Do cycling socks matter?

Christmas stockings

As a male approaching the big "four o", I have increasingly found the run up to Christmas a bit of a challenge. I came to a belief a whole ago that men over thirty should be excluded from the present list regardless of their naughty or nice behavior during the year. 

The symptom that backs this up is everybody always says their Dad is the hardest person to buy a present for. The underlying cause, in my opinion, is that if most men over thirty decide they want something they go and get it.   This is regardless of size, usefulness and frequently affordability. As such "proximity to December" is way down the list of concerns.   Therefore when the request is made "What do you want for Christmas?" they give an honest reply. "Nothing." and so the circle continues.

This year was different for me. This year, with my cycling affair at a new found level, I had a number of ideas... The first one that sprang to mind had my wife wondering had I misheard her question. "Socks?!"  she repeated disbelieving this was a serious request.   

When it comes to sport I am superstitious and always have been. I wore the same T-shirt, Jumper, under shirt and goalkeeper shirt every week from Mid November because I convinced myself it brought me luck. By early May it was bringing me dehydration every Saturday but I would not change. 

Fast forward to cycling and a number of opportunities to be equally superstitious have presented themselves. However this time I can justify them all, in Team Sky stylee, as quietening my inner Chimp.   Simplifying grossly, the chimp is that part of you that nags, casts doubt or reacts in ways you may regret. For me small things can play on my mind and bug me. Continually. Until I fix it. Forever.

When we rode LEJOG I bought 5 pairs of cycling socks to wear on the way.  Mostly because they said "cycling" on them if I am being honest.  During the ride, one pair of Altura socks started to become the lucky socks for whatever reason.  I honestly could not tell you why they just did and this became an obsession that I had to wear those for any major sportive to feel right.  Now after the best part of two years and thousands of miles it was becoming obvious they would not last another summer and they needed replacing.

Thanks to my wife, mum (still buying my socks at 38!), and (following some nifty keyboard work on a Friday afternoon) a pair of Bianchi socks to review from probikekit.com I have some options. Ruling out the winter socks that are functional for warding off frostbite/rising damp I have a pair of Castelli Rossa Corsa and Bianchi Eritrea that will compete to be the new lucky socks. Yes, really.

Now back to the original question (can you remember it?).  I set up a scientific experiment to see if there really was a difference between the Bianchi and plain old cotton socks.  Well I say scientific, I did a turbo session on the same bike, in the same room, with the same shoes but different socks.  Einstein is probably turning in his grave at calling that scientific.

Now the first bite is taken with the eye...and it has to be said, both the Bianchi and Castelli socks just look the part when compared to a plain black piece of cotton.  When I go out cycling, looking the part is a key component as this is about as close as I can get to a professional.  Once I start pedaling the similarities become fewer and fewer.

  

In particular, the Bianchi socks actually have L and R right by the toe in its trademark Celeste Green that is a really cool touch.  

Cycling specific socks claim to be kinder to your feet in terms of heat transportation and by having a band across the middle of the foot (which is clear on the Castelli picture on the right) to grip it whilst padding the toes and heel which make contact with the shoe.

What I can say is that these two areas are where the real difference was noted and the Bianchi socks were really good compared to my old Altura socks as well as the M&S specials.  

Whist riding on the Turbo trainer indoors in a house centrally heated to tropical levels, you do perspire somewhat and I can honestly say that my feet felt like the coolest part of me.  This may also be due to the shoes I have but it was noticeable.

The biggest difference though was in the grip of my foot within the shoe.  In the normal work sock, my foot was sliding in the shoe despite the best efforts of the clasps and Velcro that normally hold it in place.  This was not a significant movement but it was there.  In the Bianchi cycling sock there was nothing.  It felt like the shoe and pedals were attached to them.  

Now you may argue that for a few pounds there does not seem to be a big difference and therefore any socks should do.  I would flip the argument back and say that over the course of an hour on a turbo you can probably deal with the difference.  On a six hour sportive ride, with big hills the little slip in your shoe every pedal stroke would become irritating really quickly. 

Which just leaves me with the test run of the Castelli to do and finding a bike to match that lovely green colour. 

Is it raining?  I hadn't noticed

As I went to bed on Friday night setting the alarm for Saturday mornings ride, I received news that my son's cycling session in Rhyl had been cancelled due to the weather forecast of wind and rain.  My original plan had been to ride there and back whilst watching his session in the middle.  

