A new addition to the bicycling stable

[Nessism]

I'm 3 1/2 weeks into my "recovery." Riding as much as my butt and bad knee will allow (about 4X per week.) Road bike work. Not for fun, although I am enjoying myself. Did 20 miles today pushing hard...mostly because there is 1200' of climbing in the route and it's work hard or walk. My goal is to lose 10 lbs. per month until I'm back down where I should be (and where my "nice" cloths fit me.) It's gonna be a while. I'm down about 15 lbs. already though and have noticed a huge increase in energy and motivation. I hear that lifting is a great way to lose some weight so thinking about that for the off riding days. We'll see.

 

[Lorenzo]

I hear that lifting is a great way to lose some weight so thinking about that for the off riding days. We'll see.

I know it might seem counterintuitive but, to shed some weight, you should introduce, into your diet, more fat, compared to sugars, and exercise below your anaerobic treshold.

Put it simply, you don't wanna run out of breath, while doing any training you might choose.

Cause, that's when you start to burn glucose, and stop burning fat...

 

[Nessism]

I know it might seem counterintuitive but, to shed some weight, you should introduce, into your diet, more fat, compared to sugars, and exercise below your anaerobic treshold.

Put it simply, you don't wanna run out of breath, while doing any training you might choose.

Cause, that's when you start to burn glucose, and stop burning fat...

Well, there is no lack of theories and opinions on diet and exercise. I try to keep it simple and focus on output vs. input.

The harder you work the more calories per unit of time you will burn. At the end of the workout your glycogen may be somewhat depleted but that's okay because your body will metabolize fat to help replenish, assuming you don't totally pig out to refuel.

The challenge I've always had regarding using exercise as the primary driver in order to lose weight is maintaining the loss. I lost a bunch of weight back in 2018 but gained it all back, and more, after winter time came and I couldn't ride so much because of darkness. This time I've got to figure out something different.

 

[salty_monk]

Got some new wheels too Ed, a Carbon Giant TCR. Got 5 bikes in the stable at the moment!

What route are you riding, maybe I can catch you on it sometime

 

[grcamna2]

I'm glad you have a bicycling thread here.I need to lose 30 lbs of excess weight:without losing my head.. Lol
I have 2 mid 80's road bikes;the one is a 1987 Trek Elance 400D,just toe clips:I haven't ridden it at all for about 8 months.The other bike is a Fuji Touring Series 'V' 18 speed(now 21)which I ride just a couple times a week for 3-4 miles at a time and I have it with only open pedals for my big,standard street shoes,it does have 172.5mm cranks on it where the Trek Elance has 170's which are my favorites.The 'engine'-Me.. ig: needs to get down to at least 200lbs because all this 'social distancing'-shelter in place stuff and pigging-out in front of the TV has gotten me to 230lbs and I've been neglecting the bike.

 

[Nessism]

Got some new wheels too Ed, a Carbon Giant TCR. Got 5 bikes in the stable at the moment!

What route are you riding, maybe I can catch you on it sometime

Hi Dan,

I've heard good things about those Giant's. No doubt it's light and stiff! Fun! How much are you riding these days?

There is a small industrial park near me that I do laps around. I rode there for a couple weeks, and some days after work, but more recently been going up the hill into PV. I ride from my house up to Marymount collage, then back. Some days I'll ride the extra leg from Marymount to the radar towers. Yesterday I went all the way around the big PV loop; up PV East, down to the ocean, along the coast and then back home. Kicked my butt. I tried to ride easy but you just can't because of all the hills. I was on the verge of glycogen depravation but made it home just in time. Give me another month to improve my fitness then we should hook up for a ride.

My weight loss is coming along but it's getting harder. I'm going to try to shift towards a more Keto based diet. We'll see.

 

[grcamna2]

Hi Dan,

I've heard good things about those Giant's. No doubt it's light and stiff! Fun! How much are you riding these days?

There is a small industrial park near me that I do laps around. I rode there for a couple weeks, and some days after work, but more recently been going up the hill into PV. I ride from my house up to Marymount collage, then back. Some days I'll ride the extra leg from Marymount to the radar towers. Yesterday I went all the way around the big PV loop; up PV East, down to the ocean, along the coast and then back home. Kicked my butt. I tried to ride easy but you just can't because of all the hills. I was on the verge of glycogen depravation but made it home just in time. Give me another month to improve my fitness then we should hook up for a ride.

