Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 437
Loc: Orange County California
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I have been riding for almost year and have seen vast improvements in my health and performance; however, most people still pass me on the hills and flats. My speed shouldn't matter since I didn't take up cycling to win races, but I would like to have fewer people pass me--maybe in time, they won?t.
Well, I am not blaming my speed on the bike but I heard people talk about how one bike is faster or climbs better than another; is there much truth to this? I plan on buying another bike in the not too distant future and keeping my Luna for a 2nd bike.
Is it possible that I would see better performance from one brand or model of bike over another? I chose a Calfee because it is a pleasure to ride and not harsh like the last bike that I purchased in 1978.
What I typically do is daily training rides of 18-20 miles with hills up to a 14 degree grade; club rides; and probably some day century rides.
Thanks,
Bruce
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 717
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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Bruce:
There's a very small grain of truth in that one bike may be 'faster' than the other, but there's a bigger truth in that the engine makes the big difference.
Some bikes, stage race bikes for instance, will be faster than say touring bikes. But a fast guy on a touring bike will beat the slow guy on the race bike.
I think too often folks find it's easier to throw money at something rather than exerting the effort to make themselves better. And I speak from years of experience!
You want to be faster? Train faster and harder! Take those hills in a harder gear. Find a hill that challenges you and ride up as hard as you can, ride down then ride back up. Hill repeats!
Exercise at home, Do squats and lunges, no equipment required. Sit ups, ab work. All will contribute to your overall faster riding experience.
I'm 65 years old I lose conditioning pretty fast over the winter if I don't do exercise at home. During the riding season I ride myself into condition. I do hill repeats, intervals and always try to ride in a harder gear. It seems to work for me. I'm pretty whipped at the end of the day but the next day, it seems that I can do anything.
Basically if you don't want people to pass you, ride faster!
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 437
Loc: Orange County California
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Quote:
Dave_Thompson wrote:
You want to be faster? Train faster and harder! Take those hills in a harder gear. Find a hill that challenges you and ride up as hard as you can, ride down then ride back up. Hill repeats!
Exercise at home, Do squats and lunges, no equipment required. Sit ups, ab work. All will contribute to your overall faster riding experience.
Well said Dave!
You had confirmed what I already thought. I see people spending thousands to shave a pound or two off of their bikes. Others talk about how a stiffer bike allows them to accelerate faster. I was just wondering how much of this was true and how much was myth.
As far as the engine needing to be stronger, yes absolutely. However, the engine is much stronger than it was this time last year after an almost thirty year hiatus from cycling.
Right now what is dictating my speed up those hills is heart rate. I hit the wall at 175 beats per minute. I seem to need to pace myself somewhat or I will find myself pulled over to the side of the road panting like a dog. I can climb any hill around where I live; I just can't do it very fast.
A local bike shop here has a class on training cyclist to improve their performance. I may give it a shot to see if it makes any difference.
Bruce
Edited by Darby (09/02/07 10:31 PM)
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 717
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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Quote:
Darby wrote:
Quote:
Dave_Thompson wrote:
You want to be faster? Train faster and harder! Take those hills in a harder gear. Find a hill that challenges you and ride up as hard as you can, ride down then ride back up. Hill repeats!
Exercise at home, Do squats and lunges, no equipment required. Sit ups, ab work. All will contribute to your overall faster riding experience.
Well said Dave!
You had confirmed what I already thought. I see people spending thousands to shave a pound or two off of their bikes. Others talk about how a stiffer bike allows them to accelerate faster. I was just wondering how much of this was true and how much was myth.
As far as the engine needing to be stronger, yes absolutely. However, the engine is much stronger than it was this time last year after an almost thirty year hiatus from cycling.
Right now what is dictating my speed up those hills is heart rate. I hit the wall at 175 beats per minute. I seem to need to pace myself somewhat or I will find myself pulled over to the side of the road panting like a dog. I can climb any hill around where I live; I just can't do it very fast.
A local bike shop here has a class on training cyclist to improve their performance. I may give it a shot to see if it makes any difference.
Bruce
If I recall, you're not that old. If you're using a heart rate of 175, IMO that's too low. If that's what your heart rate is when you're "panting like a dog", it will increase if you push yourself a little each ride.
You've got the Garmin 305 Edge, which is a wonderful training tool. I use the 205 Edge as mine. You should try to outdo yourself each ride, set a 'personal best' for that ride. Download and compare the rides day by day, to see if you are increasing your effort and output. The 305 won't lie to you like you can lie to yourself! 
