Join in the fun; The Calorie-Count Cycling Club...

Welcome to all who have an interest in anything cycling of any kind.( road, mountain, commuting, stationary, whatever).

This is the place to come to ask that question you have been wanting to ask,

or tell that story about your latest adventure riding your bike,

find out how to use cycling to get in better shape, or anything else you can think of.

So, to start, tell us, what you ride, where you ride and what type of riding you enjoy.

Come back often too check out what's going on and see what's on everyones mind or add your knowledge to the group. 

 

Ohio law allows you to ride two abreast, and it is done pretty often in group rides.  I like to be a little courtious when I can and ride single file, but I will take the lane if I feel the least bit threatened.  My feeling is if I'm going to get hit, I want it to be totally not a grazing blow that knocks me into traffic.

They (the state) recently made the bike and vehicle laws more compatable and as bicyclist we gained some in this way, unfortunately the only ones who seem too know this are the cyclists.

DAN

Well I completed a 3 day "century" this morning -- 22 miles Thursday, 30 miles Friday and 54 miles today.  Fortunately for me we had sunshine instead of the predicted rain.  The rain probably headed north for the Canadian 3 day weekend -- Sorry, Jiggles.

I am not going to check Maryland law but I suspect that you are supposed to ride single file to the right.  As I recall, you are not required to use a bike path.  My route this morning included a couple of miles on a busy four lane road with an "on road bike path."  The bike path is about 18 inches wide, sometimes pretty rideable, some low hanging branches force the rider to use the highway and on some of the good sections there is a 6 inch or so drop on the right side.  It's a bit dicey but I have put in a lot of miles on that stretch without any car-bicycle problems.  Flats are another matter.

On our club rides in Southern Maryland, we spend a lot of time on two lane country roads.  We often ride two abreast because it's easier to have conversations that way.  We try to keep alert for approaching vehicles ("Car Back").  Fortunately the drivers treat us pretty well.

Today I rode on my first big group ride.  There is a charity here called bikes for kids which buys bikes for kids (go figure) for Christmas.  The ride was free with a voluntary donation, I think there was somewhere around 60 riders. 

It was a 33 mile loop that could be repeated up to three times for those wanting to do a century.  I did the lap 2 times, had a great ride and feel really good.  My husband did the three laps and about ate a horse afterwards. 

This cycling and weight loss is tricky business.  I have a hard time balancing fueling the ride and having a deficit for the day but it will happen in time.  I only have about 13 pounds to go, it may happen slowly but it will happen;)

Here in Idaho the law states persons can not ride more than two abreast and persons riding two abreast shall not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic and shall ride within a single lane.

Poze: Great ride.  There was an article in Bicycling magazine last year that talked about riding needs.  Hydration and replacement of minerals are dominant concerns for the first couple of hours as I recall.  For rides of 3 or more hours nourishment becomes a serious concern -- again to the best of my recollection.  I think conditioning has something to do with it.  When you are first getting into condition, your needs are higher.  At any rate, I always need to eat bigger on days that I do longer rides.  I don't have too much trouble cutting back on rest days.  That seems to work for me except of course right at this moment -- my weight has taken a sudden spike up.  I suspect those classes and the accompanying meals last week have something to do with that spike.

pozesara,  66 miles, very well done.  What was the riding like (hilly, flat?)?  Me and the wife did our club ride yesterday. I was in charge of the route and somehow miscalculated the distance and turned a 58 mile ride into a 70 mile ride.  It was hilly and windy but it was a great ride, the scenery was beautiful.

Fueling is always a problem for me, not getting enough but overdoing it both during and after.  I have actually gained since the ride season started. Oh well, eat to ride ride to eat!!

DAN

well, my tour de cure went great!! perfect day, perfect ride.

their route was well marked (and i'm assuming it was the actual distance they said- my computer's on my other bike). it was a great surprise that they'd already marked the sunday route with signs, making it super easy for me to ride it on my own back to austin on saturday. i hadn't mapped out the last stretch to my house and i figured it would add 15-20 miles, but altogether it only ended up being 90 miles total, and i averaged around 15mph (8am-2:45pm, including stops). not even a very hard ride, but all of the usual suspects are sore today (neck, back, knees etc.)

we had a graduation party last night and it was an appetizer and dessert buffet from 8-12!! you bet i ate my weight in braised scallops, spinach artichoke dip & bread, chocolate torte, and blueberry crisp! no calorie counting at all this weekend!

jiggles, sorry you are having such miserable weather, I'm sure we will have our strech of bad stuff soon enough, we alwasy do!

It's nice to get some other things done now and then

DAN

Dan - the course yesterday was fairly flat, part of the reason I was able to complete 66 miles.  My farthest ride before was about 35.  We had nasty 20mph headwind for about 15 miles each lap so I feel like I rode uphill though.

