- Hello and welcome to Ask GCN Anything.
You get to ask us anything
and we will do our best to answer it.
And some of you, some of you really do ask us anything
like this person EskimoKwin who sent this in via Twitter.
And they have said,
is it just me or does it look like this person
is holding another tiny person in their hand?
This was at 9.15 on the GCN Show, episode 217.
And no, it's not just you,
that is definitely a person holding a tiny human being.
That is a brilliant spot.
I can't believe that.
Anyway, moving swiftly on.
We have had plenty of cycling-themed questions
as well this week, like these two first up
regarding carbon frames.
I'll start with this one from Mathieu Lizotte
who has asked,
how can I know when the lifetime of my carbon frame is over?
And what is the consequence of riding
with an older carbon frame if there are no visual flaws?
Well, that's quite a tricky question to answer actually.
On paper, carbon doesn't degrade,
so your carbon frame could, in theory,
last for a lifetime.
However, we do know that sometimes a carbon frame
could be damaged and yet not really show it on the surface.
But I think the fair assessment is
if you haven't had any crashes or any big knocks,
your carbon frame is probably gonna be absolutely fine.
The reason people seem to be quite suspicious
of carbon is that it's had a bit of a bad press
and unfairly so as well.
So, you'll probably should be able
to take confidence in your carbon frame,
just as much as you would
in any other frame material to be fair.
Right, and then the next carbon question
is this one from Michael McDowell
who sent it in on Twitter as well.
Is water trapped inside a high-end carbon road frame
a major problem?
There are no drain holes.
Will corrosion occur?
Well, the good news is no corrosion will occur
on your carbon frame because carbon obviously
doesn't corrode.
So, from that respect it's absolutely fine.
Unfortunately, the lowest point on a frame
is your bottom bracket,
so you may well find that the bottom bracket itself
could corrode if you get loads of water in there.
So, the simple answer and solution
to a problem is to periodically take your seat post out,
tip your frame upside down
and let any water drain out.
Because if you've got a high-end carbon frame
you don't want to be adding any grammes of water to it.
Next up we've got this question from Chris Harris
who said that he someone on Strava doing fasted trained.
What is it?
Have you used it before?
Well, fasted training is effectively going for a bike ride
without having had any breakfast before.
So, you are effectively training in a fasted state.
And yes, I have used it
a reasonable amount actually when I was full time
but I don't do it anymore
'cause it's not perhaps the most fun way
of going for a bike ride.
You need to keep your intensity levels quite low
but can be really, really effective.
But if you wanna know more on this subject,
then the video that's currently playing behind me
is called High Carb Versus Low Carb,
What is the Most Effective Way to Train?
And actually it's one
of the most controversial of GCN videos of all time.
Enjoy and then spend a bit of time
reading through the 1,200 comments below it.
- Now, when you're exercising on a low carb diet,
your body doesn't just burn the carbs,
it actually can burn protein as well as fat.
- Right, now the dust has settled
following the controversial nutrition video,
we're going to move on to another very serious question
actually sent in by Crustinho99,
who says that when he goes riding, his penis goes numb.
He said he's changed his saddle twice already
but what could the problem be?
Is it positioning, is it the wrong bib shorts?
Well, I think you can leave aside bib shorts.
That's not gonna affect it.
I think you're absolutely bob on
when you talk about your positioning
because having the wrong saddle height
could put a bit too much pressure on the wrong places,
so to speak,
so if your saddle is too high particularly
but actually probably a much more important
is the reach to your handlebars
because that governs how far forward you lean
and so, if you've got to lean too far forward,
then your hips will rotate
and that will obviously really load up the pressure
on your perineum
which is probably the place that's suffering.
And so, the question that you wanna ask yourself
is are you reaching too far?
And so, this video just playing in the background
could well help you with that decision.
So, I'll leave you to watch that video
and then click through to it.
- If you get that reach wrong,
over that amount of time
it can add up to discomfit
and at worse, pain and injuries.
- Okay, next question comes from Robert Lindley
who says he's a 73-year-old cyclist
living in the pretty hilly and pretty windy
South Pennines of Yorkshire.
No arguments there, definitely hilly
and definitely quite windy.
He says he gets out about three times a week
doing approximately 140 kilometres in total
but he seems to have issues holding onto muscle mass
and therefore fitness.
Any advice?
Well, I'm certainly not a qualified coach in this matter
but there is one thing that I suggest that you could try,
having read about it in a few different places,
and that is actually doing resistance training.
