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The Ideal Distance

11.11.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 13 Comments

I like riding long enough to feel as though I’ve done some riding.  That means being in the saddle for at least two hours.  I enjoy easy rides with my wife, but 15 miles is about as much as she cares to ride.  When we finish, I often head out and tack on another 10 miles or so.

Twenty-five miles is a good distance, and it’s what I normally do for my Saturday morning ride.  That doesn’t meet my two-hour requirement, however.  I just like it because the route I usually ride provides a nice mix of some moderate hills, good fast downhills, bikes lanes or shoulders, and the Veloway.

Sunday morning is when I go for my long ride of the week.  It’s at least 30 miles, and often quite a bit more.  I recently enjoyed a 58-mile ride, even though I had to sit out a cloudburst for 30 minutes in a convenience store.  A couple of weeks later, I rode 67 miles, and was pretty knackered when I finished.

That got me thinking: Just how long is a good distance?  The 58-miler was relatively flat.  The 67-miler had some challenging hills built in.  In both cases, I was on the road for quite a while — maybe longer than I wanted to be.

Perhaps what I’m looking for is something just a little shorter.  My on-bike time for the 58 miler was about three hours, 45 minutes.  That’s plenty.  I’m thinking my ideal ride would cover about 50 miles.  That’s long enough for a decent workout, and to cover a substantial amount of ground.

I’ve been compiling a list of rides from my house that fall into the 50-miles (plus or minus) category.  It’ll be fun to ride them all in the coming weeks, and see if my guess at an “ideal” distance is borne out by the results.

What about you? Is there a distance that feels “just right” for you?  What is it, and what do you like about it?

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Categories // Rides Tags // distance

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

Odds ‘n Ends

11.07.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

Re-energized

Not me -- but the right idea.

After a week off the bike because of the derailleur situation, I went out for a 26-mile ride Saturday morning.  I wondered if the time off would make it harder for me to climb hills and maintain a strong pace.  I needn’t have worried.  My hill climbing was stronger.  Higher speeds came easier.  The week-long layoff did me good.

That got me wondering — what’s the point of diminishing returns?  How much time does it take before being off the bike translates into a noticeable loss of power and endurance?

Riding without a cell phone

I was making preparations to leave on my Saturday morning ride, but I couldn’t find my cell phone.  It wasn’t anywhere in the house that I could see.  It wasn’t left in the car.  Then I remembered.  At work Friday, I plugged it into a charger.  I must have left Friday afternoon and forgotten to take it with me.

Saturday was the first day in forever that I had ridden without a cell phone.  Funny how important those things have become.  Always, in the back of my mind, I was thinking: “What if I crash?  What if I need help for some reason?”  It was an extra careful ride.

Sunday, I rode with my wife, who had her own phone with her.  But when she finished, I decided to head back out for another 12 miles or so.  It was a little easier for me this time, and I wasn’t constantly thinking about the missing phone.  But you can bet I’ll make sure it’s with me when I leave work from now on.

Funny — it wasn’t that many years ago that we rode anywhere without them.

Christmas wishes

While riding with my wife this morning, she said, “For Christmas, I’d like a pair of those biking capris.”

“Huh?”

“You know, the bike tights that stop just below the knee.”

“Oh, those are called knickers.”

“Yeah — I want some.”

“I thought you wanted new cycling shoes?”

“Oh yeah — I want those too.”

Looks like it’ll be a cycling Christmas around our house.

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Categories // Odds 'n ends Tags // cell phone, clothing, training

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