Loop 1604 Peloton Ride

Date:May 02, 2010

Event:
Loop 1604 Peloton Ride

Location: Spectrum Club at Rogers Ranch

Entry Fees Per Route:
$75.00:  $75.00

About the Race:

Ride like a professional! Join us for a fast 100 mile ride around San Antonio’s Loop 1604. Ride is escorted by SAPD motorcycle police. Three SAG vehicles will be on hand to provide nutriition at key points during the ride. Group will stay together as a peloton and ride at 20mph. Duration of the ride is approximately 5 hours. Also included is an event tshirt and post ride pizza party!

Flyer: http://www.brittonbikes.com/hcsa-events/loop-1604-ride/loop-1604.htm

Registration: http://www.active.com/triathlon/san-antonio-tx/san-antonio-peloton-ride-2010

Additional Info:

SAG vehicles will be available for riders needing to rest for a few miles. Rider will be transported ahead of the peloton to reconnect. Electrolyte replacement, water, bananas and gels or bars will also be provided.

Website: http://www.brittonbikes.com/hcsa-events/loop-1604-ride/loop-1604.htm

Tight Hamstrings & Cycling

By Nick Clayton

Many cyclists’ suffer from tight hamstrings, even though they stretch frequently. What’s the deal? Tight hamstrings are commonly a result of “gluteal amnesia.” In essence, the glutes forget how to contract, causing the hamstrings and calves to overwork. This is especially relevant for individuals who bike frequently then sit for long periods.

Think of the body as a puppet controlled by strings. If one or more of the strings get out of balance the whole puppet suffers. The body is the same. Muscles in the front of the body, especially the hip flexors, get tight and cause the muscles in the back of the body, especially the glutes, to become weak. Think about it — if you have tight hamstrings when was the last time your butt was sore (aside from sitting in the saddle for 4 hours). In addition, I’d be willing to bet that 1 out of 2 cyclists with tight hamstrings have low back pain and headaches. For the purpose of this article, the reason is too lengthy. Here is what you can do to alleviate the tightness, which reduces your performance (endurance, pain, and power).

Here is one really quick test. Stand up tall. Raise your left leg so that your left knee is above your hip, bending your knee. Hold for 10 seconds. Do you feel your right glute working along with your left hip flexor (the muscle dead center in the front of your left hip), or do you feel the burn in the outside of your left hip (TFL, or tensor fascia latae)? If you feel anything other than I described (right glute, left hip flexor) your body is compensating for a weakness created by one or more of the following.

Causes of tight hamstrings

– Increasing volume or intensity too much in a short time period
– Weak glutes and deep abs and tight or weak hip flexors
– Poor choice of exercises (too many situps and crunches these exercise do not work your “deep” abs)

Results

– Low back pain and stiffness
– Overuse injuries in the foot, calf, and knee
– Decreased motivation to run

Prevention

– Stretch consistently; perform active stretches before a workout and static stretches after a workout. Get in the habit of stretching and foam rolling 10 minutes before bed every night. Do not focus on stretching the hamstrings.

– Stretch your hip flexors with proper technique. To stretch your hip flexors, assume a lunge position. Tighten your abs (lightly squeeze your belly button) and squeeze the glute on your back leg; drop your hips straight down until you feel a gentle stretch in front of the hip of the back leg. Hold for 30 seconds, repeat 3 times.

Commit to core stability training 2-3 times per week that includes planks, and side planks. Reduce any ab machines — they focus on the more superficial muscles which compensate for the deep stabilizing muscles.

Find a good deep tissue massage therapist and sports medicine professional (I hear TMI is really good, wink-wink).

Nick is the Director of Performance at TMI Sports Performance in Arlington and is an avid off-road triathlete. Contact him with your injury prevention and run specific strength training questions at nick.clayton@tmisportsperformance.com

When to Replace Your Chain

One of the most important components on a bike, the chain is often the most maintained part whether it’s made from plain carbon or alloy steel, but some are chrome-plated or stainless steel to prevent rust, or simply for aesthetics. It gets worn out, needs lubing and constantly picks up dirt and even mud when its raining.

