Bicycling On-the-Road

Don_S · « **Reply #40 on:** 20 Apr 2010, 04:56 pm »

Phil,

I have to get in my "way back machine". I think the spindles I am talking about did have a weight limit of 185 pounds. The spindles came out of Rithey pedals that were a tan color. Ritchey sold the same pedals in a different color with chrome-moly spindles. Compared to the chrome-moly spindles, the ti spindles have a very steep taper toward the outside end and then they have a larger diameter bulb at the end where they make contact with the pedal. Scary (fragile) to look at. I am under the weight limit and don't pedal out of the saddle much anyway. On my recumbent I don't peddle out of the saddle at all.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #41 on:** 3 May 2010, 12:57 pm »

I had a pretty nasty crash last Thursday...was on the Rockleigh Criterium "track" (http://www.rockleighcrit.com) giving it a test run. Came out of a turn and tried to accelerate...unfortunately, I lifted my front wheel trying to sprint, and it didn't come straight back down, so I went down at about 22mph. *Really* stupid crash!

Tons of road rash, helmet cracked in 3 places, and some deep bruising in my hip and rib-cage. Went to the doctor for x-rays, which thankfully came back negative. Will probably be off the bike for a week or two, which sucks, because I was going to do the Montauk Century (145miles) on May 16, and this sets my training back...

SET Man · « **Reply #42 on:** 3 May 2010, 03:04 pm »

Hey!

Phil, did you try to do a wheelie with your road bike?

Anyway, joking a side. Good to know that you are OK.

Man! You really hit hard with your helmet there

I once saw a bike accident in Central Park where a lady on a cruiser bike crashed and a guy was holding her waiting for ambulance. There were some blood coming out of her nose. It wasn't a fast crash too. She was going up hill. Anyway, the sad part about this is that she got her helmet tied up on the rear wheel rack of her bike

So, helmet is a must even if you don't ride fast.

Well, take it easy Phil.

Take care,
Buddy

Tone Depth · « **Reply #43 on:** 3 May 2010, 03:20 pm »

I have a business building custom bike wheels, if anyone's interested in ordering a wheelset.

BikeWNC · « **Reply #44 on:** 3 May 2010, 05:08 pm »

Sorry to hear about your crash Phil. Heal quickly. You can still do the Montauk ride, just maybe not as fast as you had hoped.

I did a very mountainous metric this weekend and within 2 miles of the start at the top of the first climb a rider went down with a heart attack and didn't survive. He was on a tandem with his wife. I didn't find out what had happened to him until the next day. Be safe out on the road.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #45 on:** 3 May 2010, 05:17 pm »

Wow, accelerating so fast you popped a wheelie? Glad you're ok. I had a close call Saturday where turned on a corner going too fast and my rear tire slipped out from under me. The bike went sideways but i managed to keep from flipping off the side. There was a car approaching the intersection, it could have been serious.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #46 on:** 3 May 2010, 05:31 pm »

Thanks for the well-wishes. Feeling much better today, although not sure how much of it is due to the painkillers...! Doc prescribed a concentrated dose of Motrin as well as vicodin if the pain gets really bad...fortunately have not had to use the vicodin yet.

It wasn't quite a wheelie...but when I sprint, I pull on my handlebars to get more leverage into the pedals, and with my new lighter wheels, the front of the bike came up much easier than usual. And it was actually my second ride of the day, so I was a little fatigued and not paying as much attention to things as I should have been...which is why I feel so stupid for crashing like this...!

Here's a picture of my helmet...

Levi · « **Reply #47 on:** 3 May 2010, 05:49 pm »

Sorry to hear about the crash. Get well soon!

