Issue No. 489: How to Avoid Crashes in Groups

Editor’s Note: Eating & Drinking Like the Pros, the latest from Coach John Hughes, was a big hit in its first week! Find out what your fellow RBR readers have discovered from Coach Hughes’ research into what riders from Team Sky, Garmin-Cervélo and RadioShack consume before, during and after a race. And put his recipes for both sports drinks and food into action on your next ride. On sale next week: Dynamic Flexibility Training for Cyclists (eArticle).

We’re now calling our “rotating” column space Cadence. This week’s column will be another Health Matters installment, on post-ride recovery tips.

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How to Avoid Crashes in Groups

If there’s one thing the Tour de France has taught us in the first fortnight, it’s that even the best bike handlers in the world sometimes crash with alarming frequency.

Most recreational roadies ride in large groups from time to time, in century rides, local organized rides, brevets, races, etc. While our groups don’t rival the sheer numbers riding cheek to jowl in the TdF, the challenges are the same. So, too, are the ways to avoid crashes in groups. Here are a few tips to help.

Keep Your Focus

Most crashes happen when a rider momentarily loses focus. A moment is all it takes to: not realize the wheel in front of you has slowed; catch the edge of the road when putting away your bottle; bump the rider next to you when you’ve glanced down at your computer. Keeping your focus will help you avoid the little slip-ups that we all have from time to time, but that can quickly bring us to the ground.

Hold Your Line

Steady handling and an unwavering line are expected of anyone riding in a large group. Nothing makes riders in a group of any size more edgy than a squirrelly rider in their midst. Don’t be that rider. Pay attention to what’s happening around you to avoid any pitfalls, and concentrate on not making any sudden or unexpected movements off your line.

Stay Relaxed

Riding in a sizable group typically adds a level of nervousness not found in most casual rides. That’s not really a bad thing if you use that slight nervousness to help you focus. But if you ride constantly on edge, with a death grip on the bar, you’re more apt to fatigue faster, and your tense muscles can affect your bike handling. Stay relaxed, with a comfortable grip on the bar, and consciously check your neck and shoulder muscles for tension. Unshrug if you catch yourself riding with your shoulders pulled up.

Don’t Overreact

Stuff happens in a group. Riders veer off line, rub shoulders, make unexpected moves, touch tires. Often, though, it’s not the initial mistake that causes a crash in a group. It’s an overreaction to the mistake, either by the rider who made it, or by a rider the mistake affected. The key is not to overreact. Making any quick, opposite reaction to whatever problem you’re facing may create a new, bigger problem -- and cause a crash. I witnessed this in a race a couple weekends ago, as a rider went off the right side of the road, overcompensated in his attempt to get back on the road, and went down, falling into another rider, who very nearly fell into me.

Stay Up Front

If you’ve been watching the Tour, you’ve surely heard the commentators or riders being interviewed repeatedly say how important it is to remain at the front of the group. The rationale is straightforward, and it’s most important in big groups. Most crashes happen farther back, where riders are surrounded on all sides and at the mercy of any mistakes anyone else makes. The farther front in a group, the less crowded, the more room to maneuver, and the safer it is.

Don’t Yo-Yo

Big groups tend to ride like a rubber band stretching -- constantly speeding up and slowing down from front to back. Within the group, individual riders are doing the same thing. The trick is to modulate your braking and pedaling so that your relative distance to the rider in front of you remains about the same, no matter how much the rubber band stretches or contracts. Try your best not to yo-yo, braking too abruptly, and then speeding up too much so that you’re on the brakes again. This will not endear you to the riders behind you, and you may cause a crash doing it. Feather your brakes instead of clamping down, and steadily increase your pedaling instead of a sudden burst of power.

Enjoy your ride!

John Marsh

Editor & Publisher

Comment

ESPN football reporter Michael Smith laughed, via Twitter, at the Stage 9 crash last week in the Tour de France when the French TV car hit Juan Antonio Fleche, who in turn hit Johnny Hoogerland, launching him into a barbed-wire fence.

