TMI on my BMI

Picture of me taken on December 29, 2010. Dangerously close to obesity according to my BMI.

Apparently, I’m fat. My employer runs an annual health check-up program and I just got the results in today.  Everything passes with flying colors except for one thing.  The website that analyzes my results and makes suggestions recommended that I watch my weight because, according to the BMI, I am close to being overweight. 

This isn’t unusual. Every year they run these tests and every year my weight is within a pound or two of 175. Being 6’1” you can imagine (and see above pic) that most of my weight is of the vertical variety. The nurses running the body fat tests are always surprised at how low my body fat is.  This year, body fat was actually slightly higher this year as the tests were closer to Christmas (previous years were before Thanksgiving) so I have been caught carrying a few extra cookies.  However it is still very low at 9%. So when they warn me that I am balancing on the precipice of humpty-dumpty land you can imagine my difficulty in taking their warnings seriously.  

The problem with BMI is that it is a formula based on average body composition.  The only inputs are your height (which decreases with age) and your weight.  Already, alarms are sounding!  If your height decreases with age and your weight stays the same, it is possible that you can go from “normal” to “overweight” or “obese”.  And what about someone that is fairly active?  Whether through work or through an exercise program? In those cases the BMI is totally worthless.  Yet the health industry seems to think it is an important measure of one’s overall health.  It is so important that even some life insurance policies will be cheaper if your BMI is between 19 and 25.  Which is interesting because studies have shown that people in the “normal” BMI range (18.5 to 24.9) have a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease than the “overweight” range.

My analysis from this latest health check warns me to get active because my average of 11 hours high-intensity riding a week is not nearly enough to keep me from obesity. I guess all I can say to BMI warnings is, whatever.  To the people who still insist on using a formula created in the 1800’s by a mathematician –that’s right, not a doctor, not a nutritionist, not even a personal trainer, he was a mathematician- come out and join me on a hill pounding ride for a couple of hours and at the end I will stand straddling my bike while you call me fat because you can't manage to gasp enough air into your burning lungs to say the word "obese".

We're B-A-A-CK!

Cycling on Christmas Eve. That's how we ROLL!

We took a couple of days off from blogging to share Christmas with our kids. (In reality we were only going to take one day off but it took more time than we thought to dig out from under all the torn open wrapping paper, toy boxes and gift bags.) I have been getting some saddle time in (mostly in the gym) but we were able to sneak in a family ride on the day of Christmas Eve and it was Jax’s very first bicycle ride in the Burley trailer.

Both of my older sons rode in the same trailer for several years until they got too big to fit. Luckily, we kept it around for our youngest and I hope to have him spending many an hour with us on the trails enjoying cycling. He is only 14 months old so our first time out was brief; about 15 minutes. It was also the first time my wife has felt well enough to resume cycling in almost two years. So it was kind of a big day for our family in two ways as far as cycling goes.  It was fun having everyone out and I can’t wait until our rides turn into all-day events with a picnic lunch along the trail. (My wife put that request in because that is what she used to do with her family when she was a child and I am more than happy to comply as it –of course- is cycling related!)

Of course, now I have one more group to look forward to riding with. Let’s see: Body Concepts racing rides, Folsom High School Team training rides, the lunch ride group at work, Cycle Folsom whenever I finally get the chance to and best of all: The GroveTribe Rides! (Small, furry mammals beware!)

Coming soon: first impression review of my new HeroCam!

Merry Christmas from The GroveTribe!



What do we have on our Christmas Tree? Bikes, of course!!!

 We hope your holiday is full of love, peace and dreams of bicycles!

For a fun Christmas themed story about a bicycle to share with your family be sure to check out yesterday's blog "Angus: The Big Blue Bike" http://grovetribe.blogspot.com/2010/12/angus-big-blue-bike.html

See you on the trail!

Chris, Dawn, Cassie, Jax, Mike, Jared, & Morgan

Angus The Big Blue Bike

ANGUS: The Big Blue Bike with his GroveTribe owner Chris

We wanted to give our friends a bicycle gift for the holidays and on the eve of Christmas we decided to share the story of Angus The Big Blue Bike. Angus is the name of Chris' mountain bike and one day we started talking about all of his adventures and making up stories about Angus. Here is the first one we wrote. Please share this with your kids, read it out loud to them as a part of your Christmas celebration. HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!

ANGUS THE BIG BLUE BIKE
story by the GroveTribe

Angus’ first experience of the world was dark and noisy and bouncy.  He did not know where he was or where he was going and he was a bit frightened.  After a while the noises stopped and he could feel himself being lifted through the air. He was set down, still in his box and everything was quiet for a long time. He sat in the silent darkness and wondered what was to become of him. He began to feel very lonely and cramped.

A while later, Angus heard voices and although he was still a little frightened, he was excited and hoped he would be let out of his dark shipping box. The voices got louder and he began to be jostled about, he heard a loud noise and a rush of light and air flooded into his box. Hands grabbed his frame and pulled him from the box. He was very happy until he heard the voices grow angry.