BikeWNC · « **Reply #48 on:** 6 May 2010, 02:44 am »

Looking back down at a switchback on today's ride on the BRP.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #49 on:** 6 May 2010, 05:10 am »

This is tame stuff for you guys, but I'm going on the Tour of Long Beach this saturday. The standard "lap" is a 31 mile block with option to ride it twice for a metric century. Should be easy going and fun. This is my first time, so I'm curious how it will compare to my only point of reference, the Long Beach Bike Tour, which runs right before the marathon.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #50 on:** 6 May 2010, 11:34 am »

Quote from: ooheadsoo on 6 May 2010, 05:10 am

This is tame stuff for you guys, but I'm going on the Tour of Long Beach this saturday. The standard "lap" is a 31 mile block with option to ride it twice for a metric century. Should be easy going and fun. This is my first time, so I'm curious how it will compare to my only point of reference, the Long Beach Bike Tour, which runs right before the marathon.

Are you doing the metric century? The main thing for a ride like this is to make sure you eat properly both before and during (and after!) the ride...and don't let your adrenaline burn you out too early...

Don_S · « **Reply #51 on:** 15 Jun 2010, 05:41 pm »

I understand Phil is talking about a long ride here. I wonder if the same advice holds true for a shorter ride (<20 miles). I recently read an article that claimed exercising after a fast (like a morning ride or run) burns fat and not carbohydrates. The sample size used was not even close to statistically valid but the fasting riders burned more fat. Not surprisingly their riding performance was not as good so someone may have to choose between performance training or weight management.

So far I have tried fasting rides two mornings and had surprisingly good rides despite the wind. If I don't eat before an evening ride I tend to bonk but I felt good after my morning rides. I am wondering if my body is already burning fat in the morning so it is easy to keep doing it while in the evening I am burning carbs and my body demands more and refuses to switch to the reserve (fat

) tank. Surprisingly, I was not as hungry after my morning fasting ride as I am after any ride where I have eaten first.

Curious what others have experienced. I plan on doing more fasting rides.

Just as background: I eat mostly whole grains and vegetables. Light on the amount of meat with many meatless meals. Very few prepared foods. No fast foods. It took me over 20 years to finish a box of salt although I admit that near the end it was mostly sentimentality that spared it. No soda and almost never for alcohol. It would take me a YEAR to finish a six-pack. Still I struggle with the fat genes and fat jeans.

Quote from: PhilNYC on 6 May 2010, 11:34 am

Are you doing the metric century? The main thing for a ride like this is to make sure you eat properly both before and during (and after!) the ride...and don't let your adrenaline burn you out too early...

PhilNYC · « **Reply #52 on:** 15 Jun 2010, 06:22 pm »

Quote from: Don_S on 15 Jun 2010, 05:41 pm

I understand Phil is talking about a long ride here. I wonder if the same advice holds true for a shorter ride (<20 miles). I recently read an article that claimed exercising after a fast (like a morning ride or run) burns fat and not carbohydrates. The sample size used was not even close to statistically valid but the fasting riders burned more fat. Not surprisingly their riding performance was not as good so someone may have to choose between performance training or weight management.

So far I have tried fasting rides two mornings and had surprisingly good rides despite the wind. If I don't eat before an evening ride I tend to bonk but I felt good after my morning rides. I am wondering if my body is already burning fat in the morning so it is easy to keep doing it while in the evening I am burning carbs and my body demands more and refuses to switch to the reserve (fat ) tank. Surprisingly, I was not as hungry after my morning fasting ride as I am after any ride where I have eaten first.

Curious what others have experienced. I plan on doing more fasting rides.

Just as background: I eat mostly whole grains and vegetables. Light on the amount of meat with many meatless meals. Very few prepared foods. No fast foods. It took me over 20 years to finish a box of salt although I admit that near the end it was mostly sentimentality that spared it. No soda and almost never for alcohol. It would take me a YEAR to finish a six-pack. Still I struggle with the fat genes and fat jeans.

My understanding of it is as follows:

Your body takes at least 90 minutes to take the food you eat and absorb it into a form that is ready to be used as fuel for your ride. As such, eating just before you ride doesn't actually help your riding until 90 minutes into your ride. On the other hand, your body can store enough fuel to last you about 2 hours of exercising...so eating just before you ride helps keep you from bonking on rides of 2+ hours (eg. 25+ miles for most riders).

