Commuting - Very long commute: week 11

Ole ole - ole ole / Ole ole - ole ole

EE-Yessa Ha-ha
Ee-yes girls

Me mind on fire -- Me soul on fire -- Feeling hot hot hot
Party people -- All around me feeling hot hot hot

Any tips and tricks for riding when it's hot hot hot? I'm thinking that our friends from down under will be especially helpful with this. :)

Mars did you go and get a case of heat stroke?

Just ride naked. :lol: with a ice water misting systems.

But really, a Camelbaks with half frozen water will cool the blood moving up and down the spin. Thus cool the core body temp. Also a personal misting system (pump type) works well at cooling the skin. Or you can do what I do, just ride through puddles and let your wheel be your misting system. also check out the cooling bandanas like this http://www.brandsonsale.com/coba.html.

Mars did you go and get a case of heat stroke?

Just ride naked. :lol: with a ice water misting systems.

But really, a Camelbaks with half frozen water will cool the blood moving up and down the spin. Thus cool the core body temp. Also a personal misting system (pump type) works well at cooling the skin. Or you can do what I do, just ride through puddles and let your wheel be your misting system. also check out the cooling bandanas like this http://www.brandsonsale.com/coba.html.


Whoa, awesome tips, CigTech!! My tips, wear bike specific clothing. It's made to wick moisture and breath. I have a Giro Atmos helmet that I have found really helps keep my head cool. It has a lot of vents... in fact it seems like I am cooler with the helmet than without it.

Our hottest day last year was about 45 celcius (bloody hot farenheit). The best way to cool down was to wear the right stuff - a la Mars, and to make sure your water bottles (3 at least) are mostly frozen before you leave, you can comfortably drink them after 20 mins and you can pour it into your helmet to cool you off. Otherwise, its a case of having a cool shower before you leave home or work and then stopping in the shade if you feel that light headed, 'i don't know why i feel this way' sorta feeling.

I find that the best way to cool down in summer is to wear singlets (sleaveless tops) but some people can't bring themselves to do that.

Now, how do i deal with this bloody cold? And how do i get the funds to get me some cycling shoes and fenders? Anybody? :D

Have a good week people.

45 celsius!!! OMG!!

Any tips and tricks for riding when it's hot hot hot? I'm thinking that our friends from down under will be especially helpful with this. :)

I try to drink one large water bottle an hour. It is also important to replace your electrolytes, I use Endurolytes and Antifatigue caps from www.e-caps.com

Remember that if you drink too much water and do not replace your electroluytes you can become hyponatremic. Hyponatremia or water intoxication is a very dangerous condition, which is can be caused by drinking too much water in a short amount of time. What happens is the water dilutes the salt (sodium) content of your blood. If you ingest a lot of water you need to introduce electrolytes. I can give more information if people are interested.

Clothing:
Light colors and a high wicking non-cotton fabric.
Well ventilated helmet.

Totally rocking the recumbent lately! My commute in the summer is 19 miles one way. For the past couple of weeks, I have made every trip in under an hour. I'm just in this pedal pushing groove and eat up the miles! Woohoo!

Holy crap! Good speed on that recumbent Mars. I'm back from the little bike race - what a blast. I was following a guy on a recumbent for a while. I ended up overdoing it though and had some major calf problems. They were seizing up and spasming like crazy!! Then they were swollen and sore for three days. Now, I can get back on the bike! I am SERIOUSLY wanting a NEW BIKE after that race though. I realized I really slog on the uphills on my bike.

45C gusboh! Whoa! Dealing with the heat isn't really an issue here - it's rarely too hot to ride. I empathize with you guys who do have that killer heat though - it really sucks the energy out of you. We had a few hot days last week (that's about 30C) and riding in that just sapped me.

Talking about hot, It's hitting 91 deg with 65% humidity today. But I still got a good ride this morning in at 4:30 AM. It was only 78% with 75% humidity. Had a ARTS of 20.45.

Oh have you guy's hard of a Overtraining thing. I went to the Doc and he said I was overtraining. and wanted me to take a 4 week break from the bike. I told him I'd slow down a bit and get more sleep. But I am having a hard time slowing down. The sleep is not a problem. any ways, I need to get in the race to replace Lance and I'll need to be in top from to do that.

