My riding has been a little sporadic lately. I’ve gotten two or three early morning rides during the week but nothing consistent. I could make the typical excuses – I’m tired, sick, need the rest, blah, blah, blah. I’ll save my breath and your time.

Great Day For A Ride

I hit the road on Saturday for a planned 20 mile ride but only ended up getting about 12 in. It was a beautiful morning for a ride with the skies partly cloudy and the temps in the mid 60s. Just an awesome morning to be out for a ride. And I felt pretty good too. A perfect recipe for problems.

As I told you all several weeks ago, I was going to write an Ebook to help new cyclists, or those returning to road cycling after a long layoff, get started in this great sport. I’ve finally completed it and am ready to release it. For free.

As you can tell by the title, it isn’t for the advanced, or even intermediate, road cyclist. It’s basic from the first page and filled with knowledge and tips that I wish I had known when I returned to cycling in 2008.

Will it answer every question? No. But I think it’ll help anyone looking for help in deciding where to buy a bike, find out what to carry in a seat bag, or learn what online tools are available for road cycling.

To get How To Start Road Cycling [Again] just enter your first name and email address below to get access to the cycling tips toolbox.

Thumbnail Photoc: Explore The Bruce

Do you find yourself struggling to get better on the bike? Ever wonder if you’re making any progress at all? I do and I bet others do as well.

That’s why I keep a log of my training. It isn’t detailed, or even linked to a GPS enabled cyclocomputer, but it tells me what I need to know about my riding and if I’m making any progress.

For instance, I went back and looked at my rides over the past three weeks to see how my average speed was doing. I felt like I was riding faster but I wanted to see if there was any truth to my ‘feelings’. I went back through three weeks of data and found the following:

• Average Speed Three Weeks Ago – 13.475 mph
• Average Speed Two Weeks Ago – 13.775 mph
• Average Speed 1 week ago – 13.975 mph

Those aren’t huge numbers, only a .5 mph increase, but considering my level of fitness and weight, they tell me that I’m improving. Do I feel like some of that improvement Is due to my ongoing Fit with Bicycle Lab? Yes, but I think part of it is due to my legs coming back as well.

Regardless, I wouldn’t have been able to look at this data if I wasn’t logging my rides.

Seeing empirical data showing progress is important because I don’t feel like I’m making much progress on the bike. Granted, I’ve only been riding again for a month but I feel like my gains are coming very, very slowly and I’m not making headway on my weight. At all.

Not A Great Week Last Week But Time To Get Serious

Last week wasn’t that great. I had a good ride on Monday, woke Tuesday morning with a terrible sinus headache and didn’t ride, flatted five miles into my ride on Thursday, and cut a tire/flatted on Friday. Then I didn’t ride either Saturday or Sunday due to being out of town with the family. Only 43 miles on the bike last week and none of it felt very good. And then when I weighed myself on Friday morning I found out I hadn’t lost any weight. No wonder I didn’t feel like I was performing very well. My training log is telling me a slightly different story though as my average speed is obviously getting better. I’m not where I want to be though.

Don’t get me wrong, Average Speed isn’t the only thing you should look at. It’s just all I have available due to my old cyclocomputer. Ideally, and I’ll get to this one day, we should also be looking at our heart rate and recovery times.

Since I started riding again in July, I’ve gotten 237 miles in. For the year I’ve ridden 419 miles. Certainly not huge numbers but I think I’ve gotten enough in to start riding harder. I’m not going to see significant, measurable results by riding 43 miles a week at 14 mph. I need to increase my daily mileage and start adding intervals into my rides. I’ve got to get that weight scale needle moving to the left.

Do you log your rides?

If so, do you review your data to see what progress you’re making? Leave a comment below to let me know what you’re doing.

Photoc: Jeff Werner

Internet technology has come a long way in the last five years. One area in particular that I use a lot is online mapping. Specifically Google Maps. I use it to look up directions, find restaurants/stores close to my home, and to look at potential bike routes. When combining some of the tools available within Google Maps it can also be used to recon a potential bike ride you may be planning to do. This is especially helpful if you’ve never ridden the route before.

This SundaySaturday is an organized bicycle ride in Lancaster, Tx called the Lancaster Country Ride Presented by the Greater Dallas Bicyclists. Since I had never done an organized ride before, I was available this weekend, and Lancaster wasn’t that far away, I thought I might try it. I didn’t know anything about the route so I took a look at the 23-mile route on the website and then headed to Google Maps. (Click any pic below to enlarge)

Plot The Route

Google Maps doesn’t have a route planning function like Map My Ride but you can still achieve a similar result by using directions. Since the route started in downtown Lancaster I found two businesses near the start/finish and told Google to give me some directions. The route it gave me was only 362 feet, by bicycle, which was to be expected. If you move your mouse over the route you can drag the route Google gave you to follow a route you want. I did this and stretched the route from 362 feet to 23 miles by following the 23-mile cue sheet found on the rides website. 23 miles=23 miles which is good.

