Dragonslayer

This weekend was a milestone for my AIDS/LifeCycle training. As I've been preaching to my trainees, Jon Walker, Matthew Bokach, and I rode two challenging, back-to-back rides. On Saturday, we rode on the 65 mile 2013 Day on the Ride — a practice day for the ALC. Then on Sunday, we rode in the Chico Velo Wildflower Century, specifically on a new route: the Wildcat 100, combining the toughest hills from both the regular Wildflower and the Wildcat 125.

A. Wherein we Seek Out the Dragons.

Saturday's Day on the Ride included 65 miles, 3360 feet of climbing, and burning about 4003 calories. Sunday's Wildcat 100 included 109.4 miles, 7531 feet of climbing, and burning about 6902 calories. For a total of 173.4 miles, 10,891 feet of climbing, and 10,905 calories burned! We all rode every mile of both rides, and deserve to be proud of our achievement.

The weekend was fraught with challenges. The goal itself was hard enough: Stay with my friend John Hollwedel in San Francisco Friday night. Complete Saturday's ride in San Francisco. Repack everything in the Sports Basement parking lot. Drive from San Franciso to the Chico area (about a 3 hour drive). Complete Sunday's ride in Chico. Drive back to Sacramento
by a reasonable hour. By and large that is how it went. But, as every cyclist knows, the dragons can come out to have their way with you.

B. Wherein the Dragons Finally Show Themselves.

This weekend the dragons came out in two ways. The first was, because of our hurried packing in the parking lot, one of us lost his wallet — discovered only after we had driven over the Golden Gate Bridge back north on the road to Chico. That required a drive back over the bridge for a search, which turned up nothing, sadly.

I dreamt last night that Davey and I drove over a cliff.
While in free fall, I noticed we were both sleeping.
I forced myself awake and shook him awake.
He promptly began screaming. He was in the driver's seat,
but I knew that I had to take control of the car before I really
woke up. Somehow, I managed to pull the car out of free fall
and we started to fly. When Davey stopped screaming,
I knew I could wake up. And I did.

Despite the loss, we persevered and drove to pick up Matthew (who had driven separately) in Davis. Showering made us all feel better for the remaining drive and the fretting over the lost wallet was lost in the joy of what we were doing.

Then to Chico. Our hotel in Oroville was definitely sketchy. Peeling wallpaper over a large hole in the wall, an impromptu barbecue at 10:30 p.m. in the parking lot attended by what appeared to be drunken flunkies. But none of that bothered us. We got into bed early and slept until 5.

The real test of our mettle came on the Wildcat 100. The ride started out as a typical one. Registration, a hurried breakfast, and out on the road by 6:30. But, as a portent of things to come, the organizers had run out of the "blue" route sheets describing the ride we were about to go on. "100 miles," we thought, "we won't need a route sheet!" At that point, I really didn't know how much climbing there would be or how hot it can get during a Chico April.

Perhaps I should have been better prepared, but on most organized rides, the organizers provide most of what you need: food, water, electrolyte drink, and directions. The food may not always be good, but it is usually plentiful.

But, apparently, the Wildcat 100 was a new route for this group. Thus, they had no idea how long it would take for the participants to make it to rest stops.

The first 48 miles were epic. Cool and shady, the climb to 3300 feet was stunning and challenging. The rest stop at the top was shared with riders doing the Wildcat 125 route (which, though longer, appears to have been an easier route). By that point we were relaxed and confident and relatively well fed — oddly, the first rest stop only had cookies and fruit as snacks, while the second had the same plus some bars. Neither stop had electrolyte drink.

Though that was not enough food for me, I ate what I could and even stashed a couple bars in my pocket. We went on, feeling good and ready for lunch. The time was only about 11:30, so we weren't worried about finishing.

C. Wherein I Confront my Dragon.

I can still remember the moment when I started to worry.

At about mile 66 after a sustained 10 mile descent, our route rejoined the regular century. There was confusing route markings, so I stopped to wait for Jon and Matthew. I waited nearly 15 minutes, believing they were right behind me and lunch was right in front of me (I understood that there would be a lunch stop at mile 78 — strangely far into the ride, but not as strange as reality).

