Getting back to normal. Tip of the day on Windproof vests.

So I did a bunch ride on Friday morning and went for a solo ride on Saturday afternoon and am feeling like I'm getting my confidence back.

(image via here)

One of the main things that helped was, a friend who has been riding for yonks and is someone I look up to in terms of cycling said:

"it always takes time to bounce back from a crash, especially if it has been a while. I crashed once while cornering and it took me over 3 months to put faith back into my bicycle and corner like a normal human again. If you're feeling fearful, think about all that you overcame to ride clipped in riding in traffic for the first time. 

Which was really great to hear.

Like, even though people have been riding for years and are super confident and almost perfect on the road, everyone has gone through what I'm going through now.

(Although people don't really talk about it - I guess it would scare the crap out of me if everyone warned me about this stuff).

So I'm getting there.

I was going to ride my commuter into the city, to try the William St -> Bourke St transition again...  But it was raining and I had too much stuff to do.  Maybe another day..

Wind vests

Windproof vests are great.

They can feel like a thin piece of plastic.  

Which feels like they couldn't possibly keep you warm.

But it's amazing how toasty you feel by just keeping the wind off your chest.

There's a lot of wind in cycling.

Note, you need a wicking layer underneath.  (Otherwise, you're just trapping the sweat - sweating in a plastic bag).

My major tip of the day is - find a windproof vest that has a back pocket, or has a cutaway so you can reach your jersey pockets.

This is super useful - saves you having to reach under your vest to get things.

I didn't realise until I got a second vest and I realised how useful pockets were!  

My husband explained about the cutaway (that's his vest on the right).

Left = pocket

Right = cutaway for reaching jersey pockets (cut is lower than the breathable back cutaway).

All these little things!

Loving learning about it all!

Sydney Autumn Clothing For Cycling & Eating More

So it's been cold this week.

I went on the Local Bike Shop (LBS) ride this Saturday and despite us calling it halfway, we still got wet.

Which wasn't a major problem.

Except we then stood outside the coffee shop in the wind for an hour afterwards.

I got cold.

So today I went into the city to stock up on warmer gear.

I'm one of those people who freeze whenever they go swimming in the summer.

That school kid who turned purple and sat there shivering while all the other kids donated their towels.

As an example, I was wearing fleecy Winter arm warmers during the Sydney summer.

Anyway, I casually mentioned how I keep getting super cold at coffee and the girl at Liv Giant pulled out this jacket.

(Pearl Izumi W ELITE Barrier Jacket Women - peacock)

Which I then proceeded to fall in love with and have to buy.

I am biased though - I love anything aqua or pink.

Anyway, I wore it on the way to the morning ride this morning and at coffee and it was AMAZEBALLS.

Along with my new Winter cap, I was utterly toasty.

Giro Ambient Skull Cap

So happy.

Much happier than Saturday!

Eating More

So I'm trying to eat more.

Since starting cycling, I'd lost a bit of weight.

However, I'm finding that I'm tired all the time.

A lot of other cyclists suggested that it was a problem of nutrition.

As I find it hard to stomach things in the morning, plus, I tend to stick to eating things I think are tasty, I bought this book.

http://feedzonecookbook.com/portables/

So I'm committing to cooking one thing from it every week.

I figure if I do up a batch, at least I have something on hand to eat - which is half the problem - it's easy to get lazy and not eat / eat badly when there's nothing good on hand.

This week I have:

Blueberry rice cakes - (sticky rice + coconut milk + blueberries)

And potato and sausage cakes - (potato + chicken sausages + egg + flour)

Despite my Sunday nights being quite stressful (I don't cook and find cooking quite stressful and for some reason seem to have a super power of misreading recipes - getting halfway through and realising the potatos were supposed to be cubed BEFORE boiling, the chicken sausage was supposed to NOT BE ONE COMPLETE SAUSAGE when cooking etc), it's working out quite well.

So I think I'm doing well in starting to build up a routine to make the cycling less impactful on other things.

Although, I love cycling so much, everything else seems boring in comparison!  (Woe is you if you come across me shuffling around at work).

Speaking of work, I'd better be off!  :)