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. 

 

I came across this really great article on biking seniors today.  Check it out.

I've been consumed by work, fall house cleaning, and other, more fun life activities, so I haven't been on CC much. I've managed to keep up with commuting 2-3 days per week. Just got a tune up and the bike is running so smooth that I refused to ride it home after it rained this afternoon. A little prissy, but I want that freshly-tuned super-smooth riding to last a few days before I get stuck out in the rain on the LeMond.

Enjoy the ride everyone :-)

I am still here. I have been pretty busy with work and my oldest child started kindergarden so I have been having fun with that.

I did have a interesting thing happen. I was hit by a rabbit. It jumped from the side of the path right into my front wheel and got stuck in the spokes. I was lucky that he was small and didn't lock up my front wheel and cause me to crash. It still kind of freaked me out though.

Dan Have fun with the mountian bike. I think you will discover how much fun both types riding can be. I have about 900 miles of off road riding this year but I am over 3k for the road bike. I have totaly killed my goal of riding 2400 commuting miles for the year. I am already getting ready for some winter commuting. I don't have any expectations as to how long I will be able to ride yet but I am going to push myself when it gets cold and see what I can do.

Hey all.

I did the 3rd Annual Cheat Mountain Challenge on Sunday, in Pocahontas County, WV (look for "Snowshoe" or "Slatyfork" on Google Maps). 105.7 miles, ~13,000 feet of climbing in this year's edition. Although I felt like I was suffering the whole way, I climbed pretty strong over the Highland Scenic Highway (3 mountains) and on the 6-mile, 1800-foot climb that finishes off the ride.

7000+ calories went bye-bye. I only managed to get about 4500 back into me, much of that in the form of Gatorade and Clif Bars. I was practically falling asleep at dinner--I was *that* tired.

Taking it easy this week--have a spot of tendonitis in the knees (3rd century in as many weekends, could that be it? :-), and there's a crit next Tuesday and a 25-mile TT next Friday. I'm looking forward to the usual "I feel a whole lot stronger now" bounceback that I get about two weeks after a hard century. It should be especially nice after doing three in three weeks.

Like others, I've completely crushed where I was last year, mileage-wise. I have almost 3000 in so far this year, with nearly 26 miles of climbing. :-) If all goes well, maybe I'll have 5,000 in by the start of '08.

You guys are amazing!

Here I was getting ready to brag about doing 50 miles today, lol. I have a long way to go. Still, I am proud of going that far. Slowly but steady I will work my way up to the 100 miles. I have a little work to do on my speed and my knees are telling me that they can definitely feel that I haven't been riding much lately. The Trek did great. It is almost as if it is telling me to go further. I stopped at a gas station to rest. Some guy approached me and started talking about what a nice bike I had. It took me a while to realize that he only had one leg. I felt kind of weird talking bikes with him.

gmule, are you feeling better? Are you eating rabbit stew for dinner? LOL.

Well, I better get ready for work. Today is first day of school so I am sure my little hellian is going to come home all tired and grumpy. He informed me yesterday that he likes school because that is where all the girls are. Oh the joy of those pre-teen hormons.

Jane

Jane, was this guy with one leg kinda skinny and his skin, for lack of a better word, brown and scared looking?

The resaon I ask is one of our members is a one legged cyclist named Ron and he is a very very good rider. It would be like him to approach someone like you, he is very out going and freindly and loves cycling.

 I think that would be in the small world catagory if it is him, I will be seeing him this weekend at a ride I'm doing from apple creek to Charm down through amish country and I will have to ask him.

DAN

Dan: I meant to say something the other night.  That sounded like a great weekend adventure for you and your wife.  BTW, I heard there was some flooding in Ohio -- is it affecting you?

Dan, that could have been him. He was very nice and seemed like he knew what he was talking about. Please ask him if it was him, and tell him that it was nice to meet him. It was at the gas station in Litchfield.

Joe, our basement took a nice hit from the rain but we got it fixed in no time. Speaking of rain, why do they not put fenders on these bikes? I have a nice line of dirt and water going straight up my back when I am riding in the rain, lol.

