Strava Art

January 17, 2014 by Lee Agur

Strava Art

Chris Phipps has created some amazing Strava Art:

People often ask if I plan these out or not. When the piece includes words I don’t plan because the letters are pretty easy to make, especially since I learned the trick of doing diagonals. However, for pictures such as the Nyan Cat and the Lagunitas IPA 6 pack, I first do a sketch on a printout map of San Francisco, mostly to make sure I don’t run into any parks or schools that block the grid.

It started on January 14, 2012. I was listening to the 49ers vs. Saints playoff game on the radio while riding laps at the polo fields. The 49ers were underdogs, but scored 2 touchdowns in the 1st quarter to go up 14-0, so I was inspired to ride out to the Richmond district and do this.

I received a lot of comments and kudos on the ride, so I did this ride before the NFC championship game vs. the NY Giants the following week.

…But they lost & didn’t make it to the Superbowl, so I didn’t do anything for that.

I didn’t do anything for a while, but during the Tour de France, I was inspired to write“SAGAN” after his stage win on July 3rd.

On the 4th of July, I tried to do a flag, but had to have the stripes go north to south due to the grid layout in the Sunset (a neighborhood in San Francisco, California).

The ride that got me the most kudos and attention was my tribute to David Millar’s win on July 13. Millar replied to my tweet and started following me on Twitter for a while.

Recently, I’m just training in the city and if someone asks me to try something such as Nyan Cat I will. Or if something else inspires me, I’ll do a ride. Last Thursday I found out it was National IPA Day, so that led to the Lagunitas ride. As for future plans, I’m having fun with this and definitely want to try some larger and more elaborate drawings, but probably not until my racing season is over with Masters Nationals in Bend next month.

Strava Art from Others:

Thanks to Strava for providing the story above

How To Stay Cool While Cycling

January 16, 2014 by Lee Agur

How To Stay Cool While Cycling

The summer heat can press down on you like a sweaty blanket learn how to stay cool while cycling.

What Do You Wear to Stay Cool?

One of the most important considerations is what you are wearing on days where you are cycling in the heat. It’s important to wear clothing with the following traits:

Light colored – to reflect away the sunlight. I now only buy white jerseys because I am very prone to overheating.
Wicking – to move sweat away from your skin and to the outer surface where it can evaporate.
Zippers – so you can unzip and catch a nice breeze.

Another way… wear as little as possible. While this could keep you cooler, it also opens you up to sun damage. However, there is something to be said for at least keeping your arms and shoulders bare as these are places where your axillary arteries are. Axillary arteries carry cooled blood back to the heart to cool the rest of your body, so it’s worth keeping them exposed if possible.

Accessorize

Accessories are not just for looks, they are for functionality as well:

Sunglasses – a surprising amount of heat can be absorbed through your eyes. Keeping the sun out, as well as bugs and dirt, will keep you cooler.
Helmet – pay a little extra for well ventilated helmets, no one enjoys heat stroke.

Water

Not only do you need to stay well hydrated, but you should keep extra water to soak yourself. Take advantage of those big vents you paid extra for on your helmet and spray some water down them. Keep your head cool first, and if you have enough to spray under your armpits, near your groin and down your back as these are the places that your blood vessels are close to the skin.

Sunscreen

I used to hate wearing sunscreen, but I noticed a major improvement in performance when I slapped it on… now I don’t leave home without it. I have read that applying sunscreen can keep your body temperatures 10% cooler.

Avoidance

Take a look at the forecast and if you know it is going to be hot, ride in the morning/evening when you don’t have to battle the heat.

A little common sense goes a long way in the heat. If you start to feel woozy or start overheating stop and take the time to cool down because heat stroke can kill you or cause permanent damage to your brain and internal organs. It is serious stuff… so stay cool.

Best Way To Lose Weight Cycling

January 15, 2014 by Lee Agur

Best Way To Lose Weight Cycling

Cycling at a medium pace primarily targets fat cells for energy; therefore, people say it is the “fat burning zone” and is the best way to lose weight cycling. Although all of this is true it is only half the story.