Here’s Smith’s original Tweet: “For real, am I wrong for laughing at that Tour de France crash? Can't get over the driver speeding off as if he didn't know he hit someone!”

Apparently, Smith thought the video of the crash was comedic gold. Here’s his follow-up tweet: “I'm sorry that crash is hilarious. Every. Time.”

Then, after the inevitable (and, obviously, richly deserved) backlash from the cycling community began, Smith gleefully continued to tweak cyclists:

“It had far been too long since I'd angered an entire community. Today I've managed offend cyclists everywhere. Guess what? It's still funny.”And then, this:

“i'd like to apologize to cyclists, people who ride bikes, people who know people who ride bikes, and even paperboys. Happy? I miss anybody?”

As the furor grew, and calls for Smith’s suspension began, it seems someone from ESPN finally got to Smith and shook his imbecilic fingers away from his phone long enough to set him straight and formulate a new, corporate-style apology:

“I apologize for my insensitive remarks re: the TdF crash. I recognize my comments were inappropriate given the serious nature of the crash.”

To read and view what appears to be every article, petition, YouTube video and Facebook page imaginable related to this idiot, click here.

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Just added to the RBR Premium Site: a new Europa column, “How the Tour Came to Finish on the Champs Elysées,” by our European correspondent Les Woodland.

Here’s a taste: So, another Tour de France is on the road -- pedaling fools racing madly, unflaggingly, for the greater glory of things you never manage to find in the supermarket at home.

It wasn’t me who first called them pedaling fools, by the way. It’s a long-known term here in Europe. And it was Henri Desgrange, back before World War I, who first talked of riders racing madly and unflaggingly.

But forget the start. That’s happened. Think instead of the finish. If you’ve been in cycling for just the past couple of decades, for you the Tour has always finished on the Champs Elysées. I’ll get to that in a moment, but for the time being ask yourself why the world’s greatest bike race, on the world’s loveliest avenue, should make a dead turn round a heap of ugly, plastic traffic barriers. Why doesn’t it make a more spectacular sweep round the Arc de Triomphe a little farther up the road?

Premium Members can continue reading at http://www.roadbikerider.com/europa/how-tour-came-finish-champs-elysees. (Make sure you’re logged in first.)

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It seems that a race between cyclists and a jet in L.A. last weekend took a bit of focus off that other little bike race being contested right now.

I’m not sure it was international news, but in the U.S. last week, you could not escape the hyperbolic “reportage” about the closure over the weekend for repairs of L.A.’s iconic 405 freeway. Every inane contrivance imaginable was used to describe the predicted gridlock expected to paralyze the city: Carpocalypse, Carmageddon, Cars 3: Revenge of the DOT (OK, I just made that one up!).

In the midst of all the sturm und drang, a Slate reporter’s tweet resulted in a race between bikes and a jet. Jet Blue, you see, offered a cheap flight from Burbank to Long Beach -- over the 405 -- to “beat the traffic.” The reporter surmised that cyclists could cover the 30-some miles (48 km) faster, if you included travel time to and from the airports, check-in time, etc.

Turns out he was right. The cyclists bested the jet by well over an hour. So, too, did a “racer” who took only public transportation and walked. A rollerblader also claimed to have beaten the jet.

The article documenting the race goes on to discuss the ingrained mindset in many urban areas of the U.S. that the car is the only way to get from point A to point B, especially if the trip is of a certain distance. This race proves the opposite. Bikes, public transportation -- maybe even rollerblades? -- are quite reasonable forms of transport even in sprawling cities like L.A.

My thanks to RBR readers Barry Dial, Nancy Sindy and Coach Harvey Newton for sending us info on this epic victory for cycling.

To read the full Slate article, and another article that preceded it, click http://www.slate.com/id/2299432.

