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I Need To Ride

01.11.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

Guest poster Jeff Hemmel has been away from biking for a bit, and that’s had him frustrated.

At some point, if you ride long enough or just become hopelessly addicted to cycling, getting out for a ride changes from a “want” to a “need.” I know, because I need to ride right now. Badly.

This has been a pretty good year for me cycling-wise. I’ve averaged about 500 miles per month, and even nudged that total up to about 700 during the fall. My fitness is probably close to an all-time high in terms of endurance, and I’m feeling strong. Or at least, I was feeling strong. After months and months of high mileage, December proved to be one cruel month. Yes, I know I’m a wimp, but we set the record for coldest December in recorded history here in my area. That was already making the month a challenge, but then I got a stomach flu that was raging through my family over the Christmas holidays, just as I was trying to make up for lost time. One minute I was out riding marveling at my hearty immune system, the next I was headed for the…well, I’ll spare you those details. Before I knew it, I was looking at the month’s end feeling weak, dehydrated, and with the fewest miles logged in over a year.

With a new year comes new hope. I got out for my first ride in a week with a friend, and knocked off 45 miles without really feeling the effects of my illness. In fact, I felt really good. Unfortunately the very next day I went in for some rather extensive dental surgery, the unexpected result of an injury I had suffered a year earlier. (Good news – I still have all my teeth!) That stomach that was just beginning to recover has now been assaulted by antibiotics and painkillers, and thanks to a mouthful of stitches that will stay for two weeks, my diet has been limited to mostly liquids and mush. To add insult to injury, the doctor told me I’d need to take about a week off any serious aerobic activity, and even then ease back into it. I’m feeling sore, weak, and depressed…and unable to do the one thing I know will make me feel better.

At the conclusion of his book Tour de Lance, author Bill Strickland quotes Lance Armstrong as saying “I think people are better, smarter, more present, and more patient when they’ve done some type of exercise—that goes for an eight-year-old and a sixty-eight-year-old—and I need more, perhaps than most people, to get the results I want.” Strickland goes on to note there’s some scientific evidence to back up Armstrong’s theory, specifically when it comes to cycling. Basically, cycling mixes sustained aerobic exercise with complex brain functions — balance, timing, and spatial awareness. For that reason, it may literally be able to “soothe” the brain. Studies at universities including Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, and Georgetown back up this theory. I know I feel much happier after I’ve returned from a good ride. Sometimes, if I feel I’ve ridden particularly well or hung with certain people on a group ride, I’m almost giddy.

Right now, however, I’m going crazy. Somewhere along the line, between accomplishing that first 30-mile ride and riding my first century, between trying to fit in rides around life to fitting life around rides, riding a bicycle has gone from something I want to do to something I need in my life. That’s why today, with my doctor’s blessing, I’m getting out on the road, sore mouth and stitches and bad conditioning and all.

Because, as a lot of you will understand perfectly well, I really have no other choice…

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Categories // Cold weather, guest post, Injury Tags // guest post, Hemmel

Cool Weather — What To Wear?

11.09.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 16 Comments

Our Florida-based guest poster Jeff Hemmel is going to tell us how to dress for chilly weather.

The mercury finally dipped in Florida this past week, leaving me to once again ponder the question of what to wear when it gets cold. Sure, that term is relative — the cold I’m talking about is weather in the low 50s during the early morning hours. But often coupled with high winds coming off the water, it can feel downright chilly. Definitely not shorts and short-sleeve jersey weather.

But after years of riding through varying Florida winters, I’m still not quite sure what the appropriate outfit is. This past Sunday, with temps around 56 and winds gusting as high as 30 mph, I rode in a wicking base layer shirt, long-sleeve jersey, lightweight jacket and tights, and half-finger gloves…and was cold almost the entire way. Those high winds felt brutal, and got only worse as my entry-level name-brand jacket, not exactly the most breathable garment, just seemed to trap in the sweat and chill me to the core.

My legs never really seem to be the problem. It’s my core. In really cold conditions a thermal base layer, long-sleeve jersey and that very same jacket seem to do the trick. But in these middle temperatures I’m lost. That’s why I’ve spent a lot of time the last few days looking through the mail-order catalogs and perusing the clothing company websites.

Part of me thinks a good thermal jersey is what I need, eliminating the nylon jacket altogether, as it’s usually dry and sunny. Another part of me wonders if I just need a better, more breathable jacket, one that wouldn’t build up the moisture within, but instead vent it out. And then there are those that would say, in such temperatures, I should be able to get by with just arm warmers and a wind vest.

Or maybe it’s my hands and feet. Maybe I need full-finger gloves and wool socks to warm my extremities. After all, didn’t our moms all say that if we were cold to put on a hat? (Speaking of the head, I often wear a headband in the cold to protect my ears, which seem particularly vulnerable on cool, windy days.)

So I’m tossing it out for discussion. What have other riders found to be the best combination of clothing for such weather conditions? Obviously I don’t care to be cold, but I also don’t want to overdress and get chilled from the sweat.

Have you found a good combination of clothing that works for you?

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Categories // Equipment, guest post Tags // clothing, guest post, Hemmel

You know you are way into cycling when:

10.26.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 15 Comments

 

 

  • You see someone riding a bike and immediately look at their pedaling cadence.
  • You spend more on a piece of bike clothing than on regular clothing.
  • You know how to pronounce peloton, allez, Merckx and Hinault.
  • You are familiar with Scott, Jamis, Pinarello and Orbea.
  • You spell none: N-u-u-n.
  • The term “shot block” is not a reference to basketball but something you eat.
  • You and your friends debate the best way to drink from a water bottle.
  • You hate the wind.
  • To you “bonk” is a dirty word.
  • Your bike is worth more than your car.
  • You ride your bike more miles than you drive your car.
  • Riding 90 miles with 5,100 ft of climbing sounds appealing.
  • Your bike has its own room in your house.
  • You sneak in your latest biking purchase so your spouse does not know.
  • Your wardrobe of cycling gear expands from one drawer to two drawers to a closet.
  • Your cycling tan causes you to get odd looks at the beach.
  • You are at your LBS so often that they let you stay in after closing.
  • You feel lost when your bike is at the shop for maintenance.
  • The round-trip distance you drive to a group ride is farther than the ride itself.
  • You get up at the crack of dawn to watch live the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.

Anyone want to add some more?

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Categories // guest post, Odds 'n ends Tags // Blount, guest post, list

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