Cycling the copenhagen way

ndru

Morning All

Last Friday I carried out an experiment. I dressed up in jeans (no lycra), regular shoes (no spds), long-sleeve (100% cotton and not too tight) and a cap (no polystyrene) and set off from North Woolwich to Oxford Circus. I didn't have to rush as it was my day off - in fact my main goal was to go easy. And I did - I never went above 20km/h (12mph) -I hardly ever did, except for long descends. People scalped me sometimes and on rare occasions I was able to overtake, but didn't really care to do it, however mostly I was riding with the flow along CS3. Overall it took mi 1h to get to where I wanted and it was just 10 minutes more then it would normally if I kept my pace. The benefit was - I got there without breaking a sweat, totally relaxed; I got to speak with people trying out Boris Bikes, passing cars (even those cutting me up) didn't really make any difference to me, when I saw a traffic light on the horizon it didn't really bother me that I had to stop.
To sum up - it was fantastic. Now I am going to leave home 10 minutes earlier and just take my time. The only thing left of the sporty cycling apparel that stays are the mitts, everything else is going to gather dust and attract moths in the closet as I'll never wear it again. I'll ride my road bike until I'll be able to buy a bakfiets and from then on I'll only ever ride sitting straight. I feel liberated.

jonny_trousers

I give you 2 weeks.

Kieran_Burns

I give you until it rains

jairaj

I can never seem to control my self. Even when just popping to the shops I always try and gun it. Im still like child

rolf_f

A friend of mine came up for the weekend. He cycles a bit but is pretty slow compared to me (and I made him suffer in the Dales on Saturday :twisted: ) - anyway, on Sunday he had to get the train home so we cycled in using my normal commute route. There was a bit of stopping and starting and he seemed that slow that I was almost single speeding it much of the way. I certainly didn't come close to breaking a sweat but the 9.5 miles only took about 6 minutes longer than it took me this morning.

But then, that isn't the point is it?!!

prj45

I treat myself to a pootle sometimes, and yes, if you stop for lights then it really doesn't matter how fast you go between them, your average speed is about the same.

ndru

I don't know what the point is really. I just discovered that you don't actually have to race when cycling. It's sort of what I found out when I was still driving - driving fast made me use up more fuel, made me angry at people driving slow, made me do silly things and get into dangerous situations just for 2 or 3 minutes that I gained, so totally not worth it.
I realised that I don't even have to get changed before a bicycle ride - I just roll up my jeans. I use my bike computer as a clock only now, which means my eyes are on the road more. Which in turn means that I can enjoy the scenery. And while other rush past me I couldn't care less, because I usually catch up to them on the next lights (unless they jump it). I don't feel like it's a competition.

Norky

ndru wrote:

And while other rush past me I couldn't care less, .... I don't feel like it's a competition.

You have lost your way, truly lost. The spirit of SCR is weeping

snailracer

The Cube Law laughs, laughs at our puny efforts.

Sewinman

I was hoping to read about a cycle route in Copenhagen!

rolf_f

prj45 wrote:

I tear myself to a pootle sometimes, and yes, if you stop for lights then it really doesn't matter how fast you go between them, your average speed is about the same.

Red or Green lights average out though whatever speed you do - and the computer accounts for the stopped time so traffic light delay is only down to acceleration and deceleration losses. Fact is that there isn't much speed difference between pootling and blasting it.

SnailRacer understands

Kieran_Burns

Traffic Lights? Nope. Don't know what you mean.


(I actually push myself when commuting only because it's my way of keeping fit, nothing to do with the time per se. I just use that as an indication I'm getting fitter... or less unfit)

ndru

Getting fit while cycling is a big thing for me too. It's the reason why I picked up cycling. The thing is there is little difference between going 12mph and 18mph in the long run - you are still covering the same distance. You can get the same result just by tweaking your diet

Kieran_Burns

ndru wrote:

Getting fit while cycling is a big thing for me too. It's the reason why I picked up cycling. The thing is there is little difference between going 12mph and 18mph in the long run - you are still covering the same distance. You can get the same result just by tweaking your diet

Sod that.

dhope

ndru wrote:

Getting fit while cycling is a big thing for me too. It's the reason why I picked up cycling. The thing is there is little difference between going 12mph and 18mph in the long run - you are still covering the same distance. You can get the same result just by tweaking your diet

Bah, diet isn't a substitute for exercise. Might get to the same weight but you'll not have the same benefits.
The usual 2x the speed requires 4x the effort rule of thumb sounds about right and explains why dropping a little speed makes things much easier, but I enjoy the extra effort

lost_in_thought

ndru wrote:

Getting fit while cycling is a big thing for me too. It's the reason why I picked up cycling. The thing is there is little difference between going 12mph and 18mph in the long run - you are still covering the same distance. You can get the same result just by tweaking your diet

Hmmmm.

I can see where you're coming from a bit on this, I sometimes ride my cruiser ('old commuter' link in sig) over short distances and enjoy plodding along, but I find to too slow for normal commuting. I like going fast.