So, literally going to the gym and lifting weights.
Now, I'm not suggesting that you go there
and just start picking up dumbbells and stuff.
It needs to be done in a really safe and correct way
but by all accounts, I see everyone struggles
to hold onto muscle mass when they get beyond a certain age
and so going to the gym actually really, really helps
your body hold onto that
and therefore, it can improve your quality of life
in other areas, such as riding your bike.
So, give that a go but like I said,
make sure you do it in a really safe, controlled way
and consult an expert on it.
Okay, next question.
We've got this one from Ramses Moya
who has said that often they ride on their own
and love to stop for a coffee along the ride
but while you're on your own,
do you lock your bike,
do you carry a lock when you're riding?
Now, that's a tricky question.
A bit depends on where you ride,
the cafe that you stop at
and how long you're gonna have to leave your bike for.
No, I personally don't stop, I don't carry a lock rather
but then I don't stop all that often when I'm on my own.
But there is a little technique
that you can use when you're desperate
to stop for a coffee.
It's in this video right now,
so I suggest you take a look at it
and then have a go
but always you gotta keep your fingers crossed
'cause it's not fail safe.
- Now, for most thieves, they not going to be noticing
if they're undone
and it's gonna make it pretty hard
for them to ride off on your bike
when they come along to try and nick it.
(upbeat music)
- Okay, quick-fire questions now,
the point in this video where we answer questions
at exactly the same speed
but pretend we're going faster.
First of all, we got this from Adam Golfatso
sent in on Twitter.
He is gonna try Everesting this summer.
Have we got any tips on pacing
for 100 reps of a climb if he doesn't have a power metre?
Well, the first tip I think actually
would be to try and get yourself a heart rate monitor.
In terms of cost, it's just a fraction of the price
of a power metre but it can do a very similar job
and that it stops you from trying too hard
'cause if you have a look at your heart rate
on your handlebars or on your head unit
or whatever, then it will effectively mean
you have like a rev limiter,
so you simply stop yourself from trying too hard.
But if you don't have a heart rate monitor,
the thing to do is just to make sure
in the back of your mind you're always thinking
about going as slowly as possible
'cause you can always get faster as the day goes on
but you don't want to do it the other way round.
Okay, next up we got this from Nyall Horner.
How do I stop bouncing on the rollers
when I'm going flat out?
And that is really tricky
and it's part of the reason why rollers
are so good for one thing in particular
and that is teaching you to pedal really smoothly.
So, I'd suggest if you wanna stop bouncing,
is to actually work up to it quite slowly
and just concentrate on pedalling really smoothly,
so pulling up on the pedal stroke
and scraping through the bottom.
Now, it won't necessarily make you faster
out in the open road
because the jury is very much still out
on whether or not pulling up
as well as pushing down on the pedals helps
but it will certainly help stop you bouncing on the rollers.
So, why don't you give that a try.
Okay, EatRideGrow has asked
what are the benefits of motor-pacing?
So motor-pacing is effectively where you train
while sitting in the slipstream of a motorbike or a car
and so what it means is that instead of training
at 32 kilometres per hour,
you can train at 50 kilometres per hour.
And therein likes its secret
because actually it's used by a lot of pros
who perhaps might not have any races coming up
but they still need to train to be race ready.
And so it effectively simulates being in a race,
by riding around at 50 kilometres an hour,
and the reason that's important
is because actually pedalling on faster speeds,
or at faster speeds, feels very different
and actually has a different training effect
to pedalling at slower speeds,
even if the power output is the same.
So that is why they do it.
It won't necessarily make you a fitter cyclist,
it just conditions you for riding at faster speeds
but you also gotta be really careful
because motor-pacing is illegal in most places I suspect,
so if you are gonna do it,
make sure you do it on a closed circuit.
We certainly couldn't advocate doing it
out on the open roads.
Next we got a question from Liam Sangaku
who's asked if we can make a video
explaining the different types of body composition
that make the best cyclists.
It's a really great idea actually
and we will get on to that.
But the short answer is,
and the great thing about cycling,
is there are loads of different types of bodies
that make great cyclists.
You just have to look
at the men's pro peloton, for example.
You see a rider like Tom Boonen
who is really tall
versus a rider like Caleb Ewan who is quite short
and then on the GC side you've got Chris Froome
who is tall and incredibly skinny
and his chief arch nemesis
it was Nairo Quintana
who is much shorter and yet looks a little bit more muscled
and all of those riders are fantastic
and they're absolute top of their game.