23 Mile Route Lancaster Country Ride

With our route plotted as directions, we can now do some recon on the route by using the tools in Google Maps.

Begin Reconnaissance

The first thing I like to do is click on ‘Satellite’ in the upper right corner. This converts the view from a street map view to a satellite view with real pictures taken from outer space. How cool is that? This view will give you a good idea of the area you’ll be riding in – city, rural, boondocks, 40th and Plum, etc.

23 Mile Lancaster Country Ride Satellite View

After that I switch over to ‘Terrain’ view because I want to know what the ups and downs (hills) are going to be like. This view isn’t super powerful but it will show you elevation contour lines and changes in elevation are shaded on the map. Where the route crosses those shaded areas is where I like to concentrate my recon because I stink at hills. At some point I’ll no longer stink at hills but in the present I do.

23 Mile Lancaster Country Ride Terrain View

Once you find those shaded areas it gets fun. In the upper left hand corner of the map, at the top of the zoom bar, you’ll see a little orange man (the orange man on the bottom lets you change the view to 3D). Dragging this orange man over to the map lets you access street view. Google will only allow you to place the man where they’ve mapped. If they’ve mapped an area the streets will become outlined in a bluish color. Dropping the man onto the street changes the view to Street View. Within street view you can rotate your view by simply clicking and dragging with your mouse. The streets are labeled with a line running down them and you can simply click on the arrows to move down the street. If you move your mouse over the route line further up the road a white oval will appear with the words “Double-Click To Go”. When you double-click you’ll warp to that location along the street. Pretty cool uh? I bet most of you have used street view like this before so that’s probably nothing new.

Google Maps Initial Street View

To make Street View and Terrain work in tandem you have to adjust the window you’re looking at. When you initially changed to Street View, the Terrain map was minimized to a small square in the lower right corner (see pic above). If you click on the upper left hand corner of the terrain map (just look for the double arrows <<) this will place the terrain map on the bottom half of the screen with the street view on the top half (see pic below). Now you can compare your route, terrain, and street view all at the same time.

Street and Terrain Split View

With this split view there is now a zoom option for each view. This is handy because you can now zoom out on the terrain map to reposition your little orange man to another area of the map to look at the street view in that area.

What Does Street View Do For You?

I’ve already hinted at Street View helping you see what the hills are like. You can get a feel for how long, steep, or murderous they are. You can also use the street view things like:

• Locating potential hazards.
• Seeing what the road conditions are like. Does it look rough or smooth? Is there a shoulder? How many lanes are there?
• Traffic congestion.

What Does This All Do For You?

Potential Loose Dog on Route

Well, it may seem like a lot of work but it’s actually pretty easy to do everything above. Using Google Maps to recon a potential ride or route can let you plan out your route better by knowing where to conserve energy for hills later, you can use the info you gather to add your own notes to a ride cue sheet, or identify some pesky dogs you may encounter (see pic above). The pesky dog is a stretch because it was just pure luck the Google van caught it while mapping the streets. I will add though that you’re virtually guaranteed to encounter some dogs on a rural route like this.

Previous Route Markers Painted On Pavement

Anybody out there besides me use Google Maps to look at potential routes?

Getting a flat while out riding will happen to all of us at some point. It’s inevitable. Just as sure as the Sun will come up each day we can all look forward to it. It doesn’t have to be the end of the days ride though if you’re prepared and know a few tips to make it easier.