“What’s this? A mountain bike? Hey! Did you order a mountain bike?!?” One voice said.

“Of course not! We only carry road bikes! I wouldn’t order a mountain bike!” Came a reply. “I’ll call and find out what happened. I can’t believe we get this sort of mess up just a week before Christmas.”

The voices walked away and Angus was left alone once more. Or so he though. Looking around he saw dozens of other bikes. Sleek, small bikes with delicate frames and thin smooth tires.  None of them looked like Angus. He was big and tall and blue with heavy, nubbly tires and a big, tough frame. He began to hear whispering among the other bikes.

“What’s HE doing here?”

“Have you ever seen something so clumsy looking?”

“Who would ever want to ride THAT?”

Angus had wanted to say something as soon as he saw the other bikes but now he felt awkward and afraid to speak. He just sat there very still and said nothing until the first two voices returned.

“Well.” Growled the first voice. “It looks like were stuck with it. Put him up in the rack and hopefully someone will buy it before Christmas.”

With that, Angus was gruffly lifted into a rack in between a petite black bike with delicate vines and leaves painted on her frame and a tall, red bike with thick white letters and handle bars. Once the bicycles were left alone, the tall red bike sneered at Angus.

“You don’t belong here. No will ever want you!”

“That’s enough Orbert! Be nice!” said the delicate black bike on the other side of him. “My name is Annadale. What’s yours?”

“My – my name is Angus. Why don’t I belong here? Why did those others call me a mountain bike and said that they didn’t want me?”

“Others?” Asked Annadale not sure of what Angus meant.

“They don’t look like bicycles. They have no wheels.” Angus explained.

“Oh! Those are RIDERS. We are made for them. When we have a rider of our own we become free and we become fast and nimble and taste the wind! Oh, to have a rider is the greatest dream come true!” exclaimed Annadale with hope and joy in her voice.   “This is called a bicycle shop, this is a place where riders come to find us and take us home to become part of their family. It is every bicycle’s hope to have a rider.”

“He’ll never have a rider. He is far too ugly? What rider could fly on the back of such a beast like him?” sniped a black bike with an angry pink stripe that curved along her frame.

“Damia! Be nice, it’s not his fault he shouldn’t be here! He’s just misplaced but I am sure someone will want him too.” Angus could tell that Annadale was trying to be nice but she did not sound like she believed he would ever find a rider of his own. Angus thought Annadale was very sweet but he didn’t want to be in this place where he felt so ugly and unwanted.

As days and night passed by, more and more riders entered the shop. Some were shorter and smaller and looked at bikes like Annadale and Damia. Some riders were tall and slim and muscular and would take bikes like Orbert off the rack and sit upon his seat. Orbert would preen and shine and looked so pleased with himself. No one looked at Angus.

More and more of the bicycles left the shop. Angus was very happy to see Orbert leave with a rider and ignored how proud the red bike looked. The shop became more and more empty and the whispers of gossip about Angus faded away as the bikes and riders, everyone except Annadale, ignored him.

Over and over he heard words like “Christmas” and “Hanukkah” and “present” repeated by the riders. The bicycles were always so excited when the shop was opened in the morning. Everyone was so joyful, except Angus. He knew that soon, a bike as beautiful as Annadale would go home with her own rider and he would have no friend left in the shop. Later that morning, one of the tall, muscular riders with eyes as blue as Angus’ frame touched Angus front tire and gave him a close look. Angus felt a rush of happiness and hope as the rider looked at his frame and his gearing and his brakes. Maybe, just maybe, this rider would want Angus!

Then a voice distracted the blue-eyed rider and he walked away, forgetting Angus and moving on to another part of the shop.

“Oh, Angus. I’m so sorry.” Whispered Annadale.  Angus just hung silently in his rack and refused to look at any more of the riders. It wasn’t until much later, when the shop lights went out and he turned to Annadale that he realized that she was gone. Annadale had been claimed by a rider and he hadn’t even said good-bye to her. He was so busy feeling sorry for himself that he didn’t share in his only friends joy that her dream had come true. Now Angus was more alone than ever.

The next morning the words “sale” and “clearance” and “Christmas Eve” were said by riders just as much as the words like “gift” and “under the tree”. More and more bicycles left and as the sky grew dark Angus found himself alone. The only bicycled that had not found his rider. The riders that helped the other riders find their bicycles started preparing the store for closing. Bits of paper were being counted. The floor was being swept and words like “family” and “dinner” and “time with the kids” were being used by the two riders left. When one of the riders turned the sign on the door around so that the word “closed” could be seen through the window. Angus’ heart sank. There would be no rider for him, he was big and ugly and alone. No one wanted him.

“No will ever want you!” Orbert had been right.

The two riders were pulling on jackets when a loud banging on the window made them turn around. One of them opened the door and let in a tall rider who walked right up to Angus. As soon as the rider looked up at Angus with his clear blue eyes and touched his frame.

“I want the Big Blue Bike.” The rider said. The other riders smiled and hurried to the money box while Angus felt himself being lifted by the strong hands of his rider.

