Top Ride Leaders of 2006

Ride leading is exciting, rewarding and is the heart and soul of our club. The following is a list of top ride leaders of 2006 sorted by number of rides lead and then in alphabetical order.

760 miles of butt-numbing fun

A Chat with Paris-Brest-Paris finishers Josh Simonds and Doreen Chaitt

Paris-Brest-Paris, commonly called PBP, is an insanely grueling 760-mile cycling adventure that originated in 1891 as a way to popularize the bicycle. Riders start on the outskirts of Paris, head northwest to the city of Brest on the Atlantic, make a U-turn, and return to Paris. Riders commit to either an 80, 84 or 90 hour time limit.

Husband and wife Josh Simonds and Doreen Chaitt completed what's been called "a noble human adventure" on their tandem for the second time, having also finished in 1999. Josh and Doreen agreed to stop pedaling long enough to chat with Carol Torgan, Healthy Riding column contributor, about what it takes to get through the epic journey.

I. Basics

Let's set the scene a bit. Josh, you have been on a bike almost since you were old enough to crawl. You've ridden across the country three times, coach ultra-distance racers, and ride with the local DCVELO race team. Doreen, you are an avid swimmer, road cyclist and weight lifter. You've raced tandem bicycles, ridden tandem across the USA once, and cycled together since 1990.

What was your first date?

(J) I first saw Doreen during a PPTC 'A' ride. She kept passing me and was obviously "trolling". Just kidding. In all seriousness, it was so nice to meet a single woman who had a passion for exercise and the outdoors. Our first date was to go see "Silence of the Lambs"... I was hoping she'd hold my hand during the scary parts.

(D) It was love at first bite, er, I mean sight.

You both work, yet manage to accomplish what others only have dreams (or nightmares) about. What philosophy do you have for balancing ultra-endurance cycling with taking out the garbage?

(J) Preparing for a high-level endurance event such as PBP takes a big bite out of your time. There is no way to accomplish a healthy, happy lifestyle unless you have a strong circle of support and love. Things like putting a fresh coat of paint on the hallway walls or having a swell flower bed become less important. Also, it is imperative that you spend time with family and loved ones on a regular basis.

(D) Once you set a goal, you identify what it will take to accomplish the goal. For us, this meant balancing training with our desire to spend time with family and friends.

What types of goals do you set?

(J) Well, there are training goals, racing goals and life goals. They all go hand in hand and I can't separate them. Doreen and I plan our goals at least a year in advance. We feel it is depressing and aimless to train so hard unless we have something to look forward to.

II. Preparation

You take what you describe as a "nerd approach" to preparing for an event like PBP. How important is it to keep a training journal?

(J) You are doing yourself a disservice not to! When you are involved in something that takes this much time and energy you can not possibly track what you have done and then recall why you have success or failures unless you can look back and analyze your approach. If you kept a journal of these basic stats then you could experiment with some of the nutritional aspects, record your results and refine your approach-otherwise it is a crapshoot.

You create scripts and analyze scenarios. What scenes did you contemplate for PBP?

(J) Before PBP Doreen and I practiced riding 135-150 miles, only stopping quickly for water. One month prior to PBP we were able to ride about 135 miles at an 18 mph pace and only stop three times for water and to quickly mix bottles. Doreen and I also would practice and talk through what each of us would do when we rushed into each control. At race time and during the race we had to do very little decision making, and that saved a huge amount of energy.

(D) In an attempt to be as efficient as possible at each control, we wrote out specifically when bottles needed to be mixed, supplements taken, and camelbacks refilled. Our approach was K.I.S.S.-Keep it Simple Stupid.

What sort of visualization do you do?

(J) We both have different things we do. I like to imagine riding a steady 90 rpm pace and feel a warm breeze on my face. While I am riding I like to think about the miles as blocks of shorter rides I've done in the past, such as my daily commute. This is especially helpful when I'm in a lot of pain.

III. The Big Event

Josh, you are the nutrition/supplement contact for the local DCVELO race team, and have researched this area extensively. What was your nutritional routine? What sorts of supplements and pain killers did you both take?

(J) Doreen and I both use E-Caps and Hammer Nutrition products for our energy needs. The basic routine for all training and ultra racing is 250-300 cals/hr with no more than 16-20 oz water and sufficient electrolytes every hour (200 mg sodium, 50 mg magnesium, 50 mg potassium). These values are for when we are race ready: stress-and heat-adapted.

Supplements that we both take hourly while racing long distance are (major ingredients in parentheses): Race Caps (vitamin E, CoQ10) and Enduro Caps (calcium, cytochrome c). Every fourth hour we take 1000 mg MSM (methylsulfonylmethane), Mito-R Caps (acetyl L-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid), AntiOxidant "Super AO" (super oxide dismutase).

That sounds like a mouthful and it certainly feels that way at times. Doreen and I have found that it is impossible to eat the natural anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidants we need during an event in the form of "real food" so the supplements are necessary and preventative.

Don't think you can take a pill and race PBP! We have worked long and hard and have done extensive testing to find what works best for us. Each person must seriously consider, research and take a careful approach.

The race is famous for the warmth, encouragement and support of local townspeople all along the route. Did you ever stop for a fresh, hot crepe at the side of the road in the middle of the night?

(J) Who told you? Yes, in fact somewhere in the middle of the race at about 2 a.m. Doreen and I spied what we initially thought was a hallucination. There was a young man beckoning us to stop and have refreshments. It was amazing. These gentle and generous Bretons had opened their farmhouse to any and all PBP racers. The farmer's wife was making crepes and her husband was smearing them with homemade jam and folding them into warm squares. This was served with hot, strong coffee and?an offer of a place to sleep! Wow, it gives me goose bumps to recall that. It is the sort of generous and genuine love of sport that defines the French. We saw this sort of hospitality repeated throughout the event.

Let's talk Zzzzzzzs. You calculated exactly how much sleep you needed, and ended up with 3.5 hours over three days, not including the time your eyes drifted closed while biking. How did you arrive at this amount, and how did you manage to start back up once you laid your head down?

(J) I know from extensive research that the absolute minimum a person needs to sleep in order to achieve central nervous system regeneration is about 1.5 hours each 24 hours. Also, I know from supporting Race Across America and working with others who have more experience than myself that it is possible to use short catnaps to get through the first 35-40 hours of an event on a bare minimum of sleep.

(D) In fact, our most restful and rejuvenating break was a 30-minute nap upon a bale of hay enhanced by the warmth of the sun.

There's an old saying among endurance athletes: never stand when you can sit, and never sit when you can lie down. How important is this off the bike?

(J) That saying is really better applied to day racers since getting a complete recovery is essential. We found that saying was our motto when crossing the USA on the tandem. Get off your feet and save your energy. However, during an ultra distance event it is not a good thing to sit or lie down for more then a few minutes as your muscles will stiffen up. We tend to stand during an event even when eating. Again, experience has taught us some hard lessons.

Let's get to the question that most people want to know about: given that you pedaled 7.6 consecutive centuries almost non-stop, how did you manage to keep your crotches tolerable?

(J) We stop and apply lubricant at least every 50 miles. We know from past experience that after about 600 km of constant riding we will get some saddle sores and there is no way to prevent it. At that point we double up on lubricant and start using something to numb the sores. A wise Race Across America veteran, Lon Haldeman, once told me, "If it is something that will heal in a few days or a couple of weeks, then keep riding." Riding tandem in an ultra-endurance event has its own challenges and your individual ability to fidget in the saddle and get some "air time" is not the same as riding a single bike, so some discomfort comes with the territory.

(D) How can I say this delicately? Let me just say that by the end of PBP it was a pretty scary sight. I'm glad I never looked that closely during the event, or I might have freaked out. Amazingly, the body heals quickly and within five days my crotch was recognizable.

You both spent a fair amount of time hallucinating. What about?

(J) Mostly it was shadows that looked like people or animals. Also, I'd see flashes of lights and at one point I kept seeing bats diving at bugs in front of my face, and I'm still not sure if that was real or imagined. In 1999 Doreen saw an old lady in the woods and people hiding.

Did you ever pass the time by singing old camp songs or playing travel games like finding roadside attractions that start with the letters of the alphabet?

(J) Yes, but only after slapping myself as hard as I could to stay awake and asking Doreen to slug me to stay awake failed! We started singing simple kids' songs and things like the theme to Gilligan's Island.

Many couples start bickering on a simple drive to the local supermarket. How do you two manage to stay on speaking terms over so many grueling hours?

(J) We settled that issue years ago. On the bike we are a solid team and rarely, if ever, fight. However, we have a tradition of having a real dust-up once every 1000 miles-it is always the same things and we eventually laugh it off-but the people who observe it must think we really hate each other. We actually love each other a lot and same goes for racing tandem.

(D) During PBP, we recognized that we had set a lofty goal and an important factor to achieving this would be teamwork, both physically and emotionally. This included being patient, supportive, and respective of each other's temperament and sense of well-being.

IV. AFTERWARDS

What was the first thing you did after you crossed the finish line?

(J) Well, we were really fatigued and starving so our brains were not working well. I remember just feeling nothing special about the event and was confused. We both were probably depleted and half asleep. We made sure to get our official race cards stamped and then went to a tent where we got a quick meal and then (OUCH) rode the bike to our hotel about two miles away.

(D) The first thing we did was kiss and hug.

What was your first real food?

(J) As soon as we showered and dressed we ran for our favorite nearby Italian restaurant and ordered big salads and wood oven fired pizzas, beer and bottled mineral water. HEAVEN!!!

(D) Pizza and Coke!

What do you do to help your body recover from such abuse?

(J) Within 30 minutes we will take an energy drink consisting of a 4:1 mix of carbohydrates to protein. That will greatly decrease muscle soreness. After the race we took a few weeks off the bike and actually spent a few days in bed and eating, swimming and generally staying off our sore fannies and feet. You can't underestimate the toll such a rigorous event will take. Nonetheless, two weeks later we both felt strong and near fully recovered.

After the event was over did you go to EuroDisney to celebrate?

(J) No, no, we managed a much better alternative. We rented a zippy Renault and drove to my sister's vacation house near Aix-en-Provence where she and her husband took good care of us. Every night we'd party with her friends and by day we'd take driving tours of the countryside and visit wineries. In the afternoons we'd sleep and then swim in a nearby gorge. You can't get that at EuroDisney. I love my sister.

What's next?

(J) Well, one thing is for sure. We are done with PBP on tandem. In 1999 we finished in 74 hours and thought we could have done much better. This year we finished in 68 hours and feel that we've done a great job and that it is "good enough." Now, Doreen and I are making plans in 2004 to race tandem at Masters Nationals and paint that hallway!

FURTHER INFORMATION

To learn more about Josh and Doreen's equipment and adventures visit their website at: http://www.ahealinghand.com/

To learn more about PBP see: http://www.rusa.org

To learn more about ultra-endurance cycling see: http://www.ultracycling.com

Joshua Simonds and Doreen Chaitt can be reached at jsimonds at att.net. Carol Torgan can be reached at ceetee01 at yahoo.com

An Ounce of Prevention

Now that the weather is nice and there's plenty of daylight, the roads beckon. It's tempting to just jump on the bike and go, and once finished, to load up the bike and head for food. It's also tempting to string together as many rides as the weather will allow, to make up for all the rainy days. But haste makes waste, in the form of injuries. By taking a few simple precautions and listening to your body, you can stay healthy and happy all season long.