Ever wondered when is the right time to replace the chains on your bike? This great article byLennard Zinn of VeloNews can give you tips when to finally get a new one.

As a chain wears, the pins and plate holes wear, increasing the spacing between rollers. This concentrates load on the top gear tooth, rather than distributing it over all of the teeth around which the chain is wrapped. Over time, the gear teeth will become hook-shaped and the tooth valleys will lengthen. A new chain will skip and jump when running on worn cogs and vice versa.

Chains are cheaper than cogsets and chainrings, and to avoid having to change all of them at once, check your chain regularly and replace it as needed.

The easiest way to check your chain is to measure it. Since bicycle chains measure a half-inch between adjacent rivets, there should be exactly 12 inner and outer link pairs in one foot. Set one end of a ruler on a rivet edge, and look at the rivet 12 inches away. If its edge is 12-1⁄8 inch away, replace the chain. If it is 12-1⁄16 inch away, replace it if you use titanium or aluminum cogs or an 11-tooth cog.

Source: Active.com
Click here to read full article

Carbohydrates: Fuel for Your Cycling

By Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D. of Active.com
Click here to read Full Article

Many cyclists consider sports bars and gels high in carbohydrates to be handy pre-ride snacks and a good source of calories during rides.

These energy sources help provide ample carbohydrates, with minimal amounts of fat and protein.

Many cyclists eat irregularly or skip meals due to the time constraints of work, social events and training. When you forgo meals, however, your blood glucose drops and you’re more likely to get the “bonk” on a ride.

Eating a high-carbohydrate sports bar an hour or so before cycling will help to maintain your blood glucose levels so that you can perform optimally.

Filling Up

High-carbohydrate foods such as sports bars, Fig Newtons, and bananas provide a feeling of “fullness” that you won’t get from drinking fluids or sucking down gels. Sports bars and gels purposely have a very low water content so that they can be compact and easily carried. By comparison, high-carbohydrate foods that have a high water content, such as bananas, take up more room.

For example, to get the amount of carbohydrate supplied by one Clif Bar (40 to 45 grams), you’d have to eat 1.5 bananas (45 grams). One gel packet supplies only slightly less carbohydrate (25 grams) than one banana (25 to 30 grams).

Ride for Heroes 2011


The good people organizing the Moritz Ride for Heroes, let us know tonight that the 9th annual event will be held on April 16th, 2011.   This is a must do for any cyclist in north Texas and the ride starts at 8:30 AM from the Aledo High School in Aledo, TX.  Six route choices ranging from 8 to 82 miles are planned.  As always this charity bicycle ride benefits organizations that protect and serve in Eastern Parker County.

See www.rideforheroes.org for details.

Remember, this year we interviewed Donna Smith about the ride and the Wheelbrothers had a great time:  http://ventidev.com//2010/04/08/ride-for-heroes/

No, the rain was a figment of your imagination….

Go sign up now!

The Pre-Race Meal

By Matt Fitzgerald for Active.com
Click here to read Full Article

Every meal is important, but no meal is more important than the one before a race. Choosing the wrong foods, eating too much or too little, or eating at the wrong time can affect your performance and possibly ruin your race, or at least make your performance less than optimal. Eating the right pre-race meal at the right time ensures that all your hard training doesn’t go to waste.

The main purpose of the pre-race meal is to fill your liver with glycogen, especially if it precedes a morning race. Liver glycogen fuels your nervous system while you sleep, and as a result, your liver is roughly 50 percent glycogen-depleted when you wake up in the morning. Your muscles, inactive during the night, remain fully glycogen loaded from the previous day.

What to Eat

At least 80 percent of the calories you consume in your pre-race meal should come from carbohydrates. Keep your protein, and especially your fat and fiber consumption low. These nutrients take up space that are better utilized by carbohydrate. Also avoid gas-producing foods such as onions.