The Other Half of the Story

Example 1

So you have gone out at your medium pace (approximately 60% of VOmax) for an hour and burned 400 calories, primarily fat, good work. After the workout you are hungry so you go grab some food… Well, your carbohydrate stores are mostly full because you didn’t use any… Better store most of that 500 calorie meal as fat… Wait what?

Your body is designed to use what it needs, and if it doesn’t need it it will store it as fat until it does.

Example 2

You go as hard as you can for an hour and burn over 1000 calories, primarily carbohydrates, hard work. After the workout you are hungry so you go grab some food… Well, your carbohydrate stores are depleted because you primarily used them… Better store most of that 800 calorie meal (you are more hungry than example 1 because of the hard workout) as carbohydrate.

1000 calories – 800 calories = 200 calorie net loss = good = weight loss.

Additionally, when you workout that hard you continue to burn calories long after the work out has ended.

The Rules

If you are looking to lose weight it does not matter what energy source is used during the workout because the golden rule of weight loss still applies “burn more calories than you consume”.

If you burn more calories than you can consume the net affect will be that you lose weight. A 200-300 caloric deficit per day is healthy and optimal.

The Actual Best Way to Lose Weight Cycling

Since burning the most calories is the primary objective that means that higher intensities are preferred for weight loss. That does not mean that every time you get on a bike you should put the hammer down and go like a bat out of hell, you will burn out.

Depending on how much time you have in a given week should determine how intense you should go:

If you only have a chance to get on a bike twice in one week for 30 minutes each… bike like you stole something.
If you are blessed with being able to afford lots of time on the bike then don’t go so hard that you need several days to recover afterwards. Include low and medium intensity workout sessions.

At the end of the day interval training is a great mix between high intensity and low/medium intensity to burn lots of calories for weight loss. Mostly I recommend to do whatever it takes to make the experience as fun as possible so you make it a priority and do it more often. Go buy a Garmin and watch yourself improve, go with friends or your husband/wife (or go without them…), use your bike to commute… whatever it takes… Just get out and ride.

Top 10 Cyclist Pick Up Lines

January 14, 2014 by Lee Agur

Top 10 Cyclist Pick Up Lines

1. I WHEELIE like you.

2. Your pace or mine?

3. Want to get anaerobic?

4. I believe in riding with protection. (looking at a helmet)

5. Want to come over and borrow my chain whip?

6. Can I make you a recovery drink? You are going to need it.

7. Want to go for a ride?

8. I’m an endurance athlete.

9. I bet we could do some good interval training together.

10. I like your frame.

What have you got? Have you tried any of these? Have they ever worked? Leave a comment below:

Cyclist Dating Guide

January 12, 2014 by Craig Richey

Cyclist Dating Guide

If you are a cyclist then dating another cyclist can seem like the ultimate win-win situation and it definitely can be. However, there definitely some potential drawbacks worth considering before you start asking for numbers at the next race or group ride.

Riding Together (+/-)

One of the biggest potentially positives or negatives of dating a fellow cyclist is riding together. If you are both recreational riders that are not stressed about power zones, training programs, or winning races then being able to ride with your partner could be a huge positive. Similarly if you are both stressed about power zones, training programs and winning races then riding together can be really enjoyable. This works because you will only ride together when the training situation permits it, and nobody will be offended if someone has to sprint away on the climbs. The problems arise when someone is stressed about power zones etc. and someone is not. This leads to the classic “can I come” and “are you sure” situation which rarely turns out well. I personally remember one such situation that resulted in a 110km gravel road ride around a lake that contained a lot of pushes, two frustrated people, and an arrival home well after sun down.

Same Cycling Goals (+)

The situations described above lead to this important conclusion: the smoothest cyclist-plus-cyclist relationships tend to happen between cyclists with similar cycling goals. If you’re a committed, serious cyclist looking to climb the ranks, the best potential boyfriend/girlfriend is likely someone in a similar situation. You will better understand and support each other’s commitment and challenges. I have seen this work for many cycling couples and it usually has a positive impact on both athletes’ results. Any cycling couple with similar goals can find this type of synergy. You don’t have to be struggling racers; from simply biking to lose weight or to be on the national team, having similar goals helps.

