distance

10/10/2023: What to Do Before a Big Bike Ride

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Last year at this time I was not well, so I had to postpone my long annual ride. I eventually got ‘er done, which you can read about in 11/11/2022: 4,000 Miles + Longest Ride of the Year = Tired But Still Pedaling. This year, it seems I’m on track to make it tomorrow, and the weather looks good if a bit grey. I thought it would be interesting and useful to look at what goes into the preparations (and things to avoid). The Three P’s of Performance (as I just began to call them this very moment) are: 1. Physical 2. Practical 3. Psychological. I call dibs on that title, which is a technical legal term for pre-trademarking. Which I’m sure the trademark nerds would say that dibs won’t work, but that’s an example of why they’re nerds. I likee nerds, and was a band geek myself. I digress. Let’s get to it.

While these steps might be used by those who do races, preparation for racers and the pros is much more involved. Fortuately, I’m neither, just a mere mortal dude. In fact, I’m looking forward to reading a book called Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run, because it sounds comparable to my book in progress. Anyway, a long run, swim, or ride–regardless of speed or if the field of competitors is 175 others in the Tour de France, or just yourself on a Tour de You–is something to approach seriously. Done correctly, you will reduce pain, avoid injury, and shorten recovery time. But first, a disclaimer: I’m not a bicycle coach, doctor, or personal trainer. I’m just a dude. This is for informational or entertainment purposes only, so use at your own risk. Your mileage may vary (literally).

Let’s Get Physical

Olivia Newton-John sang it best. While that childhood crush and sweaty smoke show in a leotard and headband singing 81’s biggst pop hit is not required for bike ride training, add it to your playlist if you like. But thank you, Tempo Rider down undah in Australia. (Speaking of Men at Work, that Aussie bad was my frst indoor concert; I got to the third row.) Here’s a bullet list of things my brain just vomited up on the page germanee to this topic, in no particular order:

  • Base miles: Don’t you dare think you can just head out one day for a long ride without building up to it. Unless you’re young, energetic, and a bit crazy. Laying down a month at minimum of regular bike rides to get your body used to T.ime I.n T.he S.addle is very important.
  • The 80% Rule: While it’s ot hard and fast, more tha one bicycling website says to ride this much of your total and no more. For example, for a 50-miler, you’d do 40. Less is okay, but 80% is a good amount to have in your legs. More than 80% is okay if you get plenty of …
  • Nutrition: You should probably eat some healthy food to fuel your body for your daily life as well as your big ride. As for what to eat, no one actually knows. Okay, carbohydrates, fats, and protein. But what sources, how much, etc. is hotly debated. There is something to carbo-loading to make sure your muscles have enough glycogen in them, but don’t overdo it. One rule I do know about is don’t change up your diet right before or the day of the ride. You don’t need a visit from one of the Rrhea twins, and I don’t mean Gona, but her sister Dia. On the day of the ride, eat enough to not bonk. Maybe some chews and gels and sports stuff work for you. Don’t pig out, either. That’s for after.
  • Hydration: Some people swear by drinking a little bit of water every 15 minutes for a couple of days before the ride. Not a bad idea if you can keep it up and manage the hourly skips to the loo. If you’re pee is totally clear, that’s probably too much. If it’s yellow, or you’re thirsty, you’re dehydrated already. When I did charity rides, I liked to take an Epsom salt bath the morning of the ride. On the ride, it’s doubtful you can over do it. Plan for where to refill your bottles.
  • Rest: This is a case of do as I say, not as I do. Taking days off the bike between rides is a good idea, and so is getting plenty of sleep, if you can. At least two nights in a row before your big ride is ideal. Alternating with other types of exercise is ideal, too. This gives the muscles time to heal, which is how they grow. Afterward, plan on a tasty nap and a good night’s sleep.
  • Tapering: I wrote a post on this back in December of 2020 called It’s Tapering Time: Biking Leess Meas Health Gains. Really a subset of Rest, basically, you cut back on your biking a week or more before your bike ride. The time depends on the distance, your levels of fatigue or freshness, and personal preference. But if you keep the legs turning over a little bit, that’s fine, too.

Practical Matters… Matter

There are probably plenty of books written on this subject, so this is just my hot take and not meant to be comprehensive. If you’ve done longer rides before, you’ll probably recognize most of the things. But I think it’s a pretty good list with some A Dudee Abike twists.