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Most roadies appreciate the health-maintaining benefits of cycling. And if you’re looking for affirmation of that, an article in the League of American Bicyclists newsletter on U.S. obesity rates lays it out starkly:

Adult obesity rates are rising at rapid speeds across the nation, giving our policy makers another reason to include bicycling in the transportation bill. The rates increased in 16 states in the past year and did not decline in any state, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011. Twelve states now have obesity rates above 30 percent. Four years ago, only one state was above 30 percent. Ironically, the top 10 most obese states are also not very bike friendly. Not one of those 10 states makes it into the top 20 most Bicycle Friendly States.

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Impressions from the Tour

2011 TdF Trip through the Pyrenees

• Stages 12 – 14
• 12 categorized climbs
  • 4 HC (beyond category) climbs
  • 2 category 1 climbs
  • 2 cat 2 climbs
• 2 summit finishes (Luz-Ardiden, Plateau De Beille)
• And yet, that will seem like a leisurely Sunday ride compared to the Alps

--- Is there anything more impressive in a high mountain stage than a successful attack on slopes of 9 and 10 percent? As a cyclist who can’t even dream of that ability, it’s amazing to me.

--- On the flip side, is there anything more disheartening than dropping off the back of the peloton on the big climbs? That, I don’t have to dream about!

--- Andreas Kloeden, riding along the left side of the medical car to get treatment on his right arm after a crash on a Stage 12 descent, then pulling around to the right side of the car for treatment on his left side. He had already crashed badly on Stage 9. The next day, he became the 4th Radio Shack rider to abandon.

The team has simply been decimated by crashes and horrendous luck. Only Levi Leipheimer is left among the Shack’s top riders, but he, too, has crashed more than once and had more than his share of mechanicals as well; he’s well back in the GC.

--- Leopard Trek going to the front en masse at the start of the Tourmalet climb, signaling the real start of the moves that will eventually decide the Tour.

--- What an advantage for the Schleck brothers, Andy and Frank, to be able to ride side by side in the mountains and launch coordinated, dual attacks to try to wear down the other GC contenders. Their one-two is utterly unique in the Tour.

--- Thor Hushovd, a sprinter who held the maillot jaune for most of the first week and has been riding extremely well, attacking on the HC Col d’Aubisque and winning Stage 13. Remarkable.

--- Just looking at the Stage 14 profile gave me the willies: 6 categorized climbs packed into the 168 km (103 mile) stage – 1 cat 3, 2 cat 2s, 2 cat 1s and an HC to finish on the Plateu du Beille. Ouch, is all I can say.

--- Jens Voigt, crashing on a descending hairpin, alone and for no apparent reason, on Stage 14 (his 2nd crash of the day). Then, later in the stage, hammering up the final HC climb, shedding weaker riders to set up his teammates, the Schlecks. That guy is just an amazing rider at age 39.

Just for fun, check out http://www.jensvoigtfacts.com/. Each time you click on the photo of the famously indomitable German, you get a humorous saying based on his iron will reputation. Three random examples: Jens Voigt has never made an attempt at the hour record because he could do it in less than 60 minutes. Jens Voigt doesn't complain about what suffering does to him, but suffering constantly complains about getting picked on by Jens Voigt. Many cyclists have one leg stronger than the other. Each of Jens Voigt's legs is stronger than the other. Enjoy! (And if you care to make up your own Jens Voigt aphorism, please share it with your fellow RBR readers on the Comments page. Have some fun with it!)

--- None of the big guns in the GC seems to have the power to shake the other riders in the Pyrenees. Attack after attack is fairly easily met, with no one able to open a gap.

--- Alberto Contador attacking, surprisingly, on a Cat 2 climb in Stage 16, seeming to catch his rivals off guard. He made up 18 seconds on Thomas Voeckler, the maillot jaune, and Fränk Schleck, 51 seconds on Ivan Basso and 1:06 on Andy Schleck. It was the best strategic move Contador has made in the Tour. He tried again to make up time in Stage 17 -- on the final descent! He took big chances but gained nothing.