Warming up

What do a sports car and your body have in common? They're both high performance machines that can cost you a lot of money and misery when they break down. Just as you wouldn't take your car out onto the highway on a cold day without first warming it up, you also shouldn't take your body for a fast ride without a proper warm up. This step is crucial to avoid injury and to improve cycling performance. A warm up enhances your speed and power by increasing blood flow and muscle temperature.

A warm up is necessary for your heart as well as your legs. Sudden strenuous exercise can produce abnormal ECG patterns (a measure of the heart's electrical activity). This can be prevented by starting out slowly. You're adequately warmed up and ready to shift into high gear once you've broken a sweat.

Flexibility

Can you touch your toes? Does it hurt just to think about it? Good flexibility is important and can reduce the likelihood of injuries. Unfortunately, you must "use it or lose it". To be flexible, you need to stretch regularly =96 at least 2-3 times a week or daily if possible. The best time to stretch is after exercise, when your muscles are warm. If it's not convenient to stretch in a parking lot after a ride, stretch when you get home. You should stretch slowly (don't bounce) until you feel mild discomfort (not pain), and hold for at least 15 seconds, preferably 30-60 seconds. Try to relax and breathe deeply. Cyclists should pay particular attention to stretching the neck and shoulders, the back, and the legs, including the calf/Achilles tendon, quadriceps (front of the thigh), and hamstrings (back of the thigh). If you aren't sure what specific stretches to do, pick up a book or video, or talk with a staff person at your health club.

Over-training

Do you pride yourself on being an over-achiever? Do you cycle competitively? Do you live to cycle? If not, skip this section. If you answered multiple affirmatives, underline this paragraph. Over-training is a great way to ruin a season. Your body can't handle excessive training, and it will try to let you know in subtle ways. If you aren't paying close attention, by the time you recognize the problem, it will be too late. Classic symptoms include an elevated resting heart rate, chronic fatigue, abnormal sleeping and eating patterns, and decreased performance. You may think you have the flu. If your cycling performance is suffering, you may attempt to train harder to compensate. But you'll just get worse. Keep a training diary and record your resting heart rate and how you feel. If things deteriorate, back off until the symptoms are gone.

Sports Medicine Meeting Notice

For those of you with more than a passing interest in health and fitness, the annual national meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine is going to be held this year at the Baltimore Convention Center. ACSM is the largest sports medicine and exercise science association in the world. The meeting will be May 30-June 2 and non-members are welcome to attend. The meeting features more than 20 concurrent sessions covering topics that range from case studies of athletic injuries to nutrition to sports biomechanics to molecular signaling in muscle. Information is available at www.acsm.org or through the national office at (317) 637-9200.

Are Athletes Born or Made?..or Engineered?

Ever dream of standing atop a podium and having a medal placed around your neck? Ever wonder what your optimal athletic potential is? As we marvel at the athletic feats on display at the winter Olympics this month, it?s the perfect time to explore the nature vs. nurture debate. How much is athletic prowess due to genetics and how much is it due to training and environment?

A Family Affair

If a room full of PPTC members undertook an identical exercise training program, some would experience large improvements in endurance and others would hardly improve at all. How much of this variability in training response is due to genetics? Scientists have been asking this question for decades. One way of exploring the link between heredity and performance is to study families. Comparisons of fitness components and trainability can be made between identical twins (from one egg) and fraternal twins (from different eggs). Identical twins share the same genes, whereas fraternal twins share only one-half of their genes. If identical twins are more similar in a certain capacity than fraternal twins, a genetic component is thought to be involved. Differences between identical twins presumably stem from environmental factors.

The findings from twin and other familial studies reveal that numerous performance characteristics are influenced by genetics. The genetic component is about 40-50% for the proportion of slow-twitch (vs. fast-twitch) muscle fibers in humans, 30-70% for heart size and cardiac functions, and around 25-40% for maximal oxygen consumption. Other characteristics that appear to have a sizable genetic component include metabolic rate, blood volume, flexibility, anaerobic performance and body fat distribution.

Lean and Mean Genes

A characteristic such as muscle fiber type represents a composite of numerous proteins that are the products of genes. Genes are the basic physical and functional units of heredity. Each gene is a specific sequence of DNA that encodes the blue print to make a protein. The working draft of the human genome completed last year reveals that each of us has approximately 35,000 genes. This is only about one third of what was expected, and only about twice as many as a commonly studied little worm.

Scientists are studying sequence variants in genes, which are akin to misspelled words. These misspellings, or polymorphisms, may underlie a person?s predisposition to a disease or influence how they will respond to certain drugs. Thus mapping them in individuals and families is one key to the future of personalized medicine.

Polymorphisms also seem to partially explain why there are differences in how people respond to exercise training. Misspellings in certain genes, such as those related to energy metabolism, appear to affect physical performance. Researchers are now trying to identify and map all the polymorphisms and genes related to physical achievement. Last year exercise science experts from around the world constructed an initial draft of a Human Gene Map for Performance and Health-Related Fitness.

The Combination Platter

Before you start cursing your parents, stop and consider all the factors that are necessary to be a successful athlete. In addition to physical capabilities, athletic performance requires mental characteristics that include motivation, desire, concentration, competitiveness, learning ability and, at times, pain threshold. Environmental factors such as coaching, training facilities, equipment, nutrition and family support, are also key.

A cyclist genetically predisposed to outstanding endurance but lacking the desire to train will be less successful than another cyclist who has a merely good endurance capacity but a much greater desire to train. Genetically under-endowed folks still have a chance for success when factors such as coaching and equipment are added to the equation.

Brave New World

The era of the genome has profound implications for the future of athletics. Gene therapy and cell therapy (including stem cell therapy) could be used to help prevent or treat injuries such as bone fractures, meniscal and ligament tears, and muscle contusions, lacerations and strains. Genetic screening to test for diseases and the predisposition to diseases will become routine. It could also be used to help identify prospective athletes and ascertain the sport for which they would best be suited.

Unfortunately, rapidly growing genetic technologies might be abused by those with a desire to win at any cost. It?s possible that drug doping could be replaced by gene doping. On paper, the process is relatively straightforward. In one technique benign viruses engineered to contain a desired gene are injected into the body where the gene is expressed. For example, a virus that contains a gene for erythropoietin (EPO) has been injected into the muscles of animals, resulting in increased hematocrit. While useful in treating disorders such as hemophilia, this procedure could theoretically be utilized as a genetic form of blood doping. Other genes with therapeutic potential that might be exploited to enhance athletic performance include numerous growth hormones that could increase muscle mass. Although routine in many laboratories, these techniques are still highly experimental, and they present many technical and ethical concerns. The temptation for misuse of gene therapy is obvious and the International Olympic Committee is already looking into testing methods to detect genetic abuse.

The bottom line is that athletes are born and made. Those elite few standing on Olympic podiums to receive medals generally have the genetic predispositions, as well as the right personality types and support systems. The upper limits of performance that individuals can achieve are most likely set by inherited traits, but in the future those boundaries could be altered by genetic engineering. Athletes might then be sponsored not only by shoe manufacturers, but also by biotech companies.

Recommended References

http://www.geneforum.org/
This nonpartisan organization promotes discussion and education about genome science.

http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/

The home page of the National Human Genome Research Institute has links to a glossary of genetic terms, the Human Genome Project, and the ELSI (Ethical, Legal and Social Issues) Program, among others.

Carol Torgan is an exercise physiologist and Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Avoiding Burnout

In the previous issue, we covered the signs that your body will give you when you are doing too much activity relative to your ability to recover. This month we will go over some ways to help you prevent over training before it begins. One of the best ways to keep from over doing it is to use periodization. Periodization is a way of varying your training intensity and distance to allow your body to improve and recover from weeks and weeks of training. (I would like to mention here that doing the exact same type of training week in and week out could also lead to burnout.) How would you implement peridization in your training schedule' Although there are many ways to design programs, for simplicity we will use 4, 1-week blocks. The first 3 weeks are building periods and the 4th is a week of reduced volume and intensity to allow for recovery. Then you would pick up where you left off in week 2 or 3 and build again for the next 3 weeks followed again by a recovery week of reduced volume and intensity. The numbers presented here are just for demonstration purposes only.

Here is an example:

• Week 1: Total mileage 150 w/1 day of intervals
• Week 2: Total mileage 170 w/1 day of intervals
• Week 3: Total mileage 190 w/1-2 days of intervals
• Week 4: Total mileage 150 w/ no intervals

As you can see here, our rider increased their mileage about 10% per week for 3 weeks, then in week 4 cut back by 20%. The following week would start over at the previous week 3 total of 190 miles:

• Week 1: Total mileage 190 w/1 day of intervals
• Week 2: Total mileage 210 w/1-2 day of intervals
• Week 3: Total mileage 230 w/ 2 days of intervals
• Week 4: Total mileage 180 w/ no intervals

This cycle would be repeated until our rider hit the total mileage per week goal that he or she had in mind. Once you build up to your goal mileage per week, you still want to vary your training by including a 'down week' of reduced mileage and intensity.

As you can see, this program is building on a consistent basis, but not constantly. By allowing for some reduced training and intensity, you stand a better chance of not burning out, while building up your training. You will need to experiment some to tweak the basic periodization model presented here and apply it to your own training. Until next time, keep riding!

Big Ride Across America

This summer, I rode across the United States as part of the American Lung Association Big Ride Across America, a 3,260-mile trek from Seattle, Washington to Washington, D.C. Our trip lasted 48 days, with 40 riding days and 8 rest days, as we cycled through thirteen states (Washington, Idaho, Montana,Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the District of Columbia) and four time zones. We averaged 81 miles of riding per day and clocked eight centuries during our journey. Days were spent in the saddle of my Cannondale CAD3 frame outfitted with a mix of RSX, 105, and Ultegra components; nights were spent camping in schoolyards and fairgrounds (which, especially in the West, were inevitably next to rail freight lines operating around-the-clock), though we occasionally stayed in college dormitories. The Big Ride was fully supported, with a luggage truck to carry our gear, a shower truck and a toilet truck, and even a meal truck which provided hot breakfasts and dinners (though sometimes we would receive a real treat: community groups would cook for us). The United States is a breathtakingly beautiful country, with all types of people, all manner of views and, as I've sketched out in this article, plenty of great cycling opportunities.

Seattle to Spokane, Washington (327 miles, 4 days).

Cold and damp is how Seattle is typically depicted in popular culture, and we were not to be disappointed as we began our cross-country trek from near the campus of the University of Washington at 6:30 a.m. (perhaps the only group of riders to start earlier than Potomac Pedalers!). But the raw weather receded as we climbed into the foothills of the Cascades. Our second day broke clear and chilly, perfect weather for the long uphill climb through Steven's Pass and over the Cascades. On the way up to the 4400 pass, as I alternated between standing and sitting in the saddle (thankfully, I had replaced my 11x24 cassette with a 13x26 prior to the trip), we passed countless waterfalls and mountain streams flowing through thick evergreen forests, and on the way down we were greeted by more arid forest and hot sunny weather. Over the next couple days we worked our way towards Spokane, across the high desert, steep canyons, and rolling wheatlands of central Washington, nourished by fresh cherries from roadside stands and enthusiasm for the ride ahead. Along the way, we notched the Big Ride's first century and visited the Grand Coulee dam (where, true to my I-know-better-than-you inside-the-Beltway liberalism, I lectured the superintendent of the visitor's center about the center's failure to describe the pernicious effects of the dam on the environment and Native American culture).