That said, most sources I've read about carbo-loading say that you need to start carbo-loading for a performance ride about 2-3 days before you do your ride. With this in mind, I am assuming that fasting the day before a ride won't matter as much if you have carbo-loaded 2-3 days beforehand.

From my own personal/anecdotal experience, riding on an empty stomach usually results in a poor performance for me. Obviously, I don't go out of my way to stuff myself, but having a bagel or a small bowl of pasta before a ride goes a long way for me. And weight-loss comes more from controlling portions over time than it does from specific training rides. But that's just bast on my eating and riding habits and is by no means scientific...

ctviggen · « **Reply #53 on:** 15 Jun 2010, 07:04 pm »

Quote from: Don_S on 15 Jun 2010, 05:41 pm

Just as background: I eat mostly whole grains and vegetables. Light on the amount of meat with many meatless meals. Very few prepared foods. No fast foods. It took me over 20 years to finish a box of salt although I admit that near the end it was mostly sentimentality that spared it. No soda and almost never for alcohol. It would take me a YEAR to finish a six-pack. Still I struggle with the fat genes and fat jeans.

I'm on an opposite diet: plenty of meat; don't restrict salt at all (add it to many meals); no grains. I still eat vegetables and sadly don't drink beer and am trying to quit alcohol totally. Unfortunately, I haven't applied this way of eating to bike rides beyond two hours (rode several centuries and metric centuries one year, but I thought I "needed" carbs; now I'm not so sure). I've been lifting and performing high intensity interval training instead of biking, mainly because of time constraints. I'd like to see if I could bike longer than 2 hours without resorting to increased carbs. That will have to wait until at least next year, though.

As for whether one burns fat or carbohydrates, many of these studies are meaningless or open to (mis)interpretation. For instance the whole "you burn fat at lower heart rates (or intensities)" is only partially true. If you exercise at a higher intensity, you may burn fewer calories from fat as a percentage of the total calories burnt, but the overall calories burnt from fat could be higher than if you exercised at a lower intensity, because the overall number of calories will be higher.

Personally, I think it's completely bunk, as I've not been eating more than 50 grams of carbohydrate per day this entire year, and have had no problems exercising.

As a side note, the evidence for limiting salt is on shaky, non-scientific grounds. See, eg:

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2007/04/salt-shaking-news.html

Levi · « **Reply #54 on:** 15 Jun 2010, 07:08 pm »

You should be fine. Add some electrolytes in your drink and pedal that bike.

I did 99.26 miles on my MTB at Bike Boat Bike in Long Island. You can accomplish that faster on them skinnies.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #55 on:** 15 Jun 2010, 10:14 pm »

I'm pretty "traditional" when it comes to diet...eating balanced meals overall (a little bit of everything!), with some emphasis on adding carbs when a big riding day is approaching, and emphasizing protein after the big rides to help recovery and muscle-building. Food without salt just tastes too bland for me, but too much salt is also unbearable. Alcohol is limited to a few drinks every other week or so, and its mostly red wine or beer. I don't have a sweet tooth at all. I definitely ride my bike for enjoyment, but I also ride it so that I can indulge food-wise every now and then without worrying too much about my weight.

Folsom · « **Reply #56 on:** 16 Jun 2010, 02:28 am »

Quote from: ctviggen on 15 Jun 2010, 07:04 pm

For instance the whole "you burn fat at lower heart rates (or intensities)" is only partially true. If you exercise at a higher intensity, you may burn fewer calories from fat as a percentage of the total calories burnt, but the overall calories burnt from fat could be higher than if you exercised at a lower intensity, because the overall number of calories will be higher.