The types of carbohydrate are not important. While some studies have shown a performance benefit associated with eating a low-glycemic index (GI) meal rather than a high-GI meal before exercise, these meals were eaten just 30 minutes before exercise (the worst possible time for a high-GI meal, because blood glucose levels tend to decrease about 30 minutes after a high-GI meal). Recall that in a high-GI meal, carbohydrates enter the bloodstream very quickly, whereas in a low-GI meal, carbs enter the bloodstream at a lower rate.) In studies involving a more sensibly timed pre-exercise meal, the glycemic index of the meal has had no effect on performance.

Heat acclimation benefits athletic performance in hot and cool conditions

Source: http://media-newswire.com
Click here to read Full Article

Turning up the heat might be the best thing for athletes competing in cool weather, according to a new study by human physiology researchers at the University of Oregon.

Published in the October issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology, the paper examined the impact of heat acclimation to improve athletic performance in hot and cool environments.

Researchers conducted exercise tests on 12 highly trained cyclists — 10 males and two females — before and after a 10-day heat acclimation program. Participants underwent physiological and performance tests under both hot and cool conditions. A separate control group of eight highly trained cyclists underwent testing and followed the same exercise regime in a cool environment.

The data concluded that heat acclimation exposure provided considerable ergogenic benefits in cool conditions, in addition to the expected performance benefits in the hot environment. The study is the first to evaluate impacts of heat acclimation on aerobic performance in cool conditions.

Abilene Planning To Become More Bicycling Friendly

By Julie Phillips, KTXS Meteorologist
Click here to read Full Article

ABILENE, Texas — The city says making Abilene more bicycling friendly will benefit our community, and that’s what they’re planning to do. The League of American Bicyclists ranks Texas as only 41 out of the 50 states for being the most bicycling friendly. Bicycling around Abilene isn’t always the easiest either.Getting around on bike is a growing trend across the country. Jim MacDonald of Biketown says he’s noticing more people using bicycling as a form of transportation.”I see more and more of that as gas prices rise some people just want to cut back on expenses, make things simpler in their life,” said MacDonald.In addition cycling benefits your health and fitness.

Low-Carbohydrate Beverage Plus Protein Improves Endurance Performance

Depending on exercise intensity, a low-carb beverage with a moderate amount of added protein can improve aerobic endurance–even though it contains half the carbohydrates and less than one-third the calories of standard sports drinks, according to a study by Lisa Ferguson-Stegall, M.S., and colleagues of The University of Texas at Austin.

Cyclists Go Longer on Low-Carb, Added-Protein Supplement
In the laboratory study, 15 trained endurance cyclists performed two long rides: three hours, followed by an intense ride–up to 85 percent of aerobic capacity (VO2 max)–until exhaustion. On one ride, the athletes were given a standard six percent carbohydrate supplement. On the other ride, they received a three percent carbohydrate supplement (containing a mix of carbohydrates) with 1.2 percent added protein. On each ride, the cyclists were given 275 mL of their assigned beverage every 20 minutes.

Overall, there was no significant difference in endurance times. Average time to exhaustion was 26 minutes with the standard supplement and 31 minutes with the low-carb plus protein supplement.

However, the difference became significant for athletes exercising at or below their ventilatory threshold (VT)–the point at which breathing starts to become increasingly difficult. For the eight cyclists in this group, average time to exhaustion was 45 minutes with the low-carb plus protein beverage, compared to 35 minutes with the standard carbohydrate drink.

Thus endurance improved by about 28 percent in cyclists exercising at or near their VT. For the seven athletes exercising above their VT, there was no significant difference in time to exhaustion–about 15 minutes with both supplements.

Source: Newswise.com
Click here to read Full Article

The Texas Custom Bicycle Show

Come see the bikes and meet the best handmade framebuilders from Texas and beyond!


The 3rd annual Texas Custom Bicycle Show is an exhibition of custom bicycle frame builders with styles as diverse as road, mountain, city bikes and track bikes – built in steel, titanium and carbon. This year, the show also includes local component and accessory manufacturers from right here in Texas.

The 2010 show will be held October 16-17 in Austin Texas. Day 1 at the Austin Music Hall from 10am – 4pm. Day 2 outdoor cyclocross race & show.

Don’t miss it!!