Spokane, Washington to Missoula, Montana (269 miles, 3 days).

As we set out from Spokane on a run to Sandpoint, Idaho, just south of the Canadian border, I learned a valuable lesson about cross-country touring: Never attempt to shave a few ounces from your weight by forgoing rain gear. Or at least don't do it when you are in the mountains, where weather can be unpredictable. The clear skies of Spokane transformed into cold and rain as we neared the Idaho border, and I was forced to become a fashion victim, stopping at a guns and ammo store (don't ask which one, there were too many to remember) to buy a clear plastic PVC wrap to cover myself as I hammered to camp.

The rain gave way to sunshine in Sandpoint, Idaho, about as soon as I rolled into camp. I had expected northern Idaho to be skinhead country, but I discovered that Sandpoint is an arts community though I was still glad that our campsite was located some distance from the Sandpoint Federal building. From Sandpoint we headed off into strong headwinds through lush pine forests and alpine meadows and into Montana, where the terrain became more arid but the huckleberry shakes and huckleberry pies more plentiful. Montana is the interior West, with cold mornings in the 30s warming to sunny afternoons in the 80s, perfect weather for us to notch another century from Thompson Falls to Missoula. Unfortunately, Montana's roads have skimpy shoulders, and northwestern Montana in the summer is filled with RVs and logging trucks. Riding with the Pedalers has trained me well for both hills and motorists and I used that training on our century ride into Missoula, where one RV driver seemed determined to demonstrate his view that bicyclists should not be on even the shoulder of any road.

As we crossed through Idaho and began our long march through Montana, riders started to really get to know each other. Our group of about 200 riders was drawn from around the United States and four foreign countries, with riders from vastly different backgrounds and ages. Our oldest rider was 79-years old, and we had several riders still in high school. The high-schoolers impressed me the most, because I would not have had the discipline to raise the money for a cross-country charity ride when I was that age, and I would not have had the courage to spend several months travelling with a group of people all older than me. But the high-school kids had one advantage96 youth. The stretch from Spokane to Missoula took us through the Bitterroot Range, and overuse injuries among riders became common. The rest stops resembled triage wards, with the camp doctor icing and taping up riders and putting them back on their bikes.

Missoula to Billings, Montana (355 miles, 4 days).

Although strained knees and heels were abundant, our mileage kicked up as we traversed the lonely state of Montana: four days of riding 99, 61, 101, and 95 miles respectively (and on the 61-mile day we climbed up and over the Continental Divide). I stayed healthy through these long days of riding, in no small part because of the spring workouts provided by our club's B and BB riders (thought I would have been healthier still if my bicycle's aluminum frame, aluminum fork, and aluminum stem combination didn't kick the stuffing out of me every day ñ what was I thinking when I invested in all that aluminum?). I did sustain minor injuries off the bike96 two gashes to the foot from stepping on tent stakes when I stumbled out of my tent at 5:30 a.m. (or earlier) to prepare for the day of riding, and some cuts from a cactus I fell into while trying to set up a photo. I quickly learned both to use round-headed tent stakes for staking my tent fly vestibule and to identify cactus.

As we worked our way from the mountains to the prairie under days of endless Big Sky sunshine, we passed through rolling pastures full of cattle, all framed by bluffs and mountains. Truly Madison Avenue's image of the West (but without the Marlboro Man, since one of the purpose of this American Lung Association ride was to raise money and awareness to combat tobacco). Centuries and near-centuries became routine, and in pacelines the mileage flew by. In D.C., I start preparing for a century ride a day in advance, by hydrating and increasing my carb intake. On the Big Ride, I didn't even think about the day's distance until I was already into it.

The highlights of this leg of the Big Ride were climbing up McDonald Pass and over the Continental Divide at 6,325 feet and, on a different day, a climb through Deep Creek Canyon, with mountain streams and evergreen forests that, at the canyon summit, emptied into pastures and grasslands. But we battled tremendous headwinds; no, the winds at ground level are not more likely to blow west to east rather than east to west, although I understand that at35,000 feet the jet stream is more consistent ñ making our third century of the Big Ride (on Day 13, from Townsend to Harlowtown) a day when the SAG wagon claimed more than a few riders. We also learned that there are four seasons in Montana: winter, winter, winter, and road construction season.And we were cycling through Montana during road construction season; which means miles of road reduced to hard pack gravel and dirt. We were also cycling through Montana during thunderstorm season; I braved a very severe thunderstorm (even by the standards of this D.C. native) in Harlowtown in my tent,terrified by thunder and lightening, staying close to the ground to avoid being struck.

After two weeks together, personality quirks began to emerge: for example, one rider routinely stopped to put Mardi Gras beads on roadkill. Fortunately, he had storage space for beads on his recumbent, as roadkill is plentiful throughout the West.

Billings, Montana to Rapid City, South Dakota (411 miles, 5 days).

Perhaps the highlight of my rest day in Billings was sitting next to country-rock star Kenny Rogers at a steakhouse, where Gold Wing motorcycle rally attendees treated him as a returning hero. A surprisingly heavy Kenny Rogers looked like he'd eaten quite a few meals at Kenny Rogers Roasters (at least somebody has).

On this leg of the trip, I faced my most difficult (and longest) day of riding in my life. After completing an 87-mile ride across the empty landscape from Hardin, Montana to Sheridan, Wyoming in the suffocating heat which blanketed the interior West all summer, the next day we faced a 114-mile ride from Sheridan to Gillette, Wyoming. The 114-mile ride from Sheridan to Wyoming had it all: desolate, arid, and desert-like terrain; continuous long, steep hills up and down canyons (47 by one rider's count); headwinds gusting up to 50 miles per hour (as clocked by the Gillette airport); and triple-digit temperatures (though it was only 97 degrees by the time I passed by the Gillette airport). A woman in my paceline developed a tire or rim problem and kept flatting out. Each time she flatted, one of us would give her a tube until no spare tubes were left, and we were forced to leave her behind for the sag wagon to pick up.

But the leg from Billings to Rapid City had enjoyable moments too, including a visit to Little Bighorn Battlefield on Independence Day and cycling through the beautiful Black Hills of western South Dakota, where a herd of buffalo crossed my path.

Rapid City, South Dakota to New Ulm, Minnesota (522 miles, 6 days). Although we covered many miles between rest days in Rapid City and New Ulm including back-to-back days totaling 200 miles on the Great Plains are much flatter than what we experienced in the Cascades and the Rockies, and pacelines were easier to hold together across grasslands and wheat fields. This leg of the trip included stops at Mt. Rushmore and cycling through the Badlands, a Martian landscape of red and brown spires.

Crossing the Missouri River into Pierre, South Dakota (where our campsite was located right on the banks of the Missouri) marked not just a time zone change but an end to the gun culture of the interior West and the beginning of Midwestern hospitality. Through eastern South Dakota (and continuing into Minnesota and Wisconsin), we were greeted at our campsites and mid-day checkpoints by communities bearing goodies like home-baked pies or dairy products from the local creamery, or by musicians performing for us. In Desmet, South Dakota, the post office even stayed open late so riders could ship home winter gear (never actually needed, and sure to be unnecessary past the Rockies). But the highlight of this stretch occurred Big Ride Across America continued.

5 miles west of Miller, South Dakota, where the Big Ride reached the halfway point between Seattle and D.C.

This stretch of our trip was marred, unfortunately, by the Big Ride's only motorist-bicyclist accident: three riders were hit by the passenger-side mirror of an RV as they rode single-file on the shoulder. All three were hospitalized; two were able to return to the Big Ride after several days' recuperation, but one broke her hip, ending her Big Ride. The circumstances are all too familiar to experienced riders: an elderly driver unfamiliar with driving an RV (and thus unaware of an RV's dimensions) failed to move into the opposite lane when overtaking our cyclists.

I likewise took a spill on this leg of the trip (because my attention lapsed, the cause common to most bike accidents), leaving me with severe road rash, torn shorts and a jersey, but only relatively minor damage to my bicycle (so I could ride away from the accident). Fortunately, I had time to heal on our rest day in New Ulm, a town that makes its living peddling German kitsch and celebrating the role of Germanic tribes in causing the fall of the Roman Empire.

New Ulm, Minnesota to Madison, Wisconsin (335 miles, 4 days).

The headwinds which had stymied us since Washington State turned to tailwinds for a day ñ so for one day the corn, wheat, and soybeans flew by at 25 miles per hour. (Though the day was not perfect96 my paceline was sprayed with liquefied hog manure while passing a field in the process of being irrigated.)

Then the wind changed directions, and we were back to one mile pulls in long pacelines battling the wind. The hot sunny weather (which had been with us every day except our departure day from Seattle and our day in the mountains of Idaho) disappeared, and we faced a brutal, exhausting 89-mile ride in raw, chilly, wet conditions from Owatonna to Winona, Minnesota. It was so cold that the next day, the newspaper headline was about how cold it was, and cold weather is not exactly a 91man bites dog' story in Minnesota.

The highlights of this leg included the 2000 Big Ride crossing the 2000 mile mark just beyond Rochester, Minnesota (Rochester is home to the Mayo Clinic, but I resisted the temptation to check myself in and have all the nerves on my sore rear-end surgically removed); crossing the Mississippi River; and a 109-mile run into Madison from Viroqua, Wisconsin, that passed by Taliesen, Frank Lloyd Wright's private residence.

Madison, Wisconsin to Sandusky, Ohio (493 miles, 6 days).

I made an important discovery on this leg: The only thing more boring than mile after mile of cornfields is mile after mile of suburban ticky-tack. Also, Midwestern hospitality stops at the Wisconsin border (but resumes at the Indiana border). The highlights of this leg included a visit to Chicago; a pig roast hosted by the residents of LaPorte, Indiana, at the end of a century ride from Naperville, Illinois; the thrill of overtaking Amish buggies (but always with a courteous 91on your left' as I passed); another pair of back-to-back days of 200 miles; and the Cedar Point amusement park. Unfortunately, the hot dry weather that was with us from Washington through Minnesota was replaced by hot sticky weather (at least I was reminded of home).

Sandusky, Ohio to Washington, D.C. (549 miles, 8 days).

As the BigRide neared its conclusion, there was time for sightseeing, and during this stretch we visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland (though once inside, it was difficult to drag the baby boomer Big Riders back out), attended a monster truck rally outside Youngstown (where I found the crowd watching the loud trucks jumping junked cars more interesting than the loud trucks jumping junked cars), and spent hours at the Gettysburg Battlefield.

As for the cycling, although it may come as no surprise to Potomac Pedalers, the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania are quite challenging ñ while not as high as the Cascades or the Rockies, the grades are steeper and there are fewer passes. We faced a 106-mile day of hilly cycling from Canfield, Ohio to Indiana, Pennsylvania that tested us on everything we had experienced up until that time: steep, unrelenting hills; long mileage; terrible road surfaces; heavy truck traffic; heat and humidity; and afternoon thunderstorms (which I dodged by getting to camp in front of the pack). That century ride was followed by two more long days of mountainous riding, including one hill so steep that our luggage truck began jackknifing coming around a turn, and had to be righted by a tow truck.