Six Tips To Easier Flat Repair

1. Be prepared. If you’re out riding with no way to repair your own flat then you’re riding on borrowed time. If you’re riding with friends you may be able to bum something off one of them but if you’re all alone and 30 miles from nowhere then you’re what I like to call ‘screwed’. Being prepared starts with having the equipment needed to repair your own flat – patch kit, tube, tire levers, pump/CO2, etc. Most all of this can be easily carried in a seat bag and I discuss this in the article I wrote about what you should carry in a bicycle seat bag. Having the right tools doesn’t help if you’ve never used them though. Practice changing tubes while at home until you get the hang of it.
2. Shift to the smallest cog if the flat is on the rear. Putting the chain on the smallest cog on the cassette will make it much easier to remove and install the rear wheel. Chances are you won’t be in the smallest cog when you notice the flat. To get the chain there just shift the gears, pick up the rear wheel by grabbing your seat with one hand, grasp a pedal with your other hand and roll the crank forward one or two revolutions.
3. Inflate the tube a little before installing. Putting some air in the tube forces it to hold its shape as you install it. This will help keep the tube installed as you work the tube into the tire around the rim.
4. Find small leaks with saliva. If your going to use a patch on the tube you’ve got to find the leak. If it’s small it could be hard to locate (using Tip #5 will help) and you could waste a lot of time putting air in the tube and then squeezing it while you try to listen for the leak. If you can find the general location by listening or using a reference point you can pinpoint the leak by moistening a couple of fingers with your saliva and rubbing it on the the tube in the approximate location. The saliva will cover the hole and as air escapes will begin to bubble up. With the leak located you can now patch it. This is just like the soap bubble test when looking for leaks in natural gas and freon lines.
5. Create a reference point using the tube stem and tire. By creating a reference point you make it easier to find the hole in the tube if you have something sticking out of your tire such as a nail. If the culprit of the flat isn’t obvious you can use the reference point to correlate the hole in the tube with a spot on the tire so you can check for small foreign objects like glass or thorns. To create this reference point, install the tube stem aligned with a specific spot on the tire like a logo, letter, color, or mark you’ve made.
6. Inflate halfway first. It’s very easy to accidentally get the new/patched tube caught between the rim and tire when installing it. If you fully inflate the tube with it pinched like this you’ll either pop the tube right away or shortly after you start riding. By inflating the tire halfway you give yourself an opportunity to see if the tube is pinched and correct it.

Do You Have Any Tips?

I’ve started the list with six but I’m sure some of you have other tips that are great so lets hear them. Post’em in the comments below.

P.S. – While you’re down there, take the opportunity to visit some of the site sponsors and/or sign-up for the newsletter.

Feature image courtesy of Brampton Cyclist.

Now that winter is over for a large portion of the country (sorry if you live up in the North) spring is either coming on in full force or slowly creeping it’s way in with daytime temps climbing back up into the 60F to 70F range. These temperatures are what we’ve been waiting for and are just teasing us to get back outside and ride.

The rain, snow, and ice that winter brings can have serious effects on the surfaces we ride on and can significantly increase the chances of our being involved in an accident if we’re not careful. Heading outside to ride after being on the trainer is awesome but there are some things you need to watch out for in order to make sure you come back in one piece.

Four Things To Watch For

1. Sand and Gravel. When the roads start to ice up and become slick, the transportation departments like to use sand and gravel to help cars maintain some semblance of control. It doesn’t help those that still want to drive at Nascar speeds during these conditions but for those who are cautious it can help. The problem for cyclists occurs after the snow and ice melt. The sand and gravel that was used to cover the roads is left behind after the snow and ice melt leaving it thick in some areas or just lightly coating the surface in others. You need to be cognizant of this potential hazard because hitting a patch of loose sand or gravel can easily cause you to face plant. Kevin over at The Life and Times of Biking Brady just posted about such an incident.
2. Debris. I’m not talking about hurricane like debris we can see down in Florida but rather small sticks that are remnants from branches being broken off trees due to the ice and snow. The big branches get stacked up at the curb for pickup by the city but where the branches fell, and where they were stacked next to the road, there’s probably quite bit of smaller branches or branch fragments that would make it very easy for an unaware cyclist to lose control or puncture a tire.
3. Wet areas. Damaged water pipes due to freezing conditions can be a big problem even after the warm weather arrives. Many of these leaks go neglected for a while and can make riding dangerous. If the leak is at a curve, or corner, take some extra care because having a wheel slide out from under you while diving into a corner at high speed could get ugly.
4. Potholes. These are problems even outside of winter but winter conditions have a way of making existing ones worse and making new ones at an exponential rate. This is a bit of a personal rant but Dallas is the worst area I’ve ever seen for potholes on an everyday basis. They’re everywhere and go neglected by the city forever. There are some you could potential lose yourself, your bike, or your care in. Or all three if you’ve carrying your bike on a trunk rack. Seriously. It’s terrible. The harsh winter only makes it worse. Be extra vigilant and look ahead for potential holes that could catch your front wheel end your cycling season prematurely.

There are four things to watch out for while out on your early spring ride. Take advantage of the good weather but be safe. If you have other tips please post them in the comments below.

Post Script

P.S. – If you have a keen eye, and I know my readers do, then you saw the unobtrusive (that means you would have had to have a keen eye, or two, to see it) newsletter sign up at the top right of the blog. It could represent a significant step towards my world domination but for the meantime it’s simply another way for me to connect to my readers. I haven’t fully vetted what I’ll use that newsletter sign up for but when I do you’ll be the first to know because you’ll be signed up and will get the news. Seriously though, it’s another step in the growth of Biking To Live and I encourage all my readers to sign up. I guarantee that I’ll never share your email address because I hate SPAM. Even SPAM in a can.

Feature image courtesy of hr.icio.