As a side note, the evidence for limiting salt is on shaky, non-scientific grounds. See, eg:

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2007/04/salt-shaking-news.html

Well there are reasons believe believe that lower intensity is better for burning fat. It is true that under many circumstances you burn a higher percentage blah blah blah. The situation here however is that for people with a certain set of epigenetics (mostly Type A blood people and a few AB, but there are other factors because it is not true for all of them) that exercising at high intensity raises cortisol too much and prevents fat burning. They can often struggle endlessly never getting more fit and never losing weight.

Too much salt has long been known to contribute to people that have cardiovascular disease. However on some people have the problem, many worry about it needlessly, and some that do have it for other reasons than the typical ones.

Phil do you know your blood type? You know for instance if you are Type O than you should know that wheat binds to insulin receptors, high blood sugar from ingesting lots of carbohydrates makes your body stop using it for energy and stores it if you have thrifty epigentics, and it degrades your intestines. Depending on your epigenetics it might be easy to trim you down in no time at all with the right conditions.

ctviggen You should look at Hammer Products. They are the best by far... lots of good information on their website. Specifically look at Sustained Energy. It has protein and a simple carbohydrates for energy. Think of it like this perhaps... what if you use protein for energy but you need some simple carbohydrates or carbohydrates for enough blood sugar to metabolize the complex chains of fatty acid. The easier ATP is to make (simple carbohydrates) the more you have available on demand for accessing the more complicated protein. I know a bunch of people that do VERY well on Sustained Energy and few that like Perpetuem. I would recommend some electrolytes without a doubt though. It is too bad eating a pocket stake would not work out huh? You need it sort of on demand in a since so a semi broken down version like found in Hammer's stuff would be more ideal.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #57 on:** 16 Jun 2010, 02:42 am »

Quote from: Destroyer of Smiles. on 16 Jun 2010, 02:28 am

Phil do you know your blood type? You know for instance if you are Type O than you should know that wheat binds to insulin receptors, high blood sugar from ingesting lots of carbohydrates makes your body stop using it for energy and stores it if you have thrifty epigentics, and it degrades your intestines. Depending on your epigenetics it might be easy to trim you down in no time at all with the right conditions.

Are you saying I'm fat??

I'm actually quite happy with my weight (185lbs at just a hair under 6ft tall). And no, I don't know my blood type, but I do know that if I don't load up on carbs, my rides are lousy....

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #58 on:** 17 Jun 2010, 02:04 am »

Finally have a computer up and running again. The Tour of Long Beach was just "ok." Nowhere near as nice as the Long Beach Bike Tour, which precedes the marathon. The traffic is stopped for that one, and it's sweet. For that last ride, it was on the street, with really narrow bike lanes for a large majority of it, so it was a bit of a hassle to pass people against oncoming traffic. There were also several bottlenecks, and at one point, we actually had to dismount and walk up a dirt slope because some people couldn't make it and were causing a traffic jam because the lane was one man wide right before the dirt. I suppose the ride was for charity, so I don't begrudge the money, but I'm not sure I would do it again just for shucks. As for the metric century, there's no way I could have finished before the event was over. I'm still 80lbs. overweight

Last wednesday and today, I rode to work. Nice little ride, I think it's about 18 miles there and 22 miles back, taking an alternative route with a big(ger) hill. Feels good today. Last week, I was dehydrated and practically about to pass out. I didn't know what caused it at the time - this time I brought a water bottle.

JoshK · « **Reply #59 on:** 30 Jun 2010, 04:36 pm »

Went biking for the first time yesterday. Borrowed my neighbor's wife's unisex Cannondale. My ass is hurting bad today.

Anyway, I am now thinking of getting a bike. This would definitely be for urban fitness. Roads around me are bad. Plenty of curb hopping. I like the straight bars way better!

I'd like to stay ~1K mark for a first bike. Light it good.

Any suggestions?
Right now I made a list of hybrid-urban-commuter type bikes in my price range. I know next to nothing about bikes. I know that I am an aggressive rider though as they is hangover from my BMX & Freestyle days.

Current list:
Gary Fischer - Mendota
Trek 7.6 FX
Trek Montare
Specialized Roulux
GT Transeo 1.0 Disk

Help?