ON RIDING BETTER
Articles to help you feel good in the saddle.
On this page (so far):
Climbing Hills More Easily
Tips and practice dates for Easy Riders
(C) 2008 Riskin Writing & Editing. All rights reserved worldwide in all formats. Do not reprint or disemminate in whole or in part without written permission of the author.
A major impediment to commuting for Easy Riders—and for joining more-difficult rides—seems to be hills.
Yes, hills are hard. The following tips really do help, though:
Get clip-in pedals or at least toe clips: Utilize your leg strength at all points of rotation.
Get the right shoes: Clip-in shoes or at least real bike shoes, with rigid soles, help transfer the power of your rotation directly into the pedals.
Get a granny gear: Some bicycles are geared better for hills than others. A large cog in back will make hills easier, a lot easier.
Downshift: The closer your chain is to you when you're pedaling, the easier each revolution is. In lower gears (small in front, large in back), you are pedaling more revolutions per mile, but each turn of the crank is much, much easier. You'll save your knees, and you'll stand a better chance of cresting that hill.
Time your shifting: This takes practice. Downshift slightly when approaching a hill to save your energy. But take advantage of your momentum. Time your downshifting to the point at which you're starting to lose momentum, just a few seconds before you really need to use those low-low gears.
Better to shift to a gear that's lower than you want. It's easier to shift up than it is to shift down when you're straining that crank.
Sit as upright as possible: Doing so engages your quadriceps, which are those big muscles on the tops of your thighs.
Keep your feet parallel to the ground: Quads, again. If you point your toes downward, as beginners are apt to do, you are using smaller muscles that fatigue more easily.
Focus on 6, 9, 12: Focus on pulling your pedals or toe clips with your feet at 6 o'clock, 9 o'clock, and 12 o'clock in your crank rotation. You'll get more power all the way around.
Keep your arms relaxed and wide: The better to get air into those pumping lungs.
Breathe evenly: Try to time your breathing with your pedaling. If you find your breathing becoming ragged, focus on the out-breath. Be sure to breathe all the way out. That should help even out your breathing before you go anaerobic.
Charge the peak: You're nearing the top... and you're fading out at the same time. Now is the time to get aggressive. Consider that last little bit your biggest challenge. The resulting flush of energy will help take you over the top.
Keep pedaling on the downhill: Yay! You've made it! Don't give up now. Keep pedaling lightly—even if you don't engage your crank. You'll clear the lactic acid out of your muscles quicker and be prepared for the next hill... or whatever comes next.
Come practice hills with Easy Riders at Discovery Park. (Stay tuned for future dates.) We'll meet at the south parking lot, off West Emerson, for a brief intro to hills followed by practice at your own pace. Bring a snack for a cliff-top picnic afterwards.
Filling Your Tires
How to Pump up Before You Blow Out
(C) 2008 Riskin Writing & Editing. All rights reserved worldwide in all formats. Do not reprint or disemminate in whole or in part without written permission of the author.
You need to check your tire air pressure every time you get on your bicycle, preferably before you come to a group ride. The ride leader might or might not have a pump that will work with your bicycle.
It’s worth investing in your own floor pump with a built-in pressure gauge (as opposed to the little pump you should always carry with you on your bicycle). You can get one for as little as $20, for example, at http://rei-outlet.com.
There are two common types of valves—Schraeder and Presta. Generally, Schraeder are found on most hybrid and mountain bike tires and on many touring and road bike tires. Presta valves are those tiny valves on skinny racing or road-only tires. Be sure to get a pump that works with your type of valve or that works with both.
To find the correct air pressure (PSI) for your tires:
1. Spin the front wheel until the word “PSI” along with some numbers comes into view on the sidewall of your tire.
“PSI” means “pounds per square inch” of air. Usually, these numbers are raised black rubber, so you might have to look closely to tell the correct PSI. Most likely, your correct PSI for that tire will be a range.
2. For road riding, choose the higher end of the PSI range. For off-road, such as gravel or mountain biking, choose a number toward the bottom of the range. (Touring is a different matter, which we won’t cover here.)
The higher the PSI, the harder your tire is when properly filled, and the easier it will roll on the road or paved trail. Lower PSIs give you more cushioning off-trail, but they’ll slow you down on paved surfaces and tire you out faster.
3. Repeat this procedure for your rear wheel.
The recommended PSI for your front tire and rear tire might be the same, or it might be different.
Filling up your tires with a floor bike pump is a no-brainer. Just be sure to get a good seal between the pump nozzle and your valve. Most pumps have a lever to lock the pump nozzle onto the valve.
