Bicycling

Kuriin_sl said:

Having more bend in the leg to fully use the quadriceps rather than the hamstring seems to be the FoTM these days. You can also see them doing that on the Tour de France.

Click to expand...

I've noticed that too. Too much bend absolutely kills my knees. Plus, when I get out of the saddle on sprints I find I lose burst speed if I'm having to push too high out of the seat. Slight bend when in the saddle still works best for me.

What floor pump does everyone use?

Just make sure to buy one that has both valve holes (Presta/Shrader).

Yeah I've got a RavX one with dual head right now, though I have little use for any Schraeder shit. I wore out the Cutter one I liked, this RavX thing isn't so great, shoulda spent more.

I use this one at home, works great.

Amazon.com : Avenir AirSource 2X Shop Floor Pump : Floor Bike Pumps : Sports Outdoors

And this in my hydro pack:

Topeak® Cycling Accessories - Products - Mountain MorphT

Unrelated: Any of you guys try this shit?

Amazon.com: OSMO Nutrition Active Hydration Mix for Men, Blackberry, 14.1 Ounce: Health Personal Care

It keeps popping up on chainlove, and the reviews on it are pretty positive. This time of year (ball drenching humidity), I'm tempted to give it a go.

In regards to your bike pump, I recommend -- in MY opinion -- that you get one that actually shows the numbers that your tubes can hold (1-12?). That way, you don't under or overpump your tube and risk blowing a tube.

In regards to the OSMO: I use Cytomax and sometimes I mix a protein powder that has tons of electrolytes in it. The downside with the protein powder though, is that it thickens my saliva causing me to be thirsty and even nauseated. With that said, use what you think works for you. Obviously longer distances, always make sure you have electrolytes (especially sodium) and bars to eat.

Eh, shit like that just seems like a waste of money to me unless you're competitive or doing endurance stuff, and even then I'd be skeptical. Riding in the heat is all about acclimation and hydration to me, and hydrating is an all day every day way of approaching things more than a magic potion. Eat fruit, drink lots of water and you have to ride in it to be acclimated. I ride daily all summer through days like today with temps in the 90s and brutal high humidity, but I make sure to be riding through the earlier days where its in the 80s and shit as summer ramps up. I sweat a fuckton but otherwise its not that much less comfortable than any other time of year on the road. Really by now I'm used to it, those early days where its just starting to feel like summer in the 80s with humidity feel far more oppressive than July and August once I'm more accustomed to it. Fuck going mountain biking in this weather though.

How long are you riding for? You are sweating out a ton and if you're not taking in electrolytes, especially sodium, you're going to be hyponatremic and you're going to feel like shit. I strongly advise, if you're riding for longer than lets say an hour and half, to take at least something to replenish electrolytes.

Gatorade works. Anything with electrolytes. Drinking chocolate milk before the ride = amazing. Casein protein rocks because it's slow absorption. Though, I don't know how good milk would taste in 90+ degree weather and being in a bottle for 4 hours.

I grabbed some of that OSMO stuff, and will report back if it seems to do anything. I keep pretty well hydrated as it is, and since I am not a little sissy like Famm, I MTB 2-3 hours a day, 3-4x a week, even in the heat. It's not the humidity that really bothers me up here in the northeast, it's the fucking deer flies this time of year. (I'm in pretty damn good shape, but I'll be fucking damned if I can out pedal those bastard things...)

My road rides are generally an hour and a half in the morning before work, but thanks to the glory of Strava and a handful of buddies my age who are all the typical competitive thirtysomething assholes, just about all of them are basically max effort time trials, haha. None of us are "fast" by any standard, but I average somewhere between 17-18mph solo for 20 miles in the morning at least twice a week, and usually throw in a longer ride on the weekends.

I don't buy into the whole Gatorade hype, I drink solely tap water and if I'm riding that day, I'll likely only eat bananas before. Never had any problems with dehydration or anything.

Drink brawndo, it's got what plants crave.

Kuriin_sl said:

How long are you riding for? You are sweating out a ton and if you're not taking in electrolytes, especially sodium, you're going to be hyponatremic and you're going to feel like shit. I strongly advise, if you're riding for longer than lets say an hour and half, to take at least something to replenish electrolytes.

Click to expand...

I'm talking about just getting out for an hour or so. I said if you're doing endurance sure you need a sports drink of some sort. Which I wasn't thinking just like 24 hour races or something, but longer saddle times like the four hours you mentioned. Still, not sure you need anything special. Lots of times mountain biking I'll have my Camelbak with just water and a bottle on the cage with sports drink. If you're really riding long enough you need to literallyeat, something eventually, not just powders and gels. Anyway, I don't really ride long distances on those extreme heat days so I assumed he meant just like a fitness ride as well.

Seventh_sl said:

I grabbed some of that OSMO stuff, and will report back if it seems to do anything. I keep pretty well hydrated as it is, and since I am not a little sissy like Famm, I MTB 2-3 hours a day, 3-4x a week, even in the heat. It's not the humidity that really bothers me up here in the northeast, it's the fucking deer flies this time of year.

Click to expand...

There's fucking ticks like crazy down here in summer and the east coast is high risk for Lyme too. So yeah, fuck the woods. Road keeps me in better shape for hitting the trails during the other seasons anyway.

haha

Kuriin_sl said:

I believe the Avid BB7 is what I use on my road bike.

Click to expand...

Alright, I took the gamble and went with BB7s, mostly because I'm trying to convince myself that the fatty is my off-season bike and I don't need to go nuts on it. If they suck, I'm totally blaming you. And you'll be sorry!

(...and then I promptly wasted the "savings" on new cranks for my 29'er, ho ho ho)