Winter slowdown

Aidy

Anyone else experiencing this?

Wind aside, I reckon I'm a good couple of minutes slower each way than I was over summer.

I haven't decided if I'm naturally adjusting for grip/visibility/other or if I'm just being lame.

BentMikey

Same here, I'm starting to destroy my yearly average. Either that or breaking a spoke on my HED deep section front wheel and having to use an ordinary one is killing my speed.

spen666

I noticed this in previous winters.

I think it is a natural effect of poorer weather, poorer road conditions and poorer visibility

cjcp

Yep. Always happens to me once it gets darker and wetter.

Air is a bit denser too (apparently), which makes things harder.

MonkeyMonster

Can't trust the roads (in the dark) so hold off from hammering given the plethora of pot holes, cracks and general mess of the london streets. Being wet etc never helps speed either, though last couple weeks its been generally craper than usual most days.

andy83

yep same here, feel disapointed with myself for my times, bring on the summer for better times

plus side this time last year i wasnt cycling due to illness so anything is a bonus

Wallace1492

Dark - more cautious, generally more nutters on the road
Wet - more cautious, clothes weighed down with water
Colder - heavier and more clothes
Wind - into a headwind this morning, so more cautious, nearly blown off
Generally just gloomy and deperssing, that slows you down too.

pllb

Wallace1492 wrote:

Dark - more cautious, generally more nutters on the road
Wet - more cautious, clothes weighed down with water
Colder - heavier and more clothes
Wind - into a headwind this morning, so more cautious, nearly blown off
Generally just gloomy and deperssing, that slows you down too.

Wallace are you affected by SAD? You sound really down there. Chin up fella!

MonkeyMonster

pllb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Dark - more cautious, generally more nutters on the road
Wet - more cautious, clothes weighed down with water
Colder - heavier and more clothes
Wind - into a headwind this morning, so more cautious, nearly blown off
Generally just gloomy and deperssing, that slows you down too.

Wallace are you affected by SAD? You sound really down there. Chin up fella!

The poor chap lives in Glasgow... all year round SAD 8)

wgwarburton

Aidy wrote:

... I reckon I'm a good couple of minutes slower each way than I was over summer....I haven't decided if I'm naturally adjusting for grip/visibility/other or if I'm just being lame.

Cold muscles don't work as well as warm ones. Even once they've warmed up your body will still need to devote energy to keeping warm (as well as fighting off any viruses etc that are flying around, other people's illnesses always make me feel run down).

Plus what others have posted about dark, damp slippy road conditions.

Cheers,
W.

Cafewanda

So glad it's not just me. Thought I was going backwards in the speed stakes and as for SAD, don't get me started. Cycling definitely helps. It's getting out of bed that's the problem as I'd be quite happy to stay there til end March.

Wallace1492

pllb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Dark - more cautious, generally more nutters on the road
Wet - more cautious, clothes weighed down with water
Colder - heavier and more clothes
Wind - into a headwind this morning, so more cautious, nearly blown off
Generally just gloomy and deperssing, that slows you down too.

Wallace are you affected by SAD? You sound really down there. Chin up fella!

Yes, I do get affected by it!! I was in London for the day yesterday, and it was the first time in nearly a month that I have seen blue sky, and the sun shining!! Was lovely to see, even if it was London, but it all dissapeared on the flight back...... resigned back to more weeks of darkness, rain, wind and never seeing the blue sky.... feel like I live someplace that says good bye to the sun in October, and does not see it till March..... :oops:

pllb

Wallace1492 wrote:

pllb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Dark - more cautious, generally more nutters on the road
Wet - more cautious, clothes weighed down with water
Colder - heavier and more clothes
Wind - into a headwind this morning, so more cautious, nearly blown off
Generally just gloomy and deperssing, that slows you down too.

Wallace are you affected by SAD? You sound really down there. Chin up fella!

Yes, I do get affected by it!! I was in London for the day yesterday, and it was the first time in nearly a month that I have seen blue sky, and the sun shining!! Was lovely to see, even if it was London, but it all dissapeared on the flight back...... resigned back to more weeks of darkness, rain, wind and never seeing the blue sky.... feel like I live someplace that says good bye to the sun in October, and does not see it till March..... :oops:

Thats no fun eh. Are you a proponent of adopting "Single/Double Summer Time" then? "RoSPA supports the adoption of Single/Double Summer Time because it would result in fewer people being killed and injured in road accidents. It would also bring significant health, environmental and economic benefits." http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/advice/general/summertime_policy.htm

Wallace1492

pllb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

pllb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Dark - more cautious, generally more nutters on the road
Wet - more cautious, clothes weighed down with water
Colder - heavier and more clothes
Wind - into a headwind this morning, so more cautious, nearly blown off
Generally just gloomy and deperssing, that slows you down too.

