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What kind of biker are you?

10.28.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

Noob
I am a B rider.

As the cooler weather approaches, I’ve been contemplating the upcoming change in my cycling habits. Here in Texas, we can pretty much ride all year.  But experience tells me that I will be cutting back on the amount of saddle time in the weeks to come.

But some of my friends in the club will stay at it, at about the same level they did during the summer. Gets dark earlier? They’ll ride with lights. Gets cold? They’ll bundle up. I see what some of them do, and shake my head. While I love to be on my bike, I’m just not the kind of biker they are.

Which got me to thinking — what kind of biker am I? And for all you Bike Noob readers out there, what kind of biker are you?

Okay, I’ll go first. I’m a “B” rider. I ride at about a 15 mph average. I can’t keep up with the fast riders in my club, but I like to turn out for the longer Sunday morning rides we have. This is why I started leading the B rides in our club. For example, this coming Sunday, we B’s will probably do a 30-mile out-and-back route over some rolling hills. It’s a favorite of mine, especially since they repaved the road, but the rollers make you feel like you’ve put in some serious saddle time.

The A’s, by contrast, are talking about taking the same route, but going much farther out before turning back. Some of them may do an 80-mile round trip. I could do 80 miles, but not now — not without training for it. And even if I trained, I couldn’t do it as fast as most of them.

Actually, I’m pretty happy with where I fit in the biking continuum. I’ve really improved since I took up the sport two years ago. My weight is down, my fitness is up. I enjoy long rides, even ones that wear me out, but I don’t go whacko with them. I also like my 15-milers, where I can turn on the juice, or practice cadence, or attack uphills.

How about you? What kind of biker do you consider yourself to be? Do you ride with the “A” group in your club? Are you primarily a utility biker/commuter? Do you prefer riding long distances on weekends? Or racing? Do you ride for fitness — biking replacing running?

Light up those comments, or send me an email. I’d love to know what kind of riders are out there, just to get a better feel for your riding styles and preferences. Heck, it should even help me do a better job of tailoring this blog to your interests.

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Categories // Odds 'n ends Tags // B rider, rider types, training

Prepare at least a little bit for your long ride

10.11.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

On Saturday, my wife Pat and I were out in rural Texas, volunteering at the first Mamma Jamma ride for breast cancer research. The ride featured routes of 10, 27, 46, 70 and 100 miles. I was part of the route safety crew for the 46-mile route. I teamed up with another volunteer and sat at two intersections, directing riders to the correct route, and warning of any safety hazards up ahead.

So I was able to get a good look at a large number of riders. About an hour went by from the time the first group passed us until the last rider showed up. And I was once again perplexed that otherwise intelligent people seem to think they can ride a challenging distance like 46 miles without putting in the training miles beforehand.

Our first post was at 17 miles. As might be expected, those passing us for the first half hour or so looked almost fresh. The day was overcast, the temperature was stuck at 54 degrees, and there was almost no wind. But the forecast called for a high of around 70, and many of the riders were underdressed.

The fresh riders made the turn, and accelerated toward a nice downhill. But then, some slower riders started coming by. They labored up the slight rise to our location. Most were relieved to hear that the next rest stop was only six miles away. A few stopped, took a drink from their water bottles, or chewed on an energy bar.

Many of these slower riders were on hybrid or mountain bikes. They were pushing more weight than the road bike riders, which tired them faster. Some were on the chunky side. It was clear most of them didn’t realize what they were getting into when they signed up for the 46 miles.

I thought of an email from a reader that I received on Friday. She had signed up for a metric century, but had just learned through a Google search that she would be riding 62 miles.

“I am now officially nervous as I am not a regular rider,” she wrote.  “When I have ridden I think the most I have gone is like 10 miles.  I am not in cycle shape.  My bike is 18 years old.  I maybe get on the thing once every six months or so.”

Back at the Mamma Jamma, the last rider struggled up to our post. He rode an old non-suspended mountain bike, and several layers of cotton shirts. He was done. A SAG vehicle just happened to pull up at the same time. He asked for a ride back to the start. They told him they could take him to the next rest stop, but because he was less than halfway through the route, they couldn’t take him all the way back.

SAGRider tries to convince a SAG truck to take him back, just 17 miles into a 46-mile ride.

“We have to keep moving forward,” the driver said. “We could call for medical. They could bring you back.”

He wound up riding with them to the next rest stop, and called medical for a ride back from there.

Entered in the 46-miler, but unable to finish half that. What’s missing here? And my email correspondent? It turned out that her ride was Saturday, too — and she hadn’t prepared for it at all. I don’t know whether she finished — or even rode.

Evidently, biking just don’t get no respect. We all rode when we were kids; we know it’s a simple thing to pedal a bike along a road. Forty-six miles might be a more challenging distance than we have done in the past, but heck, just keep turning the pedals and you’ll be done in no time.

Folks, for any kind of physical challenge, you have to put in the time. I wonder how many of those ill-prepared riders won’t be back, because they’ve decided that biking is too tough. The rest of us know that they’ll be missing out on a fun and rewarding activity.

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Categories // training Tags // training

Using a Heart Rate Monitor

08.03.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

A couple of months ago, I was riding with some friends when one asked me, “Do you use a heart rate monitor?”

“No,” I said. “I’m afraid if I saw the numbers, they’d scare me to death.”

My wife got a heart rate monitor a year ago, and used it when she went to workout classes. But lately, she hasn’t been taking it along. So last month, I asked her if I could use it. She fiddled with it a bit, and reset it to what we figured was my maximum heart rate, and I strapped it on and went for a ride.

My initial reaction was pretty much dead on. At the top of a healthy hill, I was at 169 beats per minute, two above my maximum heart rate of 167.  Wow.  I didn’t know whether to be proud or worried.

Since then, I’ve worn it on most rides (sometimes, I get all dressed and ready to go, and then I notice I’ve forgotten the thing) and I’ve been learning something about how I function.  I’ve only gone above 167 once, although I regularly hit the low to mid 160’s. Of more interest to me is recovery time. When I do hit those high numbers, I drop down into the 130’s quickly.

When I bonked in the heat last week, my heart rate didn’t recover at its usual rapid rate. I was waiting for my wife to pick me up, sitting quietly in the shade of a tree, and the monitor still registered  in the 120s. I had expected it to get below 100 beats, since, even though I was worn out from the effort, I wasn’t moving around much.

I’ve noticed several of the other guys on our Sunday B ride use HRMs, too. I guess that’s a good thing — at least we’re concerned about our health, and are taking steps to make sure we stay healthy.

But I’ve never really dug into the ins and outs of the gizmo. The “user manual” — a many-times folded over sheet of paper with tiny print — can’t be located, so I’ve never learned just what else I can do with the thing besides notice how fast my heart is beating. I suppose I’ll have to check around to see what kind of resources are available.

So, Noob readers — who else out there uses a heart rate monitor? What are some of the arcane figures I should be looking at besides top end and recovery time? And since my body is pretty good about letting me know when I’ve pushed it too far, do I really need to be using an HRM at all?

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Categories // training Tags // HRM, training

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