In many ways my current cycling activity reminds me very much of my first forays into online cycling. I’m back to feeling like an out of shape newb who has a heck of a lot yet to learn.
Today was my first time outdoors – on the real roads – in at least 15 years. The big difference between today and all those years ago being that I was clipped in for the first time.
I’m still very much finding my feet. And I do mean this both literally and figuratively.
Deciding that I’d better do a bit of practice clipping and unclipping, I got my bike off the trainer and back on the wheel for only the second time in its time since I purchased it. So far, so good. Well, there was a bit of an oily mess, but I got there.
Mr Tumble
Then I went into the garden and promptly took my first tumble. Kids were crying. I was on my ass / side, in the gutter, thinking “WTF am I doing?”
Promptly I switched to the grass. More falling. In fact, several falls were had. So many that I decided I really better go back inside and get my helmet, as one fall in particularly whacked my fair bonce.
Now, I should say that whilst I have been riding with clippy pedals for ages at this point, I have just changed my pedals AND quite dramatically changed my cleat position on the left shoe. I decided to remain clipped in on the right, and push off with the left. The theory being that this leg would be closer to the curb.
Anyway, getting used to all this took about 8 or 9 hard falls. But I got there in the end. That said, I’m sure at least one fall awaits me out on the open road, but we’ll deal with that as and when.
Oh, I should say, and I’m not ashamed to admit, I found this video very useful:
After about 30 minutes of practice in the garden, I decided that with a bit of sunshine and these super quiet corona roads, I would likely never find a better time than now to head out and see how I got on.
The Great Outdoors
I almost look the part. Helmet, bike, clippy pedals, bib shorts… it all looks good. But I don’t have a jersey. So my options were to either wait till Sunday for my Amazon order to arrive, or sod it and go out in my base layer. I opted for the second one, and what the hell, right? Just get out there.
My planned route was all left turns. Two sets of traffic lights, but essentially an oval. No need to get too adventurous. Here’s the Strava:
This isn’t telling the full story.
I got out and onto start of the loop before I realised… doh! I’d forgotten my bloody Garmin. I put it down to all the garden head knocks I’d just taken.
So the first loop was cut short as I made the first left I could, and went back in a short loop, heading home to pick up the computer.
Out, Back, and Out Again
Off I went for a second time, and I did remember to activate the Garmin in order to start recording my ride.
So far, so good.
As I got to about the place where I’d realised I’d forgotten my Garmin on the first attempt, I then realised I’d also forgotten my heart rate monitor. Sweet baby Jesus and the orphans. Well, to hell with it. I wasn’t going to go back again.
More perplexingly, for reasons unknown to me (at the time, at least), I couldn’t see any ride stats. No wattage. No cadence. And obviously, no heart rate info.
I stopped and had a push of some buttons on the unit, but I couldn’t get the thing to sync. In the end I said sod it and just carried on. Disappointing.
Fortunately the Garmin did manage to pick up a bunch of stats, but the more interesting data is missing.
What this turned out to be was that I had not read the instructions for my pedals. Beyond having to screw them in, charge them, calibrate them, and who knows what else, I also needed to download the app and activate them. But of course:
Whoops.
Anyway, once that was done everything connected and appears to work perfectly. Unfortunately I only figured this out when back home.
Why I managed to get all my ride data yesterday is because I’d inadvertently synced the Garmin with the Tacx Neo, which had only confused me further.
Whilst I wasn’t out setting records today, it was certainly fun to be able to look back on the Strava stats and see how I’d done. This is completely new to me, as I’ve never found Strava to be that much fun for Zwift. The only thing I do use Strava / Zwift for is the bigger climbs.
What I will say is I was not prepared for the horribly jarring bumps that exist when pedaling along at 110psi. Man alive. I feel like my head is still throbbing from those oh-so-frequent crevices. Or maybe that’s concussion from the several tippy-ups I did pre-ride.
And the wind. Boy, howdy. No fun.
I tell you what, I have been spoiled by Zwift.
Hows Does Indoor and Outdoor Cycling Compare?
I’ll maybe leave this till I have a few more kilometers (and stats) under my belt, but what I will say – right now – is that in several ways I vastly prefer Zwift.
There’s a bunch of reasons why. Not having to worry about falling over at traffic lights is one. Another is the stink of sitting behind cars at said traffic lights.
But also the constant rhythm you can find. Settle in for 40 minutes of Sweet Spot Training – and it’s a comparative joy. Sure its a bit soulless, but as far as exercise goes, there’s just no ways that’s happening on the open road.
Right now I feel like I’d get more health benefit from a series of increasingly intensive structured workouts than from free riding outside. I need to regain what the last two and a bit weeks have taken away from me, and I really feel like I’ve significantly regressed.
That said, I am itching to get back out already.
It’s a totally different experience to Zwift. The wind kept me much cooler than a Zwift session, that’s for sure. No denying you sweat like crazy on a turbo. I was shocked by how dry I was… even though, admitedly, I’d only managed ~7km.
I’ll head back out tomorrow morning. See how I get on. Hopefully get more stats and maybe even a picture or two. I have a slightly extended loop to try, and hopefully with the Easter Holidays and Corona in full force, the roads should be a ghost town.
We shall see.