wrench-ed brought to you from the same mind that brings you Sprinting the Bell Lap. you have been warned

Friday, February 3, 2012

But(t) it's killing me

You just bought a shinny new bike and you have been riding up and down the block.  You finally decided to check out a local bike path, possibly ventured into the street or out on some country roads.  If this sounds like you then keep reading.  Yes, I'm talking to you, yeah the one with the new bike.  You are still uncomfortable sitting for long periods of time on this masochistic torture device we call a saddle.  Seat is fine, after all we call it a seat post, not a saddle post?  Trust me your undercarriage just needs more painful miles and it will finally get stronger.  Really.  Think of it this way, if you are not used to standing for long periods of time, your feet hurt, your neck, back, etc... Same as your hind end.  You will build a tolerance.  Get some funny shorts, you can wear cover-ups, but stay away from putting a seam on your parts. 

Those funny shorts have a chamois in them that helps, I said helps -not cures, the interface between bum and saddle.  This chamois is in your crotch area to reduce the amount of friction that happens down below.  If you are a modest person and think you should wear underwear with your cycling shorts, DON'T.  You might as well just wear sandpaper.  Al Fresco, is your friend when it comes to pain free cycling.

PRO tip:  Only wear your shorts as long as you HAVE to.  Try and limit the amount of time that your chamois and your naughty parts have contact.  When you are finished with your ride, get your nasty stinky shorts off as quickly as possible.  This is so important for the health of your posterior. This has more to do with skin care than anything.  Most soreness you get from riding a bike is skin chaffing or irritation, and let's be honest that is some pretty sensitive skin/area.  Take care of it. 

There are some crutches you can buy for your pampered pooper.  I'm talking about Chamois Cream.  There are tons on the market, they are to reduce the friction even further between rider and chamois.  Two schools of thought on cream: 1) it is a crutch and you will get addicted to it [can't ride w/o it]  2)  not sure what the other school is [I'm addicted to the stuff].  Heck it's like chapstick, you have chapped lips use chapstick.  I'm gonna use products that work for me.  You need to find what works for you, and take what people tell you as their opinion.  -It's not gospel. 

I'll talk about saddles (seats) in the future.  Just remember that there is not magic built into saddles, and what works for your friend might kill you.  The human body is incredibly adaptable and will eventually adapt to whatever you put it through.  Saddles are about minimizing, not about curing.  Improvise Adapt Overcome


Thursday, February 2, 2012

Motivation

One of the most simple forms of motivation is trying to achieve a goal.  Setting a distance goal is usually the first that a cyclist sets.  "I want to ride X miles".  I still remember calling my wife at work to tell her that I just rode 6 miles.  I remember my first 15 mile ride, and the time I almost had my posterior combust on my first 50milier.  It has been a few years since the light started going dim at mile 85 of my first century.  I finished, but probably almost died a few times only to be brought back to life by a higher power.

What does this have to do with working at a shop?  Selling you stuff, that's what.  If you don't have a handy-dandy computer on your bike you are missing out.  I'm talking Speed-o-meter with an odometer.  Simple.  A magnet goes on a spoke, a pick-up on the fork or chain stay, and a small head-unit on the handle bars.  Wired, wireless, or my favorite the GPS.  Heck, there is an App for that now.  Tracking millage is simple, and it can be very rewarding when you have a graphic representation of your goal. 

Up-loading your metrics onto a computer or into the cloud is the new way to track your cycling fitness goals.  This brings us to StravaStrava.com is a social site that allows one to up-load your rides into the cloud, and compare it with your friends and other Strava users.  Strava requires a GPS or strava app on your phone.  After that it is easy.  It is part twitter, FB, and workout log book.  Strava also has the KOM.  King of the Mountain.  KOM's are segments that users can define or that Strava defines.  When your GPS points enter a KOM the system will put your time against every user that has been on that segment.  You can see your performance against everyone who has ridden over the same segment as you.

I don't have the time to explore all of Strava's bells and whistles, but check it out and look up some of the people you know.  They offer a free service and a premium pay service.  I use the free, 'cause I'm cheap.  Right now there is nothing out there other than Strava.  If you are not on Strava get with the program, use your phone or go buy a Garmin.  And for you sick-o's that run, Strava has you covered.

That's it for now.  Get out and ride your bike.  I will be at the shop for any questions you might have, or email me, tweet me, ect....