Finally, on Day 48, the Big Ride triumphantly rode on to the Mall in D.C.After an early start from Frederick, Maryland, we travelled through Dickerson and Seneca along roads quite familiar to club members, and then along River Road and down the Capital Crescent Trail. We decorated the roadway as we neared D.C. ("6.2 miles to finish line, 3254 miles to Seattle"). After all the Big Riders had arrived at a holding area in Georgetown, there was a mass ride in to the Mall. After hugs from friends and family and closing ceremonies, I bicycled home, sad to be a solo rider once again, but proud to have cycled all 3,260 miles without sagging, proud to have camped (or stayed in dorms) with the Big Ride every night (instead of getting hotel rooms),and eager to go back to riding with my friends in Potomac Pedalers.

Carbohydrates: Cycling Fuel

We are in that time of year when there is some great metric and full century rides being offered throughout our region. With that in mind, this month we are going to discuss carbohydrates and their role as fuel for the cyclist. We will cover 3 specific time frames, regarding carbohydrate intake. In particular- pre-ride carbs, carbs during the ride, and post ride carbs.

Pre-Ride

Eating before you ride is an important component of your performance and how much you enjoy your ride. The questions of when to eat and how much are the questions that most cyclists want to know. If you were going out for a short ride (less than 1 hour), then a Power bar or Cliff bar pre-ride would be fine. What to eat before those long training rides? Trial and error will tell what works for you, a good dose of carbs about 3 hours before you ride (100-200grams of carbohydrate 3D 400-800 calories of carbohydrates) Try to stick with foods that are easily digested and not high in fat (fat slows the digestive process). Bananas, bagels, waffles, oatmeal, pasta, rice, and potatoes are some examples. Also, eating a high carbohydrate diet for several days prior to your event will allow you to maximize your muscle glycogen stores and help to hold off fatigue during your event.

During the Ride

If you riding for more than an hour, replacing carbs while you ride is essential. That is easily accomplished with the sports drinks available today. Make sure that you continually drink during the ride. If you bonk, it is too late, no matter how much you drink. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you are going though about 1 water bottle every 20 miles or so. Take small sips on a regular basis, about every 10 minutes or so. If you use a powder form of sports drink, be careful not to use too much. Too much sugar slows the rate that water empties from the stomach.

Post Ride

Getting enough carbohydrates after you ride is very important. There is a window of opportunity after exercising where the body converts "carbs" into glycogen much faster than normal. Getting enough carbs into your system after you ride speeds your recovery. In fact, there has been some evidence to suggest that the muscle stiffness that occurs after vigorous exercise is related to muscle glycogen depletion. For cyclists doing a 5 or 6-day ride, making sure that you intake enough carbs after each days ride is essential. Focus on foods like pasta, breads, and rice. If you like to indulge in a favorite meal after a "special ride" e.g. a century by all means do so. Just make sure that you get a carbohydrate rich meal immediately after you ride first, and then later have what ever you desire. You have earned it!

Bill Bejeck is a full time personal trainer and avid cyclist with his own company called HealthSport. Bill can be reached at Hsport at Gateway.net with questions or comments.

Cycling Down Under

Warning: This column contains sexual content and may not be suitable for viewing by small children or bashful adults.

Rest your crotch for hours at a time on a piece of leather only a few inches wide, and you're bound to have some problems. Repeatedly pump your thighs up and down against the leather while wearing tight Lycra shorts, and the complications multiply. Bounce delicate body parts against the leather as you transverse rough roads, and it's time to seriously reconsider the meaning of life.

Cycling can induce a plethora of nether-region injuries that range from annoying to devastating. The crotch itself doesn't normally bear weight; it's the job of the ischial tuberosities, or sit bones. Ideally this part of your anatomy should contact the saddle. However, with poor bike fit or in an effort to achieve an aerodynamic position, part of your body weight can rest on soft tissues with painful consequences.

Saddling up

Improving your riding position can rectify many problems. Saddle height is crucial. To check the approximate height, sit on your bike and pedal backward with your heels on the pedals. Your legs should be fully extended at the bottom of the pedal stroke. If your hips rock, the saddle is too high and may be placing extra pressure on your privates. If your knees bend at the bottom of the stroke the seat is too low. This can lead to knee problems.

The saddle should be level. An upward tilt puts pressure on the crotch, while a downward tilt may cause you to slide forward, stressing the arms and shoulders. Also check the saddle's alignment. Many riders prefer to align it with the top tube. Others find it more comfortable to rotate the saddle a few degrees to the left or right.

You don't have to use the saddle that came with your bike. Many types are available to suit a range of riding styles. The best saddle is the one that's the most comfortable for you. Visit a bike shop that offers loaner saddles and test ride a variety until you discover a favorite. Features to consider include: length, width and contour; seam placement; cutouts or wedges to reduce pressure and increase ventilation; padding (foam, gel); fabric (leather, vinyl); and shock absorption. Men's and women's saddles differ in length, width and hole placement. Keep an open mind when testing as some men find women's saddles more suitable, and visa versa. It may take a number of weeks of riding for a new saddle to start feeling comfortable.

Short story

Wear padded cycling shorts. Shorts should fit snugly to avoid fabric movement that causes friction, and hence heat and chafing. If you're self conscious about parading around in skin tight Lycra, try shorts that offer a liner with a baggie shell or skorts (combination skirt/shorts). Quality cycling shorts usually blend Lycra with materials such as DryLine or CoolMax that wick moisture away from the skin. The padding (chamois) may be contoured, seamless, contain anti-microbial fabric, and have polyfoam or gel layers. Regular underwear should not be worn as this adds unnecessary seams and can trap heat, bacteria and sweat against the skin. Men may prefer bib shorts, which are popular among the pros. The suspenders help keep the padding (and the underlying body parts) in place. Once you find shorts that are comfortable, buy several. Change out of your shorts immediately after riding or you'll be a walking, talking petri dish of microbes and could wind up with nasty boils and/or yeast infections. Lose fitting clothes are a good choice to let your crotch air out and keep the skin dry. It is crucial to wash your shorts after every ride.

Frequently shift your position while riding. When going over rough terrain stand to let your legs absorb the shock, rather than your crotch. Standing also lessens compression of the nerves and blood vessels. Periodically slide forward and backward on the saddle to relieve pressure. Don't spend extended periods of time on aero bars, which encourages riding on the nose of the saddle. Stop and walk around occasionally.

Skin deep

One of the most common cycling complaints is skin irritation. Chafing can cause rashes and boils, especially in the crease between the crotch and the thigh. Boils are red, swollen bumps under the skin, and are often caused by an infected hair follicle. The bacteria form a pocket of pus that can become large and painful. Wash with antibacterial soap. Boils that won't heal or are very tender may require a trip to the doctor for evaluation and a prescription for antibiotics.

For him

In men, pressure on the perineum where blood vessels and nerves pass may result in a number of complications. There can be damage to the urinary tract and urethral bleeding. Compression or damage to the arteries that supply blood to the penis can lead to an inability to achieve or sustain an erection. Nerve damage can result in numbness and problems with ejaculating. The causes may be acute (a sudden, painful rendezvous between the crotch and top tube) or chronic (repeated rubbing of the artery walls which builds up scar tissue that can clog arteries). Cycling-induced erectile dysfunction is not always reversible and may require treatment, so contact a doctor if you are having problems. It's also important to let your physician know you spend time straddling a saddle as cycling may elevate prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels which are used to screen for prostate cancer.

For her

Women can experience chafing and irritation to the soft tissue folds of the vulva. If nerves are compressed, there may be some numbness and diminished sexual sensation. The combination of snug bike shorts and exercise creates a warm, moist environment that can exacerbate yeast infections. To help prevent infections change into dry clothes immediately after riding. The "yeast" is actually the fungus Candida. Infections can be treated with anti-fungal products available without a prescription.

Hints not from Heloise

Many club members, as well as other experts, graciously offered advice on managing crotch-related maladies. Some of this wisdom was incorporated above, and some has been pooled with information from other sources to provide the following tips.

• Lubricating the crotch area is one of the best ways to prevent chafing. Either the skin or shorts can be smeared. The top lube choice (by far) is petroleum jelly. Other options include A+D Ointment, Bag Balm, Chamois Butt'r, Desitin, K-Y Jelly, Udder Cream, and Vagisil.
• Wearing two pairs of cycling shorts or a pair of cycling underwear plus a pair of cycling shorts is an option. This provides more cushioning, and can reduce chafing as the layers of fabric rub against each other. (Although layering is apparently a common practice among men, women who heard about it were skeptical at best.)
• Using a saddle cover can be helpful. Lycra covers may reduce friction and chafing, and sheepskin and gel padded covers offer extra cushioning (don't forget to lower your seat height to compensate for the extra thickness).
• Using antiseptic cream at night and sleeping in the buff can be beneficial.
• Bringing a product such as Metamucil along on a bike tour may be helpful as constipation can make riding uncomfortable.
• Utilizing birth control pills to adjust the menstrual cycle so a period doesn't occur during a multi-day tour may be an option for some women.
• Bringing your own saddle may be a wise decision if you're renting a bike for a tour.
• Boxers are better than briefs.

Recommended Resources

• http://www.healthfinder.gov/
  This consumer health information guide lists web sites, support groups, health information, publications, and health care professionals.
• http://www.impotence.org
  This site offers information, resources and discussions of erectile dysfunction.

Cycling in the new Millennium

Yet another year is about to pass by. It seems as though it was spring just last week. No matter what your position in life is, there is one incontrovertible truth: Time marches on. This year also marks an even bigger event, the passing of a century. I can distinctly remember a conversation with my father when I was 10 years old. The year was 1976 and I was figuring out how old we would be at the turn of the century (something only a 10 year old would do!). According to my calculations I would be 34 and my father would be 62. For reasons that I now understand, dad did not want to keep discussing the subject of turning 62. Unfortunately, dad did not make it to the new millennium, but that rather humorous conversation stays fixated in my mind. What is the point in my telling you this story? Well, none actually. As I sat down to write the article for the December issue of Pedal Patter, I figured I'd risk sharing a personal moment that came to mind. So what is the point of this article? With this being the year-end issue of sorts, I would like to talk about something very relevant at this point of time, goal setting. Goal setting allows us to achieve more and have more fun doing so. Maybe you could do a full century ride. If have done one before, you could aim for a faster time. If you ride on "C" level rides you could work on doing a few "B" rides next year. For those who like to race, maybe you could aim for another "Cat" up or to place a little higher in your races. It really does not matter what your goal is, as long as you have one. Just pick one area of your cycling that you would like to work on and do it. Over the next couple of months I am going to present different workouts that will hopefully cover a wide range of goals for persons to help them achieve their goals for the coming year. Having said that, I would like to leave you with some basic guidelines on choosing a goal.

1. Be Specific- Set a goal of riding at least x times per week instead of saying your goal is to just ride more. Goals have to be specific to have any meaning to them.
2. Be Realistic- Set goals that are challenging, but achievable.
3. Choose One Goal- Pick one thing you want to work on and stick with that one. Working on too many things at one time can be self-defeating.
4. Give yourself a deadline- In addition to having a specific goal, you should have specific time frame to achieve it in.

