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. 

 

Good day to all of you and here's hoping that the weekend is cloudless and the roads empty(ya right).

panda, I don't seem to be able to leave a bike shop without spending at least 25 dollars on something, my weakness is clothes!  LOL! I must have 15 different outfits to ride in and I'm always looking for more, of course they are all color coordinated to my bikes, (you can't wear red on a blue bike and visa versa) and the bibs have to match the jersey you know.  Hey even the socks have to be right.

I have a 120+ mile ride tomorrow, I'll let ya know how it goes.

Have a great friday my friends!!  DAN

Ok, are you guys ready for my fun newbie story?  ;)

These are the new pedals I got (not from REI, but it's the same thing of course).  Wednesday night is when I got them, but I have still been using regular running shoes and not my cycling shoes since then.  I figured this morning traffic might be lighter with the holiday, and it would be a good time to be brave.  :)  I put my regular shoes in my garment bag for the trip home, when I assume traffic may be heavier with people heading out for the weekend.

So I clipped in just fine in my driveway.  Got to the end of the drive and out in my street (which is a one-way very quiet residential street) and decided to stop and see how I did getting out.  I slowed, twisted my right foot, kept twisting, nothing happened, twisted harder, and next thing I know I'm laying on my side in the street with the bike on top of me.  Ironically, my left foot is free.  Useless up in the air, but free.  :)  So I changed into my regular shoes and off to work I went.  Figured I need a bit more practice before I do that at a stop light in traffic!

I have some fancy new bruises to add to my collection, but otherwise it was pretty funny.

Dan/lienad, that's not such a bad challenge.   I may give it a shot this weekend once I get done setting up my bike since I'll need a good test ride.  20 miles is nothing.

pandajen & dan and others... concering the motorcycle talk... I hope my bringing up my interest in them wasn't going too far beyond the bounds of this thread.  When I think 2 wheel transportation bicycles & motorcycles both enter my brain.  I was just voicing my interest in something for commuting and saving a lot of money on gas.   It seems some people had some bad experiences on motorcycles.  I've had a few bad experiences in cars and I've know people who were got killed or in the hospital... others with no incidents in cars as well as a few motorcyclists.   My bicyclist co-worker who I rode with yesterday told me a lot of his war stories riding his bicycle and having some bad accidents.   I don't think it's a negative at all to hear someone elses experience wether bad or good.  It's all food for thought.   My co-worker friend for example is now completely afraid to go over 35mph on a bicycle.   He has a beautiful and super light cannondale bike now (I'm not a true hardcore bicyclist yet so I can't tell what kind it is beyond name brand).   It's all good to hear this stuff.   One of his stories included the fact that his back brake was off (different bike) center so when he hit it the left side would touch before the right and he ended up warping a wheel which cause a bad accident.   I completely re-adjusted my brakes after hearing that.   And I'm learning a lot more about setting up a bicycle.   I would expect any form of transportation (even your own feet) to include some bad stories of close calls nearly being hit (wether it be by a mail carrier going the other way or a truck running a bit too close as it passes or whatever).   Bad stuff happens.   Learning from the past is a good way for anyone of any interest in anything can help make it a bit safer, get more defensive, and maybe avoid having a bad accident as well.

So again, I brought up the subject, I'm sorry if that drove someone off.   I don't think I insulted anyone ... but if my interest in motorcycles alone was what insulted this person, well, I think that's being a bit too sensative.  People are interested in doing all kinds of things... some more dangerous than others.   I'm not up for skydiving anytime soon... but I wouldn't be offended if someone else was.  I'd probably get killed commuting to work on the main roads on my bicycle.


OK that gone... let me comment on my ride yesterday...


YESTERDAY

My co-worker friend and I rode the Cheif Ladiga paved bike trail.  We started on the Weaver end and rode 15 miles out and then 15 miles back.  Average speed was 15.4mph and we completed it in just under 2 hours.   This was a monumental change for me from the 34 miles I rode on the trail after getting the bike.   That day it took me 2.5 hours and I averaged around 13.4mph.   So a nice step up.

I found out too just how poorly my bike is setup.  I'm riding it way too hard because the seat is way too low.   I had no clue till watching my friend ride.   I'm reading some other forums and sites and looking around for seat height measurements and other stuff to setup on the bike.   I think I'm going to break down some of the bike and lube parts and so on as well.   Also I'm going today to get a small notepad to start logging all my rides so I can have an idea how far I've gone on the bike.   I think thus far I've only got around 150 miles on it.   But I want a good log so I can keep track of how i'm increasing in speed... and also adjustments made to the bike.