I waited and waited and many many riders passed me. It got hot and my hunger made me realize it was time to continue without them. I rode on, and on, and on in the hot sun with my lukewarm water and nothing to eat. The road was beautiful, green fields turning California gold on both side, and no one anywhere near me.

This is where I met my dragon.

The road is long. "Am I on the right road? I followed the blue markers and this is where they led. I know I'm in the right place, I just wish that Jon and Matthew had caught up with me. Had I missed something? Was one of the injured or plagued by mechanical problems?" The questions kept coming, but with no way to answer them (and no cell signal), I had no choice but to continue on.

I finally got to the rest stop at mile 78, only to learn that all the food was gone and the roadies were packing up. Hot. Dry. Confused and irritated. I ate the bars I had brought and drank half a bottle of juice left over from the food that had been there — fortunately it was very cold — and refilled my water bottles. I waited there for another 15 minutes for Jon and Matthew, but they never appeared. So, still very hungry, I got back on the road.

But a little intuition told me to wait at the entrance to the rest stop for Jon and Matthew. I did and only about 5 minutes later they appeared. I was very relieved and — with only 22 miles left to go, ready for the challenge. The time was about 2:30 p.m., so I figured we could complete those miles in only a little over an hour. Wrong!

The climb up Table Mountain took at least an hour, and the descent (despite the sign which said "its all down hill from here" and some killer down hills) was gentle rollers and some tiring flat stretches which took over an hour.

It took two and a half hours to complete the ride from where I rejoined Jon and Matthew in part because the distance was not 22 miles, but was 31 miles — a distance which typically takes me under 2 hours, but with the very steep ascent and the heat dragged on.

D. Wherein I Slay my Dragon.

That is where I slew the dragon.

I made it to the top of Table Mountain without stopping and running on empty. I was very pleased with that effort and it seemed my frustration and mental suffering internalized and turned into a Zen-like peace. I felt comfortable with the heat and my now painful butt. I felt like I was invincible.

The dragon had me in its jaws, but I didn't care. I just smiled at it, holding it at arms length. "I'm here. I'm nowhere near any permanent physical ailment. I've trained for this and I can do this." So, though I didn't have much more than that — and still hadn't eaten enough food — I knew I could finish. It was that feeling which carried me though.

We continued on along the amazingly beautiful top of Table Mountain — reminiscent of the Shire — chatting and with renewed confidence. We descended down past the now-closed mile 90 ersatz lunch stop (really? mile 90?). We continued on and on and on. In the sun, the flats which led back to the start point were far more difficult than they should have been.

Finally, we hit mile 100. Mile 100 occurred just above Highway 70 near a town called Durham. Its a great spot, because it is surrounded by fields and you can see in all directions for at least 5 miles. And one thing I could see is that there was no buidlings for at least 5 miles in the direction we were traveling. No buildings means no end point. No end point means that the ride was longer than 100 miles. And at 100 miles, your brain starts to count each tenth.

100.1. 100.2 ... 101.3.... 102... The count went on and with each passing 10th, I had to force myself not to freak out. I fantasized about it, though. I fantasized about telling off the ride organizers for planning a route with no useful rest stops. I fantasized about a Big Mac (which I never got). I fantasized about laying in the road weeping. I fantasized about a truck hitting me and running me into the gutter, never to be found again.

What helped? Only one thing: riding. I kept pedaling. I sipped my water slowly so as not to use it all up. I at the last morsel from my pocket (a pack of Honey Stingers — thanks Matthew). And I kept riding. A few riders passed me, and as I inquired about how much further we had to go, they could only give me helpless looks.

Then, finally, at mile 109.4 I arrived at the end point. The time was 5:04 p.m. and I was going to eat if I had to force one of the organizers to drive me to a restaurant. Jon and Matthew arrived a few minutes later and observed that dinner must not have ended because Bear wasn't screaming. They were right, of course, I probably would have been banned for life from the event if there had been no more food.

Fortunately, there was and it was good. I was the sort of hungry you get when you're beyond hungry. So I could only eat a small amount compared to the number of calories I had just burned. Pulled pork, tofu, noodles, and salad. It was so good, I can barely describe it. I sat alone and shoveled the food in until the plate was nearly clean.

When Jon and Matthew sat down, we bonded over the experience, compared out dragons, and laughed.