Wallace are you affected by SAD? You sound really down there. Chin up fella!

Yes, I do get affected by it!! I was in London for the day yesterday, and it was the first time in nearly a month that I have seen blue sky, and the sun shining!! Was lovely to see, even if it was London, but it all dissapeared on the flight back...... resigned back to more weeks of darkness, rain, wind and never seeing the blue sky.... feel like I live someplace that says good bye to the sun in October, and does not see it till March..... :oops:

Thats no fun eh. Are you a proponent of adopting "Single/Double Summer Time" then? "RoSPA supports the adoption of Single/Double Summer Time because it would result in fewer people being killed and injured in road accidents. It would also bring significant health, environmental and economic benefits." http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/advice/general/summertime_policy.htm

Not really. As it states, you get no more hours of daylight, so no help to me. Just can't wait till spring comes along....

pllb

Wallace1492 wrote:

pllb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

pllb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Dark - more cautious, generally more nutters on the road
Wet - more cautious, clothes weighed down with water
Colder - heavier and more clothes
Wind - into a headwind this morning, so more cautious, nearly blown off
Generally just gloomy and deperssing, that slows you down too.

Wallace are you affected by SAD? You sound really down there. Chin up fella!

Yes, I do get affected by it!! I was in London for the day yesterday, and it was the first time in nearly a month that I have seen blue sky, and the sun shining!! Was lovely to see, even if it was London, but it all dissapeared on the flight back...... resigned back to more weeks of darkness, rain, wind and never seeing the blue sky.... feel like I live someplace that says good bye to the sun in October, and does not see it till March..... :oops:

Thats no fun eh. Are you a proponent of adopting "Single/Double Summer Time" then? "RoSPA supports the adoption of Single/Double Summer Time because it would result in fewer people being killed and injured in road accidents. It would also bring significant health, environmental and economic benefits." http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/advice/general/summertime_policy.htm

Not really. As it states, you get no more hours of daylight, so no help to me. Just can't wait till spring comes along....

Ok, maybe you should just head south for the winter

plumpy

I take the view that once I'm onto Winter Bike, 2kg heavier than Nice Bike and less aero with guards, etc, I can just forget about speed until April. I just give myself a big pat on the back for still being on a bike at all, TBH. Certainly have my pick of the bike racks at work!

Couldn't have been wetter last night if I'd swum home along the Leeds-Liverpool canal with the bike on my shoulder.

wgwarburton

pllb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

.... feel like I live someplace that says good bye to the sun in October, and does not see it till March..... :oops:

Ok, maybe you should just head south for the winter

Or East: Average December sunshine hours in Glasgow - 0.8, Edinburgh is 1.4... neither's impressive but that's almost twice as much!! :-)

Cheers,
W.

Gazzaputt

Slow down? I've come a complete halt. A month this coming Monday I've been off the bike.

Training commences again next week.

Clever Pun

I was thinking about this the other day

if it's raining do you get wetter if you travel faster? let me explain a little before I get called a numpty as you travel faster along the horizontal you hit more of the vertical lines that you would have otherwise missed, but you're out there for less time so hit less of the verticals that would have plonked on your head anyway.

does that make sense?

MonkeyMonster

Clever Pun wrote:

I was thinking about this the other day

if it's raining do you get wetter if you travel faster? let me explain a little before I get called a numpty as you travel faster along the horizontal you hit more of the vertical lines that you would have otherwise missed, but you're out there for less time so hit less of the verticals that would have plonked on your head anyway.

does that make sense?

I think its a combination of old wives tale and bad science. It depends on the wind direction but going with absolute vertical rain - the less time you spend in it, regardless of speed taken the drier you will be. Throw angled rain into the equation and it changes obv.

will3

MonkeyMonster wrote:

the less time you spend in it, regardless of speed taken the drier you will be.

that's not strictly true, I mean if you spend 1hour or 1 hour 2 minutes in pouring rain, you're pretty much just as soaked.

MonkeyMonster

will3 wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

the less time you spend in it, regardless of speed taken the drier you will be.

that's not strictly true, I mean if you spend 1hour or 1 hour 2 minutes in pouring rain, you're pretty much just as soaked.

you will be a few drops drier - but where... well that's for you to find out

roger_merriman

Clever Pun wrote:

I was thinking about this the other day

if it's raining do you get wetter if you travel faster? let me explain a little before I get called a numpty as you travel faster along the horizontal you hit more of the vertical lines that you would have otherwise missed, but you're out there for less time so hit less of the verticals that would have plonked on your head anyway.

does that make sense?