  • Bike: Tune it up yourself at your commuity shop like Yellow Bike Project if you have one. If not, try to take it to a trusted mechanic. You don’t want any surprises.
  • Gear: The volunteer coordinator at YBP found a couple of gashes in my rear Gatorskin tire. Fortunately they had a gently used equivalent brand and size for a low cost. Be sure to have back-up tubes, a pump or C02 cartridges (don’t forget the dispenser!). Shades, good gloves, socks, chamois-lined shorts and Chamois Butt’r. Maybe a back-up charger. ID and insurance card, cash. Pretty obvious but if you don’t have the checklist internalized you better write it down.
  • Route: Know what’s going on in your area and map out the road. If you’re not gravel or mountain biking, maybe even drive it in advance What day of the week, or times of day are best? Is there a parade? Festival? Street fair? Construction? Roads that may flood or wash out. Alternate routes are good to have in your back pocket, or on the map.
  • Weather: Yeah, kinda obvious. But you really should be prepared for what’s coming. Tak heed of weather forecasts. Recently we got hail the sze of dog poop, and it broke my housemate’s friend’s windshield twice and put lots of dings in the hood and roof. If it’s going to be raining, hailing, snowing, lightning, icing (not on the cake kind… Mmm… cake!), etc., pay attention. Do you check multiple several weather websites a week before and in the days leading up to your event? What about the hourly weather two days before the ride? Take a good poncho and shoe covers, but also common sense. You may want or have to reschedule if you can or must. Sunscreen and sleeeves for hot sun, and if you’re worried about UV exposure, a big hat to wear under your helmet that covers your neck, ears and face as possible is a good idea. Removable layers if it’s a little cool.

Psycho Killer, Quest Que C’est?

There’s really only one bullet for this, but that would look bad, so I’l split it out.

  • Believe you can do a long ride, and you’re more than halfway there.
  • Miles are mental, in many respects. A 50-mile ride may seem daunting. Four 12.5 milers? Piece of cake. So break it down, one mile at a time, and take breaks. Slow down if you must.
  • A sort of Zen Buddhist approach to the ride doesn’t hurt. If you build it up in your brain that it’s going to be this super hard thing, you may be bringing more suffering upon yourself.
  • Things will go wrong. Roll with them.
  • Have fun.
  • Live to ride another day.
  • Regardless of the outcome, congratulate yourself and be proud. Whatever you did is far better than you laying on the couch watching TV.

Now, go get yourself cleaned up and go lay down on the couch watching TV. And that’s it! my list of the Three P’s approach to a long bike ride (or other effort). Let me know what you think in the comments.

Copyright 2023 A Dude Abikes. All rights reserved. Shortlink to this post.

Actually, I’ve Bicycled About 45,000 Miles in 17 Years

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

The week began slowly. I only managed to average about 12 miles a day when I’m meant to do 15. For 2022, I haven’t set any new goals or made any New Years resolutions. I’m just sort of coasting on auto-pilot from last year. After 5,555.55 miles in 2021, and 6,666.66 in 2020, and riding every day for over 800 days in a row, I have now passed 32,000 miles in just over six years on Strava*. (I started in very late December 2015 and it took five days of 2022 to hit that number, so call it six years and two weeks). That got me to thinking about what I did pre-Strava. The actual total mileage I estimate is much higher. Actually, I’ve bicycled about 45,000 miles in 17 years. (As for whatever I did in childhood and adolescence, into college and young adulthood, I’ve no clue. I could guess 5,000, but it would be a total guess.)

Continue reading →

A 50-Mile Bike Ride, Longest of 2021 (So Far)

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

I rode my bike for half a century (50 miles) on a recent sunny Sunday, the details of which you can see on Strava. Especially if you’re the sort who needs some proof. Or just don’t believe that guy who’s in the same decade of years as miles, with an extra amount of weight, can do that. Although it was challenging given my condition(s), it wasn’t so brutal that I was wrecked the next three days. It’s no work of art (well, the Strava map kinda is), but this snippet of dialog from Seinfeld sums it up well: 

Lois:  Have you designed any buildings in New York?
George Costanza:  Have you seen the new addition to the Guggenheim?
Lois:  You did that?
George Costanza:  Yep. And it didn't take very long either.
Continue reading →

Another Day, Another Bike Ride

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

Here at A Dude Abikes, we (that is, the royal we) appreciate guts, intestinal fortitude, and chutzpah. That extends to anyone taking the chance, choice, and time to read. Though we know we’re no ex-Prince Harry, we do like to think of ourselves as having a quality that our former overlapping roommate said one day recently, i.e. intrepid. It’s been raining buckets here in Central Texas (a good thing because we’re behind for the year). I told the roomie, who’s quite a cyclist, that I was going for a walk, despite the chance of rain and not having slept a lot (partially because of his late and early packing racket). That’s when he said I was intrepid. I thought, “Hey, that’s pretty cool, like James Bond or something.” I’m not in possession of the sort of high-caliber intrepitude (if that wasn’t a word, it is now) that sprinters like Mark Cavendish do, I manage to climb the mountain of a number of good habits every day. Every day could be our last on the bike or other things, but I’m grateful that I was able and am glad to report that today was not the end. It was another day, another bike ride.

