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. 

 

Here's my 2 cents on ride nutrition and recovery....

If I'm riding for more than 1.5 hours, I need to hydrate and eat something light before the ride (carbs & light protein, usually fruit/yogurt almost never fats and never fiber-intensive foods). Once I'm on the bike, I need to eat something starting a 1 hour into the ride at the very latest. Even if I'm not hungry. If I wait longer than an hour it's too late and I get hungry - once I'm hungry it's too late to eat & I'll cramp up or have stomach pain. My rough rule is 1g of carbs for each minute on the bike for long rides (about 1 Clif bar or a banana) and a medium-sized bottle an hour, usually Gatorade. I have a hard time drinking enough.

Post ride, I need to refuel within 20 minutes of the end of the exercise with a carb/protein mix (usually i use a recovery drink called Endurox because it's easy, but a small PB sandwich and/or yogurt & banana or pasta with some tuna will do the trick too). If I don't do this after a hard ride I'm typically sapped for the remainder of the day.

A kinesiologist friend recommended these guidelines and they work well for me. The key is : don't wait until you're hungry or thirsty to eat & hydrate on long rides. Keep your body fueled consistently or you will get depleted and be behind the power curve for the entire rest of the ride. The fuel your recovery with a carb/protein combination within 20 minutes for max impact & the least down-time after a hard effort.

Hello everyone! *waves* I'm cornfields (Marci) and I'm new to cycling for exercise. I have a 2005 Giant Boulder SE (womens). I'm 5'3", 160 pounds. My goal weight is 115. I tried running first, but I keep dealing with pain and injuries, which has slowed my progress. I find cycling very enjoyable and peaceful, and decided it would probably be my best bet for low-impact exercise.

I ride in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area on bike paths, the Rivergreenway, and some roads in town. I find myself uncomfortable riding on the narrow rural roads just outside of town, as motorists in this area have a history of not appreciating cyclists.

I try to bike 3-5 times a week -- my typical 10-mile route takes around an hour, and includes two brief stops at a watering hole -- but I'm finding my legs are very fatigued and my performance lags if I ride consecutive days. Is this normal for someone just starting? Should I take a break between rides, or should I "tough it out" until I get stronger? Any advice for this novice would be appreciated! :)

Chain info continued...

Some chains have a master link/quick link.  If you have a chain with one of these then you don't need a chain break down tool for taking your chain off.

I haven't checked my current bike for one, but all my old bikes had em.  So definitely eye the chain over good looking for that one odd link.

Also a lot of commuters on bikeforums.net say they use 2 chains.  One they drop in some cleaner and leave it there ... the other they ride with.  Then every other week or so they swap the chains and lube up the one going on the bike and drop the used one in the cleaner.   This helps extend the life of the chain as well the drive train.

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Jane,

The type of bag I want is like a very small duffle bag that is installed like a traditional under the seat wedge.   It's big enough to fit cloths and whatnot... yet not so big that I'd actually need a rear rack or any of that stuff.   But yeah, if I can start leaving some cloths at work it'll help in the long run and be a better option than spending more $$ on another thing for the bike.

Welcome cornfields!  Too bad the drivers in you area are unfriendly to cyclist.  I'm in the Evansville area and most drivers here are very conscientious.   At least you have some nice paths to ride which we don't really have down here.

I don't think it is a bad idea to ride every other day at first but then you will probably want to start adding consecutive days.  Maybe 2 on 1 off for a week or two. Then 3 on 1 off.  Eventually you should be able to ride every day varying the intesity and distance so that some days are easy efforts or recovery days.  I actually prefer not to take days off unless my schedule requires it which usually happens 4 or 5 days a month.

Thanks, trhawley! :)

Fort Wayne really does have nice options for cyclists and joggers. I was amazed, myself, as a recent DC/MD/VA transplant. Many parts of the Rivergreenway reminded me of the lovely Washington & Old Dominion trail in Northern Virginia. There are also many other parks just outside the Fort Wayne area where you can do true mountain biking. I've read that there are also nice woodland trails in Southern Indiana, which I'd like to check out sometime soon.