--- On to the big climbs in the Alps, which will include:

• the Tour’s highest-ever climb on Stage 18, the Col Agnel, at 2,744 m (9,003 feet)
• 5 HC climbs over 2 stages, including the Galibier and Alpe d’Huez

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Overheard – Tour (plus Lance) Edition:

--- “I think it could be a huge showdown. But I think a lot of that is down to whether some of the favorites show weakness. If not, I think it could be fairly neutralized until the foot of the Plateau de Beille. We need a stage like this to see if Cadel has any weaknesses, because he’s looking very, very strong, he’s done nothing wrong and he’s perfectly placed every day. We can’t allow him to have that position before the time trial.” – Brian Nygaard, Leopard Trek manager, who ranks Alberto Contador and, maybe surprisingly, Ivan Basso as the other riders for the Schleck brothers to watch out for.

--- “With our GC and Team GC hopes gone, our only option now is to look for stage win opportunities. Of course with so many injured riders, this won't be an easy task, but we will try. At this point, the only thing I can promise you is this -- we will continue riding. Even if we are left with one rider, we will continue. These experiences have made me reflect on what we were able to accomplish for 9 Tours de France. It has allowed me to see the Tour in a new light; a light that I don't particularly want to see again, but a light that has brought a new respect and appreciation for the race and riders.” – Radio Shack team manager Johan Bruyneel, after the 4th (Andreas Kloeden) of his 9 riders was forced to abandon.

--- "I'm happy because the [time] gaps are greater than I had expected. I wanted to attack and I didn't care about who was going to be on my wheel. I knew that someone could falter. This result is nothing to be euphoric about, either. The most important thing is that my legs respond better and this always motivates my team and myself. My rivals remain the same as yesterday." -- Alberto Contador, after finally making a successful attack in Stage 16. After a rough first two weeks, it was the first flash of the form he had in utterly destroying the field in the Giro d’Italia.

--- “The leaker in this case has, from the beginning, acted with the obvious intent of legitimizing the government's investigation of a national hero, best known for his role in the fight against cancer. Each leak has been designed to propagate public support for this investigation by smearing Armstrong and tarnishing his reputation. The tactical nature of these leaks cannot be ignored as it strongly suggests an underlying partisanship inherent in government agents. The leading government advocate for the Armstrong investigation, [Jeff] Novitzky, was recently connected to an investigation riddled with leaks to some of the same reporters involved in this case and has a documented history of overreaching and disregarding individual's privacy rights. These circumstances are crying out for an investigation.” -- Lance Armstrong's attorneys, in a filing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, asking for a court to order federal agents to discuss their contacts with the media. Only someone in the government, Armstrong’s lawyers argue, could be responsible for the leaks. They say a judge should order the government to explain why it should not be held in contempt.

Comment

Answer at http://www.roadbikerider.com/question-of-week , where you can also find an archive of previous poll results.

Highlights of your responses to last week’s Question: Is the Tour de France More Dangerous This Year?

-- 43% said “Maybe. There are crashes every year, but there seem to be more this time.”

-- 19% said “Yes. It seems that there is danger from every possible source this year.”

-- 18% said “Absolutely. How else do you explain 20 riders crashing out before Stage 10?”

Comment

Question: While riding, I sometimes feel my left leg drop off significantly in its contribution to powering the bike. Is there a training technique for dealing with this? -- Don B.

Coach Fred Matheny Replies:  Yes, and you don't have to use a leg-press machine or any other special equipment. Try one-leg pedaling on your indoor trainer to increase the strength of your weaker leg.

Warm up for 15-20 minutes while pedaling with both legs. Then unclip your strong leg's foot and hook it over the trainer back where it connects to the rear wheel. Or, you can place it on a chair or stool just to the side.

Pedal at about 90 rpm with your weak leg. Use an easy gear at first until you get accustomed to the unusual feeling. You'll probably find it difficult to pedal for more than 2 or 3 minutes. The muscles that lift your thigh and push the pedal over the top of the stroke will fatigue quickly. Don't worry. You'll improve rapidly. And as you do, increase the gearing and the amount of time you pedal. Aim for 3 sets of 5 minutes.