If very fast you'll feel colder, in terms of being wetter I dough it, mostly it's time both length and luck of the draw, ie being in the open exposed section when it really came down.

Aidy

Cheers all, it's good to know I'm not alone

I've ridden previous winters (it's rare that I'm off the bike for too long), but this is really the first time I've had a regular, measurable distance where I've noticed the effect.

Bring on summer!

MrChuck

MonkeyMonster wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

I was thinking about this the other day

if it's raining do you get wetter if you travel faster? let me explain a little before I get called a numpty as you travel faster along the horizontal you hit more of the vertical lines that you would have otherwise missed, but you're out there for less time so hit less of the verticals that would have plonked on your head anyway.

does that make sense?

I think its a combination of old wives tale and bad science. It depends on the wind direction but going with absolute vertical rain - the less time you spend in it, regardless of speed taken the drier you will be. Throw angled rain into the equation and it changes obv.

I seem to recall a study showed that you do indeed get wetter if you run rather than walk in the rain, for the reason Clever Pun mentioned- so for cycling presumably it'd be even worse. But weather it's better to run/walk depends in the end on how far you are from shelter.

prawny

roger merriman wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

I was thinking about this the other day

if it's raining do you get wetter if you travel faster? let me explain a little before I get called a numpty as you travel faster along the horizontal you hit more of the vertical lines that you would have otherwise missed, but you're out there for less time so hit less of the verticals that would have plonked on your head anyway.

does that make sense?

If very fast you'll feel colder, in terms of being wetter I dough it, mostly it's time both length and luck of the draw, ie being in the open exposed section when it really came down.

They did this on an episode of Mythbusters, I missed the end though so can't help :oops: still if you watch the discovery channel from now until the end of time you probably see it again. And the chicken cannon is always worth anther watch

Big Wib

I'm defo slower, particularly yesterday - head/cross winds for 20 miles on the way in, but only about 10 going home :?

However, I am on the bike so who cares

Wallace1492

prawny wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

I was thinking about this the other day

if it's raining do you get wetter if you travel faster? let me explain a little before I get called a numpty as you travel faster along the horizontal you hit more of the vertical lines that you would have otherwise missed, but you're out there for less time so hit less of the verticals that would have plonked on your head anyway.

does that make sense?

If very fast you'll feel colder, in terms of being wetter I dough it, mostly it's time both length and luck of the draw, ie being in the open exposed section when it really came down.

They did this on an episode of Mythbusters, I missed the end though so can't help :oops: still if you watch the discovery channel from now until the end of time you probably see it again. And the chicken cannon is always worth anther watch

I saw this, conclusion is that you get wetter if you walk. Longer time in rain = wetter.

Wallace1492

WGWarburton wrote:

pllb wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

.... feel like I live someplace that says good bye to the sun in October, and does not see it till March..... :oops:

Ok, maybe you should just head south for the winter

Or East: Average December sunshine hours in Glasgow - 0.8, Edinburgh is 1.4... neither's impressive but that's almost twice as much!! :-)

Cheers,
W.

Gawd, that looks like Glasgow gets MINUS 0.8 hrs sunshine.....

I's like that poor wee duck in Tom and Jerry, wish I could fly south, but I can't.....
Still, just booked up skiing for January, that makes me happier, Kitzbheul here I come.

navt

On the contrary. I find I cycle faster in the cold. This is especially true in the mornings. Evenings I take it a little bit slower as it is dark.

dresbo

Wallace1492 wrote:

prawny wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

I was thinking about this the other day

if it's raining do you get wetter if you travel faster? let me explain a little before I get called a numpty as you travel faster along the horizontal you hit more of the vertical lines that you would have otherwise missed, but you're out there for less time so hit less of the verticals that would have plonked on your head anyway.

does that make sense?

If very fast you'll feel colder, in terms of being wetter I dough it, mostly it's time both length and luck of the draw, ie being in the open exposed section when it really came down.

They did this on an episode of Mythbusters, I missed the end though so can't help :oops: still if you watch the discovery channel from now until the end of time you probably see it again. And the chicken cannon is always worth anther watch

I saw this, conclusion is that you get wetter if you walk. Longer time in rain = wetter.

I've considered this, and in my 'considered' opinion, you definitely get wetter the slower you go. Take it to the extreme. shuffle 5 metres at snails pace in the pouring rain. You'll be soaked. Run across it and you'll be much drier. At some point it doesn't matter because you're as wet as you're going to get, but I'm sure the principle is valid.