The Sober Truth About Bicycle Safety

Before my planned post on the joys of cycling to end HIV and AIDS stigma, I have to pause for a safety PSA. The Sober Truth is that cycling is dangerous. 677 cyclists were killed in 2011 and 48,000 were injured. These stats remind me of recent events:

Nude cycling is hot, but wear a helmet!
(Image Credit.)

• I fell twice and my helmet saved me from serious injury.
• A fellow ALC rider's brother crashed, requiring facial surgery.
• A Tour of Palm Springs rider was killed by a truck when she ran a stop sign.

Evidence supports helmet use for cycling safety. (See my prior post on helmets for citation.) Yet resistance to the use of helmets remains high.

I see riders at all levels — racers on carbon, hipsters on fixies, grandmothers on cruisers — thinking they're the bomb for riding with their hair blowing in the breeze. But at the risk of sounding authoritarian, I say that such riding is irresponsible. If you don't mind the risk of injury or death, what about your loved ones?

I'm not alone. the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says:

All bicyclists should wear properly fitted bicycle helmets every time they ride. A helmet is the single most effective way to prevent head injury resulting from a bicycle crash.

(See the NHTSA document DOT HS 81 743.) Your helmet will probably save your life some day...and you won't even know that you hit your head until you see the impact site on the helmet. (As the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute says: "Did you crash it? Replace!")

Manitoba has this to say about helmets and safety:


Protect your nut and you're more likely to survive.
Love, Your Bear

Absolute Beginners: Mid-season Training

Sagan winning Tour of Oman. (Image Credit.)

Believe it or not, but there are only 14 more training weekends before the AIDS/LifeCycle! That means its time to stretch the creaks out, clean and lube your bike, and hit the road. If you've been neglecting your training up to now, no worries. There's still plenty of time to be fit and ready for the ride.

I've made 32 posts about training. The important ones to absorb at this stage are:

• The essential elements of a training program.
• Planning for a successful ride.
• Riding with groups.
• The importance of training rides.
• Driving a positive feedback loop in training.

I'm not a professional, but these articles all contain my observations about what makes for a successful training season with citations to authority where it was available. In a nutshell, here is what you need to remember:

1. Hydrate. On a 30+ mile ride, make sure you're draining both water bottles.
2. Eat. You need to be fueled up before, during, and after your rides.
3. Train. Time on the bike is probably the only thing which will improve your riding.
4. Work your way up to 60 miles. If you can do this, you can ride the ALC.
5. Work your way up to back-to-back days of 30+ miles each. Ditto.
6. Rest at stops, but don't dwaddle. You get sore; you get hungry; you get irritable.
7. Ride with mates. Sometimes you'll need to ride alone, but friends make the ride rock.
8. Be safe. Listen to the safety speech and follow the rules on every ride.
9. Dress in layers and in bike clothing. Street clothes are not up to the task, are bulky, and detract from your ride.
10. Keep your bike in good working order. Get a bike fit! Bring your bike into the shop or learn how to clean and maintain it.

But above all: ASK your Training Ride Leader if you have any questions. If you've not already done so, see your doctor if you are embarking on this from level 0.

Love,

Your Bear

Over the next couple months, I'm going to write a few articles with the lead-in title "Absolute Beginners," explaining some of the basic principles of cycling. Most of the information is stuff I've learned from other cyclists, bike shop mechanics, classes I've taken, and Google searches. Please help me out and comment with corrections, additions, or supplements which will help my readers learn about how to operate their bikes!

Absolute Beginners: Fortune Favors the Prepared

A bicycle helmet saved my life.

This helmet:

Figure A: This is the Helmet

I was doing my ordinary ride: Bear's house to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery on the American River Bike Trail. Usually that ride is 2 hours and 33 miles. On Friday, it turned into a 12 mile one-way ride. You can click the link or the web widget, below. The route ends, essentially, where I crashed.

Actually, I'm totally guessing that I crashed, because I don't remember the 5 minutes before the route ends, or the 10 minutes following. I can only surmise that I crashed because my face was battered and bloody:

Figure B: My Bloody Face

The next thing I remember is hearing someone telling me that I couldn't get back on my bike. I can't see the person in my remembering, but I can hear him. The next thing I remember after that was being helped to a nearby road by two nice guys who ended up being paramedics (not there on official business but getting in some exercise). They wisely asked me to sit and call Davey to come get me. Davey came and took me home.

Here, I'd like to give a serious shout out to the two fine gentlemen who assisted me. At the time, I didn't have the capacity to get their names, but one of them named Conner wisely took my number. I know he's gonna read this, so: THANK YOU CONNER! Its the spirit of sportsmanship that keeps my faith in humanity alive!

Now the question is: what happened? Well, looking at the map, I know I was in the midst of a turn on a bend in the trail — a turn I've taken many times in the past. I was going about 15 miles per hour on a turn I usually take at around 17. It had just rained, so the roadway appeared damp, but not wet. It was about 54º F, so it couldn't have been icy.

Still, somehow I managed to end up on my face, needing assistance.

