• This topic has 36 replies, 34 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by 66y6.
Viewing 37 posts - 1 through 37 (of 37 total)
  • Are you slower in winter?
  • jonnyboi
    Full Member

    I cant get near any of my PBs at the moment, yesterday I was a minute off my best 10k time, which I set on a warm day in June.

    The Internet states this is due to gubbins like air density, rolling resistance, scrotal friction, leaf mould etc. The lazy answer is that I’ve sat on my hoop since September eating sugar and fat, but there must be some truth in these excuses facts.

    What do your PBs/KOMs say about you, generally faster in summer or just year round awesomeness?

    weeksy
    Full Member

    CErtainly on the dirt i’m slower, on the road i’m not a million miles away.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Depends… off road it doesn’t matter, some of the best conditions are later on in the season when the ground gets a bit moist on the road the conditions don’t always seem so good for going fast

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    jonnyboi
    Full Member

    This was on road, well towpath. It’s a good section with few interruptions and apart from lots of leaves slowing my cornering I had a good run at it.

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Cold air is more sense than warm air, go figure.

    alanf
    Free Member

    It’s the opposite for me running (races). I’m better when it’s cooler. Cycling though, I have no idea as I never record rides.

    jonba
    Free Member

    Riding speeds are always down in winter.

    Knobblier tyres, loss of top end fitness, using the old bikes, carrying more clothes, wearing more clothes and thick tights. Road is more consistent and on common loops I’ve dropped from comfortably above 20mph average to over 18 on a good day. Social rides are slower too, no one is interested in hammering it at this time if year. MTB is too variable feels slower but mainly riding the single speed in the dark so it would be!

    philjunior
    Free Member

    Always faster in summer, even though I (try to) race track through winter, even on the same bike.

    Less wind, less flappy clothes, leaves will slow you, it’s always dark and miserable etc.

    There are a few notable exceptions when I’ve had a tailwind of 40mph or so.

    Yak
    Full Member

    Overall faster in the summer, but tend to pick up the odd pb and kom in the winter as I’m back on the ss. (strava nonsense – sorry !)

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    Are you even slower in winter?

    FTFY

    Yes. More bulky layers. More body fat. Less time to ride. Cold air denser and lungs less efficient. Maybe.

    fifeandy
    Free Member

    Yes, miles slower.
    Have nearly always destroyed myself with some late season challenge followed by a month off and the resulting loss of fitness.
    Combine that with cold air, frosty/wet surfaces, slower bike etc.

    It all adds up to a loss of ~2mph on road rides.
    Very depressing having been going so well in August/September, but the logical side isn’t worried as i know its part of the nature of periodisation.

    lunge
    Full Member

    <smug face> not this year I’m not as I’ve lost a stone in the last 2 months, got the fittest I’ve been in years and am currently getting KoM’s on every ride</smug face>

    jameso
    Full Member

    What I understand from training advice/info is I don’t think you can keep form or pace all year round unless it’s a fair bit lower level pace than you’re capable of with some good training. If you’re going at (relative) top form in the summer you’ll need to back off over the winter at some point to regain that level again for the next summer. So if that’s right, fitness is built up in micro+macro cycles of stress and recovery.

    rocketman
    Free Member

    just year round awesomeness

    ^^ this

    I put more effort in to stay warm

    jonnyboi
    Full Member

    so consensus appears to be that it’s not down to any of my personal failings, that’s the important bit I think.

    P-Jay
    Free Member

    Mixed bag, mental state plays more of a part in my speed than anything else, warm, sunny and dry and I’m pretty happy and I’ll zip along – frosty winter rides can be even faster rolling, but my body can stiffen right up when it’s cold and if I studying every root and corner for ice I’ll be way off the pace – but sometimes when the planets align… I posted 6 PBs at BPW on Sunday, conditions were far from ideal.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Funnily enough I was thinking about positing something on one of the old avg speed threads about this 🙂

    Thick air definitely plays a part. As does bukly draggy (non aero) winter kit and bike. As well as focus on lower zones.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Reliably slower in winter on road bike.

    MTB also but mainly due to soft ground conditions, have had a few PBs recently in that amazing dry spell.

    njee20
    Free Member

    I am, combination of factors, as mrblobby says – more clothing, more fat, less riding, no speed training (even when I did such things), slippery roads meaning I’m more tentative, heavier bike etc etc.

    So yes, I’m markedly slower in winter, always have been. I’ve got friends who seem no different though, very odd.