To improve, you've got to exert the extra effort each time. If you work harder, you'll get stronger. Don't use your granny gear on your triple when climbing. It'll hurt like hell but if you make it, well you know you can. If you don't make the climb, you now have a goal; to make that climb in the middle ring! Then when you do make it, you've accomplished that goal then you can set a new goal.
You'll be surprised how quickly you will get stronger, **IF** you apply the effort. You've got a terrific bike, well set up, now go out and work!
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 437
Loc: Orange County California
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Quote:
Dave_Thompson wrote:
If I recall, you're not that old. If you're using a heart rate of 175, IMO that's too low. If that's what your heart rate is when you're "panting like a dog", it will increase if you push yourself a little each ride.
Hi Dave,
I turned 50 in June. I don't think it is my age that is working against me; it may have more to do with me spending over 20 years lifting heavy weights. The kind of training I did was great for short bursts of energy but probably reduced my endurance. I have noticed that I can climb very short steep hills easily, but a long steady climb just does me in.
At any rate, my endurance has improved dramatically. Six months ago I would completely fail if my heart rate hit 163. Today, I can get to 173 and keep pedaling although slowly. However, I am not sure what heart rate I should be able to maintain. According to the heart rate charts that I have seen my maximum heart rate should be around 170 which I don?t believe (220-50=170).
I agree with what you are saying about not using the small chain ring to climb. I have only been using the small chain ring on the steepest hills. Tomorrow I will ride that same hill on the middle chain ring.
Thanks,
Bruce
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 717
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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Quote:
Darby wrote:
Quote:
Dave_Thompson wrote:
If I recall, you're not that old. If you're using a heart rate of 175, IMO that's too low. If that's what your heart rate is when you're "panting like a dog", it will increase if you push yourself a little each ride.
Hi Dave,
I turned 50 in June. I don't think it is my age that is working against me; it may have more to do with me spending over 20 years lifting heavy weights. The kind of training I did was great for short bursts of energy but probably reduced my endurance. I have noticed that I can climb very short steep hills easily, but a long steady climb just does me in.
At any rate, my endurance has improved dramatically. Six months ago I would completely fail if my heart rate hit 163. Today, I can get to 173 and keep pedaling although slowly. However, I am not sure what heart rate I should be able to maintain. According to the heart rate charts that I have seen my maximum heart rate should be around 170 which I don?t believe (220-50=170).
I agree with what you are saying about not using the small chain ring to climb. I have only been using the small chain ring on the steepest hills. Tomorrow I will ride that same hill on the middle chain ring.
Thanks,
Bruce
50?!?!?! You're a baby! I'll be 66 next month. I learned, regarding heart rates, to disregard the "charts". Everyone is different and each of our tolerance to highly elevated heart rates are going to be different. I crap out around 180~185 or so and I've learned through experience to 'feel' what I'm doing and how close I am to my max. I don't use an HRM and I don't need to know what my heart rate is, I know when I'm maxed out.
I've also learned, through experience that the key to being able to do long climbs is; to do long climbs. If at first you don't succeed....etc. When doing long and hard climbs you have to pace yourself, sit and grind regardless how slow. Do them again...and again... and again. Soon it will come and you'll be able to go further up.
If you've lifted weights you know about reps. My reps are the hills. I made a vow that I'll not stop or quit. I may have to turn around and go down because it's too much for me at the time, but I'll go back a day or two later and try again. Once I've conquered that hill, I'll try it faster/harder. Use your 305 and start the lap at the bottom of the hill. Stop your lap when you stop climbing. The 305 will tell you your time and the calories burned for each successive try. You can chart your progress from the downloads on the computer.
Endurance is gained from endurance. Lots of hills.
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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skuke
captain
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 323
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Quote:
Darby wrote:
According to the heart rate charts that I have seen my maximum heart rate should be around 170 which I don?t believe (220-50=170).
The charts are very generic, as you've discovered. When I got my HR monitor, I was about 30 years old. I found several formulas, but they were all variations of 220-age*.85 or .70 (70%-85%)depending if it was a hard day or recovery day. 220-30*.80=152. In theory, 80% of max heart rate is a difficult workout. Well, I could hold 152bpm for hours! That was talking pace for me. Sounds great that I could hold such a high HR for such a long period of time, but in fairness, my HR gets jacked to 100+ just getting off the couch to fetch the remote control! ...just my physiology I guess.
