Newsletter Issue No. 942

December 3, 2020

Anti-Aging: Too Much Stress Shortens Your Life

By Coach John Hughes

As an RBR reader you probably know the major factors that affect how long you will live:

Smoking shortens the life expectancy of 30-year-old men by 6.6 years and women by 5.5 years.
Diabetes shortens the life expectancy of 30-year-old men by 6.5 years and women by 5.3 years.
Heavy stress shortens the life expectancy of 30-year-old men by 2.8 years and women by 2.3 years. I bet you didn’t know this!

The effects on the life expectancy of older people were similar but smaller than in younger age groups. Read more.

5 Bike Tool Gift Ideas for Cyclists

By Jim Langley

Because you can’t have enough bicycle tools, it got me thinking of some lesser-known yet highly useful items budding mechanics might want to ask for – or that you might want to surprise your grease monkey with. Read more.

Riding or Strength Training? Which Should You Do First?

By Menachem Brodie

The question of whether to lift or ride first is one that nearly every rider who is using strength training has asked themselves. While we may not think that the order has an huge impact, it can in fact be a pretty large factor in whether you stay healthy, or open yourself up to an injury — especially for riders over the age of 50. Read more.

Once Again Nut Butters – Quick Review

By Sheri Rosenbaum

I’m a big PB&J fan and often consume it on rides over 40 miles as part of my “on the bike” nutrition. This summer my friend Jenn taught me to make PB&J with sandwich thins and freeze it overnight. On warm summer days the frozen sandwich slowly thaws in your back jersey pocket and is ready for eating by mid-ride. Read more.

Zwift Races vs. Intervals: Which is better for fitness?

QUESTION: My cycling buddies say I should be doing intervals if I want to become a better cyclist. But I find them boring and painful. Can I just race on Zwift instead? – Landon J Read more.

Bontrager Cambion MTB Shoes Review

By Sheri Rosenbaum

Back in September I somehow “lost” a pair of MTB shoes after a ride. I still have no idea how they vaporized. Maybe they’ll mysteriously reappear with the countless single socks and gloves that have gone AWOL. In my search for replacements I selected a pair of Bontrager Cambion MTB shoes. Why? They were light weight, used BOA closures, good stiffness rating, and of course — a pop of color. I was hoping for purple to match my bar tape, but no such luck. Also, with the bike shortage of 2020, immediate availability in my size was key. Read more.

Gaining a Mental Edge: Using Sports Psychology to Improve Your Cycling

Gaining a Mental Edge: Using Sports Psychology to Improve Your Cycling is a handbook, a series of exercises to learn and manage mental techniques. Coach John Hughes starts with lessons on how to relax and focus, i.e. set aside your stressors so you can ride better. He includes lessons on how to change a negative mood and manage anxiety. Many of his clients’ workouts include 10-15 minutes of mental training four or five days a week. Each week they report on their mental workouts as well as their cycling workouts. The off-season when you’re riding less is a good time to learn the mental techniques you can use next year to ride better.

Learn more.

Question of the Week

Have you tried racing on Zwift?

End Note

From the essay Taming the Bicycle by Mark Twain.

“The bicycle had what is called the “wabbles,” and had them very badly. In order to keep my position, a good many things were required of me, and in every instance the thing required was against nature. Against nature, but not against the laws of nature. That is to say, that whatever the needed thing might be, my nature, habit, and breeding moved me to attempt it in one way, while some immutable and unsuspected law of physics required that it be done in just the other way. I perceived by this how radically and grotesquely wrong had been the lifelong education of my body and members.”