some sort of standby jacket etc is good

If you are already cold - and as in the OP that's easy when the body goes into night time mode and closes down - then there's little short of a night watchman's brazier that will warm you through again. ime

[mjr]

Doesn't matter if the 5 posts above have already given the same "advice"; everyone loves to suck some air in through their teeth, shake their head, and mutter:

"I wouldnt have done that if I were you."

The OP wasn't criticising the Fridays.

And it doesn't matter if no-one has muttered that or accused them of criticising the Fridays, someone still likes to fling scat about "everyone" on here (presumably including themselves) being mean! And the mods like to leave such divisive posts up as "discussion starters"

[mattheus]

someone still likes to fling scat

A masterly bit of profanity-dodging: chapeau!

[sussex cyclist]

someone still likes to fling scat

A masterly bit of profanity-dodging: chapeau!

Marie Bryant and Scatman Crothers - When a Cat Begins to Scat

[mattheus]

someone still likes to fling scat

A masterly bit of profanity-dodging: chapeau!

Marie Bryant and Scatman Crothers - When a Cat Begins to Scat

<snort> Very good.

I think we may have two different definitions in play here! But if mjr meant the <singing-related> version, then I'm even more confused ...
(Plus there's a 3rd one.)

[Jamesh]

I’ve considered investing in a packable down jacket, that will fit into either a pocket or a large tool bottle. There are occasions where you either have to ride slowly or stop unexpectedly and I think such a jacket would be useful. Katie Butler (Katie Kookaburra on YouTube) uses a Patagonia one that packs up small but it’s really expensive. I’ve been looking at the Decathlon Forclaz Trek 100 which is £50 and gets some good reviews.

I too had COVID 4 weeks ago. I had a sore throat for 5-6 days and had 12 days off my bike, but I’ve not noticed any long term effect from it. I did a 100k Audax with 3000 feet of climbing, on Saturday and managed to get round with a 14.6 mph average, despite the horrible wind.

I travel with a uniqlo down gillet and omm windproof top. Both crush down to nothing and offer great protection. They are ideal for breaks if you've got warm, but it's a bit chilly when you stop. (My bold)

I think this goes to the heart of it: if you are warm from riding and stop, especially for something unexpected like a puncture, the body's cooling systems especially evaporating sweat will quickly make you cold so some sort of standby jacket etc is good

If you are already cold - and as in the OP that's easy when the body goes into night time mode and closes down - then there's little short of a night watchman's brazier that will warm you through again. ime

Also don't forget the brain also closes down at night.

One interesting aspect of lejog record attempts is the fact that rider can hardly make any decisions when they most need to and the support crew have to give a pre agreed decision making scheme.

[axel_knutt]

I put on a merino base layer, a merino jersey and a light lycra jacket; long leggings; wooly hat; winter shoes and winter gloves. I knew it would be far cooler in the early hours outside London. But this was the outfit I normally wear on club rides in Hampshire in March, so I thought I would be fine.

I never ever go out without a lot more clothing than I think I'll need at any time of year, even mid summer. I've needed a fleece jumper and fleece jacket in August within minutes of sweating in a T-shirt and shorts. Coming from a fellwalking background I know how quickly and unexpectedly you can get caught out by weather, I've seen fresh snowfall on the fell tops in June, and as a teenager, I also unwittingly discovered how easy it is to become hypothermic.

[Nearholmer]

Yes, I’m a constant ‘extra layers’ carrier too, unless I start off ‘rugged up’ then de-layer as I go, which happens once things are below about five degrees.

The stopping and suddenly cooling down business can be a serious issue, especially if it’s windy, even in quite decent nominal temperatures.

[Jamesh]

Happened to me on my Leeds Liverpool canal race.
My legs seized up and I couldn't get going again.

[freiston]

It's worth remembering that if you do make enough effort to get a bit of a sweat on, then when the pace slows or stops, you are going to get much cooler more quickly. With that in mind, I find that riding in a windproof jacket can make matters worse on the sweat front, especially my cycling specific jacket that has windproof arms and front panels, hugging the body and not allowing much room for sweat to vaporise, move around and escape. I find that a non-cycling specific quilted gilet (mine is a Decathlon one) with a merino base layer and fleece jacket underneath works well, with a windproof layer to go on top if I stop or if it gets really chilly - I usually have a windproof smock with a good long zip for ventilation. I also carry a down jacket, that packs down really small, for prolonged stops. In the climbing world, they call such jackets "belay jackets" but they can get expensive. My down jacket was a relatively cheap "exclusive brand" (Ayacucho) on sale from Cotswold Outdoors but if I was looking for a replacement, I would be looking at Decathlon, especially the synthetic ones (on account of price, ease of washing and performance when wet).

[mattheus]

It's worth remembering that if you do make enough effort to get a bit of a sweat on, then when the pace slows or stops, you are going to get much cooler more quickly. With that in mind, I find that riding in a windproof jacket can make matters worse on the sweat front,

The Eskimos say: "You sweat, you die".
(Apparently.)

Worth remembering on an arctic night ride!