Enjoy the holidays, keep training and see you in 2000!

Damage Control: the Low-Down on Muscle Aches and Pains

Have you ever gone on a ride and then found it difficult to get out of bed the next day? Have you ever experienced an excruciating cramp towards the end of a long bike ride? There are three types of muscle pain commonly associated with exercise: muscle pain during or immediately after exercise, muscle soreness occurring 24-48 hours later, and muscle cramps.

Pain During or Immediately After Exercise

Exercise requiring near-maximal to maximal efforts (sprinting, grinding up a big hill) can lead to muscle pain and burning during or immediately afterwards. This is thought to stem from disturbances in calcium metabolism and/or the production of substances in the working muscles such as lactic acid (a by-product of anaerobic metabolism), heat shock proteins, and free radicals.

The pain usually subsides with rest or recovery (such as easy spinning), as the substances are rapidly removed or metabolized. Since pain may result from the presence of free radicals that lead to oxidative damage, it's tempting to consume anti-oxidant supplements as a preventative measure. However, these have not been shown to have beneficial effects on performance. Your best bet is consuming a diet rich in anti-oxidants (vitamins C and E). Although it's tempting to get a massage after a hard workout, scientific evidence to date indicates that massages have little effect on muscle blood flow, strength recovery, or pain sensation.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

If you typically ride on level roads but then get talked into doing a hilly route, your muscles will be sore a day or two later. DOMS occurs in response to novel exercise and usually peaks 24-48 hours after the exercise. It's especially pronounced if the activity involves eccentric contractions. These occur when the muscle lengthens as it contracts. For example, as the weight is lowered during a biceps curl, the muscle is actually lengthening as it contracts to support the weight. Along with soreness, strength loss and a reduced range of motion (the feeling of stiffness) are common.

The exact causes of DOMS aren't entirely clear. Microscopic muscle damage occurs due to mechanical stresses. There is an inflammatory reaction to the muscle damage. The damage and inflammation can both trigger pain receptors. The soreness is not due to the accumulation of metabolites like lactic acid, since these are rapidly removed from the contracting muscles right after the cessation of exercise. Nor is DOMS caused by muscle spasm.

Treatment for DOMS should include gentle stretching to help restore range of motion. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) such as Bayer, Advil and Alleve may lessen the pain. Application of balms, creams, and/or ice as well as submersion in warm water might also provide some temporary relief. Some homeopathic remedies, such as arnica, have recently received attention as treatments. However, there's no scientific evidence they are effective. As DOMS is associated with a loss in muscle strength, athletic performance won't be at peak levels for a few days. If you experience soreness, plan a few days of easy exercise to prevent further muscle damage and to reduce the likelihood of injury.

Muscle Cramps

A cramp is an intense, involuntary contraction of a muscle that usually occurs during or immediately after exercise. Cramps were traditionally thought to stem from fluid or electrolyte imbalances, but this is not always the case. Cramps may even occur following chronic muscle use by individuals who are not sweating, such as musicians. Cramps have also been attributed to extreme environmental conditions or metabolic abnormalities, but again there are examples where this doesn't hold.

A current theory suggests muscle cramps result from fatigue that triggers abnormal neural activity. There's an increase in neural input telling the muscle to contract and a decrease in signals telling the muscle to relax (for aficionados the signals are from the muscle spindles and golgi tendon organs, respectively). The result is a vigorous contraction of part or all of a muscle.

Cramps typically occur in situations that cause muscle fatigue such as towards the end of long or strenuous ride, or with high intensity exercise. Those most prone to cramps are older, have a family history of cramping, and have poor stretching habits. If you get a cramp, hold the muscle in a stretched position until it subsides. To prevent cramps, stretch regularly, stay well hydrated and maintain good conditioning.

Although exercise can damage muscles, this is followed by regeneration. Moderate pain and soreness signal that muscles are undergoing adaptations to become stronger. Essentially it's a survival mechanism; the body senses you had difficulty getting away from a predator (or climbing a big hill) and thus remodels the working muscles. Then hopefully next time you'll easily get away from the predator (or fly up the hill).

Carol Torgan is an exercise physiologist and fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. You can reach her at ceetee01 at yahoo.com

Don't Lose Your Cool

Summer is finally here. The days are long and for most cyclists, it is peak riding time. The summer months also bring some possible trouble spots along with the warmer weather. Heat exhaustion and dehydration are very real possibilities for any outdoor enthusiast. Cyclists are no exception. Although a column on this same subject appeared last year, the message is important enough to be repeated. Here are some basic tips that will help you "beat the heat" and enjoy your summer riding.

1. Ride early or late. One of the best ways to avoid the heat of summer is riding as soon as the sun rises. It is also a little healthier due to the fact that there is not as much pollution in the air earlier in the day. Later in the evening is a good second choice for those whose schedules won't allow early mornings. If you ride on your lunch hour, pay attention to air quality reports. You might be better off doing intervals on a trainer or stationary bike instead of riding outdoors on "code red" days.

2. DRINK! No, I am not advocating going to happy hour before your ride. Drinking a lot of water during the day every day is your best defense against the heat. Gulping down a big cup right before you ride is not what I mean, either. You need to be loading your body with water all day.

   Active people should be drinking 64 ounces at a minimum. During the very hot days, closer to a gallon may be necessary. Replenishing the fluid you lose after a ride is just as important. A good way to determine how much you should drink after a ride is to weigh yourself before and after. The difference is the amount of fluid that needs to be replaced. If you lost four pounds, for example, you will need to consume at least 64 ounces of water or sports drink afterwards. Try to get into the habit of sipping continuously while riding, instead of riding for a long period of time then drinking a lot in one shot. Every ten minutes or so you should be hitting the water bottle. Structure your long rides to include stops at convenience stores so you can stock up on supplies. Camelbacks are great to use also and make drinking frequently very easy. For short rides (less than one hour) plain water is fine. Any ride longer than one hour, and you are better off with a sports drink. Be careful about the amount of sugar in sports drinks though. More is not always better. Too much sugar will take longer to empty from the stomach, and will leave you feeling bloated.

3. Clothing. Wearing the proper clothing can make a big difference in the heat of summer.

   Cotton T shirts are a not a great choice. Your body cools when the sweat on your skin evaporates. Cotton T shirts absorb water very well and keep all the sweat trapped against your body, not allowing your natural cooling mechanism to function properly. Synthetic fibers like Coolmax (available at large sporting goods stores or Bike Nashbar) don't hold on to water like cotton shirts do and dry twice as fast, therefor allowing your body to cool itself by sweat evaporation. Bike shorts made of quick drying fibers also make summer riding a lot more comfortable.

Finally, some days you will just have to take it a little easier no matter what you do. So just relax and enjoy the ride! Until next month, keep training!

Bill Bejeck is a full time personal trainer and avid cyclist with his own company called HealthSport. Bill can be reached at Hsport at Gateway.net with questions or comments.

Fifty States, Fifty Centuries, Part II

Cache Valley Century, Logan, UT

It was a century ago and two bicycle manufacturers had a problem. They needed to transport their latest product from Ohio to North Carolina on the common carrier of the day -- the railroad. To accomplish this, they had to engineer it so that it could be broken down and packed as baggage. Railcars at the time had limited dimensions and they would need to use several railroads.

Today's travelling bicyclist can certainly understand the trepidation of Orville and Wilbur Wright as they negotiated with the Dayton freight agents. They were, of course, transporting the world's first airplane to Kitty Hawk. It would be disassembled and reassembled in December 1903 in time for the historic flight. Today, we face the same problems transporting our means of transport: preventing damage, avoiding excessive charges, taking careful inventory of the parts and tools. What can be bought at the other end instead of transporting it? What do we tell the agent is in the box?

My 50 Centuries Project (my goal of riding a century in every state) has brought me, too often, face to face with the same issues. I've used a soft case and a hard case. I've bought a folding bike, and I've rented a bike at the other end. If you live in Virginia and want to ride a bike on the West Coast, transporting the bike can be the most troublesome issue.

Planning how to get a bicycle to ride at the other end can be more complicated than planning a small invasion, and almost as expensive. There are three key challenges -- protecting the bike, avoiding excessive airline charges, and limiting the hassle of maneuvering a packed bicycle around airports, taxis, buses, and hotels.

Protecting the bike: For about ten years I used a soft-sided bike case (to Florida, Colorado, California, Canada and Europe). After two broken axles, I decided to invest in a hard case which I used this past season. The hard case is a viable solution if bike damage is the primary concern.

Airline fees: The large hard case -- I use the Performance case -- will almost always be charged the oversize airline fee. United Airlines charges $80 each way for a bicycle on domestic flights. Nominally, the dimensions (height plus width plus depth) can not exceed 62", and the weight limit for domestic baggage has been lowered to 50 pounds. (If you're transporting a full bike case, the $80 fee usually includes the cost of oversize baggage.) On a round trip, this means that renting a bike is usually less expensive.

Bike rentals are becoming more straightforward. Many of the larger bicycle shops offer rentals. If you're doing an organized tour, most tour operators are happy to arrange for rentals as well. And, in many resort areas, bike rentals are very common.

Often, however, using a rental bike has problems of its own. Most of us pay serious attention to the small details of our bikes. There are comfort issues, such the dimensions and position of the adjustable components. Our saddles are chosen with care and broken in. Pedals and cleats match, and cyclo-computers are set up to record the total mileage for the year. After all this TLC, there are distinct advantages to bringing your home bike on vacation.

I experimented with a Montague folding bike. These are full-size mountain bikes with a folding frame. The Montague performed flawlessly as a bicycle, and I've put many miles on mine. As a travelling bike, however, there appears to be little or no advantage over a regular, non-folding frame. Together, the bike and the case cost over $1000 (some experiment!). A full-size folding bike cannot be contained within a case that fits the 62" maximum airline limit. In fact, the case the Montague travels in measures 32" by 28" by 12". I discovered, to my dismay, that the airlines charge anyway. In one instance, the service agent at the oversize baggage desk charged me $50 for an "overweight" case, and then had me chased down at the gate for an extra $30 because I had the temerity to transport a bicycle.

There are other solutions that I have not yet explored. Several people have been pleased with compact-folding bikes from Bike Friday and Dahon. These bikes pack into their own case, which will fit within the airline dimensions. The bikes use small-diameter wheels, and spare parts might be a problem. Riders report that the bikes perform well on the road. The expense, however, has held me back from "experimenting" again.

Recently I decided to try another option. A full-size bike can be fitted with "Bicycle Torque Couplers" on the frame -- one on the top tube and one on the down tube. These couplers were invented by the S&S Corporation, an aircraft parts company. When decoupled, the frame can be packed into a case that fits the airline dimensions. If you saw the case that holds an S&S-coupled bike, you would not believe there was a bike inside. The S&S website includes many testimonials to the success of the design.

Frames with the couplers can be purchased new for about $2000 and up. Alternatively, your own frame can be retrofit for about $800. (These prices include an airline-acceptable case and specialized packing materials.) For us, the best (and closest) choice appears to be Bilenky Cycleworks in North Philadelphia. It's best to pick the bike up in person, as they work through the complicated packing and unpacking process, which is unique for each frame geometry. I just picked mine up in January. Later in this series, I'll report on the progress of my new Trek 520 "travel bike".