“Do you want us to load it into your car for you, Sir?”

“No.” Replied Angus’ rider. “I’ve been saving up all year. I want to ride him home. “

T.G.I.D.S.I.F. (Thank Gooodness It Doesn't Snow In Folsom)

Even as a teenager it was hard to keep me indoors and off a bike!

Watching parts of the Minnesota vs. Bears football game on Monday Night Football gave me the chills.  It also brought back memories from my days living in the northern suburbs of Chicago.  The winters were pretty long and cold which isn’t easy for a cyclist. 

Most winters I gave up on riding and had to go through the painful process of getting back in shape every spring.  As I got older, I would start doing a little more to try and stay in shape.  I got a trainer from Blackburn and would hook up my old Schwinn LeTour but I found that frustrating.  Tires would wear out, the wheel would slip a lot, and it was incredibly boring (all of which hasn’t changed with time but I am more likely to get on now than when I was 16). 

My frustrations would grow to the point that I would hop on my mountain bike -yes, they made them back then, thought they look much different than they do today.  No suspension, roller cam breaks on one bike, a goofy rear u-break on the other that did nothing but trap mud and debris- and try to ride in the snow. 

At first I would use a snow jacket with blue jeans or my snow suit. Eventually I got some nice gear from Bellweather (that I haven’t used since I left the Midwest because it just isn’t cold enough out here to put it on) that kept me warm and comfortable.  The color scheme of the era had me looking like a Ninja Turtle, but I didn’t mind, it allowed me to get out and ride. (Hmmm…  Maybe I should try and put the old gear on for a picture.  I weigh less than I did in high school but I think it will still fit.)  What was really nice about that gear is that it had a material on the front that blocked the wind and spandex in the back that allowed your body to still breathe and not get overheated.

With good gear I would take my mtb or road bike (if the roads were mostly clear) out for more rides than I did before.  However I was still pretty limited as riding on the roads in those conditions is pretty dangerous.  I remember one time I talked a friend into riding with me.  We were going down a street that had a fair amount of traffic on it.  As we were going down the hill he lost control a little and started sliding sideways.  Everything was fine, you don’t get road rash sliding on ice and snow, but it reinforced the point that riding in this weather isn’t the best idea.

Those memories make me really appreciate living where I am now.  Yes, we have some bad weather at the moment that keeps me from riding on some days.  But at least I am not buried in snow.  Most winters you never have to go more than day or two (unless there are work/family commitments) inside. For a boy from Chicago, it’s a cyclist’s dream. Gotta love living in Folsom!

Riding with "The Punisher"

If you see this guy on the trail, just let him pass you.

The reason there was no blog post yesterday was because I was in recovery from an encounter with my own version of Racer X: Brian aka “The Punisher”. It all started out innocently enough. I had sent out an email to a local bike group letting them know that I was going to do a lunch ride and asked if anyone else was interested.  I didn’t get a response from anyone which didn’t surprise me.  The forecast had called for rain today and with Christmas coming up a lot of people are out of the office.  Even though the forecast called for rain I packed my bike just in case there was a break in the weather.  In this case, there was; only a 10% chance of rain until 3pm.  For me, that is a big enough opening to squeeze a ride in.

As I got my bike unloaded from the car I looked around and didn’t see anyone else running out or getting ready.  That was fine.  I was a little bit tired anyway so I figured I would see if my legs had anything.  If they didn’t, I would just do an easy recovery ride.  Just as I was going through the final steps to get ready, Brian showed up.  “Oh crap!” was the first thought in my head.  Brian is a Cat 2 racer.  On my good days it is punishing trying to keep his pace.  My best hope is that he isn’t looking to go that hard today.

As we do the warm-up part of the ride my legs are giving me mixed signals.  Quads are feeling pretty strong but my calf muscles are shot from doing some “cross training” during a recent winter storm.  I ask Brian what type of ride he is looking to do.  He responds with “hard endurance.”  Okay…  There is no way I am going to be able to take the lead and do a “pull” in my current condition and I let him know that I am just going to hang on to his wheel. 

As he starts picking up the pace, I am instantly on the ropes.  Making things worse is the gusty and variable winds.  I draft okay (should get closer than I do) when winds are calm, but in conditions like this, I can never figure out where I am supposed to be to optimize the draft.  Since I don’t follow as close as I should, I don’t get as much of a “pull.”  His pace is faster than I expected based on what he told me he was going to do.  No big deal, I figured he is going to get tired or settle down in a few minutes.  No such luck.  He kept going and going.  Like a frickin’ evil, lycra-clad energizer bunny. Only for the occasional turn or traffic conditions on the trial did he slow down.  The slow-down was never long enough and he accelerated pretty quickly back up to speed. 

We were taking the relatively flat part of the American River bike trail towards Sacramento.  Several times I started to lose the draft and had to catch back up.  I kept wondering when the torture was going to end.  As we get to a bridge that usually serves as a turn-around-point for the larger lunch group, I hope that Brian may be thinking of turning around.  History says “no” as he almost always continues down to Sac State.  Once again, he doesn’t turn around and he keeps going.  Over and over again I get dropped because I just don’t have it in me to match his accelerations out of curves or his continued high output up the little hills.  I have to work hard to get the wheel back which really starts to wear me out.  But Sac State isn’t much farther, so I keep pressing on. 