Do this drill 3 times a week. If it doesn't help in about a month, you might want to check with your physician to see if there is a medical reason one leg is significantly weaker than the other.

Comment

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If you’re watching the Tour de France as intently as I am, you’ve noticed the amazing mechanics, racing to the scene of a crash, spare bike in hand, diving into the wreckage to extract their rider, slipping his spare bike under him and mightily pushing him up the road. Or even crazier, leaning out of the windows of speeding team cars and fine-tuning a rear derailleur while hanging upside-down! Whatever the problem, they’ve got the know-how, parts and tools to fix it.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen on the rides most of us go on. And when it comes time to troubleshoot, we’re on our own, or if we’re lucky, we’ve got a buddy along to help. What’s more, most roadies carry a pretty basic tool kit to handle simple problems, like fixing flats, making small adjustments and tightening loose components.

Usually that’s all you need. But, what if something else goes wrong, something you’re unprepared to deal with, that might even leave you stranded by the side of the road? Dealing with those problems is what this article is about: big problems that seem hopeless. There were enough of these to talk about that we’ll start today and finish with Part 2 next week.

The good news is that even without a team mechanic, or many parts, or much experience or skill, you can usually fix these problems, at least enough to keep rolling and get home. To help, here are some common breakdowns and how to try to fix them. Read mine and then post a Comment sharing the clever ways you’ve gotten back on the road when all seemed lost.

Tip: I carry a little more in my basic tool kit so that I can handle most common stuff and the unexpected. Here’s my list: http://jimlangley.net/wrench/roadandtrailrepairs.html

BREAKDOWN: You get a flat tire and then discover you have no way to fix it (maybe you left your seat bag and pump on your workbench when you cleaned your bike?).

WORKAROUND: There are lots of options for this one. If the tire holds air at all (slow leak), you can just keep stopping and pumping it up when it gets too soft, and limp home that way. If you’re on a popular cycling route, just waiting for a cyclist to come along and asking for whatever you need is usually the best bet.

If there are no other cyclists coming along, it’s possible to remove one side of the tire, stuff the tire full of grass or leaves, pop it back on and ride home slowly, trying to keep most of your weight over your fully inflated tire so you don’t damage the rim on the tire with the flat. You can also ride on a flat tire if you’re careful cornering, which is when the tire is most likely to squirm and cause a loss of control. Keep your speed down and take the turns very carefully. I’ve ridden 10 miles on flat tires like that without damaging the rim at all. But I rode gingerly and kept an eye out for potholes that would have damaged my rim had I hit them on the flat tire.

Tips: A trick I’ve seen done but haven’t had much luck with, is finding the hole in the tube and repositioning the tube so that the hole is trapped beneath the bead of the tire. When you inflate the tire, the bead pinches and seals the hole, letting you ride on the tire. Just don’t inflate the tire too hard or you could lift it off the rim since the tube is trapped beneath it.

Yes, that one is a little bit desperate, but it might get you home. Similarly, some riders have told me they tied knots in their tube at the puncture and were able to get the tube to hold enough air to limp home.

BREAKDOWN: You hit a rock, pothole or large piece of glass and put a gash in your tire. You can install a new tube but you can’t inflate it or it will blow-out at the hole in the tire making a loud explosion and causing another flat.

WORKAROUND: Most of you already know this trick, but for those who don’t, all you need is some type of patch material to place inside the tire and over the hole (called “booting” or “patching” the tire). You can use paper money, an energy-bar wrapper, pieces of DuPont’s Tyvex house weatherproofing wrap (that’s an RBR reader tip), etc.

Or buy and carry Park Tool’s adhesive Emergency Tire Boot. If your patch isn’t adhesive, inflate the tube slightly when you place it inside the tire and it will hold the patch in place over the hole.

Tip: You only need to patch tire cuts that are large enough for the tube to escape through. And, if the cut is large, usually it ruins the tire casing. So the patch will get you home, but you’ll want to replace the tire ASAP.