So, the next time you face the "oversize baggage" customer service representative, bike case in hand, be sure to tell him the story of Orville and Wilbur. Make the point that, without the bicycle to support the inventors of the airplane, we would not have an opportunity to fly -- with or without our bicycles. Undoubtedly, the CSR will proceed to swipe your card for the $80 fee, and mark your boarding pass in such a way that you can expect a long discussion with the Transportation Security Administration.

The Ride: Cache Valley Century, Logan, UT. Completed Saturday, September 4, 2004.

This was my first real step in my 50 Century journey. I had scoured the internet for a good combination of air fare, century timing, and route details. I avoided the massive mountain climbing challenges for which I was not ready. I also avoided centuries in states that I had done before.

Utah's Cache valley is a U-shaped valley in Utah's extreme northeast corner. Logan is the prominent "city", but it's really a modest town. Like most areas west of the Mississippi, the region is plotted out on a grid work of streets, which cross at 90-degree intersections. Only the mountains and rivers break the grid up, forcing infrequent curves and detours.

The century began and ended in Richmond, some 12 miles north of Logan. The well-designed route circled north, into Idaho, giving me two states for the price of one. It then followed the U-shaped outline of the Cache River Valley, looping far south and returning via Logan to Richmond. Most of the roads were quiet, back-country roads that allowed us to pass quietly among the broad farms of the valley. The route avoided the valley's many busy thoroughfares.

This was the best of the West in terms of climate and beauty. The valley was narrow enough that the mountain walls on the east and west side could be seen from any point in the ride. From the dewy sparkle of the misty start to the sun-baked finish, the day could not have been more perfect. Low clouds hung along the ridges early, interrupted by shafts of light. Later in the day, a wind kept us cool, but occasionally seemed to meet us in the face. (Have you ever noticed a tailwind? In a circular route, surely there was a tailwind, but I can't remember it.)

If you don't like the West because it's dry and treeless, then you would not have had much fun on this ride. This was grassland, interrupted only by the occasional cottonwood tree. And, many among us would reach the five rest stops with empty water bottles -- especially the later ones after the sun had done its work.

Utah is, of course, Mormon country. From the hilltop temples to the beehive-outline on the route signs (the beehive is an early Mormon icon), there's no escaping the gentle influence of the religion. This means, of course, that many businesses will be closed on Sunday. In fact, it was difficult to find an open bicycle shop on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend, although that had more to do with the heavy schedule of weekend cycling events rather than any religious observation.

I can't say that I finished in record time. There were, however, several riders behind me this time as I climbed the last hill into Richmond. I thought I had the route to myself on mile 101, but two women overtook me so fast that I didn't see them coming. They were past me and into the town before I knew it. The final stretch took us on an eastbound road into town, which was drenched in sunshine from behind. The sight of the town, framed against a glowing mountain range, provided a sense of serenity as we ended the ride.

This was more than just the first step. This was an experiment. Could I bring all the pieces together for a century on the other side of the continent? Several tests included: registering for ride, rental car, hotels, and airlines; disassembling and reassembling the bike; century survival skills -- water, food, etc.; and what did I not know? As I rode that last, sunny mile into Richmond, I had all the answers I needed. My quest was launched.

Fifty States, Fifty Centuries: Adams Apple Century, Gettysburg PA

I have set a goal for myself to do a century in each of the 50 states. It's an ambitious, but worthy, challenge for a 52-year-old slow-going cyclist. It's a voyage of discovery, and I've discovered one secret already: planning and anticipation is almost as much fun as riding itself. In fact, I feel better already! The charming editor of Pedal Patter had agreed to allow me to document my progress on these pages.

After living in the Virginia suburbs for 25 years, I've been up and down local roads many times-inside the beltway and throughout the Piedmont. I've been over almost every hill and dale between the Potomac and the Blue Ridge. This 50-century goal, for me, will put some of the spice back into cycling.

Some ground rules for the articles I will write: The first half will be about the mechanics of the project. There's a lot to be learned as one plans for bicycle tours. It's useful to document this experience for other bicycle tourists. Advice on bicycle travel, sadly, goes out of date rather quickly. But, the project is about the bike rides, so the second half of each article will be about the ride. That will give us fifty articles (more or less)-by then you'll either ignore these articles or turn to this page first.

Let me define the bicycling rules. There are six states in which I have already ridden a century-or a significant portion of one. I will also count those states in which I've done a weeklong ride of over 300 miles. This gives me another seven. My "been there, done that" list now stands at: VT, NH, MA, PA, MD, VA, FL, KY, WV, CO, UT, ID, and OR. That's thirteen. Coincidentally, the United States started with thirteen as well.

I've also decided I will count a metric century on a mountain bike. I figure the effort is about the same, and this opens up a broad range of interesting adventures.

Now, you need to know, I ride a very slow nine-hour century. You will not find me riding a paceline. Actually, riding fast would be incompatible with my goal. If I'm not going to stop and smell the roses-or at least the cows-then what's the point in changing the scenery? Life should be about the journey, not the destination.

Some planning issues are immediately apparent. Focusing on organized centuries simplifies the process. Local bike clubs understand the best routes, and provide map and sag support. They make the job easy-all I have to do is ride. Airline travel with a bicycle probably is the biggest roadblock. I will expand on that in future articles, but that's the most boring part of the project. Really, it's about the ride?

The Ride: Adams Apple Century, Gettysburg PA. Completed Saturday, September 25, 2004.

Gettysburg was shrouded in fog, and I mean shrouded. We're talking pea soup, can't see your hood ornament, fog-your-glasses fog. There was some danger, and I might have decided to wait and ride a shorter distance had I not set out on my 50-century quest. But, the goal has been set, and this will probably not be the last time my goal will urge me to get me out on the road.

My hotel was at the end of the commercial "strip", so my room overlooked Cemetery Hill. I woke up to a view of the misty battlefield, and could imagine the ghosts of Armistead and Reynolds (generals, Confederate and Union, killed on that field) gazing back at me. I'm sure they would be amused.

The Adams Apple Century (so named because of the eponymous host county), began a short distance north of Gettysburg, and crossed back through town and battlefield several times. There were two loops, north and south (how fitting!), with rest stops half-way through each.

The ride was hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce, and the Gettysburg High School headquarters had all the trappings of a major event: food, bike stuff for sale, and a disc jockey spinning pop music for the departing riders.

Not 500 feet out of the parking lot, the fog closed in. You could hear the music, but could not see even the outer line of cars. As the route wound through Gettysburg streets and out into the country, I was sure that we were in the middle of the battlefield. On a clearer day, there would be monuments and cannons, statues and granite obelisks along the sides of the road. But, this morning, the fields were as featureless as they were on the day of the battle.

The north loop, which many of us chose to do first, had more hills. Psychologically, the fog may have helped here. As I look back on a topographic map of this route, we went through a rather mountainous region. At one point the route passes through a ravine with 600 foot walls on either side of the road, aptly named "The Narrows". It was probably a good thing that we could barely see the roadside trees.

The disadvantage of the fog appeared during the downhills. You must keep your speed in check due to the low visibility, and fogging eyeglasses compounded the problem. (That is, until they went into the pocket.)

Somewhere past the first rest stop the fog finally began to burn off. Just as it did, a cyclist went past with a jersey from my own local bike shop, The Bike Lane in Burke. I chatted with him briefly, and told him my own Trek was from the shop. It was one of those amusing coincidences that demonstrate how small the cycling community really is.

The ride had its share of road hazards-many railroad crossings and a few steel grate bridges. After hearing many horror stories, I've chosen to walk over all railroad tracks. Since I'm not into doing minimum-time centuries, this detracts little from my ride. Besides, I'm a bit of a train buff, so I get to notice the little details about the rail line. By the rust on the tracks, one can tell whether it is used frequently. And, if there are weeds or plants growing between the ties, we have a candidate for another rail trail!

The southern loop made up for the lack of battlefield vistas. The ride moved right down Confederate Avenue, launching point for Pickett's Charge. We had to maneuver around tourists in cars and buses and past the crowd watching re-enactors firing cannons. By mid-day, Gettysburg was a whirlwind of activity.

Shortly after we left the battlefield, I turned the corner on a country lane and found myself riding over a covered bridge. The bridge was not marked on the cue sheet. It was one of those delightful surprises that century organizers like to insert in their routes. These are the dividends we earn for all that hard work.

The southern route did prove to be less hilly, as advertised. But, as I was the slowpoke on the century, it tended to get lonely. If you're riding alone, you need to pay careful attention to the cue sheet, lest you find yourself adding "bonus miles". Around mile 65, I missed a turn by a few hundred yards. After that, I vowed to stay focused on the cue sheet.

The final rest stop was in Littlestown, PA. I won't say I closed it down-there were a few people behind me-but the volunteers were more cheerful and encouraging than one would expect this late in the afternoon

We had a pleasant surprise as we neared the end of the ride as well. Some miles to the east of Gettysburg, a cavalry battle was fought between an already-famous Jeb Stuart and the soon-to-be-famous George Armstrong Custer. This battlefield is a rarely-visited annex to the Gettysburg National Historical Park. It was on our route, though, adding a bit of history to our final 15 miles.

I rolled into the parking lot with the disc jockey still spinning tunes. After a few photos, and a great pasta dinner, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was "in the bag".

Next month: Cache Valley Century, Utah.

Food Basics

This month we will cover a very important topic for all active people: food! What follows are some sound basic guidelines to help your cycling performance as well as to keep you healthy.

1. EAT BREAKFAST. We have heard it before and it is true; breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Get up a few minutes earlier or prepare something the night before you go to bed. It does not have to be a gourmet meal; some yogurt and a banana, or cereal with low fat milk and a glass of juice will do the trick. Sorry, but 2 cups of coffee do not count, either.

2. PACK YOUR LUNCH. Eating can be 1) expensive, 2) very high in fat and 3) usually the portion you are given is larger than you would give yourself. Now I am aware that business dictates that sometimes you meet over lunch. If it is inappropriate to "brown bag it" then try to order something from the light fare selection that most restaurants have these days. Again, nothing fancy here, just a turkey sandwich on wheat bread and a piece of fruit.

3. TAKE SNACKS. Most people want to eat healthier, but after not eating much all day, they go home and devour whatever is in sight. If this sounds familiar, then having a snack in-between meals can be a great help! Fresh fruit like bananas, apples and oranges are convenient as well as very nutritious. Graham crackers and fig Newton are good choices also. What ever you snack on, try to make it wholesome, not a candy bar or a bag of chips, etc.

4. BALANCE YOUR MEALS. What I mean by this is don't fall into the "carbo trap" of having nothing but a bagel and pasta diet. You need protein and some fat. Most of your sources of protein have some fat in them and that's OK. Good examples are skinless chicken breasts, extra lean ground beef or tuna fish. Dairy products such as skim or 1% milk, low-fat yogurt and cottage cheese are good sources of protein also. Vegetarian sources of protein could consist of tofu or combining beans and rice. Watch out for foods with a high saturated fat content the most. A good rule of thumb is to always include a source of protein when eating one of your main meals. Having a small snack of just carbohydrate between meals is OK; just make sure you balance your main meals.

5. DRINK WATER. Keep a bottle with you all the time. Your urine should be clear to pale yellow (and odorless). Dehydration may also contribute to feelings of hunger.

