March 16, 2023
Anti-Aging: 7 Mental Skills to Make You Faster
By Coach John Hughes
“Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.” — Yogi Berra, 18 time Major League Baseball All-Star. The same thing applies to cycling, especially to going faster.
The days grow longer (and hopefully drier and warmer). Let’s ride! Let’s rebuild our cycling fitness. Read more.
Front Derailleur/Double Chainring Alternatives
Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
After last week’s column on Dropped Chains with Chain Keepers a reader named “Phil” and Harvey Miller recommended other ways to deal with the problem of dropped chains, front derailleurs and chain keepers. Which is to do away with the double chainring and front derailleur by going to an alternative system. Read more.
Hollow Alpaca Ski Socks – Quick Review
By Sheri Rosenbaum
Whenever someone asks me about staying warm on winter rides, one accessory I always mention is alpaca socks. I’ve been wearing alpaca for many years after discovering this amazing wool on a trip to Peru. I had purchased an alpaca hat before starting my four-day trek on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. It was lightweight, extremely warm, and did not absorb odors. Perfect for multiple days of hiking and wear without bathing. Read more.
New Word, Old Worries and Both About Sugar
By Kevin Kolodziejski
I daresay you’ll never converse with one.
Even if you truly have a screw loose and take a two-week, ice-cycle vacation across the Arctic and subarctic regions. While then you just might meet an Inuit, one of the 65,000 or so people who inhabit those regions — and whom the politically correct no longer call Eskimos — there’s still absolutely no chance of a conversation. How can I be so sure? Read more.
Demystifying eSports: An interview with Kristen Kulchinsky
By Sheri Rosenbaum
One of the fastest-growing sports in the world is eSports. Participation is in the millions, and market size value is in the billions. The rapid growth of eSports was primarily due to the pandemic, and there are no signs of it slowing. Read more.
What Basic Skills are Needed to Ride a Bike on the Road?
QUESTION: I’ve heard people talk about how easy it is to ride a bike, but what are the basic skills you need to ride on the road? —Dave S.
RBR’S STAN PURDUM REPLIES: After stage 5 of the Paris-Nice bicycle race recently, a roaming camera operator captured a scene of professional racer Romain Bardet riding toward his team bus and being joined by his 3-year-old son Angus, pedaling a tiny two-wheeler without training wheels and riding remarkably well for a beginner. But the video illustrates one of the basic skills needed to ride on the road: the ability to pedal in a straight line. Read more.
KOM Cycling Saddle Bag with Garmin Varia mount – Quick Review
By Sheri Rosenbaum
While roaming the isles of CABDA Midwest last month, I came across one of KOM Cycling’s new products. Their new saddle bag has a built-in mount for the Garmin Varia RVR315 and RTL515 (Note mount not compatible with Varia RCT715 radar with camera). Since I always use a Varia radar on road and gravel rides, I was excited to test this new option. Read more.
Quick Tip: Keep Your Repair Kit Up-to-Date
Reader Russ Wood, writes: This comes from personal experience. I’m usually pretty good at keeping my saddle bag/commute trunk tire repair kit up-to-date, but I had gone several thousand miles without a puncture. Read more.
Last-Chance Repairs May Save You When Nothing Else Does
By Jim Langley
If you watch the Tour de France as intently as I do, you’ll notice 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. Read more.
Off-Season Bundle
In Off-Season Bundle, three articles, Coach Hughes explains in detail what you can do in the off-season to improve your summer riding.
1. Gaining a Mental Edge: Using Sports Psychology to Improve Your Cycling
2. Productive Off-Season Training for Health and Recreational Riders
3. Year Round Cycling: How to Extend Your Cycling Season
Question of the Week
Do you own a bike with a Gates belt instead of a chain?
Cool Stuff to Read
Road.cc: Endura designs “world’s most graphic cycle helmets” featuring CAT scans of cyclists’ brain injuries to encourage helmet wearing
Canadian Cycling: World’s longest cycling tunnel is about to open in Norway
Electrek: Believe it or not, the Amish are loving electric bikes
Outside: Most People Get Slower with Age. But Is That Inevitable?
Most Clicked Last Week
Getting Dropped Chains Back On When Your Bike Has a Chain Keeper
End Notes
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