Your Ex (-)

Cycling relationships happen, riding along looking at each other’s butts in spandex it is no surprise cyclist often end up dating. The downside is that after you stop dating a cyclist they will probably keep riding, they will look at other riders in spandex who will look back, and ….. it happens. The bottom line is that if you date a cyclist and then breakup they are probably going to date another cyclist which could be your friend, teammate, or arch rival. You need to be ok with this going in, or the local cycling community is going to start to feel really small really fast.

Alternatives

Maybe based on the information above you are a little less certain about dating a cyclist, don’t despair there are alternatives. An athlete that does a different endurance sport has many of the positives and avoids some of the drawbacks, the biggest issue with this alternative is that it can be really hard to meet an athlete that does a different sport. Another alternative is a retired cyclist, if you are a serious racer then dating someone who was also a serious racer but is now only riding recreationally can work really well. They will still understand your commitment to training, nutrition, and recovery without the “can I come” issues.

About the Author:

Craig Richey is a multiple time Canadian National team member, representing Canada at mountain bike World Cups and cyclocross World Championships. Having been involved in cycling for rougly a decade he has seen many cyclist relationships succeed as well as fail. Craig is currently doing an MBA in Boston, and recently launched SponsorConnected.com

Are energy drinks posing as sports drinks fooling you?

January 11, 2014 by Lee Agur

This is Your Brain on Red Bull – Are energy drinks posing as sports drinks fooling you?

A battle is being waged on North American convenience store shelves. Sports beverages, led by Gatorade are fighting for their lives against energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster and Rock Star. At the heart of the battle is the question: do any of these drinks really boost performance?

Gainesville, we have a problem.

The first batch, it is said, tasted so bad that none of the researchers could stomach it. In the spring of 1965, Dwayne Douglas, a University of Florida Gators assistant football coach asked a question: why did players lose so much weight during practice but never felt the urge to urinate? Robert Cade, director of the UF College of Medicine’s renal and electrolyte division would later recount, “that question changed our lives”. Cade’s wife gets the credit for suggesting they add a little lemon juice.

The following year, armed with their new magic potion, the Gators rolled to an 8-2 record and established a reputation as a come-from-behind second half team. A small Indianapolis beverage company licensed Gatorade the following year and the sports drink industry was born.

The real Godfather of long distance truckers.

Started in 1987, Red Bull was the brainchild of Dietrich Mateschitz, the secretive mastermind that turned a carbonated and caffeinated version of an Asian energy tonic into a global media phenomenon. Red Bull launched a new beverage category and continues to dominates the 37 billion dollar global energy drink market. Most people recognize the brand as a sponsor of sporting events, professional soccer clubs and motor racing teams.

Red Bull and other energy drinks have squarely positioned themselves as sports drinks that enhance athletic performance. Red Bull’s Malaysian website extols the benefits they provide for “the World’s top athletes” and lays out specific guidelines. One can a half hour before training or competition, 1-2 cans during the activity with water and 1 after to aid recovery. Red Bull’s North American website is less specific, relying on sponsored athletes like stand-up paddle-boarder, Robby Naish to prescribe the optimum consumption schedule: “before, during, or after”.

Blinded by science.

It’s been well established in the academic literature that caffeine increases endurance, reduces the perception of fatigue and improves reaction times. Based on their single serving size containing the caffeine equivalent of one cup of coffee, Red Bull’s marketing message plays heavily on these same performance enhancing qualities .

Taurine, another major ingredient of Red Bull, is an amino acid naturally present in your body. As a supplement, taurine has not been widely studied, likely because the body can make plenty of it’s own. One recent study did however test the effects ingesting caffeine combined with taurine on short term memory. Since many University of Wisconsin students were using Red Bull to perform better on exams, researchers tested to see if caffeine mixed with taurine could improve performance on short term memory tasks. The results showed no improvement in short term memory but did uncover a surprising effect on heart rate.

Paper, rock, scissors.

