February 7, 2019
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Getting Home With a Damaged Wheel
By Jim Langley
The goal of this tip is to make sure you can ride home if your wheel gets damaged out on the road. The reason this tip is important is because many modern road rigs (those made in the last 20 years or so) have two issues that can stop your ride if you’re not prepared. Read more.
8 Tips for Successful Endurance Training in Winter
By Coach John Hughes
With the polar vortex slamming the midwestern and eastern US outdoor endurance riding hasn’t been possible. Or has it? My client Elizabeth Wicks who lives in Massachusetts rode 75 miles on Sunday. Another client Rob (also in Massachusetts) reported, “Our weather continues to be ‘rideable’. Thursday ride was cold at 18 degrees but so far the only snow we’ve seen is flurries.” He rode 50 miles on Monday. Ted in Virginia rode four hours on Monday and Joe in Pennsylvania rode three hours on Monday. Read more.
Learn How To Panic Stop Safely on a Bike
by Fred Matheny
Being able to stop suddenly in a short distance can get you out of big trouble. Think about those times on a ride when you are happily pedaling along and need to “stop on a dime.” It could be that a car suddenly pulls out in front of you off a side street. Or comes around you and cuts you off. Or a rider in front of you approaches what seems like a clear intersection and then yells out: “Car right.” If you’re not able to safely stop almost immediately, things can get very bad very fast. Read more.
Healthy Cycling, Nutrition and Off-Season Conditioning
Also useful for all of us mature roadies is my Cycling Past 50 Bundle of four eArticles:
Healthy Cycling Past 50 – what happens as we age and how to incorporate cycling and other exercise activities into our daily lives to stay healthy and active for many more years.
Off-Season Conditioning Past 50
Healthy Nutrition Past 50 – what to eat and drink to support both a healthy lifestyle and continuing performance.
Performance Cycling Past 50 – how to train to achieve more specific cycling goals given the physiological changes of aging. Learn more.
Road Bike Floor Pumps: A Round Up of Options
By Stan Purdum
If you’ve ever had a terrible floor pump that broke off your presta valve, leaked air every time you used it, pinched your hand when you tried to open or close the lever, let all the air out of your tire when you tried to put it on, or maybe just had a tiny gauge that you couldn’t read, you understand first hand how much better things are when your pump works correctly. Life’s too short for a bad floor pump. Here’s a roundup of some good quality floor pumps with a variety of price ranges and features. Do you like or dislike any of the pumps we picked? Read more.
Wahoo Headwind Smart Fan Review
By Sheri Rosenbaum
I thought this week I’d focus specifically on the Kickr Headwind smart fan. Bottom line, when I work out, I sweat a lot and riding indoors just makes it worse. Prior to testing the Wahoo Kickr Headwind, I had one big fan oscillating while on the trainer. It was loud and annoying. With the Headwind, I now have specifically directed and controllable airflow in a quiet, small footprint (16”Lx12”Wx19”H). As a contact wearer, wind/fans can cause my eyes to dry out. But with the Headwind you can adjust where the wind hits you by the fan’s placement. Closer the airflow is lower on the body, farther away higher on the face. Mine is about 6 feet from the front wheel and I’m totally a happy camper. Read more.
Your Home Bicycle Workshop
By Jim Langley
While you may have no interest in becoming a pro mechanic or even of setting up a pro work area, if you ride a bicycle I bet you already have some kind of home bike workshop. Maybe it’s just where you top off your tires, lube the chain and make minor adjustments. It might be in a hallway in your apartment, or a corner in your garage, the only spot you have to store your two-wheeler. Even if that’s all you have, you probably already realize some of the benefits of having a place to work and of maintaining your own
machine. Read more.
Question of the Week
Have you ever needed to perform a panic stop on your bike?
So on a panic stop, I performed many successfully, invariably why rear wheel comes up a few inches. Can’t seem to shake that habit!
That means that you’re really good at modulating your brakes and you’re getting the absolute maximum power out of the front brake. Congrats!