Biking Tips and Tricks (Friday Five Edition)

I have finally gotten my bike out of the garage, cleaned off the cobwebs, pumped up the tires, and took it out for a spin.  While I was growing up, our family time on the weekends was going for bike rides.  I remember going all over the town every weekend.  A couple times we even rode our bikes (and walked a lot) up the Vail Pass in Colorado.  I remember that coming back down was the most fun thing ever.  Here are some things I've learned over the years.


1.  Safety first - Get a helmet.  While it is a state law in 22 states and DC that children have to wear a helmet, there are no state or federal laws for adults to wear their helmet.  Though there are a lot of jurisdictions in every state that have a law for everyone, no matter what age, on a bicycle must wear a helmet.   Wearing a helmet while on a bicycle is like wearing a seat belt while in a car.  It's something that is easy to do and could save your life.  Get one that is comfortable and fits well.  And make sure the chin strap is not too lose.  They have tons of styles and colors out there so while it still is a little dorky to wear it, you can at least look pretty doing it.


Get lights for your bike.  No matter what time of day it is or how bright it is outside, you are easier to see if you have flashing lights on your bike.  I like to have them on my front and back.  You can attach them to your bike, your helmet, and even your clothing.  The more you can do to help drivers see you, the safer you will be.

2.  Know your bike.  I think the one thing that everyone must know about their bike is the tires.  Being able to feel if your tires are a little low and know how much air to add is very important.  Everyone should have a bike pump and check their tires before every ride.  Changing a flat may be something a little more difficult.  If you are out and about, it's best to know how to do it as you never know when you will have a flat.  I was very nervous the first time I tried to change mine, but after many watches of YouTube videos I figured it out.  Taking a front tire off is easy, but the back one took me awhile to figure out.  Once the tire is off, it's not too difficult.  You might get a little dirty though.

Make sure you know how your bike shifts.  While I have been biking since I was a child, there are times where I haven't biked in years.  A few years ago I went for a ride after about 7 years of not riding and I went up the first hill and couldn't remember how to shift down.  I had to get off my bike and walk up the hill before I could remember how to do it.  And then it turned out that I was in the lowest gear and just really out of shape.  A lot of the road bikes have shifts that are part of the breaks and they can be confusing if you haven't used them before.

The one thing that I have heard a lot is that people are scared of clip pedals.  When I was younger and riding around with my parents, we had the cage pedals.  When I got my new bike, I made sure I got clips on them.  You have to buy special shoes to clip into the pedals.  The advantage of clips is that you can get some extra power from pedaling.  With the clips, you not only have the power of the pushing down, but of pulling up.  If you decide to get clips the easiest thing to do is to get on your bike next to a wall or car and just practice snapping them in and out.  There was only one time that I fell off my bike because of the clips and that was me not paying attention and forgetting to unclip when I came to a light.  I felt so stupid as my bike slowed down to almost a stop and then fell over.  In front of tons of cars too.


3.  When starting out find a safe place to ride.  When it's been more then a year since I have been on my bike, I like to go to a place that doesn't have any traffic to get in my way.  Over 20 years ago a business park near me was built for Motorola.  They bailed out after the roads were built out.  To this day there are only a handful of business there so on the weekend there is no traffic.  It's a place were bikers and runners go for a safe place to exercise.  We also have the Cap2Cap which is a path that was built from Richmond to Williamsburg.  I have yet to ride it, but hope to do so this summer.  I feel safe in places like this while I reacquaint myself with my bike.

Once you feel comfortable on the road find a group to ride with.  I feel a lot more comfortable when I'm riding with others then by myself.  We have a group here called RABA (Richmond Area Bicycling Association).  They offer tons of rides every month for all speeds, lengths and areas in the city.  They even have a first time rider group once a month where the veterans of the group help out those new to biking.  Everyone in the group looks out for everyone and being in a group makes it easier for cars to see you.  But remember if you meet up with a big group, break off to smaller groups.  I don't like to ride in a group bigger then 5 as it is hard for cars to pass you.

