Newsletter Issue No. 890
November 28, 2019
PDF version for Premium Members is here.
Diagnosing a Chain that Falls Off the Chainring
By Jim Langley
We’re always on the lookout for interesting problems to share with you in the hopes we can head off trouble before it happens – and/or provide tips for diagnosing and dealing with glitches. The issue for you this week is a drivetrain miscue that came up on a club Saturday ride. Read more.
Avoiding Weight Gain During the Holidays
By Coach John Hughes
The holidays are filled with temptations! A friend of mine with a Ph.D. in nutrition once told me, “I never met a calorie I didn’t like.” Put differently anything in moderation is okay. Enjoy that piece of pie, fruitcake or a couple of holiday cookies.
Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Each decade past the age of 30, your basal metabolism slows by 2%. If you weigh 150 lbs. at age 40 and make no changes in diet and exercise then by age 50 your weight will increase to three lbs. And another three lbs. by age 60! Weight management is also one of the best things you can do to improve your cycling. Read more.
Best Cycling Gear: Our Top Picks
Good, dependable cycling gear makes riding more enjoyable. We’ve gathered up some of our favorite cycling gear here, as chosen by Road Bike Rider contributors. These are some of our favorite cycling products that are currently available on the market. Some are new products, and some have been around for a while, but they’re all worth a look, in our opinion. Read more.
7mesh Oro SHAKEDRY Rain Jacket Review
By Brandon Bilyeu
The Oro jacket has been around for a couple years, but I was excited to test it out because it is made with GORE-TEX ACTIVE SHAKEDRY fabric. I had heard lots of good things about SHAKEDRY and wanted to see for myself how it performs. Read more.
Anti-Aging 12 Ways You Can Slow the Aging Process
Anti-Aging: 12 Ways You Can Slow the Aging Process gives you the tools you need to slow the inevitable decline in your health and fitness. Coach John Hughes wrote this eBook for all roadies age 50 and older. It will teach you how you, too, can fight the physical effects of chronological aging.
Anti-Aging describes the importance of strength training and includes 28 exercises for lower body, upper body and core strength illustrated with photos. It includes an annual plan to put together all six of the aspects of aging well: cardiovascular exercise, intensity training, strength workouts, weight-bearing exercise, stretching and balance.
Safest Road Bicycle Helmets as Tested and Ranked by Virginia Tech
Bike helmet technology has rapidly improved over the past five years, but standard helmet testing really hasn’t kept up. The regular old CSPC bike helmet safety standard just tells you if a helmet meets the minimum standards to sell into the US market. That’s all helmets! Meanwhile, new safety features like MIPS have hit the market for bike helmets, but are those helmets actually safer than regular helmets? Read more.
How Exercise Helps Prevent Diabetes and Heart Attacks
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Everyone should try to exercise every day because exercise helps to prevent diabetes and heart attacks by lowering high blood sugar and stabilizing plaques. A review of 12 studies shows that exercising within three hours after eating lowers blood sugar levels significantly because contracting muscles remove sugar from the bloodstream at a very high rate and don’t even need insulin to do so. You should never eat just before you go to bed at night, because resting muscles draw almost no sugar from your bloodstream and what little they can draw requires insulin, so the most important time to exercise or just move about is after you eat. Read more.
Question of the Week
Will you go on a special bike ride or take part in some type of Thanksgiving athletic event like a turkey trot 5k this year?
More Cycling Stuff to Read
Outside Online: Extreme exercise isn’t bad for your heart.
VeloNews: Greg Lemond gets a Congressional Gold Medal.
Bicycle Retailer: Hmmmm. Giant shows e-bikes at a motorcycle show.
League of American Bicyclists: Why we’re thankful for our bikes.
End Notes
Ever been spooked by your heart rate monitor? Last week I was on a group ride, feeling great. During a lull after a surge, I was talking to another rider and glanced down at my Garmin and saw my heart rate displaying 230 beats per minute! It didn’t feel like my heart was racing and I wasn’t out of breath, but I had read articles on this very web site about people who were diagnosed with heart problems that they discovered cycling because of a heart rate monitor. I sat up and put my finger against my neck. Once again, my heart rate felt normal there, but the heart rate monitor was still reading over 200. I was close to home, so I soft pedaled home, watching the heart rate monitor and worriedly checking my pulse with my finger the entire way. I walked inside still wearing the heart rate strap and carrying my Garmin, still reading over 200, so I got out my home blood pressure machine and ran it. It came back with completely normal blood pressure and a completely normal pulse. I recently changed batteries on that strap, and I guess there’s something wrong with it now. I threw it out and replaced it. I was on the verge of a panic attack over it, which can be confused with a heart attack! I’m glad I had a different way to double check my heart rate at home, or it probably would have meant an expensive hospital visit.
I too have had high heart rate readings with a chest strap. Usually after a fast long downhill run on my bike. What happens is the contact between the strap and chest dries out. This will give a false reading. Nothing wrong with the equipment, just not enough moisture for the proper sensing!