I have been reading a thread on the bikeforums.net about a guy who bought a GMC Denali last year because  he was in a pinch.. his old bike needed seriosu repair, and his  car was also down for the count.   Local ads for used bikes tur ned nothing up so he picked up one of these.   This is a guy who r ides hard and fast and has many broken  bikes in his past and he put 2000 m iles on it in the first 3 months.  A nyway so i'm picking through that for  bits of info.


Sorry this post was so long... I wanted to post last night but my butt was sore so after showering and stuff i hung out with my wife and kids and watched the Karate Kid again.  Such a great old movie.

Night- You may just want to take your bike into a shop and have someone else adjust it to your body.  They can take measurements and everything to make sure it's the best possible.  In fact that was one of the first things our coaches told us to do.  However, I am a newbie to biking and so is the rest of my team.... you may be able to adjust yourself and get it right :).  Good luck!!!

Panda-I like the pedals...they look really good.  Wish there was a candid camera when you tried them out :P.  America's funniest home video's would have loved it!!!

jenn, sorry for your fall. at least you were in a safe spot! check the tension in your cleats/pedals - it's adjustable & can make clipping in (and more importantly OUT!) easier. also, you can practice clipping in & out in the comfort of your living room if you put the bike on a trainer or park in a doorway and hold the doorframe on both sides to hold you up.

jenn: Welcome to the club, you have now been through the first initiation ritual.  The second is to spend the day wearing a chain ring "tatoo" on your right calf. lol. 

Pedal systems are different and I'm not sure which one your using but I think the key word in your story is "slowly".  When I unclip my Looks it is a quick and decisive movement.

Keep practicing, once you get used to them you won't want to ride without them.

deannad70, my local bike shop charges some pretty high costs to do anything on bikes not bought there.   I'm very mechanicly inclined and a problem solver by nature (and education) so I'm sure with time I'll get it setup right.  I'm all for learning as much as possible about bike maintenance as well.  Last thing I want to do is be out on my bike trail at the other end where there's no cell signal and have some kind of small problem I could fix if I only took a little time to learn now.

I've already learned a wealth of good info on this specific bike as well.  So the adjustments I need to make are pretty well documented.

Jenn I started riding with look pedals about two weeks ago and on my big weekend ride last week I managed to do the same thing in a group of 30 people.  At least you were on a quiet street and out of traffic.

Night-  At least you are mechanically inclined...  It takes me forever to figure thing out :). 

panda, as trhawley said welcome to the club, you are now a bike rider.  I have probally fallen more standing still then moving. LOL, nice to know it hurt so little, I quit counting brusies.

night, go to Giant's website they used to have a very good subsection on fitting, I used it to set up my wifes bike and when the shop checked her out on her new bike found I had missed her setup by 2mm, not bad for amatuer.

deannad, what team are you riding on? I have tried to start a high school team, but no success as yet. 

DAN 

I couldn't find the setup guide on Giant's website... but I found a number of others that I've printed out.

Here's one of em:

http://www.andoverwheelers.com/Documents/Eric s_bike_set_up_instructions.htm

So hopefully I can get it all setup fine and start using my leg muscles more efficiently :)

Not a good commute day!  First there was the aforementioned crash.  Then tonight I had a guy blow through a red light about 10 feet after I went through my green, which scared the crap out of me.  And I discovered the new pedals have next to zero traction in the rain when wearing regular shoes.  Which meant my ride home extended to about 7 minutes longer than normal because I was going so freaking slow with the way my feet kept flying off the pedals.  Not fun. 

In other news, I have a question.  :)  Of course, because I'm full of questions, right?

I've been looking at pics of people riding road bikes, and it seems to me with the way the seat is higher than the bars there is no way anyone could make good contact with their sitbones on the saddle unless they have a curve in their spine and their pelvis tucked under.  Is this true?  Granted, my bars are higher than my saddle because it's a hybrid bike.  But I was thinking at first I needed to keep my back straight, and that is leading me to have too much pressure forward of my sitbones.  Part of the problem could be that I am insanely flexible, including my back.  So it's possible I'm extending my back without realizing it.

So, what is the proper curve (or lack thereof) of the spine when riding?

After reading all of this thread... yes, no one is at work today... I'd like to join this group too. My name is Wendy, I live in Reno, Nevada and started riding a little over a year ago to train for triathlons and lose weight. I have a mtn bike - Trek 4300 and now a road bike - Trek 5000.