Continue reading →

10 Techniques I Used to Bicycle 500 Days in a Row

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

So, this just happened. After reaching 16 months of consecutive bicycle riding couple of weeks ago, the blurb I put in my 500th bike ride in a row on Strava sums it up well:

I ain’t fast, suck at hills, don’t have a ton of followers, or a fancy bike, but I git ‘er done. Different parts hurt and I’m plum tuckered out most days. So mebbe a forced break’s a-comin’. Or mebbe not. I Just Keep Pedalin’.

-moi

Thing is, I didn’t plan on this streak. I just one day realized that if I rode a little bit every day, it might be easier than a long ride every few days. And like my other streaks (yoga for 7+ years and walking, writing and virtually no flour each for 3+ years), at some point, a little voice started saying “Don’t Break The Chain.” It’s a little phrase attributed to Jerry Seinfeld writing jokes every day for a year, which he said wasn’t true. But it’s still a good handle for a challenge.

In a world where half a million Americans have now died of COVID-19, millions of Texans were without power for most of a week during the bitter cold snow and ice storm, and some still have no water or water damage. Plenty of other injustice continues: price gouging, racism, white supremacy, homophobia, sexism, unemployment, poverty, and climate change just to name a few. I know it really matters very little what one zaftig mid-aged bicycle dude in Austin did in his bike. Yet, life goes on. Content must be created, stories must be told, and horns must be tooted. So since you’re here, it’s like the Buddhist path: once started, may as well finish.

Continue reading →

A Third Chat with Sophie the Fairdale Who Turned 15(,000 Miles) on Jan. 15th with a 15-Mile Ride

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

Back on April 14, 2020, I wrote a post I called “Another Chat with Sophie the Fairdale, Who Just Turned 10(,000 Miles).” Well, as you can see, we’ve just hit 15,000. So that’s worth a third chat, wouldn’t you agree? Good, I’m glad. Yes, I know you can’t really talk to bicycles. Well, you can, but they don’t answer. If they do, that would be news. Just play along, it’ll be fine, I promise. Jeez, so literal! By the way, Fairdale Bikes are an Austin company and I have to thank Fairdale Bikes, Bike Austin and Hill Abell with Bicycle Sport Shop for gifting me with Sophie in a raffle back in 2017. Be sure to check out my first post about Sophie: The Fairdale Weekender Archer: A Review of My New Bicycle I Won in a Raffle!

Continue reading →

55-Mile 2020 Birthday Bike Ride with Friends; 5,009 Miles for the Year

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 6 Comments

To commemorate my birthday I’ve gone on longer bike rides for the last few years. Last year it was cold and rainy, so I only got in part of it, and went for the full distance a week later. But I still managed to git ‘er done. This year, the weather was dry and hot with a high of 99 F. Despite the heat, I wore a mask the entire time I was near friends or other riders. It’s a bloody pandemic that’s killed a million people, people! Here’s a short report with photos for your enjoyment, edification, education, etc.

Continue reading →

The Tour de France Departs in 10 Days from Nice. Nice! 10 Changes in 2020

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

Professional cycling’s biggest event was rescheduled from July to begin August 29, thanks to you know what. A few other pro racers have happened, and so there is hope Le Tour will start, and end, without problems. Of course there are always problems; it’s the nature of sport. Last year’s edition saw a huge storm blow up the last few stages with a landslide and flooding caused by snow and rain. This year is no different, except it’s completely different, again, thanks to coronavirus. Here are 10 changes and what to expect in 2020 with some of my commentary.

Continue reading →

Un-Lazy Sunny Sunday 2: Anatomy of My 42-Mile Bike Ride

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

At 5:47 PM on Sunday, August 2, 2020, I headed out on Sophie my trusty Fairdale after an appointment I had ridden six miles to get to. I thought I’d put in another 14 miles to make it another 20 for the day. But in the back of my mind was the thought, “I’ve got several 150-mile weeks in a row under my belt. If I stop now, I’ll break that chain.” And if you know A Dude, you konw he likes to #DontBreakTheChain (first noted in Jerry Seinfeld & The Juiceman Can Teach Us About Making Healthy Choices (Day 2). There had been a little rain to cool things down, I was feeling a little better, and as the title says, I found my 40-miler legs. Sounds easy right? Maybe I make it seem that way, but nope, it’s never easy. Allow me to explain.

Continue reading →