Will BAFS influence your behavior?

[Raymo853]

Regardless if this is your first time or not, do you think taking part in the Freezing Saddles Competition will influence your bike based behavior? Will you ride more, start doing sleaze rides, try to increase your mileage over normal winter riding, …. and so on.

Personally, I have been absent from BAFS for three years. I moved to CO for a few years, and was just not into do it so remotely. Now that I am back in VA, I am more inclined.

My planned change? I am using BAFS as a reason to restart being serious about riding. For the last two years, I have been too focused on the needs of getting my little farm up and running.

Topic

[cvcalhoun]

In prior years, Freezing Saddles has ensured I will get at least a sleaze ride every day. This enabled me to learn that I can bike in conditions I would previously have considered impossible.

My only regret is that I can’t do that this year. I have to have surgery in the middle of Freezing Saddles, which will require me to take a week off.

[Smitty2k1]

This is my first FS and I expect to cycle more than previous winters, though I did bike commute through the last two winters.

2019 was the first year I cycled for any reason besides commuting. Part of the change was the great overnight bike trip I did with Judd and gang out the C&O earlier in the year. I learned ‘distance’ cycling was fun, bike camping was fun, and my fitness level was about rock bottom (getting dropped on a ‘fun’ ride is an experience to say the least). After 2,000 miles in the saddle this year I’d say my fitness level is a solid 3/10.

[Steve O]

@Smitty2k1 195388 wrote:

Part of the change was the great overnight bike trip I did with Judd and gang out the C&O earlier in the year. I learned ‘distance’ cycling was fun, bike camping was fun, and my fitness level was about rock bottom (getting dropped on a ‘fun’ ride is an experience to say the least).

Reflecting on his being dropped:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]20558[/ATTACH]

[huskerdont]

Pre-freezing saddles I was around 5,000 miles a year; with freezing saddles, I’ve been over 7,000. I’m not saying it is because of freezing saddles, but it is because of freezing saddles.

[Smitty2k1]

@Steve O 195390 wrote:

Reflecting on his being dropped:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]20558[/ATTACH]

Won’t be the last time either!

[Judd]

@Smitty2k1 195388 wrote:

This is my first FS and I expect to cycle more than previous winters, though I did bike commute through the last two winters.

2019 was the first year I cycled for any reason besides commuting. Part of the change was the great overnight bike trip I did with Judd and gang out the C&O earlier in the year. I learned ‘distance’ cycling was fun, bike camping was fun, and my fitness level was about rock bottom (getting dropped on a ‘fun’ ride is an experience to say the least). After 2,000 miles in the saddle this year I’d say my fitness level is a solid 3/10.

I was really glad you came along for this. Your presence made the trip better for everyone. It can be intimidating to show up for stuff and be the new person especially when it’s an overnight adventure.

I encourage everyone to be like Smitty. Put yourself out there. You’ll likely have a good time.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[elizsnyder]

I’m using freezing saddles as a prize/reward for staying super “on point” on my knee rehab. My surgeon has been quite skeptical that I could ride even 1 mile by Jan 1 2020 and I have blown that skepticism out of the water while staying inside the physical therapy recovery boundaries…I hope that I don’t have to skip any riding days during freezing saddles and that my team isn’t super competitive to the point of shaming …wait scratch that last piece…I am shame proof…as evidenced by going to big-wig meetings in cycling gear and blinking innocently at the quizzical eyebrows…anywho…where was I…yes, freezing saddles definitely changes my behavior to ride under all scenarios including microfracture knee surgery rehab…and I think everyone should sign up even if you cannot ride for a week…!

[Raymo853]

@cvcalhoun 195374 wrote:

You know you can authorize Freezing Saddles to read your private as well as public rides? If you go to http://freezingsaddles.org/authorize, that is one of your choices. At that point, people could see by the number of points that you were riding, but it wouldn’t be obvious where or at what time.

This is not to discourage you from trying to get your boss to ride again. But making your rides public is not a requirement for Freezing Saddles.

In the end, my boss send something about my lunch rides and a ride I had that started at 5. I have to start marking them private again. This has also hardened my resolve to abandon Strava as of the end of BAFS.

[DrBullet]

This will be my 3rd Freezing Saddles and my first as a team Captain. In my first year I kinda got sucked-into doing more miles to 1) try and compensate for losing some team-mates and 2) then trying to stay in/around the top 20 (I think) because I was near it anyway. So last year, I made a deliberate decision to not do any rides that I wouldn’t ordinarily do (with the exception of sleaze rides for the team!). This year, my motivation is to just do what I do (commute every day and try and do at least one decent ride at the weekends) and try to motivate our team to ride and socialize and have fun!

[rumipumi]

It absolutely influences my biking behavior. Two years ago-my first FS- I started riding weekends in addition to bike commuting which was a big change and introduced me to group rides and the proteus herd.

Last year with the team points cap structure, I would ride at least a mile every day and ride enough each week to earn the 100 mile team maximum (so 170 points per week) including riding 50 miles a day the last two days of the competition. It also sometimes meant I’d ride a little less on weekends if I’d already almost ridden my max during the week (my commute is 18 miles round trip)

This year’s point structure has made me commit to 10+ miles a day. Sometimes I’m tired or it’s rainy and I wish I could just sleaze but I don’t because I don’t wanna give up the 45 extra points my team gets for miles 2-10.

When FS ends in March I always take a little break from riding -like maybe a day or two—and then go through a period of existential angst. If I ride and don’t earn points — does it mean anything???

[bmillah]

This is the third time I’ve done this ride and though I don’t think I’ll be riding more miles than I normally do, the one takeaway for me this year is how easy it is to jump on a CaBi and ride a short distance during my workday in the city. So, I’ll prolly ride more often, but they’ll be shorter utilitarian rides.

[joetats]

Already has! Lots of sleaze rides for me during the week, but they make for better extended cooldowns after indoor trainer stuff. The weekends have been fun too, after missing some days last week I finally decided to ride the W&OD end-to-end which was unexpected, but gotta get them points!

That and it’s shown me how easy it is to bike to downtown Leesburg (and thus, the W&OD) from my house, so that has been huge. Now to see what types of growler holders I can fit to the crit bike…

[camiller]

BAFS has definitely changed my riding behavior. This is my fifth year doing BAFS. Through BAFS I have met so many great people that have become my riding buddies. As a result of these friendships I have ridden a lot more miles and have traveled by bike to a lot of new to me places. During FS I am committed to getting out every day, even on yucky days when I would not normally ride. Getting out every day has taught me that I really can ride in most kinds of weather and it is generally not as bad as I had anticipated. (Ice is an entirely different story.) The new point structure has also pushed me to riding at least ten miles (for almost all of my rides). Also, since I am riding every day I have been exploring new areas so that I don’t get totally bored by riding the same route.

(I also have a keener interest in the weather so I can try to time my rides to avoid the worst of the weather on a particular day. )

[Author]

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