Jiggles - sorry about the weather.  We never get rain here, 10 inches annually in a normal year, we have been getting less for the past 5 or 6 years.  The wind however is a constant.  A calm day around here is 10 to 15 mph winds.

Jc - thanks for the tip on fueling.  I will have to focus on hydration and minerals on my rides.  I don't anticipate doing more than about 40 miles too often.  That way I am free to eat that recovery meal that I crave afterwards.  I am at a healthy weight for my height right now so I am toying with maintaining where I am for the summer and when it gets cold and I spend more time indoors I will work to lose those last few.

I want in. My name is Chris and I ride a stationary bike because of tendinitis in my left knee. I also shattered my right foot last November as well, so overall for me it is much better than walking. I usually ride 16.5 miles a day and 30 or 40 on Saturday's now.

I am going to attempt a 50 mile ride this upcoming Saturday. I did a 40 last week for the first time and boy at the end it had just about whipped me. Loved it. I think if I can pull off the 50 I'll shoot next for a 75 and eventually a 100. I know I'm not pulling my weight as most of you guys are so I'm wondering if I added foot weights of 1 or two pounds would that be potentially hurtful?

Anyways, I'm 44 live in Snellville, GA currently weight 223 and would love to get to 195 or under. Now, let's roll! 

Thegrayman, Welcome!

you ride all those miles on a stationary bike?  Dude that is impressive.  I can do that in the winter, but to have to do it all the time WOW!!!!

I tried a 100 miler on a trainer once, thought I was going to die!

I would stay away form the weights, the mileage alone should be enough.

Good luck with the weight loss, if any of us can be of service just ask away.

DAN 

Hi ya jiggles, nice to hear the weather broke for you.  100k, not bad for a quick afternoon ride, LOL.

Getting punished in the wind sure beats riding in the basement, but just barely.  We have had wind on both rides this weekend manageable but annoying.

poze, that's a pretty big jump for 35 to 66 even if it was flat, nice going.

DAN

Holy cow grayman what a strong mind you have to be able put that kind of mileage in on a stationary bike.  I would die if I couldn't feel my wind. My helmet is off to you.  I didn't really ride to many miles this weekend. I hauled my kids all over town in the trailer running erands and stuff. I would love to ride a centruy towing the kiddies in the trailer. They are my best motivaters. They always cheer faster, faster when I am climbing the hills it really makes me try to climb fast. I don't think they would be able to be out that long in the trailer though and I don't want to put them at risk by being on the road with them so until they are big enough to ride I will be content with riding the mups with them in tow. 

Thanks guys I appreciate the encouragement and advice. Yeah, I was thinking about how the wind helps cool you off when I was riding earlier. Which, ironically, was at the time you wrote the message. I got on the bike at about 5:45 and got off around 6:45. Towards the end of the ride, 20 miles btw, I was thinking it would be nice to have the natural breeze a bike ride normally offers. Wondering if I put an adjustable fan I could simulate the feeling. Makes one wonder.

mrjiggles, just needed to get something from the grocery? On the other side of town! ;}

gray, why if you can do the miles on the stationary, can't you ride outside too?  Is it the risk of falling or getting so far and the tendenittis acting up to the point you can't get back?

The reason I ask is that I have arthiritis and the cycling helped it to the point I don't take meds anymore.

DAN

I could if I had a bike. Bought the stationary solely for the purpose of getting in shape.

 I'm hoping that is the case as far as the meds go. I found out I had asthma at 32. I quit playing sports and exercising and voila. All of sudden the lungs that had propelled me for so long started betraying me. I am hoping by getting back to that weight I was playing at or lower, most, if not all of these medical problems go away. Tendinitis and asthma at least. Don't think it will do anything about the broken foot though. ;]

I must say it has made me feel mentally better.

Yesterday I hit the mountain road by my house.   My intention was to make it up the 2.4 mile road at any cost.   Let me just say the inclines were the worst I've ever experienced on bike.  First gear up front and back made it managable but on some of the super steep parts I had to take short breaks... clamp down seriously on my brakes... then take off for shorter bursts of speed.   Getting to the top was a nice feat.  I've walked/run up the road before... it's a KILLER.   ON the way down I tested and tested my brakes.  I hit a new top speed...

41 MPH

... and turned a 25 minute climb (on foot  this would have been 40min) into a 5m in or less downhill run.

Good gosh that felt great.   I want to be able to do that ride, despite how short distance it is, without stopping sometime.   I know it's around a 850 foot climb total... with a small downhill part at the middle before going back up.     Took some reasearch to find out how high that was based off of the town height and mountain height.  Whew!

Thursday is my next ride.  Probably nothing spectacular... just a good 15 miles or so.