So, like I said, the great thing about cycling
is that everyone has a good chance of doing it.
The only thing they have in common
is they're all pretty lean.
Okay, next up Ewan Chadwell
has asked effectively enough questions
to do an entire Ask GCN Anything on there.
Do teams carry around race leader's jersey with them?
No, they don't actually.
The races themselves provide the jerseys.
What the teams have is like a transfer
that the race organisers can then iron onto the jerseys
which makes it look like
they've got their sponsors on there already.
That's a kind of a cool tip.
Do track sprinters change bikes between rounds
so they can change tactics?
No, I don't think they do
because at the end of the day,
it's all about top speed really for those guys,
so they probably use the same gearing most of the time.
Is it better for my bike to leave it in a certain gear
when I'm not riding it?
No, it doesn't matter which is good news.
Do some riders race with their phones
for apps like Strava?
No, no one will race with a phone in their pocket,
I don't think.
Should sprint stages be shorter to give breakaway
a bit of chance of staying away for longer,
making it more exciting?
No, the funny thing about pro racing
is that pretty much no matter how short
or long the stage, the pro peloton
will always be able to gauge the catch,
well, at least they will probably 49 times out of 50 maybe.
Okay, you and I are gonna leave you
at the rest of your questions
'cause, like I say, that's whole episode in itself.
And then move on to this last one
from Nikola Martic who said,
what to eat during long rides
if I'm avoiding refined sugar?
Well, your suggestion here of bananas,
that's a great shout, dried fruit
but also look at savoury stuff as well,
like sandwiches with ham and cheese in,
that's still a staple in the pro peloton
and actually eating just fruit
is probably not the best thing to do
because I think the jury's definitely decided
that fructose is probably not the best way
to fuel for your ride.
Right, we're onto our last few questions now, I'm afraid.
This one from @WobyOne on Twitter.
They've asked what's the best way of preventing punctures
when out riding mixed trails on a cyclo-cross bike.
#pumpfail and #co2fail.
That's bad luck, I'm not gonna lie.
I'm gonna throw to you a video now
that we made quite a long time ago
but it's still relevant, okay
because I always use tubeless tyres
when I'm on my cyclo-cross bike
and therefore tubeless wheels as well.
But back in the day,
I actually made non-tubeless tyres
work with non-tubeless wheels
and we made a video about it.
And you may find that you struggle to do it
but in terms of puncture distance,
I can't recommend it enough.
Tubeless for cyclo-cross makes total sense.
You effectively remove the inner tube,
so that you got no chance of pinch puncturing
and then you fill your tyre with a bit of sealant,
so that if you get a little thorn puncture
or something like that,
then the sealant will fill that hole whilst you're riding.
It's not 100% fail safe
but it certainly cuts down the amount of punctures
that I get, so have a look.
Right, tighten the valve down firmly.
Give the wheel a good spin
to make sure that the sealant is spread evenly
and then it's just a case of trying to pump it up.
Right, I'm gonna leave Ask GCN Anything
with a question actually for you all
to help answer because Zach Sigouin
has sent in this and we couldn't exactly
work out what to say.
He has said, if you have two bikes of equal value
that you love equally and they have
very similar components and fit,
how do you decide which one to sell
if you have to get rid of one?
That's just brutal.
That is a horrible situation to find yourself in
and I do sympathise with you a great deal, Zach.
And actually, like I said,
I don't know which one you should sell.
Perhaps the one that's got the most life left in it?
The one that has the chain in the best condition
and the gears and the brake cables?
I don't know, which is why I want you lot
to try and help.
Can you help Zach decide which bike to sell?
Arg, like I say, I really feel sorry for you, Zach.
Right, now I am gonna leave Ask GCN Anything there.
If you have anything that you want to know
about cycling or in fact, anything at all
that we may be able to help you with,
then do get involved in the comments section down below.
The next thing to say is to make sure
that you subscribe to GCN.
If you haven't done it already, it's very simple
and it is completely free, just click on the globe.
And then, if you are after more up-to-date GCN content,
then we've got two very good videos
that came out just this week.
Firstly, how to train for short Gran Fondos and sportives.
That video is just up there.
Or another philosophical question actually,
perhaps not quite as severe as Zach's
but saddlebag versus jersey pocket,
which is the best way to carry your riding essentials?
That one is just down there.