By John Marsh, Editor & Publisher
Just a couple of notes and housekeeping as we head toward the holiday season this year.
First off, Thanksgiving in the U.S. is two Thursdays from today, on the 26th. As always, we will not be publishing an issue that week. I’ll be making my annual pilgrimage to my hometown, Kansas City, to visit my Mom and friends, and I wish all my fellow Americans a restful, peaceful holiday. We’ll see you next week, and then we’ll be back the week after Thanksgiving, on December 3.
In Today’s Issue
In today’s issue, we’ve got a couple of “seasonal” articles for you. Coach Fred offers some tips on coping with the early darkness as winter approaches in earnest in the Northern Hemisphere. And Coach John Hughes offers some advice in recognizing and dealing with the different nutritional requirements of winter riding.
Jim Langley’s Tech Talk column provides some tips both for avoiding and dealing with the scourge of having a shift cable break off inside the shifter. If it’s ever happened to you, you know what a pain it can be to remove the remnants so you can install a new cable.
And Dr. Gabe Mirkin takes a critical look at the recent trend toward following a diet that is low in carbohydrates and high in fat (LCHF), and whether such a diet is appropriate or beneficial for road cycling — among other articles and a new product review.
Let Us Hear From You
As can be said about almost every issue we produce, at least one or two articles result from reader feedback or questions about specific nutrition or technical issues (like Jim’s column this week). So please, always, let us hear from you. And just a reminder that the column just to the right of this and every article has all the links you’ll need to shoot us a quick message.
Thoughts and Prayers For an Industry Colleague
I’ll wrap it up today with a very sad note about a cycling industry colleague. Leading up to the launch of the new site, I worked with a number of existing and new Sponsors to provide a terrific array of discounts on their cycling products for our Premium Members.
Among those Sponsors is the AerGun Bike Pump, a company headed up by Bruce Bernstein. I just heard the terrible news yesterday from Bruce’s wife that almost three weeks ago on a ride he was struck from behind by a hit-and-run driver and suffered numerous fractures, a concussion and other injuries. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bruce and his family as he faces a long road to recovery.
When I shared the news with my own wife, her first question to me was: “Do you still ride with that camera on your bike?” She was referring to the Fly6 tail light/HD camera that I reviewed last year and have, indeed been using full-time ever since. In a bit of coincidental timing, earlier this week I had just received a couple of Fly6es to give away as our next Premium Prize. See below.
I know I’m preaching to the choir, but it’s a sermon I’m never going to stop deliverying: Do everything you can to stay safe out on the road!
First I just want to say thanks to John and all of the other writers on this excellent resource of a website. Second I just want to emphasize the need for safety day and night.
I want to mention as an example the utility of daytime lights, especially when riding alone. I use powerful (and expensive) daytime front and back lights set on low-speed blink during even bright sunlight. I was out riding my recumbent on a high-speed road (two lanes each direction) and noticed (in my rear view mirror) that cars were approaching within 5-10 car lengths before they changed lanes. I stopped and found out I had simply failed to turn on my tail light. Bright daytime taillights give drivers up to a mile to make lane change decisions and it is a service to both them and you to have this high visibility available at all times.