It was one of the best rides of my life. Thanks dragons.

Love,
Your Bear

Do I turn right or left? How to read a route sheet.

Bob McDiarmid being a TRL (in a dress).

Before every ride, you kind of have to know where you're going. If you don't, its easy to get lost. Sometimes, getting lost can be a fun adventure; sometimes, getting lost can be a grueling ordeal. If you've got the time, water, and nutrition, you're probably good. If you don't, frustration and dehydration will take their toll. So, unless the route is familiar, its a good idea to know where you're going.

On AIDS/LifeCycle training rides (and on group training rides generally), there are resources to help you know where you're going. The two primary resources are route sheets and training ride leaders (TRL). On rides, new riders tend to rely heavily on TRLs to guide them. That's what TRLs are for. But for various reasons, you might become separated from the TRLs. So its then you need to know how to figure out where you are and where you're going.

Here is a list of steps to help decipher a route sheet. Not all of them apply to every ride, but its a good idea to go through the mental check list before every ride. Below is a route sheet for the ride I led on Saturday. You'll notice several things:

1. A mileage column. Useful for knowing if you're on track.
2. A turn direction column. Key information!
3. The name of the road (or bike path) to turn on. Also key.
4. Some notes about the turns. These can help you keep safe, hydrated, and fed.
5. Contact information. In case of emergency call 911; otherwise, call a ride leader.

Each bit of information is crucial to a successful ride and crucial to staying with the group. But, you say, you've never been to the "Nimbus Fish Hatchery" or Auburn, CA, so none of this means anything to you! Fear not, there are strategies to help you understand.

Typical route sheet.

A. REVIEW THE ROUTE AHEAD OF TIME

First, the night before the ride, try to get a map and a copy of the route sheet and review them together. This will help you know your orientation so you'll know how to begin the ride. It will also help you understand the twist and turns and how they work together. It can alert you to where the hills are, and it can help you to know how much food to bring and when you'll need to eat it. Generally, reviewing the map before the ride will give you a sense of confidence.

B. LISTEN WHEN THE LEADER DESCRIBES THE RIDE

Before each ride, the ride leader will describe the ride to you in detail. As the TRL is going through each turn, it may sound a lot like Greek, but chances are you will absorb some key information which your brain will pluck out at an opportune moment of indecision. For instance, the ride leader might say something like:

• "The first turn is not for 20 miles." — So you know not to stress out when you've not turned for what seems like forever.
• "Make sure you fill your water bottles at mile 18; there's no water stops for 25 miles after that."
• "If you go through a tunnel, you've gone too far." — Important to know before you get to the tunnel.
• "There is heavy traffic on Sierra College; be careful with the left hand turn onto English Colony."
• "There's a big climb is right after lunch. So make sure you stop and eat."

At the time, the TRL's instructions may mean nothing. But your brain works harder than you do — you'll be surprised by how much you retain just by letting it sink in.

C. PAY ATTENTION TO THE MILEAGE

The route sheet usually has an elapsed mileage counter before every turn or major intersection. This is there to let you know if you're on track and to help you get back on track, if you get lost. Every so often, make sure your mileage matches up with the mileage on the sheet. For instance, on the sample route sheet, the ride begins on a bike trail. Its almost impossible to know where the turn off onto Folsom Blvd. is unless you check the mileage!

To do this, you'll need a cycling computer. Plus you'll need to know how to use it. Finally, you'll have to remember to reset it before each ride. These things start out at $60, but can cost in the hundreds of dollars. You will generally not need a GPS device (though if you cycle enough, you'll find one invaluable), but you do need one that will let you track your miles per ride.

Additionally, there are many apps for cyclists which you may find useful: Strava, Ride with GPS, and MapMyRide, to name three. Though these are helpful, you'll likely find that they are no replacement for a cycling computer.

For various reasons, your exact mileage may not match the mileage on the route sheet. When you're at a point where you know where you are, note the difference and consider it when deciding later if you're lost!

D. CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK THE TURNS

Before you make a turn, especially one which contains a hill, make sure you're going the right way: Check the route sheet. Wait for a TRL, if there's one close behind you. And ask other riders in your group, if you're unsure. Sometimes a wrong turn can mean slogging back up a hill, but it almost always means adding miles!

