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Glasses in the Rain

12.15.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 11 Comments

I was really looking forward to the end-of-semester break. My riding has fallen off in recent weeks, and the coming down time would give me the opportunity to rack up some miles on the bike.

My wife and I rode a whopping nine miles yesterday, amid spatters of rain.

Today, I am confined to the house, as waves of showers move north across Central Texas. After our rainless spring and summer, we need the moisture. But it sure interferes with my ride plans.

I’ve indicated before that if I’m out on a ride and get caught in a shower, it’s no big deal — I’ll soldier on home and not make much of it. But if it’s raining and I’m still in the house, I won’t be heading out to do a ride.

And my reason for not wanting to ride in the rain might not be what you expect. It’s not because I’m concerned about falling on wet pavement. I’ve done that before, so I’m extra cautious when I ride out there. It’s because of my glasses.

It doesn’t matter if they’re clear eyeglasses or dark sunglasses, they’re going to get spotted with raindrops. And that makes visibility an issue. I don’t like to be in a situation where I run the risk of hitting something that I couldn’t clearly see, because my glasses are covered with water.

These glasses have enough spotting after a couple of minutes in the rain to limit one's ability to see.

Maybe that’s a stupid reason not to ride. I know plenty of cyclists do go out and brave the rain. So here’s a question for them: How do you keep your glasses clear of water?

I use a method that kind of works: I use my index finger like a windshield wiper, and rub it across the lens a time or two. Sure, it’ll smear the lens a bit, but it also clears off the droplets, and I can see again. The glasses will need attention once the ride is over, but that’s no dig deal — they’d probably get cleaned anyway.

One old trick I’ve heard of is to smear some spit over your lenses. It sounds disgusting, but there apparently is some merit to it. However, I’ve also heard that the spit trick is really to be used when the lenses fog over. Up to now, I’ve only used my finger in those cases, too.

So how about it, veteran riders? What do you do to keep your glasses clear on a rainy day ride?

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Categories // Accessories, Tips Tags // glasses, rain

Relax

05.17.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

When I bought my road bike three years ago, I was getting the cursory fitting common to bike stores. The salesperson doing the fitting stepped back, and with a scowl, said, “Relax! Your shoulders are hunched. Your arms are locked. That’s not the position you want to be in.”

She was right, of course. “Relax” is probably the best advice you’ll ever get about cycling. Not only does it apply to your position on the bike, but just about any other aspect of riding.

Let’s take the basic riding position — the one I was having trouble with in the shop. If a rider adopts that position on a long ride, it’s likely to end badly. Your neck will be sore. So will your arms. You’ll be tiring out your muscles when you don’t have to. Your upper body — neck, shoulders, and arms — don’t move the bike forward, so you want to take them out of the equation. No side-to-side motion. No up and down motion.

This road bike rider has been fitted to ride in a relaxed position.

The relax advice applies to other riding moves, too. You’re climbing a hill? Relax. Be still from the waist up. Cycling coach Andy Applegate says you don’t want even an ounce of unnecessary tension. You want whoever is watching you to be unaware of the effort you’re putting into the climb.

Descending? Relax, too. It’s easy to tense up when the bike points downhill. Sometimes those runs can be pretty scary. Tenseness can affect your ability to control the bike. Drop your shoulders, loosen the death grip on the handlebars, bend your elbows. Tilt your eyes upward to look forward instead of craning your neck.

Here comes a corner. Relax. Coach Carl Cantrell says tensing up causes the bike to pull to the outside. You can lose control, and might have to brake to get control back. And we all know how jumpy a bike feels when you brake in the middle of a turn. Relaxing while cornering should become instinctive, says Cantrell. “It is the single most important thing most people can do to improve their cornering.”

Are you falling? Relax. “As you hit the ground,” said one commenter on a biking forum, “try to stay as loose as possible. If you’re tense or stiff, it’s easier to get hurt.”

Starting that first century? Or a big race? You’re probably tense with anticipation. Relax. Smile to relax your facial muscles. Breathe. Calm yourself by thinking positively. Then maintain that relaxed attitude once the ride begins.

For me, a relaxed position isn’t easy to come by. I catch myself from time to time with hunched up shoulders. But I’m getting better. I remind myself every so often to relax. I shift my riding position. I shake out my shoulders. I shift my hands on the bars.

We recently featured several guest posts on the most important thing the posters learned about biking. I’ll add my two cents to the mix. The Most Important Thing: Relax.

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Categories // Technique, Tips Tags // bike fitting, Technique

The Most Important Thing: Clive Chapman

04.19.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

Clive Chapman

The latest post in our series of The Most Important Thing I’ve Learned About Cycling comes from across the pond. Clive Chapman, a 47-year-old engineer, lives in Birmingham, England. He’s married to the “long-suffering Liz,” and they have two children. Clive is an army veteran and rugby coach, who once played rugby at a very high level. But he let himself get out of shape. Now, he cycles to regain his fitness, and blogs about his efforts at www.massivemtber.co.uk. Here’s his story.

As my Army and rugby background indicates I was as fit as a butcher’s dog back in the day.  Besides rugby, I mountain biked regularly and have been a regular cyclist since I was around 6 years old!

June, 2009

For reasons I cannot fathom I stopped all sport and cycling when I hit my late 30s. The phrase, “It kind of just happened” seems as good a reason as any.

Then in June 2009 I found to my horror (unbelievable but true,  it was a total surprise) that I was 312 lbs (22 stones 4 lbs here in England) and had a number of health issues related to morbid obesity.

Earlier I had discovered by chance http://frank.kinlan.co.uk and his blog about a bloke roughly my age and condition whose life was transformed by cycling. It struck a chord and inspired me to do the same.

April, 2011

To cut a very long story short, here I am in April 2011 weighing 214 lbs (15 stones 4 lbs) and no longer have the health issues, having lost 98 lbs so far and am continuing to lose.

I’ve achieved this by commuting every day to work by bike, a 24-mile round trip, MTBing as often as I can at the weekend, (I road cycle too) and watching the old grub intake. I’ve even sold my car as it was not being used.

I’ve pedalled through two of the worst winters on record here in England and now cannot imagine doing anything different.

So onto lessons learnt about cycling. For me there is only one:

  1. DON’T EVER STOP!

From fit bloke and regular cyclist to fat bloke and dead man walking in a few years all because of my cessation of hostilities with the trail is something I’ll always regret. The hard work and heartache it has taken to get where I am now could have been avoided.

But I’m nearly back to where I want to be and the “Don’t ever stop!” phrase is now placed at the head of my blog as a permanent reminder to me of what can happen if I take my eye off the ball again.

Finally on the subject of blogging, I have made a load of new friends via the blogosphere, all top people who encourage, cajole and support this poor weak-willed sap when the going gets tough. Do not underestimate the power of the Internet, because I wouldn’t be where I am now without it. So thank you to my cyber pedalling mates!

Oh, OK — that’s two lessons!

If you would like to join Clive with a guest post on this blog, write one on the topic: What’s the Most Important Thing You’ve Learned About Cycling? Details available here. These posts will run periodically on Bike Noob.

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Categories // guest post, Tips Tags // most important

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