6. EAT 5 FRUITS OR VEGETABLES A DAY. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with nutrients and fiber, both of which we need on a daily basis. Choose from a variety in your grocery store. Try to stick with fresh fruits and vegetables, with frozen being a second option.

7. PORTION SIZE. Remember, total calories count. So don't load up on food just because it is low fat. If you are eating a steak or chicken breasts, stick with a portion about the size of your fist.

Bill Bejeck is a full time personal trainer and avid cyclist with his own company called HealthSport. Bill can be reached at Hsport at Gateway.net with questions or comments. To receive a free newsletter, send your name and address to the above e-mail.

From PPTC Rider to Olympic Medalist - Marion Clignet

How many Potomac Pedalers, reading Marion Clignet's diary on Cyclingnews.com or seeing her name listed in World Championship and Olympic Games results, realize that Marion started out as a novice racer and occasional PPTC rider in the Washington DC area? I remember bumping into Marion in a Reston Century in the mid 1980s, at the very beginning of her career. She was riding at what we would now call an honest BB pace, and faded badly at the end. There was nothing to indicate the heights to which she would later rise.

Marion grew up in the United States, but her family is French. They moved from France to Chicago in 1963, a few months before Marion was born. The family moved again in 1979 when her father took a teaching position at the University of Maryland, where she would later enroll as a college student.

She took up cycling after she was diagnosed with epilepsy, which prevented her from driving a car. The bicycle was a means of transportation and a source of income as a part-time bike courier, but it was also a way of refusing to let epilepsy impose limits on her life. She began hanging around College Park Cycles, where she met more experienced cyclists and was drawn into the local racing scene. She joined the National Capital Velo Club, Washington's oldest racing club, and began competing at weekday training races at Greenbelt and Tysons Corner.

Marion herself will tell you that she does not have the physical gifts - the unusual cardiac and lung capacity - that make a natural champion. Her success has been the product of sheer determination: an overwhelming desire to make it to the top and an enormous capacity to drive herself.

In 1985 Marion decided to leave school and devote herself entirely to cycling. Within a short time she was winning local races, and in 1988 she was invited to participate in a training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. In 1989 she won a gold medal in the Team Time Trial at the U.S. national championships. The following year she was first in the team time trial, second in the road race, and third in the individual time trial

When these results did not lead to selections to the U.S. Worlds team, Marion decided to move back to France and pursue her career on the continent. Since then, she has become one of the most accomplished racers of her generation. She has more than 160 career victories, including ten French national championships and six World Championships. She medaled twice in the Olympic Games and finished second in the Women's Tour de France in 1993. She held the world record in the 3000-meter pursuit from 1996 to 2000 with a time of 3'30"974, an average of 31.8 miles per hour from a standing start. That's almost 30 seconds faster than the fastest women's qualifying time at this year's U.S. track nationals, and a faster average speed than the winning men's time. She retired from competition after winning the silver medal in the pursuit at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and narrowly missing lapping the field in the points race.

She came back from retirement in 2003 to try for a place at the Athens Olympics. Although she did not succeed in dominating on the track as she had in the 1990s, she blossomed as a climber, dropping riders half her age in the women's Giro and placing third in the Trophée de Grimpeurs.

I saw her at the beginning of her comeback, in April 2003, competing in the "Grand Prix du Mont Pujols" a punishing circuit race in the Coupe de France series (the French equivalent of the USCF's National Racing Calendar series). The course included a one-mile hill which the women had to climb seven times. A Slovakian women, Zlatica Gavlakova-Bazola, had a 40-second gap with one ten-kilometer lap to go. Marion launched herself on the flat and was halfway across the gap by the start of the final climb. She flew up the 10-percent grade at a speed most of us can only dream of, and missed catching the Russian by a handful of seconds. And this from a track specialist who, before the race, had said she hoped she wouldn't be dropped on the climb!

Marion retired for good in July of this year, but remains active in cycling circles. Although she no longer races, she still rides in an occasional "cyclosportive" event near her home in Colomiers, a suburb of Toulouse. (The Assault on Mount Mitchell would be the closest thing to a French "cyclosportive"). She is a leading advocate of women's cycling, working to improve sponsorship and racing conditions in France and throughout Europe. She coaches young riders, and this year she is starting a series of training camps for beginning racers and strong recreational riders on the French Riviera, in Corsica, and in the Pyrenees. Like the Stephen Roche camps that are popular with Washington-area cyclists, the Marion Clignet camps will be attended by a mix of French and American riders, providing a deeper immersion in the European cycling scene than you can get in regular packaged tours. They are also a bargain, at 999 euros (about $1250) per week, including lodging and all meals. Readers who are interested in the camps can get more information by e-mailing Marion at marionclignet@aol.com.

Healthy Eating: Spicing Up Your Meals

Free radicals are routinely generated in the body by normal metabolism. They are highly reactive chemical species (in tech speak, a molecule that contains one or more unpaired electrons in its outer orbit). There are also environmental sources of free radicals such as air pollution, smoke and alcohol. Free radicals are involved in chemical reactions that can cause damage to fats, proteins and DNA. They have been shown to have a role in diseases such as cancer, stroke, arthritis and heart disease, and also play a part in aging.

Exercise increases the generation of free radicals. Following strenuous exercise, especially in individuals who are unaccustomed to working out, the generation of free radicals can lead to muscle damage. However, free radicals are not entirely bad; they generate cellular signals that lead to beneficial adaptations (in muscle, this translates into the improvements that result from exercise training). In addition, exercise training itself appears to improve the antioxidant capacity of the body.

Vitamins C and E

The body has an elaborate defense system to neutralize free radicals and prevent cell damage. This system partially relies on consumption of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and beta-carotene. If some vitamin C or E is good, then it's logical to assume that a whole lot would be even better. Studies show that vitamin C or E supplementation may offer some protection against muscle damage following strenuous exercise, but they don't have any beneficial effects on endurance or strength. Although it's tempting to take excess vitamins and minerals as a type of "insurance policy", megadoses and long-term use of excess antioxidants may be harmful. If you simply must pop a pill, choose vitamin C; it's water soluble so any excess will end up in your urine, and the only damage that will occur will be to your wallet.

Red Wine and Green Tea

Last month, at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, a group of anti-oxidants with names that sound like fuel additives (polyphenols, tannins and isoflavanoids) appeared in the spotlight. This group is found in red wine (in order of abundance: merlot, pinot noir, red zinfandel); in fruits such as apples, apricots and bananas; in legumes (chick peas, peas); in green and black tea; and in many spices such as oregano, rosemary, sage, basil and thyme. In laboratory studies rats given green tea had elevated blood levels of antioxidants, and various spices were shown to inhibit the growth of cultured tumor cells. Although these antioxidants appear promising, their effects in muscle are presently unknown.

The Bottom Line

Maintain a well-balanced, healthy diet. A good rule of thumb is to try to limit your grocery shopping to the perimeter of the store where the least processed selections are located. As the adage goes, "eat seasonally, buy locally". Enjoy the bounty of the summer– visit your local farmer's market and stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables which are packed with antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals. Augment your cooking with spices and break open a bottle of red wine.

Resources

Healthy recipes:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/recipes.htm

http://www.cookinglight.com/

Information on dietary supplements: http://ods.od.nih.gov/index.asp

Directory of farmers markets by state: http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm

Carol Torgan is an exercise physiologist and Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. You can contact her at ceetee01 at yahoo.com.

Healthy Riding

In response to the recent terrorist attacks many of us have experienced a complex range of emotions that include grief, disbelief, shock, denial, anger, guilt, irritability, fear, anxiety, depression, and sadness. According to the American Red Cross, there are numerous reasons why this tragedy was especially disturbing. These include a lack of warning so we couldn't prepare, the realization that a safe area suddenly became unsafe, and a fear of additional destruction. Ready access to media outlets allowed us to view and review the event and aftermath, and as a result we become"secondary victims" whereby we can suffer emotional and physical problems.

The extent to which we are affected and the process of coping with the tragedy differs for each of us. Mental health experts underscore the importance of talking about the tragedy to help work through what happened and to relieve stress. A common reaction is to try to learn as much as possible about what happened and what will happen next. However, continued monitoring of TV, radio and news reports can cause continued anxiety, so it's wise to limit your exposure.

Health

The shock and stress of the attacks can cause a number of physical problems that include excessive hunger or loss of appetite, rashes, allergy flare-ups and insomnia. Emotions such as anger, fear, and anxiety can manifest as headaches, body aches, and an upset stomach. The process of grieving and healing is exhausting and requires energy. It's typical to feel lethargic or agitated.

One of the most important things we can do to make our way through this extraordinary period is to take time to take care of ourselves. This includes eating well, getting enough sleep, and exercising. Eat regular meals, starting with a good breakfast. Try to consume the recommended five daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Stress can lead to disturbed sleep and nightmares, and loss of sleep keeps levels of stress hormones elevated, which can influence mood, memory and the immune system. Most adults need about eight hours of sleep a night. Keep a regular schedule and limit caffeine and alcohol consumption. Late afternoon exercise, warm baths, and soothing music can help prepare your body and mind for sleep. Exercise helps control your appetite and improves sleep. It is also a good outlet for expressing emotions: you can pound the pedals or quietly meditate. For some, biking with good friends takes on added significance, while for others there may be a desire to spin in solitude.

Healing

In the days ahead we will all go through a range of emotions. Don't deny them, but instead embrace them. Treat yourself and others with patience and kindness. The events give us an opportunity to reevaluate our priorities. Many things that were once important may now seem trivial. Friends and family take on added significance. It's an opportunity to get involved in new causes, activities and projects, and to strengthen relationships. By acknowledging and going through the grieving and healing process, we can come away with a sense of peace, strength and renewed purpose.

Resources

www.helping.org/ As of Oct 5 this site had information about donations and extensive links to coping resources as well as many other aspects of the tragedy including numerous charities.

Carol Torgan is an exercise physiologist and Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. You can reach her at ceetee01 at yahoo.com

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation

Have you wondered what that little "R" beside some ride descriptions in the Pedal Patter stood for? Did you think the distances were a mistake? The "R" stands for randonneur, and the distances are no mistake. The Brevet series are designed to prepare and qualify riders for Paris Brest Paris (PBP); a complete series is required to participate in PBP, which is a 750-mile endurance ride that is held once every 4 years.

My wife and I decided to "give it a go" as the Brits are fond of saying to see if we had what it takes to qualify for PBP. We did the entire series on our Tandem.

Below is a note I sent to the local Brevet participants after completing the final 600K event. Typically, we were elated and much relieved to finish knowing that we are going to Paris.

Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 07:59:53 -0400

Big sigh of relief now that the 600k is done; we are Paris bound. Looking back on the series I am so impressed with the attention to detail and devotion that the organizers and their helpers put into each event. I've led Club rides for years and know how tough it is to create an accurate cue sheet for a 50 mile ride, on local roads no less!!!

My hat is off, my chamois is showing, and I'm forever thankful to you all. Jim Kuehn, his friends and helpers worked long and hard to make the Randoneer Brevet series possible for people like us. They are a special breed, and there is no way to repay that kindness other than to recognize their unmeasurable worth.