Also note that TRLs are human. Sometimes the route sheet can be vague or can say R when it means L (not that my route sheets ever have that problem (sorry Michael)). So use your brain — if a turn seems wrong, check a map on your phone or wait for assistance.

E. CALL IF YOU NEED HELP

If a portion of the ride seems particularly long, then you might have made a wrong turn. Don't freak out. Pull over to the side of the road and try to check the route sheet and your maps. If you can't figure out where you are, call or text a TRL (whose names and numbers are usually printed on the route sheet). He or she is probably riding, so leave a message or a text. But don't just idly wait for them to get back to you. Find a convenience store or a helpful local to get you directions. If you get back on track, leave a second message for the TRL.

F. RELY ON YOUR RIDE LEADERS

ALC training rides are "swept." This means that a TRL will stay in the back of the pack and will make sure that everyone stays on course and (to the best of their ability) finishes. Not all rides are swept, so if you're on a "no sweep" ride, usually, the ride leader will wait at major turns or intersections to make sure everyone gets through.

G. RELY ON YOUR PEERS

Its way more fun to ride with someone than alone. Find a person in the group who seems to be riding at your level and be friendly. You'll find it fun to ride with them, and they'll probably enjoy the support. You may not stick with the same person on the entire, ride and that's a good thing! The more you ride, the more people you know, the more you'll find yourself comparing experiences and enjoying yourself!

Plus there's the added bonus of bitching about the horrible and confusing route sheet!

H. READ THE NOTES

The notes will help you know where hills are, which turns require extra care, and most importantly, where and when to get food and water. If you're in the middle of nowhere, missing a rest stop can be the difference between a fun ride and a failed ride.

I'm sure there is a lot I'm missing, but this is long enough! Please feel free to ask questions.

Love,

Your Bear

If You're Feeling Sad and Lonely...Eat

Image from Gay Travellers Network

We're at the peak of pre-ride training. Those who have been training all year, are now doing 2 consecutive days on weekends and 100+ miles per week. Those who have been telling secrets to Siri all winter are realizing that the AIDS/LifeCycle 12 is only 11 weeks away, and that its time to get on the bike.

Both groups have one thing in common: you're going to get cranky; you're going to get irritable; you're going to have irrational thoughts of leaving [the sport you love, your spouse, your job, your hometown]; and you're going to have unexplained aches and pains and feel like a marshmallow. Absent legitimate medical explanations for these, when you're on a bike, the most likely reason is that you are dehydrated and hungry.

When the Training Ride Leader tells you during the safety speech to "eat before you feel hungry, drink before you feel thirsty," that is what he's talking about!

Hunger and dehydration can cause all sorts of symptoms. A wise man (me) once said:

Eat and drink more than you usually do before, during, and after your ride. Having an insufficient store of calories and salt can cause cramping, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, depression, anxiety, and the like... [Read my blog post "Eat!" for citations and much more information.]

So follow the ALC guidelines on nutrition and hydration before, during and after your rides. Listen to your body, true, but listen to those voices in your head too! When they start to get irritable: Drink! Eat!

Love,
Your Bear

Ride your Fear

Cycling is a great forum to face your fears. Nearly every aspect of cycling presents some barrier which must be overcome to succeed. For instance:

1. For some, urban cycling is terrifying because of the stop-and-go riding, foot traffic, and chaos of cars.
2. For others, cycling in the country can inspire fear because there are so few services and no one to aid you in case of emergency.
3. The first time a new rider goes for distance, she can become intimidated by the sheer uncertainty about new stresses on the body or the bicycle.
4. When that rider advances to clip-less pedals (the ones you clip into are called "clip-less") there is the ever-present fear of not being able to clip out in time.
5. Riding in a group can always inspire fears of inadequacy.
6. But the number one fear which lingers even in experienced riders is getting up those long, steep hills — and then getting back down them.

Now fear is, of course, a good thing. It will keep you riding safely in traffic. It will keep you from leaving your house without your cell phone on long, lonely rides. It will help you to remember your limits, and inspire you to practice cycling skills before you have to use them.

That being said, its equally important to keep your fears in check for they will hold you back. And as with other aspects of cycling, you keep your fears in check by regular, routine practice.

