Fitness

Welcome to all who have an interest in anything cycling of any kind.( road, mountain, commuting, stationary, whatever).

This is the place to come to ask that question you have been wanting to ask,

or tell that story about your latest adventure riding your bike,

find out how to use cycling to get in better shape, or anything else you can think of.

So, to start, tell us, what you ride, where you ride and what type of riding you enjoy.

Come back often too check out what's going on and see what's on everyones mind or add your knowledge to the group. 

 

panda, Don't feel pressured to use the pedals until your good and ready.  It took my wife a long time to make the change too!

DAN

Woo Hoo New Bike


Custom, Pimp Daddy, Cranks


21 Pounds.  My new endurance bike, singlespeed and rigid.  Less stuff to break at 3 am  :)

Random Thoughts.

I love the "morph" series of pumps.  Best mini-pumps out there.  Mine saved my butt in a race once.

If you want to get a lighter road bike, try looking at the older Kleins on Ebay.  The Qunatum series builds up to a light bike.  Mine comes in at 19 pounds.

Yeah, clipless pedals.  You're going to fall so plan your rides in safe areas :)  Nice once you get used to them.

nice bike kclark!!! IF rocks.

jane, i sound like a broken record always recommending this site but here goes : check out the tips on www.bicyclesafe.com for some real-world no-nonsense practical tips on "How To Not Get Hit By Cars." all road riders (and drivers) should read it. glad you were not injured - getting clipped is scary!

That bicyclesafe.com site is a great read.   I don't think it can be recommended enough.

Jane, dang that's scary.  All the little horror stories (even just getting bumped like that) really make me second guess more and more if I should try commuting.   Thursday though I'm giving it a go, so we'll see.  The morning part though is not my big worry... it's the ride home.

pandajenn19, I'm not even going to bother with clipless pedals & shoes and all that.  There are way too many stops even on the bike trail and watching my bicycling friend try and clip back in after a stop usually leaves me waiting for him.   Commuting would have me stopping a lot more.  I'm plenty comfortable on standard pedals.

Nice bike Kclark. It looks like it will be a lot fun to ride. What is the gearing on it?

Jane sorry to hear about your near miss. It can be pretty scary to have such a close call. I am glad that you didn't hit the ground.

As far as clipless goes taking your time is the smart approach. while you are anticipating the change over, now is a good time to start learning and practicing how to track stand. Once you learn how to do that you won't need to clip in and out at stop lights and stuff. I had some people in a car ask me how I was able to stay upright without moving. To them it looked like I had some sort of anti gravity device on my bike.

Last night was the first night of the year that I was able to ride home in just shorts and a shortsleeve jersey. I am so glad the weather is warming up. 

Thanks

I run a 32x17 normally, that allows me to climb all the hills and not spin out too much on the flats on my local trails here in Northern Virginia / Maryland.  I can add anything from 16 tooth up to a 20 tooth depending on where I'm riding or what kind of race I'm doing.

gmule - I'm so jealous, I've always wanted to be able to do a track stand but I've never been able to pull it off.

nightc1, don't let that discourage you. I should have anticipated that all drivers are out to get me, lol

carrihound, thanks for posting that site. I have already checked it out and will return there often.

I have to tell you guys; I got my first compliment on losing 10 pounds today at the gas station. It really feels good when other people notice.

Let me see if I can explain how to track stand for those interested

Find a slight uphill. 
Focus a few feet ahead of where you are and Slowly stop your bike.
Turn the front wheel toward the upslope of the road angled about 45 degrees.
Shift your center of mass forward. Move forward on the saddle
or move forward and stand with knees bent.
Shift your hips to the downslope side. depending on the crown of the road.
Keep your cranks and pedals level (horizontal). The front crank on
the upslope side is approaching the 3 o'clock position.
Pull slightly with your right hand.
If you sense that you are falling toward the upslope, slightly
relax pressure on the forward pedal, slightly relax the pull with
your right hand, or center the wheel slightly. 
If you sense that you are falling toward the down slope,
slightly increase pressure on the forward pedal, pull slightly
more with your right hand, or turn the wheel slightly more. 
You are not going to be totaly without movment but as you get better at it you will be able to do this while not thinking about it and then it will appear to others that you are not moving. I learned on the slope of my driveway with platform pedals on my mountain bike. It is just as easy on my road bike with skinny tires.

Ok, I will definitely have to practice the track stand thing.  I have super balance on my feet, so I am marginally confident I can work my way up to this.  :)

Commuted to work and to my softball game tonight, grand total of 15.7 miles.  About 2.5 of that was spent above 20mph, which is practically nothing, but I was actually going a bit faster than normal.  My commute from work back home was almost 2 minutes shorter than normal.  If only I didn't have 19 stop lights and stop signs in that 3.8 mile stretch!  :)  I would like to get out on a more principle road early on a Sunday morning again when there is zero traffic so I can actually go a decent speed without having to stop every .2 miles.  I think I would have some good speed if I tried.

gmule: If only it was that easy ...

I never learned to track stand. I just learned to unclip one foot without thinking about it as I slowed to a stop. I can ride very, very slowly without unclipping, if I can see that traffic will pass, or if I can see that the way is clear and I can get going again.

pandajenn, on your pedals, there's a tension adjustment screw. It'll be something like a 3mm allen head screw. Turn it to the lightest setting that won't let you accidentally pull out of the pedals when you're cranking hard uphill (lefty loosey, righty tighty). That'll make it easy both to unclip for stops and to clip back in when you get going again. Casual bike shoes or MTB shoes have recessed cleats, which make it easier to clip back in. Hard-soled road shoes are a little more difficult?you need to develop some muscle memory there, and even at that, there will be times when you have trouble clipping back in (I fell once recently riding with my son, while trying to re-clip on an uphill start. First time in more than 3 years). The more you ride, the easier it gets.

