Audax Ride Preparations: Bike Choices

Each year, as this particular activity looms onto the horizon, I do my level best to supply helpful information.  What is rendered below is hardly to be considered the ultimate in wisdom, but it the sum total of what I have learned, by research, observation, and personal experience.

It is my fond hope that riders new to distance/endurance/touring type riding will find this helpful.  I rather think there may just be a tidbit of some worth for the more experienced rider too.

This is about what works best for this particular kind of ride. 

What Does Not work:

I’ve found this to be a necessary warning.  While I don’t try to discourage folks from doing what they think works for them, long (and sometimes bitter) experience has shown that the following do not do well on this ride, or on the preparation “Audax Tune Ups.”

• Mountain bikes.  (More, it does not matter if a mountain bike has had the tires replaced with thinner slicks.  It’s still a mountain bike.  It’s still not efficient.  It’s still a bad idea.)
• Comfort bikes
• Cruiser
• Hybrids
• Flat bar road bikes (sometimes called “Fitness Bikes”)

In short, just about any kind of bike with a flat or straight handlebar.  I’ve seen it tried a lot of times.  It doesn’t work.  Period.  Use the right tool for the job.  Or more bluntly,  “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.”

What Does work:

Almost any kind of drop handlebar road bike will do, IF you are comfortable on it for longer periods of time.  That means it pretty much has to fit you well, and the saddle has to work well for you.  If you are not sure about your fit, have it done.  Get a good sound professional bike fit done.  If you are not sure about your saddle, come out and do the Audax Tune Ups.  After riding 45 miles (or 65 miles) you will know whether you have saddle “issues” or not.  (If so, come see me at Bicycles Unlimited, and we’ll discuss options.)

Why? 

The purpose of this little discussion is to recommend the best choice for this kind of endurance/light touring riding.  Read this if:

You have a bike and don’t plan to replace it, or to get another bike:

You don’t have a bike:

You are considering the purchase of a(nother) bike:

Here’s my recommendation:

You can do this kind of ride on almost any road bike.  It’s not really so long as to require a dedicated touring type bike.  I would recommend bikes with more relaxed geometry, as opposed to all out racing machines. 

We have had folks do this on time trail bikes, and they’ve done okay, but unless you are deep into training for IronMan type events, I’d suggest avoiding this choice.

A “light tourist” is not a bad choice.

It most certainly can be done on a cyclocross bike, but I’d go for slightly narrower (and smoother) tires.

Tourists are a bit heavy for this particular kind of riding, but will work.  They tend to have more relaxed geometry, and their carry-capacity is hard to beat.

Friday Follies ~~ Clip, Stumble, and Fall

The Look Company, of France, introduced the first truly clipless pedal in 1984.  I think I first heard of them sometime in 1985.  Shortly after that, I took the plunge.  (Quite literally!)  I went over to my friends in Richardson, and asked about these new pedals.  In less than a half hour I was the proud owner of a new pair of Italian shoes, and a pair odd looking pedals.  I’d also had the benefit of about five minutes of instruction.

“You have to twist your foot to get out of them,”  my young mechanic friend said.  “Once you’re in, you’re locked in.  You won’t be able to pull your foot out.”

“Are you using these things?”  I asked.

My friend shuddered, and said,  “No way!  I think they’re dangerous, but lots of our customers love them.”

Back in those days, the clipless technology was new.  There weren’t a lot of people around who could tell you about the various pitfalls.  So I had to learn on my own.

I removed the toeclip pedals from my venerable bike, installed the new Looks, then bolted the cleats to my new shoes, and kitted up for a ride.

As I stood, straddling the bike, I had my first difficulty.  I had a hard time getting my left foot engaged in the pedal.  That should have been a warning, but I ignored it.  I pushed off, and then tried to engage my right foot in the other pedal.  I didn’t get it hooked in.  The bike lost speed as I tried.  I had to pump it up with the left foot, the right flailing away at that pedal.  Eventually, more by chance than design, the right foot clicked in.  “Ah-HA!  I’m getting the hang of these now,”  I thought.

I did notice an improvement in my power transfer.  I also noticed an almost immediate burning sensation in leg muscles that I didn’t know I had.  Interesting.

I rode along for a bit, and then found myself approaching an intersection.  It was a large intersection, one controlled by a traffic light.  The light was red my way, and it would have been instant death to attempt running it.

“Twist your foot,”  I said to myself as I slowed the bike.  I promptly fell over on my side.  My foot hadn’t come out of the pedal.

It took me about three changes of the traffic light to get untangled and re-mounted.  During that time, several passersby stopped to ask if I was in need of help.