As we get to Sac State I sense some relief that the ride is half over.  That relief is quickly squashed when Brain turns to me and says something like “how about we go a little farther?”  I am exhausted, but I don’t like to back down from a challenge so I agree to continue.  Brian notices that I am not doing the best job drafting and relays some advice.  I had been focusing too much on his rear wheel and as a result I end up doing a lot of micro-adjustments.  Instead, look down the road or focus on what his legs are doing.  That can give me hints as to what Brian is doing without all of the micro-adjustments.  I followed his advice and things went much better down to the turn-around point.

As we start heading back I am still using the techniques that Brian relayed to me but now there is another problem.  My legs are blown-up.  I keep chugging along as best I can but I can’t keep the pace to maintain the draft.  To make things worse is that the wind is blowing against us more on the way back.  I try different drafting positions but I just can’t figure out the best place to line up.  The wind is shifting and our direction into the wind is shifting as well. 

I tell Brian that I just can’t keep up anymore and to go on ahead.  Brian responds with “This is a No Child Left Behind Ride”.   That is the worst news ever.  I am hoping to drop back, fall over and lay on the ground for a while.  Maybe ride the rest of the way home tomorrow.  I am done.  Finished.  But I keep plugging away.  He drops me a few more times and waits for me to catch up.  As soon as I do, he accelerates back to his previous pace.  As we go over a small rise I am feeling good that I kept up with him on the rise and that I didn’t get dropped.  The only problem is that he presses on the following descent and my legs are so thrashed from making the rise that I can’t catch back up. 

At this point I am in “time trail mode”.  For the most part, I am staying in my drops and just focusing on riding as hard as I can.  I am not sure if or when he is going to stop and wait.  Whether or not he stops, I feel the need to finish the ride as strong as I can.  A couple of miles before the “cool down” part of the ride I spot Brian at a rest stop.  I stop for a second and Brian mentions that he was only stopped for a few minutes and I should have just kept his draft.  I know what he means, it would have been less work overall, but I couldn’t do it. 

For the last couple of miles I keep up with Brian and then we do the cool down.  Total miles was 48.  Total ride time was 2.5 hours.  About 30 minutes was warm up and cool down.  So that leaves about 2 hours of punishment.  That was much more than I expected to ride, and as such, I only brought water with me.  I was starving by the time we got back and I noticed that a nagging scratchy throat was a lot worse.  When I got home I relayed to my wife what had happened and then told her I planned on riding with the Folsom High team that night. She gives me this exasperated look and says something to the effect that after the torture session with Brian and complaining of a worsening sore throat she doubted my sanity if I went. I figured that one dumb decision –taking on Brian when I was less than fresh- was enough self-punishment for one day.  As the night went on, I thought about trying to talk her out of the decision and ride anyway.  Fortunately, I never had to put my sanity in question because someone called about purchasing my motorcycle, which I desperately needed to sell to get money to fix my mountain bike.

All I can say is that someday, when I grow up, I want to be just like Brian The Punisher.  

And now for something completely different...

All rides have been canceled due to the continuing deluge we are calling weather in Northern California. So we are snuggled in the house, my husband forced to do his workout indoors and I am trying to take advantage of having husband and daughter entertain the little one while I try to work on a new design I have been wanting to do for a while. Since we don't have a ride to blog about we thought it may interest some folks to know the process I go through to make some of my graphics. So here we go, a quasi-step-by-step.

I was trying to think up a design that was a bit edgier than what I usually do. I know a lot of mountain bike and cyclocross (and yes, some roadies too) that are pretty hard-core in their riding and I wanted to reflect that in a design. I also wanted to do something that would appeal to women that wasn't like all the girly stuff I see around. There are some very intense female riders out there as well. I thought of someone "riding like the devil" and thus the idea was born.

First I did a concept sketch. Just a quick scribble to capture the idea and the over-all feel of what I wanted to do. I wrote down a few possibles "slogans" to go with and then it was time to move on to a getting the actual image started.

I needed to get an accurate representation of a bike so my husband brought his Bontrager in for me to photograph from several angles. The original sketch had been a road bike but I decided that I was going to do a "Speed Demon" graphic and that would be better suited to a road bike so I decided to use "Ride With The Devil" for a mountain bike themed design. (Just trying to cover all of my bases. Yes, a cyclocross design is coming too.)

To get the bike sketched I needed to print out and trace over the picture so that I could build my devil figure around it. My old light table (a converted beer sign that I had scrounged) finally bit it a while back and I wasn't able to use a window because the skies are so dark so my daughter decided to help me out by building me a light table with legos, a plastic document holder and a little tap light.

Once I have the bike traced I am ready to sketch in my figure. Trying to find a safe place to do that where my toddler won't steal my pencils is always a challenge.