The more I think about it, the more the pattern of damage leads me to the conclusion that my wheels slipped out from under me because of slick conditions. My face was damaged on the side I would have been leaning. The chain of events I surmise are as follows:

1. I entered the turn without braking and steering appropriately (thrusting out with the outside leg) as I usually do. (Evidence: my habit.)
2. My wheels hydroplaned on the newly-wet surface. (Evidence: my observation and the recent rainfall.)
3. I tumbled forward onto the pavement and hit the corner of my helmet hard. (Evidence: The helmet was damaged in only one spot. (See Figure A, green circle.))
4. The helmet bore the brunt of the impact, even though the styrofoam doesn't appear deformed. (Evidence: the helmet must have hit first as it is the only damage showing slide marks; the contusion under the helmet is the least of the wounds, and was nearly healed the day after the accident. (See Figure B, green circle.))
5. I slide forward onto my face after the helmet did its job. (Evidence: the wear marks on the helmet show sliding, but my face doesn't show slide marks.)
6. My bike fell away in the opposite direction and landed with little slide. (Evidence: the bike showed only very minor damage to the right shifter.)

Had I not been wearing a helmet, I surely would have had a much more traumatic blow to the head. The moral of the story is: WEAR YOUR HELMET! I've blogged about this before: helmets save lives!

I'm not going to proselytize but if I see you riding without your helmet on, I'm going to point at you and laugh. So be prepared.

If you found this article useful, please consider a donation of $5 or more to my AIDS/LifeCycle ride. Click "DONATE," above.

Love,
Your Bear

PS: should look at the end of the ride, you can see where I impact...my speed goes from 15 mph to 9:


Over the next couple months, I'm going to write a few articles with the lead-in title "Absolute Beginners," explaining some of the basic principles of cycling. Most of the information is stuff I've learned from other cyclists, bike shop mechanics, classes I've taken, and Google searches. Please help me out and comment with corrections, additions, or supplements which will help my readers learn about how to operate their bikes!

Absolute Beginners: Ten Rules for a Civil Ride

In cycling, etiquette means safety. For the AIDS/LifeCycle, the rules are laid out in the infamous Safety Speech. Other organized rides have similar rules to guide civility, for instance see the rules at ms150. Other sets of rules are available, such as the over-wrought (tongue-in-cheek?) Rules of the Velominati.

But the rules are only as useful as your preparation before your ride or your ability to recall them at key junctures. So, I've paired them all down to ten.

Image Credit: Cannondale Facebook group.
Thanks, André.

1. Wear your helmet at all times. (Safety is an etiquette issue because unsafe riding may interfere with another cyclist's ride.)
2. Dress appropriately. (Inappropriate dress — non cycling clothing which cannot be layered for weather — can delay or end rides. Wearing a team kit you did not earn is just rude.)
3. Maintain your bicycle. (Poorly maintained bikes are prone to mechanical issues and are just plain ugly to look at.)
4. Obey traffic rules. (Bicycles are vehicles under the California vehicle code. You can and will get a ticket.)
5. Ride predictably. (Pay attention to traffic and other cyclists. Maintain a straight line; don't bob and weave. Pass only on the left. Look behind you before passing.)
6. Announce your intentions. (Use hand signals. Call out: "Behind you." "On your left." "Debris in the road." "Stopping." "Slowing." — in a loud, outside voice. These work to keep other cyclists safe and riding.)
7. Be self-sufficient, but accept aid when needed. (Learn how to change your flat and keep a tube and pump on you while riding. But accept help from a more-skilled cyclist to speed a return to the road. Ask if you have trouble.)
8. Stay hydrated and well-fed. (Nothing destroys a ride — both for the rider and his mates — faster or more completely than a bonk.)
9. Help stranded riders appropriately. (Ask as you pass. If the rider indicates he needs help, stop. If you cannot help, say so. If you can, do it quickly and politely.)
10. Not all riders have the same skills. (When passing, say "hi" or "good morning." This will mitigate bad feelings. When being passed, don't let your feelings of inadequacy guide you — if the passer was acting safely, there's nothing wrong with it.)

And now for the corollaries:

• Own your own safety, don't rely on others. (Thus, riders in pelotons are individually responsible for knowing if its safe to pass. Relying on another rider's call out "CLEAR," is unsafe, so check for oncoming traffic yourself.)
• Be fastidious about safety and the rules. (Your actions will lead others to act safely, too.)
• Don't upbraid other cyclists while on the bike. (This only leads to hurt feelings. Instead, if you see them at a rest stop, gently point out how they might have acted more safely.)
• Be polite and smile. (Its easy to be rude, its really hard to smile and use kind words when you feel superior or belittled. Learn how to do it.)
• Propagate these rules. (If you have a blog or Facebook page, post these rules or your own rules often. Hold your riding mates to these standards.)

My friend asked: "who gets to decide what is civil behavior for a cyclist?" To complete this post, I considered three principles. First, cyclists must obey the law — disobeying the law leads to uncivil and unsafe riding. Second, cyclists should not engage in unsafe behavior, even if it is technically legal; doing so will impact other cyclists negatively. Third, cyclists should act in a way which supports other cyclists, whatever their skill level. Sometimes that means cheering on faster cyclists as they pass, or cheering on slower cyclists as they exceed their goals.

Love,

Your Bear

Over the next couple months, I'm going to write a few articles with the lead-in title "Absolute Beginners," explaining some of the basic principles of cycling. Most of the information is stuff I've learned from other cyclists, bike shop mechanics, classes I've taken, and Google searches. Please help me out and comment with corrections, additions, or supplements which will help my readers learn about how to operate their bikes!

Absolute Beginners: The Saddle and Seating

The first three posts in my Absolute Beginner's series are about the body-bicycle interface: pedals, saddle, handlebars. This week, I write about the saddle or seat.

Figure A. Parts of a Bicycle. Image Credit (with more detail).