Oh have you guy's hard of a Overtraining thing. I went to the Doc and he said I was overtraining. and wanted me to take a 4 week break from the bike. I told him I'd slow down a bit and get more sleep. But I am having a hard time slowing down. The sleep is not a problem. any ways, I need to get in the race to replace Lance and I'll need to be in top from to do that.

I recommend you take a look at Chris Carmicheal's book. He's the guy who is Lance's trainer. He talks a lot about how to pace your training to avoid injuries (like you probably have) and to maximize performance. It's important, especially after age 40, to balance days where you ride hard with days that you ride slow or not at all. This gives your body a chance to recover from the stresses imposed by hard exertion. When you ride hard, you tear and damage your muscles and connecitve tissue. The rest/easy ride days give your bodya chance to heal. Your gonzo riding style can't be sustained indefiitely without consequences.

That being said, I would seek a second opinion about the 4 weeks off. Unless you have torn a ligament or tendon, why so long off the bike?

Holy crap! Good speed on that recumbent Mars. I'm back from the little bike race - what a blast. I was following a guy on a recumbent for a while. I ended up overdoing it though and had some major calf problems. They were seizing up and spasming like crazy!! Then they were swollen and sore for three days. Now, I can get back on the bike! I am SERIOUSLY wanting a NEW BIKE after that race though. I realized I really slog on the uphills on my bike..

I nearly had to eat my word today on the way home. I stayed a little too late a work and was running behind to catch my ferry. I had jut under an hour to get there. No problem, I thought, until I felt the headwind :eek:

Well, I made it with 2 minutes to spare, but I was a hurting dog. I had to ride like a demon to make it on time.

mtn_chick, you totally should get a new bike. ;)

Any tips and tricks for riding when it's hot hot hot? I'm thinking that our friends from down under will be especially helpful with this. :)

Sunscreen - don't forget the sunscreen!! :)

I nearly had to eat my word today on the way home. I stayed a little too late a work and was running behind to catch my ferry. I had jut under an hour to get there. No problem, I thought, until I felt the headwind :eek:

Well, I made it with 2 minutes to spare, but I was a hurting dog. I had to ride like a demon to make it on time.

mtn_chick, you totally should get a new bike. ;)

Oh, I hate those rides where you're totally cutting it short to get somewhere on time. Too much stress!

I agree about the 4 weeks off for CigTech. That seems a bit over-the-top! You can definitely overdo things - it just seems odd, a dr. telling you to NOT exercise for a month.:eek:

And hell yeah Mars! I'm working towards that new bike right now! I just think, if I have this much fun on my heavy beast of a bike, I can't even imagine how much more enjoyable commuting would be on a better, lighter bike!!:D

Oh have you guy's hard of a Overtraining thing. I went to the Doc and he said I was overtraining. and wanted me to take a 4 week break from the bike. I told him I'd slow down a bit and get more sleep. But I am having a hard time slowing down. The sleep is not a problem. any ways, I need to get in the race to replace Lance and I'll need to be in top from to do that.
I'd be very carefull about the overtraining. I was a competitive rower while in college, and at one point in my 2nd year I had to throttle it back because of overtraining. I was forced into taking 2 weeks off because of injuries due to overtraining. It was especially tough on me because I was 12 years older than most of my fellow crew members, so I didn't recover as quickly.

-Jim

I could bloody kill my bike if i didn't love it so much. Now the freaking BB is gasping and groaning for what will be its' miserable last few miles.

Got my shoes, so i am finally clipless. I just need fenders and i'll be sweet. Except for the BB and the inevitable breakage in about 100 miles. Can you tell that my bike seems to fall apart on me?

I treat them with such love too, maybe i need to play hard to get. I hear that they love that.

Just a very normal commute yesterday, almost exactly average time on the 32 mile PM run (2:06).
I think I barely hit a pigeon (I heard feathers on front tire).

Totally rocking the recumbent lately! My commute in the summer is 19 miles one way. For the past couple of weeks, I have made every trip in under an hour. I'm just in this pedal pushing groove and eat up the miles! Woohoo!