BREAKDOWN: You crash, or shift into your rear wheel, or get a stick stuck in your drivetrain and seriously bend your rear derailleur.

WORKAROUND: This one’s tricky. Sometimes you can sit next to your bike, grab the rear derailleur with your dominant hand and pull, and it will magically get straight enough that you can pedal again and get home. The shifting won’t be tuned correctly so shift carefully or you could throw the chain and derailleur into the spokes. But, you can at least get home.

The tricky part is that if you have a frame with an integral derailleur hanger (the tab on the bottom of the right rear dropout that the rear derailleur is screwed into), you have to be careful bending the derailleur back by hand. You might break the dropout in half, which would mean a more serious frame repair.

A more benign way to get your bike back on the road so you can ride it home is to use the chain tool in your mini tool to separate the chain and place it on the gear you think is low enough to get home on. Then size the chain with your tool so it will stay on the chainring/cog combination you selected -- and your new 1-speed will be ready to go.

Tip: As long as you don’t break the dropout hanger, they can almost always be straightened; or replaced in the case of dropouts with replaceable hangers. Rear derailleurs, however, aren’t so easy to straighten and your best bet may be to replace it.

I hope these last-chance repairs help you out on the road. I’ll finish up with more breakdowns and last-chance repairs in Part 2 next week.

Don’t forget to share your stories of fixing bicycles with nothing but inspiration and roadside debris. If there’s enough interest, I’ll do a follow-up Tech Talk with your great tips.

Comment

Jim Langleyhas been a pro mechanic and cycling writer for 38 years. At RBR he's the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop and moderator of the technical forums on the Premium Site . Check his "cycling aficionado" website at http://www.jimlangley.net , his Q&A blog and updates at Twitter . Jim's streak of consecutive cycling days has reached 6,408.

You just got a new bike with 175-mm crankarms instead of the 170s on your old bike. Now your knees hurt. Are the longer cranks to blame?

It depends on what sort of knee problems you’re having, so the short answer is -- maybe. When you switch to longer crankarms, your knee must extend more at the bottom of the stroke in order to reach the pedal because it's farther away (5 mm, in this example). But your knee also bends at a greater angle at the top of the stroke because the cranks are 5 mm "taller" than they were before.

Both of these situations add stress to the various structures of the knee. One fix that some riders try when they install longer cranks -- lowering the saddle 5 mm, again using our example -- takes care of the added extension at the bottom of the stroke but means their knees are bent even more at the top.

Here’s Help

If you developed knee problems after switching to longer cranks, try re-installing your original cranks to see if the pain stops.

Stick with the longer cranks and ride easily to let your knees adapt. Keep in mind that many riders switch back and forth from 170s on their road bikes to 175s on their mountain bikes and don't have knee problems. Perhaps some other factor is irritating your knees. You'll have to experiment to eliminate potential factors one-by-one.

Comment

Adapted from Coach Fred's Solutions to 150 Road Cycling Challenges , a helpful eBook especially for cycling newcomers.

I used to think the Tour de France was a race. Now I realize it’s really a soap opera.

Sure, they time everybody and hand out jerseys. But the magic of the Tour lies in the wild, wacky storylines that burst forth every year, generating drama as compelling as any General Hospital episode featuring an evil twin recovering from amnesia or a long-lost spouse staggering out of the Amazon rainforest.

Best of all, the Tour soap opera -- or as I like to call it, The Young and the Breathless -- lasts only 3 weeks. Long enough to love or loathe the characters, short enough that you don’t lose touch with reality and start asking your co-workers why Blake hasn’t left two-timing Amanda. Or whether aging AleJet can hold cocky Cav’s wheel.

Also, like any great saga, the Tour provides a predictable framework in which the craziness can flourish. Week 1: crashes, sprints, brave but futile breakaways, first doping suspension. Week 2: medium mountains, lesser favorites imploding, GC dark horse emerging, second doping suspension. Week 3: Big cols, mano a mano battle for yellow, gritty stage win for much-loved domestique who points to sky in honor of deceased teammate or family member, third doping suspension.

