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Archives for June 2009

Sometimes you chase rabbits…

06.05.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

Got out to ride in the morning today, while the weather was still reasonable. It’s been getting really hot around here lately, and riding in the afternoon is not pleasant. But today’s run, along the Mopac time trial route, was great. I have to pass a school to get to the start of the route, but yesterday was the last day of school, so I didn’t have to thread the needle between SUVs parked against the curb, and impatient drivers trying to get by me. It was nice.

Out on Mopac, I hit the lap button on my cyclocomputer, just to compare what I did in the time trial two weeks ago with what I would do when not pushing it. Up ahead in the distance, I saw two bikers, and wondered if I’d be able to catch up to them.

After climbing the only decent hill on the route, I could see that I wouldn’t. They had put some ground between us. I settled back into a comfortable pace.

I made the turn at the ranch road, and hit the return route. The two riders were dots in the distance now, but another solitary cyclist (what’s the literary reference there?*) came into view.

My favorite part of the return route is a long downhill. I got aero, but into a brisk wind I wasn’t setting any speed records. However, the solitary cyclist was making even less headway than I was. I made him my rabbit, and set off on the chase.

At the bottom of the hill, we lose a lot of speed. I shifted into an easier gear and kept the legs pumping. I could see his jersey now — orange — and tried to get close enough to read what it said.

Turning north, we hit a series of lesser hills. He wasn’t trying to push up them. I was. A Camelback covered the logo on his jersey back, but that didn’t matter anymore. “On your left!” I called. As I pulled even with him, I looked over an said a pleasant, “Good morning.” He stared straight ahead and didn’t reply. Hmmph! I accelerated away from him, up the next small hill.

At the top of the route, the neon orange line that signifies the end of the time trial still stood out on the curb. I clicked the lap button again, and turned right to head for the Veloway. When I looked back, my rabbit was far behind.

Every once in awhile, you just have to see what you can do against other bikers. This guy wasn’t in a race, but I could see from his expression when I passed him that he wasn’t too pleased about it, either. I think I also had about 20 years on him, agewise. I was satisfied that the chase, the catch, and the pass had been good for my ride today.

I’ll have to hunt rabbits more often.

*Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist,” from “The Return of Sherlock Holmes.” See Wikipedia entry.

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Categories // Rides Tags // speed, time trial

A “Top 50” blog?

06.04.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

Excuse me if I puff out my chest a bit, but I just got some fantastic news. Andreas, who writes the “London Cyclist” blog, put together a list of the Top 50 biking blogs in the world — and Bike Noob is number 50!

The rankings are based on Google Pagerank, Twitter Rank, Alexa Rank, number of comments and Technorati Authority. Maybe I’ll have to set up a Bike Noob Twitter account.

I regularly read a number of the blogs on the list, but there are a lot more to sample, and I’m looking forward to it.

Thanks for the nod, Andreas!

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Categories // Blogging Tags // Blogging

Cramps!

06.02.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

I’ve had one severe bout with cramps since starting biking, and it was no fun. Since then, I’ve always made sure I’ve had enough to eat and drink before starting a ride, and even though I’m still bad at drinking as often as I should when I’m in saddle, I do make an effort to drain one water bottle each hour.

But Sunday, I was on a morning ride with my friend David. On our return leg, he was sluggish. We made an extra stop at a convenience store so he could buy a bottle of electrolyte drink, and down most of it while we rested in the shade. We still had about 10 miles to get home, and at five, he told me to go on ahead, and not let his slow pace keep me back. I told him it was no problem, and I’d stick with him. But with two miles to go, the road widened and smoothed out. I speeded up, figuring he’d catch me at our usual Starbucks end-of-ride yakfest.

I got to Starbucks, ordered a large iced tea, and found a seat in a cool, shady spot to wait for David. I waited, and waited. I wondered if he’d just decided to go straight to his house and skip our drink. The “A” riders in our club, who’d been on a different route, started to pull in. I waited some more.

Then, David pulled up. He looked miserable. He said he’d had thigh cramps so bad just a mile away, they “brought him to his knees.” He sat down and stared straight ahead for awhile, then went inside to order a drink.

I’ve seen the cramps get David on previous rides, but nothing like this. Usually, we’ll stop and rest while he pops a few electrolyte tablets. The curious thing is, the cramps tend to hit him at the 35-mile mark. If we’re only going 20 or 30 miles, he’ll be fine. But stretch that to 35, and he’s toast.

“I’m having a tough one, Ray,” he said, as he felt another twinge in his thigh. But he had to get home, so he pulled himself up out of his chair, and got on the bike. Since he lives only a mile away, I figured he’d be fine.

Later on, I found that was not the case. He emailed me that he’d cramped up again on a long grade leading up to his street. He walked the bike for awhile, then got on and coasted the rest of the way home. The ride, he said, left him “shattered — absolutely the worst I ever had.”

David is not a newbie. He’s been riding for more than 15 years, and has several centuries under his belt. He’s been my riding mentor since I got into this sport. For breakfast, he had a peanut butter and banana sandwich, among other things.

David keeps some kind of electrolyte tablets in his seatbag — “etabs,” he calls them — and I’ve seen that companies like Hammer Nutrition carry electrolyte capsules. Other high sodium and potassium items like pickle juice and bananas are supposed to be effective at combating cramps. Have you had any experiences with cramping? If so, any recommendations for dealing with ones as serious as David’s?

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Categories // food, Injury Tags // cramp

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