We touched the 60’s over this past Friday and Saturday. We almost broke a 100 year high record here in Denver, and would you believe over 200 inches of snow In Steamboat. Yes beautiful weather and I lay flat on my back with phenomena. Yes with every breath taken it sounds like I’m gargling, as I watched the groups of cyclists going by. Like I say timing is everything.
While I have been attempting to get around this week, I got out my log book to close out 2010 and get ready for 2011. Looking back through there was good news as well as disappointing. The most disappointing is the fact this will be the first month I haven’t rode in, in over two years. I enjoyed looking back at rides with fond memories of friends and the boys. The bright spot is to be able to see the improvements that are right there in black and white and cannot be disputed. Having a log book that documents effort and improvement is one of the best motivators there are. You may forget about the little victories but when you have the ability to lay them out in front of you, it opens the world before you as to what you can accomplish. This will be a big year on the bike.
There are a few good ways to have a log, I’m going to give you my favorite 2 online sites that are free. The tall son likes Daily Mile (www.dailymile.com) and I used it the last half of the year. It keeps a running account of your mileage with some fun things thrown in, but very basic. You have your choice of activities, i.e.; running, walking, cycling, weight lifting or other exercise. Drop down menus let you pick your sport, and then fill in where you, in my case, cycled, your distance, your time, and how you felt. It gives you a good space to write about the workout and if you click on more details you have more choices, including heart rate to add. It gives you a calorie burn rate for what you have done and you can post it publicly for all to see. At this point it becomes a minor social network without a lot of the annoyances. There are communities where you can get that have challenges. The challenges are fun and let you measure your mileage against others from around the world. I am in two, 2011 miles in 2011 and 1500 miles in a year (this one with my 10 year old). They have a very large assortment to fit all fitness levels. The down side is, people may fudge to make their selves look better than they might really be. A couple of examples are a rider in Newcastle GB who has already rode 690 miles this month. A rider from Vancouver who has put on 898 miles or the two from Indiana that have rode 415 and 370 respectfully. I am not calling them untruthful, there are some extreme riders out there and I respect the hell out of them but I did check what the weather has been in those places and I am, personally, not buying all of what I read. This translates to, there are people who will attempt to win absolutely nothing at any cost and the real efforts are lost in the shuffle. You all have just had a face come to mind.
The other good online log book is through Bicycling (www.bicycling.com) a training log link is on the home page. What I feel is a drawback, a few too many key strokes to get to your own log. Once you get there it is straight forward, no communities or challenges just your stats. It keeps an upfront visible log of your weekly, monthly and year to date mileage. A fun thing is the total Stats in time, hours, minutes, and seconds then converts it to days. You can look at your week in a graph that is set up for what you would like shown. You may also add your routes which is easy if you have a Garmin computer that downloads. If not you are given the tools to make them from scratch on the site. That is not always user friendly and the programs satellite is about a year or so behind so you may not find your route or path. I used this for about 9 months and was happy.
They both work well and are actually fun to use and keep your rides documented. The Daily Mile challenges will not accept anything prior to the time you start a challenge but both have the ability to add previous workouts in. My favorite is a hand written log and I will talk more about that later this week.
Till Then
Ride Safe, Ride Warm, Ride Fast As You Can, But Ride
G
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Road Bike vs. Cycle Cross Bike
I was reading a self proclaimed cycling expert, I’m not an expert just opinionated, answer to a 50 year young lady, who was asking what would be a good road bike for her to start cycling after years of running. She lived in an area that had quite a few integrated bike trails with a system that incorporated cement, asphalt and very fine hard packed grave. Her Husband was an avid cyclist but she was not looking for something as expensive or performance orientated as his. She had quite a few answers which gave her some nice choices and pros and cons of the different bikes out there. A lot of people said to look at and ride a cycle cross bike, fondly known as just a cross bike. Without going into the “Experts”, who happened to be a physiologist who is a bicycle and ski boot salesman that rides 10,000 miles a year, in Michigan, all according to his profile, he did not seem to know what a cross bike was. He advised against the cross bike because “they are light mountain bike, resembling a road bike, with narrow mountain bike tires”.
Now having a cross bike myself, his description irked me to say the least. Then I started thinking, I have had a lot of riders, at rest stops, ask if my Specialized Tri-cross was a new type of hybrid. Cycle Cross bikes are not new to the USA, but are not real common place either. Cycle Cross racing has just started catching on over the last 5 years and bringing the bikes more into view of the riding public. At first look they are nothing but a road bike with a higher handlebar stem.