I decided that training with a HR monitor was a waste of time. I had been cycling for a long time and had done many endurance sports growing up. I knew what it felt like to train and what it felt like when I was working hard, or not. Anyhow, I started sprinting up a hill one day, I got my HR up to 207. "Hmmm??" says I. I recalculated my training HR based on that new maximum of 207. Well dang! 85% of max now felt like 85%. 70% of max felt like 70%.
So what you really need to do is determine your max heartrate. To cover my ass, don't do what I did and sprint up a hill until you're about to puke and die!! YOU CAN DIE!!! Determine your max HR in a controlled environment (sports/exercise lab) with people who know CPR, have a AED (automated external difibrillator) and know how to use it!!
I agree with much of Dave's philosophy on training, but I feel he left out one very important component. Rest. Rest and recovery is just as important as working. As a former weight lifter, did you work on your arms many days in a row then work on your legs many days in a row?
Also, realize that true endurance take YEARS to develop. You've only been riding a year. As much as you've improved the last 12 months, if you keep riding, you'll be much more fit 12 months from now!
Patience grasshopper.
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Skuke
95 Carbonframes Tetra Pro
92 Bridgestone MB-1
90 Moser 51.151
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Umlungu
contributor
Reged: 03/04/05
Posts: 187
Loc: Plano, TX
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This is a great thread. There is some great advice here by some veteran roadies I think we all can learn from or need reminding of.
I have two thoughts here:
1. Just remember that everyone is different. What might work for one person, might not work so well for someone else. Like skuke says the guys who you see flying up the hills past you might have taken years to get to that level, or perhaps they are genetically built for climbing, who knows. Only compare yourself to yourself, if you play the "I should be as fast as that dude" game you will always be dissappointed - chances are there will always be someone stronger, faster or simply smarter on any given ride. Which brings me to my second thought - if ya are going to compare yourself to other riders ...
2. Try spending a ride with the beginner or slower paced riders in a group ride. Don't go there to sandbag, or to show them up, keep their pace and ride within the groups limits. Think of it as a recovery ride (but don't tell the riders that). Doing this from time to time will help you gain a little perpective on just how strong you are, but dont realize. 
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 717
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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Quote:
skuke wrote:
I agree with much of Dave's philosophy on training, but I feel he left out one very important component. Rest. Rest and recovery is just as important as working. As a former weight lifter, did you work on your arms many days in a row then work on your legs many days in a row?
[Patience grasshopper.
Ah Skuke, you nailed me! I did forget to mention about rest, very important.
Bruce, the way you build muscles is to tear them down and let them rebuild, but you know that. On a bike, the way to train (at least for me) is to ride hard, hard as I can for that course, then the next day just ride, easy and relaxed. Wax on, wax off type thing.
And nutrition. What ever is your fave recovery eats, eat them soon. By all I've read it's very important to get the nutrients in you within a short time after the exertion so the muscles can repair and rebuild themselves.
So there's going to be a test at the end of this thread. Open book. Bring a number 2 pencil. 
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 437
Loc: Orange County California
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Quote:
Dave_Thompson wrote:
50?!?!?! You're a baby! I'll be 66 next month. I learned, regarding heart rates, to disregard the "charts". Everyone is different and each of our tolerance to highly elevated heart rates are going to be different. I crap out around 180~185 or so and I've learned through experience to 'feel' what I'm doing and how close I am to my max. I don't use an HRM and I don't need to know what my heart rate is, I know when I'm maxed out.
Dave,
Thanks for the feedback. I find it very helpful to me since I am just learning how to master this sport. By the way, I hadn't thought about using the Edge 305's lap feature. It is good idea and easy to way to tell if my performance on hills is improving.
The heart rate monitor I see like a tachometer in a car. If I knew how to interpret I correctly, I would know when to back up and let my heart rate come back down. The problem I find with it is that numbers can change from day to the next. One day I take the hill at 150 and the next day at the same speed, I hit 163. Oh well, it is just a tool.
Comparing cycling up hills to weight lifting reps is a very good analogy. One of the challenges that I am having in cycling is that I spent years doing 8-10 reps with weight as heavy as I could stand. Cycling up a hill is like 100 reps with low weight. I find high rep workout much harder for me, but I am getting much better benefit it now than lifting weights.