Your saddle is much more than a comfy place to put your butt while enjoying the scenery. Instead, it's an integral part of how you operate the bicycle.

1. Choosing a saddle shape.

Just like nearly every other component, there is a range of saddle types, depending on the type of bike and the shape of the rider. (Here's an extensive summary of bicycle saddles and their various parts.)

Figure B1. Classic Saddle. Image Credit.

Figure B2. Touring Saddle. Image Credit.

Figure B3. Road bike Saddle. Image Credit.

Walking around cycling shops, you'll notice many different saddle shapes and sizes. New cyclists may be tempted to choose a large, broad, soft or springy model. But there's a reason why road bike saddles are shaped as they are.

When you ride long distances, a larger saddle may chafe your inner thighs and a softer saddle provides insufficient support to your sit bones — the point where your butt actually intersects with the saddle. That is why saddles have the narrowed, tapered shape and the broad backside. Here is the problem with larges, squishy saddles simply stated:

Imagine sitting down on a coffee table. Your weight is concentrated on the two bumps of your "sit bones", also known as the "ischial tuberosities." These are the parts of your body designed to bear your seated weight. Most cases of saddle-related discomfort arise because the load is carried on the soft tissues between the sit bones. 

Imagine placing a soft pillow on top of the coffee table. Now, as you sit down on it, the sit bones compress the pillow, which yields until the sit bones are almost on the table surface again. The difference is that now, you have pressure in between your sit bones from the middle part of the pillow. 

In the same way, a saddle with excessively soft, thick padding can make you less comfortable by increasing the pressure between your sit bones. 

Many cyclists are unaware of this, and many saddles are made to appeal to the purchaser who chooses a saddle on the basis of how easily the thumb can sink into the squishy top. 

This type of saddle is only comfortable for very short rides, (though an inexperienced cyclist will often find it more comfortable than a better saddle, as long as rides don't exceed a mile or two.) 

Saddles with excessive padding are also a common cause of painful chafing of the inner thigh, as rides become longer.

(Thank you Sheldon Brown.)

If you find discomfort in your butt or numbness in your privates, you may have the wrong saddle or may have other fit issues. Before spending a lot of money on a series of new saddles, I recommend you get a competent bike fit: "It's the best $300 you'll ever spend to get more comfort and power out of your trusty steed." (not the bike fit you get from a salesperson when you buy the bike).

2. The Butt's Role in Support.

As a new rider, you may have the impression that riding a bicycle means sitting on the saddle, holding on by the handlebars, and pedaling with your thighs. However, that is not the proper way to look at it.

When riding, a good rule of thumb is to start out with about 60% of your weight on the rear wheel (via your butt), 40% the front wheel (via your arms), and shifting these numbers onto the pedals to varying degrees during pedal strokes (via your thighs and legs). Most of the google references on this topic are highly technical and related to racing. But for a new rider, the issue is comfort.

If you put too much weight on your butt, you're going to chafe and you're going to dislike cycling. If you put too much weight on your arms and hands, you're going to get numb fingers and you're going to dislike cycling. Thus, what is important is to keep a healthy balance between the two, attempting to keep everything under as little stress as possible for the maximum amount of time.

3. The Butt's Role in Control.

Steering a bicycle is not as simple as grabbing the handlebars and yanking left and right. There's a full-body motion involved in each and every turn you make. Smaller turns require the more subtle motion, too. This portion of this article will require more detailed explanation, and a quick Google search did not return immediately applicable material.

As I've written before, and will again when I write my article on steering, a good turn occurs when you press on the pedal with your outside foot, inside foot high in the pedal stroke. So, one of the most important roles of the saddle in steering is providing a lever from which to generate the push on the outside foot.

Another important role is when you need to actively lean your bike into a sharp, high-speed turn. More about that in a future post.

4. Why Your Butt Hurts: Changing Saddles may not Fix it.

There are two reasons why your butt may be hurting. First, you may be getting chaffing, which leads to irritation, which leads to infection. Symptoms of this are redness, bumps, pain, swelling, and itchiness. This kind of infection is common among cyclists. Over time, you may become a bit calloused in the creases under your butt cheeks. This is nothing to be alarmed over, so long as you cure any infection before it becomes chronic.

Try using some antibiotic ointment on the infected area (I'm not sure of the efficacy of this treatment, so consult with your doctor). Your physician may prescribe lidocaine to reduce pain and inflammation. Additionally, you may try ibuprofen or acetaminophen to reduce inflammation. Also, experiment with different short materials and styles. The stitching in less-expensive shorts may not agree with your physique.

Consult with your physician if these symptoms occur frequently, persist, or become severe. Otherwise, they are, to some degree, a right of passage for cyclists.

Second, you may experience soreness in your buttocks, thighs, or hamstrings after rides. If these symptoms are bearable and reduce with continued riding, they may be simply a matter of getting used to cycling. If they become worse with time or longer rides, you may need a bike fit.

In fact, if either of these conditions persist, a bike fit might help. Subtle changes in your interface with the bike may alleviate the pressure causing chaffing or causing muscular pain. Only consultation with a professional and testing will help you know for sure.

Love,

Your Bear

Over the next couple months, I'm going to write a few articles with the lead-in title "Absolute Beginners," explaining some of the basic principles of cycling. Most of the information is stuff I've learned from other cyclists, bike shop mechanics, classes I've taken, and Google searches. Please help me out and comment with corrections, additions, or supplements which will help my readers learn about how to operate their bikes!