To get a clean sketch I will actually do several sketches. I use a basic HB sketching pencil and some Staedtler technical pens. I had a great coupon for Michaels' so I actually broke down and bought a small pad of transluent marker paper to help reduce ink bleeding. A lot of my initial sketching is done on cheap computer printer paper. (Art paper is expensive and I like to do several runs at the same image to be sure I have a clean image that I like.)

  I will trace over the first sketch, redefining the lines, figuring out what works best until I am ready to do a pen and ink image that I will be able to scan into Photoshop. By this time my right index finger is bright red and deeply indented and it's been several hours of sketching, erasing, tracing and retracing. Once I get an image clean enough for a final ink I get it ready for the scanner.

Once I scan the image in, there is a ton of clean-up that has to be done. Then I begin copying sections so that I can pull them out into a new layer and color them individually. I usually save several versions as I go and the layers give me a lot of flexibility and insurance against my own stupidity (and if you saw how many layers I use you could see that I can be pretty darned dumb at times.) Once I have everything colored I begin playing with the text. Nice blood red lettering in a rough, almost tribal font seems to go well with the graphic. Viola! Only ten intense hours later (my husband had to force me to eat lunch which I did at the computer while working) and a lot of juice through the iPod and you can see the final image below.

(In case you were wondering about the song list for this particular graphic, it included: "The Game Has Changed" by Daft Punk, "Our Solemn Hour" by Within Temptation, "Undisclosed Desires" by Muse, "More Human Than Human" by Rob Zombie, "Castle in the Sky" by DJ Satomi, "Haunted" by Evanescence, "King of the Dancehall" by Beenie Man, "Bloodletting" by Concrete Blonde and "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.)

Sketching the figure over the bike.

The inking process begins.
You can see that we ditched the tail in the final.


 

The coloring process in Photoshop begins. I usually end up with about 60 - 70 layers and seriously dry eyes by the time it's done.



The final graphic, ready to be used. My favorite part is the opponent's jersey clutched in her right claw.



Battle of the Bulge: A Grumpy Old Man’s Approach to Nutrition, Life and Honesty

My son is lean and mean – okay, he is not mean, really he is a gentle giant, but when he attacks those hills I would hesitate to get in his way. His dad (that would be me, Steve) is a not-so-lean grumpy old man. We both cycle but while my son has no weight to lose I do, yet in the end, our nutrition needs and goals are similar. We both need well-balanced meals that provide us with the energy needed to put in the miles and hill repeats. The only difference is he needs to take in enough calories to maintain his weight and Dad needs to have enough nutrition to cycle but with just enough of a calorie deficiency to lose weight.

There are hundreds of books and theories on nutrition and diet. Have a favorite diet? Then there is a book out there that will support your theory. I’ve seen and tried most of ‘em.  So let’s toss all of that out the window and just focus on what you are convinced is a well-balanced diet.

With that in mind, I am going to ask you to be honest.  A well-balanced and nutritious diet can still lead to the dreaded “bulge”. You need to be honest about portions and total calorie intake. You need to take in the good stuff at the right amounts. To do this you need three things:  a digital food scale, a set of measuring cups, and a food journal.

Digital Food Scale. You need to weigh your food to accurately calculate calories. All chicken breasts are not created equal and can vary in size widely thereby varying in calories. Guessing what a homemade hamburger patty weighs can be an easy way to lose control of your calories.  

Measuring Cups.   These are a great way to reign in foods that need to measured by volume. Order yourself a set of those fancy stainless steel cups. If you can afford a carbon fiber bike, you need these cups, beside they are more manly.

Food Journal.  Now that you have put in the good work of measuring and calculating make sure that you don’t lose count during the day. An easy way to keep a food journal is use a website like www.caloriecount.about.com or http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/. These are easy to use and give you other tracking features. Some folks prefer to keep a non-digital version. Whatever you use just be sure that you do use it!

So now you have the tools now start estimating your calorie needs. There are many guides for this, so use one www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php  and pick a calorie goal.  Do not be concerned if you get it wrong you will know within a month and you can adjust accordingly. The journal is an essential tool for helping you know what is or is not working.

Now I am going to ask you to weigh every day. Weigh yourself at the same time every day with the same clothes or no clothes, just be consistent. Do not freak out if your weight varies a lot from day to day. Why? One pint of water weighs one pound. The day after a long ride I always weigh 2 to 4 pounds more because I have over-hydrated. The reason for weighing every day is to establish a pattern. Journaling will do this for you. Watching the trend will tell you if you are taking in the right amount to maintain “fighting weight” or the right amount to get to there.

I followed this plan and lost 30 pounds reaching 222. Then I stopped weighing and measuring and journaling. My thinking was “I had it down, knew what I was doing”. Before long I was back up to 234. So December 1^st I went back to the plan. I set a goal of 1850 calories per day. (I maintain a rigorous schedule of cycling and cross training. At 65 years old I have no choice if I want to have a quality life.) Amazingly, in the first two weeks I have lost 5.6 pounds. Nothing motivates like success. So I may still be a grumpy, old man but one with less of a bulge than a couple of weeks ago. It can be done and I plan on updating you every two weeks as to my progress. That could be a fourth part of the plan; holding yourself accountable to someone.

