Monday, September 24, 2012

Seasonal Lights Ride ~ Preparations


It’s tonight!

There will be no dirt on this one!  At least no dirt roads.

This is one of my favorite rides to do in this area.  It’s mostly calm, semi-rural, and low on traffic.

What you need:  Good lights.  A good strong tail light.  Reflective ankle bands.  Reflective vest or sash.  Helmet.  A good sound bicycle.  The will to ride a bit more than 40 miles at a moderate pace.  A store of happiness and smiles for your friends

Where to meet:  The Frederick Brown Amphitheater, in Peachtree City, GA.

Ride Start Time:  7:30 P.M.  (promptly!)

Additional Details:  Dress for the weather.  There will be no store stops or such, as there are no convenient stores along this route.  But…  Do dress for the weather!  We are expecting a temp of about 69 degrees at ride time.  The sun will set.  The temp will drop.  It always feels cooler when the sun is down.  Temps will likely drop to the very low 60s before we are done.  Dress accordingly.  I will plan to make a very short en route stop to allow clothing adjustment, likely about half way through.  If you wish, bring a light jacket and pull it on then.

This should be an ideal night for our ride, there is a waxing moon rising.  It will be a clear night, and the crisp temperatures are near ideal.

Hope to see a lot of you out there!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Your First Three Years ~ Part 12:


Going “clipless”

A Guide for Beginner (and Experienced!) Cyclists, to the Art and Practice of Cycling.  Becoming Proficient, Fit, and Happy on your bike.

For you who are going through this for the very first time:  By now you’ve heard about “clipless” pedals.  Sometimes these are referred to as “clip shoes,” or “clip pedals.”  They are the kind of pedals that require a special shoe and cleat combination to lock your foot into a special pedal.

What does this mean?  And why on earth are they called that?
In the beginning there where bicycles.  These machines had pedals that the rider pushed to make the bike go.  (The pedals were also used to make the bike stop.  But that’s another story.)  Somewhere along the line, some unsung genius figured out that the bike could be made to go more efficiently if the foot was attached to the pedal. 

At that time bicycles were all the rage among the upper classes, so this genius simply had one of the servants tie his boots to the pedals.  And lo!  It worked!  Of course, the genius needed an assistant to tie the shoes to the pedals.  More, the assistant had to be present at the stop in order to untie the shoes.  This wasn’t a truly practical system for most riders.

Along came another genius to improve on the idea.  This individual fashioned a metal basket to the front of the pedal.  The purpose of this basket was to hold a strap open so the rider could place his or her own foot in it.  The basket affair was called a “toe clip.”

So serious riders used bikes equipped with toe clip pedals.  That’s about where things stayed for a long time.  There were minor variations, plastic replaced metal, but mostly the system was the dominant one until some time in the late 1970s.

About then some Europeans figured out that it was possible to make a great improvement on the toe clip.  They did this by attaching a special cleat to the bottom of a stiff soled riding shoe.  The cleat was made in such a way that it could lock into a pedal.  With this arrangement, the rider could make power all the way around the crank stroke.  Since this new technology did away with the toe clip, it was naturally called a clipless pedal.

Why bother? 
The truth of the matter is that anyone can benefit from using clipless pedals.  From the moment that a rider first “clips in” to clipless pedals, there will be an improvement in efficiency of effort.  We all want to be able to go farther, faster, and stronger with the same effort.  At least that’s the assumption we make.  The simple fact is, that if a rider’s feet are solidly connected to the pedals, that increase in efficiency will take place.  But…  (Of course there’s a “But”)…  the benefit is immediate, but it’s not necessarily complete.

The Catch
To fully appreciate that improvement requires a good bit of training.  (We’ll cover that more in next week’s post.)  This training comes in two distinct forms.  They are, (1) Learning how to operate the pedals and not fall over, and (2) Developing the necessary psychomotor skill and musculature enhancement to make full use of the benefits of the device.

For now, we’ll only concentrate on the first of those two training aspects.  This is the part where we discuss how to not fall down.

Full Disclosure:  When you start riding with clipless pedals, you ARE going to fall down.  It’s completely unavoidable.

The above is true, but it does not have to be a catastrophe.  Before we discuss how to not fall down, let’s consider how to best take that fall with minimal injury.  Here it is.  When you fall down, hold onto your handlebars with a death-grip, and go ahead and scream.  That’s it.  Here’s the reasoning.  The most common injuries that adult cyclists suffer are 1)  Rotator Cuff injuries (broken collar bones, tears, fractures, dislocations), 2) Hyper extensions of the elbow, 3) crushing injuries to the wrist.  All of these come from extending the arm and hand to “break the fall.”  If you are wearing a helmet, it is not necessary to protect your head at the cost of serious injuries to the shoulder, arm, and wrist.  (If you don’t wear a helmet, maybe the wrist injuries are worth it.  Head trauma being so much worse.  Just wear your helmet!)