As soon as I got going, the thought occurred to me,  “I better get off of busy streets and figure these things out.”  I suited action to words.  Inside a low traffic neighborhood, I made my first attempt at a controlled pedal release.  I discovered that releasing my foot took a good bit more authority on that pedal twist.  But I did manage to get unhooked.  I practiced a couple of stops, anticipating the event, and telling myself,  “Heel out!  Heel out!” as I approached them.  Five or six attempts, with good positive releases, and fumbled re-engagements were enough to convince me that I had this figured out.  So…

Out of the side street, and back toward that same busy intersection.  Once again the light was red my way.  No problem!  I unhooked my right foot, only to have the bike start leaning to the left.  I went down in a heap, my right leg waving in the air.

Hmm.  This was going to be a bit more difficult than I thought…

Let’s fast forward a bit.  In between slapstick falls, my skills with clipless pedals did improve a bit.  I got into mountain biking.  I adopted the Shimano SPD pedals for my mountain bike.  And…  Due to some circumstances, I stopped riding off road for a time.

Came a chilly Winter day.  I was due to take a long ride with a new friend of mine.  I had mounted slicks on the mountain bike, as the old road bike was down for maintenance, so…  I took the mountain bike out.

My friend looked a bit askance at the bike I was riding.  He had some particular questions about those clipless pedals, and voiced some skepticism.  I offered my enthusiastic approval of the pedals.

Well into the ride, we came to a turn we weren’t sure of.  I volunteered to ride ahead and check to see if one road was the one we wanted, or the dead end I thought it was.  My friend stayed put at the fork, packing his jacket and eating a snack.  I got about two hundred yards down the street, still well in sight of my riding companion, when I realized that, this wasn’t the correct route.  I had a flash of playful inspiration.

I wheeled my bike (something I had only lately mastered) and turned sharply around, dropping the wheel to the ground after completing the turn.  I rode back to my waiting companion, brought the bike to a nice brisk stop, and…  Promptly fell over.  Classic.  A flailing away all the way to the ground, clipless pedal fall.

It was on that day that I had the epiphany.  You know?  I should really practice with these things!  (I know.  It’s a novel concept, right?)

Thursday Thoughts: The Helmet Thing

In a recent news story, it was reported that actor Gene Hackman was struck by a motor vehicle while riding his bike.  The writers of that news piece also saw fit to mention that Mr. Hackman was “not wearing a helmet.”  That little bit raises several points.

Before we continue, I should qualify things a bit.  I am a firm advocate of bicycle helmets.  On several occasion helmets have made a major difference in my life.  I lead a lot of rides, and I service a lot of bikes.  I’ve seen too many crashes, and have dealt with the aftermath of a lot more of them.  I have seen a lot of folks walking around after a severe blow to the head.  On the other, hand, I know of too many incidents where the bare-headed victim did not have such a good outcome.

But here’s the odd thing.  I have seen a weary lot of news reports of cycling crashes.  In a fair number of these, the report included the line, “the cyclist was not wearing a helmet.”  The clear implication is that the lack of a helmet was the cause of the crash.  Or, more bluntly;  “It’s the bicyclist’s fault!  After all, they weren’t wearing a helmet!”  (Does anyone else get weary-tired of the presumption of guilt in these things?)

Let’s get something really clear.  Umbrellas don’t cause rain.  Lack of umbrellas don’t cause rain either.

In point of fact, I’ve seen a lot of riders, religiously wearing helmets, and performing acts of complete idiocy on the bike.  Fer cryin out loud!  Helmets don’t prevent crashes!  Crashes are caused by carelessness and inattention, on the part of one or more of the operators.  Let’s stop assuming that it’s always the cyclist’s fault.

Stuff I like: Fenders, Racks, & Bags

At the crux of this matter is the question,  “How do you use your bicycle?”

On the one hand, many choose to use the bike as a toy, as a piece of exercise equipment, as a recreational device.  That’s well and good.  But there are other applications.  It’s no secret that I like using the bike as a vehicle.  I love using these wonderful machines to get to where I want to go.

That last statement has some powerful implications.  If the only car at your disposal was an open roadster, with no means of putting the top up, and no fenders, you would probably develop a certain reluctance to go out in any but the nicest weather.  The same can be said for the bike.  Technical weather clothing helps.  It’s amazing how well some of this stuff works.  But face it; it’s going to rain.  And fenders keep a cyclist cleaner and drier.