CAUTION: Be careful not to wiggle or bend the valve, or it could spring a leak at the base. Then you’ll have to replace the tube.
You can fill up Schraeder valves with an auto air compressor, at a gas station. But it’s a little different from using a bicycle pump.
Auto air compressors push a high volume of air into a tire at one time. Using one improperly could easily explode your much-smaller bicycle tire.
To fill up your Schraeder–valve tires at a gas station:
1. Be sure that you have a tight seal between the valve and the air compressor.
If it is not tight, you will hear hissing, which means that you’re losing not adding air.
2. Add air in quick puffs, bit by bit, until a pressure gauge shows that your tires are at the correct PSI (as determined in the preceding procedure).
Doing so will (hopefully—no guarantees from this writer) prevent too much air from entering your tire at once.
3. When your tire gauge shows the tire is at the correct PSI for your activity, put the cap back on.
Now you’ll have a much easier—and more fun—ride.
Working Through Shame
(C)2008 Riskin Writing & Editing. All rights reserved at home and abroad in all forms and formats. No part of this article may be disseminated in any form without permission of the author.
I could write a treatise about shame and the easy rider. Many slower and/or beginner riders don't want to get on their bicycles in public because:
We are ashamed of our appearances: I hear that fear of wearing Spandex, shorts, and other revealing clothing is a significant reason why many non-featherweight riders avoid riding their bicycles. Spandex is a good synthetic layer to help keep you warm, and it doesn't have seams in painful places, but synthetic long johns and layering other clothing works just as well.
I just opted out of those skin-clinging Spandex tops this summer and am wearing quick-drying button-up shirts instead. When it gets colder, my synthetic long johns and fleece will come out of the closet—and I refuse to go back in just because I'm big. (Layers of synthetic materials trap warm air and keep you warm even if they get wet from sweat or our pernicious rain.)
We are embarrassed to be the slower riders on the trails and on the streets: I've even heard that faster riders have yelled at easy riders to get off the trails.
Know what? There are more of us slow riders than fast riders. We pay more taxes for those trails and for the streets than they do (since we outnumber them), so we have every right to be there.
Besides, more of us are buying bikes because of gas prices. So we have more company now.
Bicycle ride leaders are exceeding posted paces: Easy riders, who could have completed the ride at the posted pace, are humiliated by being kicked off the ride—sometimes scornfully.
People (especially women) are conditioned to think that they we are not good enough: For example, when I decided to get back in the saddle, I had to promise myself that I would not let shame stop me regardless of sometimes having to:
Ask for help even to get my bicycle out of the car.
Push my bicycle up hills. Even if I'm walking up a hill—hey, that's exercise, too.
Ride slowly.
Abort a ride if I'm ill.
Stop a group ride for me if I'm ill.
Be satisfied with a very short ride even if I'm surrounded by racers and endurance cyclists (and deep inside, I feel like a bit of an idiot or like I should ride like them).
I figure that anytime I'm outside and exercising—even for 10 minutes—I have won! Just got to keep chasing away that shame so that I can keep getting on that bicycle.
7/8/08 update: Feeling better, getting faster, riding longer, conquering some hills. Keep at it, gang! Bicycling works.
10/1/08 update: I've been off my bike for several weeks and biking less since mid-August because of medical stuff. So I've been starting over again. The shoulds are resounding in my head: Should be able to ride that hill. Should be able to ride farther. Should be able to ride faster.
In August, I was riding much bigger and longer hills, riding much farther, and riding quite a bit faster. Yesterday I rode 4 miles with one 1/4-mile, not very steep incline. YAY, I'M BACK IN THE SADDLE! (I admit, it was tough to say that.)
I just have to remind myself that I should be riding at my current pace, trying steeper inclines gradually, and keeping my gears low enough to prevent zorching my knee out. The only things I should be doing are getting back in the saddle and taking care not to hurt my body.
I'll keep increasing my ride difficulty—if I can do it without hurting myself. That means splitting the difference between listening to my "I can'ts" and pushing myself until I injure something.
Anyone care to join me?
(C)2008 Riskin Writing & Editing. All rights reserved at home and abroad in all forms and formats. No part of this article may be disseminated in any form without permission of the author.
2008 Riskin Writing & Editing. All rights reserved in all formats at home and worldwide. No part of this Web site may be copied, printed, reprinted, or otherwise disseminated without permission of the author and Web site owner. See Contact Page for more information.