My weight loss is coming along but it's getting harder. I'm going to try to shift towards a more Keto based diet. We'll see.

Something I need to use is an HRM:do you use one ?

 

[Nessism]

Something I need to use is an HRM:do you use one ?

I have a Garman Visoactive 4 smartwatch. It has an HRM feature but I don't think it's super accurate. It seems to do fine for resting heartrate but when you are really pushing it seems to read a little low and it's reaction time is slow. It's a super cool toy overall though. I don't look at it while working out but do after finishing. It has a GPS and outputs a bunch of super cool graphs such as speed vs. time, HR vs. time, and elevation vs. time. The graphs are all stacked so it's easy compare. As elevation increases, speed goes down, and heart rate goes up. Fun stuff.

If you want to train based on HR you need a proper HRM with a chest strap and a display you can see while riding. I've had a few various models over the years and they are quite useful if you are serious about your training.

 

[grcamna2]

I have a Garman Visoactive 4 smartwatch. It has an HRM feature but I don't think it's super accurate. It seems to do fine for resting heartrate but when you are really pushing it seems to read a little low and it's reaction time is slow. It's a super cool toy overall though. I don't look at it while working out but do after finishing. It has a GPS and outputs a bunch of super cool graphs such as speed vs. time, HR vs. time, and elevation vs. time. The graphs are all stacked so it's easy compare. As elevation increases, speed goes down, and heart rate goes up. Fun stuff.

If you want to train based on HR you need a proper HRM with a chest strap and a display you can see while riding. I've had a few various models over the years and they are quite useful if you are serious about your training.

I understand Ed.I had purchased a Polar 'Edge' back in the 90's but was too busy to ride,I still have it and it's battery life has 'timed-out' again.. I never put it on and rode with it(stubborness?) but I think it would make my training rides(the rides I take to progress further in my ability to overcome hard riding)much simpler if I stayed in the target heart rate for my age.I have used the bicycle mainly for commuting all my life(except for rides coast to coast back in 1987' on my own) and kept kicking it further as I progressed in mileage.

 

[Nessism]

Riding Saturday in a hilly area again. Was making my way up a medium grade hill and breathing pretty hard when two guys a few years older than me came buy without much effort riding electric assist bikes. They were chatting and looked to be enjoying themselves. Wish I was that fast.

 

[grcamna2]

Riding Saturday in a hilly area again. Was making my way up a medium grade hill and breathing pretty hard when two guys a few years older than me came buy without much effort riding electric assist bikes. They were chatting and looked to be enjoying themselves. Wish I was that fast.

I've seen a couple different types of electric assist bikes;here in Davis most electric bicycles look heavy and I imagine the electric motors are doing the 'lion's share' of the work.Do they make bicycles that let the operator adjust just how much work they do and then let the motor do like 5% ?? I'm not a big fan of electric assist(I've never actually ridden one) because my thinking is that the motor is stealing my work-out and keeping me more passive rather than pumped.

I have my little 1981' Honda CB125S w/ the XR185 engine and I have it set-up now with folding footpegs which can now be pulled-up so my legs can walk-along without bumping into them as much.I like to turn the bike off and walk alongside it to get a bit of excersize as just sitting on the seat all the time gets me too lazy.I also do the 'sit on the seat and use my legs to push-scooter my way along' for excersize at times.When I turn off the engine and slow down it's amazing what I see peripherally to either side of me which I had missed before because I was previously 'motoring' and feel better as I push my way along in the bicycle lane.I do look in the mirrors/am aware of bicyclists coming-up behind me and stay out of their path.

I have the nice option of getting some walking excersize while on my small Honda motorcycle.I enjoy getting in shape on the bicycle also but really Do need to learn to improve my diet to give me the most energy and the least 'bonk'.

 

[salty_monk]

I ride that loop regularly on the GS.... I’m riding a bit, not loads, trying to do the Rosarito Ensenada run in September that loop would kick my butt too!
I rode up that way last weekend too but not Marymont.

are you on Strava? I use their free one, I like it for tracking but not for on the bike, use my watch to record and upload to it, thinking of getting a Bryton GPS at some point.