In reality they have some other distinct differences also. A more relaxed riding position, simplified as a shorter top bar on the frame. This lets the rider sit up a little more upright rather than in a racer aerodynamic stretched out position. The overall frame geometry is not overly extreme in any direction to make it work efficiently on any type of road and the option of wider tires lets you choose what works the best for you where you are riding. You see the heart of a Cycle Cross bike is off road mud racing. The front forks and the rear stays are a little wider spaced than a traditional road bike to clear mud build up. This gives the owner the option of high performance 700x23mm road racing tires or up to about 700x42mm with little knobby things that grip fantastically in the snow or on loose gravel. I ride on a 700x32mm with a slight tread that works well on all surfaces other than deep sand. A closer look and you may see that the front chain rings appear a little smaller that your typical road bike. They are, the typical big chain ring is a 52 tooth job that gives you some really rip roaring speed if you can get it going. A Cycle Cross bike’s big ring is usually 48 tooth which gives me a steady, with a slight decline and long flat 20-25 mph. You need to realize that I cannot keep up with my son on his flat bar road bike, but I have been known to hit a blazing 34 mph on a nice downhill. Due to they are built to race in the mud on a closed circuit track, they are built strong and durable. Strong and durable does not translate to heavy. My middle of the line Tri-cross with 32mm Specialized Armadillo tires, two water bottle cages and a under the seat tool bag and junk, wired computer with cadence weighs in at a whopping 20 lbs. The flat bar road bike my son kicks my butt on with wired computer and two bottle cages weigh in at about 30 lbs. Now on the other end of the spectrum and not even at the other end, is my son’s new Ridley Cross Fire, a high middle range Cross bike. A Full carbon fiber, frame, fork, and seat post with two imitation carbon fiber bottle cages, and a wireless computer, a disgusting 15 lbs. Please someone rich adopt me.
Bottom line, ride what you’re comfortable on but keep an open mind. If you have made a lot of modifications to your road ride whether it be a road, hybrid or flat bar bike take a test spin on a Cross bike next time you are at your favorite dealer. I believe you will find they make an extremely comfortable ride and there are even a couple of manufactures that are putting on front and rear rack mounts for serious traveling.
One last bit of advice, watch the “self proclaimed experts”. Take what you read, hear or are told from anyone, with a grain of salt or two.
Till Next Time
Ride Fast As You Can, Ride Safe, Ride Warm but Ride
“G”
Now having a cross bike myself, his description irked me to say the least. Then I started thinking, I have had a lot of riders, at rest stops, ask if my Specialized Tri-cross was a new type of hybrid. Cycle Cross bikes are not new to the USA, but are not real common place either. Cycle Cross racing has just started catching on over the last 5 years and bringing the bikes more into view of the riding public. At first look they are nothing but a road bike with a higher handlebar stem.
In reality they have some other distinct differences also. A more relaxed riding position, simplified as a shorter top bar on the frame. This lets the rider sit up a little more upright rather than in a racer aerodynamic stretched out position. The overall frame geometry is not overly extreme in any direction to make it work efficiently on any type of road and the option of wider tires lets you choose what works the best for you where you are riding. You see the heart of a Cycle Cross bike is off road mud racing. The front forks and the rear stays are a little wider spaced than a traditional road bike to clear mud build up. This gives the owner the option of high performance 700x23mm road racing tires or up to about 700x42mm with little knobby things that grip fantastically in the snow or on loose gravel. I ride on a 700x32mm with a slight tread that works well on all surfaces other than deep sand. A closer look and you may see that the front chain rings appear a little smaller that your typical road bike. They are, the typical big chain ring is a 52 tooth job that gives you some really rip roaring speed if you can get it going. A Cycle Cross bike’s big ring is usually 48 tooth which gives me a steady, with a slight decline and long flat 20-25 mph. You need to realize that I cannot keep up with my son on his flat bar road bike, but I have been known to hit a blazing 34 mph on a nice downhill. Due to they are built to race in the mud on a closed circuit track, they are built strong and durable. Strong and durable does not translate to heavy. My middle of the line Tri-cross with 32mm Specialized Armadillo tires, two water bottle cages and a under the seat tool bag and junk, wired computer with cadence weighs in at a whopping 20 lbs. The flat bar road bike my son kicks my butt on with wired computer and two bottle cages weigh in at about 30 lbs. Now on the other end of the spectrum and not even at the other end, is my son’s new Ridley Cross Fire, a high middle range Cross bike. A Full carbon fiber, frame, fork, and seat post with two imitation carbon fiber bottle cages, and a wireless computer, a disgusting 15 lbs. Please someone rich adopt me.
Bottom line, ride what you’re comfortable on but keep an open mind. If you have made a lot of modifications to your road ride whether it be a road, hybrid or flat bar bike take a test spin on a Cross bike next time you are at your favorite dealer. I believe you will find they make an extremely comfortable ride and there are even a couple of manufactures that are putting on front and rear rack mounts for serious traveling.
One last bit of advice, watch the “self proclaimed experts”. Take what you read, hear or are told from anyone, with a grain of salt or two.