One of the the thrilling things about cycling with friends is watching the fears fall away as they advance. Soon, things that petrified become things that excite, and cycling becomes about the adventure, the exercise, and personal goals.

Later in the week I'll write about overcoming fear of hills. In the meanwhile, read my essay on cornering (which I need to update).

Love,
your Bear

Mojo is a combination of Mechanics and Goals

Its 4:45 a.m. Its only about 60º in the bedroom, so couldn't be above 35º outside. The day promises to be grey and windy, and I know I'm going to have to fight for every mile of the day's cycling adventure. Still, I get up, eat, and get into my car for the 90 minute drive to San Francisco (or Tahoe, or Santa Rosa) and smile in spite of the grumbling. Adam wants to know: How do you motivate yourself to do it? The answer is twofold: first, I make it a mechanical process so that I don't have to think; second, I keep my goals in mind.

A. Automatons Meet their Goals

Image credit unavailable.

Making fitness a mechanical process is the process of making it a priority in your life. To do it, you have to first set aside the time you need, making it sacrosanct so that nothing will dissuade you. That means knowing what you need to do ahead of time and literally calendaring it out. Once the plan is in place, you have to make it easy to accomplish by removing physical barriers. A typical ride works pretty much like this for me:

1. "Hey, Matthew, want to go for a 100-mile ride at Lake Berryessa on Saturday?"
2. Matthew, of course, says "Yes. Pick me up in Davis at 7:00 a.m."
3. Then, sometime that week, I let my clients know that they'll have to leave messages on Saturday — there's only spotty cell reception on that route!
4. Before I go out on Friday, I layout all my bike clothing, fill my water bottles, make sure my bike is clean and good to go, and I have plenty of snacks ready.
5. Friday night, I make sure I'm home by 10:00 p.m., having eaten a carb-rich meal and drunken very little alcohol. Then I prepare the coffee pot and a bowl with oatmeal, nuts, brown sugar etc. to be made as soon as I wake up.
6. Get up at 5:30 a.m. so I can leave my house by 6:15 or so. Make my oatmeal and coffee, eat them quickly and post on Facebook complaints about getting up so early.
7. By the time I've used the toilet, packed my car and started off, I am usually smiling happily.

So, by doing this, I've committed my time to someone else, made sure that I am not going to be interrupted during that time, made sure I wasn't hung over, and made the process of getting up and out as easy as possible.

Yes, its hard to get out of bed, but that's when I have to think about my goals.

B. Knowing Why is Half the Battle

When I'm convinced I can't do it, then I remember why I'm doing it. You definitely have to psych yourself out on this front, because if you let doubt creep in, your goals start evaporating quickly.

My primary goal is simply overall fitness. My plan is to live to be a healthy, happy centenarian. The only way that is going to happen is to keep my body moving, muscles toned and useable, good cholesterol high and bad cholesterol low. Exercise is key to doing that. More than once, I just had to remember how much pasta I'd eaten the night before (in preparation for the ride) to get my butt out of bed. Then you start thinking how you can burn between 4000 and 7000 calories on a 100 mile ride, and how many morning buns that equals. Food is a great motivator.

My secondary goal is, of course, sex. I want to look good and feel good. I've learned that only a lot of exercise will help me keep the fat off. Diet alone never works for me — its got to be accompanied by a lot of aerobic exercise. For me, that's usually about 14 to 30 hours per week. And again, many mornings I get out of bed thinking about one of the Bears of the Day (such as the gentleman pictured). I know I'll never look like that, but as a goal, its still a great motivator to imagine I can.

Then there's the adventure. In no small measure, cycling is about adventure — remembering the fun of seeing a new landscape, mooing at passing cows or llamas, seeing the sun rise over a calm lake, making it to the top of an impossibly steep hill, or a thrilling descent into a cool shaded valley, these things make each ride different and unimaginably fun.

Finally, of course, there's the AIDS/LifeCycle. Each year as I train, I think about how great its going to ride with 2,500 of my closest friends, camping each night, eating in the chilly dining tent, getting to know new people and seeing the amazing accomplishments of my friends. And all this for the great cause of bringing life and dignity to people living with HIV and AIDS. When they finally find that cure, I'll be proud to know I did my tiny little part to bring it about.

