August 12, 2021
Ask the Coach: Dead Legs on a Century
By Coach John Hughes
Eddie writes, “Last weekend I attempted the Big Bear Century. It’s challenging with 8,700 feet of climbing in the 100 miles. Most of the climbing is in the second 50 miles – two climbs up to 8,500 ft. I live at sea level in the Los Angeles area so the altitude was also a factor. With all the climbing and the altitude I’d planned to take 8 hours or so. I’d trained well with 2,770 miles in my legs this year and I’d ridden a couple of 6-hour flattish centuries. Two weeks before the Big Bear I rode the two big climbs to familiarize myself. For the last two weeks I cut back on my miles so I’d be fresh at the start.” Read more.
Barb’s Wobbly Bianchi
By Jim Langley
We received an SOS the other day from a reader named Barb. It came in the form of a comment to one of our Quick Tips titled Learn to Ride a Straight Line, which appeared over a year ago. You can read that here: Learn to Ride a Straight Line. Read more.
Coeur Sports Women’s In Bloom Jersey and Lisse Elite Bibs Review
By Sheri Rosenbaum
I met Kebby Holden, founder of Coeur Sports, at an industry trade show back in 2016 and had worn the company’s gear for my full distance aquabike race two years earlier. What I loved about the gear is it’s designed for women by women. They understand a woman’s body and know how to make it stylish for endurance athletes but also high performing and super comfortable. If you don’t love it, Coeur offers free shipping and returns with their risk-free purchase guarantee. Read more.
Mindless Training is a Waste of Time
By Martin Sigrist
Takeaway: Sport is not just a test of physical fitness. It is a challenge to mind and body. Training only with the aim to improve the body, training that is “mindless” is a missed opportunity, a waste of our most precious resource, time. Read more.
What is a hybrid bike good for?
QUESTION: What is a hybrid bike good for? And what’s the best hybrid bike for the money?
RBR’S STAN PURDUM REPLIES: Because a hybrid bike is a compromise between a road bike and a mountain bike, it’s good as a general-purpose steed. It provides the flexibility to use it on both smooth and irregular surfaces. Read more.
Don’t Get Burned: Cycling Apparel Options for UV Protection from the Sun
Some cyclists prefer preventing sunburn with apparel rather than sunscreen. On long rides, you can easily sweat away all your sunscreen and end up burned. Others simply like to double up and use both. We’ve rounded up the top UV blocking cycling products we could find to keep you protected from the sun. Did we miss any of your favorite sun blocking products that have performed well for you on the bike? Read more.
How to Get Faster at Time Trialing: the Cycling Race of Truth
By Arnie Baker, M.D.
A time trial is a timed bicycling event. Time trials are almost always individual events. It’s one rider against the clock. Often called the “race of truth,” the time trial is often perceived as the ultimate test of a cyclist’s ability. Even in multi-day events, the individual time-trial stages are usually crucial to a rider’s overall success. Read more.
Cyclists Should Know the Side Effects of their Medications
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Statins can cause muscle pain that leads many people to stop exercising. They also raise blood sugar levels and increase diabetes risk. If this is a problem for you, check with your doctor. Sometimes you are better off stopping the statins and continuing your exercise program. Read more.
Endurance Training and Riding
Coach Hughes has written three articles about Endurance Training and Riding — Beyond the Century, Nutrition for 100K and Beyond, and Mastering the Long Ride — which we are pleased to offer as a bundle.
Want to improve your cycling? Ride more easy miles. 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.
Question of the Week
Do you ever ride or practice time trials?
Other Cool Stuff to Read
Bike Radar: Evolution of the XC bike | 6 ways XC bikes have changed for the better
Singletracks: Using an Apple Air Tag to Track a Stolen Bike
Outside: There’s New Evidence on Heart Health in Endurance Athletes
End Note
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