Playing the Numbers: Heart Rate

Photo credit: FratmenJonah

I've really just begun to look at heart-rate training. I know I keep my body in my target heart rate, described below, but I've not begun to maximize my cycling efficiency with heart rate zones. That's the next step, and this preliminary outline is just the beginning. Use it to gain a general understanding of the topic. For a general discussion of this topic for cyclists, read here.

As a preface: just get out and bike. Any amount of doctor-approved aerobic exercise is more likely than not to be beneficial. That being said, you can maximize your workout and make it more safe by
knowing something about heart rate and its effects on exercise.

I. Simple: Resting and Target Heart Rates

The American Heart Association recommends these steps:

A. Determine your resting heart rate.

This you do in bed when you first wake up. You can follow the American Heart Association's instructions, or you can strap on your Garmin and use it to determine your heart rate at rest.

Resting heart rate is unique to each person, so you can't just go by a chart. The average is 60 to 80 beats per minute. Athletes typically have lower resting heart rates, which can be as low as 40. If you're just starting an exercise routine, your resting heart rate can be as high as 100. Your resting heart rate will also increase as you age, so you may have to repeat this step periodically.

This will establish a baseline and help you to determine if additional medical intervention is required before you start a new exercise program.

B. Know your target heart rate range.

For this step, you can use the age-based chart on the American Heart Association's website:

This step will be expanded in the intermediate step, below.

C. Monitor your exercise to make sure you're within your target range.

Then, as you exercise, monitor your heart rate. You can do this for free with a watch and your finger, but a much easier way is with your Garmin (or similar device). The point here is to keep your heart in the range indicated for your age.

I'm between 45 and 50, so my target heart rate is 88 to 149 beats per minute. This represents 50 to 85% of my maximum heart rate (estimated to be 175 beats per minute per this chart).

The point is to slow down if your heart rate goes over the maximum and to increase effort if your heart rate goes below the minimum. Start out slow and increase over time.

During the first few weeks of working out, aim for the lowest part of your target zone (50 percent). Then, gradually build up to the higher part (85 percent). After six months or more, you may be able to exercise comfortably at up to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. But you don't have to exercise that hard to stay in shape.

Exercising in your target range will maximize fat burning and aerobic activity. You have to keep your heart rate up in the range from thirty minutes three times per week (for minimal results) up to at least one hour every day to achieve real weight loss.

II. Intermediate: Calculating your Maximum Heart Rate

Once you have a good handle on maintaining exercise in your target zone, you can fine-tune those numbers by calculating your personal maximum heart rate, rather than relying on the averages. There are several methods. I'll outline the first one here. Ride With GPS points to Sally Edwards's page on calculating heart rate, which is where I got this information.


The SubMax 1-Mile Walking Test.

Go to any high school or college track (most are 400 meters or 440 yards around) and walk or stride as fast as you can in your current condition. Walk as fast as is comfortable. Walk four continuous laps. 

The last lap is the important one. Take your pulse, or use your heart rate monitor, to determine your average heart rate for only the last lap. The first three laps are just to get you to reach a heart rate plateau and to stay there for the last lap. 

Add to this average last lap heart rate the one of the following that best matches your current fitness level: 

1. Poor Shape: +40 bpm 

2. Average Shape: +50 bpm 

3. Excellent Shape: +60 bpm

This final number (for example, an average 135 bpm last lap plus 60 bpm, because I'm in excellent shape, would equal 195 bpm for me) should be fairly close to your Max HR.

I haven't tried this yet. Anyone willing to do it with me?

III. Advanced: Training Zones

Since I've not even figured out my personal maximum heart rate, I can't say that I'm ready to talk about training zones with any authority. However, I'll lay them out here and leave it for future blog posts to discuss the details.

Basically, each "zone" is a subset of your target heart rate range, plus the range from 80 to 100%. A general description from Bike Radar is:

• Zone 1 (60-65% of maximum heart rate): For long, easy rides, to improve the combustion and storage of fats.
• Zone 2 (65-75% of MHR): The basic base training zone. Longish rides of medium stress.
• Zone 3 (75-82% of MHR): For development of aerobic capacity and endurance with moderate volume at very controlled intensity.
• Zone 4 (82-89% of MHR): For simulating pace when tapering for a race.
• Zone 5 (89-94% of MHR): For raising anaerobic threshold. Good sessions for 10- and 25-mile time-trials.
• Zone 6 (94-100% of MHR): For high-intensity interval training to increase maximum power and speed.

If you follow the AMA guidelines, you'll stay in Zones 1, 2, and 3 for your entire ride. As you can see, generally, this means burning fat and moderately intense exercise. For me, using 180 as my maximum heart rate, these zones are:

• Zone 1: 108 to 117 bpm
• Zone 2: 117 to 135 bpm
• Zone 3: 135 to 147 bpm
• Zone 4: 147 to 160 bpm
• Zone 5: 160 to 169 bpm
• Zone 6: 169 to 180 bpm

Now I know I ride over 147 bpm regularly. For my most recent 78 mile bike ride, I was in Zone 4 for only 11 minutes.

So, what are the advantages of training up to be in higher zones? Without reading more, I can say that training for higher zones increases your capacity to ride in them. This means that you can climb faster and more efficiently. Since climbing is my favorite part of cycling, I'm going to try to increase this number over time.

I'm also going to read more about how to do so, and will report what I learn here. Anyone want to go for a ride?

Love,
Your Bear

Day Two, Safety and Lunch

So, I totally saw some dude SKYPING on his iPhone while riding his bike. I was all like, "I know you're not using an electronic device while riding your bike on the AIDS/LifeCycle." He goes, "Girl, I have to call you back."