Just when caffeine should have been raising heart rates, the combination with taurine actually lowered them. It may be that mixing taurine with caffeine counters the very performance benefits that Red Bull promotes.

Too much sugar.

During prolonged intense physical exertion of over an hour, consuming carbohydrates can restore blood sugar levels and supply glycogen to working muscles. At 11 grams per 100ml, Red Bull packs nearly twice the sugar concentration as Gatorade’s 6 grams. That should be good right?

A 2009 study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism showed that glucose concentrations above 6 grams per 100 ml significantly reduced fluid absorption in the gut. Tossing back an energy drink during a hard workout is likely to leave you more dehydrated than drinking nothing at all.

The bottom line.

Sports drinks are for athletes performing intense physical activity for prolonged periods.

Energy drinks are for people that like energy drinks.

If you are thirsty and fall somewhere between these two groups, try water.

How To Bike Safely On Wet Roads

January 11, 2014 by Lee Agur

How To Bike Safely On Wet Roads

Braking

Braking on wet surfaces is much more dangerous than braking on dry surfaces and requires a bit of practice and skill. Most of your braking power is still in your front brake; however, apply to much pressure and you are sure to have a front wheel slip out. It is important to get a “feel” for your bike and know how much brake to apply front AND back. On wet surfaces I apply a little more even braking; approximately 60% front brake and 40% back brake depending on the conditions. The dryer the surface the more front brake you can apply.

Since the surface is wet there is less traction, since there is less traction you need to start braking earlier not to mention that your braking is slowed even further because of the water on your rims. You will notice when you brake on wet roads that your brakes take a few seconds to “kick in” that is because there is water on your rims and your brake pads must clear it before you are able to get adequate friction on the rims.

One trick to better braking is actually shedding this water before you even want to start braking; this is done by gently squeezing the brake so that the brake pad caresses the rim and clears the water without slowing down.

When you are ready to brake apply more pressure on the front brake than the back, but not so much as to cause a front wheel slip out. You will get a better feel for this the more you practice. You will even get to a point where you can start to feel the front tire want to go on you and that is how you know to back off a little.

Turns

Don’t forget to brake much earlier than you are normally accustomed and make sure that you have slowed down enough so that you are not required to brake during the actual turn. Braking during the turn is one of the more common mistakes and I have seen a few people go down as a result.

Try to take the turn as wide as possible to cut down the angle as much as possible (straighter line = safer). Always look ahead at where you want to go and not at what you are trying to avoid. Keep in mind want kind of tires you have on, racing slicks in a turn can be disastrous at the same speed where a winter treaded tire can be safe.

Tire Pressure

Biking with a lower psi in your tube will allow greater traction as more of the tires surface area will be in contact with the road. I know most roadies jack up the psi as high as possible as they think it results in faster times, (not always true) but try and avoid this especially on a wet road. I reduce psi from my standard 105 psi to 95 psi in my tubes.

Any other tips? Leave a comment below:

The Pocket Drone

January 9, 2014 by Lee Agur

The Pocket Drone – Your Personal Flying Robot

Capture all of your amazing skills with your personal flying pocket drone that can follow you through GPS!

Yet another reason to own a GroPro, instead of strapping it to your helmet, now you can fly the camera in the sky.

This product was just launched on kickstarter and has reached its goal in under 24 hours. Quite amazing. Just make sure you use it in an open space… I don’t think it can see trees. Maybe that is the next generation…

“The world’s first multicopter that’s powerful enough to carry a high quality action camera and folds up smaller than a 7in tablet.

The Pocket Drone is the personal flying robot that enables anyone to capture amazing video and photos from the sky. The year 2014 is going to be the “Year of the Drone.” Personal and professional photography is literally beginning to take off. Everybody can already take great looking photos and videos with their camera phones and share them online, but they have been limited to what could seen from the ground. Now with the Pocket Drone, it’s never been easier to capture spectacular aerial images that open up a whole new perspective and insight that had previously been unseen.” – Kickstarter

Do you want your own flying camera? Go to Kickstarter to order your very own pocket drone.