Wow Mars, I'm jealous. My commute is also 19 Miles each way and I usually make it in about 1:15. If I hammer I can do it in 1:05 but that leaves me feeling totally whipped.

The weather forcast yesterday called for thunderstorms starting at around 9:00am. I left at 6:00am and 45 minutes into the commute the skies were ominously dark with lots of lightning coming from the direction I was heading. I put the hammer down but still got caught in the rain on the last mile. That was my first rain ride since adding fenders. Even more amazing than how much grime the fenders kept off of me was how much they kept off the bike. I don't know why I didn't add them sooner.


I think I barely hit a pigeon (I heard feathers on front tire).

Yikes!:eek: I've not had close calls with birds but the short section of MUP that I use on my commute seems to be full of suicidal bunnies.

Will I think the Doc was just tring to get me off the bike for a week or two. But he knows I would not. When he told me I had to get my gall stones out. I asked him "Why, are they boughting you" He just gave me this look like WTF. :lol: But he and I have a understanding, he tells me what to do and I do half of what he says. He knows that and just add to it so I'll did what he wants me to.

But I have been taken it easy for the three days that I was off. and then the first day back on the bike. Now I have been verying my ride speeds. more on the slow side and taken it a bit easy on the hot ride home. I trying to keep it down to 17 mph on the way home and under 20 on the way in.

This is my third week commuting to work. I can only do it once a week at this point. I got a speedometer/odometer yesterday, so I'm able to post official stats instead of half-assed guesses.

Here's for the trip in to work this morning (the easy direction :) ):

25.12 miles
1 hour, 48 mins
13.9 mph average
Top speed: 35 mph

It was another beautiful morning for biking. Warm and sunny. I anticipate it being in the 90's on the way home though. I've got my water bottles in the freezer!


I always liked having a computer for my long commute, I never paid attention to it while riding but was always amazed that it really was 25 miles one way... I could usually do the ride to work in about an hour and a half and the return trip was always longer at 2 hours. Who can blame me... I was working the graveyard shift!


PS: It will get easier, I was doing that 5 days a week for 3 months. Would have equaled 12,000 miles annually just for going to and from work. I still rode for fun on my days off.

For the last month or more, I have been commuting between my girlfriend's place and work. 35kms each way. Most weeks I only visit once. Normally do a sat morning 100k+ ride also. A couple of weeks ago I did the trip back to back two days in a row. Felt exhausted for several days after, bit of a sore throat. Probably over training, not enough sleep. :p

How do you all cope with long commutes? Lack of sleep from getting up early, time to prepare and eat meals? Juggling clothes and showering at work? Does anyone include heart rate monitor interval work?

ianh - I'm a total slacker now. I had all this motivation before the bike race to train/commute, now I'm slacking horribly! But I think I just needed a bit of a break. All I can think about is a new, lighter bike too...

But it's true, some days I just feel like I don't want to get up extra early and rush to ride. So I don't. Luckily I don't feel that way too often! To give myself that extra push, I think about how great I'll feel during most of the ride and after - can't beat that nice, exhausted feeling!! :D

To give myself that extra push, I think about how great I'll feel during most of the ride and after - can't beat that nice, exhausted feeling!! :D


I never feel exhausted. I always feel more awake vs when I dont ride before work. Very much more alert and happy.

... All I can think about is a new, lighter bike too...


A few months ago I went from a lead lined chinese mountain bike to an all carbon road racer!! KER-POW.. So easy to ride up hills, makes me look so much fitter :D

Maybe that's why I feel exhausted... I blame the bike!! Yeah, that's it...:rolleyes:

I haven't been able to ride much, we had an off-site conference so I have been taking the bus & train. Very frustrating becuase it takes almost two hours to get there, and I've been too tired to ride in the evenings. I have to do the same thing two-days next week. arrgh.

Hang in there XRoader, So times lifes get in the way of what we want to do.

Mt_Chick, Kind of sounds like you may have over trained as well. Do you get mody and look at the bike and say " not again". Check this page out.
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/overtraining/a/aa062499a.htm

If not over then it is time for the new bike.

My week ended up on a good note !

