It\’s not the best idea to wear yourself out on the bike, is it?

I was brought up with the \”Use it up, wear it out, make it do\” mantra. My mother lived through the Great Depression, and believed very much in that. I still will wear my blouses until they\’re threadbare. I often find it hard to throw things away, even when I don\’t have anywhere to keep them!

When it comes to our bodies, however, we need to re-think such advice. For example, how many pedal strokes do we take during a long ride?

Let\’s say I average 80 rpm during a ride that lasts 3:48:55. Round it up to three hours, forty-nine minutes, or 229 minutes. That\’s 18,320 pedal strokes. Double that for a hypothetical century, and we\’re talking about the knees doing a lot of repetitive motion.

Nobody wants worn-out knees, or worn-out any body part. How can we prevent those dreaded overuse injuries?

There\’s plenty of advice out there. Regarding the knees, exercises to strengthen the supporting muscles are helpful.

When I first got going on two wheels, I\’d go sway-backed after 15-20 minutes of riding. Exercises to strengthen the core muscles got rid of that.

It seems that every cycling book includes something about off-bike exercises: The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling; and Get Fast! are but two examples.

Build up distance slowly; do those off-bike exercises to strengthen the \”supporting cast\”. Letting those muscles remain weak is not the best idea.