I'd like to get my boy some "convertible" pedals, once he gets more comfortable riding?SPD on one side, platform on the other. Best of both worlds. Those would be dynamite for a commuter bike, I'd think.

Okay...I am so excited!  I get to bring home the bike tomorrow!!!  Just went and picked up my gear (shoes, jersey, the works....) and tomorrow I am headed back up to the bike shop.  Nothing on the schedule for practice, so I think I am just going to work with the bike and get used to it.   Clipless pedals are very daunting but for the race I need them and am determined to use them.  A suggestion given to me was to park the bike in a doorway and just clip in and clip out until you kind of get the feel for it.  I was also told to always unclip one foot only and usually way ahead of where you think you should......  I don't know, kindof makes me nervous. 

Will have to post pictures tomorrow maybe :).......

Have a great night all!!!

Hi gang, How's the riding going out there?  Track standing is fun, really catches people off guard in cars, they don't think you can stand still without putting a foot down!

deanna, new bike and new stuff, always exciting and fun!!  The pedals are tricky at first but once you get to using them they become second nature.  Do just what you said, practice in a hall or doorway or have some one hold the bike while you do it, then just practice in your drive or on a quiet street.

panda, you are improving very quickly by the looks of it, way to go girl! Next thing you know you'll be telling us you have entered a race, LOL

Well it was raining and windy and cold yesterday, went riding anyway.  Got in a good 40 miles of misery, really wasn't that bad.  beat riding in the basement that's for sure.

Have a woderful day all, DAN  

When I was waivering on the use of clipless pedals last year, a friend of mine gave me this big lecture on how easy it was after you get used to using them and how much better you can ride with them.  Six months later, I happened to notice that he was wearing shoes with sockets for the SPD cleats but no cleats.  When I mentioned it to him, he said he chucked the cleats because he was having to many problems at stops.

Right now, I use SPD on my road bike for club rides and events and platform pedals (literally clipless) on my commuting bike.  I expected that switching back and forth would be a little wierd but so far I haven't had any trouble.  Apparently I am so adapted to the clipless peddles that I automatically react properly.  Incidentally, I decided to go with the platform peddles on my commuter so I would have to where outlandish shoes with cleats on them to offsite meetings.

Practicing in a door way or, even better on a trainer, is good but it doesn't give you the feel of being out on a road and having to react.  Also you have to be careful when you are using a doorway because you can fool yourself into thinking that you have clipped in, when in fact you haven't.  In that case, you can be in for quite a surprise the first time you get out on the road and really clip in.  My peddles had a death grip on my shoes the first time I got out on the street.  That's not normal but it is possible.

One solution is to put the cleat on one shoe and practice with that until you are comfortable.  Then do the other shoe.

The major problem that I had, and still experience occasionally, is dealing with unexpected stops.  It is pretty easy to get used to unclipping for anticipated stops like stop signs.  When something unexpected pops up your first reaction is to control your bike which means that you are likely to find yourself clipped in at a dead stop.  You need to be able to snap your foot out and get it down to catch your self -- or be able to sit on your bike at a dead stop long enough to liesurely extract your foot and cooly put your foot down like everything was normal.  I don't know of any way to practice for this type of event.

I know that clipless pedals take a little getting used to but I am surprised that they are so intimidating to so many.  I guess it is because I was used to riding with clips when clipless were introduced and they are so much easier.  Anybody else remember the days when you had to reach down and loosen your toe strap to uncleat your foot?  Popping out of a clipless pedal is so much easier.  The biggest tip-off that one of your buddies was about to launch a town line sprint in those days was when he would reach down to snug up his toe straps.  Of course we had to to shift by "feel" and the shifters were on the down tube in those days too. :)

FWIW I still fall occationally if I'm off balance at an unexpected stop but I can't imagine riding without cleats.  Well, actually I can, a couple of years ago I drove two hours to a 100k ride and when I got there I realized that I had forgotten my shoes.  I ended up doing the ride in flip flops on Look pedals and it wasn't as bad as you would think.

I know this is kind of early to be thinking about this, but what do you guys do in the winter time? I am so new to all of this riding and even the thought of winter gets me discouraged.

Jane

It's always good to look down the road and anticipate -- at least a little.

In the winter you can:

a) Wear more clothes  -- there are actually all kinds of clothes designed for cold weather and other adverse conditions.

b) Go to the gym -- Spin classes are a great way to get/stay in shape.

c) Put a trainer or two in your living quarters -- I have a resistance trainer that attaches to the back wheel of my bike and a set of rollers that are good for developing balance and smoothness.  Actually, I plan to use the resistance trainer at least once a week during the summer for controlled speed and power training.  The rollers are good for recovery rides -- they are the ultimate flat surface.

d) Hibernate

This sounds great! I am actually going tonight to buy a bike to start riding on a daily basis for extra exercise. Any suggestions on what type of bike to buy?

In the winter time I just gear up with cold riding gear and put studded tires on the mountain bike and ride. You would be amazed at how warm you can stay while riding. I love the  looks I get when I pull up to a stop light and it is snowing.

Another tip to help you guys learn to track stand is to ride very tight circles as slow as possible. keep practicing and once you feel the sweet spot you will know it. once you feel it you will be able to practice for longer periods. I am trying to learn how to do it with no hands right now.