That part about “cleaner” is important.  That technical weather clothing I mentioned?  Guess what?  It doesn’t work so well if it get dirty.  Fabrics like Goretex™ don’t do their amazing tricks as well when they get dirty.  Keeping them clean helps keep you dry!  And not having the water flung up at you from below helps keep you dry too.

Of course there are drawbacks to fenders. 

• Some feel they look clunky and odd.
• They increase wind drag.
• They add weight.
• Some might argue, the weight and drag are there all the time, and it only rains sometimes. 

In Reply, I would say,

• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Form follows function.
• Increased weight and drag are good training loads.
• Yes it only rains sometimes, but I can only ride sometimes, and it tends to rain more when I want to ride.  Fenders are good!

The rack and bag thing:

Another aspect of transportation cycling is the ability to haul stuff around.  If one is going to use the bike as a transport, sooner or later it becomes necessary to find ways to bring things along.  Backpacks can solve this problem, sometimes.  But backpacks add a lot of weight, and the rider has to bear it.  Racks and bags put the weight on the bike.  One has to exert energy to move this stuff.  It shouldn’t be necessary to exert more energy to support it.

I have a good rack and a very decent set of touring panniers on my commuter.  Want an example of what can be done?  On a recent trip, I carried my work clothes with me, along with my rain gear, and made a grocery stop on the way home.  On that stop I picked up a small bunch of carrots, four large tomatoes, a box of vermicelli pasta, two cans of tomato sauce, a half gallon of milk, a pound of cheese, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, a loaf of bread, a pound of butter, a small rotisserie chicken, a dozen eggs, and a candy bar.  Yes, I noticed the weight, but I didn’t burn any gas while I carried it, my trip was not noticeably longer, and I had fun doing it.

In my mind this beats the stew out of loading the bike on my truck and then driving to some place where I will ride it.

What’s your favorite accessory, and why?

Clipless Pedals

First, a brief history:

Back in the late 1800s the “safety” bicycle was first put on the market.  This is the first of the “modern” bicycles, with a diamond frame, pedals, and a chain drive.  Note it had pedals.

At first, pedals were just a platform on which the feet rested.  The rider pushed down on them to make the bike go.

At some early point in history, some genius figured out that if the ride could pull up as well as push down, more power and speed could be developed.  So, for racing and performance riding, the rider had an assistant tie his (he was almost always a male in those days) feet to the pedals.  This had some fairly obvious drawbacks.  The most obvious was that the assistant had to be around when the rider wanted to dismount.

Further brilliant engineering ensued.  New pedals were introduced with a strap.  The strap had a buckle.  This allowed the rider to tighten his/her own pedals, and to a limited degree, to get out of them without assistance.  Still, this was a somewhat clumsy arrangement.

That led to the introduction of the “Toe Clip.”  Originally, the toe clip was a spring steel cage that held the strap open.  The new arrangement greatly eased the act of getting into and out of the strap.  For a long long time, that was as good as it got.

Along about 1971, the Cinelli folks invented the first modern “clipless” pedal.  The Look company introduced the first commercially viable varient of this idea in 1984.  These pedals engaged a cleat on the sole of a riding shoe.  This was a very positive engagement, and allowed the rider to push down, pull back, pull up, and push forward.  In other words, to make power all the way around the pedal stroke.  Because these devices did their job without a “toe clip” they were called “clipless pedals.”

Just to make it a bit more confusing, riders and bicycle people all, almost universally refer to the act of engaging a clipless pedal as “clipping in” or “clipping out.”

Why should I want to use these things?

Clipless pedals were developed for racing, but we mere mortals can benefit greatly from their use.  Having the foot, firmly attached to the pedal increases efficiency.  More different muscle groups are used to achieve a smoother, more even application of power.  The benefit is immediate, and only gets better with training.  In addition, having the foot solidly connected to the bike increases the rider’s ability to control the bike.  The solid engagement of the cleat and pedal almost completely eliminate the chance of a foot slipping from the pedal during maneuvering.

The one thing that is most surprising to new users, clipless pedals are safer.  Of course, that statement presupposes that the user has taken the time to practice with them, and has built new habits.

The Downside:

Cost.  An entry level set of pedals will set you back anywhere from $60 to $85, and the shoes can be had for about that again.

 Clipless pedals require training.  The motions, both for engaging them, and for disengaging, are not habitual.  One has to learn the techniques, and then one must practice them.  The best plan is to practice and drill with them, repeatedly, for the first several months, and then constantly revisit that practice.  Such work is, at first, time consuming, but it is well worth the effort.  The goal is to be able to release from the pedals, with either foot, at any point in the crankstroke, at any time, without thinking about it.  That sounds daunting, but you can accomplish this.  Please consider…  Once upon a time tying your shoes was a major challenge.  Yes?  I’m willing to bet you haven’t thought about it in years.