Yours sounds like a very do-able suggestion. I went riding on Sunday and Monday, at varying levels of intensity, and my legs just feel pretty trashed today. I'll hit the treadmill for a nice hour-long walk instead, and get some strength training in after. :)

I didn't get around to checking the chain last night so that is my project for today (after a shower - I am drenched after riding 30 miles in 90 degrees or more). I will definitely check for that odd link so that I can figure out what I need to do.

nightc1, on the days with thunderstorms I drive my car to work and I am going to "stock up" on clothes there. Since I manage a fastfood restaurant I have specific uniforms so I don't have to worry about what to wear. One thing that really weighs down my backpack is shoes so I just leave them there. I like the nifty under the seat bag. Let me know if you get one and how it works out. It is uncomfortable riding with a backpack and I sweat a lot where it touches my back.

I had this older lady drive up next to me today and ask for directions. It looked very funny - me on my bike and this lady in the car, side by side just talking up a storm while moving along just fine.

Jane

Wow, this dropped to page 3.  That's a first.

Jane, yeah stocking up on cloths at work seems the way to go as long as I don't on a whim decide to ride in on a Monday without pre-planning it on friday.   If I get one of those other bags I'll post about it.   I may modify a bag I already have for bicycle use and try that first.


....

My thursday ride has been moved again this week to Friday.  So no serious riding for me till then.   I may push extra hard that day and try to get the average speed up a bit.

Am bummed. Because of a severe thunderstorm warning this afternoon, I had to delay my ride until tomorrow. :(

Of Chains and Derailleurs:  Last year about this time I decided that I needed -- or at least lusted for -- a better road bike.  When the bikes went on sale in December, I went to the shop and procured my Quest (just posted the photo).  For the first week and 80 miles it was great.  Then I started having problems.  The rear wheel would mysteriously come loose and jam against the chainstay -- generally, when I was struggling up a hill.  I could never get the front derailleur to work consistently.  I finally found a way to keep the rear wheel in place long enough to complete a 65 mile ride.  Then this weekend I concluded that the front derailleur cable wasn't properly secured.

So today I took the bike back to the shop -- again.  Sure enough the clamp that holds the derailleur was a little loose.  That's been tightened.  We replaced the quick release skewer on the rear wheel.  And replace the chain because it was out of spec when I checked it last night.  Test ride is Saturday, 40 miles with my friends in the bike club and, if I can overcome the psychological hurdles, a solo ride int he afternoon.

The chain on the Aurora is also out of spec.  I will replace that this weekend or next.  I think that is bike maintenance 102.  Both chains have about 1000 miles on them.  So I will probably be replacing a few chains before the year is over.

A little gossip on drug use among pro-cyclists:  Mike Noonan is maintaining a blog on his cross country adventure (San Francisco to Boston).  He reports an encounter with a French cyclist.  After some chit chat, Mike asked the Frenchman what he thought about the fiasco at last year's Tour de France.  The Frenchman basically replied that he had raced some in Europe and that he had a friend who had been a pro for couple of years.  The friend gave it up because it was "brutal".  The grind of daily centuries takes a toll on even the best cyclists.  Their red blood cell count drops and EPO is administered to bring the count back to normal.  The operation is undetectable as long it is only used to restore normal red blood cell count.  Mike's observation was that we should be grateful we don't have enough talent to get sucked into something like that.

Carrie: The rain out your way sounds pretty bad.  How are you doing?

jc, it's very bad north of here in dallas, but austin is just seeing high lakes and the occasional closed roadway. everywhere is saturated from days of rain, so anything new causes flash flooding in the many low water crossings around the hill country. there's rain all around on the horizon, with spotty, heavy showers off & on all day & night. it's sunny now, but thundering enough that my dog is camped under my chair. i found a break in the clouds yesterday morning to get my commute in before the showers, but i got caught in the rain on the ride home about 2 miles from my house, so not too bad. i hear it's not supposed to let up until maybe the weekend, maybe.

today i did a DVD workout and went rollerskating since that only takes 30 minutes outside. i'm  having to get a little creative with my outdoor workouts.

speaking of cleaning & replacing chains, mine needs it. does anyone have any tips/tricks for cleaning your bike after having it out in the rain? that road grit gets everywhere & is hard to clean.