Till Next Time
Ride Fast As You Can, Ride Safe, Ride Warm but Ride
“G”
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Cold Weather, Thoughts Turn to Diet
Happy New Year!
How about this date, 1-11-11, cool. As I lay here on the couch comfortable dressed, for being alone, and a touch cold, listening to the rhythm of the washing machine doing its thing, looking out the window at the beautiful white settings of my back yard, I think about the lack of riding I’m doing and the effect it will have.
Good news and bad news on that. It has been proven that time off of the bike can actually be an advantage. It gives the muscles a chance to get a good rest, refresh and regenerate. The bad news to that is you go longer than a month and you may be starting from square one again. The good news, here in Colorado, is that though the streets and paths are still ice packed, they will soon be open again. As far as the weather, right now I’m looking at 9 degrees, it will be in the 50’s by the end of the week. It may be only for a day or two but there will be ridable surfaces and temperatures for us Recreational riders during every week of winter.
Not exercising can cause a concern for all the weight you have lost through bicycling. I, personally, have fallen back to the South Beach diet that jump started my metabolism moving awhile back. I don’t go back to week one, I just stay a little truer to the maintenance. It consists of eggs, lean meat and other good protein high fiber as well as lots of fruit veggies and snacks of yogurt, nuts and cheese and even some carbs. It is not difficult when you have those choices. If you are comfortable with what you have lost before the cold set in, stick with the diet of your choice, for two of the three meals and snacks a day, that way you can splurge on the meal of your choice. South Beach, which by the way I have absolutely no connections with, has a meal replacement bar that is fantastic. Not only is it really good, it is very filling as well and 12grams of protein. My 16 year old loves them, and they are great to take on a long ride. They satisfy the hunger, give you energy and don’t make you feel stuffed. An added plus is they are approved by the American Diabetes Association.
Don’t get me wrong you cannot stop exercising all together. This is a good time to start strength work. A few simple dumbbells and maybe a yoga ball will do wonders. You will not get muscle bound but you will tone that weight you have lost by working with light weight and many repetitions. I have started doing some bicycle specific back exercises with the yoga ball and have thrown in some dumbbell work on it also, to help with core muscles (Fat Belly) and balance.
Put this all together and you can enjoy life maintain what you have lost, stay warm and be able to splurge a few extra calories once in awhile. If you want to partake in coffee and a bagel with some bicycle or life talk, drop me a note and we will do that.
Till Next Time
Ride Far, Ride Fast as You Can, Ride Warm, But Ride.
“G”
How about this date, 1-11-11, cool. As I lay here on the couch comfortable dressed, for being alone, and a touch cold, listening to the rhythm of the washing machine doing its thing, looking out the window at the beautiful white settings of my back yard, I think about the lack of riding I’m doing and the effect it will have.
Good news and bad news on that. It has been proven that time off of the bike can actually be an advantage. It gives the muscles a chance to get a good rest, refresh and regenerate. The bad news to that is you go longer than a month and you may be starting from square one again. The good news, here in Colorado, is that though the streets and paths are still ice packed, they will soon be open again. As far as the weather, right now I’m looking at 9 degrees, it will be in the 50’s by the end of the week. It may be only for a day or two but there will be ridable surfaces and temperatures for us Recreational riders during every week of winter.
Not exercising can cause a concern for all the weight you have lost through bicycling. I, personally, have fallen back to the South Beach diet that jump started my metabolism moving awhile back. I don’t go back to week one, I just stay a little truer to the maintenance. It consists of eggs, lean meat and other good protein high fiber as well as lots of fruit veggies and snacks of yogurt, nuts and cheese and even some carbs. It is not difficult when you have those choices. If you are comfortable with what you have lost before the cold set in, stick with the diet of your choice, for two of the three meals and snacks a day, that way you can splurge on the meal of your choice. South Beach, which by the way I have absolutely no connections with, has a meal replacement bar that is fantastic. Not only is it really good, it is very filling as well and 12grams of protein. My 16 year old loves them, and they are great to take on a long ride. They satisfy the hunger, give you energy and don’t make you feel stuffed. An added plus is they are approved by the American Diabetes Association.
Don’t get me wrong you cannot stop exercising all together. This is a good time to start strength work. A few simple dumbbells and maybe a yoga ball will do wonders. You will not get muscle bound but you will tone that weight you have lost by working with light weight and many repetitions. I have started doing some bicycle specific back exercises with the yoga ball and have thrown in some dumbbell work on it also, to help with core muscles (Fat Belly) and balance.
Put this all together and you can enjoy life maintain what you have lost, stay warm and be able to splurge a few extra calories once in awhile. If you want to partake in coffee and a bagel with some bicycle or life talk, drop me a note and we will do that.
Till Next Time
Ride Far, Ride Fast as You Can, Ride Warm, But Ride.
“G”
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