Not convinced? Consider some of this year’s plot twists:

Is defending champ Alberto Contador so distraught by a threatened doping ban that he can’t focus? And who spiked his beef last year? Perhaps a team doctor just back from the rainforest?

Meanwhile, does Alberto’s No. 1 rival, Andy Schleck, secretly bear a grudge about the 2010 “chaingate” incident that cost him victory? And who knows the real GC intentions of Andy’s brother Frank, who’s not a twin, but still . . . . And will Cadel Evans finally head-butt a journalist?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.

Comment

If you enjoy reading Scott Martin, the eBook Spin Again contains 181 of his witty, sometimes wacky, and occasionally heart-felt observations on road cycling.

What Should I Do for Post-Ride Recovery?

Question:  I feel like I've gotten very contradictory advice about what to do at the end of a training ride. Nutritionists say the top priority is to prepare and eat a meal within 30 minutes. Physicians advise that the first order of business is to get those shorts off and immediately hit the shower. Physical therapists assert the importance of doing post-ride stretching exercises as soon as possible. What my body tells me, however, is to pass out for 20-30 minutes while my heart rate and body temperature return to more moderate levels. All four of these might be important, but realistically you can't fit more than one or two of them into the first 30 minutes after a ride. What's the real relative priority (and preferred sequence) of these recovery tasks, and which can be put off for an hour or two? -- Ornoth from Boston

Alan Bragman, D.C., Replies: Proper recovery after exercise is crucial for preparing your body for future workouts. Strenuous exercise leaves the body in a state of physiological and immunological depletion, and vulnerable to fatigue, infection and overuse injuries.

After a workout, glycogen synthesis from carbohydrate intake takes place most rapidly within the first hour following exercise. It takes place at a moderate level for the second hour and is still taking place even at up to six hours afterward, though at a greatly reduced level.

There are many companies offering what they consider to be the perfect recovery drink or meal. Joel Stager, an exercise physiologist and director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Indiana University, has another recovery drink to add to the list -- chocolate milk. (He’s certainly not the first, nor only, scientist to sing the praises of this childhood elixir. Another recent study by The University of Texas at Austin College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Education reached the same conclusion.)

Stager studied chocolate milk as a recovery drink on a group of cyclists in his lab. The results were recently published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. The high levels of water, protein and carbohydrate in chocolate milk make it an excellent recovery drink. So after your next ride, try a large glass of low-fat chocolate milk. For those allergic to lactose, several companies sell lactose-free chocolate milk.

Wet riding clothes are a perfect environment and breeding ground for bacteria, fungus and many other assorted little nasties that can lead to saddle sores. Following a ride, immediately remove those wet, nasty riding clothes, go take a shower or dry off and change into clean, dry clothing. If you are unable to shower after riding, some people wipe down those sensitive areas with rubbing alcohol or wet wipes to reduce the risk of infection.

Recovery not only involves replenishment of protein and carbohydrate stores, but also involves rest, light exercise, stretching and adequate sleep. Stretching and flexibility exercises following a hard workout are helpful but not always necessary. Many cyclists find that stretching prior to a hard workout is most effective, while others prefer to stretch following the workout. Some riders like me do their longer primary stretching prior to the ride, followed by a short session afterwards. Find a stretching regimen that works for you.

Finally, while recovery and post-ride activities are very important, they can be greatly simplified and shortened. (How long does it take to drink a glass of chocolate milk, after all?) You should be able to develop a good post-ride routine that leaves plenty of time to pass out after hammering for three hours with the pack.

Comment

Alan Bragman is a chiropractor living in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a former Cat 3 cyclist and nationally ranked inline speed skater. He was on the medical advisory board at Bicycling magazine for 10 years and has written for other sports publications.