For bike washing I put my bike on the repair stand. Remove all of my add ons like rack lights etc. fill up a bucket with carwash soap and warm water and go to town using a soft nylon brush and a carwash mit. and rinse with slow running water from the garden hose. Once I am satisfied that I have everything spotless I pull out the air hose a blow everything dry with compressed air. I lube the cables and all of the other moving parts with tri flow. Then I lube the chain with pro link dry lube. Sometimes I will even give the frame a light coat of wax to help keep the paint from fading. it takes me about an hour to wash my bike but it looks like new when I am done.  Oh and before I get busy washing the bike I run my chain through the Park Chain cleaner with some Pedros cleaner in it.

wow gmule! do you make house calls???

i have the pedro's super pit kit & i too put my bike on the repair stand to clean it. i remove the wheels, frame pump, lights & travel bag, but not the rack. an air hose to dry with sounds great. i typically just towel mine off.

i did get an interesting tip from my bike painter. he uses lemon pledge to spiff up a frame after cleaning (and drying) it. i bought some of the wipes and they do work well for a quick dusting off after dry rides. it even removes the grease smudges on the chainstay.

I got rained out too this afternoon, but I saw it coming so I did a few extra miles this morning. That was a tough one because once again the temperature reached up in the 90's.

Can't wait until tomorrow though. It is supposed to be 77 and not a wind around - perfect biking weather.

Jane

My ride today got seriously ruined. Not because of weather or anything simple like that. I woke up this morning and discovered that our ball python escaped. I am now on a full house search for a 5-foot VERY HUNGRY snake. This is just not my day today!

Jane

For my bike there are some industrial work crew strength paper towels at the office.  I'll dampen a couple of them and wipe the frame parts down.   For the chain I'll take a dry one of these things and wipe the chain .. then lube it... and wipe it down one more time to get the excess off there.   I still need to check to see if my chain has a master link.  IF it doesn't then it's only a buck or two to get one added on.

Remember your bike rack (if you have one) on the back of a car can be perfect for holding a bike  during cleaning or servicing.  I've used mine for that and it's nice.   I just put it on the outermost bike holder so the pedal doesn't come anywhere near the car :)

I have yet to hose my bike down with soap and water and stuff.  Wiping it seems to work fine and really it doens't bug me if the frame of the bike is a little dirty, as long as the seat and handle bars are clean and dry.   Still I will eventually get out the car washing stuff and give the bike a good cleaning.

Found the stupid snake hiding under our tv stand but now it is too late for me to get out there. I am so bummed.

Oh, Jane, sounds like you've had your hands full today! We've got rain again up here, but I'm hoping that it'll clear before I get off work so I can hit the road right away.

I wish we could get a little of what Texas is getting -- a very little. Most everything green is dead or dying round here. A few days of steady rain should help things along, but it seems like it's been all or nothing since April.

I think we finally broke our drought here in So. IN.  Bad news is a) I need to start mowing again and b) it is wicked humid out riding these days.  Good news is I haven't missed any riding and I only got caught out in the rain once.  I'm at 780 miles for June.

Jane, I'm glad you found the snake and I hope you can find the cat! ;-)

Jane, there's always tomorrow!

I've seen only a few snakes in the wild in my entire life.  And I've lived in pretty rural areas here in AL.

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Rain... we've been getting showers here and there all week.  Some small... some really heavy stuff (tuesday).   As much as I want to get out and ride, it's nice having a break from this drought.   We are watering our grass to try and keep it from dying off.  I don't think we're under any specific local restrictions like other areas in the state.

Carrihound, I pull the rack off of my road bike because it is clamps to my seat post I leave the rack on my mountain bike though. Thanks for the lemon pledge tip I'll give that a try. A clean welll maintined bike is happy bike