If you hold the bar all the way to the ground, you will land on the flat outside of your upper arm, and the flat outside of your thigh.  You will suffer some bruising, and possibly a couple of small “strawberry” abrasions.  Not too bad.

And that scream we mentioned?  Do it!  An open airway, with air being expelled (say by yelling) makes the thorax more resilient and more capable of absorbing impact without damage.

More Insurance ~ How to become more fall-proof.
The secret to being really good with clipless pedals, and to not falling down, is…  PRACTICE!!!!  Practice a lot!  Work with both feet.  Work on clipping out at the top of the crankstroke, and the bottom, and the front, and the back.  Left foot.  Right foot.  Do it again.  Do it more.  During the first year of riding “clipless” you should be working on the practice at least an hour of every week.  The objective here is to install a new set of conditioned reflexes.  Your goal is to become so adept, that you can get out of your pedals with either foot, at any time, without thinking about it.  Yes, it takes some effort, but not the kind that makes you sore, stiff, and tired.  Just plain old pattern practice.

What Type of Pedal should I get?
That question starts a whole volume of discussion.  Listen to your friends.  Read what the “experts” say.  But, before you buy, go to a shop, talk with the folks there.  Explain your intentions and your desires, and then listen to their advice.  And then…  Buy the product from them.  Yes, you can get it cheaper online, but the advice you just got is likely to save you a lot of money, and possibley some injury.  Why not pay it back?

Next Week: “Training in the Off-Season”  or “Spin Class?”


~//~

This series began with the post on Tuesday, 19 June 2012.  It is intended to continue for three years.  Each week, we will discuss exercises, skills, practices, and activities designed to bring the new (or “experienced”) rider a high level of cycling competence.  We’ll address common problems, and (always) stress safe practice.

~//~

A Note on Timing:  This series uses Mid-June as the starting point of the “Cyclists Year.”  We do this because this is the time that most folks decide to start riding.  If you are following this guide, you can “adjust” the timing to fit your personal “first three years.”  Do note that some of the posts will concern weather and seasonal changes.  When that starts to happen, just swap the “months” around to fit your personal timeline.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Back from Hiatus


Alert readers will have noted that I kind of completely missed posting last week.  In short, life was a bit hectic, and I’m back.

What’s Changing, and what’s Upcoming?
It’s inevitable.  Seasons change.  Light leaves us.  It gets colder.  We have to make adjustments.  It’s a seasonal thing.  It’s getting harder to get a ride done in the evening.  (There are exceptions.  See below.)

Last week we did the last of the evening Novice Road Rides for this year.  We do not have sufficient daylight to continue these now. But…  We will be doing a ride, in this format, once a month throughout the Fall and Winter.  Beginning on October 14, we will do the Novice Road Ride (Winter Edition) on the Second Sunday of each month.

Those dates are:
October 14, November 11, December 9, January 13, February 10, and March 10.

The rides will start/Finish at Bicycles Unlimited, in Peachtree City.  Ride time will be 2:00 P.M. (sharp)

More Good News!  The road work on Bernhard Rd is finished!  That means we’ll be reverting to the old and tested 23.5 mile loop. (With just a little bit of luck, we’ll get that route painted before we kick this thing off.)


SPIN CLASS!
Yes!  We will be doing our Spin Class once again this year!  We’re still working on some details, but look for classes to start on the first Tuesday in November.  That’s Tuesday, 6 November.  (Spin Class will be a devoted topic in a later post.  Watch for it!)

About Night Riding:
We hinted at this above.  There are opportunities to get out and ride at night.  Night riding requires special equipment (most notably good lights) and techniques.  If you are thinking about getting into that kind of thing, an excellent place to begin is on our regular Wednesday Evening Path Ride.  That’s right.  It’s getting darker.  The regular path ride will start requiring lights on 26 September.  Why?  Because on that date, local sunset will be at 7:29 P.M., and Civil Twilight will end at 7:54 P.M.  In short, we will not be able to get back without lights.

The paths provide a good testing ground for lighting and night riding techniques.  Consider giving this a try.  (Also look for a post on this topic soon too.)

Other Night Rides:
There are still a dates left in this year’s series of “Seasonal Lights Rides.”  The next one in this series in next Monday!  Below is a list of the conditions, venues, and requirements for these rides.

Conditions:  With the exception of the Christmas Lights editions, these rides will go rain or shine.
Requirements:  Helmets, reflective vest or sash, reflective ankle bands, good strong tail lights, good strong headlights, and of course helmets.  While not strictly “No Drop,” we will attempt to keep the group together.
Pace:  Approximately 15 mph rolling average.  No planned stops.