-Steve Grove, GroveTribe Patriarch

Dork Moments and Soggy Trails

 

American River Bike trail between Hazel and Fair Oaks Footbridge 12/16/2010

The trail was starting to dry out after our most recent deluge so I was practicing my newly acquired cornering techniques that I learned last weekend at the Body Concepts skills clinic. It should be noted that while parts of the trail were mostly dried out, some areas were soggier than ever.  In fact, it would appear that the American River bike trail is trying to appeal to triathletes as well as runners and joggers.  Since my swim skills aren’t so good, I decided to stay on the bike and take a detour. 

Other than a bit of floodwater dodging, things went really well on the ride.  Well, I had only a couple of “dork moments” on this ride.

Dork Moment #1. I was navigating past two cyclists who were riding side by side on a curve while attempting to dodge a jogger on the other side of the trail at the same time.  There was actually plenty of room but I became so focused on not hitting the jogger that I ended up travelling right towards him. (Momentarily forgetting “Point to Remember #2” in my previous blog titled “Chicken-N-Curves”.)  I hit the brakes hard and corrected, but I was sure glad I haven’t received my Body Concepts gear yet so I didn’t make the team look bad. 

Dork Moment #2.  I was on my way back home and spaced out a little -something I’ve been known to do on occasion- and didn’t do the best job handling a corner. At first I went a little bit wide, then I corrected and wobbled a bit doing the correction. An oncoming cyclist looked a little nervous as we passed each other and then I noticed that he happened to be dressed in Body Concepts gear.  I didn’t recognize him and hope he doesn’t recognize me. (Of course, now that I have mentioned it, like a dork, he will probably find out it was me. Sorry, dude. I’m new.)

It’s a good thing I am getting my racing legs during the winter when a lot fewer people are around to see me. I will continue puddle dodging and practicing my new found skills so hopefully by the start of the racing season I can make BC’s black and gold look good.

TAKE THIS HILL: Climbing up Beatty Dr.



Going Down?

I love climbing hills.  That doesn’t mean I am the fastest at it, but it is what I look forward to when I ride.  I love the challenge. I feel that each time I go out I have a need to prove that I can still take the hill without barfing or resorting to zig-zagging my way up.  A good local hill to prove you still “have it” is the hill going up Beatty Drive (Folsom/El Dorado Hills, CA).



Doesn't look too bad at the start...



Start Location? 

Intersection of Alexandra Dr. (off of Sophia Pkwy) and Beatty Dr.

End Location?

Beatty Dr. and Powers Dr.

Distance?

My brain was too oxygen starved to remember to look at the odometer.  According to Google Earth, it is about 0.78 miles up.

Why This Hill?

If you want to build climbing power, this is the hill to do it on.  I wouldn’t suggest it for beginners unless you are running a triple chain ring.

Not the most visually stunning while climbing yet I am starting to feel nauseous

Grrranimals?

Deer and Turkey

How do you climb it?

Pace yourself up the first three quarters of the climb.  As you work your way up the road will level off and go slightly downhill as you pass a water storage tank.  Use this to slow down and get a quick recovery before the final climb.  If I am doing a shorter ride, I will sprint up the final climb because I am not worrying about redlining the engine.  If I am doing a longer ride or repeats, I will use a stronger pace on this last section but not max out.



Dangers?

This hill is an extremely fast descent.  Be careful as you make your way down the hill towards a left hand curve.  There are two dangers here:
1.  The way you cut into the wind changes.  If the wind is blowing hard you will find your bike a bit unstable.
2.   You might find deer and turkey.  They always seem to come out when you are having the most fun.



Watch that left turn!  You may have to slam on the brakes if a deer is lurking.

How many times?
I have never climbed Beatty more than three times.  However there are a few reasons for that:
1.  I would rather continue to advance and climb other hills like Wilson or Serrano
2.  I am doing this during lunch and don’t have time to climb it again.

Making It All Work - Can raising a family and bicycle racing co-exist?

Getting my training in while holding down a full-time job and being a good husband and good dad is something I struggle with every day.  There are constant demands on my time for doctor appointments, meetings, parent-teacher conferences, the trials and tribulations of dealing with ex’s, and other issues that hit you just when you thought you might have open afternoon. I find myself agonizing over where to spend my precious little free time and I am hoping to get some insight from fellow cyclists on how they are making it work.

Shortly after college I realized that I was out of shape and had some weight to lose. I started working out regularly by going to the gym and cycling maybe once a week or so. I realized I was spending a lot of time indoors on a bike for cardio when I could be getting the same benefits (or better) outside.  Before kids started appearing in the picture I was a pretty consistent cyclist, riding three to four times a week, filling in the other days in the gym. I had no kids so there was plenty of time for me to get in the workouts and rides. Ideally, I would have started my racing career then but for some reason it always got put off.