I passed an MTB commuter on Rt. 7 and later I find
out it is an office guy from my job who told me I
was 'flying' when I went by him and up the hill !!! :D
First time I have ever been accused of that :roflmao:
Even though I was on the gearie it's all in the Fix-Fu...."Pedal hard and never stop !!"
:eek: :roflmao: :eek:
A lot of posts on overtraining...I work a manual labor job currently and between
this and the ride I am HAMMERED at the end of the week. Everything hurts. I
am going through that period that everyone goes through occasionally trying to keep
the motivation up. Since I know there are no technical jobs in my area, maybe a new
Tri-Bike might help in this blue period :D ?

Well, I only managed to get 70 commuter miles in this week, so I don't think I can be accused of over training:rolleyes: I was able to ride yesterday, but got sucked in to a meeting at 4:00pm and wasn't able to leave until 8:00pm. I was supposed to be an early day, so I hadn't packed my lights and by the time I made it home it was getting pretty dark. My ride is pretty much on the MUP, so there was no traffic to fight, but with all the tree cover and the recent storm there were a few things on the trail that I would rather not have rode over. No flats though and home safe so all is well.

Very nice Lem in PA.

Xroad, Mybe you'll have better luck next week getting some miles in.

Score! I just picked up a Specialized Sirrus (I'd guess about 5 yrs old) in great shape for $80! I'll keep riding the Crossroads hybrid for commuting, but ride the sirrus on weekends and the occassional century or duathalon - oh and I'll use it next time we have speed week, it's at least five pounds lighter than my crossroads (of course no fenders, rack, seat pack, etc) and definately faster.

Can anyone help me figure out what year model it is? It has drop bars (they switched to flat bars on the Sirrus a couple of years ago, but I don't know when) it is off-white and red. I suppose I can email the serial number to Specialized, but thought I would ask here first.

Cig - I'll get the miles up as soon as work settles down. Take care of your injuries - I have a rotator cuff injury and tendonitis in my right shoulder that have been bugging me of six months now - If you doctor says to take some time off - listen to him. We don't heal like we did when we were 20!

Nice score xroader!!

Well it looks like rainfor the next 10 days. From Jan to now I have only had 3 rainy commutes. Now I have to pay the price.

I feel a little tired, too. 870 miles in the past 30 days. I took the LONG way home last night - 38 miles - boy did I sleep soundly. My usual roundtrip is 50 miles and I'm trying to consistently get 200 miles per week in without cramping. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Yikes! And I thought I was tired!

This week is the first week I put in an almost full VLCC week. Normally, I go about 28 miles per day. Monday, storms forced me to take the bus home, but then I went back out and ended up with 27.1 miles for the day anyways. Tuesday was 29 miles. 30 on Wednesday, 29 again on Thursday and about 32 yesterday. And ye gods, I am beat.

I'm just hoping for a 500-mile month. I'm halfway there.

Good job, axOn. Keep rollin'. I remember my first ride after a five-year haitis that ended four years ago - 3 miles in I was so tired, I failed to clip out and fell over into the median. Oh, the humanity! Today, my 8 year-old son and I did 24.5 miles on the MUP averaging 10.8 mph. I am so proud of him. He and I are also really enjoying the TdF. It's just so cute when he starts talking about the different riders in the tour and their achievements. It's scary how much he picks up from me and what I'm into.

I had another thought about this week's topic of staying cool - insulated water bottles. I've been using these for awhile and they really help the ice to last longer. I'm also enjoying CamelBack's Elixir electrolyte tablets. You throw one in a large bottle and it dissolves easily, leaves almost no residue, tastes great but has no calories - just all the electrolytes you need for 45 - 1 hour. The only problem is that they come 12 to bottle and cost about $9 US retail. Thank God for the LBS discount!

Yikes! And I thought I was tired!

This week is the first week I put in an almost full VLCC week. Normally, I go about 28 miles per day. Monday, storms forced me to take the bus home, but then I went back out and ended up with 27.1 miles for the day anyways. Tuesday was 29 miles. 30 on Wednesday, 29 again on Thursday and about 32 yesterday. And ye gods, I am beat.

I'm just hoping for a 500-mile month. I'm halfway there.

Dude, that's a 147-mile week! Awesome!