I'm only planning to do the short distance tris this year so I'm not building up a lot of distance on the bike. One down, two to go. I am more focusing on running for a relay/run event in June.

My riding goal for the summer is to ride around Lake Tahoe with my husband (this will have great pictures!). We are starting to ride it in bits but secretly I hope to drag him all the way around in a single day by the end of the summer. :) Alhtough, by that point I hope he wouldn't think it "dragging". He's pretty unsure about going more than 20 miles at a time so the 73 all the way around the Lake is a little frightening. For the weekend we have our 2nd leg of the ride planned. Only about 11 miles but elevation change of about 1200 feet up - no down. That leaves the next ride to look forward to with all the downhill and more distance.

Happy riding!

pandajenn19,

Yeah it seems pretty common for any serious rider to have their seat higher or even with their bars.  A lot of it depends on bar height.

In the pics in my profile, my bike seat is WAY too low for my long legs.  I had no clue.  I could nearly get flat footed to the ground while on the seat.   Now I have it up more like a regular rider.  So hopefully my average speed will improve on the paved bike trail.


sunny_wendy,

Welcome to the group!  I was at work most of the day.  I tend to mostly post from there.

panda, not quite sure what your saying, with your hybrid you should be sitting upright more which would put you in a more seated postion, but if i get the gist of your comment, it sounds like you are leaning forward more.  This in fact would be more in a roadie position and we do tend to lay flatter (more aero as they say).  The pics your looking at sound like tri-bikes, they almost have a horizontal body to be as areo as possible, most recreational roadies ride more upright than that. Wish there was a way to draw a picture on here??!!

sunny-wendy, Welcome, I too own a trek 5000, great bike for climbing. I will add you to the roster.  What a beutiful place to ride, Lake Tahoe, man I have to stare at Lake Erie, not quite the same visual impact.  I think it's cool that you are the one dragging him around, I have a 2 club members who do the same to thier hubbies.  I use to do that to my wife, now she's gotten to the point where if I don't watch myself I'll be the one being dragged (or dropped).

DAN

I definitely sit upright, and there is not much forward lean to my upper body at all, certainly not compared to the pics I've seen.  I'm really wondering if this is just a flexibility problem, that my back is almost too limber and that's allowing my pelvis to tip forward. 

It's like I've got lordosis when I ride.  Mmkay.  Let's get out my favorite handy pelvis reference site.  This might work.  When I ride, it feels most natural to have my pelvis tilted forward, but I'm pretty sure it's wrong.  For points of reference, my anterior superior iliac spines (or the bones that stick out in the front just below the level of your belly button) are jutted forward, my ischial tuberosities (or sitbones) don't always make contact, and I tend to bear more weight on the ischiopubic ramus.  If I tuck my pelvis under a bit (almost like a pilates scoop, for anyone who knows what that is), I get good contact with the sitbones.  But I have to concentrate to hold this position.

I talked with the bike shop about this, we got a better saddle, adjusted the height, put an extension on the front, and it's definitely better.  But my back still wants to have that little lordosis-type extension... 

Sorry for all the complicated description!!  Yes, I'm this odd.  :)

Dan, you didn't say how much climbing you did on your ride.  I can ride laps around North Park and maybe better your mark, but then I'll be ready to go postal on somebody (it'll be a dozen laps to go 35 miles).

I did intervals on the trainer last night (it was midnight by the time I could get my workout in).  Beastly, ghastly things:  in your biggest gear, sprint for 15-20 seconds, then downshift (to 52x19 in my case) and pedal as hard as you can (21mph in my case) for the balance of five minutes.  Two sets of three, ten minutes recovery between intervals, 20 minutes between sets.  The idea is to develop the strength to sprint away and then get a gap on the peloton (barring t-storms or conflicting family plans, I'm gonna do a crit Sunday).  It certainly beats just grinding away steady for two hours!

pandajenn19, those are some pricey pedals!  I just use a set of $40 SPD M520s (double-sided MTB pedals) on both my road bike and my mountain bike.  "Convertible" pedals such as yours could certainly be handy for commuting, I'll warrant, but nothing stops you from wearing MTB shoes or casual road shoes (like MTB shoes, these also have recessed cleats) so that you can walk around when you get where you're going).  I agree with everyone else--loosen the tension screw to make it easier to clip in and out.  Mine are set just a skosh tighter than fully loose.  A tiny little bit of white lithium grease on the cleat/pedal interface helps, and it keeps them from squeaking when you have booties on.