September 24, 2012  Autumn Equinox
                        Where:  Fredrick Brown Amphitheater
                        When:  7:30 PM (sharp)
                        Distance:   Approx 45 miles
                        Rain or Shine
           
November 5, 2012  Mid-Fall  (Samhain)
                        Where:  Hollonville Opry
                        When:  7:30 PM (sharp)
                        Distance:  40 to 45 miles
                        Rain or Shine

December 17, 2012  Christmas Lights Road Ride
                        Where:  Bicycles Unlimited
                        When:  7:00  PM (Sharp)
                        Distance:  approx 35 miles
                        Rain Cancels

December 19, 2012  Christmas Lights Path Ride
                        Where:  Bicycles Unlimited
                        When:  7:00 PM (sharp)
                        Distance:  Approx 18 miles
                        Rain Cancels

There you have it…  At least for now.  Stay tuned.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Your First Three Years ~ Part 11:


Hills   (The fat guy fallacy)

A Guide for Beginner (and Experienced!) Cyclists, to the Art and Practice of Cycling.  Becoming Proficient, Fit, and Happy on your bike.


Just what is this “fallacy,” referred to in this week’s title?  Simple.  It’s the intuitive belief that one must achieve and maintain momentum in order to conquer hills.  That, somehow, getting over the next hill would be easier and faster if one could just carry enough momentum into it.

Before we go farther, let’s define “momentum.”  It is the product of an object’s mass and its velocity.  Mass is often confused with weight.  They aren’t the same thing, but they are related.  Mass is the measure of an object’s inertia.  Sir Isaac (Newton, not the hurricane) tells us that objects resist change in motion.  Themore massive an object is, the more effort it takes to change its motion.

Since we can’t change the mass of our vehicle (rider + bicycle + accessories + cargo = vehicle mass) significantly during a ride, but we can change our speed or velocity, we tend to do just that, change speed.  We also know that more momentum most certainly will cause us to coast farther, and to be able to coast farther up a given hill.  Unfortunately, there is a bit more to it than that.

This week’s title could cause offense to some, and cause others to relax and say,  “That doesn’t apply to me.”

Both of those responses would be mistakes.  We’re not intending to poke undue fun at anyone here.  But the truth of the matter is that larger (read more massive) riders are a bit more likely to fall prey to this.  More, there’s a good intuitive reason for this mistake.  More massive riders tend to descend more rapidly.  (In some future post we’ll discuss this in greater depth.)  The point is, the big riders know that they reach the bottom of the hill going faster.  And it only takes a little bit of additional energy to retain that speed for some distance.  The problem is, that works pretty well in the flats, but much less so when climbing.

One of the problems is that the same physics that is responsible for the larger rider’s greater acceleration down the hill will be responsible for slowing them down much more quickly when ascending the hill.

So you’re a smaller than average rider?  Congratulations!  You have a bit of an edge.  Of course, if you don’t pay attention to the rest of this post you are going to lose that edge.  We say this because smaller lighter riders have a tendency to fall into the same trap as the diesels.  More, the temptation increases on a group ride.  There you are, light and quick.  Everything is fine.  Along comes a downgrade, and the big guys start to barrel ahead.  Naturally you pick up your pace to stay with them.  Oh goody!  You are now spending cardio capacity to increase speed while going down.  Your adrenaline rises, and you hit the bottom of the hill roaring along.  You don’t want to lose that speed, so you accelerate as the hill comes at you.  After all, you want to keep all that nice momentum don’t you?

The problem with this approach is that it’s just not efficient.  Riders who use aerobic capacity to increase speed going down, will arrive at the next climb with a bit less in the tank.

The Key Concepts:
Descending doesn’t help as much as climbing hurts.
It’s your average speed that gets you over the hill, not your maximum.
Never go anaerobic too soon on a climb.
 “Pulling through the top” is faster and more efficient than blasting through the bottom.

Let’s take those one at a time.
Descending doesn’t help as much as climbing hurts.
It’s the truth.  Remember suffering through “time, distance, rate problems” in Algebra I?  (Don’t worry, we aren’t going to work any of those here!  We just wanted you to remember the concept.)  The thing is, we spend so much more time climbing than we do descending.  A slight edge on a climb will beat a great margin on the descent.  Great descenders only do really well on downhill runs.  Since almost all bike rides are either loops or out-and-backs, and we end up where we start, it makes a lot of sense to pay attention to this principle.  Why would you make yourself slower (and much more fatigued!) overall, just to gain a bit of advantage on the descending sections?

