Here we go with the second instalment of “This Week in Cycling”. You can see last week’s by clicking here.
I’ve tried to keep it light but there’s been a bunch of bad news this week, mostly about bike and bike related companies in financial distress. Hopefully 2024 is better for the business.
How To Improve Your FTP Video – Watt Life
Oh yes, who doesn’t love a YouTube thumbnail with a ripped guy in a chest strap?
That wasn’t what made me click. No, seriously. Anyway, I’ve been on a bit of a rollercoaster myself this year when it comes to FTP – seeing my results drop significantly from their previous peak last in 2022.
Any promise of improving my FTP is worth a watch, and this video from Watt Life gave me one new thing to focus on: lower cadence. I am definitely guilty of sitting at 95rpm almost all the time when cycling, and find lower cadences really challenging. I reckon if I switch this up as suggested in this video, I could see some improvements. Worth a try.
Zone 4 & Zone 5: 101 Guides
I spotted this last week, over on Reddit. A very in-depth post all about Zone 2… well it looks like Redditor Feedzone Specialist has carried on his (or her?) in-depth guides this week covering Zone 4 and Zone 5.
Personally I’m most looking forward to the one on Sweet Spot (Zone 3) as that’s where I spend a lot of my time.
Read them here:
Zwift: When To Attack
On the one hand it’s interesting to watch videos like this, and on the other it’s kinda pointless as I am so out of my depth in Cat B that I’d only be challenging for that all elusive 37th position.
Still, I learned a bunch about how and why I get dropped so frequently 🙂
Every Pro Cyclist Retiring / Retired In 2023
Cycling News has a good run down of every pro cyclist who are ending, or have already called time on their careers during 2023.
See the full list at Cycling News.
Shimano’s Bad Luck Continues
LockBit, an infamous ransomware group, threatened to release 4.5 terabytes of Shimano’s sensitive data, including employee information, financial documents, client data, and other confidential documents.
The attack could potentially lead to Shimano’s designs being leaked to competitors, according to Dr. Harjinder Lallie, a cyber security expert.
Shimano is already facing challenges, including a recall of 760,000 cranks in the U.S. and Canada and a previous ransomware incident.
The situation is described as a “conundrum” for Shimano, which may have backups but is concerned about the potential leakage of sensitive information and intellectual property to competitors.
I read elsewhere about another LockBit hack this week on Boeing. The gist is, once you’ve been hacked, presume the data is already leaked. Sucks for Shimano though.
In Need Of A Little Wiggle Room
There’s a lot of doom and gloom in the bike industry lately.
GCN ran a story on the latest developments with Wiggle, the big cycling retailer who recently went into administration, shedding 100 jobs.
Apparently there are plenty of interested parties in buying up the brand, so that’s something. One rumour is Sports Direct’s parent company, who also own Evans Cycles.
Fingers crossed for a happy outcome.
Also struggling financially, Sir Bradley Wiggins. A bad news week for all things wigg-o.
Near Miss Of The Week
Wet weather, obviously in a rush to get somewhere.
Then immediately blocked by another road user.
I hope the ending is true and they did get a call from the old bill.
Bike Picture of the Week
If Aston Martin made road bikes… oh, now they do.
Say hello to the J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R, described as the world’s most advanced road bicycle.
There’s a full press release to read (including lots of nice pictures), and then you can head over to the website and imagine yourself buying one. It’s invite only. Likely quite pricey.