I was soo shooting for another good ride tomorrow. now I have to work all day and all night. I swear, these people pounce on me as soon as Christopher starts school. Oh well, I can ride my bike up there.

Jane

Jane: I have seen some "commuter" bikes equipped with fenders but, in general, fenders went out of style years ago.  Our bikes used leave the store with fenders and the fenders would leave the bikes shortly after we got them home.  However, fenders are readily available and they are not difficult to install.  There are clip on fenders that can be attached and detached as the occasion warrants.

BTW fenders are recommended for overnight touring trips and commuting.

Joe, they don't look too cool but they sure serve a purpose. I may look into the clip-on fenders but i have to look at the cost vs benefit as I don't really ride that much in the rain. The racing stripe up my back is looking pretty cool though - clear from my rear end to my neck.

Now I can't get my bike computer to work. I will have to mess around with it. Not today though since I am off to the wonderful world of Arby's roast beef sandwiches and irresponsible teenage employees. I am covering for a young girl who called off yesterday because she has strep. She said that she would be there today. Uhm hello, strep is contagious - stay home until a doc clears you for work. Food service and strep does not mix.

It is pretty windy out there but I am still riding my bike to work. This will be my first commute with the wind blowing me backwards, lol.

By the way, I saw the weirdest handle bars the other day. These things extended upwards and almost met in the middle. Anyone ever seen those? What is the purpose of handle bars like that? It was an older lady riding the bike.

Jane

Jane, I honestly think that next to my bike rack my fenders are the best thing I got for commuting.  I even rank them higher than the nice seat I got - but only for commuting purposes, since my commute isn't very long.  :)

I could deal with the stripe on my back, I could not deal with road gunk being sloshed up in my face, which was definitely happening on some of my rainier rides.  Blech.

Not so much commuting for me this month so far.  Nasty 100 degree temps coupled with humidty, plus a lovely a/c induced sore throat that will not go away courtesy of the frigid temps at my day job.  Grr.  Very much looking forward to fall!  And winter, for that matter.  I'm interested to see how well I do with commuting through the cold.  :)

I would be interested in your thoughts.  Shortly after I got my Quest, my friendly bike dealer spent about an hour adjusting everything for a perfect fit.  I was unhappy with the fit.  One problem was that my legs seem to get tired after about 20 miles.  When I checked the measurments against my Aurora, I discovered that the seat on the Quest was significantly further from the handlebars so I moved it closer.  That made me much happier and I haven't noticed any fatigue problems.  But I noticed the knee angle looked wrong since I have gotten the new crank so I moved the seat back 10 cm (about 1/2 inch).  That improved my knee angle, i.e., my knee looks to be directly over the middle of the pedal at 3 o'clock.  Yesterday, I took a 36 mile ride over some new terrain, scouting a route to a location that I expect to be working at for the next couple of months.  I was struggling at 18 miles and that only got me to the office.  By 30 miles, I was having difficulty pedaling into a slight headwind on a flat bike path.

So my question is: Does that 10 cm really make that big a difference or am I delusional?

Jane: I haven't put the fenders on my bikes yet either.  I haven't felt any urgency.  But I wear biking clothes when I ride and change into work clothes at the office.  The handlebars that you describe sound like aerobars that are designed to put the rider in a more aerodynamic position.  I have read that they are a big help in windy conditions.  A lot of "triathalon" bikes come with aerobars.  The downside is that they reduce your control according to what people say.  I can't speak from experience because my aerobars are sitting in the basement with my fenders.

Joe

I have clip on fenders for my Mountian bike but I don't use them on my road bike. I typically ride the moutain bike on poor weather days.

You did say it was okay to ask questions.

Does it matter if you shift quickly, or should shift slowly almost  pausing at each gear?

I went too fast for comfort down one hill and wondered if theres any danger of burning up your brakes. 

Love my new bike and went on my first ride today of 19 miles, from my village to the next one.  A beautiful ride. 

thanks

jc343, saddle position is a personal thing, and yes, 10mm can make an enormous difference. If you prefer knee-over-pedal-spindle, then do that. Set the bike up in the doorway, sit comfortably on the saddle, get your pedal to 3 o'clock, and hang a bolt from a string so that you can see if it's over the pedal spindle when you hold the string against the front of your knee.