It's not like they haven't read us the freaking safety speech 20 times on two days!

An unrelated picture.

Hail to the Chief

Rounding out this training season's blog posts with a shout out to all this year's awesome Training Ride Leaders in words and photos from this year!

Being an AIDS/LifeCycle TRL has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.
Thanks, Jon and Matthew. This training season has been a joy because of you both. (Click images for a slide show.)

Training ride leaders are volunteers who give up their time for the ride, training, planning and practicing routes, preparing route sheets, answering questions, and leading you on the official training rides. It's no small commitment — Davey calls it my second full time job. So, thank you to all the TRLs without whose efforts this ride wouldn't be the success it is going to be!

Thanks to my friends in the South Bay: David, Ken, Bob, and Terri!

After you completed your first ALC and complete a training course, you can become a TRL. If you feel comfortable on and with your bike, with riding long distances, and can give up at least two weekend days per month, ask a TRL or contact your cycling rep for more information.

I'd like to make a personal thank you to the TRLs who have guided me on my journey during AIDS/LifeCycle 11 and 12:

• Joseph Collins 

• Buz Miller 

• Connie Sanchez 

• Scott Jordan 

• Samantha Wallace

• Jon Walker 

• Matthew Bokach 

• David Gaus 

• Terri Meier 

• Bob McDarmid 

• Charles Fong 

• Julie Brown 

Your advice and support has gotten me through so much. Thank you.

Thanks to Charles Fong for driving all the way to Sacramento to
rescue us from canceling a training ride!

Even though he wasn't a TRL, I'd like to give special thanks to Stephen Hatcher for all the support he gave to Team Sacramento last year.

Looking forward to training for the AIDS/LifeCycle 13 next year!

Love,

your Bear

Charles Fong, the Great!

Matthew and Jon enjoying a well-deserved libation and sporting ALC garb!

Jon and me.

Thanks for joining us all those months ago, Terri! It seems like another lifetime!

New friends on the ALC in Fairfax.

Low and Slow

Be patient and kind. Not everyone has the same skills as you when it comes to riding a bike.

These are the words that begin every AIDS/LifeCycle training ride and will begin the ALC itself (follow this link for information about Orientation Day). And for some of us, it may seem a cruel fact that even as we have been progressing on the training rides, so too have our friends, leaving us continually at the back. Here's some advice (after you've followed your physician's advice) to help you keep up with the pack.

1. You can do it. Individuals with your skills have done nearly every training ride on the agenda; you can too.
2. Stay hydrated and fed. So often cycling performance is a matter of nutrition — this goes for new riders and experienced riders. I give this advice from personal knowledge!
3. Get a route sheet and learn how to read it. Timidity in the route and relying on training ride leaders for direction will slow you down unnecessarily.
4. Be the first out. Pair yourself up with a fast rider who knows the route. You'll find that person not diddling with their gloves at t-minus 5 minutes, but helmet on and ready to go. Get on the road before that person.
5. Pass other riders. Unless they need assistance (ask), don't slow down because a group of riders is in front of you. Go ahead and pass them (safely).
6. Be comfortable in groups. The rules say, "one bike length between the rider in front of you." Try to make that a maximum, not just a minimum.
7. Miss the stop lights. Lagging behind to avoid the melee will make you hit stop lights you might otherwise have missed. This artificially makes you feel slower.
8. Keep up at the beginning of the ride. You're still fresh, try to minimize the distance between you and the riders in front of you.
9. Know your gearing. Make sure you're in the right gear at the right time to avoid slow starts.
10. Rest quickly at rest stops. And avoid stopping between rest stops. Staying at a rest stop for too long will only tire you out. When you're exercising, your body is burning calories even at rest. Use those calories to your benefit and be the first out of the rest stop. Plus, in hot weather you sweat more when you stop than while cycling.
11. You're closer than you think. Often (not always), you're not as far behind the rider in front as you think. If you'd been behind them for a while, they're probably wondering where you are. Try to catch them; they might be waiting for you!

I have lots more advice — get a riding buddy, avoid stopping on hills, know your strengths and use them to catch up, ask for advice, read up on cycling, if pain is a problem then seek a bike fit — and I've blogged on most of these topics. But the last secret is:

Everyone is tired by the end of a long ride. You can use that to your advantage if you stay on track, regroup with your mates at rest stops and regroup points, and stay hydrated!

Everyone on the ALC and other riders want to see you succeed. Even when it seems they don't. Remember, everyone is battling their own dragons, too!

Love,

Your Bear

PS: As my friend Terri Meier says:

As someone who hears "on your left" far more than she says it, my bit of advice is to push yourself where the going is easy, and be gentle with yourself when the terrain gets tough. Going all out on the uphills can burn you out fast, but when the road is flat, put a little extra heat on, and work to increase your comfort and skill with faster speeds on the downhills. But ultimately, don't try to "keep up" at the expense of your body, mind and spirit. There is joy to be found in meeting new friends, and even solitary meditation while on the road.

Training Rides

All season I've been fortunate to be an AIDS/LifeCycle Training Ride Leader. I've seen new riders
blossom; I've seen experienced riders learn their limits; and I've seen adults reduced to self-imposed helplessness. Training ride leaders are there to encourage you, help you get through your limits, and avoid pitfalls. But primarily, TRLs are there for your safety and the safety of others. So, what can you expect from Training Ride Leaders?

