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I Love Bicycling

I Love Bicycling is a website that is geared towards cycling for beginners with road cycling tips, training articles, nutrition tips, weight loss, how to’s and bike repair articles.

The Benefits of Wide Cycling Shoes

August 20, 2015 by U.M.

imagesA good pair of cycling shoes is absolutely essential if you are really serious about improving your times and perhaps getting yourself ready for any cycling events. If that sounds like you, then you have probably already noticed that a regular pair of trainers or sneakers simply aren’t up to the task and don’t allow for the most efficient cycling.

This problem is compounded if you have wider feet, as it can often be difficult to find a pair of cycling shoes that will fit comfortably. Thankfully, wide cycling shoes exist for just that purpose, so let’s take a look at some of the advantages that come with a good pair of wide cycling shoes.

Extra Space

Anybody with wide feet will know about the pain that prolonged use of a pair of narrow cycling shoes can cause. In fact, it can get so distracting that it takes your mind off the race and may even result in your getting muscle cramps in your feet.

A good pair of wide cycling shoes will offer your feet that extra little bit of space that you need to stay comfortable when you are cycling, while also maintaining all of the positives that a pair of cycling shoes bring to the table.

Breathing

Allowing your feet to breath is absolutely essential if you are cycling, as warm feet can be a major distraction, especially when combined with sweat. Despite the fact that cycling shoes are made of breathable materials, you won’t experience the full benefit of them if your feet are too wide to fit in them properly.

However, wide cycling shoes solve this problem as they are made from the same materials as regular cycling shoes, allowing your feet to breathe properly when you are riding. It may seem like a small thing but you will definitely appreciate it on longer rides, especially when the sun is out and you are trying everything that you can to keep your body cool.

They Don’t Slip

If you have ever cycled in regular shoes then you will know the horrors of your feet slipping off the pedals at a crucial moment. Whenever it does come, you can guarantee that it will completely break your rhythm and result in you losing valuable time.

Wide cycling shoes remedy that problem because they are firmly attached to your pedals, meaning that there is no chance that your feet will slip at the crucial moment. This means that you can instead focus on generating the power you need and maintaining a steady cadence so that you can blow past the competition.

The Design

Many beginners may find that the stiffness of wide cycling shoes can put them off, as they may feel that they won’t offer the flexibility they want when they are riding. However, that is all there by design, as that stiffness is in place to reinforce the support that is given to your foot when you are riding. This, in turn, reduces the risk of muscle cramps and other injuries that can cause issues with your cycling.

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August 18, 2015 by Lee Agur

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Are Disc Brakes Better Than Rim Brakes?

August 16, 2015 by Guest Post

Are Disc Brakes Better Than Rim Brakes?Are disc brakes better than rim brakes? Well it is a matter of preference, but one thing is undeniable and that is that disc brakes have more stopping power than rim brakes and therefore cause you to stop faster!

If the entire job of a brake is to make you stop more quickly then wouldn’t you want the one that makes you stop faster?

The Argument

Not everyone agrees that more stopping power equals better:

Some people are adverse to change and want to stick with what has been working so far, while others believe it is not as aero or weighs more… even the look of disc brakes turn some people off.

Another point to consider is when you get a flat tire, rim brakes will make that change a few seconds faster.

Better Brakes Equals More Confidence

i love bicycling tested disc brakes versus rim brakes and what we found was that we were able to go in to corners faster because we could brake later and still make the turn, taking corners more quickly as we had more confidence that we were able to stop faster if we got in to trouble and we ended up gaining an average of 10 seconds on a 5 minute descent! That is a lot of time.

Imagine pedaling up a climb as hard as you can in 5 minutes! Now imagine pedaling up that same hill in 4 minutes and 50 seconds without making any fitness changes. What would you do to gain that kind of time?

The Future of Disc Brakes in Road Cycling

Disc brakes will become more common on road bikes in the near future. You have already started to see disc brakes in the Tour, how long do you think it will be before disc brakes outnumber rim brakes?

GCN

Check out the test that GCN performed on disc brakes vs rim brakes:

Do you think you will adopt disc brakes, or do you already have them. Tell us what your experience is rim brake vs disc brake.

How Do Cyclists Poop During A Race

July 21, 2015 by U.M.

If you’re an elite cyclist or hope to be one someday, this may be a problem you will have to face one day: how do cyclists poop during a race? This particular issue was first made famous by Julie Moss who lost control of her bowels after completing the 1982 Ironman Triathlon. Despite how gross or embarrassing the topic may be, many high performance athletes can tell at least one poop in the pants story.

When People Used To Stop

how do cyclists poop during a race
how do cyclists poop during a race

Back in the day, when a cyclist had to use the bathroom the entire race used to stop and wait for him to finish in a proper bathroom. Of course, this was back when cycling races like the Tour de France were more about being gentlemanly than about competing. As races became more competitive, riders would still stop to use the bathroom but the other riders would not stop as well. Today, nobody stops for anything short of the apocalypse and having to poop does not count as apocalyptic.

 So What Do They Do Now?

Today, elite athletes will just poop their pants and continue on. And the best part is that most serious athletes (while knowing its a little icky) will understand the motivation behind not stopping. Julie Moss once said about her famous incident, “They’ll understand that in my situation it really was a simple, even an easy, choice for me. Yes, I was willing to shit my pants rather than stop.” That’s the voice of true dedication.

Keep in mind what’s happening when cyclists are forced to poop their pants. Professionals compete to the point that their body is beyond stressed – it feels likes it is dying. The heart rate is going haywire, it’s difficult to breathe, and the muscles are so tired and overworked that they feel as if they are literally screaming to stop torturing them. These riders can be on the verge of unconsciousness, sometimes death, and because biology doesn’t know that you’re doing this for a race your body thinks it’s in danger.

A big part of your body’s response to the danger signal is to shut down the digestive system so that the blood flow can be routed to areas that will keep you alive: the brain, muscles, and lungs. This can result in one of two responses by the digestive system: puking or pooping. Puking is something people expect of athletes but the pooping part is something people don’t talk about.

 The Shorts Can Help

Some bike shorts have padding that can essentially double as an adult diaper if need be. This is not always foolproof and usually results with ruined shorts but it can help just enough to make pooping in your pants not quite so horrible. Good bike shorts will be able to absorb liquids (usually sweat) and a good fit will hopefully keep everything from moving around and causing even more discomfort.

A common question that gets pitched at many cyclists is this: how do you poop during a race? The short answer should be “in my pants,” but only when it’s really worth with it.

Newsletter Sign Up

March 31, 2014 by Lee Agur

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We are trying to to spread our love and passion of cycling with you. Join our community you won’t regret it.

Cover - photo

All You Need To Know About Your Bike Chain

February 24, 2014 by U.M.

all you need to know about your bike chainA bicycle chain is simply a roller chain that transfers the power you put into your pedals to the wheel of your bike. The harder you pedal, the faster your bike goes. Of course, that’s an oversimplification but that is essentially the role your bike chain plays in how the bike functions. [Read more…]

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