But I can't agree that there's little difference between gunning it and pootling (I'm using those rather than speeds), it's like saying 'walking is the same as running, as long as you go the same distance'.

So not true.

Furthermore, you may lose weight by tweaking your diet, but you can't get fit.

ndru

Lit - true. I am not comparing walking to running, rather jogging to full sprint. Both will get you fit, the timeframe will be obviously different. But then again you can overload your muscles only that often, they also need rest. If you keep gunning it every day, I am afraid there will be little to no benefit. But hey, I didn't start this thread to argue on the metabolic side of cycling - it was more about the spiritual side of it. ZEN.

mickbrown

Walking v running.

There's actually very little difference in calories burned if you cover the same distance.

jonny_trousers

mickbrown wrote:

Walking v running.

There's actually very little difference in calories burned if you cover the same distance.

Say what?!?

Even if that were true, your body goes on to expend far more energy for far longer periods after a period of vigorous exercise than after only casual activity.

The stop start, pushing yourself style of commuting fast is pretty much the best form of cardiovascular exercise you can get (high intensity interval training at its rawest).

It's true that you need rest days, however, but more so muscle has time to recover, repair and to build.

choirboy

mickbrown wrote:

Walking v running.

There's actually very little difference in calories burned if you cover the same distance.

I can see a whole discussion on heart rate zones coming up.... The fact is that if you pootle (HR Zone 1-2) you are probably mainly burning fat and training your aerobic system whilst it you are caning it (HR Zones 4-5) you are training your anaerobic system and mainly burning carbs (glycogen) which is fine for relatively short distances but doesn't help if you are trying to build endurance.

There's also a whole thing on fast- and slow- twitch muscles but I'm getting out of my depth already.

So both will make you "fitter" but in different ways - it really depends what you want to be "fit" to do.

AndyManc

ndru wrote:

.
To sum up - it was fantastic. Now I am going to leave home 10 minutes earlier and just take my time. The only thing left of the sporty cycling apparel that stays are the mitts, everything else is going to gather dust and attract moths in the closet as I'll never wear it again. I'll ride my road bike until I'll be able to buy a bakfiets and from then on I'll only ever ride sitting straight. I feel liberated.

I do it when I'm on my late shift, sometimes stop in the local village for a coffee.

Often I just get sick and tired of having to race everywhere, I get that feeling often at 5:15am , but I have no time to have the choice :roll:

Yep, a steady pace is often the best option.

.

coopster_the_1st

ndru wrote:

Getting fit while cycling is a big thing for me too. It's the reason why I picked up cycling. The thing is there is little difference between going 12mph and 18mph in the long run - you are still covering the same distance.

Oh there is!

It is an extra 30 minutes in bed for me every time I ride*

That leads to light/dusk benefits and it is usually warmer the later it is!

*at the speeds quoted

ndru

While I was talking about fat burning you are talking about staying in bed longer Of course it takes more time when you ride slowly and it's a pity it seems not everyone can enjoy a slower pace (like you with your long commute). The only thing I am saying is that I found slower pace to be more relaxing and make more sense to me than racing. I was also thinking how London would look like if more people adopted a laid back approach...

PBo

ndru wrote:

I don't know what the point is really. I just discovered that you don't actually have to race when cycling.

Burn the heretic!!!

OT - jonny-trousers; is your avatar "inbetweeners" related?

coopster_the_1st

ndru wrote:

The only thing I am saying is that I found slower pace to be more relaxing and make more sense to me than racing. I was also thinking how London would look like if more people adopted a laid back approach...

+1.

But I believe it is human nature to try to be quicker, faster, smarter, etc

ndru

quicker and faster, doesn't always mean smarter
I used to go through twice as much clothes as I go through now, because I arrived at work all sweaty and had to do the superman thing (change in the loo). I think that's quite clever.

Kieran_Burns

ndru wrote:

quicker and faster, doesn't always mean smarter
I used to go through twice as much clothes as I go through now, because I arrived at work all sweaty and had to do the superman thing (change in the loo). I think that's quite clever.

You wear two day pants????? :shock:

ndru

Nope, I go commando. Cycle chick they call it. I think.

EKE_38BPM

I've been through the speed/sweaty arrival dilema. In the end I managed to find the pace that allowed me to get to work just below the sweaty mess threshold. A little faster and I have to spend a few minutes cooling down.

Its all about going just slowly enough to avoid melting the lycra but fast enough to feel like I'm doing something. Over time (as I got fitter, I guess) the speed increased a little without the sweatiness.

Riding slowly is not something I can do.

ndru

I guess it depends what you understand by slowly. Do you take your average speed into consideration or your top speed on a given section. For some reason I meet people that pass me on the next lights.. well most of them as some simply jump them... So in the end my average speed is around 21kph instead of 24kph, while my back remains dry.

jonny_trousers

PBo wrote:

OT - jonny-trousers; is your avatar "inbetweeners" related?

It is indeed, you big bumder!