ALC training ride leaders are volunteers who have been minimally trained to: recognize cycling issues (maintenance, cleaning, nutrition, and skills) and make rudimentary suggestions; prepare and organize training rides; and guide riders on challenging training rides. TRLs are ordinary cyclists who have done at least one ALC and received appropriate training. TRLs are not experts in fitness, bicycle maintenance, or nutrition.

Buzz Miller leads stretching; photo by Joseph Collins

You can expect TRLs to make reasonable efforts to prepare you for a ride: remind you of your obligations to ride safely, get you out on time, give you a route sheet and explain what it means, give you tips both before and during the ride, and help you understand the challenges you're facing (mostly because they faced those same challenges, too).

You cannot expect TRLs to be your personal trainer, coach, or bike tech. During each ride, the TRLs try to interact with as many riders as possible. But given the range of abilities on most ALC rides, riders tend not to ride together. Thus, TRLs can often only be with one rider at a time. So you cannot expect the TRLs to guide you at every intersection; make sure you know how to read a route sheet.

You also must put out the effort. Read the route sheet and do your best to absorb the explanation — and keep it in an accessible location. Appear on time, and be ready to hear the safety speech at least 15 minutes before the scheduled ride out time. Ride safely and wear your helmet. Make sure you have water, money, tubes, a pump and tire irons, snacks, and a basic understanding of how to ride your bike.

Make your best effort on your bike, but know your limits. If you know that part of the ride may be too challenging, ask a TRL for advice. She can give you tips along the way. If SAG ("support and gear," refers to a driver who will give assistance to riders) is available, the TRL may advise you to take a ride to the top of a hill. Alternatively, the TRL may advise you to turn around or take an alternate route. Listen and consider your own skill levels. A TRL cannot tell you what to do, but can only make suggestions.

When a TRL gives you suggestions, consider them carefully. All of us take riding seriously and don't like being told we're doing it wrong. But, if a TRL makes a suggestion, it is probably because he or she has experience you may lack, so fight the urge to argue and instead listen and absorb. Also, the TRL is probably thinking about the ride in the whole — she may have 10 or more riders to see through to the end. So, especially as rides get longer, she wants to help everyone finish in a reasonable amount of time — so avoid unnecessary delays on the route.

Remember, training ride leaders are volunteers and are provided primarily to ensure your safety, the safety of other riders, and their own safety. If you work with them, you'll find training rides far more enjoyable and safe.

Thank you to all the TRLs who volunteer to make our riding an enjoyable experience!

Love,
Your Bear

Create a Positive Feedback Loop

Image from DNA Magazine Tumblr

As your AIDS/LifeCycle (or other) bicycle training gears up, the miles will get longer, the weather becomes more fair, and you'll meet many more cyclists out on the road. Some will be your training-ride mates, and some will be strangers. But in both cases you will, inevitably, compare your performance to theirs. It is inevitable and is simply human nature. The trick is to make it work to your advantage.

For instance, you're riding your shiny new Cannondale CAAD 10, you've been riding since September, you're feeling fit and comfortable for the coming 70 mile ride, and you start up Camino Alto, the first hill on the ride. And who comes up from behind? An individual with a larger-than-average (*ahem*) BMI, on what appears to be a junky hybrid. This hybrid-rider passes you and is quickly out of sight! That sort of thing happens, and it can be demoralizing.

1. Don't fall into the trap.

What do you do? First, smile and forget about it. This isn't a race, so what does it matter? You'll be happier over time if you focus on your own riding and use tools like Strava or Ride with GPS to check your progress over time.

If you take your sport seriously and train regularly, you'll improve. Have faith in that process and you won't have to worry about who passes you.

2. Understand the delicate balance required for efficient cycling.

Second, remember the complicated ingredients required for efficient cycling:

• Number of years cycling,
• Familiarity with the bike,
• The details of gear ratio,
• Tire inflation,
• Nutrition,
• Hydration,
• Rest,
• Bicycle fit, and
• Cardio-vascular fitness.

To optimize your experience on the bike, you have to juggle all of these things. That person who passed you is probably more experienced, and (despite the weight) in better cardio-vascular health. So now that we're rationalized why he or she passed you, the question remains, how do you use the experience to your benefit?

3. Meet people.

Third, if that person was part of your group, the best thing is to befriend them. Ask about her cycling experience, ask for tips and tricks, find out how often she cleans her chain, eats, and what she had for breakfast. Do this as often as you can. It will help you grow as a cyclist and help you meet some awesome people.

If that person was not part of your group, then ask a TRL or an experienced rider for their opinion. How could this person have passed me? I was feeling so good. Once they stop giggling, I'm sure they'll offer some very helpful advice.

4. Find a riding buddy or group.

Fourth, the best people to compare yourself to are those with similar skill-levels who you meet week after week. The number one recommendation I can make is that you find a riding buddy or buddies with similar skill levels and use each other to improve over time.

To do this, be friendly and helpful and avoid complaining. Ride along with likely candidates and ask questions. As you meet them each week, you'll see if you can keep up. If you can, they will start to seek you out. If not, then you've just extended your network of rider-friends who might remember you and suggest riding companions.

If you strive to keep up with another rider, you'll find your skills automatically improving.

As you progress together, you can better compare and contrast your performances. And the comparison will mean something.

5. Challenge yourself.

Fifth, make sure you're not riding with the same people all the time. You don't want to fall into a rut. If you ride with different people on different roads, you'll find the sport far more enjoyable.