It may also be the case that your saddle is too low. Saddle height and fore/aft positioning tend to work together in a 1:2 ratio (i.e., if you move your saddle back 10mm, you should think about lowering it 5mm, and vice-versa, so that you have relatively the same amount of knee extension and flexion). That's not a hard and fast rule?it's just a way to get into the ballpark.

I don't recall if you are a user of clipless pedals or not. If you are, your fit begins first with cleat positioning. Your cleat should be bisected by a line segment drawn between the joint of your big toe and the joint of your little toe. That's just a starting position for everything else. From there, you get the saddle height such that your knees are extended between 28 and 32 degrees at the bottom of the pedal stroke, and the saddle fore/aft adjustment such that your knee is above or behind the pedal spindle (mine is a bit behind, but I do a lot of climbing, so that's normal for me). Then you look at the reach to the bars, and adjust that by swapping out stems.

Most people don't have a goniometer (the fancy plastic tool that measures knee angles) or a helper to use it. In the absence of a goniometer, a decent way to begin at setting saddle height is to put the bike in a doorway and pedal backwards with your heels on the pedals. Get the saddle high enough to fully extend your knee, but not so high that you have to rock your hips back and forth as you pedal. Then, when the ball of your foot is on the pedal, it will be close to the right height. Adjust from there in 3-5mm increments and try it out.

ohio45, you can shift as fast as you want with modern indexed shifters. I find that shifting is smoother if I ease off the pedal pressure while I do so, but I can?and have?done full-power shifts during a sprint or while climbing (though even then, I prefer to ease off during the shift if I can).

Shifting won't help slow you down going downhill. Yes, riding the brakes will wear them, but you have to slow for corners, and the brake pads aren't hard to change. Look as far ahead as you can, and look through the corners instead of at the road in front of your bike. You'll find that your comfort level at speed increases (me, I love descending fast, and I'm never fixating on the road in front of my bike).

Hi,
I'd love to join this group. I have a Lemond Big Sky SL, love touring and spinning, completed my first century last summer, and love biking in the NY spring and fall.
Cheers,

Nicky

Benhanna:  Thanks for the reply.  I have a big ride, the Civil War Century, in a couple of weeks so I am going back to my earlier setting while I finish getting ready for that ride.  I think the problem that I am experiencing comes from using my muscles in a way that I am not used to.  I seem to be able to ride okay but I get tired soooner.  At any rate, I will take your input and work on my saddle position in about a month.  Thanks again for your reply.

Ohio: The recommended approach is to sort of pump your breaks.  Rather than breaking continuously on a downhill, when you feel the speed building up, break enough to slow down and then release.  This avoids the heat build up that comes with continuous contact between your breaks and your rims.  You will probably become more comfortable with downhill speeds as you get more practice.

I got a new seat and that helped.  The dealer showed me how to check my brake pad, and if you can't see the grooves in them, they need replaced.  I forgot to ask him if & what I'm suppose to lub the gears with, but think thats in my booklet.  Rode 2 hrs yesterday and got so tired I stumble stopping at a light.   Besides water I think I'll take raisins next time.  I thought the gears should be outward, when putting a bike on a car rack.  When I did that my rear wheel stuck out beyond my car and I worried it would get hit.  On way home I put bike on, the other direction, and it didn't stick out. 

ohio, I always carry a power bar in my jersey pocket just in case I need some food.  I don't usually eat anything if the ride is 3 hours or less but I always eat something on longer rides.  Never the less, even if I'm out for a 45 minute recover ride the power bar is in the pocket just in case.  I always carry my bike with the gears out but I don't think it really matters as long as the rack is set up properly.

ohio45, I use ProLink on my chain. It doesn't make quite as gooey of a mess as motor oil or gear oil, although the latter two are more durable. Some folks swear by White Lightning; however, wax-based lubricants are more suited to areas that get less rain than we typically get in Pittsburgh. Your gears will be lubed just fine via contact with the chain.

I think Power Bars taste disgusting. I tend to use Clif Bars, but I need to get into baking my own, as the soy content in Clif Bars isn't good for people with hypothyroidism (i.e., me).