nightc1, as with anything else, you can find an article about bike fitting at Sheldon Brown's website.  The basic idea is to set your cleats so that they are right smack on a line running from the joint where your big toe meets your foot to the joint where your baby toe meets your foot.  From there, you want the saddle high enough to put your knees at a 28-32 degree angle at the bottom of the pedal stroke (per Greg Lemond).  Then you adjust the saddle fore/aft so that your kneecaps are above or behind the pedal spindles.  Finally, you select a stem such that your hands naturally fall onto the brake hoods without feeling like you're reaching or cramped.  Handlebar height is a personal thing--find one that's comfortable for you.  Now you have a starting position, which you can fine-tune (e.g., move the cleats a little bit to avoid hotfoot or numb toes--usually you move them back a little).

If you have unequal leg lengths, you can get shims to go between your shoe and cleat on the short side.  Standard practice is to only correct half of the inequality.  More than that actually causes other problems (per Bill Ankrom, the bike fitter at the UPMC Sportsmedicine's cycling performance center here in Pittsburgh, as well as per Kit Laughlin, author of Overcoming Back and Neck Pain, which concerns itself entirely with correcting anatomical, strength, and flexibility imbalances as a cure for the pain).  I haven't read the whole way through Andy Pruitt's book yet, but I don't doubt he'll say the same thing.

If your legs are very dramatically different, another option is unequal length cranks--use a shorter crank on the short leg side (again, just correct half of the inequality), and fine-tune with shims between shoe and cleat, if needed.

panda, you're right about bike positioning being somewhat awkward - the combination of leaning forward (roadie position) while sitting squarely on one's sits bones doesn't reconcile. all things are connected and when you lean forward, your hips roll with you and your sits bones are no longer the closest part of the pubic bone to the saddle. with a hybrid, you should have an upright enough position to get your sits bones under you, but it will take some attention and practice (your body will naturally roll forward some as you reach for the handle bars, causing your hips to tilt, resulting in the lordosis you're experiencing). a road bike exaggerates this and makes it even more incongruous.

the way i reconcile it, in theory and in practice, is to focus on bending not from the hip socket, but from the lower back in such a way as to keep the front portion of that pelvic/pubic bone lifted off of the saddle. as you say, it feels more natural to sink forward into that bend, with the exaggerated lordosis-type sway curvature of the lower back. but you're correct- it's not the ideal position. most road riders arch their lower back higher, so their sits bones are tucked under & come down like the rear landing gear on a plane. lance armstrong is a good example of this type of profile - mainly because his lower back is notoriously inflexible. his lower back/stomach doesn't sway inward towards the saddle, and his back, starting from his lower back is arched very high and rounded. it's sorta the opposite of everything they teach you in yoga, dance, etc., where you are supposed to always stretch forward keeping a flat back.

i've been riding for about 10 years and my position still isn't great. i continually have to remind myself to get my sits bones under me and i continually have to nurse that ischiopubic ramus area with balms because i relax into the natural position where it rubs my saddle.

not much in the way of a solution, but i do understand where you're coming from.

Dan-  I am training with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training.  There are about 21 of us signed up for the Steamboat Springs fall event.  Our coach also organized the Rocky Mountain Tri Club, which I may join after this one.  With Team In Training, I help raise funds for them and they provide awesome coaches, pool passes and a wet suit.  The RM tri club actually started with a few people from the first Team in Training, who converted and didn't want to fundraise and would rather pay dues :).    It's a pretty awesome organization and the fundraising hasn't been too hard yet. 

Do you have any suggestions for a newbie tri person (such as myself) or even reference books???

panda, I think I will reliquish this one to the bike shop guys in order not to give out bad info, long distance bike fitting my not be a good idea, LOL!  Sounds like you have a nice bike shop to work with though.

behanna, the ride was relatively flat with two sections of rollers but nothing that you would call climbing, it was basicly a big square that i rode.  Man 12 laps of the same course would drive me nuts.  Intervals pay great dividends but OH they are hard, and that set you did sounds brutal.  Good luck on the crit, BTW.

deannad, sounds like a nice deal, I've seen some flyers for that but never picked them up, good luck with it.  Only books I have are one called "serious cycling" and "lance armstrong performace program".  I've never done any tri events, was a runner in HS and that pretty well shot my legs for me (can't run anymore).

Have a nice Saturday people, it's raining here at the moment, but I an doing the 120 miler in the rain if need be.

DAN