By the way, 50 must be young by cyclist standards. Before I bought my Calfee I almost bought a Litespeed from an 80 year old that road a bike from California to Florida at age 75. I find this very encouraging since I could do it 30. This means I should be better at 75 than I am now.
Bruce
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 437
Loc: Orange County California
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Quote:
skuke wrote:
I agree with much of Dave's philosophy on training, but I feel he left out one very important component. Rest. Rest and recovery is just as important as working. As a former weight lifter, did you work on your arms many days in a row then work on your legs many days in a row?
Also, realize that true endurance take YEARS to develop. You've only been riding a year. As much as you've improved the last 12 months, if you keep riding, you'll be much more fit 12 months from now!
Patience grasshopper.
Skule,
Thank you for the great post! Rest is something that I have completely overlooked. In weight training, I would only train the same body part twice a week. This give lots of time for the muscle tissue to rebuild. However, I had heard that aerobics needs be done daily or almost daily, but riding hills is probably more anaerobic than aerobic and might need more recovery time. I have wondered if I should take a day off between hill rides. If more time to recover would make me stronger.
Thanks for the great advice,
Bruce
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 437
Loc: Orange County California
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Quote:
Umlungu wrote:
This is a great thread. There is some great advice here by some veteran roadies I think we all can learn from or need reminding of.
I have two thoughts here:
1. Just remember that everyone is different. What might work for one person, might not work so well for someone else. Like skuke says the guys who you see flying up the hills past you might have taken years to get to that level, or perhaps they are genetically built for climbing, who knows. Only compare yourself to yourself, if you play the "I should be as fast as that dude" game you will always be dissappointed - chances are there will always be someone stronger, faster or simply smarter on any given ride. Which brings me to my second thought - if ya are going to compare yourself to other riders ...
2. Try spending a ride with the beginner or slower paced riders in a group ride. Don't go there to sandbag, or to show them up, keep their pace and ride within the groups limits. Think of it as a recovery ride (but don't tell the riders that). Doing this from time to time will help you gain a little perpective on just how strong you are, but dont realize.
Umlungu,
Good point about riding with the beginners. When I started cycling a year ago I was told by a long time cyclist that rides across Europe that I wouldn't be able to ride one mile without stopping on my first ride after a 30 year lay off--and he was absolutely right. I do have to keep in perspective how much progress I have made.
Thanks for the feedback,
Bruce
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skuke
captain
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 323
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Quote:
Darby wrote:
Rest is something that I have completely overlooked. In weight training, I would only train the same body part twice a week. This give lots of time for the muscle tissue to rebuild.
However, I had heard that aerobics needs be done daily or almost daily,
Ok, I see the conundrum here. Yes, aerobic workouts should be almost daily. But rest is just as important. So, think of it as 'work hard' (flat or hills), then ride easy the next day. The 'easy' day is your rest. But alternating hard/easy days isn't exactly correct either. You'll want to mix it up. Easy, hard, flats, hills, intervals, long distance, sprints. Remember, the heart is a muscle and needs time to rebuild tissue. Granted, it's a unique type of tissue and works best for endurance (pumps 24/7), but it is still a muscle tissue.
Quote:
...but riding hills is probably more anaerobic than aerobic and might need more recovery time.
Riding hills should not be anaerobic. If it is, you'll last about 20 seconds. 30 seconds if you're really tough and have an incredibly high pain threshold. If you're a world class cyclist, you might get 60 seconds. What you might want to do is train below your lactate threshold (LT). Basically, that is working your muscles hard to the point that your cardiovascular system can still flush the lactic acid away faster than you can create it, but just faster. If you produce lactic acid faster than you're able to flush, much pain results and you'll start the anaerobic burning of energy which will last you 20 seconds. By training at (and just under) your LT, you can adapt and increase the time you're able to stay at that high level. You can also increase the time of your anaerobic capacity, but I believe both are partly genetic. And yes, once you get anaerobic, you MUST recover (flush out lactic acid, in this case).
Quote:
I have wondered if I should take a day off between hill rides. If more time to recover would make me stronger.
I ride hills consecutive days. But, I will ride some of those days easily, particularily after a hard hill day. To me, an easy day is being able to hold a conversation an/or breath through my nose. I often use hills as a substitute for quality riding/training time. I feel that the work I exert on a hill is greater than the work I do on flats. Therefore, I can get a faster quality workout by riding hills when I don't have time for a longer ride on the flats. I don't know if what I just said is true or accurate, but hey, it works for me! Having said that, I still need long distance/time rides for endurance. To paraphrase Dave: endurance begets endurance.
