BACK ISSUES Archives - Page 236 of 295

So Long?

No, not really so long. My ride today was only 29.10 miles! I didn\’t even get going until about 8:15. I felt tired. Why do I feel so tired lately? I didn\’t even feel that much like riding, but I want to be in good condition for next month\’s Cycle September. But do I actually need some time off from the bike? A heat advisory went into effect at 7:00 am, and the heat probably didn\’t help. It was around 11:15 when I got back home and an hour later the heat index was 106! At least I had a tailwind on the way back home. The clouds were building up, which meant some relief from sun exposure here and there. I wouldn\’t mind a good T-storm now to cool things off a bit. Today I tried Larabars as ride food; Cashew Cookie and Apple Pie. The latter, alas, was not a la mode. It was too hot out there for ice cream to survive! I find Larabars easier to chew than Clif Bars. They\’re softer. I must admit that, unfortunately, they cost more. It would probably be cheapest to make my own rice cakes. It looks like this heat will hang around at least a few more days. Our worst months for heat and humidity are typically August and September. I hope next Sunday isn\’t as bad as today, so that I can ride long.

So Long? Read More »

Out of Season

BACK ISSUES / CAL

I\’m sure out of season today. It\’s August, and I\’m taking about our making New Year\’s resolutions? Let\’s put it this way: if we start thinking about it now, we can take our time. Especially we can avoid this list of bad resolutions for cyclists. Mileage? They could be pointing the finger straight at me. During 2018 I totaled 5185 miles between my two bicycles. I thought, maybe I can make it to 6000 in 2019. Here it is, August, and I\’m not halfway there yet. Lose weight? Let\’s face it, I do need to shed some pounds. The thought of all that\’s involved in losing weight is daunting, unfortunately, and I\’m lazy. It\’s time to pull Ride Your Way Lean off my bookshelf! Diet? What\’s \”clean\” eating, anyway? Besides, \”you\’ve got to eat a peck of dirt before you die\”. BTW, what is it that Emma in the video has in that glass? Beet smoothie? Try a new discipline? That depends on whether you really, really want to. Going into mountain biking would be absurd for me, as I live where it\’s pancake-flat. Triathlons? Osteoarthritis in my knees means I probably shouldn\’t take up running; and as for the swim segment, I don\’t even own a swimming suit! Don\’t buy a new bike? Nobody has to tell me that. I have neither funds nor storage space for any more bicycles. Targeting a big race/event? Of course I\’m not going to try to make it to a Grand Tour. For various reasons I\’m not even targeting the local Tour de Cure this year. But riding without having a goal? Riding just to ride? That\’s never out of season. GO FOR IT!

Out of Season Read More »

I Feel Normal Again

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Now I feel normal again. Today I finally got to the salvage store. I missed three weeks! First there was Tropical Storm Barry. The next Saturday I was at the dentist\’s. Last Saturday I had to go to a store where I knew I\’d find bananas and my fragrance-free sunblock. This morning I wanted to take along the cooler, so I could bring home hot dogs and bologna without having to worry that they\’d get too warm. After all, we\’ve got another heat advisory today! My cooler takes up most of the space in a pannier, which means I have to be careful how much I put in my shopping cart at any store. It\’s a bother to have to watch that while shopping, so I hitched up the trailer. A westerly breeze, while it was very mild, made the ride to the store seem like a major slog. I felt so tired! My legs lacked \”oomph\”. And I wasn\’t on empty; I ate a LaraBar before leaving home. Once in the store, I raided the make-your-own-grab-bag bins (63 snacks for $10!). I found a 10-oz can of chunk white chicken for $0.99. In a regular supermarket it would cost several dollars more. The use-by date stamped on the can is more than a year in the future, and all I can see wrong with it is a dent in the side of the can. That store is worth the trip, and the ride made me feel normal again.