4.  While riding on the road you have to follow the same laws cars do.  You have to come to complete stops at stop signs and red lights.  You have to signal if you are turning or slowing down.  You are considered a moving vehicle and can be ticketed for the same things that cars are, including DUIs.

I don't like to use the right turn on the right as I'm always afraid that the cars cannot see my right hand.

When riding on the road you have to ride with traffic, not like running where you run against traffic.  There are different laws in different states about how a car can pass a cyclist.  Most states have laws that cars have to pass at least 3-4 feet away from the cyclist.  But the problem with this is that most drivers does not know the laws of sharing the road.  This is what makes a lot of people scared to ride their bikes on the road.  I enjoy getting out there and riding different places in the city.  I try to not ride on busy roads, makes sure I am easily seen, and always assume that the cars will not know the laws or doesn't care about the bicyclists.

5. Clothing - If you have ever seen any bikers on the road, you will notice they have a jersey on with tight shorts that go down to their knees.  Most of the shirts are on the tighter side of things (which I hate), but it's to help with the wind resistance.  And most of the shirts have some sort of pockets in the back.  This is to hold extra things like snacks or maybe a wind/rain jacket.

Bike shorts are also form fitting to help with the wind resistance.  The are made for biking in they have padding in the crotch.  If you do some biking you will notice your bum will probably be the first thing that hurts.  The padding in the shorts does help that, but what I found the most helpful is time on the bike.  If you do 10 miles one day, the last few miles might start bothering you.  But if you do 10 miles a few times a week, you will not notice the pain as much.  Your bum is something that needs to be trained like any of your other muscles.  Most people that wear the bike shorts will not wear underwear as they can cause more chafing.  Again, I know it seems gross and wrong, but if it didn't help, I wouldn't do it.  So the next time you see a bunch of bikers out on the road, know that they are most likely not wearing underwear.

But really, anything that you find comfortable is what you should wear.  Most of the time on shorter rides I'll wear the same tank tops as I do running.  For longer rides where I need the pockets, I have also found some fun cycling shirts that are made for women that don't feel uncomfortable.

Bonus tip: This is just something I like to do - pedal down the hills.  It's easy to coast down hills and enjoy the small break, but I have found that if you pedal down the hill, it makes going up the next one a lot easier as you have the speed.  And it's fun to go really fast down the hills.

Do you bike as a cross-training activity?  Do you like getting out there on the road or take a spin class at the gym? Any tricks or tips that you have?

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Random Friday Five (Friday Five Edition)

This past week and a half have just been a blur.  So many things have been going on plus trying to work a few extra hours the last couple weeks has just exhausted me.  Here are some highlights from the last week or so.


1.  I had a birthday.  Honestly it was just another day.  I didn't tell any of my coworkers cause I just didn't feel like it.  I did have a great dinner with a friend at Ruth Chris' this past weekend.  I also got this great gift from a friend.  I just need to figure out the right place to hang it.  I have a few other pictures I need to hang as well.


2. My parents and I celebrated my birthday and Mother's Day having brunch at the Jefferson.  It now has become a tradition and is something we look forward to every year.


3.  My mom had knee replacement surgery.  Everything went well and she was standing and putting a little weight on that leg just 5 hours after the surgery.  The next day she walked all the way down the hall and up some stairs.  It's amazing how quickly they have you on your feet after such a major surgery.  She is home now and doing well. She made her way upstairs yesterday very slowly.


4.  While my mom was in the hospital, we checked my dad into respite care.  Basically that is short term care in a nursing home.  A lot of people use it so that the care givers can have a break or go on vacation or like my mom, have a medical procedure.  My dad has sever separation anxiety when he is not with my mom, so I have worried a little about him while he was there.  He is doing ok there. He's not really happy but he won't remember it. I'm hoping that he will stay there over the weekend to give my mom time to recover a little more.