When kids came into the picture I had to get creative to get my workouts in. I began waking up at 4:30 in the morning to go to the gym and commuting to work via bicycle to get my training in. I would take kids on rides in the trailer while they napped but now that I have decided to train for a racing team, I am riding much longer distances than I used to.  I used to only have the kids in the trailer for 30-45 minutes.  If I were to take them with me now, I would have them strapped in there for 90-120 minutes for a typical training ride. Some folks may be able to manage that with their kids but I can’t imagine doing it with mine, let alone every day in all kinds of weather. Now most of the kids are too big for the trailer anyway.

I am trying to help relieve some of the time pressure by getting the rest of the family into cycling with me.  Now that our baby is a bit older, I am really anxious for my wife to get back on the bike.   I miss our cycling adventures together and she is eager to get back in the saddle once she is strong enough after a tough post-natal recovery period.  In the meantime it has helped a lot that my wife and I have been working together on the blog and doing some of the FHS Cycling team volunteer work together.  This helps us get some more time together while engaging in a cycling related activity. 

My 10 year old daughter is taking up a real interest in cycling and I hope to get her out with me on some of my active recovery rides when the weather clears a little and the days start getting longer again. Her dedication and eagerness to ride with me has been great to see. My oldest son and middle son are another story.  Neither of which has shown much interest in cycling.  I will have to keep working on them.



The Future of GroveTribe Cycling. (Getting properly hydrated.)

My youngest just turned one and is already a fanatic for anything with wheels. He can’t keep his hands off of bicycles (as you can see a little ways back in the “Plus One Factor” blog photo).  He is now of prime age for getting in the Burley.  I can’t take him for an entire training ride, but I can probably do half a ride with him.  I just need to plan the route to take me past home about half way through. I am hopeful that he will enjoy cycling as much as I do. (The GroveTribe cycling tradition must continue.)

Paying for cycling is also a struggle.  With a minivan-load of kids, they always need something.  With riding 8 or more hours a week, I always need something too.  I am finding that I am wearing out equipment a lot faster now that I am putting in so many more hours in the saddle. I am trying to manage with older bicycles that are constantly breaking down and I haven’t even started to pay for race and travel fees yet.  The idea is daunting but my wife knows how important this is to me and so we sit at the kitchen table and shuffle the budget and make sacrifices while doing our best to meet the needs of our kids.

And so here we are. Doing our best with what we have, shuffling schedules and budgets and trying to figure it all out. What do you do to balance everything?  I would be happy to get some input from people who have been racing for a few years while balancing out a family life.  We need all the help we can get!

Chicken-N-Curves

Image courtesy of Body Concepts, Inc.

One of the key skills we worked on at the Body Concepts Skills Clinic is cornering which was perfect as the only curves I’m good at handling are my wife’s.  I am pretty good climbing hills and I can descend fast as long as it’s straight but if you throw in some curves (in flats or hills) I chicken out.  So I really need to work on cornering as I get into racing. I have had a lot of tidbits of advice over the years but it wasn’t until the clinic that I got a clear picture of how to put it all together.

At first we practiced on the slalom by setting up cones on a road without much traffic (a business park on the weekend works well).  At first I wasn’t leaning the bike too much.  Rob had me follow a teammate that was really fluid at leaning the bike around turns and told me to mimic what he did.  After following the other rider several times, I got much better.

Okay, that was nice, but what about a real world situation?  We moved to another part of the business park that had a downhill with a sharp turn at the end.  With Rob monitoring traffic we all took turns applying the skills to a real life situation.  On the first try I tried to follow a guy down the hill that was hitting the turn aggressively.  As I approached the turn I felt the butterflies in my stomach and chickened out.  I hit the brakes pretty hard before the turn and took it at a fairly easy pace.  Upset at myself for hitting the breaks hard, I was determined to try again. 

On the next try I started to get nervous again.  I hit the brakes before the turn, but not as hard and told myself to trust the bike and tires.  Hey, the guy in front of me didn’t go down, so my bike should be able to do it.  Right???  I really had to lean the bike over, much more than I felt comfortable doing at that speed, but I did and I survived it.  Great!!!  Now I have something positive to build on.

I went down the hill and around the turn many more times.  At the end of the day I didn’t jump to one of the smoothest or the fastest riders, but I was much more confident in what I was doing and felt like I have something to build on. 

Key Points to Remember:

1.       Brake before you start the turn.  If you MUST break during the turn, feather the rear brake to take some edge off.

2.       Look at where you want to go.  Not the railing or the pothole or whatever else you are worried about.  Your bike will go to where you are looking.  If you look at the railing, you will end up there.             

3.       Counter steer – This is how you get the lean on the bike.  If you are going around a right-hand turn, you are pushing on the handlebars with your right hand, which actually turns your wheel slightly left.

4.       If you are a motorcyclist, this next part will throw you off a little.  Lean your bike over but keep your body upright.  A bicycle is super light.  If you lean with your bike, you take away from the downward pressure on your tires and increase the odds of your bike sliding out from underneath you.

5.       Outside-Inside-Outside – If traffic allows, move to the outside of the curve, hit the inside at the apex, and move outside as you exit the curve.  This gives you the straightest line.  If you are riding in a pack, throw that out the window.  You must keep you line otherwise you will run into the rider next to you.