It’s your average speed that gets you over the hill, not your maximum.
Think about that one for a few moments.  If attacking the climb at a greater initial speed causes you to decrease your average speed up the hill, you have decreased your average.  And you made yourself more tired in the process.

Here’s a simple test to see if you are falling into this error.  Are you passing folks on the way down, but being repeatedly passed by them on the way up the next hill?  If so, you are not doing something right.

Never go anaerobic too soon on a climb.
Recovering while climbing is hard, and it hurts.  It slows you down.  (A lot!)  It should go without saying that going anaerobic before the climb starts is way too soon.  It’s better, faster, and more efficient to stay fully aerobic on the first part of the climb, and push hard as you approach the top.

 “Pulling through the top” is faster and more efficient than blasting through the bottom.
There is a natural tendency.  We are all prone to it.  We’re just about at the top of a good stiff climb, the climb “breaks,” gets easier.  We all tend to breath a great big sigh of relief, and relax a bit as this happens.  It’s an easy thing to fall into.  But DON’T!  If we want to be more efficient (and faster), there is a better way.

As we reach that magic point where the climb tapers and things start to get easier, upshift to a harder gear, and keep the effort on, or even increase effort a bit.  For best results we should keep doing this, upshifting and working harder, as we go through the crest of the hill, and even into the beginning of the descent.  Keep working until we feel gravity begin to accelerate the bike.  At that point it’s time to relax, recover, and tuck into a nice, tight, streamlined position to achieve maximum results from the descent.

Think about it.  Let’s suppose we could do a magic, science fiction clone of you and your bike.  Now we start the two of you at the top of a hill, with a series of hills ahead.  Let’s call you “A,” and your clone “B.”

B starts out powering down the hill, and pulls slightly ahead of A.  At the bottom, A continues to slipstream, and concentrate on breathing.  B upshifts and attacks the hill, pulling a bit farther ahead.  B is now about 5 to 6 bike lengths in the lead.

A begins the climb and shifts into a lower gear, spinning the pedals smoothly and quickly.  B is jamming into a hard gear, attempting to maintain speed.  At this point B is beginning to breath pretty hard.

A, still breathing easily, downshifts again, and maintains a steady climbing cadence.  B ceases gaining.

Now B, breathing really hard, must downshift two, three, or even four gears, just to keep the bike moving.  B is really losing speed here, and A is beginning to make up a bit of the gap.

The two riders have now moved onto the steepest part of the hill.  A downshifts once more,  B must downshift yet again (to a gear or two lower than A) and try desperately to recover.  A is now closing on B rapidly.

The “steep” continues, and A catches B, pulls out and passes in a good steady rhythm.  B is gasping for air.

A sees the break in the climb coming, and upshifts, adding power and beginning to feel the effort.  B is now three to five lengths behind.

A reaches the climb break and upshifts again, increasing power as the hill becomes easier, and then does it again, absolutely powering over the top.  By this point B is back almost 100 yards.

As A hits the top of the hill, and double upshifts, B (finally) makes it to the climb break and gasps in relief, slowing.  A continues to increase power, accelerating across the top, and into the beginning of the descent.

B, still working to recover, makes it to the top and lets the bike coast across and begin the descent.  A was moving a good five to seven miles per hour faster at this point, and is now more than halfway down the hill.

Since A and B are about equal in descending, B will make no more ground for the first part of the descent, but..!  B will be partially recovered during the first half of the descent, and will again begin to power the bike toward the bottome.

Can we see how this is going to end?

One Last Hint:  To best learn good hill climbing techniques, go out and ride hills alone.  Do repeats and concentrate on the technique.  Start by going up them slowly.  Really slowly.  Repeat until you can do the whole climb without breaking into hard breathing, anaerobic effort.  Then practice going harder near the top of the climb.  Do this until you can judge just where to increase effort without busting yourself.  (NOTE:  You’ll be working on this skill for as long as you are riding.  Plan now to include “hill drills,” in your regular routine.)

Climbing is just about equally about training and technique.  Learn.  Remember.

Next Week: Going “Clipless”


~//~

This series began with the post on Tuesday, 19 June 2012.  It is intended to continue for three years.  Each week, we will discuss exercises, skills, practices, and activities designed to bring the new (or “experienced”) rider a high level of cycling competence.  We’ll address common problems, and (always) stress safe practice.

~//~

A Note on Timing:  This series uses Mid-June as the starting point of the “Cyclists Year.”  We do this because this is the time that most folks decide to start riding.  If you are following this guide, you can “adjust” the timing to fit your personal “first three years.”  Do note that some of the posts will concern weather and seasonal changes.  When that starts to happen, just swap the “months” around to fit your personal timeline.