Waking up on Saturday there were a few texts checking we were still going out.  Starting from the bottom up, I have acquired over the course of two years:

• winter socks (waterproof sealskinz)
• Winter shoes
• Winter neoprene overshoes
• Winter base leggings
• Winter Bib tights
• Winter Baselayer top
• winter gloves
• winter wind proof skull cap
• wind and waterproof Long sleeve cycling Jerseys;
• wind and waterproof cycling jackets.;
• Winter tyres
• Winter Wheels and oh yes, 
• a winter bike.

To then not ride in the winter would seem to make all of that a touch redundant.  

The advantage of that kit being so specific is that I don't look like the Stay Puft marshmallow man when I put it on despite the number of layers.  It is also remarkably warm although actually the weather near to home on Saturday was not as bad as expected in the morning and it didn't actually rain on us although we could see the clouds on the hills where it must have been heavy.

Slightly hillier profile

In keeping with our training plan that we are trying to follow, we sought to maintain the base levels on the flat whilst increasing the elevation and our heart rates a little on some climbs.    The climbs you can see on the chart being Bersham to Nant Mill, then Bersham Hill and followed by the climb from Farndon to Malpas.

Maintaining a steady heart rate on the first two climbs was OK and in turning off to Nant Mill I succeeded in taking a road I had not been down before.  What I had not appreciated was the steepness of that road and the fact that the elevation topped out at nearly the same point as Bersham Hill at just over 600 feet.  These hills are not great compared to some of the local points such as worlds end and the Horseshoe pass etc but we are building our fitness so they will come.

What I noticed on the Malpas climb was that
a) nick having joined meant we rode a bit faster; and
B) riding into the 20mph head wind made controlling your heart rate on the flat a challenge.  Before it kicked up.

It actually was like riding into a hill the whole way from Farndon to Malpas and the graph shows the road at varying gradients but when the wind was added this was quite a slog.  We looked forward to turning around and then rolling back with said wind behind us but, in what appears to be cycling tradition, instead we headed across the wind to Bangor instead.  There never is a tail wind.

Pleasingly my hear rate average was in the mid 130s and the average speed just under 14 mph which I am happy with given the different terrain to previous weeks.  I also think the heart rate is skewed slightly by some faulty readings when I first stated and my heart rate didn't come beneath 218 for the first two miles.  I would have worried had it not been at 283 when i was stationary and stood at the side of the bike!

Rule 9 well and truly applied and looking forward to more hills now.

The winter bike going

Sometimes you have to look around - Ferris Bueller

River Dee in Chester at leisurely pace

Riding a bicycle has often reminded me of the film Cars. 

The irony of this is not lost on me but let me explain.   It is not a longing to be in climate controlled comfort in contrast to the freezing rain dripping off my nose.  Nor is it the wish to have the power of 100+ horses getting me to the top of the hill as opposed to the two spindly legs I have turning away in frustration. 

Instead it is the fact that away from the main routes you often take for speed and ease, there are often smaller roads which dissect beautiful villages or provide views you have just never seen before despite living in the area for nearly 40 years. 

Cycling tends to take you to these roads primarily for the increase in hills, the views, but also for safety reasons. On a quiet country lane you are more able to ride along, talking in a group side by side and not line astern being as little a nuisance to passing drivers as possible. 

Add to this that by trying to ride slowly you have more time on the bike to look around and it makes for a fantastic morning out. 

This happened on Saturday when in plotting a route from Wrexham to Shotton, so we could join the Chester riverside path and, in the vehicular circle  of life, become annoyed by slow moving pedestrians in the middle of the path, I found a road that by passed not only the Penyffordd by pass but also PenyFfordd as well. Anybody who is party to superior intelligence than me may be able to say if there is a particular name for this type of road as I have only heard of a double by pass in the context of heart operations. ;-). 

The Dee Cycle path

Anyhow, this road was quiet, rolling, gave a fantastic view out over the flat Cheshire countryside and on the other side the welsh hills. It was stunning.   It wasn't bereft of strava segments so it is a civilised road but not a commonly used road at all. 

Why has it amazed me?  At the other end if the road above is a piece of tarmac that will forever be known to me as the "bumpy hills". As a child, as a treat my parents drove that way to Chester so we could experience the joy of a 1970s suspension being tortured by a car going over what felt like a Big Dipper roller coaster.   Anyone who remembers things like this will remember this was pre seatbelts being law...they will also probably have quite an accurate picture of kids dramatically throwing themselves around on a back seat as said seat hurriedly comes back to meet them.   The resulting nausea was a small price to pay and Chester was not so far away. 

How that view escaped me until now was where Cars comes in. The bumpy hills, this was not a road you would take if you were in a hurry therefore we never had. Like Cars where the interstate cuts out the travelers to what was a thriving village. 