With some more practice on cornering I don’t think it’ll be long before this chicken is plucked and I will be embracing even more curves than I already do. No how do I explain all this to my wife???

Tool Goddess (in training)

Tool Goddess (in training) with her little cherub at the Cycle Folsom Fix-a-Flat clinic.

Join me on my adventure to transform myself from mild mannered housewife (whose derisive snort was that?)  to Tool Goddess. What is a Tool Goddess? It is a term I coined because I didn’t want to go by “Dawn the Wrench” or “Dawn the Grease Monkey”.  “Dawn the Tool Goddess” sounded so much more chic. Of course the title makes the job no less gritty and does not excuse me from having to kneel in grass, mud and/or asphalt when necessary.  

My husband is a ride leader for the Folsom High Cycling Team and with so many kids on the team that is a lot of bikes to take care of on race day. They seem to have a very high ratio of bike to those who can work on them so I decided to get myself trained up to help the team. Of course, I have never in my life even changed a tire before so this should be an interesting journey to say the least. I hope you will enjoy embarking on this new adventure with me as I invade my husband’s blog with periodic updates of The Tool Goddess.

"TG(it)" removing rear wheel.
Pic courtesy of Ross Del Luca.



First stop on the journey, the “Fix-a-Flat” clinic led by Brian “FrankenCycle”, an assistant organizer of Cycle Folsom. Before I get technical (stop that laughter), I just have to say that the Cycle Folsom folks are a great group. Very fun to hang out with, willing to share their knowledge and put up with me and my family. (Special thanks to cyclist and fellow blogger Ross Del Luca of www.justanothercyclist.com fame for helping take some shots of me at the clinic.)  I was bummed to have to leave the clinic early but what I thought was a minor emergency with my littlest turned out to be a ghastly nosebleed on the part of one of my step-sons. We had to hightail it out of there before the real fun started so I promised Brian that we would be back to take the clinic again when it came around. If you are into cycling and in the Folsom area I strongly recommend you check out Cycle Folsom’s Meetup site.

I can’t go over the lesson step by step as I was not there the whole time but I did want to share some of the nifty insights and cool gadgets I gleaned from our hour and a half there.

Cool Gadget One – Lezyne V10 Multi-Tool with Chain Breaker. Brian brought out a pretty that my inner magpie immediately coveted. The cool feature (okay, it has the word “carbon” in it which automatically makes it cool) is really the chain breaker attachment. Out in the middle of nowhere you can get a damaged chain back on a bike (missing the naughty link) and at least get yourself home. Note to Santa: Another cool feature, it will fit in my stocking!  Sabrina also said that she has been a good girl and has room in her stocking for one.

‘Nother Cool Gadget – Lezyne Micro Caddy M. It has lots of labeled compartments for your necessary items and best of all it doesn’t need that annoying Velcro seat post strap that shreds your bike shorts and mars your carbon post. Santa, the Lezyne Multi-Tool fits right into the saddle bag which would also fit right into my stocking. I’ve been a very good girl this year. (Really!)

And Then There Are Those Nifty Insights….

Get It Right The First Time - Do NOT feel pressured to hurry a bike change. Brian urges the group, “Get it right the first time.” To which my husband offered his own story about being in a hurry to change a tire for a time trial and ended up blowing out three tubes in a row. Patience in tire changing is indeed a virtue.

Before You Ground, Look Around - Do not be afraid to ask someone to hold the saddle of your bike “there always seems to be ten people standing around watching you change the tire anyway” explained Brian. If you are riding alone see if you can rest your seat on a picnic table to avoid laying your bike on ground.

Two Tubes = Good Karma – You never know when you will have two blown out tubes (see first nifty insight) or when a friend may need one. Cycle Folsom folks agree that carrying an extra tube is a great way to earn some good karma.

Brian got "the boot."



Sometimes, A Boot is a Dollar Well Spent – Avoid a dreaded “tire hernia” (I think that was Stan Schultz, Cycle Folsom’s Chief Evangelist,  that popped off with that one.) and pack a boot. Forgot a boot? Then get creative and use a powerbar wrapper or even a fibrous dollar bill.

Once It’s Gone, It’s Gone – If all you pack is a CO2 canister, be sure you practice using them before you go out with one on the open road because “Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

Take The Edge Off – Be sure to pack a few Advil or Tylenol. If someone is injured it can help take the edge off the pain while they either finish the ride or on their way to treatment. That nugget was shared by Kimberly Hawkinson, assistant organizer for Cycle Folsom, who delayed treatment of her own injury she had earned just that morning to help with the clinic.

 

Well, folks, as you can see there were a lot of cool things I learned and I didn’t even get to stay the whole time.  My first trip out as a Tool Goddess in training was a lot of fun and with great folks like Cycle Folsom donating their time to help the rest of us poor schmo’s I think I am going to enjoy the ride! Until next time, Keep Your Tools Clean!

-Dawn the Tool Goddess (in training)