So these two are like a positive feedback loop: I set a goal, then I do things to make it easy to accomplish that goal, by accomplishing that goal, I want to set another goal... With each accomplished goal, its possible to set a more ambitious goal. There seems to be so little in my life over which I have control. It feels so good to be able to do this one thing under the illusion that I am controlling it.

Love,

Your, Bear

50 Miles? You Must be Mad!

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. — Ernst Straus (orig. French), cited by Einstein: A Centenary Volume at 32

I'm 46, yet I still feel like a kid. Maybe its because I'm gay, no kids, and live happily with my partner. Maybe its because when I set my goals, I set them properly. Among my goals are: put my health first, learn to be an athlete, make sure my husband is happy, and not live for money. Sometimes, I think that these are weak goals and that I could do more. But then I get on my bike.

I ride my bike every weekend. I rarely ride less than 60 miles in a weekend, or less than 100 miles in a week. I usually ride at least 200 miles per week. I never set this as a goal, it just happened.

When I tell people I'm going for a bike ride, they often brighten and smile and ask me how long I'm going. When I respond "30," "40," "50" miles or more, their faces darken and they ask: "Why?" To which I never seem to have an answer that I think sounds satisfying. But really, I know why: cycling helps me achieve all of my goals.

Danny and I on an ALC Training Ride 1/26/13

When I bicycle so much, I feel more fit and happier. Being more fit, I look younger and have more energy. Having more energy makes training easier and more comfortable, so I'm more likely to get back on my bike next time. By focusing on riding, I can clear my mind of worries about all the little things that causes anxiety, which reduces fear about money issues. All this helps my relationship, though I do think that Davey feels like a widow sometimes...especially as the AIDS/LifeCycle approaches and I'm riding back-to-back 60 mile days on the weekends.

Plus, each ride is an adventure. There's always something amazing to see — things you cannot see from your car. Every time I go out there, I learn something new about Northern California, human nature, and the world in general. And learning is the most important thing we can do.

What better goals could I possibly have on this mote of dust we call home? There are more grandiose goals which I consider vital — helping others, learning about the cosmos, dispelling ignorance — but one must start those personally. Hopefully, I'm doing my part with these goals, too, however amorphous they may seem in my day-to-day life. And that is one reason I ride in the AIDS/LifeCycle: to help others and dispel ignorance.

So, please donate to my ride!

Your,
Bear

Cornering, the Centerpiece of Cycling

Image from Wikimedia

Riding a bike requires almost equal parts skill and trust. And successful cornering is all about trust. One cannot ride in a straight line forever, though I suppose it is feasible, so inevitably turning is going to come into play. There are at least two kinds of technical turns which cause trepidation and fear among cyclists: turning on a fast descent, and curves from a steep ascent into a steeper grade. They require different technical skills, but the same level of trust.

A. Trust

To succeed, you have about three things to trust: your skills, the road, and your bike. Trust in your skills comes from experience and practice. The more and longer you are on your bike, the more comfortable you will feel on it. Read my prior post on training for an overview. Shifting and braking skills are particularly important in cornering.

Trust in the road comes from knowing the road: where the turns are, the amount and ferocity of traffic, and the likelihood of debris or potholes. You will trust a road better if you've been on it, or if you're on an organized ride where the host has, ostensibly, driven the route and place warning signs for cyclists and drivers.

But, for most, the lack of trust comes from a fear of mechanical failure. So you need to know your bike. You need to make sure the chain is lubed and clean. You need to make sure your tires are properly inflated. You need to make sure you've replaced the consumables on your bike within the manufacturer's wear specifications: chain, tires, chainring and cassette, brake pads, cables.

Again, confidence in your bike comes from experience riding it, but more it comes from knowing how it works (Exploratorium's excellent page on bicycle physics, but a Google for others), and knowing how to repair it. Both of these topics are huge; I'm going to write a non-egghead article on why a bicycle stays upright (teaser answer: we don't know).

But you can start to gain more trust in your bike by working on it:

• Clean your bike after every ride.
• Lube your own chain (see video).
• Practice changing flats.
• Replace your stock tires with kevlar tires (this will quite possibly eliminate flats).
• Get a bike fit from an expert.

As you ride, you will gain confidence. It is inevitable.