So I have a thought I am going to try and implement into future routes. I am going to make sure I go on at least one lane that I have never been on before. The thought, combined with my legendary navigational skills, will strike fear into the hearts of my cycling buddies. However it thrills me as to what else I may find right on my doorstep as I have in some of the pictures below. 

Worlds End and a ripped tyre

BASE TRAINING

I have a question I would love an answer to.  Is Base training so called because it is Building Aerobic Stamina and Endurance?  Is this commonly known and I have just missed it?  Should I run off and see if I can Trade Mark this somehow?

The theory i am trying to test is that by riding at a more steady pace we as a group will improve our underlying fitness allowing us to ride for longer at increased efforts in about 9 weeks from now. This is not our theory, this is tried and tested however we are also running into the common problem that easy rides are still too hard. 

Trying to actually ride a bike slowly is not as easy as it sounds.  Now by slowly what I actually mean is at minimal effort and not actually caring upon the speed you achieve but more the effort you are putting in. 

Cycling should be a simple if undefined equation.   When I look at the computer perched on my handlebars the Cadence must be linked to heart rate which must be linked to speed as the visible output (until I justify those Garmin vector pedals pedals or Look Keo power pedals). 

Why I say "Undefined" is because I have no clue what the operators in the equation are but I know they must all be in there. It is also a moving target to some extent as road surface, gradient, temperature and most importantly wind have a big factor to play in the defined output of speed.   

Base training (tm) is around monitoring the main input of heart rate. Now the difficult part is not caring about the obvious visible output.   Finding yourself flying along flat well surfaced road at 130 bpm and 20 plus mph feels great. Suddenly turning into a wind and a slight hill and your speed drops to 13 or less is still disheartening. 

The alternative is you just maintain the gear you are in and take advantage of feeling quite fresh to maintain your speed. Now your heart rate jumps and you potentially ruin two hours or training  for the PB on a Strava segment or to beat your friend to the top of the hill. Tough choice. If the fellow rider is your best friend or your sibling obviously there is no choice here and most peoples competitive streaks will kick in. :-). Some things are important. It also important you have fun on your rides so the statistical analysis may mean diddly squat to you but I have to say I am particularly nerdy about it.  

Am I improving?  The honest answer is I don't know yet but I am riding for longer without stopping on corners for a quick drink or for the longer group coffee stop now.  The general length and duration of the time out is not different because I am not sprinting and stopping so I hope it helps.  

What the last two weeks of doing this have made me realise though is mostly training and riding are different and balancing the two will be fun. 

For now though, if nothing else, I am certainly enjoying the view. 

Horseshoe pass early one morning

The point of cycling is not to be better than everyone else. It is to be better than you were yesterday.

Around this time two years ago I went to my local bike shop to purchase a bike.  The first bike i had owned in around 20 years since I last saw an old Peugeot Race bike which had taken me to my summer job of cleaning M&S.

My reason for this was having been convinced to ride the length of the UK for charity and complete Land's End to Jon o Groats.  We achieved this during the summer of 2012 but it was no good, I was bitten by the cycling bug.   Things have not improved since then and I was please to receive three sets of bike cleaning fluid and five cans of WD40 as Christmas presents.

Whilst I thought the cost of getting myself initially kitted out for LEJOG was quite high in the grand scheme of things, I have subsequently bought lots of new kit all with the aim of finding improvement in my performance. Marginal gains being the new holy grail as I justified why I really needed that new jacket/shirt/wheelset/bike...

Now I am not Bradley Wiggins or Chris Froome, so my gains are not measured truly scientifically on VO2 max levels and sustained power outputs but more on times during particular sportives and my new addiction to Strava personal records.  Now as a 38 year old however, finding that I can still improve my physical performance at something is an achievement I gratefully accept and so the search for those gains continues.

Personally, this year I have just one main goal on my bike; To ride the Etape Cymru in September quicker than my brother in law did it last year.  This is an improvement in my time of around 30 mins or nearly 10% which is a reasonable target and would continue the trend from 2012 to 2013 where the time improved by around 55 minutes.  The group of friends I regularly ride with as part of the Man or Muppet Velcro Team (MMVT for short - you can see we don't take ourselves that seriously) also have their own goals that we will all work together to try and achieve as a group.

As I enjoyed the blog on LEJOG I am going to keep track of the fun that we have with MMVT this year.  I will also chart our progress through some interim sportives,  searches for new kit and perhaps another long charity ride should we be able to align our holiday calenders.

 Mostly, it will be to find out the answer to our team question.  Man or a muppet?