Bike riding Dopers

In My Humble Opinion
1

Thanks in part to this thread, I have a nice new bike - and I’m really enjoying riding it. I am still working on building up my leg muscles on hills, but on level paths I am doing well. I have had it almost 3 weeks, and have almost 100 miles on it so far.

So how far do all you other bikers ride in a day, or week? So far my most valuable accessory is my water bottle, but it lasts about 10 miles before it either runs out, or gets too warm.

In my other thread I said “no way!” to slinky bike shorts, but yesterday on a 20 mile ride my butt bones got sore, and I’m seriously considering getting a pair of padded shorts for riding.

So I want to hear from other biking dopers - what’s your favorite place to ride, what do you have to bring with you, do you have a horn on your bike, how do you haul more water - stuff like that.

2

Get one of them digital speedometer/odometers to measure your trip. It’ll give you an idea of how far you can ride, and it’ll help you set up a good schedule.

3

IIRC from your last thread, you got an odometer, right?

My personal best in a day is 103 miles. Typrically on weekends I went out for 50-70 mile rides, but that was when I lived in DC. My favorite ride was out of town to the Olny Alehouse, with lunch and a couple of beers before the return half of the ride.

I see we’re both in WI now, and there are lots of decent bike maps in the state. google wisconsin bicycle maps. Unfortunately, I’ve been away from biking for a few years (since I’ve lived here) so I have little to offer route wise.

Water: you can never carry enough. Best is to plan where to get refills, and stop for lunch/drinks before turning back. There is something called a “camelback” which is an insulated felexible waterbag you strap to your back. I’ve never used one because I prefer to have the bike frame carry a load rather than my back.

I suggest a gel pad for your saddle rather than padded shorts, but it’s a matter of taste.

I never bothered with a horn, my voice was good enough. A mirror is a really good thing to have. I have a “3rd Eye” glued to my helmet, you can also get one mounted on the handle bar.

If you start riding longer distances, a rack and panniers will eventually become necessary. You can carry extra water, food, etc. With a group you can split up the load and carry a nice picnic out to a park somewhere. Absolutely get some biking gloves.

What else? You can get a handlebar bag with a little clear plastic map compartment on top. You can keep track of the route without stopping to look at the map.

Air pump that fits on your frame. Small tool kit, spare tube and patch kit, small bag for under the seat to carry it it all

What am I missing?

4

Wow! 103 miles? I get exhausted even driving that far. I’m pretty proud of the 20 miles I did yesterday!

I do have a cyclocomputer already, and today I got a rack. Partly because I want to haul library books, and partly because I got mud all the way up my back one day when I was riding after it rained. And in my under seat bag I have a little can of tire-fix, and my bike lock.

I also have a handlebar bag - that’s for my camera and my (stupid) cellphone - my SO says it’s important to have my phone.

My BF has a mirror, but he does a lot of highway riding (to work & back) and he has a big insulated water jug thing too. He has all the cool stuff, but I don’t mind if he is the one hauling all that extra weight.
I have been mostly going over to MN to ride so far, there are some nice paved trails in the area.

I will look into a gel pad, the pain isn’t too bad, but I bet if I went over 20 miles I’d be bumming.

Thanks YJG!

5

The padded knicks do give a bit of padding but not enough to make much diff. in my experience. Getting the right saddle is the main thing. That and riding a lot so your arse hardens!

I did 70km yesterday, up a 3000 ft mountain. Not as bad as it sounds, it’s up an old logging truck road, very gentle gradient.

6

If you don’t like the look of lycra shorts, several companies do ‘baggies’ which look like normal shorts with pockets etc but have a padded liner. And the same goes for both types of shorts - no underwear.

I’ve been cycling ‘seriously’ since about 1987. I’ve done 100+ mile days about 10 times, 500+ mile weeks twice during BAK (Bike across Kansas) and 700 miles over 2 weeks touring Great Britain.

These days I mostly ride my mountain bike on the army training ranges near where I live. When my motivation is good I’ll do 3 one hour rides during the week with a longer ride at the weekend. When my motivation is bad, I just ride straight to the pub.

7

You’re bum will be sore when you start riding, it’s natural. I’d suggest shorts, a gel seat if you want. Shorts and gloves are the two most important things you can get, IMHO. I tore some ligaments in my knee on a mtn biking accident in June, and couldn’t ride anything for 3 weeks. When I got back on my butt was sore with even a short ride, so it just takes time, your butt bones/muscles have to get used to it(an no underpants when wearing them, the seams will kill you).

I just got back from an IMBA-sponsored outing at Levis-Trow in Neilsville, probably not far from you if it’s mtn biking you’re doing. It’s the best in the state.

If it’s more sedate riding you enjoy, try the Elroy-Sparta ride which may not be too far from you. Or just take the county roads and go here and there, lightly traveled. To keep your water cold, take a bottle, fill it halfway and freeze it without the top on(it’ll reeze on and be hard to take off). When you go for a ride, take it out and fill it up. Or just use ice cubes. But if you’re thirsty enough, warm water is fine.