Conclusion:  If you race, or wish to race, learning clipless pedals is a must.  If you are a recreational cyclist, and wish to ride longer, better, and more efficiently, this technology is a tremendous benefit.  The cost is not prohibitive.  There are risks in the initial learning curve, but the long-term gain is great.

Preparing for The Audax Ride:

Going long more a state of mind than it is a physical act.  That said, getting the bod and bike in condition are good and worthy actions.

The body:  To begin with, just get into the saddle.  Do it now.  Do it regularly.  Do it often.  Start with five to seven hours per week.  That’s not hard to accomplish.  Do a one hour ride on every weekday, and one two hour jaunt on the weekends.  Keep the effort level low, and enjoy  the thing.  Alternately, three each hour-and-a-half ride, evenly spread through the week would work well.  The key is to be on the bike, and to do it consistently.

If you can, make two of these rides into fairly serious workouts, and the others very low-key.  But time on the bike is more critical than high effort.

Weather and darkness can make some of this a little difficult.  Spin Class can help.  We do a great one at Bicycles Unlimited.  I’d avoid a gym type class.  Most of them are “suffer parties” which don’t target specific areas a cyclist needs.

Note:  It’s not possible to be consistent part of the time.  The goal is to ride regularly, and do it spread throughout the week.  A five to seven hour thrash, once a week, will do more damage than good.  Put another way, it’s not possible to make up for three off days, by riding three times as long on the fourth.

The Bike:  For now, get it clean.  Lubricate the driveline.  Inflate the tires.  Get any minor problems fixed.  Go Ride.  You’ll want to get a good thorough tune up done around the end of the first week of February.

The first of the Audax Tune Up Rides is on February 26.  The trick it to get any real deficiencies identified and corrected by then.

We’ll soon have more on this subject, including the hows and more importantly the whys.  Until then, go out and ride!  Engage this week, and enjoy it!

Friday Follies ~~ Stopping

“Almost every problem a cyclist can have is improved by one thing.  Keep pedaling!”  Usually I live by that advice.

Q:  “It’s starting to rain!  What should we do?”

A:  “Keep going!  You won’t melt.”

Q:  “It’s raining.  Should we stop and put on our rain gear?”

A:  “No.  Keep going!  It’s only ten miles to the end.”

Q:  “My bike is making a funny noise.  Should we stop?”

A:  “Do you feel anything wrong?”

Q:  “No, but it’s a kind of squeaky-creak thing.  Should we look at it?”

A:  “No.  There isn’t a shop out here.  Let’s finish, and then take it to the shop.”

Q:  “I’m tired.  Should we stop for a bit?”

A:  “No.  Finish up. Then take a nap.”

Q:  “It’s really getting hot out here!”

A:  “Keep going!  The breeze will help, and it won’t get any cooler if we stop.”

Of course there are some situations that demand a stop…

Q:  “My tire just went flat.”

A:  “Let’s get it fixed and get going again.”

Q:  “Something just fell off of my bike!”

A:  “Grr.  Okay, let’s go back and get it.”

Q:  “My head is still bleeding, and now I’m seeing double.”

A:  “Yikes!  Let’s find a shady spot for you to sit down.  I’ll call 911.”

There are occasions when an unplanned stop is absolutely necessary. 

A few years back, some good friends and I were riding a 200K brevet out of Gainesville, Florida.  We’d made the mistake of believing the forecast.  The weather folks had called for a day starting out in the mid-40s, and rising to high 60s.  We believed them.  After all, this was Florida.

In the small hours of the morning, a strong cold front arrived.  At ride time the temps were in the 30s and dropping.  The ride started at 5:00 AM, with the temps in the low 30s and falling.  The next two hours were horrible.  By dawn, my beard was caked with ice and we were all in pain.  With an indicated temperature of 22 degrees F, we spotted an open convenience store.  There was no discussion.  We all turned off the road and into the parking lot.  What happened next looked like a slap-stick comedy routine.  That stop was absolutely necessary!

There are other times when a stop is appropriate.  I’ve pulled over to the side, during a hard and rewarding mountain ride.  The view and the momentary silence called to me.  Every once in a while, I am moved to halt and just be.  It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I heed it.

I’ve been out at night, riding through a wooded area, as Spring was coming into full bloom.  The moonlight on the new Dogwood blooms was special and inviting.  I stopped.  I moved into the woods and just stood still.  Breathing.

Sometimes, the best way to keep going is to stop for a moment.