The ABC’s to Fats Proteins and Carbohydrates

January 8, 2014 by Lee Agur

Fats Proteins and Carbohydrates

You are the engine. Fuel the engine properly and it will perform. Don’t… and… you will putter out.

Your body needs different things for different functions. If your car runs out of oil you don’t go and put gas in the tank! Your engine will literally burst into flames! Your body is similar. It needs a healthy balance of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Fats

Lets start with the common misconception that fat is bad. Saturated fats constitute approximately 50% of the cell membrane. Together with protein, fats give our cells stiffness and integrity, they are also required to give us strong and healthy bones. Fats are essential to rebuilding cell walls; so, as levels of inflammation increase (caused by cycling or working out) the need for cholesterol (<– the fat) increases so it can rebuild the damaged tissue. Unsaturated fats are required for oxygen transfer, muscle recovery, energy production and more. Fat is also a key component in brain development. Still think fat is bad for you?

Proteins

Amino acids, the “the building blocks” of protein, are used for building tissue and repairing damaged tissue. People have protein shakes after a hard bike ride or workout to repair the tissue that was torn from the stress.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our brains and bodies to function properly. The body breaks the carbohydrates down into glucose, the body then uses the glucose for energy, if there is not enough glucose then the body starts to use proteins and fats. If the protein is being used for energy then it is not being used to build and repair tissue and its other important functions.

The key to keeping your engine running smoothly is providing the right fuel.

What is that? You want jet fuel? You have to know what to eat and when. Some general guidelines are:

45% to 65% of calories eaten should come from carbohydrates.
20% to 35% of calories eaten should come from fat.
10% to 35% of calories eaten should come from protein.

These are large margins due to the fact that it depends on what you are doing. For instance, if you are doing intervals for 2 hours then you are going to need lots of carbohydrates and very little fat.

Nutrition is one of the most difficult things to master. It takes years of experience and trial and error. The best gauge is to keep comparing how you felt and performed compared to your last rides/races/workouts and adjust accordingly. This in itself is a great reason to have a training log AND a meal plan.

Some Suggested Reading: The Paleo Diet for Athletes, The Feed Zone Cookbook, The Paleo Diet Cookbook

The Basic Goals of Training

January 8, 2014 by Lee Agur

The Goals of Training

The principles of cycling training are fundamentally basic. Your goal is it overload and then allow for adaptation. Rinse and repeat.

So what are you trying to overload?

There are three variables in cycling training:

Volume – How much
Intensity – How hard or how easy
Frequency – How often

In training the goal is to increase (overload) either volume, intensity and/or frequency in order to obtain “overreaching” (explained below) then allowing yourself to recover (adaptation). Repeat that process until you reach your desired goals.

The key to training is finding the correct combination of these three variables.

Great – What is the correct combination?

That really is the art and science behind a training plan. It really depends on the individual and their goals. For instance, someone trying to complete a century ride is likely going to focus on volume, where as, someone preparing for a criterium race is going to focus on intensity.

There are a lot of factors to consider when developing a training plan. Take something as simple as age, imagine a person at 20 and how quick recovery is. Now imagine that same person at 55. Generic training plans are much better than nothing and serve as great bases to work from, but you should take the time to educate yourself on what your body requires and when.

Overreaching

There are 4 classifications when talking about cycling training:

Undertraining – When you spend too much time resting or recovering and not enough time on the bike, your performance does not improve.
Acute overload – Positive physiological adaptations and minor improvements in performance, you are getting better albeit slowly.
Overreaching – Optimal physiological adaptations and performance, your training plan should be designed to overreach.
Overtraining – Physiological maladaptations and performance decrease, you feel very fatigued and have a lackluster attitude for training.

At the end of last season I spent a lot of my time in the overtrained classification, mostly because I solely focused on intensity and it drained my batteries at a very rapid rate. Again, overreaching is the goal, but it is difficult to know how little is too little and even more so how much is too much.

The essence of cycling training is very simple, but there are so many different ways to achieve the same goal. If you are new to training I suggest a cycling coach, even if it is just for a few months, they can save you a lot of wasted time and energy.

Information for this post gathered from: USA Cycling