Also, ride alone several times a week (or as often as you can). This will enhance your group riding skills by giving you a chance to practice some techniques you may have picked up from others. Plus it will make you a more confident and self-sufficient rider.

Becoming confident and self-sufficient will help you find a riding buddy. Finding a riding buddy will help you meet more riders. Meeting more riders will help you learn the mechanics of cycling. Learning more about cycling will help you to not to care when a seemingly less-fit rider passes you.

Its a positive feedback loop.

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

Cycling Etiquette is For Safety

Every time I ride in a non-ALC event, I have to learn the hard lesson over and over: no one likes being told they are cycling unsafely, even when they are. However gentle the reminder, I always manage to piss someone off. Is the admonition not to pass on the right such a stinging blow to the ego? I suppose it is considering the reactions I've gotten!

CJ and me; Photo by CJ Julian.

This past weekend I rode in the Tour de Palm Springs, a charity ride with multiple courses of varying length. There were, according to the volunteer who checked me in, over 8,000 pre-registered riders and an expected 2,000 additional riders. That's an astounding 10,000 riders! I did the century, and from what I could tell no fewer than 2,000–3,000 riders did that route with me, and it felt like we were all on the road at the same time.

Despite some killer headwinds (followed by even more killer tailwinds!!), I did not observe anyone injured or stranded. Still, for all 100 miles, I could count on one hand the number of people who engaged with their fellow riders.

Few people said "good morning" as they passed, let alone calling out "on your left." Often, the entire travel lane was crowded with buddies riding side-by-side, requiring passers to enter the oncoming lane. Few people announced when they were on your wheel, but expected you to know they were there.

What does this mean? It means that we who care about this sport have to check our own egos and spread the word that friendly cycling is safe cycling. Keep admonitions to a minimum, but make them pointed and clear. Make sure to follow the general rules of etiquette ourselves. And remind our new rider friends to ride as safely as they can before they go out on the road.

And for me it means keeping cool and keeping my comments to a minimum.

Just for completeness sake, here is a simplified version of the ALC safety rules:

• Obey all traffic laws, traffic signals and signs — and stop at all stop signs.
• Ride as far to the right as is safely possible. 
• Ride defensively, predictably and stay alert; assume car drivers cannot see you.
• Always wear your helmet when on your bicycle.
• Ride single file and leave at least one bike length between you and the rider in front of you.
• Communicate your intentions and potential dangers with hand signals or by calling out in a loud, outside voice.
• Look behind you before passing to make sure it is clear.  Pass only when it is safe to do so and pass only on the left.  When passing, call out loudly, "On your left!"
• Never wear headphones or ear buds while on your bike.
• Control your bicycle: Keep at least one hand on the handlebars at all times.
• Be courteous and respectful of others. We are a diverse community. Please be thoughtful in your conduct and choices, and sensitive to the feelings of your fellow participants. 

Not all these rules make sense all of the time, but in events such as the Tour de Palm Springs — and the ALC, of course — they are very important.

Happy Valentine's Day,

Your Bear

Lifting for Cyclists

Image credit: Top Bicep Workouts

I am a strong advocate for weight training to support cycling. Even modest weight training builds muscle, strengthens bones, and helps to build core strength — important because cycling does not do these things. If done properly, it is safe and will help riders avoid injury, rather than risking a chance of it.

Hitting the gym can be a foreign experience to cyclists, but how you lift weights in just your first week of strength training can lead to better results. In a study of rest intervals between exercise sets, researchers found that limiting breaks to 60 seconds during the first week of weight training boosted study participants' hormonal response to the exercise. —Bicycling Magazine

Strength training may (or may not) be important for professionals; but for recreational cyclists all you need are some inexpensive free weights or a gym membership. The single most important advice for everyone doing weight training is to focus on form, rather than amount of weight lifted. For this reason, you will need some kind of instruction.

There are lots of training programs for cyclists, and if you are going to cycle competitively, they may be useful. As cited above, there is a debate amongst professionals about cycling training and workouts. From this debate, you'll find many complicated strength training routines on line and in various expensive looking programs. It seems unlikely that any recreational cyclist will need that level of complexity. So instead, find a reliable source and stick with it, so long as it works for you.

I get my training advice from Scooby's Workshop. A wonderful, free resource with video instructions on nearly every weight training exercise a new weightlifter will need.

Generally, here is a list of tips I've gathered over the years:

1. Focus on Form: Focusing on form will help you get the most out of the workout and reduce the chance of injury.
2. Lower the Weight: Lower weights with high repetition is generally safer than higher weight with low repetition.
3. Avoid Real Pain: Listen to your body: not all pain is gain. Pain in joints, pain which is sharp or sudden, pain in the lower back are all bad. The only pain which is beneficial is the almost-pleasant muscular soreness you can get after any energetic activity.
4. Stop Before Injury: So, if an exercise feels odd, it could injure you. Stop, check your form, and lower the weight. Or skip that exercise altogether (you may not be ready of it, or it may simply not be for you — we're not all the same!).
5. Swinging Causes Injury: Avoid exercises that have you swinging heavy weights: this could lead to injury.
6. Complex Motion Causes Injury: Avoid exercises that have you moving your body in more than one plane at a time (for the same reason).
7. Keep Mentally Fit: Don't compare yourself to others (unless doing so inspires you). You don't know how long they've been training, or how they are training.
8. Be Regular: If you train diligently (at least three times per week), you will see results. Be patient.
9. Be Patient: Results gained over a long period are more likely to be permanent than those gained quickly.
10. Make Life Changes: So — like an improved diet and cycling — make weight training part of your weekly routine.
11. Be Routine: Your workout should last about an hour for cycling purposes, but do more if you feel comfortable.
12. Be Committed: Don't chat, fiddle with your iPhone, gawk at the muscle men (much), or nap during your workout. Get in the gym and get it over with. You should be moving nearly constantly during your workout.
13. Develop your Core: Ripped abs come from diet and aerobics. A strong core comes from strength training. Do both, but don't expect that six-pack until you get your diet under control.
14. Body Weight: Exercises that use your body weight (pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, hand stands and the like) are excellent strength training exercises that can ultimately be done nearly anywhere without too much special equipment.
15. Vary your Program: Sticking with training does not mean sticking with a routine until it becomes so dull your stop doing it. Additionally, your muscles will respond to changes in exercise and intensity.

