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This applies to gravel and road, although technically I was going for a road ride.
Me: "Going for a training ride sweetie."
Wife/son: "But it is raining."
Me (confused): "What is your point?"
It's 92 degrees out, I am going to be soaking wet regardless. I can't even believe I had this conversation.
Can I tell my son to harden up?
RadDogRoadWarrior wrote:Can I tell my son to harden up?
Mudge wrote:
No, unless you want him to hate you. Just keep setting an example.
Does "old school" mean riding in the rain, or the dark, or anything else intimidating can be fun once you try it? I'll drag people along with me whenever possible if I'm confident they'll enjoy it once they get started
Does "old school" mean you aren't a real rider unless you make yourself cold, broken, or otherwise miserable intentionally? No thanks. I'll do that to myself (hello Mid-South & DK), but I'd never tell someone they had to HTFU if they weren't driven to. That's a good way to have cyclists, and fewer friends.
"Does "old school" mean you aren't a real rider unless you make yourself cold, broken, or otherwise miserable intentionally? No thanks."
Old school means cold, broken and perfectly happy. For a bike messenger it is just another day on the best job ever.
SteeleWheels wrote:This thread caught my interest. I'm a recreational rider these days but when I was younger and "training" I would purposefully ride in the worst conditions. I would wait until the hottest part of the day and go out during a downpour or heavy wind. Now, I choose the best days but I don't mind rain. The one thing that really bothers me though is this "no riding on wet trails" BS. The train of thought used to be that when the roads were wet or it was raining you would grab your mountain bike and hit the trails. Now you're not suppose to ride trails when they are wet. How stupid. California IMBA ruined mountain biking trails.I live in Virginia and they are wet most of the year and I ride them.Some trails in NOVA actually have gates closed at the access when they are deemed "too wet". Totally stupid. What are you going to do, write me a ticket?
Not weather related but skidding is the same thing. It used to be frowned upon. For one thing it erodes the trails. Now everyone is skidding through the corners and tearing the trail up. At least they're not riding when the trails are wet! I say ride when you want, in any weather conditions. Riding is about freedom.
To be honest, I have not followed bicycle racing (more MMA and other martial arts and some football) but I used to follow. Coming from a wrestling background I was always impressed with the toughness and the mind set of racers. Guys were called things like "The Cannibal" and having ridden with some guys who were legit, those guys hammered hard. Greg Lemond taking steroids did not bother me one bit, LOL. I don't know much about modern racers.
I am also a competitive bodybuilder. I can tell you that gyms have become home to the most pussyfied estrogen repositories imaginable, but I do not know if this has spread to the bike world. Young men today are increasingly effeminate.
I might be weird, but when I go out to ride, my goal is to ride as fast and push myself as hard as possible. I am learning not to always do that, to slow down and enjoy things a bit more but old habits....
Today I was out and, at the age of 58 I had a moment where I thought "holy shit, I don't know if I have enough in me to make it home" LOL. That is how I know it was a good ride.
Here is the thing when it come to weather. A 30 minute bike ride at 80 plus % of my Vo2 Max is an integral component of my overall training. I am training for an IFBB pro card in Masters Bodybuilding (60 and over...I was a runner up in the 50 and over). I do as much a 10 hours of cardio per week before a contest. I am too old to run.
These 3 sessions are written in stone (they will eventually become 1 full hour sessions as I need to get leaner). That means they are 100% mandatory. The worst here in South Texas is 96 degree heat with brutal humidity. But the training must be done. I actually prefer rain to really high heat.
I have learned to ignore weather. The last few days when I got out I was pleasantly surprised. It was in the 80's with low humidity.