September 26, 2019
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9 Tips for Sick Cyclists
By Coach John Hughes
My client Joe sent me this e-mail last week, “Sunday was one of those days where I couldn’t do a thing … could barely get out of bed until late morning. This seems to be an early warning notice from my body, as I now am suffering from a full-blown chest cold. Welcome to fall … well, at least I was healthy on vacation…” When I asked this Monday on how he was doing he responded, “Not so great … nothing fatal but the usual bad cold symptoms.” Read more.
How Wide Can You Go?
By Jim Langley
Before we get started with this week’s topic, which is on how to determine how wide a tire your fork (and frame) can accept, I want to point out that we received great comments on last week’s story on shifting 2X drivetrains for beginners (these drivetrains have two chainrings in front). Read more.
Bryton GPS Head Units Comparison and Review
By Rick Schultz
I started ‘consulting’ to Bryton when they were first introducing their Rider 310. I was impressed that this was their first real GPS head-unit and it was already on par with its competitor, the Garmin 500/510. The major difference was that the Bryton was and is much more reliable. As a bike fitter and coach, I hear all of my client’s stories as to what stuff works, what stuff doesn’t and what their frustrations are and much of it revolves around Garmin bicycle products. This feedback helped Bryton come out with a rock-solid GPS head unit for under $100. Read more.
Endurance Training and Riding
Want to improve your cycling? Ride more easy miles. In Endurance Training and Riding, Coach John Hughes emphasizes that low intensity endurance riding brings about specific physiological changes that don’t result from harder training. These include improving your:
- ability to utilize fat for energy;
- capacity to store glycogen in your muscles and liver;
- muscular endurance by increasing the number of mitochondria, the subcellular structures where aerobic energy is produced; and
- neuromuscular efficiency of pedaling.
Top Inexpensive but Safe Bicycle Helmets with MIPS
Roadies know the value of a safe helmet. But you don’t have to spend $200 to $300 to get top safety features in a lid. Here at Road Bike Rider, we think the most important feature of a helmet is keeping your head protected. So we’ve rounded up this group of bicycle helmets that meet or exceed the bar in safety, without breaking the bank. These helmets might not be the lightest or the most aerodynamic, but they are both inexpensive and safe. Read more.
Quick Tip: Checking for Concussion After a Bicycle Crash
PROBLEM: Your riding partner skidded on wet leaves in a curve and fell hard. He cracked his helmet and felt dizzy and disoriented. This scared you because you didn’t know what to do.
SOLUTION: When you or a friend suffers a concussion, it’s vital to determine the seriousness and act quickly. For recommendations, we asked Fred’s brother, Mike Matheny. He’s a cyclist who is Clinical Professor/Head Athletic Trainer in the Department of Exercise Science and Athletic Training at Ithaca College in upstate NY. Read more.
Bontrager XXX Road Shoe Review
By Sheri Rosenbaum
The XXX is one sexy looking pair of road cycling shoes, with performance that is all business. The 100% OCLV carbon sole has a stiffness index of 14 of 14, which I could feel from my first pedal stroke. Excellent power transfer is due to the stiffness combined with the dual Boa closure, heel cup and no-slip cat tongue heel lining that kept my foot secure, preventing any slippage. Read more.
Eating During, After Intense Workouts Makes Better Athletes
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Eating during and after long, intense workouts helps competitive bicycle racers recover faster from their workouts and therefore helps to make them stronger and faster. It is the intense workout that makes you stronger and faster, so the more rapidly you recover from an intense workout, the sooner you can take your next intense workout, and the more improvement you will gain. Read more.
Question of the Week
Have you run into maximum tire width limitations with your road bike?
More Cycling Stuff to Read
Washington Post: Only 22 percent of cyclists in severe accidents were wearing helmets.
Outside Online: Expensive e-road bikes won’t save cycling.
Mashable: Watch to the end and listen how loud the Ceramic Speed new chainless drivetrain clanks when you pedal. (Hat tip to Ed Pavelka for spotting this video.)
DC Rainmaker: Wahoo acquires Speedplay.
MAF: The secret of grip strength.
End Notes
Broke a big rule of cycling last weekend. Never install new equipment or make changes right before a big race or ride! I rode a new and untested set of 650b wheels on a 70 mile gravel grinder, using brand new and untested tires that were just installed the day before, running tubeless. So many things could have gone wrong and I could have ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere on an unsupported ride, but the stars aligned and everything was flawless. (Only in Texas do you have to pull over to the side of the road during a gravel grinder to let a wagon train made up of 5 or 10 horse drawn wagons go by. One weird traffic jam.)
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