The Giant is loads better than the borrowed box name Aluminium thing I was on before that’s for sure. I have 25’s on it and some compact “adventure” bars. But more comfort. Also the first time I’ve really played with Crank length too, put 165’s on this one after doing some research and like it a lot so far.

Hi Dan,

I've heard good things about those Giant's. No doubt it's light and stiff! Fun! How much are you riding these days?

There is a small industrial park near me that I do laps around. I rode there for a couple weeks, and some days after work, but more recently been going up the hill into PV. I ride from my house up to Marymount collage, then back. Some days I'll ride the extra leg from Marymount to the radar towers. Yesterday I went all the way around the big PV loop; up PV East, down to the ocean, along the coast and then back home. Kicked my butt. I tried to ride easy but you just can't because of all the hills. I was on the verge of glycogen depravation but made it home just in time. Give me another month to improve my fitness then we should hook up for a ride.

My weight loss is coming along but it's getting harder. I'm going to try to shift towards a more Keto based diet. We'll see.

 

[dorkburger]

Why oh why must my son ride a MTB? When I was his age we were fully into BMX / freestyle bikes and they accepted heaps of abuse from us.
His bike has a broken bracket that attaches the rear derailleur to the frame - direct mount type. I can?t find a replacement as everyone seems to be out of stock. Are there any sites that do cross references or anything of that nature?

 

[oldGSfan]

What MTB is it? I have been able to find for my son's YT Capra, just a bit of searching. He crashes a lot less now and the parts purchasing is way down since about the first year. I do all his repairs and it was crazy, like a 2nd job.

Why oh why must my son ride a MTB? When I was his age we were fully into BMX / freestyle bikes and they accepted heaps of abuse from us.
His bike has a broken bracket that attaches the rear derailleur to the frame - direct mount type. I can?t find a replacement as everyone seems to be out of stock. Are there any sites that do cross references or anything of that nature?

 

[Sandy]

Why oh why must my son ride a MTB? When I was his age we were fully into BMX / freestyle bikes and they accepted heaps of abuse from us.
His bike has a broken bracket that attaches the rear derailleur to the frame - direct mount type. I can’t find a replacement as everyone seems to be out of stock. Are there any sites that do cross references or anything of that nature?

You can try to match it up here. They've got pretty good photos of a bunch of different styles. Maybe you can match it up with something. They're in Ireland so you might not want to order with shipping the way it is right now but I've used them in the past and with great success. Got my stuff in about a week and free shipping over $99.00.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/derailleurs

 

[dorkburger]

Thanks Sandy, I?ll take a look. The derailleur looks ok, it?s just the not so robust bracket that connects it to the frame is broken. I?m hoping that the bracket may be used across a few different Shimano models.

 

[dorkburger]

What MTB is it? I have been able to find for my son's YT Capra, just a bit of searching. He crashes a lot less now and the parts purchasing is way down since about the first year. I do all his repairs and it was crazy, like a 2nd job.

its a GT Aggressor that was given to us. Seems like a decent mid range bike.... and free.
I've been letting him ride mine. I certainly don't want to have to find parts for a 25 year old bicycle so I need to get his fixed.

 

[bonanzadave]

I picked up this TREK Navigator off CLs a few months ago. Got tons of paved bike trails around here and this is a pretty comfortable way to explore. Bike is like brand new and I gave the guy all the 250 he was asking for. Rack, Bag and helmet. Smooth ride and easy on the back......side.

 

[Sandy]

Got to pound away on the MTB yesterday on one of my favourite local forested trails to a small lake. Nothing scary or weird and didn't come back bleeding so that was good. LOL. I put on about 800km so far this year for a total of about about 4,000 on the bike. I was thinking time to change the cassette and chain but they actually seem fine. Still shifts fine and derailleur angles look alright ....have to take a closer look at the sprockets and maybe measure the chain. I love this Kona, it's been a solid ride and no issues at all since new other than one rear flat (snake bite) and a set brake pads (they got noisy) and a few tires.



Kettle Lake and bike by soates50, on Flickr

 

[GS1150Pilot]

That is gorgeous!