I Feel Normal Again Read More »

Rings Aren\’t Always Circular

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Rings aren\’t always circular? Really? This ring here certainly looks circular, but oval chain rings are out there! Yes, that\’s right; rings aren\’t always circular! It\’s interesting that an oval ring lets you get \”more bang for your buck\”, that is, to get more out of the energy you\’re putting into pedaling. Non-round rings seem to buck tradition. There\’s nothing wrong with tradition per se, but sometimes sticking to it can hinder progress. I wonder how it would feel to use an oval chain ring. They\’re saying that you get used to it quickly. Maybe it\’s the same kind of thing as the first few rides after a bike re-fit. At first you\’ll notice that things feel different, but after a few rides the new fit is second nature. Of course the possible disadvantages must be considered. Few things are either all good, or all bad, so weigh the pros and cons.

Rings Aren\’t Always Circular Read More »

If the Bike Fits

BACK ISSUES, bicycling, equipment / CAL

If the Bike Fits If Bike Fits II! A good bicycle fit is essential for comfort on the bike, especially if you intend to do long rides. There are several bicycle-fitting systems out there. Specialized Body Geometry and Retul are the only two that I’ve experienced. It is said, quite rightly, that any bicycle fit is only as good as the fitter who is carrying out the procedure. If you want to explore bike-fit options, Cutting Edge Cycling discusses several systems in Chapter 7. These are: Wobble-Naught [site not secure]; Retul; Serotta Personal Fit; and BikeFit. Changing where you sit on the saddle can change a bike-fit entirely, as I found out. Moving backward a few inches changes everything! When I went for the re-refit a few weeks ago, I expected that the fitter would move my saddle forward, and/or do something with the handlebar position. Instead, I wound up with a new saddle. He had suggested at past fittings that I might want to consider a slight wider saddle, and that’s what I have now. I still have to check myself to be sure I’m not sitting too far forward; and that my sit bones are where the saddle supports them. Thus, If the Bike Fits II. Is that why I suddenly seem able to pedal harder, and why I’m feeling my calves like never before?

If the Bike Fits Read More »

Excelsis?

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Can I reach excelsis? It seems reasonable to ask, when will I be at my best? How long can I continue to improve? Is there an upper limit? To complicate matters, we must factor in the age at which a cyclist began riding. One who begins as a kid and keeps riding steadily through the years until attaining pro status, might peak in the late 20s-early 30s. A rider who began well into adulthood, as I did, likely has a \”peak\”, too. But when will I hit my peak? Have I already reached a plateau beyond which I can\’t improve? I\’m delighted that I can now reach 20 mph more often than I used to. On the other hand, my general cruising pace seems stuck at 12-13 mph! A month ago my legs suddenly began to feel heavy and tired, I didn\’t seem to have any stamina, and then thanks to Barry I had several days when the only \”riding\” I could do was pedaling in the trainer. I have a hard time tolerating more than 20 minutes or so of that at one time. So it\’s hard to say whether I\’m at excelsis, or not. Either way, I can still enjoy riding!

Excelsis? Read More »

Chuckwagon

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Chuckwagon? Since when do Grand Tours have a chuckwagon? Don\’t they just hand out musettes in the feed zone? OK, they do; but I wonder, does a Grand Tour rider fantasize about such fancy spreads as this while racing around France? Or Italy, or Spain? Even if they do, it seems quite apparent that they won\’t be getting it while on the bike. Article after article states that a rider in the TdF burns up to 8000 calories per stage; more in the mountainous stages. While riding hour after hour, however, the riders need food that\’s easy to handle on the bike; that goes down easily; and digests easily. Let\’s not forget, it needs to be palatable as well. For the recreational rider, 8000 calories is several days\’ worth of food. This video, in fact, makes me wonder whether I actually eat too much during my weekly long ride! This article has a similar effect. Half a Clif Bar and one GU-Gel per hour is about what I take in, although I don\’t down a full bottle of electrolyte drink per hour. On a hot day, I down about one liter of water per hour. The feed zone of a bicycle race is the equivalent of a chuckwagon. While out on my long rides, I must take my food and drink with me. There\’s no feed zone where someone will hand me a musette, and no chuckwagon following me around. So, do they have a chuckwagon at bicycle rodeos? I\’ll bet the kids would get a kick out of it.

Chuckwagon Read More »

Playing Dental Assistant?

