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Cycling
Do You Work Out in the Rain?
For almost two weeks we've been getting a lot of rain where I live, which is pretty unusual. The first few nights were nice — the thunder and lightning were exciting, and I felt cozy bundled up inside. By the weekend I was over it.
Definition: Cadence
In cycling, cadence refers to the number of revolutions per minute (rpm) of the pedal set. To find your cadence, pick a leg and count the number of down strokes you make with that foot for 15 seconds, then multiply that number by four. A cadence between 60 and 80 rpm is considered healthy for your knees, with experienced cyclists riding a bit higher in the 70 to 90 rpm range.
Definition: SPD Cleats
Biking is a gear heavy sport, all the way down to the shoes. And different types of biking have different styles of shoes and cleats when you're riding clipless pedals. The jargon is odd too, I know, but biking becomes more efficient when you wear a biking shoe that clips into a pedal.
All Kinds of Gifts For Bikers
Nothing beats heading out for a ride on Christmas day decked out in new gear with all sorts of new biking accessories. From full fingered, padded cycling gloves — a wintertime must have — to entry level biking computers, this list has something every cyclist wants. If your biking friend has everything, splurge and give them a biking computer with a built in heart rate monitor for the full fitness riding experience.
Words That Move You . . .
The shortest film — clocking in at just over a minute — at Lunafest featured a history lesson on women's attire circa 1865, when the bicycle was invented.
"Let me tell you what I think of bicycling . .
Urban Cycling Tip: Invest in a Bike Bell
When passing someone in a bike or multi-use path it's important to yell out "on your left" and slow down. I always make a point to do this but sometimes my voice doesn't carry very well. A simple solution to my problem was investing in this cool bike bell.
Fittingly Mad: Cyclists Not Wearing Helmets!
When I see images of cyclists riding in past Tours de France, they look odd to me. I recognize the riders, but they aren't wearing helmets. But over the course of the last decade, helmets became mandatory in the most prestigious bike race in the world.
Biking 101: Preride Checklist
While riding a bike is a skill you never really forget, it is easy to forget that your bike is a machine. Like all machines, your bike can fail in both surprising and predictable ways. That is why before your hop on it, you should do a brief mechanical check.
Words That Move You . . .
"For instance, the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon."
— Bill Strickland, from the The Quotable Cyclist
Need more motivation? Check out all of my words that move you.
Saddle Up: Bike Fittings
As biking lore goes, American cyclist and three-time winner of the Tour de France Greg Lemond, along with some cycling buddies, created a formula for fitting people to bikes. The variation on frame design, due to the different frame materials, makes for distinctly different geometry from bike to bike, so a good fit depends on more than just stand-over clearance.
If you're in the market for a new road bike and planning on dropping a pretty penny for your new ride, I highly encourage you to be measured at the beginning of your search.
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Steve Madden