Hi folks,
I recently wrote the following two-part article on cycling for the
RIVER BENDER newspaper. River Bend is an incorporated boating/golf
community close to New Bern, NC. Better than half of the residents are
retired senior citizens.
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                  CYCLING FOR FUN AND FITNESS
      Part 1 -- Getting Started  And Setting Objectives
               By Dave Wallace 110 Portside Lane
Almost everybody enjoys riding a bicycle. It's fun and it's healthy. I
started riding years ago when I retired and set an objective of 100 miles
per month. Now, 12 years later, I have ridden 14,500 miles with a long
term average of 126 miles per month. Since becoming interested  in bike
racing I train by riding several hundred miles per month. I am 67 years old.
If your interest is only in casual bike riding, this article is not for
you. I am going to discuss serious cycling -- the kind that really keeps
you fit and  benefits your heart. Not that I am against the casual bike
rider, but the secret to serious cycling is consistency. You must ride on
a regular basis to reach a point where it feels good to ride at a good
pace. Only then do you  not  tire easily, your leg muscles do not get sore
and your heart benefits by eventually reaching a slower at-rest pulse rate.
To start riding seriously, I suggest a 4-mile loop around River Bend every
day. If this is too long, reduce the trip to what is a comfortable distance
but be consistent. If you have not been riding much, your thighs and calves
will probably be sore. This is expected, but will go away with consistent
cycling as your muscles become conditioned. Naturally if you have or
suspect a heart condition, your doctor should advise you on how much bike
riding you should be doing.
How fast should you ride? Regardless of the type of bike, here are some tips
from the experts: Ride at a speed that causes your heart to beat at 65-85%
of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum rate is found by subtracting your
age from 220. I am 67 so my maximum heart rate per minute is 220 minus 67
or 153. My target rate while biking should be 65-85% of 153 or 99-130 beats
per minute for the heart and muscles to benefit. In practice I ride closer
to 140. This is referred to as the aerobic range where most of your energy
is produced by oxygen. When one reaches his maximum heart rate by riding
too hard, the anaerobic threshold is reached where strange things begin to
happen. Oxygen in the bloodstream becomes less, causing lactic acid to build
up in the muscles. The muscles then become less efficient and suddenly you
become very tired and start slowing down. Worse yet, it takes time to
recover and get back up to speed.  What does riding in the aerobic range
do for you? It develops heart muscles that allow the heart to work more
efficiently. In time, your at-rest pulse becomes lower since the heart does
not have to work as hard. My at-rest pulse generally runs in the 50s but
drops as low as 45 at night. Another benefit of  aerobic exercise is that
it burns calories and helps reduce cholesterol. How do you measure your
heart beat?  A fast way is to take one hand and place it on the other
wrist while watching the second hand of a watch. Count your pulse in
6-seconds and add zero and you have a pretty good estimate. For example,
if I count 14 beats in 6 seconds, my pulse is 140. I do this while riding
but if you cannot ride your bike with no-hands, stop and quickly measure
your pulse. We certainly do not need any crashes.
How do you keep track of your mileage?  Purchase a bicycle computer that
shows speed, trip mileage, accumulated mileage, elapsed time and other
things depending on the price. Call BIKE NASHBAR at 1-800-NASHBAR and ask
for their catalog. A serious cyclist cannot be without a bike computer.
Stay tuned for Part 2 next month.
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                CYCLING FOR FUN AND FITNESS
               Part 2 -- Bicycles and Racing
             By Dave Wallace 110 Portside Lane
Let's talk about bicycles. As  mentioned  earlier, any bicycle will help
one become fit if ridden consistently.  For those interested in riding
fast or racing - perhaps in the Senior Games held annually, the only kind
of bike that you will need is a racing bike, or what is commonly called
a road bike. This bike can not be purchased at  ordinary department
stores. To my knowledge no bike dealer in New Bern carries road bikes
except on special order. To see and ride one you will have to go to
Havelock, Jacksonville or Greenville.  What make a road bike different
from other bikes? I used to think they were overpriced and the advantages
were a lot of hype until I entered the Senior Games riding my old 34-pound
French Motobecane with 27" tires.  Exhausted, I managed to place third
but it became obvious that I was not in the same class as the guys with
the lightweight bikes and skinny tires. After the race a friend loaned
me his racing bike to see the difference and I became a believer overnight.
Now I ride a 19-pound aluminum bike and find myself going 3-4 mph faster
with the same pedaling effort as before. Why the difference?  I am not
sure but I suspect that  the very narrow tires are probably the biggest
contributor of speed because they reduce road friction. Pump up the tires
of any bike to the maximum and you will notice how easier it is to pedal.
Secondly, road bike gearing  is different by having a range of smaller cogs
on the rear wheel.  A mountain bike, for example, has larger cogs on the
rear wheel and cannot possibly compete speed-wise with a road bike on
ordinary roads.  Thirdly, the wheel bearings of a good road bike may be
superior since I find myself coasting much farther than I did with my old
bike but that also may be due to less road friction. Lastly, all racing
bikes have drop handlebars that allow one to crouch and reduce body wind
resistance that causes 70% of cycling drag. All good road bikes are
relatively light which definitely allows one to accelerate very fast.
However, I am not convinced that a bike that weighs a few pounds one way
or the other will make a great deal of difference in speed since riders
weights vary far more.
If you are not interested in riding fast nor racing, then most any type
of bike will be suitable provided you ride it with some consistency and
at a pace to get your heart beating at the rate mentioned.
And now for a few racing comments. I can only speak for the Senior Games
held annually in New Bern in May and the NC State Finals held in Raleigh
in October.  Three races are held at each location: One mile, 5km (3.1 mile)
and 6km (6.2 mile). Men and women compete separately in age groups of 55-59,
60-64, 65-69, 70-74, etc. By winning 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in the local
contest one become qualified to enter the State Finals in Raleigh and from
there to the Nationals that are held every two years. This year they are
being held in Tucson, Arizona.
Racing in the Senior Games is great fun. Everyone compares notes by looking
over the bikes and physiques of the competitors and one ends up being
surprised how fast some seniors ride and how slow others are. By contacting
the New Bern Recreation and Parks Administration (636-4061) you can probably
find out what the winning times were in your age group in the last races
held. This will give you some insight of what the competition will be like.
In my age group, 65-69, you will probably have to ride at 18-20 mph or better
to win any sort of medal. Does that sound fast? The young fellows in the
Tour DuPont race generally average over 24 mph on daily segments of over
100 miles.
 
... Catch the Blue Wave!
~~~ Blue Wave v2.12 [NR]
--- Squish v1.11
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