I don't know if "more time to recover" would make you stronger, but as I've said, recovery time is integral to improving your cycling endurance, strength, and power.
Suffice to say that I'm not an exercise or cycling coach and don't have nearly the answers you're looking for. I can only pass on what I believe works best for me (and probably most others) based on readings of those I respect, personal experience and anecdotal.
Good luck with your training and again, patience Grasshopper.
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Skuke
95 Carbonframes Tetra Pro
92 Bridgestone MB-1
90 Moser 51.151
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skuke
captain
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 323
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Quote:
Darby wrote:
The heart rate monitor I see like a tachometer in a car. If I knew how to interpret I correctly, I would know when to back up and let my heart rate come back down. The problem I find with it is that numbers can change from day to the next. One day I take the hill at 150 and the next day at the same speed, I hit 163. Oh well, it is just a tool.
Bruce, are you an engineer? I ask that in a good way :-) ...It's also rhetorical.
Your analogy to tachs and expectations that a given hill at a given speed should correlate to a specific HR is very concise. Like a good engineer, you are expecting the same results from a test where the data is the same. However, you only had two data points, same hill and same speed. You forgot about a lot more test variable that will affect the result (HR). What is the weather (wind, hot, cold)? Are you tired from the previous day? Lunch. Stress at work/home. Warmed up. Tire pressure. Body fluid levels. Over training. etc.
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Skuke
95 Carbonframes Tetra Pro
92 Bridgestone MB-1
90 Moser 51.151
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 437
Loc: Orange County California
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Quote:
skuke wrote:
Ok, I see the conundrum here. Yes, aerobic workouts should be almost daily. But rest is just as important. So, think of it as 'work hard' (flat or hills), then ride easy the next day. The 'easy' day is your rest.
Grasshopper.
Wow, Skuke,
Outstanding!!! You have probably saved me a year or more of trial and error training. The training regimen you covered was explained quite nicely. Your advice will greatly change the way I train and probably improve my progress as well. I will report back to you in a few months and share my progress.
Oh, one more thing. I need to quit writing late at night because I completely screwed the grammar in my last post.
Thanks again,
Bruce
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 437
Loc: Orange County California
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Quote:
skuke wrote:
Bruce, are you an engineer? I ask that in a good way :-) ...It's also rhetorical.
Your analogy to tachs and expectations that a given hill at a given speed should correlate to a specific HR is very concise. Like a good engineer, you are expecting the same results from a test where the data is the same. However, you only had two data points, same hill and same speed. You forgot about a lot more test variable that will affect the result (HR). What is the weather (wind, hot, cold)? Are you tired from the previous day? Lunch. Stress at work/home. Warmed up. Tire pressure. Body fluid levels. Over training. etc.
I spent a lot of time as a sales engineer selling measuring devices such as pressure gauges, flow meters, etc. However, by profession I am a salesman. I think my attraction to HR monitors as measuring devices comes more from my education. When I went through business school my professors drilled into our heads, "If it moves measure it".
Obviously from your comments and from my own observations, heart rate doesn't move the same way every time so it isn't always predictable because of a variety of variables.
Bruce
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Bruce
contributor
Reged: 12/27/03
Posts: 133
Loc: North of NYC
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Bruce,
Hill climbing is all about strength to weight ratio. Let me give you an example. Last year I rode our old steel tandem with my 11 year old daughter. She is not a athletic kid or jock by any means, but she is light (100lbs), tall, and thin. Last year I was in good shape, and could climb well on my single bike. When we rode the tandem on hills, we could EASILY pass other tandem teams I would not even dream of trying to pass with my wife on the back. I could easily feel my daughter's input into the bike. On the flats, the same teams that we slaughtered on the climbs would pass us and drop us on the flats. This is the classic strength to weight example. While my daughter does not have much strength, as witnessed by our inability to ride with other tandems on the flats, her light weight plus extra push on the hills enabled us to out climb every other tandem.
So, yes, a lighter bike will help you in climbing. When I got my Calfee, I dropped 7lbs from my previous bike. It helps. If you drop a pound from a bike, will it help, yes, but you may not notice it. You notice 7lbs!
Instead of worrying about you bike, I would work on your fitness level and your weight. People ask me how I became a better rider, and it was not by reading Bicycling Magazine! You have to ride to become a better rider. Nothing else works, trust me!