Dr. Bragman has written a number of eArticles for RBR, including: 2011’s Best Seller Cycling and Lower Back Pain; Plyometrics for Cyclists; Aging and Cycling; Cold-Weather Cycling; Hot-Weather Cycling; The Recumbent Alternative; Stretching for Cyclists; and Core Training for Cyclists.

His next eArticle, Neck and Shoulder Pain in Cycling, is coming soon.

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Health Matters will run each month in RBR Newsletter. Send us your Health Matters questions by visiting the Newsletters page on our website, http://www.roadbikerider.com/current-newsletter, and clicking on Health Matters in the right-hand column.

Our Newest eArticle:

Eating & Drinking Like the Pros (eArticle), by Coach John Hughes.

You’ve probably wondered what the riders in the pro peloton eat and drink during a stage race. Coach John Hughes researched what Team Sky, Garmin-Cervélo and RadioShack riders consume before, during and after a stage and discussed the results with cycling nutrition experts. The answers may surprise you in terms of the variety and seemingly unusual nature of some of the food and drink. But the findings hold lessons and benefits for cyclists at all levels. We all require energy and replenishment of lost minerals and nutrients when we ride. Eating and drinking like the pros offers us the same nutritional benefits, which we can customize to our own needs – typically at a fraction of the cost of commercial sports food and drink, if we choose to make our own.

Coach Hughes worked with a professor of nutrition and an expert on hydration and electrolytes (both experts are cyclists) in creating recipes for both sports drinks and food. They’re easy to make, with known, unprocessed ingredients, and can be tailored to your specific taste and needs.

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RBR’s Premium Site members automatically receive a 15% discount on every eBook, eArticle or other product in the RBR eBookstore .

Bonus! RBR provides 5 downloadsof every eBook and eArticle (and bundle) purchased. To obtain a new copy for any reason, simply login to your RBR account and do the download.

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Hundreds of your fellow RBR Readers have purchased our eArticle, Preventing & Treating Cramps. Get your copy today to help deal with an affliction we all suffer from time to time.

Another great resource for these hot summer riding months is Hot-Weather Cycling, by Dr. Alan Bragman.

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2011’s Best-Seller to Date:

Cycling and Lower Back Pain (eArticle), by Alan Bragman, D.C.

Dr. Bragman brings to bear the past 30 years of his experience diagnosing and treating thousands of patients with lower back pain, many of them cyclists. From his vast experience both professionally and personally as a sufferer of lower pain, he has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to diagnose, treat and prevent lower back pain in cyclists.

Recently Added to our Collection:

Preventing and Treating Cramps (eArticle), by Coach John Hughes.

Cramps are something nearly all of us have to deal with from time to time. And summer heat can foster some of the underlying factors that contribute to cramping. Coach Hughes provides a detailed look into the causes of cramps, helping us understand and implement prevention techniques, which he covers in-depth. Finally, he provides tips (both on-bike and off-bike, including photos) for breaking and flushing cramps. The article includes helpful nutritional information regarding food sources for minerals your body needs, as well as the mineral content of sports drinks and supplements, which you can use to ensure adequate replenishment of what you lose through sweat. Following Coach Hughes’ recommendations could be the difference between a ride-ending cramp, or another great day on the bike.

Mastering the Long Ride (eArticle), by Coach John Hughes.

The final eArticle in Coach Hughes’ trilogy on distance riding, Mastering the Long Ride is a follow-on to Beyond the Century (how to train for distance events) and Nutrition for 100K and Beyond.

Equations for Cyclists: How to Calculate Intensity, Wattage and More -- Without a Power Meter (eArticle), by Coach Fred Matheny.

Swift Cycling: A 12-week program for increasing your cruising speed (eArticle), by Coach David Ertl.

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3 special bundled products that offer BIG savings:

--- Fred Matheny's Complete Book of Road Bike Training (save $19.85 on the Coach's 4 eBooks for year-round training, all under one cover)

--- Coach Arnie Baker's 7 eBooks bundle (save $46.70)

--- Coach Arnie Baker's 17 eArticles bundle (save $37.88)