The 600k had Doreen and me a bit spooked. We were never worried about the 200k or 300k, however, the 400k was a real challenge, and we knew the 600k was "the real deal." We rode conservatively, sticking to a tried and true game plan for nutrition and H2O. The only changes were switching to a 45 min. eating schedule, and using the Platypus Big Zip (2) which is has a lovely zipper that opens in a snap and lets you easily dump a bag of ice in. The ice kept our heart rates lower, especially on climbs.

Before the ride I made a "spare ice" deal with Ed Pavelka. On Pac tour it was common practice to leave spare bottles of water and ice in an obvious location for riders behind you. On the 600k, we used up a 7 lb. bag each time we stopped. In Luray, we saw a pitiful 1/3 bag of ice that Ed left at some ungodly hour for us (he rode straight through the night.) Thanks pal and congratulations on gutting out that night ride :)

For the first 170 miles we only stopped at controls and once for a quick turkey sandwich..before heading to the 230 mile control where we decided to pack it in and not risk the night ride. Had a lovely spaghetti dinner across the street at the Pink Cadillac Café and had seven blessed hrs of sleep. In the morning, we sucked coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnuts at the gas station until the sun came up, then got on the road. Stupid me, after we had a front flat, I put the wheel in backwards and thus had no computer for 10 miles apparently my college education was a complete waste.

We resorted to resetting the computer after each turn, which turned out to be a good method of navigation. If I could only read road signs: near the Plains we took our second wrong turn. Our minds were not as sharp as they should have been.

A real Randon moment happened about 60 miles from Luray, we entered a small town. The cue sheet indicated that we should take the 2nd left after the RR tracks, we ended up turning one street too soon. We eventually doubled back to take account and a couple locals said "Yep, all them bikers jest went over the rise not 5 minutes ago," so we dutifully re-doubled and continued.

Dazed, confused, and still lost, we ran into Ken Zabielski and a riding group of 10 others who also seemed to be lost. When we finally found the correct road, Ken said to Doreen and me, "Hey, you missed the secret control two blocks back." God bless the child and lucky he was on his bike or I would have had to strangle him. Good joke and yes, we momentarily took the bait.

We soloed the entire ride except for a couple brief encounters with others. The best encounter was near the end, we FINALLY found Bill Alcorn and Tim Egan after two days! We rode in together from Rt. 55 to the finish it was perfect.

Well, there you have it. We can't believe we did it and the best is yet to come. Look out Paris, here we come.

Kids and Helmets: A Good Fit Is Vitally Important

Helmets cut the risk of head injury in bicycle accidents by over 80%. But children who wear bicycle helmets that do not fit properly are nearly twice as likely to suffer from a head injury in an accident as those with better fitting helmets, a new study suggests.

Younger children and boys are less likely to wear proper fitting helmets, according to the report in the journal Injury Prevention. And wearing a helmet that is too big appears to be particularly hazardous.

"Although bicycle helmets are effective in preventing head and brain injury, some helmeted individuals nevertheless sustain head injury," report Dr. Frederick Rivara of the Harborview Injury Prevention Research Center, Seattle Washington and colleagues. "One of the possible reasons may be poor fit of the helmet on the head."

Out of a sample of 1,718 helmeted bicycle riders who were involved in an accident, Rivara and colleagues took a closer look at 28 children aged 2 to 14 who sustained a head injury and 98 children who did not.

When the researchers measured the helmet and the child's head, as well as made a plaster cast of the youngster's skull, they found those with a poor fitting helmet were nearly twice as likely to end up with a head injury as those with a properly fitting helmet.

Most often, the helmet was too wide. Almost half of the children with head injuries had a helmet that was two centimeters (almost an inch) or more wider than their heads.

A helmet that tilted backwards on the head increased the risk of head injury by 50% compared with a helmet centered on the head. Overall, 6% of children had a helmet fit that was fair or poor, 13% had a helmet that tilted backwards, and in 4% of cases, the helmet had come off the head on impact, tripling the risk of injury.

"Helmets may need to be redesigned, particularly for the younger age group, to fit better, in particular by decreasing its width," concludes Rivara's team. They also recommend the development of a measuring system, such as the use of head calipers, to be used in stores to ensure that the correct size of helmet is being purchased.

SOURCE: Injury Prevention, 1999; 5: 194-197.

Letters from the Commute

I've been commuting by bike between my home in Bethesda and my office in downtown D.C. a couple of days a week for about seven years now. It occurred to me a short time ago as I listened to our Pedal Patter editor-also a bike commuter, by the way-bemoan her challenges finding content for this, our beloved newsletter, that a few words about bicycle commuting might be in order. Thus was born this, the first in what I managed to convince her will be a series of articles sharing thoughts and observations about bike commuting.

Let me admit from the outset that I am favored among bike commuters. I can easily cover the ten miles from home to office in less than an hour, my office building has a small locker room in the basement with a working shower, and well over half my route is on trails rather than roads and streets. That notwithstanding, I am sometimes prone-as are many of us- to what has come to be called "bike commuter's distemper." When an attack comes on, the commuter in question will throw down an offending mangled bike part, tool, or ruined article of clothing and swear that he has pedaled out into the commuter lanes for the last time. For my part, a few sedatives and a brief nap are all I need to reconsider and venture forth as per usual the next morning.

What accounts, you may ask, for this curious, self-destructive obsession some of us (you know who you are) have with commuting by bike? I am hopeful we can explore that in future issues. I am by no means an expert; just someone who has been doing this a while. Topics for future articles may or may not include:

• good cycling manners on trail and street-why are they so hard to find?
• riding in the winter-dedication or derangement?
• cycling in city traffic-indispensable aid to living in the moment
• accurate weather forecasting-object of the commuter's obsession
• packing for the work day, or how to become the worst-dressed person on your floor
• trail tools and parts-how to bring what you don't need so you won't have what you do need when you need it
• bike commuting after dark-a suicide so implausible your insurance company will probably still pay out

As I expect to run out of my own observations and comments fairly quickly, I'd be grateful if anyone has an anecdote or other information to share that's even remotely related to bike commuting. Such readers are advised, however, that said material is very likely to receive cosmetic changes and be passed off as my own. My contact information is on the masthead (page 2) of this newsletter. Calls are welcome but e-mail is encouraged. See you next month.

Letters from the Commute, Part 2

Yes, in spite of all predictions from family, friends, and creditors to the contrary, here I am with you a second time with ruminations on the bike commuting life.

I want to thank my fellow PPTCers for your responses to my request in the first column for comments or anecdotes about bike commuting. Turning to the first message I received, and without commenting on the general contrariness of a certain Pedal Patter advertising manager, in the interest of equal time what follows is her list of reasons for NOT being able to commute to work by bike.

A few reasons to drive:

• XM radio receiver does not fit on handlebars
• Time spent in beltway traffic is perfect for transitioning from office stress to home stress
• There's no bike beltway for those who commute from Virginia to Maryland and vice-versa
• Helps consume more oil so we can deplete this resource and accelerate the need for more cycling transportation in the future
• This ain't Amsterdam!

Turning to other random thoughts, I wasn't, strictly speaking, commuting-OK, I wasn't commuting at all-but was recently out on a PPTC ride in rural Loudoun (always have to look up how to spell that) County and had the usual experiences with drivers passing too fast and too close on the country roads in their impatience to get past our pokey line of bikes and on down the blacktop. I found myself reflecting, as I listened to my heart pound after yet another near miss, on whether all those sexy car model names like Firebird, Mustang, or Thunderbird, undoubtedly intended to lure buyers into parting with their long green, might foster aggressive driving. Of course, this is the digital age and many car monikers are now alphanumeric, like the Acura RL and TSX or the BMW 3 series, 5 series or 7 series. These, I guess, would be considered sexier than, say, the Lexus P-U or Toyota IED? And, how could anyone roaring along in a Buick Regal possibly think he doesn't own the entire road?

Columnist Russell Baker suggested once that drivers would be far less aggressive if car manufacturers would only assign less assertive names to their cars, like Kittens, Bunny Rabbits, or Feather Dusters. In the early 1950s, poet Marianne Moore was asked by the Ford Motor Company to suggest names for a new car then in development that would evoke "some visceral feeling of elegance, fleetness, advanced features and design." Her suggestions-Resilient Bullet, Utopian Turtletop, Pastelogram, Mongoose Civique, Andante con Moto, and Varsity Stroke 3-were all passed over in favor of the name of Henry Ford's son. Thus, the Edsel was born.

Keep on pedaling! See you the next time we hold up traffic!

Letters from the Commute, Part 3

I suppose a fundamental challenge for those of us crazy enough to try to continue commuting to work by bike through the winter is just plain motivation. It's hard enough to get ourselves out there on the bike on balmy mornings, but clipping into those pedals when the mercury dips toward freezing and that first bone-chilling wind of the morning cuts into you is a real wake up call! How then, do we resist the lure of the nice warm car or metro station on such days? Fellow club member Steve Patrick wrote to me recently with an idea that he uses to keep himself riding: he donates the metro fare cards that he would otherwise use to charity. That way, Steve says, he's more likely to start out on the bike in the first place and gets the added satisfaction of knowing he's contributing to a worthy cause. This is a great idea, Steve, and I appreciate your writing in to share it with us.

Any winter cyclist knows that those people who get everywhere by car in the winter don't know the true meaning of cold. Whether commuting or just doing a leisure time ride out there on one of those delightful days when the wind is cold enough to numb your face so your nose starts running and you don't even know that that little icicle is forming down the front of your ski mask -- that's the real thing!

Of course, an advantage that many who do venture out at this time of the year may notice is that repeated exposure to cold tends to make it much easier to bear. For example, I discovered during my first winter of commuting that after a few weeks of an hour out in the cold in the morning and another in the evening, the cold didn't make me shiver any more. I was also delighted to find in that first year that the number of head colds that I contracted took a nosedive, if you'll forgive the pun. I had been accustomed to getting two or three really solid ones of ten days or two weeks duration every winter. Suddenly, I wasn't getting any -- none. In fact, the benefits of that regular two hours of aerobic exercise, day in and day out don't end there, as many of us know. We can also enjoy sounder sleep, more resistance to stress both at work and at home, better overall mood and sense of optimism, even better digestion. I suspect there are other benefits that I'm overlooking. Why don't you other commuters write to me (see e-mail address below my name on the Pedal Patter masthead) about what gets you out there commuting on the bike and let's see if we can get a few more converts to the commuting life.

By the way, I'm especially curious about are all those people I see in downtown D.C. who are out riding their bikes in the snow. This, I'll admit, is not something I've ever attempted. Do we have any fellow commuters out there who aren't stopped by the snow? If so, let us know how you do it!

Whether riding in snow or not, wear those layers and stay warm out there, fellow commuters! See you next time.

On the Road to Recovery

If you've paged through any biking, running or fitness magazines recently, you may have noticed a large number of ads for new products promising to speed recovery, minimize cell damage, rebuild muscle protein, and even slowdown aging. They have names like BIOfixTM, Muscle Recovery, BarTM, Damage Control, "Master Formula", and Endurox "R4". Recovery aids represent a logical sequence in trends, following on the heels of pre-exercise rituals such as carbohydrate loading, and during-exercise sports aids, such as drinks, bars, and gels. To determine if these products are beneficial, it helps to understand the needs of the muscles following exercise. The major concerns are replenishing fuel stores and decreasing muscle damage plus building new muscle tissue.

One of the main sources of fuel for exercise is glycogen,