B. Universal Cornering Skills

As the Exploratorium points out:

Making a turn on a bicycle is easy compared with explaining what you do to make a bicycle turn. Your position, the bicycle's position, and the position of the front wheel all make a difference. In our experiments with bicycles, the Exploratorium staff has discovered that you can initiate a turn to one side by steering to the other side. Motorcycle riders call this "counter-steering," a small jerk on the handlebars in one direction to initiate a turn in the opposite direction. (Emphasis added.)

But these are some tips I've learned over the years:

• Keep your head up.
• Look into the corner, not at the ground.
• Moderate your speed before you enter the turn, not while you're in it.
• Beware of gravel on the road, but don't freak out about it — Don't slam on your brakes!
• Brake evenly with both hands, not just one.
• Lean into the turn, and press on the handle bar with the inside hand (counter steering, this may never need to be a conscious activity, but its important to think of it this way).
• Keep your inside foot up and your outside foot down (to keep from bashing your pedal into the ground).
• Avoid riding your brakes to keep them from overheating (thus heating the rim and leading to a popped tube, see the section on Fast Cornering).

All this takes practice — or not. You learn this stuff by feeling it and doing it more than by reading it. But you can visualize yourself on the bike performing all these techniques, and improve in that way. Try it!

C. Fast Cornering

Oh, geez, this is hard! I'm an new rider, and my descent skills are just beginning to bloom. However, one lesson I've learned is that I have to let go — mostly of fear — to get down the hill. The more I ride, the faster I can make it down the hill. And believe it or not, faster is better.

If you ride your brakes to descend slowly, you will wear out the components on your bike faster, make it more likely that you have a catastrophic failure of some key system (most likely the tires), and increase the chances of slipping on gravel or in a pothole. Instead, practice using your brakes sparingly on descents — to moderate your speed when you cannot do so by other means (gently brake, release, gently brake to keep from overheating), and to lower your speed as you enter a turn (keep your head up!!).

The Charles River Wheelmen have an excellent article on descents:

.For some, a descent full of twists and turns is nothing short of bliss, while for others it’s pure terror. Wherever you fit in this spectrum, you may find helpful some instruction on how to handle unforeseen problems.

Steep descents can be tricky. Steering will be exaggerated, small turns become more difficult, and your weight is transferred forward. This is a very different experience from riding the flats, and you must know how to counteract these forces. In addition, the road surface conditions play a greater role. At slow speeds, potholes, gravel, spilled oil, and fallen tree limbs are a challenge, but at high speeds such conditions can become a greater threat.

On the topic of cornering in descents, the article continues:

When cornering, lean your bike while keeping your body more upright. Weighting your outer pedal [another way to look at counter steering] and/or pointing your inside knee into the turn can help you maintain proper cornering position. An abrupt steering correction can break the front tire loose, as can the front brake if applied with too much force. Ride within your limits, and adjust your speed based on your line of sight.

And as to braking:

Speed control on descents is essential, which is best accomplished by feathering, or light taps, of the brakes. Stopping distances increase greatly with speed (especially when the rims are wet!). ... The steeper the descent, the less hard you can brake without pitching over the handlebars, so choose a speed that will allow you to stop comfortably if there is an obstacle or hazard just out of sight.

Another problem in descending steeply is that the wheel rims and brake pads may get hot if you apply them too frequently or for too long a time, potentially causing tires and tubes to fail. Use both brakes and short intervals of braking with time in between for the rims to cool.

The article then recommends braking in less steep area rather than on the steepest portions of the hill. Great advise to keep you from doing an endo and will help keep your brakes cooler.

D. Slow Cornering

Equally daunting for some is a slow assent into a steep turn. I'll have to ruminate on this and draft a complete article, but the principles will require, again, practice! The primary tips I have are:

• Make sure you're in a gear that can accommodate the increased steepness (possibly your lowest gear, or "granny gear").
• Keep your cadence up (this is the other half of being in the correct gear for the hill) so that you don't burn out your muscles half way through the ascent.
• Keep your head up and look into the turn.
• Most importantly: Don't stop pedaling.

Well, that's it for now. Don't hesitate to ask questions or make comments!

Your, Bear.

