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June 26 Pizza Leg Syndrome (PLS)You wouldn't think that one slice of pizza would do such harm to your legs, but PLS is serious and a condition feared by many cyclists.
P.S. This is some funny stuff!
June 10 Take It Off!Being that I joined a cycling club a few months back, one thing I was required to bring on our rides is a patch kit to repair flat tires. Basically it comes with patches, glue, little squares of sand paper, tire levers, two air canisters (one for each tire or in case I mess up), and one tire nozzle (to inflate the tube) which is partially screwed on to one of the air canisters. They do this so the rider knows that in the event of a flat, the nozzle should first be secured to the presta valve then the air canister screws in to the nozzle. A little protrusion in the center of the chuck punctures the canister which releases air to inflate the tube. The whole kit is rather small considering it contains all the tools necessary to take off the tire and repair the tube, and should conveniently fit in a small seat pouch.
Fast forward to a club ride. All is well. The sun is shining, the birds chirping, everyone's laughing. We're all having a great ride when we come to a point along the route to stop, rest, and regroup. I'm just about to join my fellow riders at the rest stop when I hit a couple of insignificant bumps in the road. Suddenly, I hear a strange hissing sound coming from behind me and I immediately think I've gotten my first flat tire. No worries though because I have my new patch kit and am cycling with a group of experienced riders. But as I pull to a stop, I notice the pressure in my tires haven't changed and it seems that I'm the only one thinking I have a flat. Everyone else seems to notice that the hissing was resonating from my seat, or shall I say seat area.
If you're like me and are taking up the sport of cycling, you do need to buy a patch kit. If you want to reserve a little dignity for yourself, however, be sure to completely remove the nozzle from the air canister. If you leave it on, the natural motion of the bike will cause the nozzle to rotate on to and puncture the canister. The sudden spew of air will, no doubt, leave your riding buddies to think your carbo-loading the night before was in the form of beans and giving new meaning to the term drafting. So if you don't already have one, or haven't done so, be sure to completely remove your nozzle...unless you want to be called veloploom.
May 30 A bit on runningThe only time I blog about running is when my friend and co-worker Jenn is up to something. Some of you may already know from my previous posts that she ran the Nike Women's Marathon last year with Team In Training. It was her first running event and she did quite well. She's doing it again this year but this time on her own. And what I mean by on her own, I mean she won't even be at the event. She'll be running it via technology of a shoe insert...a virtual marathon.
She runs with the Nike+ shoes. Those of you unfamiliar, it has a special insert that literally talks to her during her runs, feeding her information on her distance and pace through her iPod. Its really quite impressive what Nike has done with technology and a running shoe. After her runs, she downloads her run information from the shoe insert to some kind of Nike web-tracking site (or it actually might be done automatically) which keeps track of her mileage and pace times.
So this year because she has this tracking device, she registered for the marathon again but will be running it via her insert. All she has to do is run the same amount of miles anywhere she chooses on the actual day of the marathon, download that information, and...bahda bing...she gets her Tiffany & Co. necklace AND avoids those Presidio hills!
I wonder if companies like CatEye are working with cycling organizations on something like this? Sometimes the best part of participating in an organized event can be the event itself and the fellow participants you meet along the way. Of course it wouldn't work for major races, but for charity events like the Nike Marathon or the Tour de Cure, it opens the door to so many people across the country who, for some reason...the price of GAS...can't make it to the event. Maybe we'll see it cycling someday, but kudos to Nike for paving the way.
May 28 30-miler in the bagI didn't think anyone was reading this, but several people have been asking how my 30-mile ride with the cycling club went. Glad to say it was great! I started out to the scheduled meeting place (about an hour from where I live). I knew roughly how to get to the city where we were meeting, but I wasn't quite sure where the Chamber of Commerce was located. In a town with a population of 570 I didn't think it would be too hard to find, so I winged it. And I was correct in my assumptions. It wasn't hard to find. Not because the building stood out in any way, but because its hard to miss a cycling event when people are mingling about in multi-colored cycling jerseys. You cyclists know exactly what I mean.
As I mentioned before I'm very new to the sport of cycling and have not yet grown in to my cycler's body, so the sight of very fit guys hobnobbing around in well deserved cycling jerseys was very intimidating. Needless to say, my having-second-thoughts mode kicked in and I was tempted to just drive by. Afterall, Mickey D's was still serving breakfast and a McBiscuit with McHashbrowns was sounding pretty good. But instead, I pulled in the parking lot and with the Scarecrow-like trepidation, I approached wearing my usual baggy t-shirt, capri pants, and tennis shoes. As I have said before, I will dress like a cyclist when I grow in to my cycler's body. Anyhoo, one thing I have found with this and any other sport is that the athletes of that particular sport are usually very hospitable towards beginners and are more than happy to swap stories of their experiences. This was no exception.
There were about 10 of us that joined in for the ride; two of us female, one of which was 16 and holds 2nd place in NCNCA road racing. The other was me. The rest were men ranging in ages from mid-30's to 72. Yes, 72 years old and I couldn't keep up with him if my life depended on it. As it turns out he has been cycling with this group for 35 years and has done many centuries in his cycling career. This ride, indeed, was a leisurely ride for him. But of all the stories I heard that day, what impressed me most was how these guys could ride 30 miles on a hot day and eat a huge steak lunch right in the middle of the ride! This actually was an annual ride they do with the specific goal to eat lunch at the half-way point at a certain restaurant. I had half a chicken sandwich and my legs felt like lead afterwards. Thankfully, the other gal held back but kept me riding at my fastest pace thusfar, 16mph. I don't have an odometer to know if that's true, but it sure felt like it so I'll take her word on it.
All in all, it was a great ride, with great company, on a real nice day. They did invite me back for another ride; actually they have no choice because I'm a member now so I just have to show up. But it's really good to step out of the norm and ride with those who've paved the way. I learned a lot from them and from the experience. I have also decided to break down and buy, at the least, cycling shoes. For those of you considering taking up the sport and eager to ride long distances, proper shoes are a must. Tennis shoes are fine for the short rides, but to get faster and ride longer (without foot pain), do yourself a favor and invest in a good pair of cycling shoes. Keep the baggy t-shirts, but get the shoes.
May 21 Feeling like a kid againWhat is it about ice cream trucks and push-up popsicles that make you feel like a kid? I don't know what it is, but everytime I encountered one of these two things, I get all giddy inside. Today a friend and co-worker (Sandy) brought around a bag of push-up pops and had everyone pick their favorites. Mine was orange sherbert. Not that its my favorite, its just what I wanted at the time. As I sat here at work at my desk, eating my push-up pop I was thinking how Tom Hanks must have felt while filming the movie Big. He went to work and got paid for acting like a big goofy kid. That's how I felt when I was eating my popsicle (only I wasn't blowing silly string out my nose). I caught myself from time to time bouncing in my seat by stiffening and kicking my legs and even took the opportunity to spin in my chair. The feeling was even more magnified when my co-worker asked if her tongue had turned blue. She picked the blueberry I guess. But we had such a good giggle sticking out our tongues at eachother to see the flourescent coloring left behind. Others joined in, and here we were, all dressed in our business attire and all sticking our tongues out at eachother giggling. It's a silly little thing, I know, but try it. On your way home from work tonight, buy a box of popsicles. Eat one then stick your tongue out at your spouse or your children. I guarantee it will get you giggling and feeling like a kid again.
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