5.  I haven't been running much lately.  I really have lost my want to do it, again.  I didn't do anything two weekends ago because my quad hurt.  But honestly, I could have stretched and done exercises to get back to running sooner then I did.  And then last weekend I wasn't feeling well.  I refuse to say I had a cold, so I've been telling myself that it's just bad allergies.  Even though NyQuil and Mucinex have helped the symptoms, I still refuse to acknowledge that I was sick.  I just don't have time to be sick this week, so I'm just dealing with really bad allergies.

I've run 3 times since I've been back from Star Wars.  I'm now debating on if I should do the triathlon that I'm signed up for.  Even though I have swum a couple of times and feel good about that, I haven't gotten on my bike yet.  There are only 5 more weekends to go.  Part of me thinks I can do it, the other part of me doesn't want to put that stress on myself, especially when I've lost "that running feeling".

Did you do anything fun for Mother's Day?  Have you ever "lost that running feeling"?  How did you get it back?

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Christmas in Denver vlog (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

I know Tuesday's on the Run's main focus is supposed to be about running, but I wanted to get my vlog from Denver up.  In my defense I do talk about the runs I did while I was there.  So I hope that counts. :)

Disclaimer:  Again, I didn't get as many videos done that I wanted to, so I filled some of it with still pictures.  I'll have to see if I can do better in Disneyland.  I hope everyone likes it.

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Last Week of Routine (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

I've been having a hard time starting this post.  Not sure why.  I'm training for a half in January, but I'm not really following any plan.  Just trying to keep my fitness and runs up from the Richmond Marathon last month.  So why am I having a hard time wrapping up my week?  Again, not sure why, but I'm just going to see what happens as I type.

Monday and Wednesday I got in a 4 mile run.  It has started to get chilly and feeling a little like winter.  I'm getting used to running in the cold now and have very little hesitation anymore.  The run was good and I was glad I was out there.

Friday got a lot colder.  My first run colder then freezing.  I think I bundled up well for the 4 miles and even needed to take off my gloves at mile 3.  Again, another good run this week.

I missed my run on Saturday cause we drove up to Maryland to make Christmas cookies with family.  We haven't seen most of the extended family for a long time.  My great uncle died over the summer and that was the first time in years that we saw anyone.  The funny thing about that funeral is that most everyone was not sure who everyone was in the family.

On my mom's side my great grandmother came to this country from Lithuania when she was a teenager.

My Great-Grandmother is the one in the middle

She had four children and it seems that most of us kept to our own families.  So we all were not sure who was who and it was a bit of a relief that we were not the only ones that were not sure.  After a lot of discussion we asked to be invited when they made Crusdes (Lithuanian Christmas cookies).

The four siblings, my grandmother is on the left

So we went up Saturday to see everyone and make cookies.  It was a lot of fun to catch up with everyone.  The cookies are a lot of fun to make.  The dough is made the night before and everyone brings their batches.  Then the dough is rolled out and cut into strips with a slit in the middle.  They are then twisted in the middle to make them really fun.  Then we fry them.

 

Like the typical setup, the women were in the kitchen rolling, cutting, and twisting, while the guys were in the garage with the fryers.  I wanted to try and catch up with everyone, so I went back and forth and did a bit of all the jobs.  I wish I would have taken pictures while I was there.  I'm bad a that when I'm in the middle of having fun.

I made up my long run on Sunday.  I ran 8 miles and it was a hard run at the end.  I started the run and the temperatures said it was 40 with a wind chill of 35.  The first 5 miles were good and I felt warm with what I was wearing.  Took off my hat and gloves and enjoyed being outside.  After the fifth mile things started to get cold again.  Like really cold.  The hat and gloves were put back on.  And I started to hate the run cause I was so cold.  I was glad to be done with the run though.  I did see this great decoration.

 

So the week is over and I'm about to start a new chapter of my life.  I have tons of things that I will be doing this week, plus a lot of things that need to get done before Christmas.  It is nice not to worry about work while I try to get all of this done.

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.