D
David Kerber
Guest
It's a nice winter day in RI today: about 25°F with a 10-15 mph wind out of the northwest, with
gusts to about 25. After my ride last weekend when it was a little warmer and less windy, I decided
I needed to get something which would block the wind from my knees and crotch without making my legs
hot and sweaty. Enter a pair of Bellwether windfront tights, which my LBS recommended as the best
ones for the money. Even then they aren't cheap, about $80, but they sure were nice when I tried
them for the first time today. I did about 11 miles in abou 50 minutes, including the toughest hill
I know of around here, and they were great. They kept my knees and thighs warm, which kept my knees
from aching as the ride went along, and they kept my crotch from developing frost bite, too. I've
ridden in the past with a pair of lined nylon warmup pants, and they worked well for blocking the
wind, but didn't breathe enough, so my legs got sweaty, and they were baggy, necessitating an ankle
band to keep them out of the chainwheels.
The other think I discovered on this ride was that my trainer work is starting to pay off. I've been
working on increasing my cadence for the last three works or so, doing my trainer workouts at 95 to
100 rpm (I had been running at about 90 before that). When I got on the road today, I found that my
comfortable cadence has gone up by about five to eight rpm. Last year I was most comfortable between
about 80 and 85 rpm, and could burst to 95 or so without much effort. Today I was able to maintain
around 88 to 93 relatively easily, and 100+ for short periods, allowing me to run about one gear
lower to reduce the pressure on my knees. I can't wait for it to warm up and the roads to dry off so
I can take off the extra clothes and the fenders, to see what kind of speeds I can maintain in good
conditions; I hope to get my average up to around 18.5 to 19 on my normal training route (that means
I'm doing around 20 most of the time while moving, because of the stop lights and signs).
--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!
REAL programmers write self-modifying code.
gusts to about 25. After my ride last weekend when it was a little warmer and less windy, I decided
I needed to get something which would block the wind from my knees and crotch without making my legs
hot and sweaty. Enter a pair of Bellwether windfront tights, which my LBS recommended as the best
ones for the money. Even then they aren't cheap, about $80, but they sure were nice when I tried
them for the first time today. I did about 11 miles in abou 50 minutes, including the toughest hill
I know of around here, and they were great. They kept my knees and thighs warm, which kept my knees
from aching as the ride went along, and they kept my crotch from developing frost bite, too. I've
ridden in the past with a pair of lined nylon warmup pants, and they worked well for blocking the
wind, but didn't breathe enough, so my legs got sweaty, and they were baggy, necessitating an ankle
band to keep them out of the chainwheels.
The other think I discovered on this ride was that my trainer work is starting to pay off. I've been
working on increasing my cadence for the last three works or so, doing my trainer workouts at 95 to
100 rpm (I had been running at about 90 before that). When I got on the road today, I found that my
comfortable cadence has gone up by about five to eight rpm. Last year I was most comfortable between
about 80 and 85 rpm, and could burst to 95 or so without much effort. Today I was able to maintain
around 88 to 93 relatively easily, and 100+ for short periods, allowing me to run about one gear
lower to reduce the pressure on my knees. I can't wait for it to warm up and the roads to dry off so
I can take off the extra clothes and the fenders, to see what kind of speeds I can maintain in good
conditions; I hope to get my average up to around 18.5 to 19 on my normal training route (that means
I'm doing around 20 most of the time while moving, because of the stop lights and signs).
--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!
REAL programmers write self-modifying code.