But most importantly, enjoy the workout. If you find it too hard, too dull, or too confusing, try something new. And keep safe at the gym, so weight training will support rather than impede hours on the road!

Your, Bear

Performance Enhance Cycling

Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs and hid that fact from authorities (find the report here). He won seven Tour de France races that way. The Tour de France is arguably the most important athletic event in France. Stripped of his titles, Armstrong no longer represents the paragon of American sport, but possibly the best of the worst — the one who was found out.

Its an embarrassment for the country but more importantly, it is an embarrassment for the sport. Its so bad, that not only are sponsors leaving Armstrong and his foundation, but they are also abandoning the sport, generally.

Here is an excellent article from a true Lance Armstrong fan who makes no apologies and draws no conclusions. But his tone demonstrates his extreme disappointment:

We live in a different age, one that may not allow the forgiveness of Lance Armstrong, that may hold him to be the creator rather than the product of the era he reigned over. We might even judge this champion's cheating and lying too vile to permit the remembrance of the part of him that, even now, convinced that he doped to win the Tour, I can't stop being a fan of: the plain fact that he was, as even his bitter enemy Floyd Landis told me when we spoke last year, "a badass on a bike."

I've never been a fan of professional athletics. I think the pros get paid way too much in proportion to their contribution. But I am a cyclist and this is my sport. I want to encourage others to participate — cycling is a great way for people of all fitness levels to get in shape. I want those people to know they can ride a bicycle without doping. I don't want kids risking their health to emulate the great riders.

Thus, I cannot condone doping as a way to enhance athletic performance — as alluring as it is. For greater society, the risks simply outweigh the benefits.

Be the Cyclist

Proficient cyclists are more than just efficient and athletic, they are safe cyclists (California cycling fatalities have decreased in recent years). Cocky cyclists are hospitalized. I have a right to talk about this topic. Not. As you may have read in other articles, I take safety very seriously. I never ride without my helmet; I always wear gloves; I signal religiously; and I point out obstacles to riders behind me even when they are oblivious. What I do do, though is run red lights and stop signs. Not every one, and only when I deem it to be safe, but under prime circumstances, I won't wait.

I've rationalized this practice. I tell myself that hanging out in an intersection makes me vulnerable and reduces my mobility. California law contradicts this sentiment:

Image credit Threadless Tees

Bicyclists must obey STOP signs and red signal lights. It’s a good idea to stop for yellow lights too–rushing through a yellow light may not leave you enough time to make it across the intersection before the light changes.

California bicycle regulations are available on the DMV website (do a Google search to find your state or country's regulations).

The law specifically provides that, apart from the listed regulations, bicycles are subject to the same laws as motor vehicles under the Vehicle Code. That means cyclists must stop at red lights and stop signs. I begrudgingly agree with that I'm in the wrong with respect to them. (I do take exception to the suggestion that cyclists stop at yellow lights. As a general practice, that is not going to make you friends with surrounding motorists.)

This was all a set up to the point of my article: You got to own your place on the road. Own up to being a cyclist. Encourage others to bicycle.

That was the point of a recent Slate article about the inherent conflict and out-of-proportion fear and loathing drivers have about cyclists:

Every time another bicyclist pulls some dickish stunt, [drivers' negative view of cyclists is reinforced]. The same isn’t true in reverse: The conviction that bicyclists are erratically moving hazards is not diminished by the repeated observance of safe and respectful riding. … [But, once] a person becomes aware of her biases, she is more able to engage rational thought processes to overcome the affect heuristic and dispel her inaccurate conclusions. So, study those stats bike haters!

The unfounded, negative attitude toward cyclists revealed its ugly head a couple months ago when a driver in a fancy convertible pulled up to me and said, "Stay in the bike lane asshole." Being that he was in a car, I should have flashed him my patented smile and given him a thumbs up. I hadn't been doing anything wrong!

It was a narrow two lane road, crowded with parked cars. I was, as is my habit, riding the white line to stay away from opening car doors — a perfectly valid habit under the California code and one that has saved me from collision. But of course, how could I convey that message best in the split second as he passed? "Fuck you, asshole." That pretty much summed up the substance of my comments, even as he slowed down to tell me how I was maligning cyclists in the eyes of motorists.

As if I care. Actually, I'm a motorist too, albeit only rarely. I do care. I don't want to care, but I do and I know I should. Owning my cycling means being safe, obeying the law, and leaving righteous indignation where it belongs — in blog posts infrequently read. As Jim Saksa said in the Slate article I quoted earlier: "So, let me say this to drivers, pedestrians, and my fellow riders alike: I’m sorry. See, aren’t cyclists the nicest, most polite people in the whole world?"