    Denis99
    Free Member

    Jeez, I’m always slow.

    Can’t say I notice any difference in the winter, probably getting older…….

    beiciwr64
    Free Member

    just year round awesomeness

    This ^^^
    Got my KOM back on the red at Antur on Sunday 😀

    faustus
    Full Member

    Ditto to all of the above for me too. Road isn’t that much slower but definitely more careful cornering on wet and muddy roads, and I approach them more as ‘touring pace’ rides instead. MTB is usually a bit muddier and with slower tyres. I try and accept the seasonal difference and approach winter as slower plodding in general, but still have fun. It does wear thin sometimes, but it’s been such a kind autumn weather wise I can’t complain too much.

    Digger90
    Free Member

    Exercise performance deteriorates in colder weather – there’s a ton of published research available about that, such as this:

    http://www.lboro.ac.uk/microsites/lds/EEC/ICEE/textsearch/09articles/Sandsund.pdf

    beano68
    Free Member

    Never really been one for riding in the gloop but now I really enjoy it,I’m actually now faster in muddy conditions and riding the bike more is giving me confidence to push it, still crash a lot but I’m now finding my limits to were I can push myself and the bike.

    This will be the 1st winter were I’ll be constantly out on the bike in poor conditions as its making me a better rider.

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    Slower by a fair bit.
    When it’s dark and cold I stay more upright and corner slower.
    I have also found that in the years when I was giving the CX racing a good go,if I got a cold or bug ,it seemed to hit me harder. Not sure if it was because I was still training hard and fast in the cold or what,but now that I don’t race,lurgies seem to pass me by.
    I still put plenty Winter miles in though and it feels nice to reach the spring with some fitness in the bank.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Well, offroad, I tend to be slower when it’s wetter just because of grip. But leaving that aside… If I get the clothes right, I’m quicker/ride harder in winter. I don’t overheat on a hard effort and I’m not so keen to stand around and cool down. But I run pretty hot in general.

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    I’m not sure that’s possible.
    Any slower would require a tricycle.

    neilthewheel
    Full Member

    God yes. It’s the wind, the wind.

    thepurist
    Full Member

    My body really doesn’t like the cold, but I run hot so can’t layer up too much without overheating yet somehow still struggle to keep my legs warm. So I just accept that I’ll need an extra 5 mins on my commute when it’s cold or dark or windy. I feel like I work harder than I do when I was setting those PBs back in September though, but that doesn’t translate into speed.

    crashtestmonkey
    Free Member

    slower on-road despite being as fit if not fitter than the summer (racing CX now, don’t do any other form of racing). Down to a mixture of the heavier less racey bike, more restrictive clothing but more significantly the awful road conditions. Riding a couple of weeks ago when it was -8C was interesting but still safer than it is now, with the rain and damp lifting weeks worth of crap out of the road surface (be it farm crud on rural roads or from building sites on urban).

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Exercise performance deteriorates in colder weather – there’s a ton of published research available about that, such as this:

    It is noticeable if you ride to power, RPE definitely higher for a given power when cold.

    Also don’t really like riding too hard and taking heavy deep gulps of cold damp air.

    Do wonder how much more effective a winter training regime you could have in a warmer drier climate.

    bouncecycles
    Free Member

    Overall I tend to find I’m quicker off road,overall average, not really looked at strava segments or anything. I put it down to the trails being quiet more than anything else since I tend to ride the same bike and Cath most of the same stuff with perhaps less water, just a few more layers. Road I do tend to find my road average goes down a bit as I tend to favour wet leaf strewn lanes.

    senorj
    Full Member

    I am .& I get tired quicker . Probably because I’m expending energy keeping warm ..?
    Too many pies too.

    jamesoz
    Full Member

    This time of year my coughing and wheezing can be heard for miles. This winter seems to have really tickled my asthma.

    wilburt
    Free Member

    I’m much faster downhill.

    tom200
    Full Member

    Yes, except when you get a hard frost and the shrub is still short. Particularly slow at the moment, but the new shed is coming on nicely.

    66y6
    Free Member

    Actually, I’m faster in winter. Don’t have problems with overheating like in all other parts of year (guess what happens when you are from scandinavia and move into central europe).

    But my other problem – slow in morning, until lunch. I get faster and stronger until my peak at early night. Don’t have idea why.

    Morning commute is absolute pain, night ride to home is quick as hell and my ss is unstoppable.

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