I would recommend riding 3-4 times a week fairly hard for 2 or more hours each day. You should probably do a week day or night training ride. You want to ride with people who are slightly better than you, so you have to work hard to keep up. Make sure the training ride has hills on the route. Good ones do. Work on improving your base fitness. Get your heart rate up and keep it there for long periods of time. Spin up hills, that helps keep it up. Eventually, once your physical fitness increases, you can start to work on using strength to climb hills and less spinning.
Weekly training rides will also help reduce your body mass. Try not to increase your food consumption just because you are riding more. You will still need to eat, but keep the volume of food down. Lance used to weigh everything he ate so he would know exactly how many calories he was getting. You don't need to be that precise, but be smart about what you eat and stay away from junk food, eat healthy.
Once you start increasing your fitness and your strength, and dropping your weight, you will climb better. It is simple physics. But you need to ride to get better, so forget all the fancy gadgets (cycling is such a great geek sport for gadgets, ya gotta love it!), they don't make you go faster, riding with stronger riders makes you go faster.
There is no magic bullet or technique to becoming a better climber, you just got to suffer and get stronger and lighter. Ride hard, ride often!
Bruce
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Darby
sage
Reged: 08/03/06
Posts: 437
Loc: Orange County California
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Quote:
Bruce wrote:
Bruce,
There is no magic bullet or technique to becoming a better climber, you just got to suffer and get stronger and lighter. Ride hard, ride often!
Bruce
Bruce,
Thanks for the great advice! I agree with everything you said. I realize there is no magic bullet?just hard work and patience is the only thing that will get me where I want to be. I think I was probably a little impatient when I wrote my original post. What I was asking at the time was, will reducing the weight on my bike improve my performance.
Well, it cost a lot less for me to lose a pound that it does buy a bike that weighs a pound less than my Luna. Since I started cycling, I have dropped 17 pounds and still have a ways to go. I may consider buying an ultra light bike like a Dragonfly when there isn't a pound left for me to loose.
Right now I am riding 6 days per week. Four of those days are week days so I am limited to about an hour and a half (1.5) per day before I start work. I also ride both Saturday and Sunday when I have more time. Total, I ride between 120 and 150 miles per week and in a very hill part of Southern California.
By the way, my hill climbing has improved considerably. Today I noticed that some of the people that were passing me up the hills were wearing jerseys with sponsorship advertising all over them. Obviously they have more experience and are in better shape than me so I would expect them to pass me.
I am considering going to night rides since I have more time. The two lighting systems that interest me are the Light and Motion Li-Ion Arc light and the Dinotte L600 light. I need something very bright because I?ll be riding in some canyons without street lights.
One of my weaknesses is that I do not have a lot of knowledge on dieting; how may calories to eat; what to eat and how often to eat are things I need to get a better handle on.
Bruce Darby
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skuke
captain
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 323
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Quote:
Darby wrote:
One of my weaknesses is that I do not have a lot of knowledge on dieting; how may calories to eat; what to eat and how often to eat are things I need to get a better handle on.
Check the catalog in your local community college for a nutrition class. A sports nutrition class would be even better! I think that would be better than jumping on the diet du jour bandwagon. For example, IMHO, the Atkins type low carb diets are not for (endurance) athletes such a cyclist.
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Skuke
95 Carbonframes Tetra Pro
92 Bridgestone MB-1
90 Moser 51.151
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Umlungu
contributor
Reged: 03/04/05
Posts: 187
Loc: Plano, TX
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Quote:
Darby wrote:
One of my weaknesses is that I do not have a lot of knowledge on dieting; how may calories to eat; what to eat and how often to eat are things I need to get a better handle on.
Bruce Darby
Bruce,
I'm in the same boat as you. Since May of this year I have lost 33 lbs by dieting and exercising.
I am not a nutritionist either but I'm constantly surprised by how many people don't understand that in order to lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than you burn. It's simple physics.
As for the diet: I keep a food journal of everything I eat each day and assign myself a letter grade based on the quantity and quality of food eaten. I eat whatever I want for lunches and then eat very small meals for breakfast and dinner. A typical dinner for me is a PB and bread sandwich or Hummus with bread. I find that my lunches I crave LOTs of veggies with a little protein like steak or chicken. I better stop before I write too much and bore everyone ...
I think if you are looking to lose weight, burn more calories than you eat and do lots of interval based workouts. Intervals raise your metabolic rate and will help you burn more calories throughout the day.
Michael
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