Just take your time and enjoy.

8

Keep your eyes open for the Mesabi Trail, which is presently under construction. Eventually it will be 132 miles long, and will go through some lovely country in northern MN.

9

When you are not used to riding then you tend to ‘burn’ off lots of water.

Your circulation has not adapted to the new regime, which means that instead of an increased blood supply to the skin to cool off, you end up sweating more, plus drinking water of itself has a cooling effect.

Keep your hair short, but not too much or the sun may get to your scalp.

Check out your clothing, likely it will be retaining too much heat, there are modern fabrics that will help disperse it.

If you sweat heavily then your groin may become sore, and may lead to boils, so temperature control is important.

I did notice that you said you were ‘building up your leg muscles’ and I take that to mean that you ride in fairly high gears.This is a common mistake that new riders make, you will tire faster doing this, my advice is to pick a gear which you can turn at around 60rpm, changing to a lower one if you are forced by the terrain to pedal slower.
You can get cycle computors that display your speed and pedalling rate(cadence), keep your cadence above 60, the optimum for time triallists is around 80 rpm though really good riders can get to around 110rpm.

As you ride more you will find that these things seem to sort themselves out.

Distance and speed are less important than regular rides, something like three rides a week should be enough, one perhaps being a good deal longer then the others, maybe take a break at a cafe or something.

I’m getting back into riding after a very lazy number of years and so I’m only doing around 100 miles per week.

The most I’ve done in 12 hours is 219 miles, but then that was a race, I have ridden 260 miles in 24 hours in what we would call a reliability ride, the continental chappies and chappesses would call them randonneur events(Coldy will know what I mean).

During the racing season I’d maybe do around 350 to 400 miles per week dropping to around 240 miles during the off season, unless I was resting up for a big event in which case I’d drop my miles by at least half.

Most in a week, I did a tour of the Yorkshire East Coast, up to the Lake district(Cumbria), and back down through the Yorkshire dales, that was around 900 miles in a week, with full camping kit on.That might seem like a lot but in summer you have up to 17 or 18 hours usable daylight so it isn’t as tough as might seem.

10

I had been riding to work in Philadelphia. The bike lane in the morning is pretty good, but the one in the afternoon is jammed. It’s actually less trouble to walk. I have ridden off-road in Lebanon State Forest (Mount Misery) and Allaire State Park, both in NJ. NJ forests tend to be dominated by sugar sand, and it can be tough to ride in. Definitely recommend the CamelBak if you’re riding long distance. Carries more water and may be cleaner/safer than a bottle. Plus, most of them have room for your tools.

11

I had been riding to work in Philadelphia. The bike lane in the morning is pretty good, but the one in the afternoon is jammed. It’s actually less trouble to walk. I have ridden off-road in Lebanon State Forest (Mount Misery) and Allaire State Park, both in NJ. NJ forests tend to be dominated by sugar sand, and it can be tough to ride in. Definitely recommend the CamelBak if you’re riding long distance. Carries more water and may be cleaner/safer than a bottle. Plus, most of them have room for your tools.

12

Put another water bottle on the bike. If you don’t have another set of braze-on’s (threaded holes that hold the bottle cage, pump) get the triathlon type that mount on the rails of your seat, holding the bottles behind you. The camel-bak rigs are a preference, either you love 'em or you hate 'em. They are a pain to keep clean, but they hold a lot of water. A trick for going on hot long rides is to freeze one bottle the night before, so by the time you finish the first one, the second is melted, and is nice and cold.

The padded shorts are a must. They do two things, one, they give you a little cushion, and two, and the most important, they wick away sweat from the nether regions. For females, this can be an especially important feature.

Helmet and gloves are of course a personal decision (actually the group I ride with call non-helmet wearers donors, YMMV), but the SO learned a real lesson the other day when she committed a major no-no at about 17 mph and overlapped my wheel. She did a face plant and the first thing that hit the ground was her head. The gloves protected her hands and the helmet made a minor accident a minor accident, with the bike landing on top of her head on its way down. She rode a away with a bruised knee and a sore ego.

13

I’m a bike messenger, so, yeah, I bike a lot. Probably 150-200 miles a week. And I ride a fixed-gear bike, so there’s not even any coasting involved.

For long rides, I think you’ll want both. CamelBak for water (trust me, never put anything else in it, cleaning those things is a bitch) and bottle for energy drink or something. You will need to simply get used to warm water, though.

Of course, I just keep a bottle in my messenger bag and refill it when I get the chance, as I really can’t fit the bag and a CamelBak on at the same time, and my bike doesn’t have braze-ons for a water bottle cage. But then, I also ocassionally smoke while biking, so you really shouldn’t look to me for advice on healthy habits.