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Am I playing dental assistant? Two or three Tours de Cure ago, I had a checkup with the dentist shortly afterwards. Before I actually saw the dentist, the oral hygienist was chatting with me. I told her about the ride, and how there were rest stops with snacks and drinks, and how good a shot of dill pickle juice was after an hour or so of riding in the hot sun. She was quite astonished, and wondered aloud why we\’d drink pickle juice. I said, probably for the sodium. Enter the dentist. The hygienist told him about us cyclists drinking pickle juice; and he told us about finding dried-up pickles in the fridge because his beach volleyball-playing son drank the juice, saying it helped his cramps. A week or so ago I got a box of Pickle Juice Shots. I thought that drinking one halfway through a long ride might help keep the post-ride orthostatic hypotension at bay. This past Sunday, I tried it. I\’m not quite sure how much it did help, because I\’m taking medication for low blood pressure, too; but the \”OS\” didn\’t seem as bad as usual. For some reason that exchange with the dentist re: pickle juice stuck in my mind; goodness only knows why. Today I had a follow-up with the dentist for my implant work, and I brought the empty shot bottle with me. I asked the dentist whether his son still drinks the pickle juice, and the dentist said, yes. Voila! I presented the shot bottle for him to take home to show his son. Maybe now the dentist won\’t have dried-up pickles, and my playing dental assistant will let me wear a Dental Assistant badge!

Playing Dental Assistant? Read More »

Rides that go ON!

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Rides That Go ON Some rides go on; and ON, and ON!! Want to ride really, REALLY long? Think a century is too easy? Maybe World UltraCycling Association is for you. Those are rides that go on. An on, and ON! Just look at their calendar of events. Distances up to 3000 miles! Think PBP. Think RAAM! For events such as those, conditioning the body (including the gut) isn’t the only thing that must be done. The prospective participant must figure out how to get a couple of hours’ sleep out of every 24, and still make the cut-off time. There must be times when riders feel like they’re sleepbiking. PBP, for example, is 1200 kilometers (744 miles). A solo rider must finish in 80 hours. That might sound like a lot of time, but think about it. Three days and eight hours to cover that distance. It’s like a double century every day for three days in a row, and then some. They say, make time for sleep by making time on the bike. That means, you need to be able to ride at a decent pace if you want to make checkpoints in time. Those 744 miles divided by 80 hours comes to 9.3 mph, an easy pace on flat ground. But take a look at the ride profile! Looks like there’s a lot of climbing involved. Besides, riding at an unvarying 9.3 mph would mean never having enough of a time cushion to take a break. In fact, riders need to work to “get ahead” earlier in the ride, so they have that bit of extra time to catch a few winks. And then they can ride on.

Rides that go ON! Read More »

Sirius-ly?

BACK ISSUES / CAL

Sirius-ly? Isn\’t the word \”seriously\”? Oh, those dog days that seem never to end. It\’s been miserably hot and humid for several months, and by this point even I — who have always felt the cold easily — am more than ready for a stiff cold front. Why are they the \”DOG\” days? It\’s because Sirius, aka the Dog Star, rises and sets with the sun during this period. But we can\’t skip the rides because it\’s hot, can we? Well, of course we could, but at a high cost to our hard-won fitness. There are ways to cycle indoors: rollers and trainers, for instance. Using them would mean getting in your pedaling without going out into sweltering heat, with the risks it brings: overheating, dehydration, etc. On the down side, indoor pedaling is SO-O-O BORING! While the Tour de France is running — sorry, that\’s ROLLING — I feel sorry for the riders, who have hours of blazing along in that blazing heat. Sirius-ly, it can get into the high 80s during the TdF, and those guys are pedaling at 20-some mph. Preventing heat illnesses must be a constant concern. Shoving a chilled water bottle down your jersey front sounds like a good idea, supposing you can get one. Then, for a fact, there are times when the TdF runs into hail. That\’s likely more cooling than they want! Between trying to stay cool enough and trying not to freeze, things seem to be quite serious. Or do I mean Sirius?

Sirius-ly? Read More »