Sleep like an Athlete

Thanks Danell Leyva for being the best Olympian

On Saturday, I overheard some party-goers discussing sleep. They were touting the utility of sleep deprivation, joking as if it were funny. The gist of their comments was that less sleep means more time to work. Although there are two problems with this premise (the first being that one should spend all non-sleep time working), the second is the primary problem: scientific evidence establishes that lack of sleep produces a host of ill consequences. Insufficient sleep may:

• Decrease memory and cognition (see also, and).
• Makes you irritable and irrational.
• Increase the chances of obesity (which in turn affects the ability to sleep which in turn leads to further reductions in cognition).
• Negatively affect the effectiveness of vaccination.
• Decrease overall happiness.
• Increase anxiety and depression.
• Diminish sex drive.
• Increase chance of disease.
• Decrease academic performance (this story was on NPR as I was editing this article; "...when teens don't get the sleep they need on a given night, the next day all kinds of things can go poorly...").

The best quote from any article I read was:

"Very extraordinary boy. . . . Goes on errands fast asleep, and snores as he waits at table . . . a wonderfully fat boy." Charles Dickens penned the first description of the Pickwickian syndrome, a syndrome that provides one of many intriguing links between nutrition and slep. Though patients suffering from it may be improved by dieting their basic disorder is a neuro-physiological one that gives rise to overeating, to daytime sleepiness, and to characteristic nocturnal sleep made up of an endless sequence of apnoea, abortive grunts, and explosive snorts. —Nutrition and Sleep (1972) British Medical Journal.

But for the purposes of this blog, the most important ill effect is that lack of sleep diminishes athletic performance. Getting enough sleep produces optimal performance. In the WebMD article on the topic, the author states:

"Not only do athletes need sleep to improve on their athletic skills, but the restoration that occurs within muscles during deep sleep is important," says Sara Mednick, PhD, a sleep researcher at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif. "If you don't get enough sleep it can be detrimental to your performance."

 The WebMD article lists ways the researchers used to improve the athletes' sleep.

Not only can lack of sleep negatively affect your athletic performance, but extra sleep may actually improve your athletic performance. For instance in one study:

Athletic performance was assessed after each regularly scheduled swim practice. After obtaining extra sleep, athletes swam a 15-meter meter sprint 0.51 seconds faster, reacted 0.15 seconds quicker off the blocks, improved turn time by 0.10 seconds and increased kick strokes by 5.0 kicks.

Scooby has an excellent article on burning extra fat by getting enough sleep:

Turns out that when you are sleep deprived your leptin decrease[s] and your ghrelin levels increase which causes your metabolism to slow down. It also makes you hungrier so that you eat more. Sleep deprivation is a double-bad for people trying to lose weight – it makes you burn off fewer calories AND it makes you eat more, so you get FAT!  (See his references.)

Ghrelin is a hormone which regulates hunger. The more hunger, the more you want to eat. Sleep deprived people have whacked ghrelin levels and an increased difficulty with weight loss. Leptin is a hormone which regulates energy intake — and an decrease in leptin causes your metabolism to slow down.

Sleep deprivation causes the body to burn muscle:

Sleep deprivation makes you burn muscle rather than fat! If you are dieting while sleep deprived, you will burn twice as much muscle and only half as much fat.

And do we really have to describe the importance of muscle to cyclists? Really? If so, read here.

Scooby touts a book called the seven habits of some-kind of effective people. I personally hate self-help books, so I won't advocate it here. But Scooby does have some pointers on how to get better sleep. Try them out. Various things which have worked for me are:

• Giving myself some breathing room before bed time by spacing out with a good book.
• Imagining myself floating over the house, and then slowly rising up to view the earth, then the solar system, then the galaxy.
• Trying to clear my mind of all thought.
• Taking a hot shower before bed.
• Washing my feet in cold water before bed.
• Telling an imaginary computer to lower the temperature, suffuse the room with sleep aids, or anesthetize me.
• Avoiding stress right before bed.
• Not drinking too much alcohol right before bed.
• Being well hydrated.
• Getting enough exercise during the day.
• Taking ibuprofen when needed for exercise-related aches and pains.

I have many other little things which help.

If stress is the thing which keeps you awake, consider what the stressors are and how you can eliminate them. Life is too short!

Carpe diem quam minimum credulo postero. —Horace.